Editing Father of Understanding

{{Era|Culture|Isu|Templars}}
{{Update|the [[Assassin's Creed (series)|''Assassin's Creed'' series]] and ''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]''}}
{{Quote|May the Father of Understanding guide you.|Masun, writing the Templar blessing to a Masyaf basket weaver, 1191 CE|Assassin's Creed|Pickpocketing (Masun)}}
The '''Father of Understanding''' is a title originating in the [[Isu]] [[Isu Era|Era]]. Originally part of a triad of titles, alongside the [[Mother of Wisdom]] and the [[Sacred Voice]], the [[Order of the Ancients]] took these titles and its holders as divine beings to worship until being reformed into the [[Templars|Templar Order]]. Subsequently, the "Father of Understanding" became a subject often mentioned in reverence by Templars, particularly during ritual ceremonies, blessings or as a form of greeting to one another.

==Symbolism and reverence==
It is unknown what the title symbolized in the Isu Era. Following the [[Great Catastrophe]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[In Bocca al Lupo]]</ref> the Father of Understanding, along with the [[Mother of Wisdom]] and the [[Sacred Voice]], was adopted as a Trinity of Deities by a secretive religious cabal, the Order of the Ancients. During the Ancient World, the Order of the Ancients strictly revered them as divine beings in secluded temples throughout the Old World. It was not until the rise of an early incarnation of the Templar Order, founded by [[Alfred the Great]], that this trinitarian practice was abolished for being regarded as ''"pagan blasphemies"''<ref name="ThePoorFellowSoldier">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[The Poor Fellow-Soldier]]</ref>. 

By the time the [[Templar Order]] became a public monastic order, only reverence for the Father of Understanding remained. In addition to its religious significance<ref name="ThePoorFellowSoldier" />, the title also came to allude to the principle of order that the Templars embraced. As part of Templar dogma, it not only served as a reverence for a divine supreme being, but also as the "divinely" logic the Templars appeal to in their ambition to shepherd and transform the [[Earth|world]] and humanity as a whole into an [[New World Order|eternally peaceful utopia]] which blossoms and advances under their secluded leadership.<ref name="The Essential Guide2">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide]]''</ref>

==History==
===Isu Era===
On the 24th day of 2161 Isu Era, [[Samael]], an Isu official tasked with the preparatory work for [[Project Anthropos]], referred to [[Yaldabaoth]] as the Father of Understanding alongside [[Saklas]] as the Mother of Wisdom and [[Samael]] as the Sacred Voice.<ref name="SecureShare2">''Assassin's Creed: Valhalla'' – [[Layla Hassan's personal files]] – SecureShare: "PRE_trslt_Canterbury.odt <v. 1 by ahenry>"</ref>

As part of the [[Capitoline Triad]], [[Jupiter|Suttungr]] was titled the Father of Understanding, in counterpart to [[Juno|Hyrrokin]] as the Mother of Wisdom and [[Minerva|Gunnlǫð]] as the Sacred Voice.<ref name="Price of Wisdom">''Assassin's Creed: Valhalla'' - [[The Price of Wisdom]]</ref>

===Antiquity and early history===
In 15th March 44 BCE, when the leader of the Order of the Ancients, [[Lucius Septimius]] engaged in battle with the [[Hidden Ones|Hidden One]] [[Amunet|Aya]], she questioned whether [[Julius Caesar]] was the new king of the Order of the Ancients, to which Septimius replied that Caesar was the Father of Understanding.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another]]</ref>

During the [[Vikings|Viking]] [[Viking expansion|expansion]], members of the Order of the Ancients in [[England]] revered a Trinity of deities they called the Father of Understanding, the Mother of Wisdom and the Sacred Voice. It was noted in King [[Alfred the Great]]'s research that these beliefs were from the {{Wiki|Gnosticism|Gnostic}} texts, and therefore blasphemous to his accepted religion of [[Christianity]]. He stated that the Mother of Wisdom and the Sacred Voice were vile blasphemies, and that the Father of Understanding was God, the one true creator of the universe. After destroying the Order of the Ancients in England, King Alfred vowed to create a new order, in which the Father of Understanding would be revered as the almighty source of goodness, harmony and order for all mankind.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Valhalla'' – [[The Poor Fellow-Soldier]]</ref>

===Influence===
Over the next two hundred years, worship of the Father as an entity ceased with the rise of Christianity and the name instead became a symbolic catchphrase among Templars, representing their goal to lead humanity by adopting the role of a concerned "father" instructing a wayward child. However, this did not stop the Templars' continued use of the Father's title among themselves. By the [[Third Crusade]], the [[Levantine Rite of the Templar Order|Levantine Templars]] would sign his name as a closing in their letters.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Pickpocketing (Masun)]]</ref> Similarly, the [[Roman Rite of the Templar Order|Italian Templars]] during the [[Renaissance]] would invoke him when resolving meetings.<ref>''Assassin's Creed II'' – [[Novella's Secret]]</ref>

In 1715, the phrase was used briefly by [[Laureano de Torres y Ayala]], [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] of the [[West Indies Rite of the Templar Order|West Indies Templars]], during his first meeting with the [[Piracy|pirate]] [[Edward Kenway]], who was impersonating the late [[Assassins|Assassin]] turncoat [[Duncan Walpole]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]'' – [[Mister Walpole, I Presume?]]</ref>

Before and during the [[United States|American]] [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], the phrase was used three times by [[Haytham Kenway]]; first, during the [[Initiation into the Templar Order|induction]] of [[Charles Lee]] to the [[American Rite of the Templar Order|Colonial Templars]] in 1755,<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[The Braddock Expedition (memory)|The Braddock Expedition]]</ref> again, when inducting [[Shay Cormac]] to the Order in 1757,<ref name="ACRogue2">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Scars]]</ref> and lastly, when Haytham used it as a password to enter the [[Smith and Company Brewery]] with his son, [[Ratonhnhaké:ton|Connor]].<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Father and Son]]</ref>

During his investigation into the [[Parisian Rite of the Templar Order|Parisian Templars]]' affiliation with the [[Cult of Baphomet]], the [[Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins|French Assassin]] [[Arno Dorian]] required a password to gain entrance into the cult's lair. He was informed by a cult recruiter that the password was "The Father of Understanding".<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[The Cult of Baphomet]]</ref>

The use of the blessing continued, though infrequently, into the modern era. In 1868, [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan]], a [[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Templar]], and a {{Wiki|Conservative Party (UK)|Tory}} in the {{Wiki|House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons}}, wrote to Grand Master [[Crawford Starrick]], informing him that the death of Prime Minister [[Benjamin Disraeli]] would indefinitely stall the House passing the {{Wiki|Parliamentary Elections Act 1868|Corrupt Practices Act}} and that [[William Gladstone]] would be far more pliable to puppeting, before signing the letter in closing with the traditional blessing.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[Playing Politics]]</ref>

Over a century later in September 2012, [[Abstergo Industries]]' CEO [[Alan Rikkin]] emailed [[Warren Vidic]] regarding historical events or artifacts to investigate further and placed the phrase at the end of his message.<ref>''Assassin's Creed'' – [[Emails|Email subject header: "Analysis"]]</ref> In 2014, the [[Master Templar]] [[Juhani Otso Berg]] voiced a belief that the Father of Understanding had guided the research analyst pejoratively known as "[[Numbskull]]" to [[Abstergo Entertainment]] in order to prove one of Berg's theories by reliving Shay Cormac's memories.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Rogue'' – [[21st century conversations|Modern day]]</ref>

==Behind the scenes==
In Western Mystery Religions, especially Gnosticism, Yaldabaoth is one of the many names of the Demiurge, an omnipotent supreme entity who is believed to have created humans and imbued them with souls, while also trying to limit mankind's knowledge by forbidding them the fruits of paradise.<ref>{{WP|Demiurge}}</ref> 

==References==
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