The Puzzle of the Garway Font: St Michael’s Church, Garway, Herefordshire

Hidden Numerology and The Perfect Prime

St Michael’s Church in Garway, Herefordshire, was originally a Knights Templar Chapel with a defensive tower and preceptory.

It was later taken over by the Knights Hospitaller who removed most of the circular Templar Nave and replaced it with a rectangular nave. However the Chancel and the ornately decorated Templar Chancel arch remained, with its own unique horned green man carving, to its left hand pillar capital.

The Hospitallers also built a dovecote behind the preceptory, which was reputed to have 666 dove holes, before another doorway was inserted.

The church hosts many odd and interesting symbols, many of which are linked to the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller or the Freemasons.

It is thought that the church site and Templar Complex was chosen due to the pre existing spring, which is still situated to the north-east of the church, dedicated to Saint Michael.

As well as the many carved symbols existing inside and outside, there is a puzzling font which must have been installed in recent centuries, but holds a secret hidden to most.

The Brazen Serpent Upon The Cross

The Font inside the Church dates to recent centuries, and was most likely installed by local Freemasons. It has painted inscribed symbols upon, and holds a wondrous secret in plain sight.

Firstly it is an octagonal font, i.e. eight sided, the Templar Cross was of a symmetrical design of eight equal sides, with their cross occupying the vertical and horizontal sides and meeting at the centre. This therefore shows the link of the design to the Knights Templar, a personal homage to them from the present, and to any Freemasons’ children lucky enough to be baptised in its waters.

Now looking at this font, if you lift the timber font lid, you will notice there are eight Templar Crosses to its top, in blue paint, to each angle; then at each side of the octagon, on the outside of the font, are alternating sets of three triangles, either pointing two up and one down, or two down and one up, in red paint; and then on one side, is a cross, with a serpent, entwined but travelling downward, in blue paint.

This font, when analysed with occult numerology, equates to the perfect prime number '157', unequalled to infinity, or as occultists, Freemasons, and Templars, alike would choose. 

The Octagonal Font with its Brazen Serpent, Cross and Above and Below Triangles

To have the serpent descending from the cross, is also symbolic that God lived again, i.e. came down from the cross, or, more symbolic, that any man's soul who has symbolically or otherwise been on the cross, and symbolically died and has been resurrected, has gone thru the apotheosis that the New Testament Bible story equates to, that a man may ascend to be a god, and hence forth, a being who has took the cross, may descend from it, still alive, after going through a spiritual process / life / ritual, as a god.

The Secret Numerology to the font is that there are eight sides, with three triangles to each side, so 8 x 3 is 24, but they are all triangles with three sides or points, so we multiply again by 3 to 72. 72 is known as the number of names of God and also the number of all the Disciples of Christ.

Remember these triangles are both pointing above and below, so they therefore are pointing both above and below, i.e. they are in opposition, so we should think of God as two, a duality of all opposites, for God is innocent in both good and evil, a bit like the yin yang of eastern mythology, so we have 72 names of God and 72 names of God reversed, a bit like the Tarot, which mean opposites depending upon the way they are orientated, i.e. upward or downward.

So we have 72 up and 72 down, like the Qabalah, and its interpretation with the Tarot, so we have 72 x 2, i.e. 144.

But we have forgotten the 8 Templar crosses to the top of the font, which amount to eight, i.e. there are eight sides to the font, so we add to 144, the number 8, hence 144 + 8 = 152.

The Templar Blue Crosses

But we are not quite there yet, we have missed the 4 pointed cross and serpent descending from it, and what that means, we know a cross has 4 ends, so we add 4 to 152, and get 156.

But who has power over both sides of good and evil or in eastern mythology the yin and yang, both of that which is above or below, the God, so we have the Serpent on that Cross on the font, he is the One, so 156 + 1 is 157, the most perfect prime number and occult number unto infinity!

So if we analyse what 72 x 2 equates to is 144, but also what 78 x 2 equates to is 156, we must remember the Old Testament says God has 72 names, but we must also remember the New Testament says there were 72 Disciples of Christ.

Now think of that, and if we remember traditionally there are 12 main disciples and then there are 5 minor disciples to each of the main disciples or apostles, now stick with me, sadly though Mary Magdalene, the greatest of all disciples, was missed / purposely written out, so if she is to be equated as an apostle, and she has 5 minor disciples with her, then there are not 72 disciples, but 78, 78 x 2, in both aspects is 156, and the Christ, 1, so '157'.

So if we apply this to what went before, God does not have 72 names, but 78, the feminine part has been removed, so therefore it must originally have been 78, and we must remember that a true God is both good and evil, for he is innocence, unlike us, and rules both that above and that below, like the yin yang, and both make him whole, so 78 ascendant, and 78 descendant, and one who forms the centre, makes that God whole, along with the feminine, which sadly the Western and Eastern Worlds for thousands of years have decided to keep out of the story, for whatever reason.

So in the end we may conclude that this font, tells a very important lesson to the viewer, and that, like the Qabalah, God is both good and evil, ruler of both that above, and that below, but being of both, he is the one, and if we follow the teachings of the cross, and the waye of The Christ, and ascend via the cross, and are actually symbolically / spiritually / in the imagination, we take the cross, we may descend from it, as a god, apotheosis, and like the font is used for, be baptised a god, for the secrets are all there in one font, inside one church with far more secrets to the untrained eye, than any being may imagine, for they left Clues for the True Followers.

So remember folks, much is hidden within plain sight, but every so often, there will be a follower who understands all or just one part of what anything inside these ancient structures means, and those who listen to that one and the many others, and all the interpretations, may one day, put it all together in their individualistic enquiring minds, and become like the gods / goddesses / etc.

The Horned Green Man or Baphomet

by Charles E S Fairey, 2019