The “Tomb of Christ” in the enigma of Rennes-le-Château

 

Before the enigma of Rennes-le-Château, the Tomb of Christ existed

Since the publication of The Da Vinci Code, which (it should be remembered) is a novel, the link between Rennes-le-Château and Jesus Christ is solidly linked with the enigma of Saunière, if only because of the court case that has ensued, between Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh on the one hand and Dan Brown’s publisher on the other. Let us note that this link – between Jesus and Rennes-le-Château – was originally not a part of the puzzle, when Robert Charroux and Gerard de Sède were writing about the mystery of the enigmatic priest. Both works speak of a treasure – a physical treasure – or the transmission of a type of message that is destined for our time. This “transmission” is specifically aligned with a secret that is linked with Saunière and which presents a lost dimension of the history of France; at the time, it appears that there is no connection with the Church or a major revelation about the Church’s history. It’s important to remember this, for what is now, wasn’t necessarily at first.

Certain “funerary” knowledge

To illustrate the various phases of this evolution, we will use Saunière’s model. For sure, we know that knowledge of a “hidden Christian tradition” existed at the time of Saunière’s – and many centuries before. The Cathars and their specific beliefs, which later were proven to coincidence with portions of forgotten – lost – gospels is a point in hand.
But we will use Saunière’s model. There ,we find a reference to “Tomb of Christ”. Do we need to take this type of information literally, or is it merely a name that is placed there as a mask for what is truly hidden on that location? Irrelevant of this extremely important question, we can merely note that Saunière himself decided to use these words to identify two important locations that he found near Perillos: For one location, he uses “Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea”, for the other, “Tomb of Christ”.
The model was revealed to the general public in 1995. Between Andre Douzet’s recovery of the model and 1995, only ten-odd people were aware of its existence. In 1995, this changed and since, many are aware of the model, what it contains, including its anomalies… as well as its potential.
Making a link between Saunière and the “Tomb of Christ”, before the revelation of the model in 1995, is therefore quite impossible to “guess”. Let us note that originally, there was no link between a major mystery that involved Mary Magdalene, Christ and the origins of Christianity on one hand and the mystery of Rennes-le-Château on the other. That link should normally only become available with the revelation of Saunière’s model. So did it? The answer, intriguingly, is “no”.

Before the model

Originally, the “mystery of Rennes-le-Château” was mainly the “mystery of Saunière”. And this mystery involved a treasure, of some sort, but deemed to be monetary wealth. After all, this priest accumulated a tremendous wealth in an extremely short period of time, without an identifiable cause or reason. The “Christ dimension” was added by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln in their “Holy Blood, Holy Grail”, published in 1982. The authors are one of the prime instruments that promote the legend that Mary Magdalene has come to France to spend the final years of her life. Though this tradition exists in France, the authors add a new component: that she was accompanied by a child, the child of Jesus… and thus perhaps even by Jesus himself, dead or alive. To this, they add that the Merovingian kings that ruled France were the descendants of this “Jesus’ bloodline”, something that remains, almost a quarter of a century later, totally unproven. Nevertheless, their work begs the question whether or not this implies that there is a possibility to find a Tomb of Christ somewhere in France… if not in the region of Rennes-le-Château, or linked with the enigma of Saunière.
The next book that is of interest is written by S.P. Simon, in 1990. It is titled "L’or du temple et le tombeau du Christ – L’Énigme de Rennes-le-Château révélée”, published by L’égrégore/Curandera, in Voreppe, Isère. It straightforwardly uses the “Tomb of Christ” in its title and identifies it as the revelation of the enigma of Rennes-le-Château.
The author’s real name is apparently someone named Gruaz. During the construction of his thesis, he uses the prophecies of Nostradamus and arrives at the conclusion that Jesus’ body is located in Rennes-le-Château. According to this author, Jesus – Christ – will return with the gold of the Temple, which he has been guarding for the past 2000 years, through which he will fulfil the prophecies. The author isn’t the inventor of this hypothesis: in fact, it is based on the famous “Dossiers Secrets” by Lobineau.
Again, we need to underline that at the time, Saunière’s model hadn’t yet been recovered. It will only fall in André Douzet’s hands in 1994.
Let us look at another book, “Occident Tradition Secrète”, in 1994, in Paris, by Guy Trédaniel. Its author is Paul Poesson. He states that Jesus comes from Egypt and that he studied in Alexandria. This type of information is also found in Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince’s 1997 book, The Templar Revelation, which also speaks about the “true identity of Christ”. It is this book that will become the main inspiration for The Da Vinci Code, which appears in 2003.
Poesson concludes that a group of people, all of whom were involved in some way or another in the Passion of Christ, came to France: Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, etc. Using a methodology that cannot always be described as logical, he uses the inscription of the tombstone of Marie de Nègre, found in Rennes-le-Château and used by most authors on the subject, to arrive at the following conclusion: “Sept nobles, dans l’embarras, Marie noire d’Arles, d’Opoul deux avens, sept, 681, ils reposent dans une grotte.” We note an intriguing reference towards Opoul, which of course is now Opoul-Perillos, and which is of course the territory parts of which have been depicted on Saunière’s model. We also note the presence of “two caves”, which coincides with the model. In short, he states that these seven bodies can be found in a cave. But before we jump too high, we need to note that he does not locate this cave in Opoul-Perillos, but elsewhere: near the source of la Salz, located above Sougraigne, in a valley that ascends from Rennes-les-Bains. Nevertheless, Opoul is mentioned and the location of the tomb is, according to Poesson, discovered by following the axis between Opoul-Perillos and Rennes-le-Château.

So? In short, we note that in 1990, one author states that the Tomb of Christ is at the centre of the enigma. In 1994, a curious “coincidence” allows for the entry of the name of “Opoul”. Most logically, it is clear that the theory presented by S.P. Simon is but the “logical” next step of the hypothesis presented by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln. And as for the entrance of “Opoul”, that is done by a play on words of Hautpoul, and that play of words had been done in the 1980s by Brian Innes.

After Saunière’s model

1996 saw the publication of “The Tomb of God”, by Richard Andrews and Paul Schellenberger. The authors approach the problem from a typically “English” perspective: they resort to “sacred geometry”, to arrive at the conclusion that the Tomb of Christ can be found at Pech Cardou. We note that this mountain is found in the immediate vicinity of Rennes-le-Château, thus remaining close to the core area of the mystery of Saunière. Poesson nevertheless went further from “ground zero”, and places his tomb east of Rennes-les-Bains. We should underline that at the same moment in time, André Douzet too thinks that the landscape that is represented on the model could be found in the immediate vicinity of “ground zero”: the region of Rennes-le-Château.
It was between 1995 and 1997 that, thanks to the creation of the “mirror image” of the model, the true landscape of the model is revealed as being located on Perillos… Opoul-Perillos.
That same year, 1997, Christian Doumergue in his book "Rennes-le-Château, Le Grand Héritage. L’Enigme du Sphinx” argues that the Saunière’s notes clearly indicate that Saunière discovered a tomb in 1891, which he believes was the Tomb of Christ – or rather: Jesus. To arrive at this conclusion, he makes use of the model, even though he supposes that the tomb is located in the Rennes-le-Château area. Still, his hypothesis is the first to argue that Saunière discovered “a” tomb of Christ.

The Priory’s quest

We have already noted that De Sède himself liked to “change” certain elements when it comes to Christ and certain stones. In our opinion, his book and the Priory’s publicity campaign need to be seen as just that: a campaign, aimed at gathering public momentum… as to its purpose: a quest, for answers, and more information. We have already seen that De Sède had direct links with Pierre Plantard and the latter’s Priory of Sion.
As to Pierre Plantard: he claims he is a descendant of the Merovingian kings, through a forgotten king, Dagobert II. And at the start of his campaign, Plantard speaks about an important sacred treasure, but also of a tomb! In “Circuit”, he speaks about a treasure that is located underneath the Roc Negro, between Rennes-le-Château and Rennes-les-Bains. In “Le Serpent Rouge”, there are other references towards a tomb that is perhaps that of Mary Magdalene.
In his analysis of the writings of the Priory, Christian Doumergue states: “The evoked sanctuary […] does not consist of a single sepulchre of Mary Magdalene, but also contains other tombs, which holds bodies that are mummified. Furthermore, next to these tombs is a treasure to which more than one has come to take a few items out.”
In 1985, in the magazine “Le Trésor de Sion”, the Priory – its publisher – makes an intriguing reference towards the tomb of a Jew who is “like a Pharaoh”. Christian Doumergue adds that this seems to imply “that they seem to identify the dead person with Christ”, before concluding: “It appears that the final message of the Priory of Sion is that the tomb of Christ and of Mary Magdalene can be found in the vicinity of Rennes-les-Bains.”

A play on words and a passage to Arcadia

It’s possible. It’s all possible. At the same time, since the 1970s, or more precisely, the year 1973 with Gerard de Sède’s publication of “La Race Fabuleuse”, the “Tomb of Arques” (which is actually not located on the territory of Arques) is gaining more popularity. The tomb is specifically promoted as being integral to the enigma, via the famous painter Nicolas Poussin. That “link” is made via the inscription ET IN ARCADIA EGO, which means “And In Arcadia, I…” The sentence is incomplete, which should suggest that there is a possibility of a code – an anagram. Anagrams and codes, as we all know since the publication of The Da Vinci code, are integral and greatly loved by the Priory. Nevertheless, when it comes to ET IN ARCADIA EGO and the “Tomb of Arques”, we are faced with a puzzle that is not of the Priory’s making: the Priory fabricated the parchments and references to Merovingians. They are integral to their campaign, which resulted in de Sède’s 1967 publication, “L’Or de Rennes”. In 1973, we are six years post publication of his book and nine years post the publicity campaign that was the “Dossiers Secrets”. It is only now (1973) that the Tomb of Arques enters the framework.
Let us look at ET IN ARCADIA EGO and wonder whether it is indeed an anagram and whether the “Tomb of Arques” is indeed another clue… which is not of the Priory’s making, for it is clear they had no direct hand in this. If there is a clue, then it was handed directly to Gerard de Sède. But did this pioneer understand the importance of what he got? Apparently, the answer is no.

To start with Andrews and Schellenberger: they discovered that the phrase could become another phrase, though it’s not a true anagram. These authors add the word “SUM” to the phrase, as that word is implied in the sentence: “And in Arcadia I… (am)” This leads to a new phrase: “Arcam Dei Tango Iesu” – “And I touch the tomb of God – Jesus”. As mentioned, this is not a true anagram, as we need to add an implied word… and though likely, it is not 100% sure that the missing word has to be “sum”; it could e.g. be “and in Arcadia I lived.” Other researchers have nevertheless arrived at a veritable anagram: “I TEGO ARCANA DEI” – “Go! I hide the Secrets of God.”
Is this the coded message of Poussin? Is it “The Poussin Code”? Is this an inroad into the secret that the Priory and its leaders were trying to discover? Furthermore, can we argue that it is “the Secrets of God” that Saunière was trying to find, trying to identify on his model, by labelling it “Tomb of Christ”? Let us note that apart from Saunière, it was the royal notary Courtade who, at the time of Poussin, indicated the same site in his register as “Royal and Sacred Tomb”. Even though this “royal” may not be Merovingian, is there a question of a “return”? And does it hint that Plantard knew something, but not the totality?

When Arques transforms into Perillos

But what are we to make of the fact that the “Tomb of Arques” is actually located on the territory of the community of Peyrolles? And Peyrolles is linguistically oh so close to “Perillos”… so much so that people repeatedly ask whether there is a connection there.
Isn’t it intriguing therefore that “someone” adds a dimension to the puzzle: The “Tomb of Arques”, which is actually the “Tomb of Peyrolles”. This when we now know, but not in 1973, that there is a “Tomb of Christ” in Perillos (using phrasing used by Saunière), or, in general, a “Tomb of Perillos”. Is it evidence that someone knew more than they were saying, or, to rephrase the question: did someone know more than the Priory, but were they toying with the enigma by inserting oblique references and coded messages?
Saunière placed his order for the model in 1916. The Tomb of Arques was added to his mystery in 1973. The model’s existence is revealed in 1995. But shortly afterwards, certain people make contact with André Douzet. They claim that they are members of an organisation that knew – or had known – about the existence of this model… and this for many years, if not generations. They waited for the moment when Saunière would recover the model from the model maker and hand it over to them. But this never happens, as Saunière dies before the work was accomplished.
Those strange people, are they the ones that introduced the coded reference of a “Tomb of Arques” into the puzzle of the Priory? In short, just like they approached André Douzet following his revelation of Saunière’s model, did they approach Plantard and/or De Sede between 1967 and 1973, and did they equally reveal their knowledge about a hidden dimension?

Filip Coppens