… BUT YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES
by Blair MacKenzie Blake and Danny Carey
Like
many people, we were first introduced to the mysteries of
Rennes-le-Chateau after acquiring a copy of Holy Blood,
Holy Grail, the international bestseller in which the
authors presented their controversial hypothesis of a secret
bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Although
we subsequently read everything we could find on the subject,
it wasnt until early in March of 1994 that one of us
(Danny) had an opportunity to visit the tiny Pyreneean village
that has become the focal point of the mystery - a mystery
which also involved the apparent discovery by an impoverished
though flamboyant priest of a fabulous treasure connected
with the Visigoths, Merovingians, and medieval Knights Templar.
On a day off in the midst of a European tour, he and the other
members of his band, Tool, had decided to make the two hour-plus
drive from the venue in the South of France to check out for
themselves the place that so intrigued their drummer. Arriving
on a gray afternoon they found the narrow streets empty of
its few dozen residents, save for a single inhabitant whose
silent scrutiny made them feel more like trespassers than
welcome tourists. Undaunted, they proceeded towards the church
(with its now familiar devil that greets visitors to what
Robert Anton Wilson has called the priests "theological
funhouse") only to find, much to their disappointment,
that it was closed on this particular day. Was this due to
the "occult" graffiti that had been crudely spray-painted
in black on its ornate wooden door they wondered? Wandering
around the grounds they soon saw further evidence of this
vandalism, the same "visiting card" defacing a statue
of the crucified Jesus as well as the entrance to the churchyard
cemetery. Besides a possible cryptic allusion to January 17
(5+6=11+7, or 1,17), a recurrent date in the Rennes puzzle,
this offered no additional clues as to the nature or whereabouts
of the treasure. So without a ticket to the domaine de labbe
Sauniere or any shovels in the trunk of the rental car for
illegal excavating, Danny and his band mates just looked around,
content for the time being with the spectacular view of the
green valleys below.
During a summer vacation in France the following year, Danny
made another reconnaissance trip to the hilltop village, but
it wasnt until March of 1999 that I, along with a couple
of friends, accompanied him to this place of such mystery.
On this trip there would be plenty of time to explore, not
only the churchs eccentric decorations, but also the
surrounding countryside with its ruined chateaux, structured
landscape and pentagonal geometry which is considered of great
import for hopeful treasure hunters.
Each morning we would drive the 25 miles from our "base"
in Carcassonne before going off in search of places on our
list of priorities: those associated with the Rennes affair
such as "The Poussin Tomb", "The Black Spot"
and "The Devils Armchair", all of which we
were to find with relative ease, including the ancient ruins
of researcher David Woods (Genisis) "Place
of the Seed." After hiking for the better part of the
day, we would return to the village for tea at the Blue Apple
Cafe, during which time we noticed that there was quite a
bit of activity around the church. Evidently it was undergoing
major repairs, and outside there were deep, open trenches
with workers replacing the existing sewer lines. Or were they?
One of our friends is a building contractor with a great deal
of knowledge and experience with such projects. (Note: He
was there to take precise measurements of the neo-Gothic tower
featured on the best-selling postcards of the village.) On
afternoons as he watched the work crew, being as inconspicuous
as possible, he began to have some doubts as to what they
were really doing. Yet, in this place where ones suspicions
are no doubt magnified, we were never able to determine whether
or not the workers were merely repairing sewer pipes or if,
in fact, they were looking for something, perhaps digging
for the entrance to a tunnel complex under the church.
Over tea (or wine) we speculated on the various possible solutions
to Abbe Saunieres inexplicable wealth. For us, the idea
of a legendary treasure undisturbed for over a thousand years
even though its secret location was known by select individuals
and chivalric organizations entrusted to guard it didnt
seem a likely candidate (although, admittedly, an abandoned
mine - that is, one long depleted of its mineral riches, did
seem like a good place to deposit something of value.) This,
we felt, went against human nature. For instance, although
most people today associate pirates with buried treasure,
the historical reality paints a different picture. In fact,
to your average pirate, the idea of burying their share of
the loot would have seemed utterly insane. Yet, there was
evidence that the priest did find something of considerable
value. It has been well-documented that shortly after making
his fateful discovery, he began to spend considerable sums
while enjoying a life of luxury.
Pecumiam Infinitam?
Despite our initial doubts of the priests discovery
being something akin to the lost treasure of Jerusalem, there
is some evidence that individuals in the past have been the
benefactors of a great quantity of gold deposited in the Languedoc.
In their book, Web of Gold, the authors describe a
medieval counterfeiting operation that was carried out near
Rennes-le-Chateau. It is perhaps significant in connection
with Sauniere that the counterfeit coins contained a higher
content of gold than those minted by the kings treasury.
After an investigation it turned out that the perpetrators
were members of the local nobility. Therefore it seems likely
that at least someone had discovered and was melting down,
if not pecuniam infinitam (unlimited wealth), an amble
supply of gold, minting coins as a way of laundering a treasure,
the nature of which they couldnt reveal.
The authors of the same book also examine the alchemical transmutation
performed by Nicholas Flamel in 1382. After coming into possession
of a mysterious book, Flamel was supposedly able to turn baser
metals into gold, becoming extremely wealthy shortly afterwards.
However, as the authors point out, it was only after journeying
to Spain (once a Visigoth kingdom) that he was able to successfully
decode the text he had studied in vain for over twenty years.
Also, it may be no coincidence that Flamel achieved the Great
Work on January 17, that recurring date in the Rennes tableau,
perhaps being a code-word of sorts among those privy to a
secret that makes one phenomenally wealthy. (Interestingly
enough, the date January 17 can be found in a diary entry
of an alchemical operation by the Elizabethan magus John Dee).
We also ruled out on our list of suspects the idea that Sauniere
was trafficking in Masses of Vain Observance, whether amatory
or of a more sinister nature, like those presided over by
priests in 17th-century Paris. Similarly, we eliminated sex-magick,
the so-called "Convocation of Venus" rituals that
some occultists believe Sauniere performed with the assistance
of his young housekeeper Marie Denarnaud in order to more
accurately predict the future for those wealthy clients who
visited him. We rejected the sexual component despite the
research of André Douzet and others who have traced
the priests activities when away from his domain at
Rennes-le-Chateau. This research confirms that Sauniere attended
a Martinist Lodge in Lyon. It, therefore, seems possible that
he traveled in the same esoteric circles as those initiated
into the Rite of Memphis-Mizraim, the French O.T.O. and Gnostic
Church - quasi-Masonic Orders whose rituals of the higher
degrees involved sacred sexuality (a Western version of Tantra)
as the preferred sacrament (ala Reuss and Crowley.) Yet, despite
this decidedly unorthodox form of Christianity, many Catholic
priests embraced the philosophies of Martinism whose founder,
Martinez de Pasqually (born 1710) was heavily influenced by
the occult schools of Gnosticism, Qabalah, and Hermeticism.
Although we filed these various "solutions" away,
at the time the most likely explanation for Saunieres
good turn was that he had chanced upon the heirlooms of a
noble family whose remains were interred in a crypt beneath
the centuries-old church. Like most people who live with the
limitations of poverty, the temptation was too great, knowing
that as he walked about penniless, beneath his feet lay the
bejeweled dead. Thus, he found himself systematically plundering
the tombs of the Lords of Rennes and selling the valuables
to others on his secret rendezvous. But what of the parchments
he allegedly discovered, two of which were comprised of genealogical
tables that attested to the survival of the ancient royal
Merovingian bloodline? Also there was the enigma of the bizarre
decorations that adorned his church. Account receipts show
that Sauniere spared no expense when remodeling the church,
which he filled with cryptic clues - a treasure map of sorts,
perhaps as a way of finally divulging the source of his wealth.
Were all these curiosities merely a smoke screen to make others
believe that he had unearthed something more palatable than
the precious jewels of dead nobility - something like the
Holy Grail or the legendary Treasure of Jerusalem?
Those Pulling the Strings
So, we wondered, was that all there was to it - the priest
had committed the sacrilegious crime of desecrating graves
and was now trying to cover his tracks? Quite possibly, yet,
there was still the nagging suspicion of another player here
- some unseen hand pulling the strings while pursuing their
own hidden agenda? From books like The Messianic Legacy
and Web of Gold we knew about Saunieres right-wing
anti-Republican sermons, and that he was a devoted monarchist.
After the initial find of the coded parchments, was some secret
society like the oft-mentioned Priory of Sion privately funding
the priest to continue his excavations with hopes of finding
an even bigger prize which they now had reason to believe
had been deposited in the region? And if this prize was something
on the magnitude of the lost Treasure of Jerusalem, then was
the Priory of Sion deliberately creating false pedigrees as
a way of trying to establish a legitimate claim to the treasure?
If so, then the seigneur of Rennes, despite all his extravagances,
was merely a pawn, with the treasure story serving to shine
the spotlight on his other find, namely the survival of a
royal bloodline.
It even occurred to us that this whole business of "lost
kings" might have been staged by one of these nebulous
organizations or even by operatives within the Vaticans
own intelligence network, who had infiltrated or were conspiring
with one or more of the various Masonic lodges active in Europe
at the time. Grand Masters of a Masonic lodge and dignitaries
of the Church of Rome may make for strange bedfellows, but
it wouldnt be the first time that the Vatican forged
a temporary alliance with the enemy to advance its own long-term
interests, in this case the restoration of the monarchy in
France, giving the church (in this age of the "democratic"
republic) more control - and wealth. (Note: this stratagem
may have backfired with the publication of Holy Blood,
Holy Grail.)
There was yet another scenario we had to consider: Did the
Vatican (or Priory of Sion for that matter) hijack the treasure
story, not only as part of the monarchist cause, but also
simply to stir the pot? Might it have lost something from
its secret archives that it desperately wanted back? The authors
of Web of Gold believe that Saunieres brother,
Alfred, a Jesuit priest, may have obtained via his aristocratic
connections certain unpublished heretical documents from an
old Dominican family, those who were originally responsible
for over-seeing the Inquisition.
These missing documents may have contained the secret knowledge
of the Knights Templar that was extracted during the unimaginable
torture they were subjected to by their interrogators. Of
the numerous charges leveled against the Order, the most mysterious
(and perhaps significant) was that they worshipped an idol
(or head) known as Baphomet. This obscure object has been
described as a gilded reliquary that contained a preserved
head or skeletal remains that, itself, pertained to a specific
stage in the alchemical process known as "Caput Mortuum"
(Dead Head).
Earlier we speculated that Sauniere may have been a simple
grave robber, acquiring his wealth from pillaging the Hautpoul
family burial vault. But was he allowed to fill his pockets,
unaware that the precious heirlooms that ornamented the sepulchers
werent the true treasure - that it was the bodies themselves,
either the preserved corpses or the skeletal remains shrouded
in their purple garments, that others sought? Among the various
theories bandied about with regards to the ultimate secret
of Rennes-le-Chateau is the existence of a great necropolis
in the region, possibly Merovinigian catacombs, making Rennes
and its environs in many ways similar to Egypts "Valley
of Kings" whose mummified royalty were systematically
plundered of their glittering finery by a dynasty of tomb
robbers passed down from father to son over many generations.
Restes Transferes
Enigmatic as the mystery was with its seemingly endless clues,
there was, we came to believe, a common thread running through
the Rennes tapestry. This involves the memento mori of skulls
and bones, of death and Arcadia. Might a simple grave inscription
conceal (and reveal) one of the most closely guarded secrets
of alchemy? One which, like the gold of Rennes, "is reserved
for the priesthood (or the shadowy elite)." One which
"will give those advantages which even kings would have
pains to draw from them"; with "things so difficult
to discover that nothing now on this earth can prove of better
fortune nor be their equal"?
In recent years several writers of the occult (Laurence Gardner
and Peter Moon among them) have alluded to a mysterious powdery
substance that was known to the ancient metallurgical adepts.
When ingested, this alchemical "powder of projection"
has a profound effect upon the endocrine glands. The result
of these abnormally-high levels of hormonal secretions is,
they say, heightened awareness, opening in essence a gateway
to other realms or dimensions of consciousness. Over a period
of time, minute particles of these noble elements that had
entered the bloodstream would eventually become embedded in
the bone structure. It has therefore been suggested that within
the sarcophagi and reliquaries containing such remains can
be found trace amounts of arrested hormonal cascades of the
master gland known variously as "white rainbow",
"the prismatic (or golden) tear of the Eye of Horus",
and "occultum of harlequin." When reduced to a fine
powder, this true mummia was called "the elegant dust
of death." Due to their inherent (or altered) biochemistry,
could the remains of these "high personages" interred
at Rennes possess special properties - properties which could
be utilized by the living in a deeply esoteric ceremony
or mystical feast that involved a form of ritual cannibalism?
The residue of the opened (activated) chakras of our occult
anatomy is the holy gold of shadow-chemistry (al-Khemy),
that which contains ultra-medicinal properties and is, itself,
capable of superconductivity with regards to our neural circuitry.
One has to ask, then, were the legendary mines of Solomon
located within his own skeletal structure which was rich in
these elements?
Gilded Flourishes and Death Skulls
With this is mind, consider the priests "treasure
map", the grandest of puzzles with its cryptic imagery
and arcane symbolism that greets visitors at every turn inside
the church. For example, the Stations of the Cross that run
counter-clockwise along the walls, starting with the body
of Jesus being removed from the tomb at night and ending with
a figure showing us a piece of gold. Also, there is the message
of the coded parchment: "To Dagobert II and to Sion belongs
this treasure and he is there dead." Perhaps now we can
take this more literally. Finally, might the phrase, "Et
In Arcadia Ego" refer, not to the inevitability of death,
but to knowledge that the paradise of Arcadia can be found
in the mortal remains of death (with the bee on the skull
in the variation of Poussins painting being symbolic
of the "honey" secreted by pineal-pituitary hypothalamic
complex)?
Incised on the lintel of the porch above the church entrance
is the Latin inscription: "Terribilis Est Locus Iste"
("Terrible Is This Place"), a possible reference
to a necropolis which contains the ritually trepanned skulls
of a long-forgotten priesthood or of Merovingian royalty.
The rest of the Biblical quote is: "This is none other
but the house of God, and this is the gate to heaven."
Is this the gateway to the ethereal realms which the Martinists
were attempting to contact via their magical operations? Another
inscription on the church reads: "Mea Domus Orationis
Vocatibur" ("My House is Called the House of Prayer.")
The words that follow are: "But you have made it a den
of thieves." The reason that the preserved or skeletal
remains of this "royalty" have been so jealously
guarded and sought after is, no doubt, due to the rarity of
the hormonal residue secreted by such a bio-chemical process
and/or the veins of precious ore (platinum group metals or
gold projected into a certain state) contained within the
bone structure. As for the scientific basis of the efficacy
of such a substance as occultum of harlequin: to us, this
wasnt really a determining factor with regards to it
being a possible solution to the mystery. The only important
thing is that there are those who believe this "manna
from heaven" possesses magical qualities. And for this,
there is plenty of evidence. Like Umberto Eco says in Foucaults
Pendulum, "Try telling them..."
As a final thought: in todays political climate (the
crisis in the Middle-East, etc.), if a symbolic treasure such
as that pillaged from the Temple of Jerusalem were to be found,
try to imagine (as the authors of Web of Gold did)
the consequences if Orthodox Jews attempted to rebuild a new
temple at the site where today stands one of the holiest shrines
of Islam.
If a secret society such as the Priory of Sion were the guardians
of a legendary treasure of this nature, then, today more than
ever, their true task might be to see that it remains undiscovered
at all costs; forever lost, or at least until some future
date when its symbolic value might not have disastrous results
for all those involved. With this in mind it may not be a
coincidence that the authors of Foucaults Pendulum
and Web of Gold, two books that deal with the guardians
of a sacred and powerful treasure, end their story by diverting
the readers attention from the treasure trail, asking
us instead to pause momentarily and admire the beautiful scenery
- the "true richness" of this mysterious region,
just like Danny and his band mates did the first time they
visited Rennes-le-Chateau.
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