266 FROM THE ART OF BUILDING TO THE ART OF THINKINGThe most notable displays of their interest were the Congress of the
Gauls held in Lyon in 1778 and the Wilhelmsbad Congress held in
- Primarily under the impetus of J. B. Willermoz, who was perhaps
the best informed and most active Freemason of that time, the research
arrived at the conclusion that Freemasonry was related to the Templar
Order, such as it was at the time of its founding. The Rectified Scottish
Rite and the Order of the Benevolent Knights of the Holy City emerged
from these conclusions. Freemasonry was therefore oriented toward
chivalry in the best sense of the word, but the rituals of the new rite
approved in Wilhelmsbad showed proof, unfortunately, of an almost
complete misunderstanding of the operative tradition. The implemen-
tation of this system was not negligible on the spiritual and philosoph-
ical planes, however, especially in Germany. But Freemasonry
nevertheless continued to evolve primarily in a state of disorder and at
the whim of unbridled imaginations.
The famous Philalethan Congress held in Paris from 1785 to 1787
provides the perfect picture of the complete confusion to which all
eventually succumbed. It called upon eminent Freemasons from all
lands and all rites to convene "to discuss and clarify the most essential
points of the doctrine, the origin, and the historical affiliation of the
true masonic science." Each of these seasoned brothers, who came from
all points on the horizon, brought with him his own pertinent opinion.
The resulting understanding generally agreed upon was that
Freemasonry was the "original religion" handed down from such
diverse sources as King Arthur, Richard I, Ramon Lulle, the Gnostics
and the School of Alexandria, the Templars (as instructed by Judas of
Galilee, disciple of the hermit Banon), Pythagoras, Plato, Jesus Christ
and the Apostles, the Persian philosopher Each-Ben-Mohammed-
Eleansi, Ormus, the Egyptians, the Benedictines, the Rosicrucians,
Zoroaster, Abbaris, Channondas, Eudoxus, Hermippis, Hermes
Trismegistus, Porphyrus, Plotinus, Proclus, Jamblique, the priesthood
schools of India, the Gauls, the Hebrews, the Essenes, and the Persian
magi.^22 The Temple of Solomon had been transformed into the Tower
of Babel.
Only a single brother, one of the most eminent in attendance, Baron
von Gleichen, made any allusion to operative masons—but only for the