by P. L. Snow
‘I assure you, Sir Arthur, we are a group of men who revere the life of the Templars of old, but our meetings are in common more with the freemason. Yes, we use the same calendar as the Templar, the Hebrew lunar calendar; we have different levels of initiation within the order, just as the Temple Knights had them.’
He leaned forward conspiratorially.
‘It begins with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. This is a prayer of the utmost importance to us.’
‘Of course,’ Sir Arthur said, quietly, but the little man clearly had a great deal to say.
‘You understand, Sir Arthur that I tell this to you because, I believe, you are one who can understand this, as a man of honour. I appeal to you as a man of honour.’
Appeal to me, thought Sir Arthur; as a man of honour? This was positively medieval. Was the man mad?
‘When I joined the Order, I was led to a chamber where stood an altar. I was in no more than a chemise and a light pair of …’
He indicated his trousers.
‘Yes, trousers. Breeches.’
‘Thank you, yes, the breeches. Two members of the Order received me in what you call the state of Nature, you understand; nothing on at all.’
The backs of Sir Arthur’s hands began to prickle with embarrassment.
‘I, er, I hope that this description …’
The Frenchman was suddenly stern. He rose and looked down fiercely at Sir Arthur.
‘Sir Arthur, I tell you this with good reason. Please to listen with close attention. I must tell you these details to prove that I know whereof I speak, and to convince you of the severity of what I must tell.’
‘Please carry on,’ Sir Arthur said. ‘Sorry to interrupt.’ He reached for his stick and took it loosely in both hands, holding it between his knees as he sat.
‘There is perhaps no need to remind you, Sir Arthur, that there was a saying among stupid people, ignorant people: beware the kiss of the Templars? Yes, it is true that the neophyte is required to kiss the parts of the body that are close to where the chakras lie in the more subtle body?’
‘The …What was it you said? Cha … Something?’
The Frenchman gestured to his brow, throat, heart, solar plexus, abdomen, but sketched only briefly a movement towards the groin and the base of the spine.
‘We are required to overcome the desires of the flesh, Sir Arthur, and to acknowledge that we bear the future within us in our ability to bring children into the world. Never the less, we take a vow of chastity, and leave the fathering of children to other men.’
The little man sighed deeply, and sat again, suddenly looking very tired.
‘The initiations continue,’ he went on at last, ‘all in connection with the Lord’s Prayer and certain figures of the New Testament. You may have heard that we spit on the cross?’
‘That had come to my ears,’ replied the other.
‘It is true. But it is to understand fully the state of spirit — am I saying this correctly?’
‘State of mind, perhaps, we would say.’
‘The state of mind of the Apostle Peter at the moment when he denied Christ. We trample upon a crucifix and spit on it, but we remember the words: Give us this day our daily bread. Finally we must look after our earthly bodies. Is it not so? Exactly. And the Hebrew word for this part of the ceremony is Iabash. Then follows the next part, in connection with James the Fisherman, and is associated with water, and the source of all life. The Hebrew word is Iam, and we remember the words: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. The next is in memory of the Apostle John, and is connected with the air that we breathe.’
‘And I imagine that the word is Ruach, is that right?’
‘Of course, yes, Ruach is the word. And we think the words: Lead us not into temptation. The last stage at this level is with Jesus of Nazareth in our minds, and the most spiritual part of our being. The word is Nuor,which means fire, and we think to ourselves: Deliver us from evil.’
‘Of course,’ Sir Arthur interrupted, ‘yours isn’t the only form of initiation to use these principles, and the Hebrew words. In our own modest ceremonies …’
The Frenchman broke in: ‘But naturally. I should be surprised if otherwise was the case. But there are further levels.’
‘I don’t doubt it, Monsieur, but I wonder whether it were better not to mention them? We tend to be rather discreet about such things, you know.’
Again, the Frenchman leapt to his feet.
‘Sir Arthur, you, I know, will understand what I describe here. I do it to give you an earnest of my standing within the Order. If I do not tell you all these things, then what I have to say will have little substance; little meaning. I must persuade you of my ranking in order to tell you what I must. You understand?’
Sir Arthur began to feel less that he was dealing with a maniac. Clearly this man was driven by something that he felt to be of the greatest importance. He would have to hear the man out now, from Christian charity, if from nothing else.
‘Bon. I continue. From the Cathars of the Languedoc we took the Consolamentum; that is the permission to hear the confession from each other. This is connected with the sign of the Sun. Above this we have the Prayer of Moses. In this ceremony, we give up a little of the hair of our head and beard, and the parings of the nails. This is in the sign of the Moon. Then, at a level still higher, comes the speaking of the High Priestly Prayer, from the Gospel of John. I drew your attention to this in the chapel just now.’
‘Yes, indeed. Please go on.’
‘The High Priestly Prayer belongs to the sign of Mars, connected with the power of the Word. Now, Sir Arthur, you may have noticed my ring? This is conferred on those who reach to a still higher level. It is said to give one the power of healing, though I am no physician. The words spoken are: Christus Verus Mercurius Est. You will understand, of course?’
‘Christ is the true Mercury,’ Sir Arthur dutifully stated.
‘The fifth step is most formidable. The Prayer of Baphomet is spoken in a loud voice. It is shattering to the soul to hear this, Sir Arthur! But it is directed to the Highest and Mightiest Being in the universe, and spoken in the sign of Jupiter. There is a sixth step. This is the anointing of the eyes, in memory of the Magdalene, who anointed the head and feet of Jesus Christ.’
‘The sign of Venus, I take it? Do you mind if I smoke a pipe?’
‘But not at all, Sir Arthur. Please smoke a pipe. The last step, made in the sign of Saturn … This is most terrible.’
‘Please don’t distress yourself on my account,’ said Sir Arthur, puffing at the freshly lit tobacco. The little man made no sign that he heard.
‘It is the revelation of the sign of Baphomet. For some it is permitted to witness a most beautiful head. But for me …’
He fell silent for the space of a minute. Sir Arthur waited for him to speak, his pipe drawing sweetly.
‘For me, it was the Black Grail.’
Sir Arthur felt a spasm of nausea grip him. He slowly leaned forward and knocked the burning tobacco out of his pipe.
‘I’m not sure that I … Not sure I entirely follow.’
‘The head of the Baptist on a silver dish; it is the sign of the evil of which men are capable; the depths to which we may fall.’
He fell silent.
‘Yes,’ said Sir Arthur uneasily. ‘I’m aware of these stages. Beyond that you cannot go. Not any more.’
‘Exactement! This is so. Because the very highest initiation of the Knights of the Temple was given back to the world of the spirit by Jacques de Molay himself, before his arrest, in a ceremony in reverse. But this you perhaps knew?’
‘I had heard a waif word on the topic.’
‘Yes, yes. All the initiations that we follow, we do so because the original Templars followed precisely these rituals. This you know, of course. Sir Arthur, do you know why I come here? To this very place?’
‘I should be most interested to learn, Monsieur.’
‘I needed to know that there is a place on this earth where the true ideals of the Templar Knights are held in reverence. In this little chapel, built a century after the demise of the Order of the Temple, I find this place. Here the truth lies.’
He leaned forward, taking his head in his hands, sighing deeply.
‘Ah, mon Dieu, mon Dieu! C’est terrible!’
‘You seem distressed, Monsieur. Is there anything I can do?’
‘Yes, Sir Arthur! You can do me the greatest honour by listening to my tale.’
The light was fading fast now. A couple was toiling up the hill from the glen below them, lost in tender conversation. Sir Arthur wanted to look at his watch, but did not want to offend the little man. The heavy key was a weight in his pocket that he longed to hand over.
‘Well, is it very long?’
‘Permit me, Sir Arthur, I will be as brief as possible. Bon. My role in the order in Paris is to be the secretary. I must take full notes of our meetings, and offer them as a true document of what has happened.
‘It is now some months that we chose a new Grand Master. He is most efficient; he seemed to us a man of honour. But one day, he calls me to his office. Of course, I go. It is part of my duty, to obey in every request the Grand Maître. He tells to me that our most important text now, to which we all show honour and reverence, is the Levitikon.’
‘The what?’
‘This is the Gospel of John, Sir Arthur, but not the one that you and I know. This is the Gospel of John with the final two chapters excised. Erased.’
‘Without the last two chapters? Oh, no; that won’t do! That’s not right at all!’
‘Ah, Sir Arthur, you think the same as me. What is the Gospel of John if it says nothing of the Resurrection? This is not, as you say, right at all. For me, the English phrase is most apt: the abomination of desolation! Yet this is the text that we are now expected to hold as most sacred; the text that is robbed of its sacred character!’
‘So, what did you do?’
‘I said nothing! I was too astonished to speak. But now he says to me that I must go through the documents of our meetings, as far as the beginning, and make alterations that indicate that this Levitikon was at all times our most sacred text! For me this is blasphemy! But what can I do? I must obey the Grand Maître, n’est-ce pas?’
Sir Arthur felt a chill across his shoulders and a hollowness in his breast. He understood the little man’s need to talk, the look of desperate hope. Deliberate falsification of the minutes of the meetings of this quasi-masonic group may have seemed a trifling affair to the outside world, but he understood the enormity of it: powerful men denying the truth of the central event of what, on the face of it, drew them together. It meant that this group was now acting absolutely counter to their professed aims. There were men in the world claiming the name of Templar Knights, following their rituals and ceremonies, but dedicated to aims entirely opposite to the high and selfless ideals of the first bearers of the name Templar Knights.
‘You are obviously a man of conscience, Monsieur. How did you go forward?’
‘This is what I did. I demanded a court of the order to hear my case, and to give a judgment. This they did. It took a long time to convene. The Grand Masters of all Europe and of America had to be there, or at least, represented.’
‘Of all Europe? Of the United States? This is a large organization, I gather!’
‘It began in Paris, and has spread across the world, Sir Arthur. So, I make my case to the Masters. They tell me that I shall hear a ruling from them in the fullness of time. Meanwhile, I come to this little chapel to refresh my faith and to give more strength to my conscience. Here, in this place, I feel at peace, at least. I must put my faith in the judgment of the Grands Maîtres. What else can I do? I can do no other.’
‘Well,’ said Sir Arthur slowly, ‘I’m glad to hear it. Your task has been a difficult one, Monsieur, and I applaud your strength of character.’
He stood, and offered his hand. The little man took it and shook it warmly.
‘Thank you for listening to me, Sir Arthur. It is a comfort to me that at least one man knows the truth; a man of honour, such as you are yourself. If you don’t mind, I shall remain here for a little. It is so peaceful, and the truth of centuries is in these old stones.’
Sir Arthur made his way towards Nettie’s house to return the key. In the lane below the chapel, he passed two men. As he approached, one of them drew the other in to the side of the road, but the other shook his head, and they continued. Were they looking for him? No, obviously not. He passed them, greeting them as he did so. Their reply was no more than a grunt from one, and silence from the other.
A group of men, an international group, men with power and influence, presumably, were behaving in this manner? It didn’t bear thinking about. What was his phrase? The abomination of desolation. Now, where did he know that expression from? He felt in his pocket for his pipe. It was there, the bowl still warm, but he left it there.
He handed the key over to Nettie, who came to the door smoothing her apron and smiling with embarrassment, and he made his way to the hotel. As he stood at the door of the entrance to the bar, he heard a cry, as of a dog, or a fox or something, probably from somewhere in the glen, behind the chapel. It was strange how human they could sound sometimes. He entered, closing the door behind him against the cold.
Epilogue
The Egyptians taught us to look at signs and symbols in a threefold way: to look for the earthly meaning, the spiritual meaning and the divine. Names, too, have their levels of meaning: Noah was also called Menachem; Elijah also had the identity of Naboth, while Solomon had seven names in all. So it is with Rosslyn. No picture, no carving has a single meaning once and for all. Even the chapel itself has layers of meaning. The name Rosslyn itself has many meanings. It is the place of the Rose-Line for some. For others it is the Ros-linn, the dew pool. For others again, it is the place of ancient knowledge, and for others again, it is the place by the wood. Each of these names, and others not mentioned here, is true.
It is currently a Scottish Episcopalian Church, and serves that purpose for its congregation. Once it was a Roman Catholic Church. Its function as a Christian church is long established, and has been the place of worship for thousands of people through the time of its consecration. Through the period of its long silence, from the Reformation to its re-consecration in the nineteenth century, it still held an attraction for those with a sense of mystery. That attraction still exists, and is well-known today. The number of tourists who visit Rosslyn still runs into thousands each year.
As the congregation enters Rosslyn today, perhaps some of them can feel the shadow of the old Mithras initiation, for, as we have said, Rosslyn is built on the site of an old subterranean temple of Mithras. We drew attention to the connection between the life of Elijah and the Mithras initiation earlier in this work. Perhaps other, more recent forms of illumination cast their spell, too. It is entirely in keeping with the spirit of Rosslyn that we can associate her with influences as diverse as the Mithras worship of the Roman military and the life of an Old Testament prophet, before even entering the building.
But while it serves the Scottish Episcopalian congregation as the Collegiate Church of Saint Matthew, it is also a structure that transcends the limits of any single denomination. Rosslyn is inclusive. The Manicheans and the Templars, both condemned as heretics, are honoured here. The architecture of the building shows the influence, as does all Gothic architecture, of the influence of Islam; the Gothic arch is a metamorphosis of forms of Moslem buildings seen by the Templars in the Middle East in the time of the Crusades. Judaism is given the place that it must have in any Christian place of worship, particularly in the north aisle, but elsewhere, too. Many have seen the influence of the Cabbalah, the esoteric Judaic tradition, in the forms and structures of Rosslyn, and it would be consistent with the inclusive nature of Rosslyn for this to be so. The qualities of the Sephirotic Tree of Cabbalah
each find their reflection in the carvings in the chapel, but let us leave that for other researchers to elucidate.
The world that was known to William Sinclair, Elizabeth Douglas and Gilbert de la Haye is represented in Rosslyn, and the history of that world as they knew it; in particular, the spiritual history.
Rosslyn is a temple dedicated to the striving of all people of all time to raise and transform the physical into the spiritual. The various stories that the carvings and windows illustrate show this. It was the meaning of the task laid upon Adam and Eve at the expulsion from Eden, and all who followed them. It was for a long time, according to the various myths, the province of the descendants of Cain, but became universal with the building of the first temple of Solomon. The transformation of stones into a temple was the metaphor for the transformation of the human being into a being of spirit. ‘Destroy this temple,’ said Jesus according to the Gospel of John, ‘and I shall rebuild it in three days.’ He was understood to be talking about the temple of Solomon, which had taken the same length of time to build as Rosslyn, some forty years; but such was not His meaning.
When looked at in isolation, the history of any religion shows absurdities and superstition and the machinations of corrupt men, as well as its beauties, and the spiritual comfort that it may have brought to many. But this will always be limited. Take all religions together and we see a great evolution. Elements that were disparate and isolated become part of a greater picture, ever changing, ever evolving, but only making full sense as a whole.
Rosslyn, held together with the mortar of the steadfast dedication of pilgrims, nestling between the Horns of Isis, is a monument to the striving of all humanity towards something greater than itself which is nevertheless native to itself. We can see where we have come from, looking back over the vast ages of history. Are there still things to discover about the human being? Have we truly evolved as far as we can, or is there more to the story? The mask of Hermes Trismegistus in the east of the chapel, with the triple diadem that grows from the transformation of forces latent in the soul, is the answer that Rosslyn gives us: human evolution is not yet accomplished, but any future growth, any transformation of the human being into new possibilities, must be chosen and willed by us.