Topic: Ophites

The origins of the term "Gemini" and the "purple trade" are linked to organized crime consortiums in the ancient Mediterranean, including the Phoenicians. Dr. Hillman discusses the "Ophite" Christians, a sect that reportedly incorporated the consumption of semen into their rituals to transfer power. He also connects these practices to the Knights Templar and the worship of Baphomet, suggesting a continuity of "baptism" as a chemical dyeing and initiation process.

Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, a 19th-century orientalist, argued that the Templars practiced Ophite Gnosticism, a sect associated with snake worship. His research, which has been largely dismissed by modern scholars who cannot read the original Latin, describes bizarre relics featuring androgynous beings and ritualistic orgies. Tracy Twyman successfully tracked down two of these controversial artifacts in the British Museum's private archives.