templar Sanctuaries in north America
Sacred Bloodlines and Secret treasures William Mann, foreword by Scott F Wolter Destiny Books 2016 BIB DEETS 416p (illustrated), ISBN: 9781620555279
Following his previous monographs The Knights Templar in the New World (2004) and The Templar Meridians (2005), William Mann rigorously documents his research into the claim that the secrets of the Templars found residency within the ritual practices of the Anishinabe and Algonquin peoples of North America.
Mann endeavours to look at the issues surrounding the dispersal of this secret knowledge by looking at some more familiar territory such as the Merovingian bloodline, the activities of such personages as Prince Henry Sinclair, the political wrangling between vying European political dynasties and monastic orders from the mediæval period onwards, and Masonic history. At the heart of his research is Mann himself; he claims descent from both Sinclair and Native American bloodlines.
Less familiar to the reader may well be the premise upon which Mann bases his quest for the Templar secrets. Using two key works by the artists Nicolas Poussin (‘The Shepherds of Arcadia’) and David Teniers (‘St Anthony and St Paul Fed by Ravens’), he applies techniques of speculative cartography and forensic navigational histories to ascertain the whereabouts of the hidden North American Templar sanctuaries. Interwoven into the body of his journey are cultural, historical and philosophical surveys that take in the Classical world to the contemporary, ostensibly in support of his historical claim.
For my part I found the book rather confusing, as knowledge of the author’s previous works is assumed, and the reader is never given a clear idea as to the nature of the Templar secrets and why they may be of any importance. The condensed history is, at times, stodgy and the archæological and cartographical material somewhat obtuse.
This is a book for a reader who has worked through other Grail myth and bloodline exposés and now wishes to engage with more recognisable scholarship and genealogical research.
Templar Sanctuaries may well appear to readers familiar with the broad strokes of the subjects discussed as a rather wordy and demanding introduction to what is still an ongoing source of mystery and intrigue for many.
However, Mann’s enthusiasm for his subject and his position within it is evident and commendable.
Fortean Times Verdict
enthuSiAStic But confuSing StuDy of AMeRicAn teMplARS 4