The Templar's Secret Island , The Knights, The Priest and the Treasure (Bornholm, Denmark )

The DaVinci Code spurred my interest in this subject, and seeing a book titled The Templars' Secret Island; how could I not pick it up? While this book does deliver what it promises, it makes you work the entire way. If you're expecting a mystical tale of an enchanted secret island, this isn't it. The first four chapters are a dry, thorough history of the Baltic, then the fun starts: the geometry and positioning of the churches, which IS quite exciting, but it's presented again in a rather dry, technical way. Pretty good photographs, drawings, and maps do bring a bit more life to the story, but in my opinion it could have been twice as long, and better described the driving factors of events in a more human way rather than just chaining events together. Not to say the author didn't do a fantasic job researching the topic and recording his findings. Ultimately, I'd love to see a Discovery Channel special on this topic. :o)

Many times truth is far more fantastic than fiction. Such is the case of the history and speculation found within the covers of "The Templars' Secret Island". The tale is that of the 12th century confederacy of Templar Grand Master Bertrand de Blanchefort, Bernard of Clairvaux, and a Danish bishop to maintain a fabulous secret. Authors Erling Haagensen and Henry Lincoln compellingly write of their ten year study leading to the "re-discovery" of "secrets which it would once have been perilous - even fatal - to disclose", and "uncover an advanced wisdom and insight into nature and its laws which go far beyond anything we have, thus far, believed to be in the possession of our forefathers". Templar culture enthusiasts already know of Berenger Sauniere who found four parchments in a pillar of his church in 1891. Haagensen and Lincoln explore the meaning of the geometric forms revealed in that parchment. They realize that the pattern is the same as the structuring of the landscape around the village of Rennes-le-Chateau. They also explore in great detail the fifteen stone churches of the island of Bornholm, a small island in the Baltic Sea, and their relationship to Rennes-le-Chateau, and to the tunnels beneath Mount Sion in Jerusalem. Nowhere outside of Jerusalem is there such a density of churches of the specific architecture found on Bornholm. Why? Evidence suggests that the edifices were not merely places of worship, but likely had a defensive, military purpose. Numerology, geometry, astronomy, hermeticism, papal intrigue, and Marion Conspiracy theories: (Oh my!). The authors explore all of these in the context of this small Danish island, and conclude that Bornholm "was laid out with absolute precision as a teaching aid...unknown, remote, unlikely to be disturbed, not rich enough or big enough to attract any errant warrior intent on carving out a kingdom". What were they protecting? Scientific knowledge? Alchemy? The Ark of the Covenant? " A combination of religion and of a science which would have been viewed as heresy in the Middle Ages"? This academic, archeologic, architectural and mathematical journey spans Europe and the Middle East, and is awesomely mesmerizing and complex. It makes The DaVinci Code read like childs play.

The work describes medieval links of Scandinavia, France and Jerusalem. The author declares that the "wise man affirms nothing he cannot prove" . The volume attempts to explain the uniqueness of Bornholm churches in all of Denmark by reference to the worship of Christ and military applications/uses. The theory of magical art consists of the gotham circle, sides, diagonals, squares and circumference. The author believes that human knowledge cannot be lost once acquired. The presentation of Olsker and Vestermarie encompasses the image of the Star of David. Theoretical coordinates within 45 Bornholm are set forth mathematically. Hypothesis is likened to the poetry of science. This work is highly theoretical with a language and tradition of its own.