About this episode

This episode explores the historical connections between the Sicilian Mafia and medieval secret societies, including the Knights Templar and Garduña.

What happens when the origins of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra are traced far beyond modern organized crime… back to Crusader orders, secret initiations, religious warfare, and the hidden power structures of medieval Europe? In this explosive first installment of Occult Mafia , Joel Thomas of Free The Rabbits begins connecting the dots between the Knights Templar, the Knights of Malta, early Freemasonry, and the shadowy criminal brotherhood known as the Garduña—an organization many researchers point to as a foundational myth behind the Sicilian Mafia, the Neapolitan Camorra, and the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta. From the Crusades and the rise of the Hospitallers… to Malta lodges, secret rituals, aristocratic networks, and the religious-political machinery of the Spanish Inquisition—this episode explores whether Europe’s most feared criminal brotherhoods were simply gangs… or the underground continuation of something far older. Along the way, Joel dives into the symbolism of the Maltese Cross, the hidden influence of medieval orders, and the mysterious “Madonna of the Mountains”—a recurring thread that may connect sacred imagery, secret societies, and the birth of the mafia underworld…

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