Central to the charges brought against the Knights Templar was the accusation that they worshipped an idol named Baphomet, said to be a head or skull.
"Public indignation was aroused by...charges of ...worshipping the devil in the form of an idol called Baphomet." Baphomet was "the Templar symbol of Gnostic rites based on phallic worship and the power of directed will. The androgynous figure with a goat's beard and cloven hooves is linked to the horned god of antiquity, the goat of Mendes." - Peter Tompkins, The Magic of Obelisks
"In the Inquisition evidence there are several references to members of the order receiving on initiation a little cord that had been in contact with the 'head'." - Ian Wilson, The Shroud of Turin - The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?
The idol was described by Philip the Fair as:
During The Trial of the Templars in 1307 Brother Jean Taillefer of
Genay gave evidence. He "was received into the order at Mormant,
one of the three perceptories under the jurisdiction of the Grand
Priory of Champagne at Voulaine. He said at his initiation 'an idol
representing a human face' was placed on the altar before him.
Hughes de Bure, another Burgundian from a daughter house of
Voulaine, described how the 'head' was taken out of a cupboard, or
aumbry, in the chapel, and that it seemed to him to be of gold or
silver, and to represent the head of a man with a long beard. Brother
Pierre d'Arbley suspected that the 'idol' had two faces, and his
kinsman Guillaume d'Arbley made the point that the 'idol' itself, as
distinct from copies, was exhibited at general chapters, implying that
it was only shown to senior members of the order on special
occasions."
"The treasurer of the Paris temple, Jean de Turn, spoke of a painted
head in the form of a picture, which he had adored at one of these
chapters."
"Nearly all the brethren agreed that the head was bearded and had
long hair, and the Templars, like the majority of their contemporaries,
regarded long hair as effeminate, so the length of the 'idol's hair was
remarkable for this, if for no other reason." - Noel Currer-Briggs, The Shroud and the Grail
According to the most consistent accounts, the idol was:
"...about the natural size of a man's head, with a very
fierce-looking face and beard." - Deposition of Jean Tallefer
The mysterious object at one of the Templars' Paris ceremonies was:
It is possible that the head idol was intended to represent the severed
head of John the Baptist, based on allegations that he was revered by
the Order. The Templars took part in the sack of Constantinople
during the Fourth Crusade in 1203-4. Robert de Clari described the
opulence and numerous relics at the sacred chapel of the Boucoleon
Palace, amongst them supposedly the head of John the Baptist.
"A man's head with a large beard, which head they kiss and
worship at all their provincial chapters, but this not all the
brothers know, save only the Grand Master and the old ones." - Philip's instructions to his seneschals
"brought in by the priest in a procession of the brethren with
lights; it was laid on the altar; it was a human head without any
silver or gold, very pale and discolored, with a grizzled beard like
a Templars." - Stephen of Troyes
"INQUISITOR: Now tell us about the head.
BROTHER RAOUL: Well, the head. I've seen it at seven chapters
held by Brother Hugh de Peraud and others.
INQUISITOR: What did one do to worship it?
BROTHER RAOUL: Well, it was like this. It was presented, and
everyone threw himself on the ground, pushed back his cowl,
and worshipped it.
INQUISITOR: What was its face like?
BROTHER RAOUL: Terrible. It seemed to me that it was the face
of a demon, of a mauf [evil spirit]. Every time I saw it I was
filled with such terror I could scarcely look at it, trembling in all
my members." - from M. Michelet, Pros des Templiers
Based upon the idol's description as a "demon" having "very fierce-looking face and beard", the idol very likely could have been Asmodeus, the "daemon guardian" who helped Solomon build his Temple. A statue of the demon guards the door of the parish church at Rennes-le-Chateau.
"We found indisputable evidence for the charge of secret ceremonies involving a head of some kind. Indeed the existence of such a head proved to be one of the dominant themes running through the Inquisition records. Among the confiscated goods of the Paris preceptory a reliquary in the shape of a head was found. It was hinged on top, and contained what appeared to have been relics of a peculiar kind." - Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
"Herodotus (4:26) speaks of the practice in the obscure Issedones of gilding a head and sacrificing to it. Cleomenes of Sparta is said to have preserved the head of Archonides in honey and consulted it before undertaking an important task. Several vases of the fourth century BC in Etruria depict scenes of persons interrogating oracular heads. And the severed head of the rustic Carians which continues to 'speak' is mentioned derisively by Aristotle." - Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
A similar tradition could be found in the Celtic cult of the severed head which figured predominently in Peredur, a Welsh romance about the Holy Grail.
"A great lady of Maraclea was loved by a Templar, a Lord of Sidon; but she died in her youth, and on the night of her burial, this wicked lover crept to the grave, dug up her body and violated it. Then a voice from the void bade him return in nine months time for he would find a son. He obeyed the injunction and at the appointed time he opened the grave again and found a head on the leg bones of the skeleton (skull and crossbones). The same voice bade him 'guard it well, for it would be the giver of all good things', and so he carried it away with him." - Ward, Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods
"In 1247, Emperor Baldwin II (who helped establish the Templars in Jerusalem) exchanged pieces of the Shroud of Turin with the Abbey of Vizelay for the purported body of Mary Magdalene. A secret tradition states that the Magdalene was Jesus' wife and bore Jesus' offspring to Southern France. There she was revered as a medium of occult revelation." - Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal
The skull [or head] has often been featured in famous paintings.
There is an ancient church in the village of Rennes le Chateau in the South of France the interested readers will want to learn more about. Inscribed above the entrance - "Terribilis est locus iste" [This Place Is Terrible]. The unique artwork within includes the following - and much more.
