“Le Triangle Secret”

 

The tomb of Jesus in France? A secret society that protects this tomb and which has, as its symbol, three pears? No, we are not talking about Perillos, nor about its lords. At least, it doesn’t appear to be! Instead, we have in front of us a series of cartoon publication, “Le Triangle Secret”, the secret triangle, by Didier Convard and his team.

The Secret Triangle

“Le Triangle Secret” is a series of cartoon publications… and very popular in France. So popular in fact that the first series is now being continued with a second adventure, known as “INRI”. The topic of the first series is an amalgamation of freemasonry, the Templars, sacred geometry, the tomb of Jesus, etc. To quote Luc Révillon, the author of two companion volumes: “All the ingredients of a good intrigue are on roll-call: a disappearance, freemasons, esotericism, religion and history.”

The series is in seven parts:

I : Le testament du fou (Testament of a madman)
II : Le Jeune Homme au suaire (The Young Man with the shroud)
III : De Cendre et d’Or (Of Ash and Gold)
IV : L’Evangile oublié (The Forgotten Gospel)
V : L’Infâme Mensonge (The Infamous Lie)
VI : La Parole Perdue (The Lost Word)
VII : L’imposteur (The Impostor)

It is published by Glenat, with the first volume appearing in April 2000, the last one in March 2003.

History

The central story line is the disappearance of Francis Marlane and the search for the truth by his friend Didier Mosèle, who has received information from his friend that is of such importance that he needs to find the answer. Mosèle is a freemason, working for the Ministry of Culture, and an expert in the restoration of ancient parchments – working on the Dead Sea scrolls. As part of his research into the mysterious disappearance of Marlane, he is confronted with certain documents that belong to a fellow freemason, Martin Hertz, documents whose existence is said to be able to rock the very foundations of Christianity. But this document obviously has its enemies: in the Vatican, the Guardians of the Blood have a mission of their own: to make sure that Didier Mosèle and his allies do not find what they are looking for, and to once and for all make sure no-one will ever follow in their footsteps. This, they hope, will eliminate a threat that the Church has continuously faced.

This storyline is mixed with other story lines:
- the story of Jesus and his twin brother
- the history of the Templars and the construction of a tomb for Jesus in France
- the last days of the life of Pope John XXIV and the struggle to preserve the Church
- as well as smaller storylines, contained with one volume, which support the longer storylines.

The story begins when Mosèle makes contact with Martin Hertz, another freemason and a man who becomes slowly but surely more and more integral in Mosèle’s quest. In retracing the travels of his dead friend – for Marlane’s dead body is soon found – Mosèle discovers an ancient chapel in the “foret d’Orient”, near Troyes, west of Paris. The map reveals places with names such as La loge aux chèvres (the Lodge with the goats), la loge de Billy (the lodge of Billy) and lac du temple (Lake of the temple). These three places form a triangle, which in itself reveals the location of the tomb – of Jesus. It is, of course, the “Secret Triangle”, from which the series has taken its name.

Symbols

The authors have made good use of various historical accounts, such as the Cathars, the Templars, the Dead Sea scrolls, etc. As the hunters for the treasure are freemasons, the authors make good use of Masonic expressions, often giving their meaning in footnotes for those “not on the level”. But it is just one aspect of an entire series of symbols: there is a golden triangle, which we observe, for the first time, on a book in the hands of Mgr. De Guillio, inside the walls of the Vatican. When he touches the book, he says: “Three points… and in the heart of the triangle rests the ‘young man with the shroud’.” It is in such symbolism that many diverse elements come together, which leaves the reader with a great respect towards the authors and the manner in which they have mixed the various ingredients.

The lodge

But what do we have to make of the final volume, which appeared in 2003? We find ourselves at the finale of the treasure hunt – though it is knowledge, not material gain that is sought. It is here that Mosèle, on the run from those who do not want the secret to be divulged, is admitted in the secret world of his protector, Mertz… and the lodge… which knows the secret… and which is the only one to truly know the secret history of the life of Jesus and the existence and whereabouts of his tomb in France. This “First Lodge” even believes that she is founded by Jesus himself!

Didier is admitted into the Lodge, even though he has not yet been initiated. This means he is not treated as a full member. Nevertheless, together with Martin and the grandmaster of the Lodge, he descends into the underground structures of a house, where the “First Lodge” or the “Lodge of the Forgotten Word” is assembled. There are members on each side of the room, hiding their faces in the shadow, which guarantees their anonymity. Only fully initiated members know the identities of the other members. Only the grand master is visible and seated in the middle, behind a small table. Behind him is the symbol of the lodge, which is revealed here for the first time to the reader: it is three pears.

In the following pages, the three pears on display behind the grand master are shown on numerous occasions. Intriguingly, they are shown at a time – for the first time – when Mosèle finds confirmation of his quest. It is at a time when the grand master opens the meeting with the words “Because it is the hour and we have the age, let us open the work of our Lodge” and explains that “Hugues de Payens and his Templars, aided by St Bernard, have protected the tomb. They accomplished their heavy labour in the forest of the Orient, making it appear as if they were recovering ground for cultivation, which they irrigated with artificial lakes. Actually, they dissimulated in the heart of their work an installation that was to receive the remains of Christ.”

The pears

The three pears are used by only one noble family in European history: the Perillos family. Furthermore, the design of their emblem is identical to that of the Lodge of the Forgotten Word. It is impossible that we are confronted here with a mere coincidence, if only because the Lodge guards over the tomb of Jesus… which we also find is at the heart of the story of Perillos, this because of Saunière’s model, which details a part of the territory of Perillos, which Saunière labelled as “Tomb of Christ”. In short, it appears that the authors were inspired by the story of the model, the history of Perillos and the Tomb of Christ… and they have made clever reference to this by using the emblem of the Perillos family as the emblem of the First Lodge.

Mortal Geometry

Even though “Mortal Geometry” is the name of the one of two companion volumes by Luc Révillon, we also find that inside the story of the Secret Triangle is a detail of the story of Perillos that must be a coincidence – unlike the usage of the pears. In the story, it is a triangle that identifies the location of the tomb of Jesus. Since the publication of the seventh volume, we have found and reported that various sites in the landscape of Perillos are aligned, and result in a… triangle. Even though this triangle does not fully answer the location of the Tomb of Christ, as identified on the model, there is nevertheless an intriguing correspondence between the model and the various sites of Perillos that do form part of this “triangle” – one of which has been incorporated into the model, namely the Roc Redon.

The Rise, cartoon-wise

It is the conviction of Isaac ben Jacob that the story of Perillos, its lords and Saunière is linked with the penitent movement. In the first series, there are details that we also find in the work of Isaac ben Jacob. We do not want to spoil the story too much, but we will merely give one clue: “Tau”.
But, amazingly, we note that the first series is now being continued with a further four volumes – no doubt because of the success of the first series. But what is amazing, is the direction in which this second series takes us. To quote the authors: “this story in four volumes plunges us into the origins of the Secret Triangle and takes us to Jerusalem, to and into the tomb of Thomas, the twin brother of Christ. It is there, in the depths of the Earth, that the most improbable of mysteries lies… Those who will realise it, will decipher the enigma that will make them able to overcome death. The combat that the Church and the heirs of the Messiah have fought is when Hugues de Payens and his four companions have five fragments of the shroud of Thomas made into rings… relics that can waver the laws of nature.”
With this information, we note that the central storyline is a methodology to “conquer death”, which is also at the heart of the followers of the “penitent” tradition, which Isaac ben Jacob has identified in the enigma of Saunière.
Are we confronted with yet another example as to how history and fiction are but two aspects of a single story… or are they mirror images?

Filip Coppens