Progressive Grand Commandery F&AAYM Georgia

05/10/2026

Thank you for all that you do 🙏

04/10/2026

Be prepared for difficult times ahead.

04/10/2026

Time to clean those closets out!!! Please help us for the whole month of May as we collect as much clothing as possible in Georgia to help those in need. Working directly with Hope for Domestic Violence and Nspire Outreach , we are asking everyone to reach out and let us know where we can pick up! Thank you for your help!! M.W. Smooth Ashlar Grand Lodge F&AAYM

04/05/2026

Easter is a hallowed day in the Templar calendar. Marking as it does the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Easter represents the summit of all hopes of our Christian Faith.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Yes we do.

Happy Easter from Progressive Grand Commandery of the State of Georgia.

03/17/2026

You're Welcome to Join Us!

12/24/2025

A Merry Templar Christmas to you all!!! But hang on a moment – how would a Knight Templar have celebrated Christmas? Think I need to shed some light on this…

What’s not to like about Christmas these days? The decorations, pudding, cake, fir tree decked with lights, Santa Claus and his little elves. Now imagine a Christmas without any of these things. Then you’re getting closer to Yuletide at the time of the Knights Templar!

A Templar Christmas with all the trimmings!

So – key points for celebrating Christmas Templar style:

Advent is not about calendars popping open a day at a time with a chocolate sweet behind each little door. No – Advent is about fasting before Christmas. Oh yes – no goodies and plenty of hunger pangs. You’re preparing yourself for Christ’s arrival on earth so no binge eating and lots of prayer.

Christmas in pagan Roman times was the festival of Saturnalia where slaves and masters swapped roles for a day. This tradition mutated under Christianity into a curious practice where boys were made bishops for a day. The boy-bishops would deliver silly sermons – in one recorded instance saying that all school teachers should be hanged!

Deck your cottage or halls with holly and ivy but you won’t find a single Christmas tree in medieval Europe. And certainly not one covered in lights with a fairy on top.

No turkey on the table because these birds only arrived in Europe after Christopher Columbus discovered America. So, you had goose, beef, lamb and….the king might have enjoyed a peacock (Richard II of England certainly did). An aristocratic feast would most likely have featured a boar’s head as the centrepiece.

Thanks to the crusades, spices from the Middle East began to appear on medieval tables. We’re used to cinnamon flavouring but this was a newcomer. Ditto marzipan – another import from the exotic lands where the Knights Templar were doing battle.

Mince pies were made with mince – and flavoured with the aforementioned spices from the East.
Spices also featured in a drink called Wassail – drunk from a huge wassailing bowl. The bowl might be taken door to door for villagers to have a glug. Wassail was a very spicy form of cider that would have appeared like stewed apple. The word Wassail comes from the Saxon/Old English for “good health” – in case you were wondering.

Christmas was first recorded as a word around 1038 and meant a religious mass to celebrate the birth of Christ. That meant going to church. It was obligatory. But singing carols was regarded as a bit of a nuisance by the church authorities – too much rowdiness it seems.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving/Indigenous People Day. Whichever you celebrate, enjoy your day and your holiday weekend. ⚔️

11/11/2025

Thank you to all the veterans 🙏

11/01/2025

New website updates! Just added a page of about 70 free Knights Templar pdf books. Go have a look! Also added a new gallery tab and some more in-depth info on the home page. Enjoy!!

Knights Templar Books ILLUSTRATED RITUALAddison C G – History of Knights Templar the Temple Church and the Temple 1842Addison C G – The Knights Templars 1852Addison C G – The Temple church 1843Agar Mrs – The Knights of the Cross – 1858Amblelain R Templars & Rose CroixAnon – The Templar 1...

10/24/2025

Happy Birthday to Grand Standard Bearer Sir Knight Octavious Williams!!! ⚔️

10/24/2025

Wishing our Grand Junior Warden Sir Knight Tony Carthan a Happy Birthday!!