CHAPTER 8

EMERGING THEMES

INTRODUCTION


Father Saunière’s church and the surrounding landscape embrace a number of themes of the mystery that we are dealing with. At some point in the future these themes may converge under a broader canopy that links them all together, but at the moment any all-encapsulating answer remains elusive. Until such an answer emerges we must presume that there may be more than one mystery involved. Certainly, the themes are easier to identify and pursue as individual threads. For now, my intention in this part of the book is to summarize the background, clues and information available on a number of paths and some possible conclusions. There are also a few new ideas and recent developments that have enriched the mystery. Much of the existing evidence is subject to more than one interpretation and where possible I will explore the alternatives.

FATHER BÉRENGER SAUNIÈRE


Saunière’s role at the centre of this mystery appears to be one of both explorer and gatekeeper. His discoveries and his sudden wealth (see Chapter 5) placed him in a position to communicate, through the physical fabric and décor of his church, a number of different ideas. In this he was assisted by those around him and by others in the region who supported and directed his actions. Sion informs us that:

‘An important letter was sent to Bérenger Saunière from Granes informing him that a symbol or small marker had been located there. A line drawn directly from this to the vaults at Arques (derived from “a chessboard” in Arabic – ar-qa, ruat – also the origin of Arlakeen or Harlequin, and also meaning “confused speech”, “great doorway or entrance”) passes right through the Tomb!’

We will learn more about the ‘tomb’ in Chapter 11 but Sion is implying that a fellow priest based at Granes helped Saunière locate a tomb. This tomb may have been the direct source of his wealth or may have contained documents, information or treasure, that he exchanged for money. This money, and possibly items from the tomb were shared between Saunière and two other local priests, Father Gélis and Father Boudet. Gélis invested his share in business, Boudet funded the refurbishment of a number of churches in the region and other charitable causes, while Saunière spent his on refurbishing his church at Rennes-le-Château, a guesthouse and luxury items. Saunière’s church and gardens were developed to include esoteric and sometimes heretical symbolism. The most prevalent of which came from the Freemasons and Rosicrucians.

FREEMASONRY


Whatever Saunière discovered as a source of wealth, his church décor (see Chapter 6) first struck me as something like a Masonic theme park. As if to emphasize this link, a party of Freemasons from the US visited while I was there, clearly delighted by the abundance of their own symbols. Other Masonic groups are known to travel from Paris and England to marvel at what appears at first sight to be a Masonic lodge hidden within a church. But although it has much in common with the standard Masonic temple, in truth the church is a creation of Rosicrucianism, the spiritual arm of the Priory of Sion, as Sion confirmed:

‘The church at Rennes-le-Château was undoubtedly used as a preceptory – a lodge for the purposes of high meetings of the Rose+Croix – and its refurbishment attests to that fact.’

‘Furthermore, it was also used to celebrate elevation/initiation into [the Rosicrucian higher] degrees (17 to 33).’

Superficially there is little difference between the two types of lodge, since Freemasonry’s rituals and regalia were largely adopted from Rosicrucianism. Masonic lodges are built in the image of the Temple of Solomon and this church is no different. Inside the door is a statue of Asmodeus, the demon summoned and bound by King Solomon to build his temple in silence. Solomon bound Asmodeus using water, which is why the statue crouches beneath the water stoup. The demon contemplates the chessboard floor, itself a feature of every Masonic temple. In Saunière’s time this pattern was limited to the correct 64 squares, but has since been expanded to cover the entire floor, presumably in an attempt to hide its presence.

The church at Rennes-le-Château was a place of initiation, of ritual and mystery. The teachings imparted there were under the guise of Rosicrucian Freemasonry. From a Christian perspective, the 18th (Rose+Croix) Degree is the closest to the Passion of Christ and its initiation rites follow the Stations of the Cross. As mentioned earlier, in the Eighth Station a boy can be seen dressed in tartan, a reference to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (see Chapter 6). Many of the higher, or ecossais [Scottish], degrees have their origins in the old aristocratic families of Europe. This Eighth Station has also been linked to the local noble family of de Negri d’Ables (also spelled de Nègre) and it was Jacques-Etienne Marconis de Nègre who created the Rite of Memphis – a precursor to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Jacques-Etienne de Nègre was an ancestor of Marie de Negri d’Ables, countess of Blanchefort, who was buried in the church.

‘The fusion between the Scottish Rite and the Rose+Croix had created an additional 17 Degrees, increasing the total number to 33. The truth of the matter is that the Priory of Sion needed a safe repository for its inherent knowledge and an unquestionable source for recruits – somewhere secure, secret and well-protected. What better place than the upper echelons of a secret institution that they had themselves created and, for the best part, monitored?’

The emblems of the Rose+Croix degree are the rose, the cross, the eagle and the pelican. The pelican is seen feeding its young from its own breast, in an act of self-sacrifice. The small museum at Rennes-le-Château displays Saunière’s cassock with this image embroidered on the back (see Plates).

In the Rosicrucian degrees a ‘room of contemplation’ was used to prepare the candidate for rituals, and this can be identified as the secret room hidden by Saunière behind the cupboards in the sacristy.

The symbol of the rose on the cross on the pulpit and above the Stations of the Cross also remind us of the Rose+Croix degrees and link the Freemasons to the Rosicrucian movement, Sion’s spiritual arm.

The rose cross alone can be absorbed into a Christian setting without raising eyebrows as it can be interpreted as Jesus as the ‘Rose of Sharon’. However, so much Masonic and Rosicrucian symbolism in one place is overwhelming evidence of the influence of secret societies.

There ritual also uses three chambers coloured black, white and red– the classical stages of alchemical transformation. These can also be experienced as stages of meditation. The 25th (Rose+Croix) Degree confers the title ‘Knight of the Brazen Serpent’ upon the candidate, symbolized by the title of Sion’s document Le Serpent Rouge (‘The Red Serpent’).

The symbol as used in the 25th degree, a serpent draped across a Tau cross, will be familiar to those who have viewed the images from Nicolas Flamel’s book.

The text of Le Serpent Rouge, which is fully explored in a later chapter, shows that the ritual was not limited to the church but was recreated on a grand scale in the surrounding landscape: a place of mass initiation not beneath the painted stars of the church/lodge ceiling but beneath a real starry canopy.

No record of Saunière’s Masonic/Rosicrucian membership has been made public, but at the time priests were forbidden to join the Freemasons so he would certainly have kept it quiet. Even the story of Saunière’s actions may be based upon the instructions in a Masonic ritual. During the ritual of the 17th (Royal Arch) Degree the candidate is taken through a re-enactment of the uncovering of Solomon’s Temple, itself based presumably on the Templars’ return to the Holy Land and residence on the Temple Mount. At a specific point in the ritual the candidate symbolically prises the Temple vault open with a crowbar and discovers a secret scroll – in much the same way as Saunière is said to have discovered parchments.

It may be tempting at this stage to write off the entire mystery as a Rosicrucian folly. But that is only part of the story. Secret societies are a perfect vehicle for transmitting heretical ideas and the abundance of symbolism in this church indicates the possibility of some greater secret.

TEMPLAR LAND OWNERSHIP


The Knights Templar are often seen as precursors to the Freemasons. Certainly a number of Masonic rituals re-enact scenes from Templar history, such as the excavation of the Temple Mount during the 17th Degree. The Templars had a strong connection with the region around Rennes-le-Château. On their return from the Levant the majority of Templars relocated to this region and we are told by Sion that at one stage they were attempting to create their own principality, resurrecting the ancient region called Septimania, part of the Visigothic kingdom in post-Roman times. This incorporated much of the Languedoc, including the region of Rennes-le-Château.

If areas of this region once belonged to the Templars then among the items that may have come into Saunière’s possession via his predecessor from the local nobles of Hautpoul and Blanchefort are the title deeds for Templar land, which would have been in the name of the old families that had links to the Templars. Sion claims that deeds granting the entire region to the Templars did exist, and constituted part of Saunière’s find. According to Nic Haywood,

‘It is no secret that Septimanie [Septimania] was to have been the self-governing principality of “the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple”, and that all the requisite documents had been signed and sealed to that effect prior to their arrest. Did this include the land and environs of Rennes-le-Château? If so, it is a fact that neither France nor Rome ever revoked those deeds.’

The Templar order fell in 1307, when King Philip IV of France ordered the mass arrest of the knights on suspicion of heresy. Philip seized Templar territory and wealth, and although many Templars escaped the persecution and much was lost, scattered or hastily buried, their lands, including the Languedoc, were taken from them. These lands would have been given over to the Knights Hospitaller (also called the Knights of St John and, later, the Knights of Malta).

THE CHINON PARCHMENT


We covered the Chinon Parchment when discussing Sion’s history in relation to the Templars (see Chapter 2). Before its discovery in 2001 this papal decree, which explicitly absolves the order of heresy, had been lost in the Vatican Secret Archive for centuries. Its existence throws new and invaluable light on both the Templars and the Rennes-le-Château mystery.

‘Despite the existence of this authenticated document, Benedict XVI – like his predecessors – refuses to back a pardon [for the-Templars], the proclamation of which would negate the tenancy of both the Knights of Malta and those of the Holy Sepulchre [an order founded in 1099 and later merged with the Hospitallers].’

Aside from the placing of the land deeds in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château and the exoneration of the order, of interest to us here is that land belonging to the Templar order and Templar families should have remained under their control. As mentioned above, following the trial of the Templars their land and possessions passed to the Hospitallers, the current Knights of Malta. In the light of the Chinon Parchment all property that has survived should be returned to its rightful owners.

Having such a direct interest in this affair it is no surprise that some active members of Sion are still located in the region, or that their former Grand Master, Pierre Plantard, also possessed land in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château. Earlier I also mentioned lands belonging to the noble de Fleury family, which are visibly highlighted in the Sermon on the Mount mural in the Rennes-le-Château church (see page 100). I have also identified the Rosicrucian reference on the tombstone of one family member. Sion states:

‘Specific lands in the environs of Rennes-le-Château/Rennes-les-Bains are held by families with discernible links to the 20th-century Priory of Sion, to the Rose+Croix or to Cathar tradition.’

The importance of the issue of who owns the land is not entirely political. The real significance is that whoever owns the land owns whatever lies buried beneath it.

‘As to quite what it is that Sion believes to be buried in the environs of Rennes-le-Château is an entirely different matter indeed. Le Serpent Rouge alludes to “embalmed corpses and precious metals too heavy to carry, etc.” There are several “acute” items stored down there, which may include human remains in a state of preservation (specifically a head), that have, by virtue of their existence, been used as “leverage” in times past.’

The treasure aspect of the mystery makes for quite a distraction for many people. The possibility that Saunière discovered, and looted, a horde of Templar or Visigothic treasure is exciting but we should not let it distract us. There are far more interesting avenues to be pursued. As the items can be used as ‘leverage’ against the Church they must have some religious meaning that is at odds with orthodox Christianity.

SACRED GEOMETRY


Building techniques and traditions may travel the globe, like those of the cathedral-builders of the Middle Ages. Their cathedrals and many later constructions were adorned with rose windows that are in effect mandalas, or cosmic diagrams, illustrating a subtle cosmology, while their structure in general expressed the concept of the square of matter containing the circle of spirit. All these aspects have their roots in Eastern philosophies. This is especially true of domed structures. During this time some places of worship, such as some of the Templar churches, were constructed in the round, reflecting the shape of the world. They had transcended the idea of a square earth with ‘four corners’ in the Middle Ages, perhaps from something that was learned in the Holy Land.

Sacred geometry was applied to these cathedrals, having declined after ancient Greek times only to be rediscovered in the East by Europeans during the early Crusades. The functional Romanesque style, which derived from late Roman models, was suddenly imbued with a new sense of awe as meaning and balance were restored to architecture. In medieval European towns and cities, where few buildings were more than two storeys high, these new ‘Gothic’ monoliths towered above the people, demanding that they look ever upward at a spectacle of power and beauty. Even today, the scale of these structures has the power to overwhelm us.

Geometry carries its own secrets; it encapsulates growth and evolution in the patterns of nature and can be seen as an expression of the divine order within apparent chaos. The word ‘rational’ comes from Latin ratio – reason, or the right vision of things; it is not just logical but meaningful. At Rennes-le-Château geometry is especially important as it used to portray deeper mysteries. As Nic Haywood confirmed for me by email, ‘geometry is an essential key to all that appertains to Rennes-le-Château’s “mystery”’.

The pentagram


Two authors in particular have explored the physical geometry of the region. In Genisis and Geneset, David Wood maps a complex pentagram and hexagram onto the landscape, while in The Holy Place and The Key to the Sacred Pattern Henry Lincoln also finds a perfect pentagram, with each of the five points of the star marked by a mountain peak. Both cover the land between Rennes-le-Château and Rennes-les-Bains.

A few other authors have included Rennes-le-Château in geometric alignments and there are also a number of unpublished or privately printed works, including Ron Weighell’s Angles of Coincidence, but these mainly draw heavily on Lincoln’s geometry and try to interpret it in a different manner or have it point to a specific location.

Although David Wood’s complex, Egyptian-themed Genisis was published first, it was Henry Lincoln’s simple pentagram that caught the imagination of the public. Lincoln’s pentagram links the Château des Templiers to the south with Rennes-le-Château and Blanchefort in the north and two other peaks on the map. These structures were built on peaks that appear natural, which means the underlying pentagram was formed either when the Pyrenees rose up from the earth or when the region was extensively worked to produce such an effect. Even the otherwise dry book on Rennes-le-Château by Puttnam and Wood concedes the accuracy of the pentagram on the landscape. Probability dictates that with so many peaks the form of a pentagram was bound to appear somewhere, but it makes for an interesting coincidence that it happens here and linking these locations.

Like all symbols, the pentagram, or five-pointed star, is prone to many interpretations but most people would recognize it as a symbol of the occult. King Solomon, whose Temple is emulated by Freemasons and referred to in the church of Mary Magdalene at Rennes-le-Château, is described in Jewish and Christian traditions as wearing a ring inscribed with a magical seal. The seal is often depicted erroneously as a six-pointed Star of David, when it is correctly described as five interlocking A shapes, in other words a pentagram. This tradition, transmitted through history by people like Saint-Sulpician occultist Eliphas Lévi, can often be seen as a basis for modern magical working.

The pentagram itself is often associated with evil or the devil but as such was either consciously or unconsciously part of the campaign to discriminate against the feminine within the Catholic Church. In its most primitive form the pentagram describes the path of Venus in the night sky. This would have been recognized by the ancients and passed down through history as a feminine archetypal design, the planet being identified with powerful pre-Christian goddesses of female sexuality (variously called for example Aphrodite, Venus, Astarte and Ishtar). The Church naturally sought to suppress such a powerful pagan archetype, and this clear but complex symbol of the feminine was misappropriated as a sign of evil. (Its appearance on the forehead of the ‘Sabbat Goat’, as designed by Eliphas Lévi, may have more to do with the relationship of Venus to Capricorn than to the ‘Devil worshipping’ of popular conception.)

In occult magic the pentagram is used both to invoke spirits and to banish them. It can also be used to create a protective barrier around the enquirer. Whether or not one considers magic to be nonsense, the psychological effect of the pentagram transcends the medium of the occult. If the landscape is marked with the five points of a pentagram in the peaks of the hills it represents a feminine and protective symbol.

One line of the Lincoln pentagram links Rennes-le-Château to Blanchefort, which is also depicted in the view in the altar painting in Saunière’s church. Following this route we arrive at the Paris Meridian and the ‘Rose Line’, just beyond Pech Cardou. This is marked by the remains of a tomb at Les Pontils, which originally looked very similar to the tomb in Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego. Poussin used the pentagram to create the form of this famous and enigmatic work, and Lincoln uses the painting as the basis for his design.

The presence of the Rose Line in the region allows us to make further links with the Lincoln pentagram. Like many other researchers I have drawn endless lines on the IGN maps of the area, studied the angles and searched the hills. As there is nothing at the centre of the pentagram and no other single discernible focal point it is difficult to prove that the pentagram has some directional purpose. Perhaps it simply exists to draw people to the area as a whole and signify its importance. There is likely to be a key to unlocking the pentagram, as I received the impression that it is used to indicate specific sites using a simple set of rules. I will explore this later, but for now we are at the mercy of those who either constructed the pentagram or made use of a natural pentagram to reveal their purpose.

Many see the geometry of this area as a sideshow, a distraction from the principal mystery, for lines alone could not make a poor French priest rich unless they pointed to a specific location. A second problem is that the same geometry can often be found to fit many other locations or cities (see for example Chris Street’s Earthstars, which finds a correlation between complex geometric patterns and the placement of churches across London).

Also of interest is a work of limited publication called The Secret of the Templars by Patricia Villiers-Stuart. Sion supplied us with a partial copy of this and I will explore this further in the chapter on documents (see Chapter 10). Like Henry Lincoln, Villiers-Stuart uses Poussin’s painting as the basis for her designs. As shown by Lincoln, the pentagram was also used by Jean Cocteau when he designed the Crucifixion scene in the French Church in London:

‘Jean Cocteau had prepared a series of drawings, based closely upon pre-existing progressions of geometry, which were themselves the basis for a revised Tarot. These were highly minimalist, almost bare glyphs, which suggested an object, the formation of which followed closely the underlying geometric or glyph. It was progressive.’

Sion supplied me with a selection of these Tarot cards (see pages 290–1). I have already referred to Cocteau’s links to Sion and we will encounter him again later.

On a broader scale, Greg Rigby’s On Earth as it is in Heaven maps the stars of Ursa Major to the several cathedrals dedicated to Notre Dame (‘Our Lady’) across France. The only star not represented by a cathedral, and the southernmost point of this design, is represented instead by Rennes-le-Château, where the church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene.

Energy will organize itself into straight lines and take the form of geometric patterns. There remains another feature of the landscape that would greatly assist in the aligning of energies: magnetism.

LANDSCAPE ENERGY


The land around Rennes-le-Château has magnetic properties. The soil of the region contains so much iron and so many natural springs that the entire area is a dowser’s dream. There are areas that are said to be ‘no fly zones’ because of the effect the magnetism in the land has on aircraft instruments. I have also been told by various sources that when one stands in the doorway of the church of Mary Magdalene, an old-fashioned metal compass will spin wildly out of control. From the interview with Nic Haywood:

‘The treasures, things buried [in and around Rennes-le-Château] to be discovered, they are an aside. There is an energy. The land is ferrous, often said to be the site of the largest lodestone known to man. Lodestones – magnetite – are nature’s natural magnets, and navigators would rely on it for navigation without stars.’

The dozens of pagan standing stones, both man-made and naturally occurring, scattered throughout the landscape around Rennes-le-Château also serve as a link to this magnetic field. They are reported by dowsers to channel earth energies. Even if you do not believe in dowsing, the idea of earth energies or ‘telluric currents’ has plenty of followers and if enough people subscribe to an idea – much like religion – it will be influential irrespective of whether it is actually true. (For another view on these ‘telluric currents’, Umberto Eco’s entertaining novel Foucault’s Pendulum has a lot of fun linking earth energies with the Templars.)

The idea of currents in the earth that can be harnessed is ancient and occurs in a number of cultures. According to this idea, the earth’s magnetic field can be used to act upon the individual at an energetic level. Everything vibrates on a molecular level and would respond in some way to strong magnetic fields. In theory the vibration of a vast magnetized rock will affect an individual who has been prepared in the right circumstances to be open to these energies.

I am neither a channel nor a dowser but have witnessed both channelling and dowsing at work. Dowsing in particular is easy enough for most people to experience at least some indication that there is a biological response to geological entities. From speaking to people in the Rennes-le-Château region, I received the sense that the energy here can amplify either positive or negative traits in an individual and so must be protected from misuse. In this context, I will quote a strange missive that I received from Sion:

‘I was also drawn by chance to open a certain old volume at this page:

“For in brain and heart and loins/Gates open behind Satan’s seat to the subterranean city of ‘Golgooza’, which is the spiritual fourfold centre in the heart of Arcadia.” Arcadia is the spiritual home of arts and crafts. Its eastern gate holds the key and is guarded by the messengers of “Los”, the personification of creative energy. The four-dimensional “Golgooza” is modelled on Jerusalem – Sion – the place of complete fulfilment and freedom.’

This enigmatic text links the Devil’s Armchair (‘Satan’s seat’), Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego (The Shepherds of Arcadia) and creative energy. It identifies the mountain of Blanchefort with Golgotha (‘Golgooza’), the Place of the Skull, and on this mountain there is indeed a peak called the ‘Caput’ or head. The idea leans towards an initiation and this will be seen later in the chapter on Le Serpent Rouge.

The analogy of an underground city based around creative energy also leads us toward other realms of possibility. As with many aspects of these mysteries just when we become rooted in the reality of the soil and rocks we find another level of meaning bubbling up like a stream from beneath the ground. The energies in the region would seem to go beyond magnetic disturbances toward something altogether stranger.

A PORTAL IN TIME?


On the subject of the idea of energies in the region, there is something else that might be linked. In the late 1980s I came across the idea of a ‘portal’ at Rennes-le-Château. Author Elizabeth van Buren had described this as a doorway into time, hidden in the landscape. The idea of such a ‘portal’, though seemingly bizarre, has some supporting accounts. There are two separate stories of visitors to the town of Rennes-le-Château experiencing what seemed to be a shift in time.

In one clearly described account, a local resident recounted the story of a woman who had visited her on a bright summer day. The visitor followed the road to the church up through the town in the late morning, only to find the entire town closed. The church was locked and the streets deserted. The visitor left and returned the following day – only to discover that at the time of her visit on the previous day there had been a parade with hundreds of visitors lining the streets and the church packed to capacity. The visitor also noted that on her first visit to what looked like an abandoned town it looked strange, old fashioned, as if stuck in the 19th century. There is no evidence to support this account but it is not in isolation.

I know of at least one other person’s similar experience in the region in the 1980s, and further rumours circulate of more recent incidences.

Having followed the notion of a portal for many years I asked Sion if such a place exists. This was Nic Haywood’s response:

‘The Priory of Sion are, for the most part, aware of such a specific site – a place. Its purpose is that of gnosis and total edification. This, in the main, constitutes the essential core of the initiatory experience, but it could be said to be easily prone to misuse.’

‘I should clarify that the very idea of a “portal,” a “doorway,” an “entrance”, however fantastical, is not far off the mark.’

Another member of the Priory of Sion, who chooses to remain anonymous, had also commented on this phenomenon, bringing to light a much wider scheme within the landscape.

‘There is a place of gnosis, spiritual experience, at night. To be influenced by vibration will enforce the positive or negative, so it is kept hidden.’

It was made very clear to me that if I were to try to locate this ‘portal’ I would be prevented from doing so. This was the only time Sion restricted my actions and the closest they had come to issuing a threat. There have since been a number of other claims of experiences of some kind of ‘portal’ in this region but as far as I can tell, these differ to what is being alluded to here.

VISIONS


Another theme at Rennes-le-Château is that there are a number of references to visions, as seen in the statue in the garden of Our Lady of Lourdes. This was an apparition of the Virgin Mary that appeared at Lourdes in 1858 to a girl named Bernadette Soubirous. Lourdes rapidly developed into a major pilgrimage destination.

Saunière was a regular visitor to Lourdes, especially in his later life, and he clearly put some faith in the importance of visions and the information they conveyed. As we have seen (see Chapter 6), the inscription above the door of his church reads Terribilis est locus iste and is taken from Jacob’s vision of angels travelling between earth and heaven. Inside we see above the stoup the French inscription ‘By this sign you will conquer’ which appeared in the sky in Emperor Constantine’s vision of a cross with the alpha and omega suspended beneath. This image of the cross also appears on the presumed Visigothic pillar supporting the Our Lady of Lourdes statue.

One of the many interesting coincidences in the Rennes-le-Château affair is found just south of Rennes-les-Bains, where a stone cross on a plinth is carved with the name ‘Calvet’. There is no date on the cross but it looks contemporary to Saunière and Boudet. ‘Calvet’ is both the original surname of Emma Calvé, a famous singer of the time, and the name of a girl, Mélanie Calvet or Calvat, who had a vision of the Virgin Mary in La Salette. Our Lady of La Salette’ was sighted in 1846 and the site became a focus point of pilgrimage (see page 74). Both Lourdes and La Salette remain important pilgrimage sites to this day.

Within the church of Rennes-le-Château the scallop shell of water supported by Asmodeus (see page 89) represents St James and is often worn by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. One route to Santiago passes within sight of Rennes-le-Château. Both the visions and pilgrimage are covered elsewhere in this book but for now it is enough to recognize that they are represented in the church.

My own interest in visions stems from personal experience in the region.

A few days into my first visit to Rennes-le-Château I was sitting in my hotel room in nearby Couiza, perched on the end of the bed. The light was fading and my mind was awash with all the places I had visited that day, including the church and the grotto of Mary Magdalene. It was early evening and the daylight was fading when I became aware of something moving behind me in the shadows at the head of the bed. I turned slowly and saw what looked like vines emerging from the wall. The vines had green leaves and were rapidly growing, becoming intertwined as they spread up the stone wall from behind the headboard. I am not easily surprised by phenomena, so I sat and calmly watched a mass of vines growing up and through the wall. They brought to mind many things, including the jungle creepers of an old Tarzan movie. They were strong and tall, eventually reaching the ceiling. I felt no sense of threat so I continued to watch, bemused by the realistic quality of the image my imagination had conjured. After a few minutes the vines faded back into the wall.

I had read enough books and seen enough of the Rennes-le-Château mystery to relate the ‘I am the true vine’ statement by Jesus (John 15) with the idea of a bloodline and consigned the whole episode as an example of active imagination. It was very lucid and interesting and all looked real enough, but probably no more real than the effects of a psychotropic compound, such as ergot (found on mouldy rye and a fairly common cause of hallucinations), and therefore nothing the human brain is not capable of manifesting in certain circumstances. What I took away from the experience was that it might be possible to induce gnosis or other transpersonal and mystical experiences by applying the right kind of information in the right environment. A ritual of some kind might achieve this.

Three days after this event I met the author Elizabeth van Buren for the first time. She was then living in the amusingly named ‘Farm of the Dead’. She entertained me with stories of her adventures and was kind enough to provide a wonderful lunch and a cassette narrating her interpretation of the Rennes-le-Château church décor. At one point late in the afternoon she recounted the true story of a couple who had come over from England, intending to drive to a holiday destination in the south of France. Having a read a book mentioning Rennes-le-Château, the husband had insisted they stop there on the way. When they arrived at the village they stepped out of the car with the intention of seeing the church, but the wife immediately began screaming and insisted that they get back in the car and drive home to England at once. With their holiday cancelled, the husband obviously wanted to know what had bothered her so much. She claimed to have seen what looked like vines coming out of the ground toward her.

Such events can be seen as coincidence and it is ultimately up to you how you interpret them. For me, they cemented something of my attachment to the area as a place of amplified energy.

JANUARY 17


Another vision during the lifetime of Father Saunière was the appearance of the Virgin Mary at Pontmain in the Loire. The apparition of Our Lady of Hope occurred on January 17, 1871. The date of January 17th occurs repeatedly in this mystery and leads to a number of ideas that expand on some of the themes hinted at in the Rennes-le-Château church. There are such an overwhelming number of references and layers of relevance to this date that I think it poses one of the true examples of how important the Rennes-le-Château mystery is. From the perspectives of psychology and alchemy the meaning of synchronicities is always worth pursuing. They are evidence of something of the holistic nature of the universe.

I asked Sion if January 17 was important to them, and received this response:

‘January 17 is, as you are doubtless aware, the date of Nicolas Flamel’s “Gift from God”, and certainly marks the commencement of his extraordinary wealth and philanthropic career.’

‘His diary speaks clearly of his transmutation taking place at midday. It is no coincidence that, as we have previously reminded, all Masonic meetings, especially the higher degrees, take place at “virtual noon”.’

‘In addition, this date also marks the feast day of St Anthony of Egypt, the sainted alchemist. It was by design that the feast day of St Sulpitius [the seventh-century patron of Saint-Sulpice church in Paris] coincided with that of St Anthony.’

The first alchemical transmutation of Nicolas Flamel took place at noon on January 17, 1382, as recorded in his own journal. In 356CE St Anthony died aged 105 and January 17 is his feast day. As we have seen it is also the feast day of St Sulpitius as well as of St Germaine (who features in the church) and St Roseline, of whom we will learn more later.

There is also a possible link with the last of the original nine Knights Templar, André de Montbard, who died on January 17, 1156. He was succeeded by Bertrand de Blanchefort, who hailed from the Bordeaux region of France. As yet I can find no direct link other than in name between him and the noble Blanchefort family of Rennes-le-Château, though some researchers do consider him related. Perhaps the name was adopted by the later family as a symbolic gesture of respect.

As for Freemasonry, the 17th Degree is the precursor to the 18th Rose+ Croix Degree, though as Sion affirmed:

‘The controversial and initiatory [17th Degree] rite as a prelude to the alchemical Rose+Croix is not the sole explanation of the relevance of January 17. There are many other facets to that date.’

We have also seen that at Rennes-le-Château, January 17, 1781, is given as the date on the tombstone of Countess Marie de Negri d’Ables and is also the officially recorded date of Father Saunière’s fatal heart attack in the Tour Magdala in 1917. And it is on that same date that the stained glass windows in Saunière’s church produce an image of blue apples. The date is also said to be the day on which the future Sigisbert IV, the surviving son of the Merovingian king Dagobert II, arrived in the Rennes-le-Château region in 681, as mentioned in the Dossiers Secrets that Sion circulated in the late 20th century.

According to researcher Nicole Dawe, this day also saw the visit of the Archduke Rudolph of Hapsburg (1919–2010) to the church at Rennes-le-Château as recently as 1975.

It is difficult to tell which event, if any, is the key to these occurrences of the date, or how many of them are merely coincidence. I consider the date to be a marker, a way of making links between distant events that have some underlying correlation with Sion’s aims. It may be that January 17 is important to all levels of the mystery and therefore resonates on all levels in an alchemical fashion. That Nicolas Flamel noted it as the date he achieved the Great Work is of particular significance.

THE MIRROR


‘When we look into a mirror we rarely see through the glass to the tin beyond.’

Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival

Another alchemical effect that is of interest here is mirroring. There are two aspects of mirroring at work in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. The first is a physical representation, as Father Bérenger Saunière placed objects in the gardens that were to reflect the contents of the church, inverted. In this way he created a mirror-image of the church, both upside down and reversed. The Visigothic pillar supporting the Virgin Mary statue outside the church has also been inverted. Many individual features have a ‘reflection’, for example the statues of Christ and Asmodeus perfectly mirror each other both in posture and the focus of their gaze within the church. The Stations of the Cross are also displayed in reverse order, and in addition to this Saunière’s Tour Magdala is mirrored in his glasshouse/orangery tower at the opposite corner of the garden.

Why did Saunière work with reflection? Given the strong strand of heretical and unorthodox beliefs of the region it is entirely possible that this church of Mary Magdalene has been used as a focus to uphold and express the importance of the hidden feminine as a mirror and counterbalance for the all-male establishment of the Catholic Church, just as the female moon is traditionally the reflection of, and necessary balance to, the masculine sun.

Further afield, in England, Shugborough Hall has a statue sculpted after Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego (Shepherds of Arcadia) painting, but carved as a mirror image. This is seen in an alchemical context as having been reversed because it is on the opposite side the water (the English Channel) of the original tomb in the painting, which is located near Rennes-le-Château.

In the broader sense, the Rennes-le-Château mystery also appears to have the psychological effect of acting like a mirror on some researchers.

THE MAGIC MIRROR AND SYNCHRONICITY


Aside from the physical evidence for reflection there is also the idea that the mystery of Rennes-le-Château is like a mirror in that it reflects and amplifies what visitors already know. Many seem to discover an angle on the mystery that perfectly fits their own prior knowledge or issues, to the extent that when exploring the mystery they find what they bring to it.

To some extent this happens in many aspects of life but at Rennes-le-Château it seems especially prevalent. When I put this idea to Sion, this was their response:

‘Whilst archaeological digs would yield certain things (some of great importance), the reality was such that one would be likely to “turn-up” whatever one was looking for by virtue of Rennes-le-Château’s unique status, it being a place and a “mystery” that was “created” many moons ago by magi who sought to utilize its geological and locational significance.’

This may not seem possible, but when we examine some of the authors and researchers who have written on the subject we often discover that whatever their field of interest they have been able to find evidence for it in the region. Likewise some of the critics who seek only to negate the mystery are equally prone to fall into the same trap. I use the word ‘trap’ because I believe this effect to be just that. Apart from the fascinating bizarreness of the phenomenon it can only act as a barrier to the truth. If all we attain is our individual need, then we fail to see the real secrets of Rennes-le-Château.

The idea that we in effect create our own reality is well documented in psychology (and is also current in some aspects of modern physics) as a form of projection. I have never known a place to invite so much projected material. It is as if Rennes-le-Château can be experienced as an external manifestation of the collective unconscious. So much so that it makes for an excellent psychological ‘sand box’ for experimentation.

An example of the effect at its most basic can be seen in some of the Rennes-le-Château treasure hunters. In its adult form the juvenile urge to find ‘buried treasure’ is likely to be a prompt to search the self and redeem emotional material that is lost to the unconscious. This search can be projected onto the outside world in the form of a quest to find hidden Visigothic gold, or any other ‘treasure hunt’. An image of this can be seen in Plate 5 of the Splendor Solis, a 16th-century alchemical manuscript famed for its rich engravings, where the figures dig deep to explore the underworld for treasure.

In my experience Rennes-le-Château does seem to accelerate and heighten this process of projection and it has been described by Sion as a ‘magic mirror’. Whether or not one accepts this notion, it does no harm to realize that the path of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château is fraught with distractions. Rather than decreasing the mystery, however, in my view it only adds to it. As Sion put it:

‘Did you never wonder just how it was that everything of consequence relating to the place would appear as if Rennes-le-Château were some immense magic mirror; a wonderful reflecting, Hermetic, looking-glass?’

ALCHEMY


Both the physical and psycho-spiritual forms of mirroring are also a part of a greater work at play here: the work of alchemy.

‘You enquired at the outset as to whether or not the “secret” is in any way connected with alchemy, and our answer is in the affirmative.’

The underlying theme that touches every aspect of the mystery in some form is alchemy. This will be covered at length later, but for now it will suffice to remind ourselves of the presence in the church of salamanders, which represent fire and sulphur in alchemical symbolism, while the Rose+Croix symbols on the Stations of the Cross also have their roots in this tradition.

A local resident once stated that ‘there is a cave near Rennes-le-Château that has all the elements needed for alchemy’ and we will return to this subject at great length later, after exploring much more of the mystery.

SUMMARY


Linked directly to alchemy is the attainment of communication with the divine. This experience is known as gnosis, literally ‘knowledge’ – that is, direct knowledge of God. Gnosis can be induced, and this has been the aim of the Priory of Sion, the Rosicrucians and many of the mystery schools of antiquity. In the Rose+Croix degrees of Freemasonry, the Chamber of Reflection is used to attain a state of gnosis. It is considered a place to commune with the ‘Inner Master’, the divine, or in psychology, the Higher Self.

The area around Rennes-le-Château has been used and modified over time to serve a number of purposes and local resources have been adapted accordingly. The overall impression we receive from Sion is that near Rennes-le-Château is a route that enables one to undertake the spiritual journey of the Rose+Croix, a mystical re-enactment of the journey of Christ as he approached the cross. The steps along this journey, and its many levels of meaning, are narrated by the Priory of Sion in a text called Le Serpent Rouge The Red Serpent.

With this in mind let us now join the tradition of which this land is a part and look at pilgrimage, and then take up the challenge of unravelling the Red Serpent: Sion’s symbolic spiritual quest, enacted through this region.