Guardian of the Secrets of the Holy Grail It is said that Rosslyn Chapel is the last resting place of the Holy Grail and that the fabulous treasure is buried in its secret vaults. This text is the story of this mysterious chapel in Scotland, taking the reader on a voyage of discovery. The first book to explore the existence of a configuration of seven pre-Christian sites which formed the route of a pilgrimage of initiation used by Druids, Knights Templar and Christian Mystics in their search for true knowledge and enlightenment. Beginning at Compostela in Spain, the voyage of discovery proceeds to Tolouse, Orleans, Chartres, Paris and Amiens, taking us deep into a mysterious world where hidden streams of spirituality flow beneath the surface of European history, profoundly influencing the evolution of Western thought. The journey ends at Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, where the history of its founders, the Sinclair family, illuminates the revelations of Rosslyn and their signifance for us today.

From Egyptian mythology to Jewish mysticism, Rome and Greece to the druids and the gnostics, Tim Wallace-Murphy exposes a fascinating lineage of hidden mysteries and secret societies, continuing through the Templars, Rosicrucians, and Freemasons to our modern visionaries. This hidden stream of spirituality and that of sacred knowledge are inseparably entwined to form the single most important continuous strand in the entire Western esoteric tradition.

This tradition exerted a seminal influence on the thinking of the builders of the great cathedrals; leading teachers in ecclesiastical schools; philosophers; playwrights; poets such as Shakespeare, Goethe, Blake, and W. B. Yeats; and on artists and Renaissance giants such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. It is also the root from which sprang alchemy and modern science.

Now, as more people are looking to find information on the alternatives to dominant religions and dogmas that have told us what to think and how to behave, as faith has been questioned by religious scandals, economic meltdowns, and an increasingly sick planet Earth, Wallace-Murphy reveals the secrets of the masters, including invaluable spiritual insights into everyday life that have been hidden throughout the ages. He shows us who kept this spiritual tradition alive despite appalling persecution, so that we in the twenty-first century might benefit from its accumulated fruits and ennoble our lives.

"Hidden Wisdom" will be of immense interest to readers of the number one bestseller "The Lost Symbol" as it explains much of Dan Brown's focus on the ancient mysteries.