As one enters the church at Rennes-le-Chateau, the alignment of the ‘chessboard’ tiled floor is observed by the eyes of the garish plaster statues of both Jesus and Asmodeus, almost as if the two have challenged each other to a game. And in looking at the chequered design of these flagstones (there were once 64 mosaic squares in the entranceway), perhaps we should keep in mind that the object of the game of chess is to capture (or kill) the king. In fact, if we were to look for a common thread running through the Rennes tapestry, it would be decidedly dark. The iconography of death greets us at every turn, in paintings, statues and stained-glass. And juxtaposed with the persistent theme of death are oblique hints of a great treasure (albeit one imbued with the aura of a curse). Might this be the symbology of alchemy, with the momento mori of skulls and tombs representing the stage of the Great Work (the entire praxis from start to finish) known as “Caput Mortuum (Dead Head) or “Black Dragon,” this being the “Nigredo’ phase; death, decay, putrefaction that is associated with the prima material necessary to transmute baser substances into alchemical gold? Let us recall the message of one of the coded parchments: THIS TREASURE BELONGS TO DAGOBERT II KING AND TO SION AND HE IS THERE DEAD (or AND IT IS DEATH).
And then there is the message of the ‘Marie’ tombstone when the anomalous letters are extracted: DEATH SWORD (an allusion to cutting something and to a curse?). The momento mori of skulls and images of death also feature in the paintings associated with the mystery. Familiar to us now is Nicolas Poussin’s “The Shepherds of Arcadia” with its tomb and “The Plague of Azoth (being the alchemical name for Mercury) with its decapitated Egyptian obelisk, David Teniers’ “St Antony and St Paul” with its skull and arcane geometry, and Guerchino’s canvas with its skull and tomb which bears the enigmatic inscription: ET IN ARCADIA EGO (NOTE: that the phrase contains 14 letters, a number related to the Egyptian Osirian resurrection). In this painting, the death skull, upon which can be seen a bee (symbolic of a certain type of honey) is being gnawed by a mouse. The list of artists and paintings associated with the Rennes affair that contain the imagery of death goes on and on, and the more contemporary artists Picasso*, Cocteau and Dali may have also included certain facets of the mystery in their work (see “The Picasso Dimension”). Even the local place names and landmarks speak of death. For instance “Cap de l’Homme (The Head of the Man), and L’Homme Morte (The Dead Man).
And what are we to make of the living branch that springs forth from the sculptured pomegranate leaves on the wooden pillar that is discernable in the foreground among the colorful scenery – a pillar that is similar to that in which the bell-ringer of the church at Rennes-le-Chateau is said to have discovered a phial containing a strip of parchment that possibly enabled the priest to discover a crypt beneath the choir floor? Like the sprouting leafy shoots flowering with numerous golden buds in the cross/crucifix of the vertical rustic branch in the bas-relief of Mary Magdalene that adorns the front of the altar, is this idea of life (or a treasure) springing from death associated with alchemy? Death and treasure. Inversion and mirrors. Treasure and death.
* As previously mentioned, Rennes aficionado Henry Lincoln draws our attention to the inscription beneath the striking mural: “Venez a moi vous tous qui souffrez et qui etes accables et je vous soulagerai.” With the odd spacing, the ‘S’ in etes and word ‘accables’ form SAC-A-BLES, translated into English as “bag of corn”, an allusion, perhaps, to gold with corn being slang in French for gold, much like bread is slang for money in America. Although this might be the case, it might also be referring to something that is the same size as a kernel of corn and which is also associated with gold, only, in this instance, rather than vulgar gold, the gold or wealth of an alchemical (al-Khem-cal) nature waiting to be tapped at Rennes-le-Chateau.
And finally, there are the dramatis personae and more sinister connotations of the Rennes affair and the priest’s good turn. Murdered priests feature in the shadowy story as well as a disproportionate number of mysterious deaths. It seems that these priests and their compatriots shared a powerful secret that each took to their grave, although in their own way, each left clues for posterity. In the church, the beautiful stained glass window that depicts Jesus raising Lazarus from the tomb (which resembles a mummy in an Egyptian-style sarcophagus) paid for by Sauniere out of his own pocket may contain just such a clue.
ALONG THE PATHWAYS
As many researchers will tell you, Sauniere was a tireless walker. It is well known that he roamed the local countryside, ostensibly collecting special rocks along the pathways for his garden. However, the general sentiment among investigators is that he was searching for something else on these long, secretive walks. Might this have been traces of a Neolithic cemetery, or the entrance to Merovingian catacombs with their reliquaries, the graves of the Seigneurs of Rennes, or some other ancient necropolis on his route?
SAUNIERE’S VISITS TO LYONS,
ESOTERIC CAPITAL OF FRANCE
Researchers such as Andre Douzet and others have fairly well established that Sauniere spent a considerable amount of time in Lyons, a city that was known during Sauniere’s time as the esoteric capital of France. Douzet’s information comes in part from correspondence addressed to Sauniere at a house in the rue des Machabees area of that occult center. But according to Douzet, these weren’t just any streets that Sauniere walked during his visits to Lyons.
In his book Sauniere’s Model and the Secret of Rennes-le-Chateau, he states: “It was a street where all those previous come across, i.e. Rabelais, the writer and colleague of Nostradamus, as well as Polycarpe de la Riviere, were members of a group called “Gouliard”, who were situated in the rue de Boeuf and the rue de Macchabees…” Douzet continues: “The Gouliards were a secret society with roots dating back to the 9th Century, that practiced the so-called “Language of Birds”, which is known to have been used by such writers as Rabelais, Charles Perrault and others. The “sons of Goulia” as they were sometimes referred to, had an undying adoration for the Apocalypse of John, but at the same time, they denounced the divinity of Christ, a heresy the Church seemed to indulge rather than act against, as they did in the case of the Cathars.”
While in Lyons, Sauniere may have frequented a Martinist Lodge* with a young Joany Bricaud, whose house, according to Douzet, was only two doors away from Sauniere’s lodgings. As we have learned, the Martinists attempted to establish contact with the spirit world and aspired through certain occult rites to reconnect with the “divine self.” Through Douzet’s research it is possible to connect the following individuals: Vintras (founder of the Church of Carmel who claimed to copulate with the spirits of historical figures) – Doinel (founder of the French Gnostic church with its connection to The Rite of Memphis-Misraim, the French O.T.O.) – Bricaud (who would become Bishop of Lyons and head of the French Gnostic church and O.T.O. after Sauniere’s death) – Sauniere (who may have conducted séances using Martinist initiatory rites to communicate with the dead and acquire knowledge from them of hidden treasures).
* During the time of Sauniere’s involvement with Martinism, the Order was headed by the occultist, Papus (Dr.Gerard Encausse).