Ancient Quest - Home Page


	Dr Ralls' latest book -- The Knights Templar Encyclopedia -- (Career Press, NJ, 2007) … the product of years of detailed research, this is an essential guide to the People, Places, Events and Symbols of the Order of the Temple (1119-1312). Scholarly, yet accessible, this key reference work is in convenient A-to-Z format - an important addition to any library. Includes 5 appendices, extensive Bibliography, a special 'Recommended Reading' section, a list of major European Templar sites, Grand Masters, chronology, photos and more. Explore the fascinating world of the medieval Templars. "The The Knights Templar Encyclopedia offers both general readers and specialists alike a remarkable source work on the famous medieval military Order. Scholarly and authoritative, Dr. Ralls' treasury…is highly recommended". ---*Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clark*e, University of Exeter (UK). It is now available for orders from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk (click title for details and a link)


	Karen's book, The Templars and the Grail, is now on its 6th printing and available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk (click title for details and a link)
	"Fascinating! Karen Ralls steers a middle course between dry scholarship and extravagant speculation, with real insights into the Templar and Grail traditions..." *-David Lorimer*, Director, Scientific and Medical Network

	"...Here is the book about the Knights Templar we have been waiting for... Now, in one readable book, the kind you can't lay down, Karen Ralls gives us the basic known facts about Templar history, and also deals with the colorful speculations in a fair, open-minded, yet responsible way. If you're looking for the one indispensable book about the Knights Templar, this is it." *-Robert Ellwood*, Professor of Religion Emeritus, University of Southern California

	"...a Templar tour de force... Karen Ralls's meticulously researched book is a significant addition both to the history and myths surrounding the Templars and to the highly esoteric literature of the Grail. In this work, Dr. Ralls has created an important bridge between these two extraordinary and long-lived themes." *-John Matthews*, author

	"In the Grail romances the question is asked, "Whom does the Grail serve?" In the case of this work, the Grail serves the reader of Dr. Karen Ralls' 'The Templars and the Grail'... a book that is full of factual history and yet explores the many speculations... a book as richly decorated and elegantly crafted as the many stone carvings that adorn Rosslyn Chapel herself." *-Stephen Dafoe*, publisher, Templar History Magazine

	"In presenting a practical history of the Templars interwoven with the secrets of the Age of Chivalry, this book is a 'must' for those interested in the Western Mysteries." *-Robert Brydon*, FSA Scot., Templar historian and owner of The Brydon Collection

	Media commentary to date on The Quest for the Celtic Key (2002), has included

	"...This book takes us on a fascinating journey through the mystery and magic of Scotland's past. Along the way, the authors describe the people, places and traditions associated with Scotland's legends and history....the Declaration of Arbroath, the Stone of Destiny, the 'missing library' of Iona, Arthurian traditions, the Holy Grail, the Picts, the Druids..Celtic saints...Robert the Bruce...Rosslyn Chapel...the Knights Templar, and much more..." -The Watkins Review, London, Autumn/Winter 2002, Issue No. 4

	"Anyone who likes to turn over questions and then take the opportunity to visit the many charismatic places mentioned will be entertained by this book. Without resorting to colourful conjecture and wild surmising, it nevertheless adds its own voice to the enduring, and probably unsolvable, mysteries of Scotland's Celtic heritage." -Barbara Fraser, Historic Scotland magazine, Winter 2002/03 (the official magazine of the government department responsible for Scotland's built heritage)

	"...in The Quest for the Celtic Key....their sources are well documented at the end of each chapter and the result is an enthralling and informative journey through time which deserves a place on every Scottish bookshelf. Most importantly, the result of bringing together our history, folklore and legends, gives us, I believe, a unique and valuable insight into the nation we are today" -Margaret Graeme, Scots magazine, February 2003, Vol. 158, No. 2

	"The reader who travels with Karen Ralls and Ian Robertson...will find a travelogue which enriches the histories and mythologies so beautifully told, with many newly wrought connections to places, buildings, stones and other remains which may still be viewed in the landscape and historic monuments of modern Scotland..."" -Rev. Dr. Michael Northcott, Faculty of Divinity, University of Edinburgh

	Media commentary on Music and the Celtic Otherworld (2000):

	"This is a fascinating study of an important and neglected theme in Celtic literature and religion. Meticulously researched and sensitively written, it highlights the importance attached to music in both pre-Christian and early Christian Ireland and Scotland and its particular association with the Otherworld". -Dr. Ian Bradley, St. Andrews University, back cover of book

	"....an authoritative and accessible book on the spiritual dimension of music." -The Scotsman, Mar.2000

	"a fascinating topic that Ralls-MacLeod (Celtic and Religious Studies, University of Edinburgh) succeeds in introducing through various source texts... this study provides a solid introduction to an interdisciplinary topic that will be of interest to scholars of Celtic culture and folklore as well as medieval Irish music. Recommended..." Teresa M. Neff, Boston University -Library Journal (USA), May 2000

	"this book really is a must."

	"carefully and skillfully highlights the spiritual dimension of music from both a Christian and pre Christian perspective ... the bibliography at the end of the book is substantial." -Dalriada magazine, May 2000

	"The influence of music in the Celtic world is paramount... Dr Ralls methodically explores the tradition... "There are many interesting side-lights... and the bibliography ensures that the reader has access to an extensive source" - RILKO Journal, Spring 2000

	And, of Indigenous Religious Musics (2001), co-edited with Dr.Graham Harvey, Professor James Cox of Edinburgh University said in a review in the Journal of Contemporary Religion (vol. 17:1, 2002):

	"This book marks a welcome and innovative addition to a growing list of publications on indigenous religions.....a genuinely multi-disciplinary study....a creative supplement to the book is a CD...which contains five examples of indigenous music."



Research areas of Interest
In-depth historical research on medieval topics such as the Knights Templar, Gothic cathedrals, Richard the Lionheart, the Cathars, the roots of Rosicrucianism, medieval Kabbala, medieval Guilds, Chivalry, Troubadours, Grail romances, Heraldry, Rosslyn Chapel, medieval pageants, the Crusades, pilgrimage, Knights Hospitaller, the Black Virgin and Madonna, Music, Gnosticism and the Renaissance Hermetic revival (for further details see seminars). Aspects of these derive from the philosophical traditions of the ancient world, introducing cross-cultural themes of comparative mythology and awareness of symbolism and archetypes. Celtic topics include King Arthur, the Holy Grail, Merlin, the sidhe (fairy) tradition, the Celtic Otherworld, Iona, the Stone of Destiny, the bards, Green Man, Celtic gods and goddesses, Robin Hood, the Picts and the Druids (for example, see Music & the Celtic Otherworld - synopsis). Christian subjects include the Celtic church, the Culdees, the Transfiguration, St. John the Baptist, 'the Word', angels, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Knights Templar, saints, the Book of Kells, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nazarenes, the Gospel of John and St. Columba of Iona (for example see Articles: The Celtic Church). Transpersonal psychology topics include consciousness research, Jungian theory, archetypes, comparative mythology, transcendence, dreams, shamanism, intuition, creativity, science and spirituality, and so on (for examples see Workshops). Also: places of pilgrimage, e.g., Templar sites, Jerusalem, Rosslyn Chapel, Iona, Turkey, Crete, ancient Celtic sites, Bourges, Santiago de Compostela, Egypt, India, Malta; people, e.g., Wolfram von Eschenbach, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Roger Bacon, Thomas Jefferson, Joseph of Arimathea, Rumi; issues, e.g., the rise and fall of the Knights Templar, the founding of the Royal Society, the Holy Grail, the importance of religious experience.
"Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers...." - Alfred Lord Tennyson


AQ:	about us \| workshops \| seminars \| articles
KRM:	biography \| calendar \| news \| books \| music
	tours \| media & consultancy \| links \| home

	© 2000-2008 Karen Ralls / Ancient Quest All rights reserved. www.ancientquest.com
contact		webmaster

Welcome

Research areas of Interest