# Rennes-le-Chateau



## mac1 (Mar 28, 2003)

One of the most interesting aspects of the godlike band that is Tool, is their interest in the occult and their quest to try and solve ancient mysteries. There are often links to interesting sites from their hompage www.Toolband.com, I found this on the drummer, Daney Carey's website www.DaneyCarey.org. I decided to post it here in full as it is a flash site that has a tendancy to change. Here you go:-

A PRIEST’S DEATHBED CONFESSION 

On January 17, 1917, at the age of 65, Berenger Sauniere, the priest of Rennes-le-Chateau, suffered a major stroke. Besides the suspicious date, what made the priest’s sudden stroke even more mysterious was that only a few days earlier many of his parishioners remarked that he seemed to be in an enviable state of health for a man his age (and yet, despite appearing to be in good health it was later discovered that his coffin had been ordered 5 days previously). As he lay on his deathbed, another priest was summoned from the neighboring parish of Esperaza to hear his final confessions and to administer the last rites. This priest was Sauniere’s old friend, the abbe Riviere. At the dying priest’s bedside, Sauniere is believed to have imparted to his friend a terrible secret. According to the testimony of several eyewitnesses, the once jovial Riviere emerged from the sickroom visibly shaken. Whatever Sauniere’s final confession was, abbe Riviere was so shocked that he refused to administer Extreme Unction. This secret also had a traumatic effect on him. He became withdrawn and later suffered acute depression - to the point that it was said that he never smiled again (although this is probably an exaggeration). 

Five days later on January 22 Sauniere died. The following morning his body was seated upright in an armchair on the sunny terrace of his chessboard-looking ‘knight’s tower’ (Tour Magdala). In a bizarre ceremony, the significance of which has never been fully explained, one by one certain mourners solemnly filed past him, pausing to pluck a scarlet tassel from the dead man’s ornate garment, perhaps in remembrance of the seigneur of Rennes. In the years that followed his death, Sauniere’s housekeeper and confidant, Marie Denarnaud (who was 16 years younger than the priest), used to say that she would one day reveal "a secret that would make one rich and powerful." On other occasions she was heard to say that "the people who live here are walking on gold without knowing it." But perhaps the most telling of all was the following statement: "With what the Monsieur le Cure has left, one could feed all of Rennes for a hundred years and there would still be some left. (NOTE: She, too, later suffered a stroke and was never able to divulge her master’s secret). 

In the pages that follow we will offer a plethora of information and clues pertaining to what has been called the grandest puzzle of all. Some of this information is our own, but other findings are based on the research of the various Rennes investigators. In the end, we will reveal what we believe may have been the terrible secret that Sauniere imparted to abbe Riviere in his final hours - the deathbed confession that so shocked his fellow priest. We will also attempt to explain the significance of the inexplicable ritual involving the scarlet pompoms. But first it is necessary to start at the beginning, or at least to go back to the year 1885 when Sauniere was first appointed to the church at Rennes-le-Chateau. 

RESTES TRANSFERES

One of the more bizarre things that Sauniere did was to go to the trouble to efface the inscriptions on the tombstone of Marie de Negri D’ables, Dame d’ Hautpoul de Blancheforte, a noble woman that was apparently buried in the churchyard cemetery. Fortunately for Rennes investigators is the ‘fact’ that, unknown to the priest, the inscriptions had previously been recorded in a book by an antiquarian before Sauniere defaced them. As the inscription gives the date of Marie’s death as January 17 (a recurring date in the mystery), 1781, it seems likely that the gravestone served as a signal of sorts to draw the attention to other ‘players’ and that it was also intended to transmit a coded message. Those who are skeptical of the whole Rennes business think that the eight imperfections in the inscription were merely errors committed by the stone-mason. However, as researcher Henry Lincoln points out, at least one of the anomalies, the French word CATIN, meaning ‘whore’ would be inexcusable to leave on the headstone of a noble lady. Although it is, he further points out, a reminder of the repentant ‘harlot’, Mary Magdalene, for whom the church at Rennes-le-Chateau was dedicated.

(NOTE: By re-arranging the 8 anomalous letters above, we are able to get the French word ‘emportee’ which means ‘she has been carted away.’ Could this be the clue we are looking for?)

Incised on the lintel above the entrance to the church is an inscription that sounds a strange warning for a Roman Catholic Church:

TERRIBILIS ESTE LOCUS ISTE

(THIS PLACE IS TERRIBLE)

But these were the words spoken by Jacob upon awaking from a ‘dream’ of a ladder (ziggurat?) that reached to the heavens. The words that follow (Genesis 28:17) are:

THIS IS NONE OTHER BUT THE HOUSE OF GOD, AND THIS IS THE GATE TO HEAVEN.

It is now known that Sauniere was a member (or at least a guest) of a Martinist Lodge in Lyon. Martinism, an unorthodox form of Christianity founded by Martinez de Pasqually (1710-1774) was an occult school whose ideas were based on the spiritual teachings of Gnosticism, Qabalah, and Hermetica. It was concerned with the liberation of one’s soul and its ascent from the lower spheres (or the Valley of Thorns) back towards its original divine source. Martinists also believed in evoking (invoking?) and uniting with their guardian angel or higher self which was thought to be a facet of the Divine Intelligence. Therefore, by taking some liberties, the gateway in question may be considered an interdimensional or transplutonian stargate of sorts.

Another inscription above the entranceway reads:

MEA DOMUS ORATIONIS VOCATIBUR

(MY HOUSE IS CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER)

The rest of the phrase goes:

...AND YOU HAVE MADE IT INTO A DEN OF THIEVES

Some researchers have suggested the existence of a necropolis much like Egypt’s ‘Valley of Kings’ located somewhere in the region of Rennes-le-Chateau. If so, then is it possible that what Sauniere discovered were Merovingian catacombs that contained the remains of ancient royalty, those kings who were known to be buried along with all their splendor? Was the priest’s terrible secret that he was a simple grave robber? That he acquired his wealth from systematically plundering the tombs of kings, or, if not the ornate sepulchers of kings, then by pillaging the crypts of the local nobility of their precious heirlooms? It may even have been that those priests who preceded him formed a dynasty of grave robbers, passing the secret location of burial vaults onto their successors via encoded messages such as that on the ‘Marie’ headstone.


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 22, 2003)

Don't know how I missed this post - but it deserves it's own thread.


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## Lacedaemonian (May 25, 2004)

I have read loads about the Rennes-le-Chateau.
_The Holy Blood The Holy Grail _goes into huge detail on this subject.
_The Da Vinci Code_ although a book of fiction, also points to matters of the Rennes-le-Chateau.

The whole Jesus buried in France saga.  Not to spoil any books on this matter, but the outcome of most is that Jesus' bloodline exists today.  ie He had children.  This bloodline is the Sangreal and the secret is who are his living blood?  Some say that when Godfrey Boullin declared himself King of Jerusalem, he actually was, by blood rights, the king of Jerusalem.  All good fun.


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## Dead Riverdragon (May 25, 2004)

Yeah, save that the Da Vinci Code is bunk, it's all fun. I've an essay stored somewhere explaining the whole 'mystery' of Rennes-Le-Chateau in very reasonable terms, essentially pointing to Saunier's acquisition of a Templar/ Visigothic hoard (can't remember which the conclusion pointed to), and summarising that his death-bed terror was due to the personal gain he made from this hoard (he constructed a lavish villa with his funds) nexts time I return to my family's home I'll raid the relevent books and post with greater authority


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## Brian G Turner (May 25, 2004)

Yes, I hear that he stumbled upon a stash - the whole Rennes Le Chateau  issue being about what he found, and how he found it - and are there any clues left for us to  crack the mystery. There does seem to be a rather dubious range of specualtions. Essentially, some bloke found a small ancient treasure trove, and instead of telling anyone, simply kept it to himself. Fin. There is no mystery. But then again, I'm just a cycnic. 

 Not read "The Holy Blood The Holy Grail", but I did read "Blood of the Grail" (I think it was called), which stands out as one of the biggest bags of w*nk I have  ever read. If it had called itself a fiction then it might have worked - but as a "truth" it was just exploitative sensationalism. The research was very very poor and sloppy, and a general insult to historical research everywhere. The only other book I've read that is on par with being so empty and poor was the "Mayan Prophecy", which is another turd offering and exploitation of people's wallets.


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## Lacedaemonian (May 25, 2004)

They are all very speculative, with no substantial statements.  They more or less just bring our attention to the mysteries rather than solving them.  Perhaps they just wanted the readers to do the spade work.  

What was the treasure?
How did he make money out of the teasure??

The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction so I feel no need to defend it, though Dan Brown does make some insightful points throughout the story.


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## dwndrgn (May 26, 2004)

Interesting stuff.  I love mysteries like this...keeps you thinking.


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