Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Pagan Pilgrimage: Rosslyn Chapel

Pagan Pilgrimage: Rosslyn Chapel

Last updated on: October 5, 2014 at 3:33 pm by Jason Mankey

Pagan Pilgrimage: Rosslyn Chapel 2014-10-05T15:33:32-06:00 Jason Mankey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m fascinated with history and sacred spots. I was lucky enough to recently visit the (still) United Kingdom and wanted to share some of my experiences there on Raise the Horns. Instead of a boring travelogue I thought I’d provide a little context on the places I visited and perhaps help the next Pagan traveller. If enough people read this article I’ll also write about Stonehenge, Bath, and Glastonbury. So if you like this piece (and the pretty pictures, all taken by my wife and I!) please help a guy out by sharing it on social media.

Why visit Rosslyn Chapel ?: That is a very good question (especially for Pagans). Maybe one visits Rosslyn because it’s weird? You are a fan of Dan Brown novels? There’s really nothing “Pagan” about Rosslyn Chapel. It’s a Christian Church and has been (at least when its been in use) since it was built in the mid-1400’s. What makes Rosslyn interesting is that it’s been linked to the Holy Grail, the Knights Templar, and lots of other conspiracy type theories over the years.

The walls of the chapel are home to all sorts of interesting carvings which is a lot of the draw. For instance there are over 100 Green Men on its walls, I guess that’s the Pagan connection. It was certainly the biggest reason for my visit. (It’s worth mentioning that if Green Men are ancient pagan symbols it’s very unlikely that anyone thought of them that way in the year 1450, things had been pretty Christianized by that point.)

Rosslyn Chapel has become a popular tourist destination over the last ten years because of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code novel. I’ve been familiar with the Chapel for a couple of decades now, but it’s only really entered the extended public consciousness because of Brown’s book and the movie adaption directed by Ron Howard. That’s not an opinion either, that’s what the tour guides at Rosslyn freely admit to.

What Should One Look at when Visiting Rosslyn Chapel?: As a Pagan I was interested in looking at the Green Men on the walls, and in that regard Rosslyn didn’t disappoint. The chapel is littered with them, and they appear on both the inside and outside walls of the place. Since photography isn’t allowed inside, if you want to snap a picture of a Green Man you’ve got to do it outside. The most famous Green Man image from Rosslyn (just to your right) is located in a very prime spot, so whatever the Green Men are supposed to represent it’s apparently important.

There are also what appear to be carvings of maize in the chapel. This wouldn’t be that big of deal if the chapel had been build in the Seventeenth Century, but the carvings pre-date Columbus’s visits to the Americas. This has led to all sorts of conspiracy theories over the years. Speaking of conspiracy theories, a depiction of Jesus’s crucifixion has been alternatively interpreted as the execution of Jacques de Molay, the last leader of the Knights Templar. I don’t find this very convincing, but a lot of ex-Templars did move to Scotland when the order was destroyed in 1307. It’s certainly worth a look.

Also worth taking a close look at is “Apprentice Pillar,” an ornately decorated pillar that has had what is most likely a Masonic-myth attached to it. According to legend an apprentice decorated the pillar when his master was out of the country. When the master returned he murdered his apprentice for creating such a lovely piece of art. A carving in the chapel had its beard removed (vandalized) to better look like an “apprentice.” I don’t believe the story, but the pillar is a work of art. The stylized Devil is also really cool.

According to some pretty crazy books Rosslyn is the home to a missing Templar treasure, the Holy Grail, or perhaps the Ark of the Covenant. As the tour guides take pains to point out, the chapel was abandoned for nearly 200 years. If the chapel does serve as a hiding place for the Grail (or perhaps Jimmy Hoffa?) the Sinclair family (owners of the chapel then and now) must have forgotten about the secret that was a part of their holdings.

There are also some exhibits inside the Visitor Center at Rosslyn and some displays outside commenting on the building of the chapel. These exhibits are of varying quality and we found most of them to be pretty boring. We were much more interested in ooing and ahhing at Green Men.

Jason you sound kind of negative, did you like Rosslyn Chapel?: Sorry about that, I loved Rosslyn, even if I don’t believe in some of the crazier theories attached to it. It’s a gorgeous chapel, and it is weird. It’s also impossible to explain all of the carvings, maybe there is some giant conspiracy here after all.

Getting to Rosslyn Chapel: Rosslyn Chapel is only a few miles outside of Edinburgh and easily reached via the public bus line. That’s how we got there and the ride offered a lovely view of the city and a couple of outlying villages. There are also frequent private bus trips to Rosslyn on a daily basis.

Admission Fee: A mere nine pounds, which I thought was a bargain. Nine pounds get you into the chapel, the exhibits, and includes a tour if you are so inclined. When we entered the chapel a tour guide was giving a brief overview and I found it very helpful. Once you enter Rosslyn you can stay as long as you wish.

What I didn’t like: A few years ago Rosslyn instituted a “no pictures” inside the chapel policy. Since the tour guides were shining laser pointers on every interesting carving in the chapel I have to assume the no pictures policy is a ploy to sell more things in the gift shop. The no pictures policy isn’t rigorously enforced, a Dutch tourist walked around with a camera around his neck snapping shots of whatever, but I couldn’t quite claim that I didn’t know English.

There are also some weird exhibits in the visitor center that didn’t quite sit right with me. A cartoon presentation on the Green Man contained a cockamamie story about the Biblical Adam, his son Seth, and the origins of the Green Man motif. The Green Man may or may not be a pagan relic, but it’s certainly not a myth featuring Old Testament characters. The video presentation was in complete contrast to the offerings in the gift shop which promoted the Green Man figure as a nature deity. Rosslyn does it best to have things both ways apparently.

To Take Home: The gift shop was a weird mix of Christianity, Paganism, and Freemasonry; so no matter what one’s attraction to Rosslyn might be the gift shop has you covered. There are some lovely Green Man casts for sale, molded from the original carvings in the chapel. They are also made in Scotland and are reasonably priced at only twenty pounds. I had to take one home with me. It was the only item we purchased at Rosslyn.

What They Don’t Tell You: Rosslyn Chapel its self is pretty small (in truth, it was never actually finished being built!), and so are the carvings inside of it. The Green Men for instance are all about the size of my hand. I actually had trouble finding some of my guys because of it, even the ones clearly marked on the visitor map. They just aren’t very big.

Should you visit?: Absolutely. It’s worth visiting just because it’s such a curious place. I wasn’t overcome with any great spiritual insights while visiting but I enjoyed being there and the Green Man images will stick with me for life.

Photos Aren’t Allowed, How Did you Get All of These Pictures?: I’ve got secrets folks, that’s all I’m going to say.

Previous Post

October 1, 2014

On Ritual Without Faith

Next Post

October 7, 2014 The Origins of Halloween Things

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Editorializing Gateways to Paganism Guest Posts Holiday Histories Led Zeppelin News and Views Occult Pagan Pagan TV Club Paganism polytheism Ramble On Reviews Ritual Strange Days Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 April 2025 August 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 January 2023 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Solomon Moses Joshua Gideon