On a recent exploration, I visited many enigmatic and symbolic places. With places like Rennes-le-Chateau, Montsegur and Tomar in mind, I continued my search for Templar knowledge, this time in the last stronghold of these incredible warriors in Europe - Scotland and England.

This content is highly speculative and is inspired by the connections I made during the visit to incredible places such as: Rosslyn Chapel, near Edinburgh and the Temple Church in London, as well as other readings.

The Secret of Henry Sinclair and Rosslyn Chapel

Imagine a dark night in 15th century Scotland. On Rosslyn Hill, an impressive structure begins to rise: a unique chapel, built by an enigmatic figure named William Sinclair. With its intricate columns carved like the roots of an ancient tree, Rosslyn Chapel seems to hold ancient secrets. In the shadowy corridors and intricately carved arches, clues are said to lie to an incalculable treasure left behind by the Knights Templar – one of the most mysterious groups in medieval history.

The legend begins to come to life with Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, and descendant of the Sinclair family, who is believed to have sailed west long before Columbus. Legend has it that 90 years before the famous navigator, he and his men embarked on a daring voyage across the Atlantic, bound for a place we know today as Nova Scotia. But why this voyage? And why would someone go to such lengths and risks without making their final destination clear?

The most compelling theory is that Henry Sinclair was carrying a Templar treasure, relics of incalculable value, which he was tasked with hiding in a new Eden – far from the clutches of the Church and the French Crown.

Arcadia 1398 – A Mystery Hidden in a Chair

More than half a millennium later, a carved chair catches the eye of a visiting neophyte at Rosslyn Chapel. Engraved on the weathered wood, it reads “To Arcadia 1398”. In other words, Towards Arcadia 1398. The name is not strange and he has seen it in other equally mysterious places. What could it mean? Could it be a code or a message left for those who dared to unravel the secret?

For the ancient Greeks, Arcadia was a utopia, a lost paradise where nature and harmony fused. For Henry Sinclair's followers, Arcadia perhaps had a new interpretation: an untouched and hidden piece of land where secrets could be buried.

And the year? 1398 – the same year that Sinclair is said to have travelled. This simple inscription on a chair is, for many, a clue that something great happened at that time. “Arcadia” could very well be the code name for Acadia, the region of Nova Scotia where Sinclair and the Templars are said to have arrived in search of a new home and, more importantly, a new hiding place.

Acadia vs. Arcadia – A New Eden in the Americas

The coincidence of the names “Acadia” and “Arcadia” opens up a fascinating discussion. While Acadia is a name later used to designate the area of Nova Scotia and surrounding areas, Arcadia is a classic concept in Renaissance literature and art, symbolizing a lost paradise or an earthly Eden. This leads some theories to suggest that the Templar mission westward may have sought not only physical refuge, but also the recreation of a spiritual utopia, perhaps inspired by the Templar values of justice, equality and secrecy. It is worth remembering that the original region of Mesopotamia where the Garden of Eden supposedly existed was called Akkad.

European explorers who came after Sinclair adopted the term Acadia to refer to the new territory, but the phonetic and semantic similarities between the two names suggest a possible symbolism. The Templars, with their esoteric leanings, may have been trying to establish a new “Arcadia” where they could live free from the religious and political pressures of the Old World. This New Eden, symbolized by Acadia, represents a place of spiritual rebirth and a new beginning, linked both to the Templars’ legacy and to their ambitions to explore and safeguard sacred secrets.

The Oak Island Money Pit – A Trap Full of Mysteries

On a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia known as Oak Island, an even more surprising clue would emerge. In the late 18th century, two young adventurers discovered a mysterious pit – a deep hole filled with platforms and layers of earth and wood. What could it be, and who could have built such a structure at such a remote time?

The discovery of this “Money Pit” has sparked speculation about possible Templar treasure. And the ingenuity of the pit, designed to collapse and flood with salt water as it is dug, suggests that its builders knew that someone would one day come looking for whatever lies beneath. Amid the mud and water of the pit, hidden treasures or secret knowledge might be waiting to be discovered—or perhaps never meant to be unearthed. Could the fate of the Templars lie silently beneath the layers of the pit? Or was it all a trap, a trap to deceive curious and treasure hunters? The complexity of the Money Pit suggests that only the most determined and worthy could unravel the enigma left behind by those who fled to the Americas.

Et in Arcadia Ego – Nicolas Poussin’s Painting and the Whisper of the Templars

Decades later, the legend of Arcadia would continue, this time in the hands of a French painter, Nicolas Poussin. His work “Et in Arcadia Ego” shows shepherds around a tomb, and the inscription “Et in Arcadia Ego” – “I too am (or was) in Arcadia” – sparks theories of occult symbolism. What was Poussin trying to tell us? Was he whispering clues about the Templar refuge, about an Arcadia where the sacred treasure lies?

Some scholars believe that Poussin had access to ancient secrets. He painted a pastoral scene, but with a dark message: even in a paradise like Arcadia, death, or perhaps the secret, still exists. Perhaps Poussin was echoing the secrets of the Templars, hinting that their legacy, though hidden, still permeated the world – an eternal Arcadia, where it is not just a matter of finding a physical place, but a state of knowledge reserved for the few.

These interpretations suggest that Arcadia may actually be an indirect reference to the Americas. Poussin may have depicted the promise of a “new Eden” – and not just any Eden, but the Eden of the Americas, which the Templars saw as a safe place to store secrets and treasures. He painted for those who knew the stories and secrets of the Templars, and who might also have known of the voyages of Henry Sinclair and the Sinclairs to Nova Scotia, a destination the French would call “Acadia” centuries later.

The Hidden Treasure and the Arcadian Dream

The story of the Templar treasure, Rosslyn Chapel and the journey to the Americas is full of theories that continue to intrigue. While many aspects remain mysterious, the connection between the Templars, the Sinclair family and the New World suggests that the Templar legacy may have been much more enduring than previously thought. Henry Sinclair and his supposed journey to Acadia stand out as one of the most fascinating episodes in the Templars’ search for refuge or a new beginning.

The combination of clues such as the 1398 Arcadia chair, the Oak Island Money Pit, and Poussin’s work suggests that the Templars may have left a trail of their hidden knowledge, waiting for a future generation of explorers to uncover it. While historical evidence remains scant, the persistence of such a rich narrative points to the possibility that perhaps a new Templar “Arcadia” did indeed exist—not just as a place, but as an immortal idea and a promise of knowledge yet to be rediscovered.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand. A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name . MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command . The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she . With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
- Emma Lazarus (1883 manuscript)

What is Arcadia, after all? Is it a dream of a new free nation, an Eden reborn to house knowledge and secrets beyond the reach of power and time? Or perhaps it is the promise that wherever we are, we can connect to something deeper, something hidden—a mystery that pulses beneath the surface of everything.

The truth is out there!

The Lost Treasure of the Templars in the Americas – From Rosslyn Chapel to Acadia