The Johannite Heresy: Another candidate for the gnostic heresy at the heart of the Templars is that they - or the inner circle - were Johannites. Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln, discussing the Templars' alleged worship of the head-shaped Baphomet idol, write: http://www.templeofmysteries.com/the-knights-templar/the-johannite-heresy/
"Recent speculation had linked the head, at least tentatively, with the severed head of John the Baptist; and certain writers have suggested that the Templars were 'infected' with the Johannite or Mandaean heresy - which denounced Jesus as a 'false prophet' and acknowledged John as the true Messiah. In the course of their activities in the Middle East the Templars undoubtedly established contact with Johannite sects, and the possibility of Johannite tendencies in the Order is not altogether unlikely. But one cannot say that such tendencies obtained for the Order as a whole nor that they were a matter of official policy."
One of the suggested origins of the name 'Baphomet' is that it derives from 'Baptist' or 'baptism'. Indeed, some of the Templar knights told the Inquisition that the head-idol was the head of John the Baptist. This idea was taken up by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, who argue in The Templar Revelation (1997) that Johannitism was the great secret of the Templars. Johannites - as the above quote shows - consider that John the Baptist was the 'true Christ' and the Jesus was a usurper of his role and authority. They are still represented today by a people known as the Mandaeans - the world's only surviving gnostic religion - who were, until the Gulf War, largely confined to the southern marshes of Iraq and Iran, having migrated into that area many centuries ago. When they were first encountered by Christian missionaries in the 18th century, they were named 'St John's Christians', although this is a radical misnomer. In fact, the Mandaeans regard Jesus as a false prophet who took over John's rightful position and, in their words, perverted his religion. The Mandaeans do not worship John the Baptist in the way that Christians worship Jesus, but venerate him as one of the great teachers or prophets of their religion. One of their sacred books is the Book of John, and baptism forms an important part of all their rituals, which are carried out in pools that they call 'Jordans'. They also use a system of ritual handshakes and grips. Picknett and Prince go further, making a link between the Mandaeans and the 'church' founded by John the Baptist - the existence of which is, astonishingly, acknowledged in the Acts of the Apostles. It is assumed that the religion founded by John was either suppressed by or absorbed into the early Christian Church. However, Picknett and Prince argue that it did, in fact, survive, and that it has come down to us in the form of the Mandaeans. In relation to the Mandaeans' hostility towards Jesus, Picknett and Prince point out that many New Testament scholars now believe that, despite the impression given in the Gospels, Jesus and John the Baptist were actually rivals.
Here is a small selection of their books:
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince - The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ
Lynn Picknett - Secret History of Lucifer
Lynn Picknett - Mary Magdalene: Christianity’s Hidden Godess
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince - The Masks of Christ. Behind the Lies and Cover-ups About the Life of Jesus
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince - The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth about Extraterrestrial life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince - Double Standards: The Rudolff Hess Cover-Up
Edmundo Lupieri - The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics
Reincarnation-Trap Earth - https://archive.org/details/mokshafromearth.freedomfromarchonsreincarnationtrapssoultrapsandfalselightheavens
E.S. Drower - Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis
!!! MUST WATCH - Psychic project on "Freedom from Soul-Loosh Harvesting"!!! https://odysee.com/@SergeantSchultz:2/Samsara-and-Rebirth:b
