Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar by Stratton Horres

Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Spirituality No. 3

The Secrets of Rosslyn Chapel

and the Knights Templar

 In the Tiny Village of Rosslyn

 In a pastoral setting

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Surprising Rosslyn Myths? Rosslyn houses the secret treasure of the Knights Templar It was built as a Templar shrine to house the sacred relics retrieved by the Knights when they occupied Jerusalem It is the home of one or more of the sacred Christian relics: the Holy Grail (Christ’s cup of the Last Supper); the True Cross; the Lance of Christ; lost scrolls of wisdom; and even his body

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Who Were the Knights Templar? To understand Rosslyn we must first learn about the Knights Templar These warrior monks wore the distinctive red cross adorned on a white robe Their order rose from seemingly out of no- where to become so rich and powerful that they rivaled most kings Even as amazing as their rapid rise was their startling fall from grace Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Crusades Toward the end of the eleventh century Seljuk Turks, or Saracens, seized control of Jerusalem and banned Christians from making their pilgrimages Leading to a brutal series of battles for the Holy Land known collectively as the Crusades The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II in 1095

 When Jerusalem was retaken in 1099, a French nobleman, Hugues de Payen, and eight other French knights formed the unofficial Order of the Poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon in 1118

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Guardians of Christian Pilgrims  King Baldwin II, the patriarch of Jerusalem, quickly blessed the new order and quartered them in the eastern portion of his palace which stood on the site of King Solomon’s temple  The Templars, as they were now called, came into official existence to protect Christian pilgrims on their dangerous trek from the port of Jaffa to the Holy City

But instead of protecting the pilgrims, they soon started excavating underneath the ruins of Herod’s temple They appeared to be searching for something and continued digging for 9 years beneath the temple mount

 In 1128 the Templars were provided with a papal Rule or constitution of their own and they rapidly expanded

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres What Were They Searching For?  Some believe that the Templars were the military arm of a more shadowy order, the “Prieure de Sion” whose purpose was to locate the hidden treasure of the temple which had been concealed from the Romans, and use it to promote the orders aims and aspirations  Others believe the Templars real purpose was to seek out sacred relics such as the Holy Grail, True Cross and manuscripts

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Templar Rule The Rule was a strict code of conduct  Entrants had to take the Templar oath:  Must be born in wedlock,  His grave had no of noble birth, sound body, inscription except for a free from any other oath carving in rectangular  A Templar Knight owned stone of his sword only his sword; had no  Could cut their hair identity apart from his but not their beard sword, which he dedicated to the Order Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Templars Were Gnostics In a huge twist of irony, the Templars grew and prospered at the hands of nobles and the Catholic church, they were far from traditional Christians  They appeared to be on the surface but they had secret rites and rituals that were clearly Gnostic in content and belief  Leading some authors to believe they discovered secret texts under the temple mount that completely changed their world view and caused a shift in beliefs Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Gnosis: An Alternative Vision of God

 The Nag Hammadi  Exemplified by the Library is characterized as familiar verse in John: “Gnostic” Jesus said to him, “ I am the truth, the way and  From the Greek word the life; no one comes gnosis or knowledge to the father, but by  Gnosis is “insight”; an me” intuitive process of  i.e., We find God only knowing oneself through Jesus, and we  To know oneself is to find Jesus only through know God, the “light the church within” Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres A Comparison of Views

 God is outside of us,  God is found within, without; we need help through an intuitive  “all have sinned, and fall process of self-discovery short of the Glory of  Ignorance, not sin, God” ; we suffer because causes our suffering; it is we fail to achieve the self-destruction, moral goal (we miss the oblivion mark)  God’s Kingdom is  Consumed with timing of already here; around end of the world; and inside us apocalyptic vision Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres We Are Drunk, Asleep, Unconscious...  Because we encounter built-in resistance to the counter-intuitive truth that answers are to be found within, not without or externally  Gnostics characterized this internal resistance metaphorically as the desire “to sleep” or to “be drunk,” unconscious:  “I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in the flesh I appeared to them..I found them all drunk,…none of them thirsty…because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight….” Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Seeking Self-Knowledge to Shake off Our Drunkenness  “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” The Gospel of Thomas.  Such insight unfolds gradually and must be achieved through effort-  “Recognize what is before your eyes, and what is hidden will be revealed to you.”

 According to Thomas, the Kingdom of God was not a place:  “If those who lead you say to you, ‘Look, the Kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds will arrive there before you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’” then, he says, the fish will arrive before you.  Instead, it is a state of self-discovery

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Kingdom is not a Future Event  His disciples said to him, “When will... the new world come?” He said to them, “What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.” …His disciples said to him, “When will the Kingdom come?”  “It will not come by waiting for it…Rather the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.”

 “Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, then the you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.”

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Kingdom is Symbolic of a State of Transformed Consciousness Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the Kingdom.” They said to him, “Shall we, then, as children, enter the Kingdom?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one , and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, when you make the male and the female one and the same….” Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres

Whoever Achieves Gnosis Becomes “no longer a Christian , but a Christ”

 …You saw the spirit , you become spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw [the Father, you] shall become Father…you see yourself, and what you see you shall [become].”

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Cult of the Black Madonna  The Templar rituals included black carvings or icons of the Madonna and child which appears at first glance as a variation on a Catholic theme, but...  In addition to Gnostic texts, the Templars were also influenced by ancient Egyptian ideas where the color black indicates wisdom  The Templars venerated wisdom or “Sophia”, an ancient goddess associated with Isis with the Horus child

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The View of the Gnostic Texts  The Gnostic texts show that not only is the traditional view of Magdalene as a repentant whore inaccurate,  She may be deserving of a premier place next to Jesus’ side as the preeminent disciple  Mary Magdalene may also be the leader of one wing of the early Christian movement that promoted women’s leadership Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Gospel of Phillip  Tells of a rivalry between the twelve male disciples and Magdalene, who is described as Jesus’ most intimate companion and the symbol of divine wisdom:  . . . the companion of the [Savior is] Mary Magdalene.[But Christ loved] her more than [all] the disciples and used to kiss her [often] on her [mouth]. The rest of [the disciples were offended by it . . .]. They said to him, “why do you love her more than all of us?” The Savior answered and said to them, “Why do I not love you as much as [I love] her?” Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Dialogue of the Savior

 not only includes Magdalene as one of the three disciples chosen to receive special teaching  but also praises her above the other two, Thomas and Matthew: “. . .she spoke as a woman who knew the All.”

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Disciples Turn to Magdalene  The gospel relates that when the disciples, disheartened and terrified after the crucifixion, asked Magdalene to comfort and encourage them by telling them what Jesus had confided in her alone  Peter, in an angry outburst, challenges her by asking “Did he really speak privately with a woman, [and] not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?”

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres “He loved her more...  Magdalene fired back “My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?”  Levi broke in and mediated the dispute: “Peter, you have always been hot tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you, indeed, to reject her? Surely the Lord knew her very well. That is why he loved her more than us.”  The rest agree to accept her teaching and, heartened by her words, go out to preach

 Tells of another argument between Peter and Mary in which Magdalene told Jesus that she was afraid of Peter because he “hates the female race.”  Jesus replied that whoever the spirit inspires is divinely ordained to speak, whether man or woman.

 Most likely because she was his most devoted follower.  the sublime exchange between them at this miraculous event is very loving, suggesting a familiarity and perhaps intimacy between them.

 At first she believes she is talking to the gardener when in reality she is talking to the risen Lord. He then says just one word, her name, that is pregnant with meaning, “Mary.” She then recognized his voice, and replied “Master.”

Magdalene Emerges as a Role Model  Magdalene was clearly a close companion of Jesus, with whom he confided and conveyed secret teachings that he did not share with the others.  This appears to be because she truly understood him and his message.  She is accorded the supreme honor of seeing Jesus first following his resurrection.

Mary Empowers Women and Men

 The true goal of the Templars may have been nothing less than the unification of all religions within a monotheistic Gnostic order within the Roman Church!  But soon things caught up with them

 King Philip the Fair of France was heavily in debt to the order and had even seen the enormous wealth they had amassed while hiding in the Paris temple  He plotted to cancel his debt and destroy the order

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Templar Inquisition  On Friday, October 13, 1307, with the appointment of a controllable pope in Clement V, Philip moved against the order,

 However, the Templar fleet, their great treasure and many escaped to Scotland, their designated place of refuge, and…  Those arrested were charged with, among many foul and made up deeds, with idolatry (the Baphomet, Black icon)

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Death to the Templar Heretics De Molay was tortured, perhaps even crucified, confessing to many deeds he likely didn’t commit but he recanted.

 He was covered in a shroud following the act: is it the Shroud of Turin?

 He was burned at the stake seven years later  The other arrested Templars suffered horrible fates and were imprisoned, tortured, burned at the stake and their properties confiscated

 One of the Templars arrested on Oct. 13, 1307 confessed upon ruthless interrogation that during his initiation into the Order he was shown the Christian cross and told them: “Put not your faith in this, for it is not old enough.”

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres William St Clair of Roslin  But a courageous and perceptive man, Earl William St Clair of Roslin, attempted to preserve the legacy of the Templars in a permanent shrine  A monument, or book in stone, cleverly disguised as a Christian church  Where he encoded Templar spiritual beliefs, rituals and tradition  London descendant Niven Sinclair says “he left a message for posterity chiseled in stone”

 Construction on the chapel began in 1446 by Sir William St. Clair  on a site revered by the Druids as the oracle of Saturn, the Supreme Guardian of Secrets  and continued until 1484 when Sir William died Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres An Intriguing History  Rosslyn was founded on the atumnal equinox, when the sun rise was exactly due east of Rosslyn (St. Matthew’s Day)  It was never finished, or was it?  In 1589, minister William Knox, brother of John, described Rosslyn as “a house and monument of idolatry”  In 1592, Oliver St Clair was warned to destroy the altars or be excommunicated

 In 1650, during the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell, a protestant, attacked Rosslyn Castle and entered the chapel Although he destroyed everything Catholic in his wake, he is said to have spared Rosslyn because he was a mason and recognized its significance

 The chapel remained abandoned until 1736 when badly needed repairs commenced  It was almost closed a second time in 1942 when only two people were in the congregation for services

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Rosslyn Under Repair In 1954 the chapel was diagnosed by Scotland’s Ministry of Works as suffering from extreme damp which threatened its survival  An idea for a cure is a cementinous slurry coating on the exterior walls to keep the moisture out  But it had the opposite effect and trapped moisture

 In 1997, a steel structure was erected over the entire structure to protect it from dampness, moisture and humidity

“Wine is strong, a king is stronger, women are even stronger, but truth conquers all”

 A very curious Latin inscription from a lintel  What truths are hidden in Rosslyn?

 The magnificent Ceiling  The two Columns  The stone carvings  The exterior  Evidence of the discovery of America by the Templars  Maat and Freemasonry

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres It is Divided Into Five Courses  From east to west along the ceiling and divided by elaborately carves stone bands or ribs are  Daisies  Lilies  Flowers  Roses  Stars

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres More than Stars  The field of five-pointed stars is very different from the other four sections  The rows of stars alternate in chessboard fashion save for two  Here we see a dove with an olive branch in beak  and the moon (Thoth)

 Two angels out of four  Are located in a corner, one on top of the other amidst the starry field  Note they are clearly visible  Why are they together?

 Here we see the sun (Re)  and barely visible and tucked into the corner the figure of Christ holding up his right hand in a blessing  But why is he barely visible when the sun, moon, dove and angels are so clear

 The pendant Keystone can be found on the second rib from the east  Towards the center of the roof  A pair of hands grasp a shield on which is carved the Sinclair engrailed cross

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Is the Ceiling an Instrument?  Are these wave patterns?  Some think the lines and dots are musical notations  Are the 213 cubes part of a spiritual musical system?  One theory is that notes were recorded using a brass plate covered with sand When struck with a bow, it vibrated, creating a distinctive pattern of sand lines The masons carved them in stone Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres The Two Columns

Apprentice Pillar Master Mason’s Pillar

 The Master Mason went to Rome to study with masters before commencing work on the main columns

 While he was gone, his apprentice carved his masterpiece  The Master was so envious that he became enraged and he struck him with his mallet, killing him

 Others believe that this story refers to the legend of Hiram Abif, the architect of the Temple of Solomon who was killed for refusing to give up the secrets of the Temple  the two columns represent the Jachin and Boaz the entry columns of Herod’s Temple

 8 Dragons are carved at the base of the Apprentice Pillar  From their mouths emerge the vine which winds around the pillar  Symbolic of Norse Is the Grail myth binding heaven, beneath hell and earth? this pillar?

 An angel holding an engrailed cross  An engrailed cross is the coat of arms of the Sinclair family and earls of Rosslyn  The engrailed cross is a symbol repeated throughout the chapel

 A knight on horseback carrying a lance and behind him an angel holding a cross  Represents the legend of William the Seemly St Clair  Who according to legend carried back a portion of the true cross or “holy rood”

 The founder of the chapel, William St Clair, is holding a sword in his right hand  To his left are cockle shells which are associated with St James  He is under the starry canopy

 In 1307, the Templars fled France and sailed to Scotland where the Scots under the excommunicated Bruce rebelled against the British  The Templars fought with Bruce at Bannockburn

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres A Knight’s Tomb  The burial stone of William St Clair  Who died fighting the Moors in Spain as he escorted the heart of Robert the Bruce to Jerusalem  With his Highland sword  Floriated Cross  At the end are letters “ER” or “the relics”

 Did the Templars discover scrolls in their excavations?  Possibly; some authors believe they came across lost Gnostic wisdom or sacred texts (similar to Nag Hammadi) and brought them to Rosslyn

 According to legend, the Holy Grail was brought to Rosslyn by the Templars  It is said to be buried beneath the Apprentice Pillar  And is reported to have supernatural powers

 According to legend, when Jesus left the temple a woman handed him a veil to wipe his brow  When he gave it back, it held an image of his face  “Vera” means true  His face is seen here at left

 Chapel rich in carvings of green man, over 100  Pagan fertility symbol  See vines growing out of mouth  Symbolic of great goodness or evil  Robin Hood legend

 “And he knew not his face was horned from the conversation with the Lord.”  Likely a mistranslation since Hebrew word qeren can mean either horn or ray of light  Which do you think?

 According to legend, the Templars sailed to America to escape persecution BEFORE Columbus  Chapel completed in 1486  The Sinclair coat of arms shows a ship sailing to three stars

 This strange carving shows a scowling devil with kneeling Mary holding Jesus  Mary and Jesus are looking away from the devil and a carving of resurrection and toward a carving of the angel with cross

 The face of the murdered apprentice?  Or Hiram Abif?  Or Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao the fearless who was murdered in 1573 BCE with blows to the head when he refused to divulge the resurrection secrets to Hykos King Apophis

 Is this the face of the grieving mother of the murdered apprentice?  Mary, mother of Jesus?  Magdalene?  Or all three women?

Star Ceiling

Rosslyn Ceiling

Why is one of the witnesses missing his/her head? Turin?

The Hand of God

Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres Maat and Freemasonry  Maat was an ancient  The third degree Egyptian concept, mason initiation indeed the goddess ceremony calls for the of truth, justice, utterance of the purity and fairness words “Ma’at-neb- that equated to an men-aa, Ma’at-ba-aa” attitude of life  Maat = freemasonry  that blended  It is a code of science, art and conduct, the true spirituality foundation of the temple Copyright 2003 Stratton Horres Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar By Stratton Horres www.iamyouareme.com