A new skin for Bloodline

26 Mar 2008, 16:53
With approximately six weeks to go before theatrical releases in LA and New York, the Bloodline website has gone for a complete overhaul, including a new trailer and further background information and excerpts, including interview with alleged Priory representative Nicolas Haywood, Antoine Corbu, Gino Sandri and the controversial Gerard Thom.

Further Christian controversy

24 Mar 2008, 07:54
Malcolm Brocklehurst, will have his controversial book, The Secret History of Christianity, published on April 13. The book – 23 years in the making – touches on themes of the Christian church, templars, masons and the Holy Grail, and began while Brocklehurst was exposed to Rennes-le-Château while working in Toulouse.

Back with a vengeance?

21 Mar 2008, 18:16
The British newspaper The Guardian sends its reporter on the streets of London, in search of modern Knights Templar - and apparently finding some! Not surprisingly, they seem to be hiding as accountants - seeing they invented the banking system.

Rescanières: murdered?

20 Mar 2008, 11:24
The Société Perillos tackles the death of Rescanières, Boudet’s successor as priest of Rennes-les-Bains, wondering whether he might have been murdered – an allegation that has been made about other deaths in the mystery too.

The Supper Music Code

20 Mar 2008, 08:13
Italian musician and computer technician Giovanni Maria Pala claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a composition to accompany the wall painting.

Led Zeppelin and the Holy Grail

17 Mar 2008, 09:11
A spectacular Victorian tapestry bought by the rock star Jimmy Page for £40,000 30 years ago went on show before a £1 million auction in London. It shows a scene from the legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail.

Last goodbye to Jean-Luc Robin

13 Mar 2008, 07:43
There will be a commemorative service for Jean-Luc Robin, Monday 17th March at 10h30 in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Rennes-le-Château.

Death of Jean-Luc Robin

12 Mar 2008, 10:46
It is with extreme sadness that Rennessence once again has to announce the death of a Rennes-le-Château researcher – and former guest of Radio Rennessence: Jean-Luc Robin. Jean-Luc was caretaker of the Villa Bethania for several years in the 1990s, before starting the restaurant/bar in front of the Villa. His passion for the mystery led him to write two books. Jean-Luc suffered from a heart attack about two years ago, after which he began to mount a campaign to oust the then mayor of Rennes-le-Château, Lhuillier, from his post. Last Sunday, his party triumphed in the local elections, but three days later, it is clear that disaster struck. During the night of March 11-12, 2008, Jean-Luc suffered a fatal heart attack.

Say it with a pentagram

11 Mar 2008, 16:39
Geoff Bath tackles Poussin’s The Shepherds of Arcadia, whose hidden pentagram propelled Henry Lincoln into the sacred geography of Rennes-le-Château. Bath argues that the same technique might have been employed by other painters too.

Regime change in Rennes-le-Château

10 Mar 2008, 14:41
The results of the mayoral elections for Rennes-le-Château are in. Jean-Francois Lhuillier was narrowly defeated by a list headed by Antoine Captier, and which also included another researcher, Jean-Luc Robin. Both had 43 votes. Marcus Van der Grinten and Jacqueline Goostens had most votes - 46 - and will thus be the odds-on favourites to be chosen as mayor. The winning party has ten days to nominate the mayor.

Forgotten Magic Square of Salvaterra

9 Mar 2008, 07:44
Société Perillos has an article about the Magic Square on the plateau of Opoul, location of the Château the Salvaterra. A magic square is a key that “something” magical has to occur here. It is nothing more or less than a coded message. And though most people in the esoteric fielding are aware of what a magic square is, few are unable to work with it, or understand its true importance.

GPR, anyone?

5 Mar 2008, 20:31
With dynamite, axes and shovels no longer allowed, GPR - ground penetrating radar - is the only viable means of finding out whether and what is hiding underneath the village of Rennes-le-Chateau. Ben Hammott publishes the report that is the last - if not the first - of official archaeological studies done on the village.

The Cash Code

2 Mar 2008, 22:31
Rosslyn Chapel has chalked up a £1.35m surplus due to the stream of visitors who came to see the building in the wake of the Da Vinci Code film. The 15th-century Scottish church saw no less than 176,000 visitors in 2006/07. The cash is being ploughed into speeding up a planned £12.75m renovation of the building.

Templar Emblem filmed deep inside Mount Cardou

1 Mar 2008, 20:37
Early 2000, Dutch bestselling author and researcher Klaas van Urk discovered a narrow shaft hidden high on Mount Cardou. He had been led to the location using the Rennes-le-Château parchments, the Coumesourde stone and the enigmatic text of La Serpent Rouge. Some 15 metres down in the shaft, that is located on a difficult location high on Mount Cardou, he discovered an engraved Templar emblem, an eight-pointed star. In February 2008, a combined team of Belgian and Dutch researchers returned to Mount Cardou to let an infrared camera down the shaft on a 100 metres long rope. Objective was to see how deep the shaft is and where it ends. You can now see the Templar engraving for yourself.

Trembling Rocks of Rennes-les-Bains destroyed

1 Mar 2008, 16:11
Much to their horror, a group of researchers recently discovered that two of the 4 ‘Roches Tremblantes’ (Trembling or Dancing Stones), a prominent landmark near the village of Rennes-les-Bains have been destroyed. Featuring in Abbé Henri Boudet’s enigmatic work ‘The True Celtic Language and the Cromleck of Rennes-les-Bains’, the stones had been swinging in the wind for centuries. It looks like yet another mindless crime in the Rennes-le-Château region by some lunatic without any respect for the history or environment.

Another curiosity church?

29 Feb 2008, 09:15
The church of Espéraza can be seen as the legacy of Rivière, the priest who heard Saunière’s deathbed confessions. The Société Perillos wonders whether some of the church decorations might reveal insights into the mindset of this priest, who allegedly was perturbed by what he had heard.

Oh Brother!

24 Feb 2008, 16:28
Researcher Ben Hammott demonstrates how the two Saunière brothers Bérenger and Alfred were mixed up even in death. Someone paid tribute to Bérenger by adorning his tomb with an image of his brother.

Rhedesium

24 Feb 2008, 09:37
What used to be the Rennes Alchemist magazine is now Rhedesium. The latest issue has just been published. It contains articles about the Bloodline findings, Mary Magdalene and an article by Gay Roberts about Philippe de Cherisey’s ‘ Stone and Paper’ .

Ark of the Covenant recovered in Zimbabwe?

23 Feb 2008, 21:03
Tudor Parfitt, a professor at the University of London’s prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies, claims to have traced the Ark of the Covenenant to a dusty bottom shelf in a museum in Harare, Zimbabwe. Parfitt thinks that whatever the supernatural character of Ark, it was, like the ngoma, a combination of reliquary, drum and primitive weapon, fueled with a somewhat unpredictable proto-gunpowder. That would explain the unintentional conflagrations.

Bloodline set for release

22 Feb 2008, 18:20
Variety reports that Cinema Libre Studio has acquired international rights to distribute “Bloodline”. The doc will preem in May in Gotham and Los Angeles, with a platform release to follow.

A second model, and a revealing letter

22 Feb 2008, 08:55
The Société Perillos report on their discovery of two, and recovery of one, further models, ordered by Saunière at the end of his life. They also publish a letter, which shows that Saunière intended to send one copy to a colleague priest – whose name or location they are withholding for the moment.

Bill Kersey Interviewed on Radio Rennessence

15 Feb 2008, 21:13
Radio Rennessence interviewed Bill Kersey, perhaps best known for his translation of Gerard de Sède’s ‘The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Château’. However, always quietly present in the background, Bill has had quite a career in the genre. Currently he is involved with the controversial Bloodline findings and the documentary around his research companion Ben Hammott the Tombman.

Boldly driving where few have driven before…

15 Feb 2008, 08:35
The Société Perillos take a drive in the hinterland of Rennes-les-Bains, where Kate Mosse’s Sepulchre is set, to find a valley of forgotten megaliths, souterrains, enigmatic roads, and evidence that some of Saunière’s friends were very much present here.

Golgotha… England?

12 Feb 2008, 10:59
Andrew Gough discovers that Golgotha isn’t just a place near Jerusalem… it’s also the name of a hamlet on the outskirts of the English city of Lancaster. What’s more, he stumbles on references to Mary Magdalene and theories how the real Jerusalem may once have been located in Britain!

Cross correspondences

8 Feb 2008, 08:36
Having mapped the hidden dimension of the crypt of Rennes-le-Château, the Société Perillos points out a series of correspondences with the underground of Perillos, asking the question whether this might be one of the reasons why Saunière became involved in that mystery.

Old photo collection of Notre Dame de Marceille

3 Feb 2008, 21:03
Jean-Pierre Garcia and Franck Daffos have published a large collection of old postcards and photos of the Basilica of Notre Dame de Marceille.

How Rivière connected the dots to find the Magdalene

3 Feb 2008, 17:59
French researcher Jacques Rivière, who unfortunately passed away in 2006, left us some of the more serious books on the mystery of Rennes-le-Château as well as a great many things to ponder. On of his most intriguing claims was that, if the summits of the hills in the Aude region are joined up, the dots connect into the figure of Mary Magdalene as she appears on the bas-relief of Saunière’s altar, her head being the ramparts of Carcassonne. RLC Research pays tribute to a great researcher.

Excavation at Rennes-le-Château

1 Feb 2008, 21:16
Ben Hammott has posted an article on Robert Eisenman’s soundings in Rennes-le-Château in April 2001 and the excavations in the Tour Magdala in August 2003.

Cryptic Clues

1 Feb 2008, 18:21
The Société Perillos goes in search of the crypt of Rennes-le-Château, wondering why there is such controversy surrounding this crypt… when its existence is clearly documented and the clues as to its whereabouts, all there.

The Code auction

30 Jan 2008, 22:56
Paintings and statues used in The Da Vinci Code movie are being auctioned to raise money for Lincoln Cathedral, which was doubling for Westminster Cathedral when it refused Hollywood to film the blockbuster there.

Oak Island Treasure Tales

29 Jan 2008, 08:16
Oak Island is an enigma not unlike Rennes-le-Chateau; one could argue there is no mystery at all, only copious amounts of fraud and misdirection. And then comes Will, an informant who claims to be part of team that has blown the mystery wide open. But can he be believed? Andrew Gough reveals.

Bloodline Movie will be released in spring 2008

26 Jan 2008, 13:18
The producers of Bloodline, the documentary that is based on the discoveries of researcher Ben Hammott, have signed a deal with an LA Studio. The movie is now set to be released in the spring of this year. On their website, further reports have been published, that are claimed to support the authenticity of Hammott’s findings, involving english handwriting expert Emma Bache.

The forgotten part of the mystery

25 Jan 2008, 08:39
The Société Perillos return to the early days of the mystery, and find references to another enigmatic priest, Cayron, which the Priory of Sion tried to work into the enigma. But why, four decades on, is he forgotten? And even misplaced?

Lifting up the altar cloth

18 Jan 2008, 11:21
The Société Perillos lift up the altar cloth of Rennes-le-Château – figuratively speaking – to see what’s the deal with the secret caches, parchments and other secrets that it allegedly once contained. A crash course in religion and Rennes history. Some mysteries are shattered, but some questions remain.

Grails, Cups and Saucers

18 Jan 2008, 11:01
Grailseekers is making a brave effort to make an inventory of all pottery claimed by someone to be the Holy Grail. In Part 1, Brian Kannard gives us the first 5 contenders.

Could the real Mona Lisa please step forward

16 Jan 2008, 13:25
The Mona Lisa’s true identity has been revealed by experts at Heidelberg University library who say a manuscript found in the library of a good friend of Leonardo reveals that she was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Florentine merchant Franceso del Giocondo. In October of 1503 the Florentine official Agostino Vespuccui wrote a note in the margins of one page, saying that his friend was working on three paintings, one of them a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. The fact that the painting has long been known as ‘La Gioconda’ would seem to support the Heidelberg academic’s theory.

Rosslyn: back to the drawing board

15 Jan 2008, 20:57
Architects are invited to submit proposals on how to improve visitor access and ‘comprehensive conservation’ for the small Scottish chapel that has in recent years become overrun because of the success of The Da Vinci Code.

Rennes-le-Château in motion

12 Jan 2008, 10:46
RLC Research, the Rennes-le-Château Research and Resource website is now offering all the best publicly available video material on Rennes-le-Château in one spot.

Revelation: a movie filmed in Rennes-le-Château

11 Jan 2008, 08:43
Philip Coppens analyses the movie Revelation, which, much more than The Da Vinci Code, used the enigma of Rennes-le-Château, and worked it into a movie that was in his opinion superior to it. Parts of the movie were filmed in Rennes-le-Château, and contains one scene of a priest whose body was walled into the Tour Magdala - while still alive.

Anyone speak Latin?

11 Jan 2008, 08:38
Stephen Anderson contributes his comments to the analysis of the enigmatic Latin texts the Société Perillos were given. The texts seem to date from the 19th century and appear to be a rhymed text tackling the Mary Magdalene and the enigmatic mountain of Bugarach.

Nazi Code Press Release

10 Jan 2008, 15:46
Barely six months after German violist Stefan Krah famously cracked a Nazi code that had eluded even the best cryptographers, there’s a new challenge. This time it is a coded document allegedly drafted by Hitler’s secretary Martin Bormann. While in April 1945 the Russians fought their way through Berlin, the Nazi’s hastily transported a stash of gold and Hitler’s personal diamonds to a secret location. The cargo was meant to finance the operations of the guerrilla movement Werewolf. During the final hours of the war, Hitler’s secretary, Martin Bormann, handed a coded document to an army chaplain and ordered him to take it to party-treasurer Schwarz in Munich. The document apparently revealed the location of the gold and diamonds. However, Schwarz had already been arrested by the Allied forces and Bormann did not survive the Russian assault. Over sixty years later the document coincidentally landed in the hands of Dutch investigative journalist Karl Hammer. He now offers a € 25,000 reward to anyone who can solve the puzzle. To help researchers on their way Hammer has found Dutch publishing house Elmar willing to publish his dossier in a book. Hammer: “Just like Stefan Krah and his network of amateur researchers managed to crack the earlier Enigma code, I now hope that the same can be done with this one.”

Steve Berry on Radio Rennessence

10 Jan 2008, 13:10
Radio Rennessence has an exclusive interview with American best selling author Steve Berry. The author sold over 6 million books in 43 countries and 41 languages. In his novel The Templar Legacy, Steve tells about the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, linking the mystery to the Knights Templar past and present. All that separates you from illumination is your ears.

Karl Hammer offers 25,000 Euro reward for Nazi Treasure

7 Jan 2008, 21:10
In his new book ‘The Tears of the Wolf’, Dutch author Karl Hammer-Kaatee tells how Martin Bormann, Hitler’s secretary, gave a coded document to his chaplain in the final hours of the war. Hammer found this document and after intensive research concluded that there is a Nazi treasure waiting to be discovered. It would contain the ‘Tears of the Wolf’, a set of the finest and biggest diamonds from Hitler’s private collection. Hammer will pay 25,000 Euro to anyone who will break the code in the document and show him the diamonds. He or she can keep the diamonds but must give Hammer exclusive rights to the story. The Chaplain’s document can be downloaded here.

RLC Research Digest

7 Jan 2008, 15:00
In the last couple of months, a large number of new topics have been added to the website of Rennes-le-Château Research. Among others, they include Saunière’s crypt, the Château of Bézu, Johann Habsburg, father Bernard Mongé and some completely new pictures of Louis de Coma’s Monastery of Carol. Not to be missed.

Rennes-le-Château in 3 Dimensions

5 Jan 2008, 20:22
Finally, a tourist-free tour of your fav mystery village. The Google 3D warehouse has been supplied with a three dimensional model of the Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, the Calvaire and the Villa Bethania in Rennes-le-Château. To be viewed in a so called ’sketchup’ application or in Google Earth.

Sour blue apples?

3 Jan 2008, 14:55
The Société Perillos proclaim the ‘Blue Apples at Noon’, a light phenomenon occurring on January 17, inside the church of Rennes-le-Château, to be the biggest non-event of the entire mystery. Showing the display is a complete coincidence, without significance, they argue that any further speculation on the topic is best avoided.

Another year, another Grail in Iceland

2 Jan 2008, 15:16
The world is quickly running out of places where the Grail isn’t. The latest claim comes from Icelandic architect Thórarinn Thórarinsson. He has requested permission to start searching the area of Hrunamannahreppur. Your editor agrees that it is certainly a mysterious name. His reasoning is partially based on the consistency between da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper and an aerial photograph of the area. The theory is that the Knights Templar came to Iceland in 1217 to find a hiding place for their treasure and that Snorri Sturluson, the author of Prose Edda and other mediaeval scripts, helped them create the underground dome in Iceland’s central highlands.

Best wishes for 2008

1 Jan 2008, 11:11
Rennessence would like to wish you all the best for 2008. 2007 was the first full year of our operation, and from “just” a newsfeed in late 2006, we have grown to incorporate a French newsfeed, as well as offer monthly interviews, in French and English, including doyens of the mystery such as Antoine Captier and Jean-Luc Chaumeil, and world bestselling authors like Kate Mosse and Patrice Chaplin. Fireworks are in order… and there are more to come in 2008!