Journal 2007

 

December 7, 2007: Her Worship continues

Two months after the break-in, the stolen parts of the statue of the Black Madonna of Notre-Dame de Marceille remain missing. The Association that runs the church is now in the process of having the statue restored, but it was clear that during our visit, despite its physical absence, its spiritual presence remains, and the worship of the Madonna continues.
The work that the association is carrying out in the church is now beginning to take visible effect. For example, for the first time in more than a decade, the paintings have spotlights on them and the entire church is bathing in an altogether warmer feel. We also noted that the old “protection” for the waterhole inside the church has been removed, and the hole itself is now covered by a modern cement/steel cover. Not only the church, but the garden in front of it, has also received due care and attention.
For anyone willing to support the organisation, the annual subscription and membership, which gives you a right to vote during general assemblies (as per French law) is 15 Euros, and needs to be paid to the “Amis de N.D. de Marceille”, on the Banque Populaire des Pyrénées-Orientales, de l’Aude et de l’Ariège, (BP PA) 0 34 19 393 107.

October 2, 2007: The Notre-Dame de Marceille Madonna decapitated

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. A quick survey of the basilica indicated that nothing else was stolen.
The crime was registered around 9am on Monday when a team of electricians and André 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.
Fenet had closed the church, as normal, at 19h, Sunday night. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and it suggests that the thieves were hiding somewhere outside of plain view, yet inside the church. Though the statue is normally protected by an electrical alarm system, this had not been functioning over the past several weeks. As such, the thieves had no problems in breaking through the iron grill.

It is but one in a long series of thefts that has befallen this statue. It was stolen at the time of the French Revolution and again in the 1980s, when it was recovered – several months later – from an Antiques dealer in Lille. At present, no clues have been found on the scene of the crime, though several other thefts and acts of vandalism has recently befallen churches in the region, such as the cathedral of Perpignan and the church of Leucate.

August 2, 2007: 17 Questions to André Douzet

Andy Gough has interviewed André Douzet, president of the French branch of the Société Perillos on his website Arcadia, which has seen previous interviewees such as Henry Lincoln, Philip Coppens, Jean-Luc Robin, Jean-Francois Lhuillier, etc. It is rare that André’s personal views are aired in an English-language version, for the simple fact that André does not speak English. Probably the last time that André Douzet was interviewed outside of France was in November 2004, at the Frontier Symposium in Amsterdam – of course, he remains available as usual for anyone speaking French as per usual!

July 30, 2007: Traces of 7…77

It was with some surprise that we noted, on July 28, 2007, that 13 years after the “777” graffiti was placed on the front door of Rennes-le-Château, there still remained obvious and visible traces of it on the right hand side. The same situation exists in Rennes-les-Bains, behind the spa, underlining how difficult it is to remove graffiti. In the case of Rennes-le-Château, you would expect that repeated contact with thousands of visitors who stroll by and lean on the wall, would have eroded away the paint, but that is obviously not the case – nor, it seems, has it ever been cleaned by the municipality.

June 17, 2007: Radio RenneSSence launches

Société Perillos is proud to support the creation of Radio RenneSSence. Rennessence is the joint initiative of a number of sites, a co-operative effort to bring various sites and researchers together, for the greater good of each and all. Apart from the newsfeed, Rennessence now has the radio section, run by Andy Gough, Corjan de Raaf and Philip Coppens.
Its first interviewee is Patrice Chaplin, whose book, City of Secrets, our website has been analysing in a series of articles. In the interview, Chaplin states that Saunière went to Girona to lay his hands on the Grail rituals, which were apparently to be used to manifest the Messiah. Just some of the explosive material that she unveils – only on Radio Rennessence!
Over the upcoming months, a steady stream of leading, new or less-known authors and researchers will be asked to appear on the show.

June 15, 2007: Confirmation: Saunière was a Freemason

In 1995, André Douzet stated that he had found evidence that Saunière had attended a meeting of a Martinist Lodge in Lyon. At the time, the claim was met with disbelief, despite his ability to show Saunière’s signature on the attendance register. On April 28, 2007, Antoine Captier, at the General Assembly of his research organisation Terre de Rhedae, decided to go public with evidence that Saunière was indeed a Mason.
The object is a Masonic collar and was part of the material that Saunière left behind and that found its way in the possession of Antoine and his wife Claire Corbu, whose father bought the Villa Bethania in 1946 from Marie Denarnaud. We had been made aware of the existence of this collar some time before.
As the photo shown on the website of the Terre de Rhedae indicates, the collar belongs to the Scottish Rite, belonging to the 18th degree Chevalier Rose Croix (CRC) – Knight of the Rosy Cross. The revelation may come as a surprise to some, as a disappointment to others, but largely as confirmation of what we have been saying for a long time. To find out more about Saunière’s exposure to and alliances with the world of secret societies, including Freemasonry, check out The Secret Vault.

May 22, 2007: La Caune: from sacred site to garbage dump?

As we make regular visits to La Caune, it sadly allows us to witness the gradual degradation of this cave – a decline that has accelerated over the past few months.
It is clear that a lot of digging has been going on, specifically on the bottom right hand side (as one enters). What these people are searching for is unclear; perhaps they are looking for a prehistoric necropolis, and hope to discover some precious grave goods? If so, it is our opinion that all such endeavours are futile and will only lead to the degradation of the cave, and nothing else.
Each time we enter the site, we find new areas in which digging has occurred. The situation should now be labelled as alarming. Furthermore, we know that the local authorities, as well as those responsible for the “rehabilitation” of the village, frequently follow our news items; hence, they cannot be unaware of what is happening on this site and of which they are the ethical guardians. And yet, nothing is done. The devastation of this site continues with a total indifference by the local authorities, who nevertheless advertise in the village that they will do everything to stop any type of degradation or destruction. Wrong!
Faced with this indifference, we have contacted the Ministry of Culture, to ask whether it is customary to let people get away with unauthorised, illegal digs that seriously contribute to the destruction of an important and magnificent site. We have informed them of our observations, supported by photographs, so that they can decide whether or not to act, conform to their consciousness.
Unfortunately for the Caune, it sits in a location that cannot be surveyed from a home, a parking, or even a road. It requires some effort, though not much, to put a stop to this.

May 22, 2007: Rumours

Originally, the reconstruction of certain houses in Perillos was labelled to be extending solely to those houses and structures that were owned by the municipality. Since, a rumour has it – supported by some evidence on site – that privately owned homes will also be made habitable. This is highly remarkable for such an operation, for it would mean that an organisation is going to spend money doing up privately owned homes, which will largely benefit the home owner, and not the association.
The door to the church of Perillos has now remained closed for more than a year. Indeed, it was closed before and the key had to be located from the proper authorities, before entrance could be gained. This is the state of hundreds if not thousands of churches in present-day France. The mayor’s office is normally the first port of call for such demands and when people go there, they are told that in the case of Perillos, this is absolutely impossible. Why? Because of “recent” destructions inside the chapel. As this was news to us, we asked around, only to learn that it was apparently André Douzet who was identified as the man responsible for this operation. Stunned – or flabbergasted – we soon noted that within the village, there was no animosity to his supposedly heinous crime, and that even the local officials seemed rather unemotional about it – as no-one had officially pressed any charges, or even lodged a complaint against “unknowns”. Officially, the “crime” did not exist, but on the grapevine, he was supposed to have carried out an entire series of crimes:
- breaking open the locks and twisting open the doors. Already, we had keys to the church for a long period of time, at a time when our researchers were less advanced than they are now and an excavation might have confirmed – or not – some of our researches. At present, there is no need for any such digging. Furthermore, whoever would have the key, or was able to open the locks, would not need to harm the doors. In fact, any visitor can see how the doors are perfectly intact.
- Digging in the church.
- Destruction of the paving slabs.
- Digging various holes, in an effort to find the access to the crypt (the location which we know, wrote about, before any of such destruction may have occurred, so why we would have to search for what we already know, is another anomaly).
- Violation of the tombs inside the crypt, as well as taking materials away from them.
- And last but not least: stealing the treasure.

It is always sad to be the last person to be told that you are actively immensely rich… and seem to possess supernatural abilities that would put any Indiana Jones to shame. For, indeed, André Douzet was – according to the rumour – able to do this in one single night.
The local people obviously understand there is nothing of substance to this rumour and it is purely part of the grapevine of the village, so they have something to talk about.

Also, on certain occasions, the local authorities have had to allow access to the church, because of the “authority” of those requesting access. Unfortunately for some, André Douzet was invited to access the church in their presence, whereupon everyone noted the chapel looked like before, untouched, except for the addition of a few statues – remarkable in itself, seeing that the church is no longer visited, yet someone has put up more saints inside! But no evidence of any digging or even structural alteration.
So, in short, no evidence of any crime inside, which of course explains why there was no official complaint. The question then becomes very intriguing: why launch such a rumour? Were it the townspeople, whom, confronted with a closed door, began to confabulate? The answer is no. In fact, we know that the rumour originated from inside the walls of the mayor’s office. And our good, Catholic upbringing only allows us to comment that we find it distressing to learn that an official authority lends itself to launching rumours; even if they are not originating from inside the mayor’s office, these office should at least try to address and deny these rumours, as part of their duty. We invite the still relatively new local regime to contact us with any further questions they might want us to ask.

March 26, 2007: Is the “Abduction of Europe” happening?

While bishops gathered in Rome to mark the signing of the treaty that founded the EU in 1957, the Pope declared that “from a demographic standpoint … Europe seems set on a path that could lead it to take leave of history.” Europe was “losing faith in its own future”.
The Pope’s prophecy of doom and gloom was in sharp contrast with the message Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, told the prime ministers or presidents of 27 countries: that modern Europe was a dream come true. For the German Pope Benedict XVI, it was a nightmare, declaring that the continent could be heading for extinction.
He was also angry that a “Berlin Declaration” listing the EU’s achievements and challenges on its 50th birthday contained no reference to the continent’s Christian roots. Pope Benedict said that Europe could “not be built by ignoring its people’s identities”. Birth rates are at historic lows in many EU countries, most notably in strongly Roman Catholic countries such as Poland, Italy and Spain, countries that form the backbone of the European Catholic Axis of Faith.

The message is interesting, for it underlines two prophetic images of the future of Europe and the Catholic Church. One is by Salvador Dali, who considered Europe to be “abducted” – becoming extinct. The other is how the infamous lines of Malachy seem to suggest an “end time” for the Catholic Church, which seems not to be too far off. It is rather remarkable that the message of hope was delivered by a female angel – Angela.

January 28, 2007: Expo : from Rennes-le-Château to Perillos

The French branch of the Société Perillos currently has an exposition in Tautavel. The initiative is hosted by the municipality, in the town’s library. As the available space is limited, the volume of the material on display is limited too. But the most essential aspects and a summary of the “mystery” have been succinctly visualised.
Amongst the items on display are:
- Saunière’s model (accompanied with a letter from the founder)
- The Cassini maps of the region
- The Courtade register
- A manuscript recovered in Opoul
- Some of the objects recovered from the various sites in the vicinity of the two tombs
At the same time, the displays offer an overview of both the mystery of Rennes-le-Château and how that ties in with the history and enigma of Perillos.

A lecture will be held on Saturday February 10, at 20h30, on the first floor of the “foyer” (the door next to the library).
A video projection, the following Saturday at the same time, in the “salle des fêtes”, will also take place. This will be a pre-release of the second DVD made by Tellus Film. Both events will be in French only.

The library is open on the first floor of the foyer and is open from Monday to Friday, between 17h and 19h15.