Weaving the Mythic Landscape: Rosslyn Chapel & Glen

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Scotland and I felt the urge to visit Rosslyn Chapel and Glen. Until April last year I had been living there for four years or so. I moved to the village of Roslin (note the different spelling) during lockdown and was delighted to be a stone’s throw from the chapel and glen. I walked to these energetically powerful sites most days, seeking respite from a world in a pandemic of madness. Rosslyn welcomed me into her darkness and her light; I came to know the area intimately and over the years that followed I interacted with the spirit of place- the genius loci. This was not the first time I had lived in Rosslyn, I stayed there for a few months in 2012, and the first time I visited was in 1994. There were many day trips over the years.

During the years 2020- 2024, certain places in both the chapel and the glen drew me to them; I came to associate these places with archetypes- land and myth merging in a timeless sea of energy: Cybele’s Seat, Hekate’s Yew, Kali’s Stone, the home of the Melusine, were some of the stories that I wove into the physical landscape and my inner landscape. I also created a stone circle (rocks really) over the twelve days of epiphany in 2021- each stone representing a planet with a corresponding crystal or stone buried underneath.

At that time, I was mostly using Greco-Roman names for these archetypes; I was working with the asteroid goddesses in my own chart, and in client chart readings. These days- though still involved in astrology and chart readings- a shift has happened; in these lands, my homeland, I have moved away from reliance on the Greco-Roman pantheon to describe the archetypal energies. Partly this includes learning about the history of my homeland and the associated myths, legends, gods, and goddesses, but it is also down to an integration of subtle energies that are not easily categorised and are beyond naming.

I thought about all those days, weeks, months, years that I spent in Rosslyn Glen, and the intensity of focus and participation with which I engaged. It absolutely was an ‘As within, so without’ experience.

Yesterday while walking through the glen (strangely devoid of any people) I wondered if I had imprinted the land with my psychic energy and if the spirit of the land had imprinted me. I got a strong yes to the latter, and I’m not sure about the former, however if ancestral memory does resides in place, then it must be the case that we are, all of us, imprinting the land all of the time.

What thoughts did my five-year younger self distribute as she walked among the trees and sang to the river? What did I evoke in those rituals? What future did I imagine for myself as a recently separated (somewhat heartbroken) woman returning to her homeland after eighteen years of living in other lands? When I ask these questions, I do not feel that it was only me conspiring to create my future; what the ‘other’ element in the equation was, or is, is not known- at least not directly.

Encountering place -time meeting space- turns like a spiral that moves up and down, leaving traces. Each visit reveals something more, and every revelation in turn unfolds something new. Or something old.

Timing is a crucial part of the process, nothing can be rushed, nothing can be willed, steps cannot be skipped, gifts and insights cannot be stolen. It’s a kind of alchemy that requires patience and faith, and a comfort with not knowing for sure what the outcome will be, or what the gold (gift) will be, if indeed there will be any at all. There are no maps on this type of inner questing, you are making the map. You are the map.

In Rosslyn Chapel, I realised that the more I thought I knew, the less I knew. While there are books aplenty about Rosslyn-and everyone seems to have a theory or a truth concerning this mysterious, almost mythical place -I have come to realise that each truth, as with each book, is a manifestation of its author. According to authors Mark Oxbrow and Ian Robertson, Rosslyn was originally intended to be a centre for learning. I believe that is what it is, just not in the usual way. It is a multi-dimensional learning centre.

Attuning to my intuition and instinct was part of my ‘training’ in Rosslyn, but there was something, or someone else, who had a hand in the game too- maybe multiple hands. I had a definite sense that I was in relationship with the spirit, or spirits, of the place, and that by loosening my grip on what is considered ‘ordinary’ reality, the walls of that reality became fluid.

One of the conversations I had with the Chapel guide yesterday was about modern-day mystics and the lack of containers in our culture to integrate spiritual, and non-ordinary experiences. The shamans of past and present win this privilege often through gruelling experiences in which they are symbolically dismembered and reconfigured. And as we know from myth, the gods guard their treasure and secrets well and do not give them up easily.

During my time of intensive visits to Rosslyn Chapel and Glen I learned the art of grounding. I did this by- among other things- allowing myself to regularly step away from the intense energies and just be, well, normal. I also released the need to attach meaning to the sometimes-mind-blowing experiences I was having. I have seen people who, unable to contain the fire that burns within them, burn the house down (aka fry their brains). I have learned to live with the ordinary and the extraordinary, the seen and the unseen. There is no such thing as one truth. Multiple truths can and do exist simultaneously. Things happen on many planes. Will any of it stand up in a court of law? It depends on which court, and whose laws.

Respect, gratitude, and humility were also qualities that I learned. There is a way to do things, a code of conduct. Though I was engaged in regular things (and dating) I became aware I could not be around certain energies and that my boundaries (which had historically been quite permeable) began to get stronger. This did not aways make me popular.

Thinking of the project/process I’m currently involved with- ‘The Way of the Serpent’- I see that it is partly about deepening into a life of vibrational truth. If something, or someone, does not feel right, I trust my intuition. The Way of the Serpent is also about learning to adapt, and like water, find a way to flow around the hard places. I hold by the maxim ‘As within so without’. I know that the inner work is important but so is the outer work, they reflect each other in perfect resonance. To commune with sacred sites, or places of power, it is important to do the inner work otherwise we project our fears, prejudices, blind spots, traumas, and baser instincts onto the land. We are weaving the living mythic landscape with our thoughts. If I am imprinting my energy into place, how is that interacting with the other people who visit there now and in the future?

Last month I spent time in the east Neuk of Fife. One of the places I visited was the ‘Rock & Spindle’, a volcanic plug a few miles outside St Andrews. I climbed the rock and found a seat to sit and tune in. I got a strong sense that what will bring healing to the land of Scotland (I was focused on Scotland), is people connecting with and interacting with the land as a sentient being. In an age when people are spending more time on devices, this feels important.

People are engaging with the land but there is some contention about how to engage appropriately. Left remnants, plastic ribbons, crystals, coins, and trash cause upset among members of the Earth Energies community, and in the wider community. This is understandable, however it may also be an example of humans thinking they know best and quick to judge those whom they deem inappropriate or wrong. Token leaving generally comes from good intention. I also trust that the land has its own regulating consciousness and is contained within a mystery far greater than we can usually comprehend with the mind. In saying that, I am not sure there are not far more sophisticated consciousnesses at work that purposefully interact with the Earth and her subtle systems, and whose intentions may not be benevolent or beneficial- but that’s a deeper dive. Suffice to say, I am getting the impression there may be more to worry about than coins in the wishing well.