28 Dec 2007, 16:01
An ancient cave in Royston, England, thought to have been used by the Knights Templar for some of their initiation ceremonies, is being damaged by the weight and vibration of excessive heavy lorry traffic.
27 Dec 2007, 14:28
Glasgow historian Mark Oxbrow believes he may have found the Holy Grail: he believes it has been on display in the Louvre for several years! Mark’s curiosity was aroused when he spotted the Patene de Serpentine tucked away in the medieval section of the museum. The dish dates back to 100BC-100AD, and is, in his opinion, the best candidate for the sacred relic.
21 Dec 2007, 19:34
Radio Rennessence treats its listeners to over an hour of debate between Corjan de Raaf, Andrew Gough and Philip Coppens about everything Rennes-le-Château in 2007. They discuss all the background stories and share their most secret inside insights. If you’re interested in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, this might well be all you need for Christmas this year.
21 Dec 2007, 10:28
Brian Kannard feels that the release of “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” and the buzz about Dan Brown’s next book “The Solomon Key” is the perfect pretext to educate the web community about Masonic symbolism. This way, no viewer will arrive unprepared to the movie theatre.
21 Dec 2007, 10:25
The Société Perillos have dug up a postcard from Perillos’ past, which reveals some interesting insights into some ancient water features, for which they have found parallels in Rennes-les-Bains. With rumours of a subterranean lake underneath Rennes-le-Château and evidence of water points in the immediate vicinity of the church, could the article also shed light on what lies between Rennes’ church?
21 Dec 2007, 10:21
Rosslyn Chapel will enter 2008 with a total ban on photo and video recording. The new rule is a consequence of a Health & Safety Review, commissioned after some tourists had fallen, looking at their camera screens… and not where they were going. The move has already received massive criticism, some arguing it is a money-making scheme to sell postcards and other memorabilia.
12 Dec 2007, 17:22
Adrian Lodge Ph.D. returns with a sequel to his earlier analysis of the existence or not of sacred geometry in Nicolas Poussin’s celebrated painting, The Shepherds of Arcadia. Coincidence, serendipity, the writer Greg Rigby and the fallibility of memory all contribute to Adrian’s rather surprising conclusions.
7 Dec 2007, 09:41
The Société Perillos present the final part of Hammer’s Satan’s Song, discussing the finale of the book, set in Rennes-le-Château and Notre-Dame de Marceille. They find a number of inconsistencies in the account, though are unable to shake the notion that despite these problems, something seems to be going on. But what?
7 Dec 2007, 09:40
Dan Green is absolutely determined to have a Grail in Lincoln, no matter what, as attested by his latest article in which he claims that Sauniere’s model actually represents the city of Lincoln! Green states that this rather surprising conclusion is the result of coincidence and unconscious collectiveness. It will therefore not come as a coincidence that his claims will be seen as controversial, at best.
4 Dec 2007, 15:37
Pursuing the example of the competition to elect new seven wonders of the world, the Charles Fort Institute has decided to organise a competition to select the ‘Seven Fortean Wonders of the World’. One of the short-listed wonders is Rennes-le-Château, which in the first round of a three-part competition, is in competition with pyramids, crystal skull, Atlantis… and even the Loch Ness monster.
2 Dec 2007, 17:03
The Société Perillos continue their expose of Hammer-Kaatee’s ‘Satan’s Song’, by revealing whom some of the intelligence agents are that allegedly spurred Tom R. onwards, in efforts to uncover the Arma Christi. Some, like Donovan, were indeed Knights; others, like Henry Luce, had connections to the Just Judges.
29 Nov 2007, 14:31
On the Daily Grail, Rennes-les-Bains resident Marcus Williamson has released an obituary for Holy Blood, Holy Grail author Richard Leigh, who passed away on 21 November. Williamson, who earlier wrote an obituary for alleged Priory-of-Sion Grandmaster Pierre Plantard, recounts how Leigh came to the UK to become a literary writer and ended up co-writing a non-fiction bestseller.
29 Nov 2007, 14:27
In an interview with New York Times, Italian author Umberto Eco denies having an interest in the Kabbalah, alchemy and other occult practices. The author states ‘I wrote the grotesque representation of these kind of people’ and calls Dan Brown one of the creatures he created. Eco is known best as the author of the highbrow murder mystery ‘The Name of the Rose’. He’s also a prolific political commentator whose essays have now been collected in a book,’Turning Back the Clock’, in which he warns against the dangers of ‘media populism’.
29 Nov 2007, 13:43
A sequel to the blockbuster thriller “The Da Vinci Code” is set to lift the veil on mysterious Freemason symbols carved into the very fabric of the historic streets and buildings of the US capital. Novelist Dan Brown has set the new adventures of his hero, scholar-adventurer Robert Langdon, right in the heart of Washington, which could reveal some astonishing facts for history buffs. Washington has strong historic roots in Freemasonry, an old and widespread fraternity which traditionally practised secret rituals. The first US president after whom the city is named, George Washington, was a Mason, as were his fellow founding fathers James Madison and Benjamin Franklin, plus James Hoban, the architect of the White House.
28 Nov 2007, 22:03
Few orders are as famous, and rich, as the Order of Malta. BibliOdyssey presents an overview of the tombs of their grandmasters, portraying the wealth of the order and the influence of its members, which today are still by invitation only and count 12,000, spread over 100 countries.
28 Nov 2007, 21:59
The Smithsonian Magazine sent its reporters to Ethiopia, to visit the local Christian community, who for more than one decade have become the centrepiece of attention, following Graham Hancock’s book on the possibility that they harbour the Ark of the Covenant.
28 Nov 2007, 12:52
It has been confirmed that the Rennes-le-Château Mayoral elections will be held on the 9th of March 2008, at which time the majority vote winning team will be decided and subsequently ratified on the 16th of March. Rennessence has learned that the opposition party has 10 of its 11 members confirmed, including 4 non-French residents (1 English, 2 Dutch and 1 Belgian) and 6 French members. The 11th member has yet to be named. The Opposition Party, which includes Jean Luc Robin, has agreed to promote the team member who receives the most votes to the office of Major, but would like to stress that if elected, they will govern as a team. One of the first things the Opposition Team would like to establish, if elected, is a Trust to ensure that RLC is restored and maintained to the highest quality.
27 Nov 2007, 19:34
News has reached us that Richard Leigh passed away on 21st November of this year. Leigh was best known for his co-authorship on the best-seller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) together with Henry Lincoln and Michael Baigent. In February 2006 Baigent and Leigh filed a case against Random House, publisher of the book The Da Vinci Code, on charges of plagiarism by Dan Brown. They eventually lost the case. Leigh wanted to be remembered as a writer of novels like Erceldoune & Other Stories and Gray Magic. Thanks to Mariano Tomatis and Demian Lee Kusturiza for reporting this.
26 Nov 2007, 19:10
Four members of an underground “cultural guerrilla” movement known as the Untergunther, whose purpose is to restore France’s cultural heritage, were cleared on Friday of breaking into one of Paris’ best known 18th-century monuments in a plot worthy of Dan Brown or Umberto Eco. For a year from September 2005, under the nose of the Panthéon’s unsuspecting security officials, a group of intrepid “illegal restorers” set up a secret workshop and lounge in a cavity under the building’s famous dome. Under the supervision of group member Jean-Baptiste Viot, a professional clockmaker, they pieced apart and repaired the antique clock that had been left to rust in the building since the 1960s. Only when their clandestine revamp of the elaborate timepiece had been completed did they reveal themselves.
24 Nov 2007, 15:02
In the fourth instalment of the Satan’s Song series on Société Perillos, Filip Coppens puts all the pieces of the puzzle together to find a big overlap in recent research by completely different sources and from different directions. It appears the real powerbrokers behind the mystery of Rennes-le-Château can now be identified better than ever before.
23 Nov 2007, 21:41
American Grialdiary blogger Brian Kannard is requesting everyone with an interest in the history of the Knights Templar to sign a petition “to call upon the Pope and the Catholic Church to officially exonerate the Knights Templar from heresy charges leveled against them after 13 Oct 1307″. This petition will be delivered to the Vatican on 18 March 08, the day Jacque DeMolay and de Charney were burned at the stake.
23 Nov 2007, 21:33
What to think of this? It’s claimed a Californian diamond dealer recently found a diamond with a perfect natural Templar Cross inside.The diamond in question is almost 3 carats in weight and a natural greenish color. No photos are available yet. The press release reads like a cheap marketing trick, but you read it here, in case miracles exist.
23 Nov 2007, 21:22
The original chest of the Ark of the Covenant has been in Kenya since the year 1210 AD, according to James Kamweru, a Kenyan tour operator. In an article, the writer reveals that the Mt Kenya is regarded as a God’s Mountain. It is in there the Ark is kept according to the writer. The shrines therein are held in trust by a college of 12 seers who operate in secrecy to guard their wisdom.
22 Nov 2007, 08:39
Veteran German Rennes-le-Château researcher Peter Ernst, has published a DVD on the ancient mines in the area of Rennes-le-Château. There’s a preview of the DVD available on YouTube. Ernst crawled through an impressive number of caves and mines around the two Rennes, Bugarach and Arques to name just a few of the areas.
22 Nov 2007, 08:28
This week, Canadian-born film maker Martin Himel released his documentary ‘Archeological Minefields’, a new take on Simcha Jacobovici’s Lost Tomb of Jesus, which was released last winter. In his documentary he defuses many of Jacobovici’s arguments and calls for a more careful approach of archeological findings. Perhaps the most damning of Himel’s findings is that ossuaries were routinely reused over several generations, and that the 10 ossuaries in the Jesus tomb may have held up to 35 separate sets of bones. In the film, archaeologist Joe Zias calls it “intellectually dishonest” to suggest each box held one set of bones.
21 Nov 2007, 14:13
Jan Alain posted some pictures of the mountain of Bugarach (Pech de Thauze), seen from the sky. Bugarach, called the Mountain of God by the locals, dominates the landscapes around the two Rennes: Rennes-le-Château and Rennes-les-Bains. Countless legends are told about its mines, caves and the alleged silhouet of Joseph of Arimathea’s face at the top.
21 Nov 2007, 10:56
The Archive of the Cathedral of Barcelona preserves ten papyruses of the 6th century still not deciphered, that were found in the leather cover of the codex that is known as the Homilies of Sant Gregori, which is dated before the 8th century. In a study in Augira magazine, Montserrat Tudela, director of the research institute, stated that recent study proves the documents originated from Merovingian France. The article is in Catalan.
19 Nov 2007, 08:51
The prequel to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, has become the first big-screen casualty of the Hollywood writers’ strike. The movie is delayed by Columbia Pictures because its script needs more work, after an attempt to complete it before the strike. It had been due for release around Christmas 2008, but has now been pencilled in for May 2009.
16 Nov 2007, 23:02
Radio Rennessence interviewed best selling author Kate Mosse. After the colossal success of her first novel Labyrinth, her second book Sepulchre is cooked with ingredients of the Rennes-le-Château mystery. Mosse’s great in-depth knowledge of the landscape, the actors and the legends of the region make for a fascinating interview. Not to be missed.
16 Nov 2007, 18:59
In the third article of the Satan’s Song series, Société Perillos takes a closer look at the theft of the Just Judges, one of the panels of Van Eyck’s masterpiece The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Was this panel really a map leading to the holiest of relics? The Nazi’s certainly seemed to think so.
16 Nov 2007, 08:53
Hollywood is to fill in the Bible’s “missing years” with a story about Jesus as a wandering mystic who travelled across India, living in Buddhist monasteries and speaking out against the iniquities of the country’s caste system. The Aquarian Gospel, a $20m movie, portrays Jesus as a holy man and teacher inspired by a myriad of eastern religions in India. The Aquarian Gospel takes its name from a century-old book that examined Christianity’s eastern roots and is in its 53rd reprint.
14 Nov 2007, 18:03
Rat Scabies is the godfather of punk. He also knows a hell of a lot about Rennes-le-Château. And thanks to Christopher Dawe’s sensational book, Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail, he’s a modern day Grail hero as well. Andrew Gough met Rat in his local, the Griffin Pub in Brentford, West London, where they talked about the whole affair
11 Nov 2007, 20:29
After the Rosslyn Motet, an Italian musician and computer technician now 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 somber composition to accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting. In his book La Musica Celata (The Hidden Music) Pala describes how he found what he says are other clues in the painting that reveal the slow rhythm of the composition and the duration of each note. The result is a 40 second hymn to God that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ.
8 Nov 2007, 09:45
Filip Coppens continues his exposé on Hammer’s Satan’s Song the Société Perillos website. In part 2, he delves into the esoteric message of Van Eyck’s The Adoration of the Lamb, which Hammer argues is a treasure map in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château.
4 Nov 2007, 10:29
Kate Mosse says her new book Sepulchre, which focuses on tarot cards, Rennes-les-Bains, old music pieces and a mysterious death, follows in the footsteps of her previous bestseller Labyrinth, winner of the Richard & Judy’s Book Club 2006.
2 Nov 2007, 17:33
Dan Green, author of two books and numerous articles about the Lincoln Cathedral Da Vinci Code (the cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey in the film), has released a multi part video tour of the cathedral and its surroundings on YouTube. If you can’t make it to Lincoln, let YouTube - rather than Ron Howard - take you there.
2 Nov 2007, 06:46
Following on from Karl Hammer-Kaatee’s interview on Radio Rennessence, Société Perillos begin a multi-part series of the material and theories proposed in Hammer’s book. Part 1 tackles an overview of the main thrust of the book.
31 Oct 2007, 15:32
Jeff Nisbet looks into the background of The Rosslyn Motet, including previous attempts to decode the cubes as a musical code and argues that Mitchell did not arrive single-handedly at his musical masterpiece.
27 Oct 2007, 23:05
A 16 billion pixel image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper has been posted on the internet, allowing art lovers close up details of the 15th Century work. The image is 1,600 times stronger than those taken with a typical 10 million pixel digital camera.
26 Oct 2007, 14:47
On October 25, the Vatican added another colourful chapter to the Knights Templar mythology, when it published a long-misplaced, 699-year-old papal report on the medieval holy warriors. Vatican publisher Scrinium will offer 799 copies (the 800th will go to the Pope), at $8,375 apiece, of a 1308 parchment titled Processus Contra Templarios (Trial Against the Templars), which chronicles the order’s sordid endgame: the accusations of heresy, the Templars’ defense, and Pope Clement V’s absolution of the order, before he did an about-face and eliminated it.
26 Oct 2007, 09:49
After having been lost for almost a century, a group of Catalan researchers has rediscovered the original Coumesourde stone. Discovered by Ernest Cros in 1928, the stone became one of the cornerstones of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. The Spanish team allowed Société Perillos, the premier French-language site on the subject, the scoop of publishing their discovery, including four photographs of the site. More photographs are expected to be released in the future, once the authorities have been made aware of the stone’s precise location.
25 Oct 2007, 14:44
Andrew Gough provides a new interpretation of the famous inscription on Boudet’s tombstone, which many have seen as a reference to his book, La Vraie Langue Celtique. But Gough believes the explanation may be more down to earth… or ascended to heaven?
22 Oct 2007, 21:07
Researcher Ben Hammott visited Coustaussa to look at what is left of the place where Abbé Antoine Gélis was brutally murdered in 1897. There are some great pictures in this article.
20 Oct 2007, 10:02
The second film in the National Treasure series will be released on 21st December of this year, Winter Solstice. In the movie, subtitles Book of Secrets, treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth’s diary. The movie trailer contains several Scottish Rite images.
20 Oct 2007, 09:45
Mystery Newsportal The Daily Grail has integrated the Rennessence News feed in its frontpage. We would like to thank Greg for that, it’s much appreciated! The Daily Grail is probably the largest mystery news portal in the world covering a staggering amount of mystery and scientific subjects.
19 Oct 2007, 20:15
Corjan de Raaf goes on the trail of author Karl Hammer-Kaatee’s provocative research about the holiest of relics, the Arma Christi, the Instruments of the Passion of Christ. Were the relics really guarded by Ebionites as Hammer has recently suggested and what is their relation to the Franciscans? Along the way de Raaf links up traces of the Nazis, Joan of Arc, La Sanch, stolen statues and a tragically decapitated Black Madonna. On Andrew Gough’s Arcadia.
19 Oct 2007, 20:12
Société Perillos reports how a group of Spanish researchers retraced the footsteps of Ernest Cros and recovered the real stone of Comousesourde. If this is the real thing it is spectacular news. André Douzet reports on how they found it and the Spanish connection.
13 Oct 2007, 20:49
A scottish author claims to have gone one better than Dan Brown in solving history’s greatest conspiracy theories. Jack Lawson has promised the publication of his own novel will reveal the true secret behind the Da Vinci Code. That Jesus had a “twin brother” who was crucified in his place. One of Sauniere’s documents encodes the phrase “Poussin holds the key”. Poussin’s The Sacrament Of Ordination, which hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland, shows a disciple in white with Magdalene on his right, looking at what appears to be the central Christ figure holding a key aloft. Lawson claims the disciple, who appears identical to the central figure, is actually Jesus, and the key-holder is the brother who died on the cross at Calvary. “It’s a very provocative idea,” said Lawson. “Some people will say, This guy’s a genius.’ Others will say, He’s an attention-seeking lunatic doing it for the money.’ But I wouldn’t make the claim unless there was real proof.”
12 Oct 2007, 12:51
Former French President Franois Mitterand, nicknamed ‘The Sphinx’ was said to have been involved with esoteric movements and had a more than average in Rennes-le-Chteau which he visited on official and unofficial ocassion. It is well-known that he left more than a footprint in Paris by erecting the glass Louvre Pyramid and the new National Library. Philip Coppens draws the attention to the largest of his Grand Monuments that has so far been almost completely unknown: The Axe Majeur in the Paris suburb of Cergy-Pontoise.
12 Oct 2007, 12:47
Few stones have been debated like the Stone of Coumesourde in the enigma of Rennes-le-Chteau. Socit Perillos gathered all versions and all stories for an interesting comparison.
11 Oct 2007, 21:22
For more than 200 years, the Knights Templars were powerful beyond the scope of most kings. With legendary fighting abilities and public discretions, they may have secured the most sought after treasures in history, according to Ian Sinclair, Grand Prior of the Scottish Knight Templars. Oct. 4, he spoke about the mysteries surrounding the Knights Templars, the Sinclair family and Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. His ancestors began building Rosslyn Chapel in 1446, after a fire devastated Roslin Castle. Several caskets of documents and other treasures were allegedly spared from the fire, and buried in the crypt 40 feet below Rosslyn Chapels foundation.
9 Oct 2007, 19:33
The Radio Rennessence October interview is with author Karl Hammer-Kaatee. Hammer caused a sensation in the Netherlands when he published his book ‘Satan’s Song’. Although a novel, Hammer states that it is the true story of a Dutch secret service art agent, Tom R., who accidentally discovered a trail from Jan van Eyck’s ‘the adoration of the Lamb’ to the Arma Christi, while he was investigating the art treasures stolen by the Nazis just after World War II. The false trail and clues he created to hide his discoveries from the CIA were, he claims, picked up by the authors of ‘Holy Blood, Holy Grail’ and lead to the region of Rennes-le-Chateau more specifically Notre-Dame de Marceille. No wonder therefore that Hammer-Kaatee is seen by many as Hollands answer to Dan Brown. Only on Radio Rennessence.
8 Oct 2007, 17:25
Set for a UK release of 31st October, bestseller author Kate Mosse’s new novel ‘Sepulchre’ centers around a brutally murdered priest in a tiny village close to the spa town of Rennes-les-Bains. The lead character of the book stumbles upon an ancient tomb in the area while researching Claude Debussy. Kate Mosse will be interviewed by Radio Rennessence about her book within the next month. Mosse previously wrote ‘Labyrinth’ about Carcassonne and the Grail.
8 Oct 2007, 17:17
The Bloodline documentary production team have issued new information about the set of coins found in Templar tomb discovered by researcher Ben Hammott. The coins discovered in the old buried chest numbered thirty and some had deteriorated to such an extent they can not be identified, others though had survived their incarceration in better condition and after cleaning some of these were identified. The coins date from 100BC all the way through to the 12th Century, many of which were in circulation in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
8 Oct 2007, 07:58
Jack Lawson, in his second book, The Joseph Secret, claims he is set to disclose the greatest secret of the past 2000 years, cracking the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau which forms the subject of the Da Vinci Code and many others. On October 13, he will disclose who really died on the cross, along with a simple proof accessible to anyone who has any version or translation of The Holy Bible.
8 Oct 2007, 07:47
Andy Gough relates his latest visit to Gerona, for the book launch of Chaplins City of Secrets. Meeting the key characters of the book in real life, including Jos and Ingrid, some of the remaining pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place and some major new pieces are unearthed; take, for example, the claim, made by Chaplin in a previous book, that Jos is Saunires grandson!
8 Oct 2007, 07:43
The possibility that Saunire was a Freemason has been one of the most hotly disputed debates. But recently, proof has emerged that the priest was indeed a Freemason. French researcher Andr Douzet provides an overview of the debate, and states the current state of play: that our favourite priest was a Freemason, and a quite important one at that.
7 Oct 2007, 19:04
As a side-effect of the war in Iraq, the United States have brought the Mandeans close to extinction. The Mandeans are the only surviving Gnostics from antiquity, cousins of the people who produced the Nag Hammadi writings like the Gospel of Thomas, a work that sheds invaluable light on the many ways in which Jesus was perceived in the early Christian period. The Mandeans have their own language (Mandaic, a form of Aramaic close to the dialect of the Babylonian Talmud), an impressive body of literature, and a treasury of cultural and religious traditions amassed over two millennia of living in the southern marshes of present day Iraq and Iran.
5 Oct 2007, 16:34
Pyramids are now being found almost everywhere: in 1994 in China; then in Caral, in Peru, Southern America; then in Northern Italy and in 2005 in Bosnia. Today, it is clear that massive pyramids are a feature of many civilizations. But they remain controversial, perhaps more so than ever. Though Egyptologists continue to argue that the Egyptian pyramids are tombs, no bodies have ever been discovered in them. None of the other pyramids are tombs either. Apart from the Mayan pyramids, which are much more recent, the other pyramids are very similar, both in shape, size and age. Does this mean that each culture developed this rather unique shape on its own, or does it mean that there was a truly global movement somewhere around 3000 BC? Philip Coppens wrote the first book to cover the new landscape of pyramids found worldwide. It describes the changed nature of the pyramid debate and offers science a challenge, but equally tries to answer some of the key messages that the last decade of pyramid discovery has brought us. It is a series of discoveries that has changed the archaeological world and extended all our horizons.
5 Oct 2007, 16:27
Occult of Personality interviewed Philip Coppens to discuss his investigations into the worlds Mysteries. They talked about how he began his career and the many amazing subjects hes covered, including the Knights Templar, Rennes le Chateau, and some of the research from his latest book, The New Pyramid Age.
4 Oct 2007, 19:46
The Vatican is planning publication of a book on the suppression of the Knights Templar, based on material from the Vatican Secret Archives. On October 25, the Vatican office of the Secret Archives will unveil the book Processus contra Templarios, containing “a previously unpublished and exclusive edition of the complete acts of the original hearing against the Knights Templar,” the Vatican has announced. Containing reproductions of the original parchment documents, the book is “the most elaborate and important publication yet undertaken” by the Archives, the Vatican states. The book will be a special collector’s edition, with only 799 copies produced.
2 Oct 2007, 19:52
During the night of Sunday, September 30, to Monday, October 1, 2007, the statue of the Black Madonna in Notre Dame de Marceille was decapitated and her golden coloured mantle stolen. Only the infant Jesus, on the arm of the Madonna, remains intact. The crime was registered around 9am on Monday when a team of electricians and Andr Fenet, member of the Association of Notre Dame de Marceille, arrived. While they entered the church, it was noted that the electricity had gone out during the night. Shortly afterwards, the decapitated statue was found.
28 Sep 2007, 11:03
The Devils Bible is the worlds biggest manuscript and now on display in Prague. It has an eventful 800-year-long history, accompanied by legends highlighting its emergence and alleged miraculous powers. The Devils Bible comprises 14 texts. Apart from the Old Testament it is also the Penitential - a manual for priests featuring the list of sins and ways of penance. Elsewhere the manuscript offers formulas to do away with diseases or to uncover and catch a thief.
28 Sep 2007, 10:53
Philip Gardiner interviewed author Oddvar Olsen. Olsen studied mystery traditions and mythology since the late 1980s, when he decided to specilalize in the knights Templar. In 2002, Olsen started The Temple, a successful periodical on the Knights Templar and related subjects.
28 Sep 2007, 10:49
When leaving Rennes-les-Bains for Bugarach, one can continue the journey towards the Gorges de Galamus, an incredible spectacle. Pilgrims considered Galamus to be the Sacred Mountain or the Holy Mountain. On Socit Perillos Andr Douzet explores this stunning site close to St. Paul-de-Fenouillet.
23 Sep 2007, 15:15
Romanian MPs have become embroiled in a row over the ownership of Bran Castle, the 14th-Century building famous for its links to the Count Dracula story. It was returned to New York architect Dominic Habsburg, a descendant of the country’s former rulers, last year after 60 years under state control. Some MPs say that process was illegal and want to stop the castle being sold. Mr Habsburg has threatened legal action, saying it would be a “dreadful injustice” to strip him of ownership. The infamous Prince Vlad “the impaler”, the real-life inspiration for Dracula, is reputed to have spent a night at Castle Bran. This connection has been a boon to the tourist industry in Romania, and MPs are keen to hold on to a prized asset.
23 Sep 2007, 13:12
In L’Affaire Jeanne d’Arc, or the Joan of Arc Affair, French investigative journalist Marcel Gay and former secret service agent Roger Senzig claim that France’s most famous virgin peasant was the illegitimate daughter of the French queen consort, Isabeau of Bavaria, who groomed her for use as a political puppet. They claim Joan was manipulated in a cover-up they call Operation Virgin. Joan was not inspired by voices from heaven to lead troops to miraculously lift the siege of Orlans and save France from English domination. Gay says she was trained for warfare, taught languages and well-educated for her mission. After her trial for heresy in 1431, she escaped, and an unknown woman was burned in her place. She later married a French knight, Robert des Armoises.
22 Sep 2007, 23:06
Rosslyn Chapel was not a unique venture: it was constructed as part of the collegiate church trend that swept through Scotland in the 1400s. One such college collegiate church is Crichton Collegiate Church, dedicated to St Mary and St Kentigern, which lies, quite literally, at the end of the road and not far from Rosslyn. Philip Coppens reports.
22 Sep 2007, 22:59
The ancient Egyptians were not the only ones to mummify their dead, according to a study that says prehistoric Scots created mummies too. Initial evidence for Scottish mummies was announced in 2005, when archaeologists unearthed three preserved bodies buried under two Bronze Age roundhouses in South Uist, Hebrides, at a site called Cladh Hallan.
22 Sep 2007, 22:56
Most aspects of the life and construction works of Brenger Saunire have been analyzed by Rennes-le-Chateau enthusiasts ad infinitum. Brain Kannard investigates what Michael Baigent calls a Scottish tartan robe in Station VIII in Saunire’s church. On Unexplained Mysteries.
22 Sep 2007, 22:47
Arcadia has evolved into a mythical, almost other worldly province in history, as if it never really existed. Greeces 2007 fires brought that image back to reality. Arcadia burned, reaffirming another association. Death. Andrew Gough toured Arcadia at the peak of the fires and discovered hope, an ancient library, a magical temple of Apollo and a wolf cult that all seemed strangely connected to Rennes-le-Chteau.
22 Sep 2007, 22:43
Everyone in the Roussillon has heard of the Babau (pronounced Babaou). The monster is often used to create panic, either real or more often for entertainment value, in small children. And it is said that the monster manifested itself in Rivesaltes a long time ago, though more than this high level overview is seldom known amongst the population at large.Socit Perillos features an article about Babau.
14 Sep 2007, 21:33
The Golden Mean, also known as the Golden Ratio, was developed as a proportional measurement by the ancient Greeks, as a way of making the most pleasing artworks. It was felt to be semi-divine, in that it seemed to show up in nature as well. On the Cabinet of Wonders.
14 Sep 2007, 21:28
Dan Green gives an unorthodox explanation for the Templecombe Panel Painting in his own remarkable way.
14 Sep 2007, 21:25
The shofar, most commonly a ram’s horn, is the only Jewish musical instrument that survived two millennia in its original form and is still used at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (10 days after Rosh Hashanah). The shofar had several religious roles recorded in the Hebrew Scrip tures, such as the transfer of the ark of the covenant; the announcement of the new moon; the begin ning of the religious new year; the Day of Atonement; the procession preparatory to the Feast of Tabernacles; the libation ceremony; and the havdalah ceremony marking the end of a festival.
14 Sep 2007, 21:19
A mysterious book of cryptic prophecies has been discovered at the National Library in Rome, and there is evidence to suggest that it is the final work of the most famous and controversial prophet in the history of the world, Nostradamus. Even more startling than the discovery of the book, though, are the warnings it contains, which were so blasphemous and frightening in their time that they may have been intentionally suppressed until now.
12 Sep 2007, 22:07
This month’s interview on Radio Rennessence is with Jean-Luc Robin. For six years, Jean-Luc ran the Hotel de la Tour, the hotel started by Noel Corbu in the Villa Bethania in Rennes-le-Chteau. Recently, Robin wrote a book on life in Rennes-le-Chteau, as well as his views on the mystery. He reveals an interesting theory about the Cathar book of Love.
11 Sep 2007, 17:40
The title of the new Indiana Jones adventure, now in production under the direction of Steven Spielberg, is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it was revealed today by actor Shia LaBeouf. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skul will be released worldwide on Thursday, May 22, 2008.
11 Sep 2007, 17:35
Jeff Nisbet reveals his latest research on Rosslyn Chapel and finds a new angle.
8 Sep 2007, 10:14
To be interested in Perillos without any mention of Opoul, is hardly possible, seeing that geography has made one intimately linked with the other. Indeed, today, Opoul-Perillos is something of a marriage, engineered when the latter was abandoned and many of its residents decided to settle in Opoul. It was a marriage of convenience, if not necessity. But despite this marriage, which was made official in 1972, their history was not always so intimate. Socit Perillos examines the history of the plateau and the things it carried.
2 Sep 2007, 09:32
They are both claimed to have been born in Scotland. This time it’s Merlin’s turn. Scottish advocate Adam Ardrey has written a tome which claims to reveal for the first time the truth about the man described as tutor to King Arthur. Ardrey, a former SNP candidate, stumbled upon the connection when he was researching the history of his family name at the National Library of Scotland. Fashionably, he argues that since Merlin’s death his real story has been suppressed by Christian writers.
2 Sep 2007, 09:29
Israeli archaeologists charged that digging overseen by Islamic religious leaders at a hotly disputed Jerusalem holy site damaged a wall that might date back to the Bible. Islamic authorities responsible for Haram as-Sharif, known to Jews as Temple Mount, said digging a trench was necessary to replace 40-year-old electrical cables. They called the Israeli group’s charges on Thursday sheer propaganda. The hilltop compound is a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Home to the silver-domed Al Aqsa Mosque and gold-capped Dome of the Rock, it is Islam’s third-holiest shrine. Jews revere it as the location of the two biblical Jewish temples, making it the holiest site in Judaism.
1 Sep 2007, 09:25
The Templar Globe is the official bulletin blog of the International Chancellery of the Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani Universalis. The present OSMTHU claims no direct link or descent from the historical Templar Order, but can trace their existence as a templar inspired Order back to the early XVIII century. Chancellor Luis Matos today published the next part in a good series of articles on the Templars in Portugal.
1 Sep 2007, 09:15
Dr. Paul Courrent is fondly remembered in Rennes-les-Bains, where a garden in the centre of the town has been named after him. What is less known, is that he was a primary witness in the last few days of Saunires life, and thus may have stumbled upon one or more deathbed confessions of Saunire, if there were any. Interestingly, following the own doctors death more than three decades later, an interesting archive was stolen from his home, which could be directly linked with the mystery. On Soct Perillos.
29 Aug 2007, 21:17
Another article on the Ark is on the blog of Safar e Hadaiayt. He brings an unusual Islamic take on the story which makes for a very interesting read.
29 Aug 2007, 21:13
We were Christian for over a thousand years before Christ, Abba Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, declared nonplused. We have been Christian since Queen Makeda, the biblical Sheba, visited King Solomon in Jerusalem to partake of his wisdom and returned to Ethiopia with the Ark of the Covenant, containing the actual stone tablets of the Ten Commandments God gave Moses.
28 Aug 2007, 22:15
Recently, a member of the RLC Archive forum discovered a set of Stations of the Cross in the church of St. Jean d’Alcas that appear to have been made with the identical moulds as those used in Rennes-le-Chteau. It had long been argued that Abb Saunire had his stations made exclusively for his church in Rennes-le-Chteau. A photographer went to the small town near Millau to look for himself and kindly sent his photos to Ben Hammott who has put the stations of St. Jean besides those of Rennes-le-Chteau for you to study the differences.
28 Aug 2007, 22:05
The church of Notre Dame du Cros, linked to the mystery of Rennes-le-Chteau by Franck Daffos and Jean-Pierre Garcia, oddly has no Stations of the Cross but a life-size Rosary outside the church. In three groups of 5 little chapels the Stations of teh Rosary tell about the mysteries of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Rennes-le-Chteau Archive has an interesting article about it and some great photos. The article is in French.
28 Aug 2007, 15
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’ .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Jean-Pierre Garcia and Franck Daffos have published a large collection of old postcards and photos of the Basilica of Notre Dame de Marceille.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!