Conspiracy Forum

The Merovingian dynasty has been romantically depicted by both the regional writers in France and international best selling authors such as Dan Brown and Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln. There are tales of mystery and magic, of wisdom and light and last but not least of all, descent from God himself via His Son, Jesus, and His wife, Mary Magdalene. Some (Tracy R. Twyman and Boyd Rice) even go so far as to say that the Merovingian’s were descended from an ultra-ancient race of fallen angels that spawned the globe taking wisdom and knowledge with them as Atlantis sank.
Well, I shan’t comment upon that one, or the nonsense that they were descended from Jesus, but what I intend to do is give a burst of information and then draw some conclusions at the end and hope that the reader has managed to get to the same place as myself by then. That place I hope to get to will be found nowhere else on this planet than in your own mind.
It all started with the leader of the Salian Franks known as Merovech (Latinised as Meroveus and hence the line became known as Merovingian) in the 5th century AD. Both he and his son, Childeric I were great warriors and fought bravely against the Visigoths, Saxons and Alemanni. Following Childeric came his son Clovis I who went on to unite most of Gaul and the Loire and defeated the Roman ruler, Syagrius, to the joy of almost everybody – or so the propaganda goes. It was Clovis I who adopted the Roman Catholic religion for his nation. Eventually by the early 7th century we end up with the infamous Dagobert II. Also known as Dragobert – coming from the words ‘Dagon’ and ‘Bert’, which in turn comes from Bara or Para, which means Pharaoh. So Dagobert simply means ‘king’ or ‘Pharaoh of the dragons.’
Dagobert is said to have visited Ireland, a home of serpent worship, and is also said to have married at Rennes Le Château, where incidentally, a ritual skull was found which had a hole in its forehead. Still today, Masons worship the “head” or skull of Dagobert calling it Mahomet (much like Baphomet of the Templars.) It is kept in the convent of the Black Sisters at Mons. The cup that was formed to hold the skull was made into the shape of a chalice. Hence we have the head of the dragon pharaoh in the chalice.
But who is Dagobert and where did he come from? What makes him so important that his skull should be turned into a Grail and then worshipped by the Masons – the modern Templars?
The year 469 AD and the Roman Catholic Church makes a pact with Clovis I, King of the Franks, giving him the title, “New Constantine” as a “thank you” for becoming Christian. This was the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire, which was hoped to last forever. But it did not, and by the year 800 AD, the Empire was threatened.
Dagobert II, was a French king from the supposed “Grail,” Merovingian bloodline, and was the last of the Merovingian kings to hold the title of “Holy Roman Emperor.”
These Merovingians are said to be a dynasty of Frankish, priest-kings, with magical powers, derived from their long red hair and the special birthmark between their shoulders of a red cross (see below). Obviously the Christians spread rumours of witchcraft, and various other misdemeanours, because Dagobert was seen as a threat. After several years spent away from his Frankish Kingdom, Dagobert returned from Ireland in 679. But there were problems with the Mayors of the Palace.
Three years later the Catholic Church plotted a conspiracy against him due to their displeasure with Dagobert’s lack of allegiance to the Roman church.
While on a hunting trip, Dagobert was lanced through the eye by his own godson as part of the ploy. Now power was passed to Charles Martel, beginning the famous Carolingian dynasty. This basically ended the Merovingian bloodline and its run of power. From that day, the Merovingian kings were powerless and were officially thought to have died out with Dagobert’s grandson, Childeric III.
Charles Martel’s grandson, Charlemagne was anointed Holy Roman Emperor.
The Catholics had wiped out the troublesome Merovingians once and for all – or did they? Some still claim today that they are descendants of this special bloodline, however my researches have only gone to prove that this is pure propaganda, fuelled by books such as The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and the blatant lies of Pierre Plantard.
Thousands of books have sprouted in the last few decades with “new” evidence, none of which is verifiable and based upon legends only.
The Merovingians, “born of the sea,” with kings connected etymologically with the snake, as well as ritualistically where simply descendants of the “serpent bloodline;” the Royal line descended from serpent priests, as we have seen across the globe in India and China, in Britain and America (see Article Serpent Saviours). Their connections with the Grail are simply via the secret of the snake and their obvious pagan past brought down the Christian might of Rome.
Red Cross
One of the most striking images in Christian history is the Red Cross. Whether a strict Latin or a Templar croix pattee, it is a memorable symbol, especially seen on a stark white background. Seen in relation to the “mark” of Cain or the Merovingian birth-mark, or even the Templar cross, they all seemingly relate in one way or another to be a symbol of the snake. Indeed, the Red Cross is an almost universal symbol of the snake, and therefore to wear it one is branding oneself. The reason for this is quite simple. The serpent and the snake were intertwined  – the snake was a symbol of the sun and the cross a symbol of the seasons.
The ‘Rosicrucian’s’ – obviously meaning the ‘Rose’ or ‘Red Cross’ – were a strange esoteric secret society of Alchemists and spiritualists. Linked inextricably to the Masons, Templars and others in the story of the Grail, they have been greatly debated and researched.
A term for Rosslyn could very well be Rose (Ross) Snake (lyn – also line, both being the same (snake-line)). Many places involved in the story are associated with this terminology.
Rhodes for instance, the modern term for the island of Rhodes could also be from the Syraic term for ‘serpent,’ Rhad – although the standard terminology comes from Rhoda the ‘rose goddess.’ Either way this place was once overrun with the cult of the serpent and was once called “place of the serpents.” Many places in France have in fact been named after Rhodes – Rouen was Rhodom and Rennes (as in Rennes le Château) was Rhedae.
Bull
In the mysteries of Ceres and Proserpine the great secret is communicated to the initiates “Taurus Draconem genuit, et Taurum Draco.” Meaning, “The bull has begotten a serpent and the serpent a bull.”
The bull is a symbol of the ‘generative force,’ – the power. It is a symbol of the sun in Taurus and emerges from the sea. As the Quinotaur he supposedly spawned the Merovingian bloodline with his son being called Merovech, after the sacred bull of Heliopolis, Meroe.
It was this King Merovech, the first in the line of Merovingian kings, who was said, to have been spawned by the Quinotaur. This is a giant sea monster with a bull or goats head. So the mer part of Merovee becomes obvious in that mer means “sea” – born of the sea. The word ‘Quinotaur,’ if broken down, resolves into Taur for Bull, and Quin/Kin for King. He is the ‘King Bull of the sea’ – the sun in Taurus. This ‘bull king’ goes back a very long way in history – right back to the days of Mesopotamia and kings such as Sargon and Menes. But this goes back yet further to an association between these kings and their legendary genesis from ancient sea-born gods such as Oannes and Dagon who were serpent gods.
The sun as a serpent would sink beneath the horizon and become a fish. Dag means ‘fish’ and On means ‘sun,’ Dagon is therefore the “night-time serpent sun” – otherwise known as the ‘Black Sun’ in various esoteric traditions. The ‘black sun’ is a symbol of the Underworld and the Unconscious – the ‘Collective Unconscious’ attributed to psychologist, Carl Jung. Could it be that these legendary creatures are archetypes from the unconscious – or represent man’s ‘collective unconscious?’ This is the element Gnostics believe to be the true self.
These myths are those of invading ‘serpent worshippers’ or migrating snake cults, coming into the land; bringing with them all the skills associated with the coming of these ancient gods such as metallurgy, architecture and medicine – not to mention a distinctive psychology. These deities are half-bull, half-fish or serpent-figures, revealing their belief systems in their strange images – not what they were physically. It reveals a belief system of a duality between the sun (bull) and the snake (dragon/dagon.) Oannes is Dagon and this is related to the word for dragon. This god is the Biblical Leviathan, the great serpent of ages past who encircles the world as the Ouroborus, the symbol of immortality and eternity. This is the same symbol, which attracts the phrase “my end is my beginning” like the words placed into the mouth of Christ “I am the beginning and the end . . . the Alpha and Omega.” In fact the Christians of later times went on to use the image of the Ouroborus as a symbol for the Alpha and Omega elements of their Christian faith. The Levites of course derive their name from this Leviathan, their name meaning “Sons of the Leviathan.” Oannes is also the same as the Hindu Vishnu who is linked with the serpent. However, there is another interpretation of equal worth for the Quinotaur as we shall see.
Heracles wrestled with the snake, which transformed itself into a bull. Heracles tore off one of the horns, which the nymphs tossed into the river where it turned into the Cornucopia or ‘horn of plenty.’
In Scotland there are hundreds of Pictish symbols found on rocks and ancient Neolithic monuments. There are many that are in the image of the snake and also with the snake in association with the bull – thus revealing the widespread nature of the bull/serpent association.
Quinotaur
The Quinotaur has the root “kin” being possibly from Cain and therefore showing the Quinotaur to be descended from the serpent race of Cain. Kin is also related to ‘serpent’ and ‘king.’ But what is the Quinotaur? Quin as we can see could be from king; Taur is obviously from Taurus the Bull or indeed the Tau. Quin could also come from the Babylonian Qunigu who was the greatest amongst the children of the dragon goddess Tiamat.
According to Babylonian legend in the beginning there was “neither land, gods nor men.” There were only elements known as Tiamat and Apsu. Tiamat was the female and the spirit of salt water and primal chaos, and Apsu the male, the spirit of fresh water and void. Tiamat is depicted with scales and a serpentine body and legs, with horns on her head. The union of these two gods produced all the other gods, including the greatest among them, Qingu.
The Quinotaur was a mythical sea beast, said to be half bull and half fish or dragon/serpent. This could very easily be an indication of Taurus going into Pisces and a message of the stars. However, according to Crichton Miller the sign Aries has been deliberately removed or left out of the name in-order to claim that their bloodline stretched back to the end of the age of Taurus.
“The god Amun or Amen covered the period from the design of the Great Pyramid to the death of Christ the Shepherd of the sheep (Aries), before that it was the Golden Calf or Taurus. The process is Taurus, Aries, Pisces.
They then make a statement in their name (kin/quin) that they are the rightful Kings (rulers) of the Age of Aries and can lay claim to the throne of Rulers in the name of God for the new age of Pisces.” Crichton Miller.
The Quinotaur is also said to have sired the Merovingian bloodline as we have seen. The same Merovingians said by several authors to be descendants of Jesus – the sun-deity – and so he is the sun or ruler in each sign. Quinotaur traced backwards through Greek and into Phoenician legend is none other than Zeus, the very same god who impregnated his own daughter with Dionysius. But how is Zeus related to the Quinotaur? Well, Quinotaur is Dagon, the half fish/serpent linked with Oannes and Odakon and giving us the Dragon title. Elsewhere Dagon is known as Daonos and Zeus was Dyaus. As we know, Zeus was known to have taken the form of the serpent to procreate, just as the Quinotaur sires a race of sacred kings – and in the Orphic legends it was the son of Zeus, Dionysius, who was to be the fifth ruler of the world. The Phoenician legend involves him in the disappearance of the daughter of Canaan, Europa. Europa was a princess, or the daughter of a god and was said to be very beautiful. One day a servant told Europa that a white bull had appeared on a local beach. This tame bull allowed Europa to wrap garlands of flowers around its horn and to climb on for a ride. But the bull ran off with Europa into the sea; she was never seen again. Now we have an entire continent named after a missing girl, stolen by a bull.
All of this is beginning to sound very strange and on the face of it, none of this ought to relate, but please stay with it a while, as all will become clear. We must now move into an area that at first glance will also appear unrelated – the Wandering Jew.
Wandering Jew
A myth mainly from the Middle Ages, of a Jew said to have lived at the time of Christ and to live forever. Apparently, according to the Christian additions to the myth, he offended Christ on his way to the cross and was therefore cursed to walk the earth alone until the end of time. It does indicate that Christ had the power to give immortality on this earth, not just in heaven.
One of the most interesting things however is not the later Middle-Age myths, which were attached to the character, but the origin. The Wandering Jew is literally an amalgamation of hundreds of supposedly separate characters, all immortal. However it is my view that they all originate from the source of serpent immortality.
The modern myth probably comes from a character called Malchus (Macco, Malco) who strikes Jesus in John 18:20 and gets the curse of immortality.
However in Matthew 16:28 there is also the disciple, who Jesus infers immortality upon: “There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death.”
Note that Jesus, however, says “some.” There were indeed several characters that Jesus bestowed earthly immortality upon, and not as a curse, but as a gift.
There is also one named Sameri – who, in the Koran is cursed with immortality by Moses – the wielder of the serpent Caduceus; and not forgetting that Jesus is likened to Moses, “who lifted the Brazen serpent in the wilderness.” There is a remarkable astrotheological reason for this. Jesus was an adept, he could ‘fix’ time because he understood the motion of the planets and the sun – being a sun-deity himself. Fixing the motion is symbolic immortality, for it escapes the cycles of life – Nirvana. It is in essence, piercing or lancing the dragon, which is the sun passing overhead. The Wandering Jew, therefore, must be somebody who understands this power and has ‘fixed’ time – albeit symbolically. And this explanation will now open up another truth of the Green Man and much more. But there is also more to this character. There are always more levels of understanding – many levels of heaven.
The Grotto della Sibilla, which is said to be in the Umbrian Mountains, and was mentioned in the Medieval period romance Guerino il Meschino by Andrea da Barberino, Macco, is mentioned as having been turned into a serpent by an enchantress called Sibillia, who is connected with the healing serpent. This Macco is the Wandering Jew in serpentine form – the same Wandering Jew who ‘sheds his skin.’
Malchus was also known as Ahasverus or Buttedaeus and in the myth it was as a porter that Ahasverus struck Christ and mocked him for walking slowly. Jesus told him to wait for his return, which of course never happened and so Ahasverus lives still.
Later Christian additions indicate that he repented of his sins and became a Catholic, which is obvious propaganda. However, and what is most extraordinary, he is said to grow old in the normal way, but when he reaches the age of ‘one hundred’ he sheds his skin and rejuvenates to the age of thirty! What can be more like the tale of the rejuvenating snake? – And to the sacred age of thirty, which is the age of illumination and the same as the degrees between each and every zodiacal sign.
The Wandering Jew is also likened to Cain, the father of the serpent race – whom it is said, wanders the earth as an immortal – as the Lord put a “mark” upon him so that none would hurt him.
The Quinotaur is also implied here with the root “kin” being possibly from the same root as Cain and therefore showing the Quinotaur to be descended from the serpent race of Cain.
There is also an amazing legend about the linking of Herne or Cernunnos, the ‘horned god,’ with the Wandering Jew, in that they are one and the same. It is said that Herne told Jesus to drink water from the indent of a horse’s hoof, telling Jesus therefore to subjugate himself to the old ways.
Horned God
From Pashupati to Pan, the ‘Horned God’ is seen throughout history in connection with the secret of the serpent. It is Pan who kicks open the cista of the Bacchus, revealing the serpent from within. Dionysius (Bacchus) is often depicted with horns and the Bacchanals of Thrace were said to wear the horns in imitation of their god. Even Zeus, who transformed himself into a serpent to bring Dionysius to life, was often depicted as having horns.
The horns are thought to signify the solar aspect of the god, the life giving aspect. They are also symbolic of the bull, which is again a solar symbol or the sun in Taurus. The goat is also associated in terms of animals and horns with the serpent, as Dionysius is often manifested as a goat.
Indeed the awakening of Moses is symbolised by horns or shining forth; this, the same Moses who wields the Caduceus staff and raises the Brazen Serpent of healing for Yahweh in the wilderness – a point not lost on 1st century AD medallions which show Jehovah as a serpent. The horns then emerge as the enlightenment aspect of the serpent – the shining or illumination one gains from the processes known as Kundalini or other similar methods. They are the symbolic representation of what occurs inside the head.
Heads
Heads are central to the story of the serpent cults and there are many instances, which prove this point.
Hydra was the Greek water dragon, said by Alcaeus to have nine heads (nine is the number of the sun, the immortal one), one of which was immortal.
Appollodorus tells us “For his second labour Herakles was instructed to slay the Lernaian Hydra. The beast was nurtured in the marshes of Lerna, from where she would go out onto the flatland to raid flocks and ruin the land. The Hydra was of enormous size, with eight mortal heads, and a ninth one in the middle that was mortal. With Iolaos driving, Herakles rode a chariot to Lerna, and there, stopping the horses, he found the Hydra on a ridge beside the springs of Amymone where she nested. By throwing flaming spears at her he forced her to emerge, and as she did he was able to catch hold. But she hung onto him by wrapping herself round one of his feet, and he was unable to help matters by striking her with his club, for as soon as one head was pounded off two others would grow in its place. Then a giant crab came along to help the Hydra, and bit Herakles on the foot. For this he killed the crab, and called on his own behalf to Iolaos for help. Iolaos made some torches by setting fire to a portion of the adjoining woods, and by using those to burn the buddings of the heads, he kept them from growing. When he had overcome this problem, Herakles lopped of the immortal head, which he buried and covered with a heavy boulder at the side of the road that runs through Lerna to Elaios. He cut up the Hydra’s body and dipped his arrows in its venom.” Appollodorus 2.77-80. (The Library – Greek Mythography 2nd Century BC.)
Strabo gives an even more telling tale of the usefulness of this poison, as he points out that the Anigros River of Elis, “emits an offensive odour for a distance of twenty stadia, and makes the fish unfit to eat . . . this is attributed by some writers to the fact that certain of the Kentauroi here washed off the poison they got from the Hydra . . . The bathing water from here cures leprosy, elephantiasis, and scabies.” Strabo, Geography 8.3.19.
A strange affect for poison to have, that it should, diluted in the waters of the river, have medicinal benefit. It has to be related to the equally, peculiar concept that the Hydra has one immortal head. This of course relates to my discovery that our ancestors used venom and blood of the snake as a unique medicinal substance or Elixir. Could this be a clue to the dilution ratio of venom to blood? An eight to one ratio?
According to the Argonautica, the arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra were used to kill the Dragon of Hesperides, which lay by the trunk of the apple tree.
There is another hint that maybe the diluted poison should be mixed with the horse. Heracles shot his poisonous arrows into Nessus, “As he died, Nessus, knowing how poisonous the arrows were, since they had been dipped in the gall of the Lernaean Hydra, drew out some of his blood and gave it to Dejanira, telling her it was a love charm. If she wanted her husband not to desert her, she should have his garments smeared with this blood.” Hygnius Fabulae 34, Latin Mythography, 2nd century BC.
This is not obviously linked with the horse at all, until we discover that Nessus was a Centaur and therefore half-horse, half-man, like Chiron, the teacher of the snake god, Aesculapius. Let’s just sideline a moment and look at the horse.
The etymology of the horse is strangely linked with the snake and it is an amazing trip through the mythologies of the world to discover the secret of this association.
The word nag is now synonymous with the horse, but it comes from the Middle English nagge which itself is a derivation of the word Snag, Snagga or Snekka, which is snake. This relates strongly back again to India, where the word used for snake was nag. Here, alone in language, we have this peculiar mixing between the snake and the horse, which has occurred over a vast period of time and yet is still observable today.
The horse without doubt is not only linked with the serpent but also the sun, as we would expect. In Gaulish coins there are representations of the serpent under or over a horse, said to be a symbol of the sun god. In fact, in the Bible we have Jesus, the son god, riding or “on top” of the Ass or Horse as he rides triumphantly into Jerusalem – to death and then new life – the pattern of the sun each day. However, there is a remarkable scientific reason for this association.
In-order to produce anti-venom, non-lethal doses are injected into horses and over a period of time the horse naturally builds up antibodies specifically designed to neutralise the venom. Eventually the horse’s blood is collected and the antibodies extracted to produce anti-venom. This amazing “coincidence” is not new; it has been known about for centuries and is as old as oral tradition can be.
This idea of the ancient concept of the horse is also seen in the peculiar images of horseshoes seen on rock art in Australia, from before there were even horses in Australia (horses arrived in 1878). (See the book The Sign of the Serpent by Mark Balfour, Prism)
At Newgrange the horseshoe again is mixed with the spirals and images of snakes.
Getting back now to the concept of the head and its association with the serpent, we find the Greek god Pan. Seen by many scholars as one of the pro-genitors of the ‘Horned God,’ found in so many places around the world. According to many sources his father was Hermes, the wielder of a Caduceus. Other sources have him as the oldest god of all, older even than Zeus.
At Cirencester, England, this Horned God is depicted with two snakes rearing up, replacing his legs in a similar fashion to images of Dagon. In fact, I have travelled the length and breadth of Europe and found these images at hundreds of sites.
In Greek legend there is Dionysius, who is equated to the other horned gods as the ‘god of animals’ and ‘hunting’ – the same Dionysius who I found elsewhere to hold the chalice or elixir.
There is also a female version of the ‘horned god’ in Amaltheia, the goat nymph goddess. She was the glorious nurse of Zeus and Pan. Zeus took one of Amaltheia’s horns and gave it to the nymphs; it became the ‘Horn of Plenty,’ a precursor to the Holy Grail. Upon Zeus becoming the ‘Lord of the Universe’ he set Amaltheia’s image among the stars as Capricorn, which has a fish, or serpents, tail. On frescoes in the Roman catacombs the ancient pagans drew images of the ‘Sea Goat’ carrying the Caduceus – therefore linking the ‘horned god’ with the ‘healing element’ of the serpent. This image alone as the Goat of Mendes was to move in Alchemical and Cabalist circles much later on.
The Wandering Jew and the Horned God, Osiris and Dionysus, all are synominous with the now infamous Green Man.
Green Man
The Green Man or indeed Woman, can be seen across the world in medieval and even modern cathedrals and churches. Many will now be familiar with the chapel at Rosslyn and the many hundreds of Green Men depicted there, peering from their foliage hideaway’s. However, take a trip to Southwell Minster or Lichfield Cathedral in England and you will find many more. In fact there are thousands of Green Men and Women across Europe. These depictions are ancient and have distinct pagan origins and now that we understand our diverse pagan heritage included the worship of the serpent and the many things that this entails we must also understand that Christianity adopted it. The Green Man is the fertile god of nature, the god of life and it is therefore only fitting that he has a consort and a female version of equal status. The fact that there are less female Green deities pocking out of stone trees from the church wall is simply because Christianity took on the paternal aspects of the Jewish religion. In truth, a rich, fertile and active nature simply had to have a dual nature of male and female and mirror the life of those on our plain of existence. But what are the origins and meanings behind this peculiar little character?
Keating explained that Gaedhal, who is said to be derived from Gadelius (husband or son of the daughter of Akhenaton, Scota,) actually got the name from Glas or green. This is from the idea in the time of Moses, that the area of snakebite turned green. The Green Man or Woman was therefore not necessarily green due to the foliage, but may have been due to the idea that he/she was immortal due to the healing venom of the snake.
El Khidr is the Arabic term, meaning ‘green’ and is said by some to be linked to the infamous Sumerian Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, in one epic tale, tried to find the herb that brings eternal life – the Elixir – but a snake steals it while he is taking a bath.
Gilgamesh is also the one who cut the chuluppu tree, which is surrounded by serpents at its base. He takes the tree to Inanna but keeps the rootstock where the snakes had been and makes the magic wands Mikku and Pukku, said to be progenitors of the serpent rods of Moses and Aaron.
El Khidr is also equated with St. George; the Wandering Jew, Elijah; Moses – the one with the serpent staff; Melchizedek – the longest lived person in the Bible; Dionysius – said to be the Greek, ‘Green Man’ before he took on the role of wine and ecstasy; and the Druze say that El Khidr is John the Baptist – which is interesting when we consider that Lady Raglan and Sir James Frazer pointed out that human representations of the ‘Year King and Queen’ (Green Man and Woman) were usually decapitated and then hung on a tree, as John is decapitated and Jesus is hung on the tree.
El Khidr is said to be immortal, as he drank or fell into the well of the water of life. He is wise as a serpent and several Sufi Orders claim descent and initiation via him. With connections to Islam we have to ask, did the Templars have any idea about El Khidr? Was he Baphomet? El Khidr is also linked by some to Al Qaid, the Muslim star on the tail of Ursa Minor behind the head of Draco.
The colour “green” is something seen often in folklore, myth and legend and strangely it always seems to have some relationship to our tale here. Guinevere, the serpent-connected Queen of Arthur, is said to have green or emerald robes. Sir Gawain is the green knight. Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, linked strongly to the Templar tale, has the hermit Trevrizent with a green reliquary. Even the sword used to behead John the Baptist is said to be emerald. Ancient druid, neophytes and the fairies were said to wear green. And as we know, green, is a distinctively fertile and vegetative colour across the world. For all these reasons, the secretive and ancient languages and symbols of alchemists, mystics and even Gnostics is said to be the ‘green language.’
Now, just a quick mention of Rosslyn. Although the Sinclair who built Rosslyn was not a Templar, he was linked to the Templars indirectly, and Rosslyn has hundreds of Green Men images, as well as Templar symbols; namely two brothers on a horse, the Agnus Dei; the ‘five-pointed star’ or pentacle; the Head of Christ image or Baphomet, as well as the floriated cross and the dove in flight with the olive branch. Split up and most of these images are purely Christian symbols or motifs stolen from other more ancient religions. However, put together in one place with historical links to the Templars, we are left with little doubt that there must be a Templar link. But inside Rosslyn one is always overcome with the sheer scale of the vegetation, it is simply like bringing the outside in. In fact, this is almost exactly what was happening. The Garden of Eden with the tree of life and the tree of knowledge were brought to this place. It was a place of knowledge and eternal life and there is little wonder the Green Man should be in residence.
Also, a few miles away from Rosslyn is Temple, the modern-day name for Balantradoch, the ancient headquarters of the Templars in Scotland. I visited Temple in the summer of 2002, just to see for himself what was left – if anything – of the Templars. I was not disappointed – and if anything, was surprised to see so many symbols, that in fact were related to the modern day Masons; further linking the Masons to the ancient Templars.
After having walked around the graveyard of the old chapel for some time; enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the total silence of this wonderful and sleepy village, I heard the Iron Gate open and saw three large dogs come charging in, and straight towards me. I tried to see who had let them in, only to see the back of a man running off up the hill, laughing as he went. After fighting off the dogs and coming away unscathed I began to wonder why I should seemingly have been set on in such a way. I made my way back to my hotel and inquired of the owner about Temple. “Sit down”, he said, as if it was a long story.
We had a pot of tea on the lawn under the clear sunny sky and the owner informed me, that Temple was an unusual place. It seemed that the “locals” where no longer ‘locals.’ Instead, rich outsiders had been buying up property in the area – even to the point of taking over the small town hall. It was somewhat of a touchy point to the locals, I was informed. All the owner could suggest – and from what he had heard – was that they were rich Masons, coming “home” and settling, from all over the world.
“But,” I asked, “Why should I have been set upon?” The owner simply said that the locals believed they guarded their secrets well, and that he was far from the first “researcher” to have been cleared off in such a way. I decided that none of this was relevant to the current research and did not follow it up. But I will one day.
Other things close by Rosslyn and which link to the Templars includes the infamous Templar Wood. Nothing can be seen from ground level, which links this wood to the Templars; but take to the air and a wonderful sign meets you with some surprise. It is a wood, planted in the formation of the Templar Cross and even though it was planted after the dissolution of the Templars – the fact remains that the Templars in Scotland did not die out; they just changed and went ‘underground’ . . . hiding their signs so that nobody could prove their existence.