Rosslyn: Guardian of the Secrets of the Holy Grail [Paperback]

Tim Wallace-Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

The first book to explore the significance of seven pre-Christian sites, which formed the route of a pilgrimage taken by the Druids, the Knights Templar and Christian mystics in their search for ultimate enlightenment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'In this book, Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins shed valuable light on the origins and development of the belief systems of our modern world...well worth reading' ROBERT LOMAS, CO-AUTHOR OF THE HIRAM KEY --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Tim Wallace-Murphy is the author several books on Rosslyn. He lectures on the Knights Templar, Rosslyn Chapel and the Sinclairs, founders of Rosslyn. Marilyn Hopkins was gifted with a natural dowsing ability. She has spent ten years studying various forms of Christianity and esoteric spirituality. She gives seminars, talks and lectures, including an ecological seminar at Rosslyn organized by the Scottish Ecological Design Association.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Element Books Ltd. (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007133073
• ISBN-13: 978-0007133079
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping Read, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosslyn (Hardcover)

Wallace-Murphy & Hopkins describe their own pilgrimage around the seven mystical sites situated on the European Earth Chakras, culminating in their visit to Rosslyn Chapel. A building which they believe embodies in its structure and carvings, profound spiritual truth handed down through the ages by the initiated, usually in the face of persucution and censure. Among the themes covered in depth are the rise of the Gothic Cathedrals, the activities of the Knights Templar, the origins of Freemasonry, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the intriguing possibility that many of Europe's aristocratic families may be descended from the high priesthood of the Temple in Jersusalem.

Some of these subjects have been explored by other writers, but with extremely dubious results as wild speculation is often married to a comlete lack of historical method. This book avoids these pitfalls, being extremely well written while the integrity and scholarship of the authors cannot be doubted. Rosslyn, Guardian of the Secrets of the Holy Grail, presents challenging ideas in a manner which deserves to be taken taken seriosly - above all it is a gripping read.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superior scholarship, April 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosslyn (Hardcover)

This book stands out above the average of the genre, primarily because of the superb scholarship of Mr.Wallace-Murphy. While those looking for a quick read might miss the point because it slowly develops its case, this book is a must own for those who really need a thorough and well-documented history of gnostic and hidden philosophies and a the means of their suppression throughout modern history. It could form the basis of a provocative college course, for instance. Because it was so well researched and documented, I had no trouble believing its major premise, which I shall not spell out here for that would be unfair to the author. It contains some beautiful color illustrations of Rosslyn Chapel, but I did find myself wishing to see far more...perhaps they are included in one of Mr. Wallace-Murphy's other works. As an aside, although it is the first work of this author I have read, I have to consider him a heavyweight in the area, his credentials including a long prior association with Trevor Ravencroft. I highly recommend this to the serious student of the subject.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Personal Revelation, not history or scholarship, January 30, 2003

By 

Stephen Wilson (Richmond, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosslyn (Paperback)

This book stands as part of the growing stream of what might be called "neo-esoterica". Readers of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the Hiram Key, Arcadia, and many other books will find many of the beliefs presented here familiar. Tracing a supposed "heretical pilgrim's route" from Campostella, Spain (the shrine of St. James) through France to Rosslyn chapel in Scotland, the authors make use of such ideas as chakras (both individual and terrestrial), ley lines and tellurian energy, and cosmic prophecies based on astrological alignments.
Readers are also led through the now-familar discussion of a gnostic tradition originating in Egypt and other early cultures that found its way into early Judaism. Then we are introduced in a vague way to the gnostic alternative to orthodox Chrisitanity: Jesus came as "revealer, not a redeemer"; the roles of James the brother of Jesus, John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene are amplified, those of Paul and Peter denegrated and often treated as the real heresies; gnostics were heroes that stood up to the growing dogmatism and corruption of the Church. While I have no sympathy for Inquisitors and witch-hunters, even the most open-minded reader might find the authors' dark view of Christian history a bit biased.
The story then continues along familiar conspiratorial paths. The gnostic tradition is kept alive by the Cathars and the Bogomils, inherited by the Knights Templar and from them by the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians. Beneath all of this is some version of the "Rex Deus" tradition, that claims that elements of European nobility are the decendents of high priests in Jerusalem, or perhaps Jesus himself (with Mary Magdalene). As other reviewers have noted, what doesn't appear here is the Holy Grail, either as an object or a literary tradition. Rather, the authors take the Grail as a metaphor for the secret tradition brought to Rosslyn chapel by the Knights Templar and the St. Clair family that owned it.
So, what is one to do with all this? It is a spiritual journey after all, and one cannot argue with spiritual issues. It is not, however, either history in the traditional sense or a work of scholarship. The book is peppered with footnotes, true, but the vast majority of them refer either to the authors' own works or other books with no more basis for their assertions. Piling whipped cream on older whipped cream does not give it more solidity. There are numerous errors that either indicate an embarrassing level of ignorance or bad editing. There is mistranscribed Latin (p. 143), a reference to a 'silicone-chip' (p. 194; I don't even want to think about this one), claiming that a quote from Gregory of Nyssa supports reincarnation instead of the developing concept of Purgatory, etc. Many statements are made with no support whatsoever, e.g. "Jesus was, of course, an initiate of the Nazorean sect of the Essenes" (p. 190); of course. Did the Druids learn from Egypt? Did the first Knights Templar dig under the Temple of Solomon and find treasures including the Ark of the Covenant? Will July 28, 2019 be a day of apocalyptic change? Who knows--and that's the difference between history and spiritual speculation. If this book helps you down the road, more power to you, but don't think the authors have told you anything about real events or traditions.