Perillos: the navel of another world? Part 2: A Perillous world

 

Archaeology is able to reveal several elements from Mankind’s past, hiding underneath our everyday world. But not everything that is under our feet is uncovered by archaeologist, for obvious reasons. A lot remains hidden and will no doubt remain hidden forever. The most difficult to recover are structures that in their own time were already located underground. Sometimes, even in their heyday the access was fenced off and so it is a needle in a haystack for archaeologists to uncover such an installation. In this category sit the so-called “nekromanteions”, the oracles of the dead, of which many are known to have existed in Greece… and in Greek colonies.

Cumae

The nekromanteion

One of the most famous oracles of the dead is in Acheron. It is an artificial structure that takes the form of a labyrinth. It leads up the slope of a hill, upon which the “centre”, the sanctuary, is located, which was closed off by iron gates. The path was walked by those who desired to speak with the spirits of their ancestors, in this “sanctuary of Hades”, the Greek equivalent of the Roman Pluto. The myths of Orpheus (so cherished by Jean Cocteau), Hades and Persephone – or in short all myths that speak of a descent into the underworld, or the Otherworld, namely that of the dead – was the mythical template upon which the seeker’s voyage in the sanctuary was constructed.
Hades, like the Egyptian Duat, consisted out of various subdivisions, some of whom we still know today: the Elysian Fields (more than just a posh street in Paris), Tartarus (identical to the Christian concept of Hell), etc. For the ancient Greeks, this underworld kingdom was not merely mythical, but also “mythographical”: the Greeks, like the Egyptians, had maps of this otherworldly reality, through which the soul was meant to walk. The ancient Egyptians provided the soul with the so-called Book of the Dead, as well as actual maps. And it was the same landscape of the Otherworld that formed the template for the physical representation of the otherworld on Earth: the nekromanteion.

The central structure of this nekromanteion in Acheron, dating from the late 4th or early 3rd century BC, is a multi-chambered structure. Underneath the central chamber of the structure on the top of the hill was a subterranean chamber, hacked out from the bedrock, with the same proportions as the structure above. One literally sat on top of the other. This subterranean sanctuary was known as the palace of Persephone and Hades. Hardly anything remains of it, as it was almost completely destroyed by the Romans. This lamentable destruction occurred in 167 BC and was the result of a Roman law that forbade any contact with the world of the dead.

Baia

The sanctuary of Baia, near Naples (Italy), was another oracle of the dead, which suffered the same fate by the Romans. It is believed that it was closed ca. 40-35 BC. It was only in 1963 that the amateur archaeologist Robert Paget discovered the site. When he discovered it, it still showed all the traces of the Romans sealing up the sanctuary. The site is entered from within the Roman bath complex of Baia; it then becomes a tunnel that goes into the cliff face. The tunnel is artificial and more than 200 metres long. At that distance, the Greeks created an artificial river, thought to represent the Styx, the river of the other world. Beyond, one could find the central sanctuary, where a priestess is believed to have held sessions for those desiring contact with the dead. Paget found that certain passages were blocked by walls, built by the Romans, whereas other tunnels were filled with sand, all of this to ensure that no-one would be able to use the underground network for its oracular purposes. Both the construction and the effort in blocking it up are known to have been remarkable accomplishments. But we want to specifically underline the fact that this network remained undetected for two millennia, and seems to have left no historical trace whatsoever. Equally interesting is that today, the explanatory panels do not speak at all about this remarkable structure. Only the archaeologists are aware of its existence and pretend that these galleries are not an oracle of the dead, but instead were constructed to bring hot air to the baths. If only! It took autho Robert Temple twenty years before the authorities granted him permission to enter and explore this extraordinary ancient network. He and Michael Baigent have since written about the structure and their exploration.

Baia is close to Cumae, which was discovered in 1932. Cuma and its “Antrum of the Sibyl” were cited in Virgil’s Aeneid, together with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, one of the most famous writings of the ancient world. The Cumaean Sybil was equally one of the most famous prophetesses of the ancient world. But even though the temples of Jupiter and Apollo at Cumae were known, there seemed to be no sign of the subterranean kingdom of the Sibyl. In fact, the entrance was in use as a pizza oven, with no-one knowing what lay behind, until 1932! Today, it is hard to believe that such a structure was not known, for the tunnel is only a few yards from the outside world and today, the numerous exits along its length show how easily it should have been discovered. But somehow, it too was lost for two millennia!

Why do we find these oracles of the dead here? The answer may be that both Cumae and Baia are close to Vesuvius and that the local landscape, specifically in Antiquity, gave of sulphurous fumes, some of which we can still see today within the crater of the Volcano Solfatara. These fumes rise from the very centre of the Earth… the Underworld… the World of Hades… the “other world”. It thus becomes clear why Baia and Cumae were seen by the Greeks as entrances into that world. And that was the reason why Aeneas came here to speak to the soul of his deceased father… a vision that will inform him that he will be the key in Rome’s foundation and its future status as the greatest empire on Earth. Perhaps we should even see echoes here of a “Great Roman”, referred to in someone else’s prophecies?

Delphi

Another Sibyl was installed in Delphi, one of the most famous oracular sites of the ancient world, though its fame was linked with the Pythia, not the Sibyl. Until about the year 2000, it was said that it was a superstition that the Pythia inhaled certain fumes that rose from the underworld, as ancient writers wrote. No such chasm had been found in her sanctuary. Now, it is known that underneath the Temple of Apollo there is indeed a crossing of fault lines, out of which hallucinatory vapours rose. It took a professor in geology to point this out, for archaeologists had missed vital clues in the landscape that supported the likelihood that Delphi was indeed sitting on a fault line.
Let us nevertheless note that Delphi was not an oracle of the dead. The Sibyl in Cumae was able to prophesise and to communicate with the souls of the dead, but the Pythia of Delphi only prophesised, i.e. predict and advice on the future. But Delphi does illustrate the problem archaeologists have had to first locate and then identify all aspects of the site. And in Delphi, it wasn’t even hidden… In the case of Baia and Cumae, these temples were specifically hidden, by the Romans, so that no-one would enter it, in the hope of contacting the dead.

The Grail

For our forefathers, such a voyage into the Underworld was considered to be a major initiation. It was considered to be preparation for one’s own death, a preliminary exploration of the Afterlife, while still alive.
We note that Baia and other such sites often have an underground stream or lake, either artificial or natural. It is often labelled “the Water of Memory”. In Cumae, there is a long subterranean gallery, several kilometres long, which links Lake Avernus (seen as the entrance to the kingdom of the dead) from Cumae. The name of this lake comes from the Greek word “aornos”, which means “without birds”. It is believed that the intensity of the fumes was so severe that the entire area of the lake was unable to support animal life… and thus is an apt “dead world”.
In the Greek tradition, we lived “unaware”, as humans while incarnated on Earth had forgotten our previous lives. Forgetting and remembering our previous lives was symbolised by drinking the waters from this magical lake. We drank the first time at the time of incarnation to forget, but if we drank a second time within our lifetime, we would remember and become “conscious”. The instrument through which we drank is a “crater”, which is a cup, as well as the Grail. (We note how a volcano equally has a crater.) And when we drink from this Cup during our lifetime, we obliterate the veil that exists between the two worlds… and become able to talk to the dead. Let us note that in mythology, this lake was ferociously guarded, for example by the Cerberus, a horrible creature in the shape of a dog with three heads… The Beast of Apocalypse?

St Patrick’s Purgatory

The Romans closed all the sanctuaries and forbade all practices involving the cult of the dead. But one site was able to escape this destruction. In Ireland, a country that was never conquered by the Romans, one such site remained intact… When the Christian missionary Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, began to preach Christianity, he found such a sanctuary on an island in the middle of a lake (of memory?), Lough Derg. He transformed the site into what is now still known as “St Patrick’s Purgatory”. Legend has it that when St Patrick arrived in Ireland, the native serpent fled from its residence on the hill of Croagh Patrick, but Patrick set about his pursuit through the air. In mid air, a fight broke out and the serpent fell to Earth in pieces, turning to stone and becoming the islands in the middle of the lake. It was on one of these islands that the Purgatory was installed, though the island on which the Purgatory currently sits is not the original location.
Still, despite its Christian character, the function of the Purgatory in medieval times was hardly any different from the Greek/pagan tradition: people came here to contact the spirit of the dead. The accounts of what people saw here and that of people like Aeneas are strikingly similar… even though the sanctuaries were separated by thousands of miles and more than a millennium.
As to the resident serpent of Ireland, we note that it is identical to the Greek Python, the serpent that was said to be buried underneath the sanctuary of Delphi. The fumes which the Pythia breathed, were said to rise from its rotten corpse, and were said to give the prophetess her magical powers. On occasion, the fumes could kill, or make people insane. Sometimes, our souls could not withstand the fumes… so they left our body for good. The story is similar to the blood another mythical creation, the Gorgon, whereby blood from one side of his body would kill, from the other side, it gave eternal life.

The oracle of Perillos?

Delphi is also known as Napei, which means “navel”. It is a "centre" of the world, symbolised by the omphalos stone… which takes the shape of a navel… similar in shape to the Roc Redon on the territory of Perillos. Let us remain in Perillos…
At the end of the 14th century, the Perillos family are at the height of their political importance. However, his close friend the king of Aragon has suddenly died and Ramon de Perillos wants to speak with the soul of his deceased king and thus begins a long pilgrimage to St Patrick’s Purgatory, a voyage which requires the authorisation of several kings, as he will traverse their countries. He writes that he will return “if God wants me to”. And it seems that God is on his side, for he returns from his expedition into the underworld. In fact, upon his return, he will write a chronicle of his visit, which will become a primary source of reference about the site in centuries to come. But upon his return, he also states that he “knows” that his territory of Perillos has an access to “another world”! What information has led Ramon de Perillos to formulate such a conclusion? It seems hardly coincidental that he says as much upon his return from Ireland, suggesting that it is there that he has received information or perhaps a final verification of something. The document sits in a Spanish library and though known to historians, they remain hard-pressed to explain what it all means.
Is it possible that Ramon de Perillos was “initiated” into a certain understanding when he visited St Patrick’s Purgatory in Ireland? Did he realise that what he found there, was in pre-
Christian times also present on his domain – before it was perhaps fenced off by the Romans, as they did everywhere else? It seems a logical working hypothesis. Critics may point out there is no evidence for such an installation in Perillos, but the same applies to Baia, whereby we note that the area of Baia was much more central and more “civilised” (i.e. the subject of written accounts) than anything in the Perpignan area in pre-Christian times.
Finally, we should add that such sacred “navel places”, such as the Purgatory and Delphi, were linked with a terrifying Beast that roamed the site and that is of course what we find in Perillos as well, with the infamous Babaos, the beast that terrorized the area.

Let us note three elements:
1. The Oracle of Delphi, St Patrick’s Purgatory and the other sites were in origin installed in or near a cave. The territories of the lords of Perillos have several large caves, some of which are known to have been transformed into a necropolis, such as La Caune. We also note the existence of the cave Oursu, still not discovered.
2. We note that the Oracle of Delphi is installed on top of two faults that cross. We note that the church of St Michael of Perillos is equally located on top of a fault line. Coincidence?
3. Finally, like the nekromaneion in Greece, the church of Perillos sits on top of a conical hill, but there are other similarities between the Greek sanctuary and Perillos. To list just one: a subterranean chamber is located underneath a church.
We know that there is a subterranean chamber under the church of Perillos, which opens up into a network, which is no doubt natural in origin, and which extends over a considerable distance, in the direction of two “tombs”, identified by Saunière on his model of the landscape. Are we looking towards an underground network that is sacred in nature and which sits in the same tradition such as that of Baia, but which has, so far, not been discovered? Or was only known to some?

Discovery

On September 6, 2006, the newspapers reported on a new discovery: a “subterranean Hell” in Hierapolis, in Turkey. In short, underneath the Temple of Apollo, which was built on top of a geological fault line, they found a room, from which hallucinatory fumes once rose.
Like Baia, Hierapolis was a Greek town renowned for its thermal springs and colonised by the Romans in 133 BC. The ruins of the temple are on a plateau, on the eastern side of the river Menderes. The latter follows a geological fault line and it is the combination of both that gave Hierapolis its thermal character.
The discovery was classified both as fortuitous and accidental. Archaeologists had discovered a large slab and when lifting it, found a monumental staircase leading down. This led to the cavity that was known as the Plutonion, named because of Pluto’s kingship over the underworld. The chamber was about ten metres wide, and from one opening in the floor, dangerous fumes rose. Though the air in the room is perfectly breathable, inhaling the fumes themselves would lead to death. Hence, a barrier was put in place, indicating where the “safe zone” ended – though it is believed that strong winds could sometimes make the fumes drift into the “safe zone”.
It is also known that the Plutonion was used to perform animal sacrifice and that only the eunuchs of the temple of Cybele were allowed to enter the cave; they were therefore the ones that performed the sacrifices. It is believed that when they did so, they covered their head with various layers of clothing, which created a primitive breathing bell that allowed them to remain inside the actual “danger zone” for a few minutes.

Again, there are clear parallels with Perillos. The fact that one had merely to lift a large slab of stone to discover the Plutonion is similar to what needs to happen in Perillos, where we actually know the location of where to search for the entrance into its crypt/necropolis.
The discovery at Hierapolis confirmed to the archaeologists that in Antiquity, temples of Apollo were often located on geological fault lines. And we note that there is a subtle link between Apollo and St Michael, to whom the church of Perillos was dedicated. Michael is the leader of the seven archangels. In Greek mythology, the number seven was specifically linked with Apollo, the famous god of Delphi, who killed the illustrious dragon, the Python… just like St Michael slayed his dragon… and another Ramon de Perillos slayed Babaos.

The tomb

We note that the oracular sites were normally founded on the “mortal remains” of a beast. That of Babaos was located in a “deep abyss”, into which it was followed by Ramon de Perillos. It took him three days to recover… a period of time linked with various oracular cults.
In Delphi, the sanctuary is interpreted as the tomb of Dionysos. It is believed that Baia was created because it was the tomb of “a certain Greek” that was located there. As such, what do we need to make of the reference to a Tomb of God (a location known as ‘Tombedieu’ to the old locals) in Perillos? Those who have seen images of the location which Saunière identified as “The Tomb of Christ”, for example those that were present during a conference of André Douzet in November 2004 in Amsterdam, will have verified that the entrance is still hermetically sealed. Was this the result of the Romans closing off an oracle of the dead? Or was there another reason? Perhaps only God can tell?

Chamber of the Sibyl, Cumae

In short, for the Greeks, the presence of a tomb at an oracular site was natural. It facilitated access to the other side, for the simple reason that the tomb and its occupier acted as a guide for the seeker who wanted to cross the threshold between both worlds. For the Greeks, but also for most of our ancestors, bones were a vital ingredient in prophesising and accessing the Otherworld. So, when Ramon de Perillos, upon his return from St Patrick’s Purgatory, affirms that there is an entrance to another world, we should specifically be looking towards a Greek, pagan setting and an oracle of the dead to provide us insights as to what may have been present in Perillos… and what remains there for archaeologists to uncover.

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Filip Coppens