The Secret of Solomons Temple: A Sacred Site or a Metaphor for Enlightenment?

The Secret of Solomon’s Temple:
A Sacred Site or a Metaphor for
Enlightenment?
Philip Gardiner

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is
the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
- Albert Einstein

For centuries, Christians, Freemasons, Jews, Knights Templar and other sects and religions have sought to
uncover the truth behind Solomon’s Temple, and they continue today to fight for control of what they believe
to be the sacred temple site. In fact, scholars and academics have neither confirmed the location nor have
they discovered archaeological remains of the temple, while conspiracy theorists accuse the various
interested parties of covering up the legacy of Solomon, the King of Israel.

Some believe that Solomon’s temple lies beneath the stones of Jerusalem, and therein lies its importance to
today’s world.

The fact is that the teachings of the ancients as revealed through the stories of Solomon and Sheba were
actually a working-through of a psychological process of inner balance. They gave us this teaching in the
only way they knew, through analogy and symbology built around their own worldview. Part of that
symbology was the concept, rather than the actual construction, of Solomon’s Temple.

The research for my book, Gnosis: The Secrets of Solomon’s Temple Revealed, and evidence from other
historians and archaeologists shows that the temple was purely a metaphor and never existed in reality.
According to Professor James Pritchard in his book, Solomon and Sheba:

". . . Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor and Jerusalem were in reality more like villages. . . with small public
buildings and poorly constructed dwellings with clay floors. The objects reveal a material culture, which,
even by the standards of the ancient Near East, could not be judged sophisticated or luxurious. The
‘magnificence’ of the age of Solomon is parochial and decidedly lackluster . . "

Again we find the author David Rohl in his book A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History, claiming
that the temple could not have been built at that time:

"when it comes to the Iron Age (which is purportedly the time of Solomon and his ally, Hiram of Tyre) there
are no stone buildings…. how then did Solomon acquire building expertise from Phoenicia if the Phoenicians
did not have the skill or resources to build stone structures?"

A temple of the magnitude described in religious texts would have had to be an archaeological miracle,
impossible to achieve in the era of its supposed construction. Ruins of a massive edifice with all its fabled,
magnificent surroundings have never been discovered. Excavations have turned up only simple structures in
humble hamlets. Even the location of the temple is hotly debated––it simply cannot be found.

Another clue to the secret of the temple is the discovery that the word Baphomet is derived from the Latin
words for the Temple of Solomon, and Baphomet, the head, is what the Knights Templar were accused of
worshipping. Baphe means immersion and metis means wisdom. Therefore, Baphomet is the immersion of
oneself into wisdom, it is the true temple.

I believe that the writings of Moses, the Prophets and those of all earlier teachers are not to be taken literally,
but figuratively––they contain a secret meaning hidden behind the words. There was no Temple of Solomon,
and there is no archaeological or historical evidence that Solomon or his Queen, Sheba, ever lived. We are
left with only one reason for the telling of the old stories of the king and the temple. The stories are
metaphoric parables meant to teach us, as Solomon and Sheba learned, to balance the male and female
sides of our nature, and the peaceful and aggressive sides of our temperaments. The true temple is built
when the symbolic king and queen are in balance, and that is the lesson of the stories of Solomon and
Sheba––each of us builds our own temple, which is a collection of our experiences, influences and causes of
suffering.

The Lord told his people to build his temple without the use of tools, as it would be an affront to him. His
hidden message was that the temple is the inner reality of the physical and spiritual body. Solomon’s
Temple did not exist. It is a symbol of our own spiritual growth.

If the world’s religious come to understand the true meaning of the temple, one of the reasons for strife and
warfare in our world will fall away.

Now that we know that the Temple of Solomon is a teaching device, a symbol used over the centuries to aid
us in achieving enlightenment, we find that it is as compelling a gift today as it was in the time of the
mythical king.

# # # #

Philip Gardiner is the best selling author of Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon's Temple Revealed, The Shining
Ones and The Serpent Grail (www.gardinersworld.com). Gardiner appears in a new DVD, "Gnosis: The
Secret of Solomon's Temple and Secrets of the Serpent", which features stunning footage taken on his
journey into secret societies and his travels around the world uncovering myths and historic puzzles and
paradoxes. He is also featured in the upcoming Discovery Channel (U.S.) documentary series, "The Secret
History of the Freemasons".

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Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple - Wikipedia
The Temple - Jewish Virtual Library
Templars Excavation of Solomon's Temple - Jewish Virtual Library

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