The Devil’s Armchair

 

“Le Fauteuil du Diable”

Above the town of Rennes-les-Bains, on a path that makes its way up the hill that protects the village from the west, sits a large stone, known as “Le Fauteuil du Diable”. Next to this Devil’s Armchair is the Source du Cercle or Source of the circle, a small circle-shaped spring, a small spring. In old tourist brochures, this spring was more promoted than the Devil’s Armchair next to it. But then, in the middle of the 19th century, Rennes-les-Bains was of course more of a spa town than a den of mystery.

The "Source du Cercle"

Both features – and the Devil Armchair’s in particular – have become main ingredients of the mythology of Rennes-le-Château, largely because of the name of this large stone and its connection with the devil. As there is an infamous devil – Asmodeus – at the entrance of the church of Rennes-le-Château, some argue that there is a connection between the two sites, or that both items are somehow “clues” in a larger puzzle. Some imaginative solutions have therefore suggested that when one transposes the crouched Asmodeus into the armchair, the direction into which he stares, will reveal the so-called “X that marks the spot”. If that were the case, it means that Saunière, in leaving clues more than a century ago, had the extra-ordinary foresight that one day, everyone would be using Photoshop in their efforts to uncover his “riddle”.

Folklore

The Devil’s Armchair is nothing more – or less – than a large boulder that has been carved into an armchair – and a very comfortable one at that. It even has armrests and it seems to have been engineered to suit people of normal stature. When seated, its occupant faces east, towards the rising sun. That might not be a coincidence.
So what is it? The name itself suggests that the site was possibly connected with paganism. With the arrival of Christianity, most pagan sites were renamed and placed under the protection of one or more saints. But in some cases, specifically where no re-use could be accomplished, the sites became linked with the devil. That seems to have occurred here too.
This carved stone of Rennes-les-Bains is definitely not unique, and hence it is known that such objects are characteristic of the Druidic religion. Often, they were part of the so-called nemeton, a sacred place or grove that was at the heart of Celtic religion – which also included the law and kingship.

A watery seat

In the case of the Devil’s Armchair of Rennes-les-Bains, it is important to see it in context: here is a stone seat, as well as a spring. Stone seats were normally associated with kingship – even today, the British royals are crowned on the “Stone of Scone”, which is a stone that is worked into a wooden seat. Taken from the Scottish kings at Scone, near Perth, in the late 13th century, the Scottish kings – and so many other ancient royals – were previously crowned on a seat that was indeed a stone seat. It underlined their connection with their land.
The presence of a spring nearby underlines the likelihood of a ritual event occurring on that site. Water plays a vital ingredient in many rituals, even in Christianity, where it is of course foremost attached to baptism. Details of Celtic rituals are scant or non-existent, but certain correspondences with similar mythologies, could lead one to conclude that the combination of this stone seat and the water, played part in some form of coronation ritual, perhaps for the local rulers.

Boudet

Of course, with this observation, we need to return to Henri Boudet – the local village priest of Rennes-les-Bains and a contemporary of Saunière – and his interest in the “cromlech” of Rennes-les-Bains. A cromlech is a stone circle. Today, they are linked with Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures, but in Boudet’s times, they were linked with the Celts and were believed to delineate sacred space. Hence, they were thought to be linked with the Druids. Boudet’s book was precisely trying to argue that his home town had once been a sacred Celtic site. Alas, Boudet did not stop there and went much further, claiming that .e.g. English was the true Celtic language.
Though it is clear that Boudet went far beyond the call of logic, it should nevertheless be underlined that, in essence, he was right to identify Rennes-les-Bains as a site where there had likely been a Celtic settlement, and a Celtic sanctuary. And it is within this framework, that the Devil’s Armchair should take its proper place.

Markings and another chair

Today, the Devil’s Armchair has a number of markings, all of whom seem to be of relatively recent, if not modern, origins. On the seat itself is a symbol that resembles an ankh; there is a triangle under the left armrest and a few other symbols and markings elsewhere.
They teach us little if anything, except that someone in modern times considered this chair special, and wanted to leave its mark on it. The type of markings furthermore suggests that those who have tried to claim it, belong to a rather pagan or New Age tradition and a quick survey of sites on the internet will indeed reveal that for those who have a new age-approach to the area and mystery of Rennes-le-Château, the armchair is seen as part and parcel of a sacred landscape. Boudet, no doubt, would have been proud.

It is not the only armchair in this area. Once having climbed the hill, nearby, one can find another stone, carrying a Christian mark – of unknown date. Though this armchair is less “comfortable” and less stylised than the Devil’s Armchair, it is nevertheless clear that here too, human intervention occurred to style a piece of rock into a seat. However, its purpose, and why our ancestors may have needed two such chairs so close to each other, remains unknown.
Nevertheless, noting that the first – best-known – chair faces east and is thus directed to the rising sun, one might speculate that this other armchair on the other side of the hill may have been aligned to another celestial event that a person seated in that chair would witness. To establish whether and what, further research is of course required.

And yet another

As mentioned, such armchairs are not bespoke to Rennes-les-Bains. Another armchair can be found in the Pilat region, near the chapel of Mary Magdalene, which is known to have been visited by Saunière. It is however extremely unlikely that Saunière was even aware of this chair’s existence, or that he travelled all that distance to come and see it. But we will use it as a further example, to illustrate the template of such chairs.

Here is therefore a megalithic site that is lost to most – very much like the site of the second devil’s armchair in Rennes-les-Bains. Here, the road from Lupé leading to the chapel, is now a forest road and hence normal circulation is strongly discouraged. It means that even fewer visitors will stumble upon the location, which not merely houses a rock armchair, but also an ad hoc “industrial museum” of several old vehicles that seem unlikely to ever be moved again.
Next to this road, is a group of rocks, which only upon closer inspection will reveal their true nature. Such inspection will reveal they have a number of inscriptions. As in Rennes-les-Bains, this sculpted site – comparable to the second armchair – is located near an ancient spring, now very much obstructed and in summer, practically invisible.
As in Rennes-les-Bains, the cavity created in the stone can only have had one apparent purpose, and that is to accommodate a sitting man. Furthermore, as in Rennes-les-Bains, where there are two such seats, here too, we can find nearby another similar construction.

Importance?

Such sites were clearly once important to our ancestors. However, history has done a fine job of obscuring most details as to its usage. And it is clear that few if any mythology remains attached to these, which means that trying to extrapolate their original usage and meaning is extremely hard.
But, it is clear, that they had some importance to our ancestors. But this fact in itself does not mean at all that there is any relevancy to the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, and definitely not in the manner in which some “researchers” have tried to confabulate. If anything, the Devil’s Armchair is evidence that in ancient times, the region was not only populated, but also appears to have had a centre of power. This “seat of power” was likely only there in pre-Roman and pre-Christian times. And, as such, for this site to feature in the mystery, it would mean that the mystery predates both the Romans and Christianity. In all other cases, the Devil’s Armchair is “just” a wonderful relic of the past, which will hopefully be retained for much longer, but which has nothing to do with the mystery as such.

Filip Coppens