DoT 1st Initiation to R+C Degree NON-COMBATANT version

Review if needed, the Advance Preparation Notes.
Be sure to have your octagon paper printed out and nearby, as well as your oath.
Be sure to perform this rite of initiation in late evening or at night.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

1. One of the following: Red magic-marker, felt-tip pen, red crayon, red pencil.

2. Ruler or straightedge if you are generally fearful of drawing or art projects.

3. One Red candle, small table or other surface to use as your altar, you can sit it next to your computer if you have to

4. Single red rose with stem removed except for one inch.

5. Men: white boxer shorts, underwear. Non-combatant Women: white full slip or white night gown that stops at your knees. Combatant Women: white underwear and T-shirt or white sleeveless undershirt

6. Optional: prayer rope or rosary if you have one

7. Optional for non-combatants, required for combatants: Some kind of sword or blade. Any sword replica is fine. If you don’t have such a thing then find a blade, any blade, to put on your altar. Even a letter opener that looks like a sword, there are cute miniatures I’ve seen for sale. If you are short on supplies, a kitchen knife is indeed a flat blade, and will work for your “commitment to the blade archetype.” Non-combatants are encouraged to have a blade too, for representation on your altar. During the initiation the Grand Master’s sword is laid out on the altar so if you have a blade on yours it is quite fitting. The non-combatant relates more to the health of the person swinging the sword and to the horse under him, whereas the combatant must relate very directly to that blade, his/her “tool of the trade,” and means of survival. Therefore DoT’s do not make the blade commitment during initiation (by kissing the blade) and they are not presented with a Templar sword during initiation (they are presented with something else). But DoT’s may wish to have a sword on your altar as a symbol of the warrior path that you now walk. Remember that a “warrior” is not necessarily a combatant. Walking the warrior path is for both fighters and non-fighters who have chosen to face life with courage, to stand up against forces of spiritual darkness that seek to destroy life and rape innocence. The sword is the symbol of that path. (PS If you want to buy or just see a picture of an authentic Templar Sword, go to Amazon.com and type in “Templar Sword” in the search window).

ALTAR SET-UP: You need a simple altar surface, anything flat and large enough to hold all the supplies. The altar really should be facing Jerusalem, which is East for North Americans, but Southeast for you U.K. residents, and way Northwest for you Australians. Your red candle and sword (if you have one) should be laid upon it. Put the red candle in the middle of the altar surface, and lay the sword (or other blade) down in front of it stretched out sideways. Place your Sacred Cord on the altar behind the candle. Place your rosary or prayer rope in front of or draped across the blade. Have your oath handy so that you may read it at the appointed time. It is customary to fold up the written oath and place it on the altar somewhere in front of the candle. Then when it comes time to read it, you unfold it and read it. Then fold it back up and place it behind the candle. You may also wish to have a copy of the Lord’s and Lady’s Prayers handy in case you haven’t memorized them, that paper doesn’t need to be on the altar. Your red rose, octagon paper and red marker / pencil should not be on your altar yet, but nearby.

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NON-COMBATANT INITIATION OF THE TEMPLE ROSE CROSS DEGREE

Step 1. Drawing inside the Octagons. You will draw the red Templar equal bar cross, variously called the cross “pattee” and the “maltese” cross, or the eight-pointed splayed cross of the Templars, inside some octagons. Get the page of blank octagons and your red marker / pencil.

In a few moments you will be entering a huge octagonal chamber, a special indoor arena used by the Templars for all initiations and certain advanced training exercises. (Some used an outdoor arena with a partial roof over it, a huge octagonal corral). Drawing these crosses in the octagons is called sacred geometry, and this exercise actually prepares your mind to enter the Octagonal chamber. Focus now on drawing a cross within each of the octagons on this page. You will be asked to mail these into us as part of your initiation report, so no skipping this step! As soon as they are drawn, lay the piece of paper flat on your altar, under the sacred cord behind the red candle. Make room though so that you can place your rose over what you consider to be the best of the red crosses you drew. Place the rose there now and put the sacred cord folded in half in a circle around it.

Step 2: In their book, “The Warriors & the Bankers” Dafoe and Butler have this to say regarding the 8-sided chapel used by the Templars as the initiation chamber:

“This octagonal form of building which the Templars are believed to have developed from the Muslim’s “Dome of the Rock” in Jerusalem, served a threefold objective…Firstly its eight walls formed a superior edifice of structural ability. Secondly it called to mind the overall shape of the Templar Cross Patee, which can be easily formed within the confines of the octagon. Finally, the octagon, especially when combined within the circle, formed a sacred geometry associated with Gnostic beliefs, for which the Knights Templar were said to share an affinity. It is rumored that within this octagonal chapel, called a “Charola,” neophyte Templar knights were initiated on horseback.”

Step 3: Now to prove that the above is more than just a rumor….
You walk across the courtyard and step into the Charola. You must pass thru the huge black iron doors. You have always wondered what this forbidden building was like inside. It is night, Templar initiations were / are always held at night. In the early days of the Order the rule of secrecy was so strict that no king, no archbishop nor even a pope ever knew what went on inside. It is dark, and your eyes cannot penetrate thru the blackness within the cavernous building. You are standing just inside the door and you see two small curtained-off booths on either side of you.

If you are a male: the Standard Bearer of our Order greets you and directs you to strip to a loin cloth, ceremonially removing the “world” and other causes, even noble ones, that you have fought for. Please undress in real life, your boxer shorts can be the “loin cloth.” Loop your prayer rope firmly around your wrist or wear your rosary around your neck like a necklace.

If you are female: The Chatelaine and the Equestrian Dame greet you and direct you to undress to a white slip or shift that goes to your knees. This ceremonially removes the “world” and other causes, even noble ones, that you have fought for. Please do this in real life. Loop your prayer rope firmly around your wrist or wear your rosary around your neck like a necklace.

NOTE: You will get your “other noble causes” back when you leave the Charola, don’t be afraid that you are forswearing any. But for the next few hours you must be a “blank slate” for this initiation to “take.” Historical Templars had to give up ALL other noble causes and would previously have had to obtain release from any former causes or liege lords they had sworn allegiance to.

Step 4: Both males and females: Leave the dressing area now as you are led by the Under-Marshal of our Order. He leads you into the gloom of the great octagonal room. (It is about the size of a large modern gymnasium.) You can’t see anything and are trying hard to focus on the back of the Under Marshal as he moves quietly in front of you. Unfortunately you notice he has removed his white Templar tunic and is dressed in unrelieved black. You can hardly see him to keep on track, and are doing what your training taught you–focusing on the sound of his strides as well as the sight.

Then you notice an alcove with a sergeant standing in it. The only reason you see the sergeant is because he is holding a weak, barely flickering torch. He, too, is dressed in black and you wonder, “What IS this? A funeral or something?” As you approach, the sergeant reaches back and opens a door to the outside. You get a quick glimpse of the moon illuminating the figure of a cloaked woman—the Equestrian Dame—leading a horse and rider straight for you. They stop just in front of you, and the sergeant shuts the door behind them. In the dim torchlight, you see the Equestrian Dame hand the reins up to the knight, who renders her a quick salute and head nod.

She turns her attention back to you. There is no expression on the face of the Equestrian Dame. She is dressed in a long flowing plum colored gown with the emerald green cloak of the Daughters of Tsion thrown back over her shoulders. You have met her before, you know she is friendly and quick to smile, yet now she seems deadly serious, almost another person as she looks into your eyes.

Step 5: The Equestrian Dame silently beckons you to watch and then do as she does. She shows you once what you are supposed to do with your hands and then steps back and gestures for you to proceed. You step up and place the flats of both your hands on the horse’s shoulder. Try to feel it now, in your earthly form. Flats (palms) of your hands. Hold them out in front of you as though touching a horse’s shoulder. Imagine an astral horse is right there in the room with you. Feel the connection to the horse thru the palms and fingers of your hand. Let them tingle.

Bond with the horse, fuse your health with its health, your mind with its animal mind. Feel his heartbeat, his mighty lungs. There is a knight in the saddle, feel his weight, imagine what his commands to the horse feel like. [In future lessons you will learn all the details and just “how” this is done. For now you are only required to show that you know the motions and have a basic instinct for what is required of a Daughter of Tsion. The hands-on healing and bonding methods of the Daughters of Tsion are too secret to be taught until AFTER formal initiation. Tonight we see how you handle darkness, death and the fear of the unknown. Sophia is your guide. Her healing wisdom flows thru you now, whether you know the enchantment-prayers or not. Here is one of those enchantment-prayers, please say it now.]

Horse Bond:

“O ancient beast of heros, bearer of warrior burden.
A Holy soldier are you, just as your Knight.
Carry him now thru smoke of battle.
Together we bear him up
Your strength with mine
Bone to bone, heartfire to heartfire,
May we be one,
Each serving the other
Our bond be not undone”

[Consider for a brief moment: In what ways do humans such as the Daughters of Tsion, the Knight or Knightress serve the horse? The DoT supports the horse’s literal health with her magiks, she also may enjoy exercising some of the horses with the stable grooms, or just giving them attention, horses love attention. The Knight or Knightress provides the very best feed, medical care, gives attention, exercise, grooming, shelter from bad weather, good shoes. It is not just the horse doing all the “serving;” it’s a symbiotic relationship. Templar Officer (and +Katia’s husband) Sir Hauk says, “Also, a horse likes to work. Just like a human, she/he enjoys a task, enjoys companionship, doesn’t like to be idle. Work gives a purpose, meaning, makes the horse —just as it makes the human —feel valued and truly alive. The human who sits idly watching TV for hours then feels guilty and depressed afterward, gets a poor self-image, feels unworthy. We’ve all felt that way, so we know this phenomenon. Do some hard work and we suddenly feel valuable and satisfied again. The horse is the same way.” ]

Now remove your hands from the horse’s shoulder and as directed by the Equestrian Dame, place your hands on the knight’s right upper leg (outer thigh). Do the same health-bonding with the knight. You have no idea who he is. Even if you are being initiated on the same night as your own spouse, this is not your partner. This knight is not new to the Order. It doesn’t matter that you have never met him, you are meeting him now. In fact, he has just introduced himself. Now you know his name, for he has just spoken it to you. A necessary requirement for magikal health bonding is knowing the knight’s name. He said simply, “I am Sir ___________.” If you hear a name at this time, jot it down now. If not, that’s okay, continue on and use the name Sir John for the rest of the initiation.

Sir John of Troyes (Jean de Troyes) is a knight Templar from the past who often shows up for DoT initiations to this very day. Sometimes he is otherwise engaged, though, and another knight (or even a knightress!) may have shown up for your initiation, in which case you would “hear” a name spoken to you. Make sure the name you “heard” is not someone you already know. This knight must be totally unknown to you because we always send one whom you’ve never met. Be sure to write down his name and send it to us in your initiation report. It doesn’t really matter what his name is as long as you have a name to work with. He is a Knight of Krist and you are a Daughter of Tsion. Be one with his heartbeat, his body temperature, his vital signs. His pulse is your pulse. If his health (or courage) falters, you will know it. Later you will learn to magikally support him regarding his health / safety in battle and also in the courage department. Take a “look” at his spirit-body, his invisible soul-shape as it exists under, within and overlapping his physical form. All people in the flesh have a luminescent glowing spirit-body (variously called the astral body, soul body, aura, etc). and each has its own pattern. This is how Daughters of Tsion keep track of their knights during battle. The DoT’s are safely away from the fighting, yet they send out their spirit-senses and “find” their fighter, support him, etc. Try to recognize his spirit-body’s pattern, but don’t worry about it if you can’t “see” much.

[Now look at your hands on his thigh, feel a tie connect as you say almost under your breath (to him it sounds like muttering) …]

“O Knight of Krist, Holy Soldier
Who is called Sir ___________
You are a Knight of Courage.

Mary Theotokos,
Sophia
…and I
We bear you into battle.
From the very gates of hell shall you always come back.
The Sacred Power flows from me to you.
I in you, and you in me
Merge and blend
Your strength with mine
Mine with yours.
Bone to bone,
Mind to mind,
Heartfire to heartfire,
May we be one,
Each serving the other
Our bond be not undone”

[note that the title, “Theotokos” means “god-bearer” because Mother Mary bore god in her womb. This fits with our prayer-spell because we speak of “bearing” into battle.]

Lower your hands now, and look to your right, where something has caught your attention.

Step 6: It is the Seneschal of the Order riding up on horseback accompanied by two knights. Our Seneschal is Sir James, and he now charges you to state the Our Father and Our Mother prayers. You recite the two-part prayer while standing there surrounded by several mounted knights and officials of the Order who are mounted on stamping snorting steeds. You are the only one on foot and you feel small and vulnerable standing there as you are in your underdress. [Please recite the two-part prayer now. If you have trouble it is okay to use a printout to prompt you, but please don’t just read it straight from the paper. The lines of these prayers are ancient and profound, your subconscious surely knows at least half of them by heart.]

Step 7: Now the Grand Master himself, mounted on a huge destrier, appears out of the darkness. He has three armed and mounted knights with him whose faces are lost in the thick shadows of this place. You can make out his features only because he is holding a dim torch. He prods his horse toward you. You’ve seen him once or twice before from a distance, and it seems like you could see him better then, even though now he’s so close you can feel the breath of his horse.

You glance back at the torch as it strains to stay alive. Is the air full of some black oily substance, you wonder? The torch seems to barely have enough to breathe. You decide that the black oily air is not from smoke, or you’d smell it. The torch is letting off a bit of smoke, but not enough to fill the arena. Still the air seems alive with something. You’re not sure it’s altogether friendly! (Think anti-matter or chaos magik). The Grand Master, his face still lit, urges his horse forward, coming so close to you that he might knock you off your feet. He leans down and hands you the torch, then charges you to state the Templar Creed of Mission.
[Now light the single red candle on your altar, pick it up and hold it in your LEFT hand out to the left side of your body and lifted up a little as though holding a torch]

Now your voice rings out over the snorting and stamping of the four-legged beasts. These horses want to run, you can tell! You have a feeling they know much more about tonight’s activities than you do…

[Read the following while holding the candle in your left hand:]

The Templar Creed of Mission.

We walk the warrior path
Knights of Krist and Daughters of Tsion
We serve the Almighty
We defend the Innocent
We support the righteous
Fighting the Good Fight,
Obeying the Divine,
Answering the Call
We are the Templars of Krist and Sophia, the Word and Wisdom
We are the Templars of Adonai and Matronit, the Lord God and the Great Mother
Let no man, ruler nor evil spirit waylay our mission
Angeloi Protego, Angels go before us!
[make the sign of the cross over yourself while saying the last line]
En Toutoi Nika! By this sign we conquer!

[as you finish making the sign of the cross, close your right hand into a fist and thrust it out in front of you at chest height, as if to say, Charge!]

You finish the Creed, your voice trailing off in the immense man-made “cave.“

Step 8: Suddenly one of the mounted knights who rode up with the Grand Master surges forward and grabs the torch from you with a whoop. [Place it back on your altar]. He and the other two knights gallop off. You think the knight you bonded with, Sir _______________ went with them, but you cannot be sure. It’s so hard to see! After a few yards the torch isn’t even visible anymore—or wait, there it is. It’s bobbing around in this thick gloom like a fire-fly, faraway, dim and flighty.

You weren’t paying attention to your immediate surroundings and as you turn your head back, the Grand Master grabs you and pulls you up on his horse behind him! He yells out to the other Knights, still around you, “Ride! Ride! Fight the Good Fight!” and digs in his spurs.

You jolt forward and are forced to grab hold of the Grand Master, arms around his middle. All the mounted men take off at a break-neck gallop (like a cavalry charge you are thinking) into the black of the indoor arena (unlike a cavalry charge which would be in the safety of at least somedaylight). You and the Grand Master break away from them, as you feel the Grand Master’s horse turning, you sense that the others are beginning to move in a circular pattern. Flying at full gallop in this place, they are swirling like a mad carousel ride. And you are suddenly tossed down in the middle of this madness! The Grand Master sets you down in the very center of the great indoor chamber, shouting, “Guard the life of your knight!” and he gallops away completely out of sight. What the hell does that mean? — wait! he means the knight you bonded with. But how are you to “guard” him in this blur of swirling flesh of men and beast?

Your stomach lurches, you steady yourself and plant both feet firmly. You are now aware of dozens of Knights on horseback, the hooves thunder now on the hard packed dirt floor of the indoor arena. Thru their mad circular rushing you think you see a few torches perhaps ensconced along the walls. That must be what keeps the horses from running into said walls, you decide. Among the cavalry you see a flash of white, just a little square—it’s the beauseant! The black and white banner of the Knights of the Temple. It is the focus of every combatant while on the field. You can only see the white part of it and some of the whites of the horses’ and mens’ eyes. Their faces are all black, and with a twinge of fear you realize they are all wearing black hood-masks with only their eyes glinting thru holes in the fabric. Everything has been blacked over, their armor, the metal parts of the tack and bridle of the horses. Yet you are a white blur, half naked and wearing white, your face most certainly unmasked. They can see you easily. They seem to careen toward you standing in the center, the wind of their movement making your scant garment flutter and flap. Some are brandishing—what’s that! —swords–also blackened, so that nothing glimmers.

You are standing there with nothing, not even a torch and you know you could be trampled to death in an instant. Yet they are coming at you, veering a little out of the circular flow just as they come past you. All at full gallop in the narrow rat race of this indoor chamber. It is a flowing current of men and horses, a circular vortex like water swirling down a drain. This is a deadly game, even moreso as from left and right they race past you swooshing their swords just inches from you. Your hair rushes in the breeze after the departing blades, then comes madly back to you only to dance off in some other direction when another swordsman slashes his weapon. So close to your head, your neck! It is taking all your courage not to crouch down—or even curl up in a ball. You know that if you do that, if you show the slightest wavering of stance, or worse yet run off the field, it will be a sign of weakness, and a sure way to fail the initiation. You really, really want to be a Templar Lady, a fierce but compassionate Daughter of Tsion. This is your sworn destiny. You must stand firm. (If you are male: You want to be a Templar Brother, a fierce but compassionate Cleric of Tsion).

More and more knights seem to be filling the frenzied current. You are trying to find “your” knight. It is impossible! They are all masked, even him surely for no faces are showing in what little torchlight there is. You are about to give up trying when you realize you are trying to find him with your senses. Your eyes are not going to help you. You must sense him with the inner-eye that can “see.” You close your mortal eyes—terrifying in this now crowded melee, what if one of them goes down in front of you, behind you, or comes too close with those maddening blades?

But you must try to sense the knight you bonded with, prove you can do it. You keep your eyes closed, and go back to when you met him. Was it just a few minutes ago? Seems like days. You remember the horse, and then the knight. How did they feel beneath the flats of your hands? You imagine the blood in their veins forced along by the pumping of a heart, the pulse of which you felt. You almost became one with the rhythm of that pulse when you bonded. Almost isn’t going to cut it. How are you to identify him?? You gulp air and realize you have been holding your breath.

This won’t do! No, no, don’t panic, you calm yourself. You don’t quite achieve “calm,” more like a lower degree of sheer terror. The knights are screaming now, bloodcurdling sounds, not really words. Like demons of the lowest hell, your mind screams to you. Wait—don’t let the scream rip from your own throat. You bite your lower lip until you taste blood. Focus. Find the knight. Guard his health, his life. You are near to swooning and because you must close your eyes you have to unlock your knees or you will fall over. It’s that simple. Your hands instinctively go out to your sides, steadying you while eyes are still closed.

Focus.

Is he….

Is that the horse….

Where…

who….

OH THE SCREAMS, they echo in this horrid chamber! You want to clamp your hands over your ears and crouch down—better yet, run!

NO NO NO. FOCUS, WOMAN! FOCUS! you inwardly scream to yourself.
Wait, wait wait. Must be calm for it to work. Panic is going to ruin everything.

Your hands are still stretched out to your sides, not with arms all the way out, just slightly as though you were about to do a little dance or walk on a balance beam. You hope one of the sword-swinging knights doesn’t lop one of your hands off. But you won’t think about that now. It’s getting quieter, they are still screaming, but your mind is calming, focusing, tuning out the cacophony. You must look for his spirit-body. They may all look alike those mad rushing carousel horses and men, but they each have a distinctive spirit-body, you reason. You just have to tune in your eyes to see all of them. No torch light is needed to see such things, spirit bodies light up like torches in the astral darkness, for they are the very souls of the bodies they inhabit.

Finally, you are sensing. Your hands seem to be drawing energy up from the dirt floor, you are sensing, sending out feelers with body AND mind. You see some of their swirling spirit-bodies, like white and blue blurs streaming along in the black. You try to hone in on one particular, intoning his name, “Sir ___________” [Say the knight’s name out loud, whisper is okay. Vocalizing makes your body take part in this exercise, which communicates to your subconscious and your Higher Self that this is a real experience not just you reading a guided meditation]. Saying his name slowly and carefully as though talking to an old person hard of hearing, you continue to search and sort thru spirit-bodies and heartfires.

Where…. Is that him….
What is he feeling, thinking….
Yes. There.
Or, is it?
That pulse, that horse…
His name is ……

Oh! The wind is suddenly knocked out of you or you would have screamed. Each forearm has been grabbed by a knight, still flying along. In a sudden jolt you are airborne as they swoop you along with them. If they drop you…

But it’s so fast, you are only off the ground for a second as the knight on your left hands you up to the knight on your right who is manhandling you into the saddle behind him. It’s him. It’s the horse. It’s Sir __________, the knight you bonded with. You know this even before he rips off his mask-hood, tossing it away.

THEY found you. So you must have failed the initiation.

Or did you somehow summon them?

The screaming has stopped, is the initiation over? They are still galloping. No, they’re slowing to a fast trot. Forming up into ranks. No more screaming. Thank god, no more screaming. They all still look like demons. And it’s not just because of the masks they are wearing. They look and feel like the enemy, both spiritual and physical. Is it magik? Are the Prioress of the Order, the Chatelaine and other high ranking Lady Templars working group magik to make these knights feel like agents of spiritual darkness? It must be magik in order to simulate enemy action. You would swear you can feel that force at work, as you feel the knight’s abdominal muscles under your clasped hands tighten and loosen, tighten and twist, loosen then tighten as he moves with the horse in the rhythmic trot. You are aware that the knights are moving along in an orderly, but swift march, but your mind is on the unseen members of the Order. The Lady magi. They must be around here somewhere, behind a curtain perhaps? Their magiks could also create this air, this ungodly air we’re breathing. I can almost taste it, you think. You are tempted to stick out your tongue and see.

A shout rings out–is it human? Or demon? It is an unmasked man on a huge destrier warhorse. It is the Battle Marshal, the High-Marshal of the Order. (Our High-Marshal is Sir Hauk). He is shouting quick staccato commands and the Standard Bearer, who is masked like all the rest, is waving the black and white banner. You can only see the white half of it. All the knights are trotting and forming up, jostling for certain positions while still making patterned laps around the circular (though you know it’s octagonal) arena. You feel “your” horse surging under you. He is at home with the other beasts of heroes all about him. You know the Templar horses are trained to kill in battle. If a man comes on foot to attack their rider, the horse will rear up and strike him with his hooves. They are trained to bite, kick and trample the enemy. Many of these mighty horses around you now snort with impatient fury. They want to smell blood! You pray there will be none of that shed this night…

PART 2: The Holy Place

There is definitely a method to the madness now. The riders are formed into small groups of about 10 each. You know that such a group is called a Banner of knights and each Banner has a Commander, several of the Commanders have removed their masks. It appears that your knight is one of those Commanders, for he issues a few short sounds to the other nine around him and seems intent on what the Marshal is saying and doing. You imagine this is so he will in turn know how to command his Banner. The whole mass of them are coming together making a tight phalanx now under the commands of the Battle Marshal. The Standard Bearer is right beside the Marshal, his mask is gone. He looks to the Marshal, who nods and says something inaudible. Then the Standard Bearer suddenly waves the beauseant in a circle, lowers it with a swoosh and points forward like a falcon ready to dive on its prey. The Marshal’s voice rings out followed quickly by the sounds of the Banner Commanders’ voices echoing what he said.

Is he telling them to charge??? Hell yes! Off you go, in this mass of flesh and thunder clinging onto Sir __________ for dear life. From the throats of these hundred men comes a battle cry, “Sophia Before Us!” The arena is only so big and you know there’s surely a wall coming up somewhere.

And there it is! You see the torches on the wall, and wait—is that people standing there? You and your knight are suddenly in the front of the charge. Lovely. You close your eyes and hold tight preparing for impact.

But there is none. Huge doors swing open allowing only you and your knight to pass thru. The horse’s hooves clatter loudly on a new surface, a stone floor. Your knight dismounts quickly. This is a small chapel, an inner chamber, like the Holy of Holies. It has a high vaulted ceiling, and candles and oil-lamps are in sconces on the walls.

A tall, very tall, solemn-faced Knight materializes out of the shadows. It is Sir Kathuros, our Order’s Guardian of the Chapel (in Latin, Custos Cappelae). He opens a door in the back of the Chapel for the Bishop-Prioress (Katia) and Chatelaine of the House (Lady Electa) to enter. They are wearing their dark green cloaks with hoods on their heads, but you can see their expressionless faces. Both ladies move to the altar. Several other figures enter until practically all the Templar officers are standing in front of the altar facing you — the Seneschal, the Bishop-Prioress, Chatelaine, Guardian, Drapier, Under-Drapier, Under-Marshal. The Marshal and Grand Master are the only ones missing.

Your knight is standing at attention, holding the bridle of his horse, facing the altar. You are slumped forward on the horse, looking quite a sight. Your garment is hiked up around your hips, your hair is a mess, you are out of breath and probably pale as a ghost. With Sir ____________ gone from the saddle, you can’t hang on so well and your bottom seems to slide forward. You wiggle a little and end up sitting in his saddle. He seems not to notice, he is standing so still and straight. In fact, no one is looking at you. You must have failed the initiation and the knight is going to tell them. He’ll report that he had to find you, not the other way around.

Lady Electa, the Chatelaine of the House — sort of a Reverend Mother of the Daughters of Tsion — turns around now, pushing back her hood so that her hair and shining head-band style tiara are visible. She says, “Whom are you delivering?”

Sir ______________ goes down on one knee and rises back up in an up and down bow of respect then answers, “I deliver this Daughter of Tsion.” The Chatelaine and Bishop-Prioress Katia nod approval and you are wondering what the hey—he just called me a Daughter of Tsion! [Males, please insert the word Cleric and use appropriate pronouns she / he from now on]. Your knight is looking up into your face now, hands reaching to you and helping you down. On your feet again at last, you feel Sir __________ take your right hand and lift it up as if walking into a dance. The two of you move toward the altar and he formally presents you to the Ladies standing there. And to the Grand Master apparently, for he has just come out from behind the altar screen and is standing there beside the Prioress, watching you. You notice that his sword is missing from its scabbard at his left hip.

The Chatelaine says to your knight, “Did she touch you?”

Sir _____________ answers simply, “She did.”

Then bowing his head, he steps backward as he releases your hand. He is taking steps backward, heading for his horse, as if to leave, as if his job is done. You turn your head, not really fond of the idea of standing there alone in your rumpled attire not to mention rumpled mindset. The Ladies and the Grand Master are smiling now, but you are looking back at Sir ____________. He smiles too, ever so slightly, then salutes you. It’s the formal salute of a knight to his lady! (“his lady” can mean a lady he is partnered with either permanently or temporarily). The salute appears thus: a knight makes it with a flat hand coming out from his heart, then touching forehead and out again all in a quick motion. The lady is supposed to slightly nod back in assent, and sometimes if his salute is also a “goodbye” she will clasp both hands at her chest, fingers interlaced, hands rounded as though an invisible ball is inside them. All you can manage right now is the head nod, still reeling at the thought that you actually bonded with a knight, actually succeeded in “touching” him with the magikal touch of the Daughters of Tsion.

He grins now at your look of surprise, then turns and leads his horse out. You mouth “thank you” to him, and he looks back over his shoulder into your eyes. He heard you, his smile and slight nod of assent confirms it. He is gone out the oversized doorway. It is actually a grand set of double doors which extend way up to the vaulted ceiling. Two other green-cloaked DoT Ladies shut the heavy doors slowly behind him. You think you caught a glimpse of the Equestrian Dame greeting him and talking to both him and the horse.

Someone touches your shoulder, turning your attention back to the altar. You had been craning your head around to look behind you at the departing knight.

The Chatelaine of the House, Lady Electa is standing beside you. She hands you a single red rose [pick up your rose and hold it in your left hand], then places the sacred white cord around your neck resting it on your left shoulder. She ties it together in its only knot at your right hip. [Pick up your sacred cord and put your head and left arm thru it so that it comes to rest on your left shoulder and down by the right side of your waist / hips. Since you made your cord in advance, your knot is already tied. So you should pinch the knot now between your right pinky and thumb and “hear” the Chatelaine say the following words…] “You are sealed as a Lady of the Rose Cross. This knot is tied as you are to the Divine Family and the Order of the Temple which lives and moves only to serve them.” She steps back up on the altar dias (one step up) and now the Seneschal asks: “Do you swear the oath of secrecy and loyalty here before your sisters and brothers of the Order, here before the Godhead and the Angels whose presence is in this place? If so, please state your oath now.”

[Read the oath / vows you wrote previously, please do it out loud and feel the presence of Templars of old as well as current. They are with you, llistening, nodding in approval, taking note of your sincerity. The Gods and angels hear your declaration, too.]

When you are finished stating your oath, the Grand Master says to you, “Be not forsworn!” Which is a formal warning as well as an encouragement, because to be forsworn (to break your oath) would bring you bad vibes, bad feedback from the Divine, and he doesn’t want to see that happen to anyone. Oathbreakers always end up to be miserable rejected souls, and the Grand Master abjures you not to be one of them. He then nods at the Seneschal who turns and says, “Behold the Blade!”

PRESENTATION & Dubbing:

Sir Ivarr, the Marshal of the Order strides in from behind the altar screen. He has donned his white Templar tunic but his black clothes from the battle exercise are still visible underneath. The Standard Bearer walks behind him carrying the ceremonial standard of the Order, the black and white beauseant with the red Templar cross sewn over top of its middle. The Marshal is carrying the Grand Master’s sword out in front of him, point down. You can see the beautiful hilt crest, a gold circle with the eight-pointed splayed cross of Templarism within. There are other scrollings, symbols and seals on the hilt and even on the blade. (Click on photo at left to see greater detail). It is a beautiful weapon, hard to imagine the Grand Master actually using it to shed blood. The Marshal ceremonially sweeps it in front of the group for all to see, then places it on the altar, bends and touches his lips to the blade. Straightening up, he drops to one knee and quickly back up again in what is called the ecclesiastical bow or bob. (“ecclesiastical” meaning churchly, as opposed to a courtly bow in which you bend at the waist). The Standard Bearer places the standard pole into a socket-hole in the floor, then stands beside it with his feet spread shoulder’s width, hands behind his back, elbows pointing out to the sides. (This is an ecclesiastical way of standing at attention).

The Chatelaine Lady Electa gestures for you to step forward toward the Grand Master and the Seneschal who are standing together with the Marshal before the altar. The Seneschal Sir James takes up the Grand Master’s sword and hands it to him. The Grand Master is a mysterious enigmatic figure who almost looks like an Archangel, or maybe the Master of Masters himself (Yeshua Kristos). Some say he is a Templar Grandmaster from the past, such as Jacques deMolay. Whoever he is, he takes the sword in a fluid motion, his gaze falling upon you as he puts both hands around the hilt. You instinctively know what to do. Dropping gracefully to your knees (grateful that your legs have stopped shaking!) you bow your head, clasp your hands together as if in prayer, the rose enclosed inside them, and wait. [Do this now, kneel down on both knees in front of your burning candle. Clasp your hands with rose inside. Look into the flame. Try to sense the astral presences around you. In a moment you should feel something touch your shoulder. Try to feel a firm touch on one shoulder…]

The Grand Master touches the great sword to first your left and then your right shoulder, then back to your left.

If you are female: He announces, “I dub thee Lady ___________________ , of the Rose Cross.” [Important! Did you “hear” another name just now? If so, that is our Spiritual Grand Master choosing another name for you. Consider it guidance from on High to use that as your “lady name”. Otherwise you should have heard whatever lady name you wish to go by.]

If you are male: He announces, “I dub thee Brother ___________________ , Cleric of the Rose Cross.” [Important! Did you “hear” another name just now? If so, that is our Spiritual Grand Master choosing another name for you. Consider it guidance from on High to use that as your “brother name”. Otherwise you should have heard whatever clerical name you wish to go by.]

[Please take your sacred cord all the way off, then put it back on, but resting on the right shoulder. Leave it there for a heartbeat or two, then take it off and put it back on the way it was before, resting on your left shoulder. This is so that it comes in contact with each shoulder, the symbol of the sword actually dubbing you.]

Once again the Grand Master speaks: Non nobis, Domine, non nobis…
Everyone in the Chapel including you, answer: Not to us, Lord, not to us…

Grand Master: sed Nomini Tuo da gloriam
Everyone & you: but to thy Name give the glory

This is the official Latin motto of the Knights Templar. Watch this inspiring video of our motto now, then hit replay to play it again while you come back to this page and continue reading below.

Now Sir Ivarr the Marshal of the Order reaches his hand out to you and brings you to your feet. He waves to the Standard Bearer who produces a box and hands it to the Marshal. Sir Ivarr in turn hands this box to you and instructs you to open it. You open the lid slowly with one hand while the other hand holds the box and the rose. Inside is a pair of almost glowing white gloves. [Please visualize this in your “mind’s eye” because as of this moment you are the proud owner of a pair of astral gloves to be used henceforth in your magikal DoT workings. Try in the coming months to find a pair of white cotton gloves in “real life” so that your astral pair can anchor in them and thus become them.]

The Drapier, Lady Arianna, steps up. The Drapier (also called Draper or Quartermaster) is accompanied by Lady Elda, the Under-Drapier, who is holding a dark emerald green cloak which she hands solemnly to Lady Arianna. She furls it open and places the cloak around your shoulders. It is the cloak only worn by the Daughters and Clerics of Tsion. You are grateful for the cover, its folds fall around you, covering your bare legs and you suddenly look presentable again. Now remove the gloves from the box and place the rose inside the box [put your rose back on the altar]. Put the gloves “on.”
[Visualize this, look at your hands and picture them covered with a special white layer of light which clings to them. If by some chance you have a pair of white gloves, NOT winter gloves, but thin cotton ones, get them now and put them on, by all means. When you do so be sure to consecrate them as your DoT gloves by clasping your hands and visualizing the white layer of magik light embedding in them.]

You are a Lady of the Rose Cross, fully cloaked and gloved. Congratulations! The Seneschal Sir James kisses you once on each cheek, right, left and right cheek again in quick succession. This is called the Kiss of Peace, or the tri-fold kiss. Next you are also given the Kiss of Peace by the High Marshal Sir Hauk, and the Marshal Sir Ivarr of York, followed by the Guardian of the Chapel (Sir Kathuros), the Drapier (Lady Arianna), the Bishop-Prioress (Lady +Katia), the Chatelaine, and the Under-Drapier (Lady Elda). It is a like reception line as you are congratulated, welcomed and received into the ancient Order of the Temple. Lastly the Standard Bearer delivers the tri-fold kiss, then (if you are female) offers you his left arm, picks up the standard and leads you out of the chapel into the cool night air.

THE END (see below for important notes and post-ritual instructions and exercises)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Please cut and paste the following and put in an email to the MysterySchool with “DoT Initiation 1 Report” in the Subject line.

Daughters of Tsion First Degree Initiation Report:

1. Mail in your red crosses drawn in the Octagons

2. “I am Sir ________________” Fill in the name of the Knight who came and helped you with your initiation. If you heard no name “spoken” then write Sir John de Troyes.

3. Date of Initiation:

4. Time of Day performed:

5. You were dubbed, Lady ____________

or Brother _______________

POST RITUAL INSTRUCTIONS & EXERCISES:

Your Gloves: If you have a pair of “real” white gloves, be sure to put them in contact with your initiation rose. Keep them on your altar overnight if possible, the rose sandwiched between the gloves as though the gloves are holding it. If you don’t have a literal pair right now but later acquire some, place them with your little cloth bag of rose petals (see below).

Your Rose should be prepared for future use as follows. Pull apart all the petals from it. Lay them on a cookie sheet or somewhere flat and allow them to dry out for a week or two. Place them inside a small cloth bag to be tied or sewn shut and carried at your waist when you do DoT workings. DoT’s wore a belt around the waist from which hung this small bag, a leather purse and another pouch with perhaps herbs or stones. Over the years the petals will eventually break up into fragments, and that is fine. The cloth of your bag will hold the fragments in. If you need help with how to make this we will help you, let us know.

Your Sacred Cord: Mail us your white sacred cord. It had contact with you during the initiation, with each shoulder, we now will put it in contact with the dubbing sword of the order, the exact one shown in the photo. We leave it there for awhile, then send it back to you. You should put it on and wear it awhile to let it transfer the energy from the dubbing to your body. Then you can where it whenever you want (always under your clothes) but should always wear it during Templar operations and battle missions or other school rituals, clergyworkings.
Mail your cord to:
Esoteric Interfaith Church, Inc. Mystery School
7257 NW 4th Blvd #78
Gainesville, FL 32607

Battle Cries: As Templars we steadfastly believe in the Christian Goddess as well as the God. Our battle cries illustrate our fierce loyalty to the often forgotten Goddesses of our Faith. Male Templars of old considered themselves married to Mary, the Queen of Heaven, Sophia the Holy Spirit and Mother of Angels or to Mary Magdalene the Patroness of Chivalry (according to the Roman Catholic Church, not just us). Her name or some form of her name or titles was in every single Battle Cry. “Theotokos Arise!” is the cry we used during your initiation. It means God-bearer Arise! God-bearer (Theotokos in Greek) is a formal title of Mother Mary used especially in Templar times and to this day in the Holy Land, Greece and Russian Orthodox Christian Churches. This Battle Cry is your first password as a Templar. It is pronounced “Thee-oh-TOKE-uss” but the Th at the beginning is like the -th in the word “with”, NOT like the th- in the word “the.” You will need this password to get into the next Templar Study Hall. All lower case and no space between words, you will type in exactly this when it asks for the password: theotokosarise

Our Motto: The Motto of the Order should be memorized too, at least in English, but preferably also in its original Latin form. Watch the inspiring YouTube video again to learn it in Latin forevermore.

Rose Cross Degree: The first degree of Templarism is called the Rose Cross Degree. Rosicrucian concepts were studied and put into practice during this degree. Templarism and Esoteric Christianity gave rise to Rosicrucianism which was born in Germany in the early 1600’s when someone finally gave to the public many (but not all) of the secrets of Templarism’s first degree. The Templars were suppressed in 1307, the Church officially dissolving the Order of the Temple (as heretical) in 1314. For 300 years the teachings of the Rose Cross Degree stayed completely underground to be reborn as Rosicrucianism in the early 1600’s and later as Freemasonry. The higher degrees of Templarism have never been revealed to the public at large, and many of the Rose Cross practices are still for members only. But you have surely heard of the Rosicrucians, they did “go public” yet are still for their own members only. Ah, secrecy. Anyway, you are now a Rosicrucian, a Lady (or Cleric) of the Rose Cross in the manner of the ancient original Rose Cross system. The mark of the Rosicrucians then and now but especially in the 1600’s was to sign R+C after your signature. That is the mark of this Degree, so if you want you may use it after you sign your name. It looks like this, “Lady Katia, R+C” or “Soror Katia, R+C” Soror means sister, Frater would be used by males. This is NOT required, you don’t have to go around signing emails and documents with R+C after your name (even though that’s what they did in the Middle Ages and Renaissance). But you should realize if you sell your soul to anyone or sign your name in blood or something, this is technically part of your signature right now!

Your Cloak: You now own a dark green astral cloak. For now it exists only in the astral plane, and that is quite sufficient for our work. You may wish to someday make yourself one and our Bishop, Seneschal and the Order officers will help you with such a project. In the months to come you will be learning the magik symbols and even drawing your own set. They are fittingly called the Cloak Sigils. So if you ever make a literal cloak you will know which symbols and sigils to use and even where to put them in the cloak.

Cloak exercise: Close your eyes a minute and imagine the cloak around your shoulders. Feel its weight. Notice that if you reach down and open your green DoT cloak, you will see there on the inside lining just next to the edge a long row of symbols and letters. These were used by the Ladies Templar for many things, not the least of which was to project themselves to appear as males in the eyes of outsiders. The embroidered or painted sigils were all in reach of the hands, out of sight on both sides of the inside cloak where it comes together in the front. A Lady would reach her hands slightly inside the cloak opening and finger the appropriate symbol as she came into view by outsiders. If you are having trouble picturing what area of the cloak we’re talking about, picture a long winter coat that you own. Pretend it has a long zipper up the front to close it. Now imagine that you have it on, but it is unzipped. Reach your right hand over to the left side of the zipper about chest level. Are you touching the zipper teeth? Under there, on the side of the fabric that touches your body, where no one can see, is where the sigils would be. This is how the DoT’s finger their cloak sigils. To perform the appear-as-a-male spell, the DoT’s of old would finger the sigil, visualize in their mind the image they wanted to project, then send it outward. Then all would see only a nondescript male person walking along, one of those green or black cloaked Clerics of the Knights Templar. She could even converse, shop, etc. and her magik would disguise her so long as she wore that cloak and those gloves.

Male clerics did not have those particular gender masking sigils sewn into their cloaks and there is one legend of a lady borrowing a cloak from a cleric while hers was drying after being cleaned. She was recognized as a female and barely made it back to the preceptory without being arrested by the town authorities for “masquerading” as a Templar.

It was a different world back then. Only men could go about safely without being molested or kidnapped, and even they were susceptible to foul play from bandits. The slave trade, especially of women and children, was rampant during the Middle Ages. Women who went about alone disappeared quickly, either from capture or foul play. That and the fact that the Church of Rome which virtually controlled all of Europe would NEVER allow “priestesses” in its ranks forced the Templars, way ahead of their time, to use subterfuge. They knew to be successful in their great work they needed both Goddess and God, both masculine and female forces behind them. Now we do not have to conceal our gender, but we do still use those gloves, cloaks and magik sigils.

Now that you are an initiated Templar, you must sign up for the InnerTemplars announcement list.

Now Click Here for a special symbolic “message”