At the flickering dawn of the Middle Ages a Jewish Kingdom emerged in southern France, ruled by Jewish kings for 150 years. This is the virtually unknown tale of the first of these Jewish kings, whose astounding accomplishments and intellectual brilliance led him to be fervently hailed by his subjects, for very good reason, as the long-awaited Messiah. He was, impossible though it might seem, uncle to Charlemagne himself; consequently, his blood-line was intermingled with that of the Carolingian kings of France. He fought alongside Charlemagne, expanding his realm manifold, to the fury of the Pope, who regarded the existence of any Jewish kingdom in Europe to be an abomination. This epic novel, unearthed from medieval tomes in Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, French, and German, holds the reader from first page to last, as the king, step by step, fulfills each of the prophecies for the coming of the Messiah despite every obstacle hurled in his path.

A curious thing happened to Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins when they published Rex Deus, their first book on the bloodline of Christ: they were contacted by a man from the very lineage they were studying. And instead of denying the existence of the bloodline or berating them for revealing secrets, he actually confirmed that the Rex Deus lineage exists and even disclosed some of its fundamental secrets. The story of the Rex Deus families, direct descendents of Christ--who is believed to have survived the crucifixion?turns out to be much more extensive than the authors first thought. Instead of beginning during the time of Jesus, it stretches far back into antiquity, to the Egyptian Mystery Schools. Instead of being only a propagation of the holy bloodline, the Rex Deus families are also carriers of the secret teachings of Jesus. Custodians of Truth reveals the purpose and secrets of the Rex Deus lineage. Jesus was not only a holy man, but an adept of ancient knowledge, which informed his own teachings. This secret knowledge was suppressed by the Church in their voracious quest for power and influence in the secular world. These teachings have manifested throughout history in different forms--Gnostic philosophy around the time of Jesus, the Order of the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and the current resurgence of interest in New Age thought. Finally, the time is right for the hidden message of Jesus to be revealed--a message of tolerance, brotherhood, and respect for nature. The next chapter in the legend of the Holy Grail and the bloodline of Christ-from the best-selling authors of Rosslyn.

The Truth is the award-winning first book in The Oracle Institute foundational trilogy. It presents a summary of the divine messages sent to us by God through the Prophets. When studied successively, these spiritual lessons form a "Tower of Truth" that should not be broken or interpreted along sectarian lines. Instead, these Truths should be assimilated into a contemporary spiritual and scientific database and shared by everyone, regardless of religious affiliation.The Truth explores the five primary religions that evolved after the Prophets died: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, to determine whether these manmade religions have remained faithful to the Truth, including the primordial Truth that God is half masculine and half feminine energy. The Truth reveals that mankind has built a "Tower of Babel" with God's messages. Moreover, these now ancient religions have polarized humanity and brought us to the brink of World War III. The book also includes an objective template for measuring the adequacy of any religion, and an Appendix that shows the nexus between politics and religion and politics thought human history.

“A fable of fantastical lushness” unfolds as two women meet in a small Spanish town in this novel from the acclaimed author of Septimania (The New York Times Book Review). Holland and Hanni have come to Spain for two very different reasons. They have nothing in common except their mysterious travel agent Ben. But they soon discover much deeper connections. Stranded overnight because of an airport strike, Hanni and Holland come to realize they share a strange web of history and happenstance―a common labyrinth that stretches back to World War II, the Spanish Inquisition, and beyond. A Guide for the Perplexed is a collection of the letters these women write to their mysterious, unseen travel agent―a long night’s worth of confessions, a tapestry of tales chasing tales, including an untold saga of Columbus’s voyage to the New World, stories of war and lost loves, lost children, lost Jews, and the true origins of baseball. Combining the erudition of Umberto Eco with the ingenious storytelling of A Thousand and One Nights, Jonathan Levi weaves together a provocative reimagining of the discovery of America in this inventive debut novel.

Dhuoda of Septimania was a remarkable Carolingian aristocrat who wrote a Liber Manualis of biblically based practical directions for her at times wayward warrior son. Her method of interpreting the Bible is of special interest. The meaning of the ancient Old Testament texts opened up for her not through allegory, as it did for Origen, but through a sense of experience shared across the centuries. The tales of the religious experiences of Israel were seen by her as family experiences, involving a sense of genuine continuity. Or, from another direction, she used the concrete experiences of her life to find a special meaning in the biblical text. Mayeski explores this approach in considerable detail through Dhuoda's interpretation of the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman in Matthew 15:21-25 and Mark 7:24-30. Interpreting it for her son, she speaks of the encouragement that can be found there in the way that God supplies the food of grace to those who persist in seeking it. She also uses the beatitudes as an outline of a treatise on her son's responsibilities as a member of the ruling class. Underlying her practical bent is the vision of human life as a journey toward the kingdom of God, with its need for alertness and its sense of motion.

The Psalms were an important part of the education, daily life, and spiritual development of medieval clerics and monks, and they had a significant impact on lay culture as well. The Place of the Psalms in the Intellectual Culture of the Middle Ages surveys their influence, giving a unique window into the intellectual, spiritual, and emotional culture of the period.

The structures of the late ancient Visigothic kingdom of Iberia were rooted in those of Roman Hispania, Santiago Castellanos argues, but Catholic bishops subsequently produced a narrative of process and power from the episcopal point of view that became the official record and primary documentation for all later historians. The delineation of these two discrete projects—of construction and invention—form the core of The Visigothic Kingdom in Iberia. Castellanos reads documents of the period that are little known to many Anglophone scholars, including records of church councils, sermons, and letters, and utilizes archaeological findings to determine how the political system of elites related to local communities, and how the documentation they created promoted an ideological agenda. Looking particularly at the archaeological record, he finds that rural communities in the region were complex worlds unto themselves, with clear internal social stratification little recognized by the literate elites.

Unsolved mysteries surround the remarkable men known as the Templars. Their ancient origins go back much further than their well-known adventures in the Middle East in the twelfth century. They knew that ancient secrets were waiting to be rediscovered and, perhaps, reactivated. They could generate labyrinthine codes - and decipher those that others had created in the remote past. But no real understanding of Templarism is possible without examining what became of their noble order after the treacherous attack of 1307. King Philip le Bel did not succeed in destroying all Templars - many escaped, including their fleet. Where did they go? Where are they now? What are their continuing purposes today?

Arranged alphabetically, with a brief introduction that clearly defines the scope and purpose of the book. Illustrations include maps, B/W photographs, genealogical tables, and lists of architectural terms.