The poor fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or knights Templar, were a military and religious order founded by Hugh de Payns and Geoffrey de Saint-Omer in Jerusalem during the crusades.
The Knights were established in 1118 as a religious community to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Baldwin II, Latin king of Jerusalem, first housed the order on the ancient site of the Temple of Jerusalem. It is believed by many that the Knights, whilst exploring under the site, found hidden, sacred treasures and ancient knowledge unknown or forgotten in Europe. This knowledge may have been considered heretical at the time, and thus – even though sacred and precious – to be kept hidden.
By some, it is held that, at the time of the persecution of the Knights Templar, the sacred treasures they may have found secreted under the Temple of Jerusalem, were smuggled out of their headquarters in Paris and taken to safety in Scotland. For some, that place of safety is thought to be in the secret vaults thought to exist under Rosslyn Chapel, a fifteenth century building just outside Edinburgh.
The Sinclair clan of Scotland and the Orkneys had close links with the Templars. Indeed, the first Templar Preceptory outside the Holy Land was built on Sinclair land at Ballontrodoch, just a few miles from Roslin Castle, owned by the Clan Sinclair.
Sir William St Clair, third and last St Clair to be Prince of Orkney, founded Rosslyn Chapel in 1446
After Sir William died in 1484, he was buried in the seemingly unfinished Chapel. The larger building he may have planned was never finished. Rosslyn is an enigma, a place where myths and legends tantalize the visitor, while the reality of the place with its pagan as well as Old Testament references set in stone is unique.
‘ This
building, I believe, may be pronounced unique, and I am confident it will be
found curious, elaborate and singularly interesting, impossible to designate by
any given or familiar term’
( Britton –
Architectural Antiquities of Britain 1812 )
The main source of the history of the Chapel and the St Clair family is the writings of Father Richard Augustine Hay, Canon of St Genevieve in Paris and Prior of St Piermont.
He examined historical records and charters of the St Clair’s and in 1700, wrote a study, parts of which were published in 1835 as ‘ A genealogy of the Saint Claire’s of Rosslyn ‘
He wrote of the builder of Rosslyn, Prince William, describing detailed drafts, both architectural and decorative, that were to be used in the building of the Chapel. He describes how each carving in the Chapel – and there are many hundreds – was first to be executed in wood and approved by him, before being carved into the stone of the chapel.
“ Prince
William, his age creeping on him, came to consider how he had spent his times
past, and how he was to spend his remaining days.
Therefore, to the end, that he might
not seem altogether unthankful to God for the benefices he received from him.
It came into his mind to build a house for God’s service, of most curious work,
the which that it might be done with greater glory and splendor.
He caused artificers to be brought from
other regions and foreign kingdoms and caused daily to be abundance of all
kinds of workmen as masons, carpenters, smiths, barrowmen and quarriers.
The foundation of this work he caused
to be lain in the year of our Lord 1446, and to the end, the work might be more
rare. First he caused draughts (plans) to be drawn upon eastland boards (imported
Baltic timber), and he made the carpenters carve them according to the
draughts thereon and he gave them to for patterns to the masons, that they
might cut the like in stone “
Rosslyn village itself owes its existence to the building of the Chapel.
“ and because he thought the masons had not a convenient place to lodge in…he made them build the town of Rolsine that is now extant and gave everyone a house and lands “
Prince William was willing to pay for the best.
“ He rewarded the masons according to their degree, as to the
Master Mason, he gave nearly £40 yearly, and to everyone of the rest, £10… “
The Chapel at Rosslyn, built between 1446 and 1486, has long been associated with both Templars and Freemasonry. While the reading of the Papal Bull dissolving the order effectively put an end to Templarism in Europe, forcing the order’s members to join other monastic groups, Scotland was excommunicate at the time due to the actions of Robert the Bruce. This meant that the Bull was not read in Scotland, thus enabling the order to continue its existence. Research suggests that the Templar order may have evolved into the rite of SCOTTISH freemasonry.
Such a link may well be found within the carvings of Rosslyn’s walls.
“ Rosslyn is decorated inside with carvings of Masonic significance and botanical significance. Arches, lintels, pillar bases and such like are mostly covered in decorative but highly detailed plant motifs, with many different species represented “
(Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the
Discovery of the Secret Scroll of Jesus)
It is possible that the
Chapel holds evidence that the St Clair’s reached North America long before
Columbus, for two of the repeated carvings decorating the Chapel, resemble the
aloe cactus and maize cobs, both native to the Americas but unknown to Europe
before the sixteenth century. The
Chapel has few Christian representations carved into its stone.
“ Everywhere
there were manifestations of the ‘ green man ‘, the Celtic figure that
represented fertility. Over a hundred ‘
green men ‘ have been counted but it is believed that there are even more
subtly peeping out of the vegetation.
The symbolism is Egyptian, Celtic,
Jewish, Templar and Masonic in profusion.
A star-studded ceiling, vegetative growth coming form the mouths of the
Celtic Green Men, entangled pyramids, images of Moses, towers of the Heavenly
Jerusalem, engrailed crosses and as well as squares and compasses.
The only certain Christian imagery was
in later Victorian alterations; the stained glass windows, the revolting
baptistery and a statue of the Madonna and child “
(Knight and Lomas. The Hiram Key)
The Chapel is filled with the Sinclair symbol of the engrailed cross, and the building is said to be based on the ancient temple of Jerusalem.
http://www.knight-lomas.com/rosslyn_debate.html
The Chapel is believed by many to be the final hiding place of a much sought after sacred relic, the Holy Grail itself, thought to be part of the Templar treasure smuggled out of France during the attack on the Templars when Phillip the Fair decided to bring down the powerful and influential order.
Some of the order fled to Portugal, others, it is said, to Scotland, for the Templars had connections by marriage to the Sinclairs, and the Scots, including Robert the Bruce, were ready to welcome such a renowned group as the Knights Templar to help them in their fight against the English crown.
Many believe that the Templars brought with them to Europe new knowledge and holy relics found under the Temple Mount itself. Indeed, it was the Templars who sparked the phenomenal new architecture revealed in the building of the gothc cathedrals of Medieval Europe, the first of these being Chartres in France.
“ In
a single century from 1170 no fewer than eighty cathedrals and almost five
hundred abbeys were built in France alone, involving more masonry than was ever
cut in ancient Egypt! These buildings
were built to a startling new scale never seen before “
(Knight and Lomas. The Hiram Key)
(the) architecture is such that the experience of sound is heightened. It may be that, like the ancient standing stones and long barrows, these ‘new’ sacred sites were similarly built and ‘tuned’ to enhance certain frequencies and energies.
“ What if, in their excavations on the
Temple Mount, they had unearthed scrolls, manuscripts, theorems or blueprints
relating to Solomon’s Temple itself?
What if these discoveries had included the lost architectural secrets of
geometry, proportion, balance and harmony that had been known to the builders
of the pyramids and other great monuments of antiquity? “
(Graham
Hancock. The Sign and the Seal)
Rosslyn too, if on a smaller scale, was part of this ‘new’ architecture, a different vision of the relationship between man and god. But perhaps even more significant than the architectural design are the carvings and pillars within the Chapel, for it may be that these are a key to secrets yet to be uncovered in Rosslyn.
“ In
Rosslyn, we observed that the fourteen pillars had been arranged so that the
eastern eight of them ………… were laid out in the form of a Triple Tau. The formation and the proportions were
exactly as the Royal Arch degree in Freemasonry depicts today “
(Knight and
Lomas. The Hiram Key)
According to http://www.dreamwater.org/walknmud1/knightstemplar.html
The Triple Tau signifies;
· Templum Hiersoslyma – The Temple of Jerusalem.
· It also means Clavis Thesaurum – The Key to a Treasure and
· Theca ubi res pretiosa deponitur – A place where a precious thing is concealed, or
· Res ipsa pretiosa – The precious thing itself.
· The name Rosslyn was originally Roslin and is interpreted – Ros, meaning knowledge and Linn meaning generation. In the Gaelic, Roslinn translates as Knowledge of the generations and also, ancient knowledge passed down the generations
There is another mystery waiting to be solved in Rosslyn, that of the cubes. 213 cubes are carved over the ceiling of the chapel and they are believed to be part of a musical notation system recorded in stone.
Before the time of CD’s, tape or vinyl, before a written system of musical notation, how would one record sound? It is suggested that the carvings represent the patterns made when sand is placed on a thin metal sheet and then a bow is drawn over the edge to produce a particular note. The vibration of the plate would produce a pattern in the sand, thus giving a representation of the note!
Jim Naples is the Scots born managing director of Matsushita Electric Works UK, which is part of the international company that owns Panasonic. His company produces sound frequencies to promote muscle healing. Frequency healing is becoming a regular medical practice in many hospitals worldwide.
“ If in Rosslyn the sacred notes could be decoded and the music sung, we could record the frequency of the wavelengths produced by the music and re-create that frequency in a new ‘ healing ‘ product “
(Jim Naples)
THE ROSSLYN CUBES
However, if the cubes are musical notes - sound frequencies - it seems unlikely that the Templars or the St Clair’s would have embedded them in stone for the healing of future generation’s muscles!
Given the symbolic and esoteric nature of the rest of the carvings in Rosslyn, it would seem more likely that the cubes and their message is part of an important and as yet not understood, record of lost knowledge. Perhaps considered heretical at the time and thus to be kept secret.
If it is true that the Templar order found and used lost knowledge, secreting the evidence in a time of persecution and superstition, then it would seem that Rosslyn is a prime candidate for its resting place.
http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk
http://sinclair.quarterman.org/
http://www.ancientquest.com/deeper/2002-krm-rosslyn.html
http://www.angelfire.com/wv2/jeansinclair/RosslynChapel.html
http://www.mystery.tv/places/rosslyn_chapel/articles/ssro_03b_carvings.jsp