The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven

by James Wasserman

Book Overview

* An examination of the interactions of the Christian Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins, and of the profound changes in Western society that resulted. * Restores the reputation of the secret Muslim order of the Assassins, disparaged as the world's first terrorist group. * Dispels many myths about the Knights Templar and provides the most incisive portrait of them to date. A thousand years ago Christian battled Muslim for...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 089281859X
• ISBN13: 9780892818594
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Destiny Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A valuable resource and a lot more

Let's start with I really liked this book even though I was expecting it to be something else. I picked it up looking for a good read about tough guys in robes and armor and sexy secret rites--maybe Dune Redux sans the worms. What I got was a balanced, information- packed discussion of the rise and fall of the Assassins set in the context of the development of Islam, what happened during the Crusades, and who and what were the Knights Templar and why we still care.Admittedly this is a lot of material to pack into fewer than 300 pages of actual prose and sometimes the going is thick. Wasserman knows a vast amount about his subject and is beyond eager to share it. But in the end this surfeit of information works for us; a reader comes away with an appreciation of the complex religious history behind a part of today's Islamic politics. We also learn what there is to be known of the Templars: a chilling tale of battle, faith, greed, betrayal and suffering taking place against a backdrop of the medieval Papacy and royal courts.I'm oversimplifying in a big way here but underlying thesis of the book is that the roots much of contemporary Western esotericism can be found in the exposure ot the Christian Knights Templar to Islamic mysticism as embodied by the Assassins as well as to Gnostic esoteric tradtions. During the Crusader centuries these three great schools came together to create the basis of what the author calls the Western Mystery Tradition.James Wasserman, who apparently is an occultist of considerable reputation, comes across as a very clean and scrupulous writer. He says flat out whether he is speculating about something or referring to source material and what that source material is. The guy has major opinions about a number of things, some of them pretty controversial, but you know it when he's airing them. This was a fine, thoughtful, and thought provoking book about a complex period and alien religious/philosophic traditions. It proved fascinating. I hope Wasserman writes more about all this and soon.

Superb study!

Superb study! I have read almost everything available on both theKnights Templar and the Assassins. I believe this may be the best.Certainly I wish I had read it first. What is particularly interestingis the scholarly level of historical accuracy the author strives tomaintain (only the facts, Ma'am) - while not losing the incredibleromance and sense of magic that pervades these two secret societies. Itis also the first book I know to study the two orders as reflections ofthe same spirit, the Holy Warrior, killing in the Name of his God, butcalling that God by different names. I am slightly amazed at thehostility expressed in some of the other reviews here. I wonder if theyread the book or just hate the O.T.O. enough to try and hurt the author.Great book here. Read it and learn. Read it and enjoy.

Excellent!

This is an excellent book. The author is uniquely qualified to offerthis new and exciting study of the Knights Templar and the Assassins,which highlights the points of convergence between them. It is writtenfrom the point-of-view of a longtime member of an occult society thatclaims derivation from the interaction between Christians and Muslimsduring the Crusades. At the same time, the author states hisdetermination to adhere to the most authoritative and scholarly sourcesfor his research.Legends assert that the Templars were infused with Assassin doctrinesleading them to the anti-Christian heresy for which they were destroyedby the political and religious authorities of their day. The historicalbasis for such claims are carefully explored. Convincing evidence isprovided to buttress the long held theory that the interaction of thesetwo groups contributed to the Renaissance and the flourishing of theoccult arts in the West -- as Templar survivors carried the secretteachings into an underground from which sprang both Rosicrucianism,modern Masonry, and the disclosure of the essence of Kabbalah.While many authors have either uncritically repeated misinformation orinvented their own fancies to embellish history, Wasserman hasscrupulously sought to tell an accurate story based on scholarly sourcesthat reads as far more fascinating than fictionThis is a mature work whose historical accuracy lends credibility to itsspiritual conclusions. It is a must read for anyone who has sufferedeither the tedium of the scholar or the fantasies of the lunatic fringe.

As timely as today's headlines..

A searing portrait of the Crusades, as timely as today's headlines.I found this book to be an invaluable look into the minds and structureof the premier "terrorist" group in history, written well before thefateful attacks of September 11, 2001.The roots of the organizational structure of modern terrorist groupslike al-Qaeda reach back a thousand years to the Persian and SyrianAssassins under Hasan-i-Sabah. At the same time, the differences in themethodology and beliefs of the ancient Assassins seem to justify theauthor's clear enthusiasm for this ancient brotherhood.The Assassin doctrines and methods are presented here in a clear andcomprehensible manner. Unlike today's indiscriminate mass murderersclaiming divine sanction for their psychotic behavior, the Assassinswere respectful of human life. Those targeted in their 200 year campaignwere those responsible for the attacks against Assassin interests. BinLaden is deluded if he thinks he has inherited the Assassin mantle.Highly recommended.

Scholarly yet readable examination

"The richness of the historical truths of the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar intertwine inexorably with the myths that have stimulated the imagination of countless minds through the centuries. Both the Assassins and Templars were destroyed as heretics some seven hundred years ago." Thus begins the latest book by James Wasserman, "The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven" . Like many other researchers and practitioners of the Western Esoteric Tradition, I too have had a long and continuous interest in the "myths" of both of these groups, not least of all since I was born in Tripoli, Lebanon, which still has a Templar Fort as a landmark. Both groups shared a very similar structure, and were said to be guardians of initiatic wisdom (Wasserman supports the idea that the Templars were transformed by an infusion of this Wisdom from the Assassins). Both groups embody intriguing archetypes: the noble group of warrior monks devoted to a higher purpose (the Templar motto was "Not for our Glory but for yours O Lord") which supposedly later degenerated into a powerful elite that snubbed political and religious authority and then was sacrificed on a funeral pyre from whose ashes many branches of the Western initiatic societies claim lineage. In the case of the Assassins it is the darker archetype of the secret society using drugs to gain recruits, and deliberately molding them for political purposes by utilizing them as agents employing the method now synonymous with their name: "assassination". According to Brocardus, a 14th-century German priest, "The Assassins...sell themselves, are thirsty for human blood, kill the innocent for a price, and care nothing for either life or salvation. Like the devil, they transfigure themselves into angels of light, by imitating the gestures, garments, languages, customs and acts of various nations and peoples; thus, hidden in sheep's clothing, they suffer death as soon as they are recognized." There are so many unanswered mysteries surrounding both orders , it is little wonder that there is a ready public hungry for the newest addition to the voluminous literature which often glamorizes these groups or merely repeats the mythos of secret initiatic teachings and the "hidden hand" which created Freemasonry , and even international banking . A detailed overview of both groups which leads us through the labyrinthine turnings to one of the best examinations of the historical reality and context of both orders. Wasserman acknowledges the help of such eminent scholars as Peter Lamborn Wilson (also known as the delightful Hakim Bey). For the first time we have access, in English to the document "In Praise of the New Knighthood" by St Bernard of Clairvaux, who supervised the writing of the Rule of the Templars. Originally appearing as a preliminary investigation in "The Equinox 3, No 10", the author openly states his 25 year affiliation with the OTO. However he has truly fleshed out this earlier draft a