In “Interpreters in Early Imperial China” (2011), author R. Lung wrote:

“The Sogdian language, of ancient Iranian origin, was widely recognized as the commercial lingua franca on the Silk Road, from Central Asia to Chang’an of imperial China in the first millennium…. Some of its alphabets were even borrowed in the creation of the Turkic language in the eight century…. Sogdians typically grew up speaking at least the Sogdian, Turkic, and Chinese languages”… hence, many Sogdians played the role of interpreters along the Silk Road…

According to Chen’s 2012 book on medieval multicultural China published, Sogdians were not just merchants and interpreters but “entertainers, horse breeders, craftsmen, and transmitters of ideas”… their influx was “a major factor in the cultural history of China”…

[pic Silk Road Religion: …for educational purposes only]

The “Hand-book of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar, State of New York” (1893) claimed:

“The Illustrious Order of the Red Cross is more intimately connected with the Royal Arch Degree, than with the Orders of Knighthood with which it is associated. It is said to have been founded by Darius, King of Persia…to inculcate the almighty force and the importance of Truth…. The principal apartment represents the Audience Chamber of Darius, the King…”

The handbook noted that some of the officers of this Order should wear Persian costumes while others Jewish….

There are banners too… a Banner of the Order of the Red Cross, a Jewish Banner, and a Persian Banner…the Persian banner is described as “white, per fesse, a sun radiant, in the base three crescents, one and two”…both the Jewish and the Persian Banners are used at the bridge…

In the ceremonial parts, the handbook noted that members should ask to be admitted before the “King of kings”…the handbook continued with Biblical stories and lessons from the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE)…

Very interesting, indeed…

Obviously, we’ve covered the relationship between the Achaemenid Persian kings and imperial policies on some two dozen nations under their control as well as the Jewish communities including the foundation of Judaism/Torah (recall that the Jewish Talmud was completed under Sasanian Persian Empire 224-651)… we’ve also discussed how the crescent and the star is not Islamic, but Zoroastrian Iranian… that is, native or indigenous to Iranians… we’ve discussed how the West has always referred to Iranians as the "Children of the Sun" given Iranian indigenous religious and spiritual beliefs… and of course, the title King of Kings is derived from Iranian imperial traditions…Iranians still use the title “Shahanshah” or King of Kings for their kings… and will do so once again when the Globalist Islamo-Marxist usurpers in Tehran are gone... 

[pic New London Regalia: “Persian Bridge Banner”…this banner is similar to what was drawn in the handbook of Knights Templar…for educational purposes only]

Today in 1844, the American poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe criticized the faith of Transcendentalists in human development by arguing that humans are only more active, not happier or wiser, than they were 6000 years ago…

The information on the copyright page of Philip Gura’s (2007) book on Transcendentalism pictured here reads: 

“The figure on the front cover is derived from that on the title page of William B. Greene’s Transcendentalism (1849) and combines symbols from various religious traditions. The central figure depicts the Zoroastrian ‘Farohar,’ its outstretched hand signifying the human soul striving for union with God; the encircling ring symbolizes eternity. The snake represents mankind’s struggle with evil, and the three intersecting circles represent the Christian Trinity.” 

The 19^th c. intellectual movement of Transcendentalism led by notables such as Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosophical phenomenon (a quote by Emerson “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”)… as discussed in past postings, Emerson was a fan of the 14^th c. Persian Sufi poet Hafez (a quote by Hafez: “Don't be surprised at Fortune's turns and twists: That wheel has spun a thousand yarns before”) … 

Sufism is an Iranian movement to counter foreign Islamism dating back to 8^th century post Arab Muslim invasion … Sufis were persecuted by Islamic authorities as heretics… 

The Iranian Zoroastrian Farohar or Farr—referred to in the copyright page—is an indigenous Iranian concept… recall that Iranian peoples are Avestan-Aryans of the Indo-Europeans… Farr is the divine glory that is with a person as long as that person follows Truth / Light … if the person chooses evil deeds then he/she risks losing the personal Farr… the same is true with the Iranian nation … when Iran is under attack or weakened by a fallen leader, its national Farr is retrieved and protected by Indo-Iranian sun god Mithra until a virtuous and legitimate leader steps forward to rescue Iran and its people…

[pic cumberlandtownship: for educational purposes]