Quick Reference Guide to the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Depth and Details– A Reader’s Guide to Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code

Introduction This book is a compilation of literary, artistic and historical references in Dan Brown’s brilliant thriller The Da Vinci Code. In much the same way as Dan built his novel on the brilliant, fascinating, and just plain odd stories that make up our history and culture, this compilation is built on the web pages, images and analysis that others have created to enhance your enjoyment of reading The Da Vinci Code. My contribution is simply to make all these scattered references available in one place as a Reader’s Guide.

A special thanks to Leah Riley for the beautiful cover art, and Craig Lightfoot for his PDF wizardry. Many thanks to Annie Broadwater who tirelessly worked at obtaining permissions so this reader’s guide could become a reality. Thanks to John and Michelle Eble who inspired me to read this novel and start me on this journey. Finally, a big thank you to those of you who read the first version of this Reader’s Guide and sent me emails with suggestions and comments. I am so pleased you found something new and contributed in your own special way.

This work is being offered to enhance your experience with Dan Brown’s exciting and thought provoking novel. The supporting documents within were all found by searching the internet. I have made every effort to acquire permission for promoting this web content. If you feel I have presented your work in any other manner than what it was intended, please contact me ([email protected]). My hope is that you will enjoy the works of all of the creators compiled within.

1 Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements...... 6 Research Locations used in the novel: ...... 6 Prologue...... 7 Layout & photos of the Grand Gallery – Louvre...... 7 Picture of Caravaggio painting in the Grande Gallery – Louvre ...... 8 Chapter 1:...... 9 Link to Harvard University professor/department of Religious Symbology ...... 9 symbols.com...... 9 Defn: ideogram from dictionary.com...... 9 Defn: religious iconography...... 10 Chapter 2:...... 11 Eglise de Saint-Sulpice in Paris ...... 11 Cilice...... 11 The Way...... 12 Chapter 3:...... 11 Claude Monet and Tuileries ...... 13 IM Pei and La Pyramide at the entrance of the Louvre ...... 14 Chapter 4:...... 16 666 panes of glass in La Pyramide?...... 16 Information about the Denon Wing of the Louvre ...... 16 Goddess Art: ...... 27 Gold caducei...... 28 Tject ankhs ...... 28 Statue of Isis nurturing Horus...... 28 Crux Gemmata from symbols.com...... 29 Chapter 5:...... 30 Opus Dei World Headquarters in NYC...... 30 Josemaria Escriva’s spiritual book “The Way” – 1934...... 31 Opus Dei drugs new recruits with mescaline?...... 31 FBI spy Robert Hanssen’s involvement in Opus Dei ...... 31 Chapter 6:...... 32 The pentacle – what is it?...... 32 The Goddess Venus and the Planet Venus ...... 33 Olympic Games ties to Venus (cycle of Venus) ...... 34 Chapter 8:...... 39 The Vitruvian Man – Leonardo Da Vinci ...... 39 Leonardo Da Vinci – the man ...... 39 Chapter 11:...... 44 Fibonacci Sequence – Leonardo Fibonacci...... 44

2 Chapter 20:...... 46 Secret Societies and the Origins of Tarot ...... 46 Mathematics of the pentacle, divine proportion, phi and the Fibonacci sequence ...... 51 Fibonacci Numbers...... 54 Book on Mathmatical puzzles and Phi: ...... 57 Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music...... 57 The Golden section in architecture ...... 57 The Golden Section and Art ...... 60 Leonardo's Art ...... 60 Vitruvian Man ...... 66 Architect Marcus Vitruvius – De Architectura ...... 67 The Last Supper ...... 67 Kabbala...... 67 The study of Anagrams...... 68 Chapter 21:...... 70 62 english words from “planets” ...... 70 Vile Meaningless Doodles ...... 71 anagram ...... 71 Make an anagram:...... 72 Make a cryptogram:...... 72 Sfumato style of painting of Da Vinci...... 72 Mona Lisa ...... 73 Chapter 22:...... 74 Compass Rose...... 74 Wind Rose ...... 74 Chapter 23:...... 75 Leaders of the Priory...... 75 Chapter 26:...... 77 Mona Lisa ...... 77 The Egyptian God Amon – god of fertility...... 79 Female goddess – Isis...... 80 Chapter 29:...... 81 Job 38:11...... 81 Chapter 30:...... 83 Virgin of the Rocks & Madonna of the Rocks...... 83 Chapter 34:...... 86 History of the Vatican Observatory and Its Castel Gandolfo Headquarters...... 86 Chapter 37:...... 88 Image and Layout of Paris Park: Bois de Boulogne aka The Garden of Earthly Delight ...... 88 Info on French king Godefroi de Bouillon ...... 89 Info on origin of Knights Templar...... 89 Info on origin of Friday 13th...... 92 Chapter 38:...... 94

3 The Holy Grail...... 94 Chapter 39:...... 98 Was Noah an Albino?...... 98 Chapter 40:...... 99 LDV’s Adoration of the Magi and it’s secret below the layers of paint...... 99 Chapter 44:...... 101 The Rose Through Time ...... 101 Chapter 47:...... 102 LDV’s cryptex...... 102 What is a caesar box?...... 102 Why does vinegar dissolve papyrus?...... 106 Wired article on Leonardo Da Vinci, Cryptology and tha Da Vinci Code:...... 106 Chapter 48:...... 109 Les Dossiers Secrets...... 109 Chapter 55:...... 111 Transmogrification ...... 111 Vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbolism...... 111 Mithras – who was he? ...... 115 The Last Supper ...... 117 Chapter 58:...... 118 The Gnostic Gospels...... 118 Peter and Mary in the Last Supper – disembodied hand with a dagger ...... 118 Definition of Sang Real – Royal Blood ...... 118 Chapter 60:...... 119 Merovingian Bloodline...... 119 Did the Merovingians found Paris?...... 121 Chapter 61:...... 124 Legends of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...... 124 Mozart;s Magic Flute full of Masonic symbols and grail secrets?...... 126 The "Little Mermaid" and the Archetype of the Lost "Bride."...... 132 Chapter 67:...... 135 King Arthur’s Avalon is believed to be in Glastonbury, England...... 135 Chapter 71:...... 141 LDV’s CODEX bought by Bill Gates ...... 141 Chapter 72:...... 142 Atbash Cipher ...... 142 Chapter 74:...... 143 Hieros Gamos ...... 143

4 Gnosis...... 143 Chapter 77:...... 144 Mystery of Sheshach – Babel… Atbash Cipher ...... 144 Chapter 82:...... 145 The Temple Church on Fleet Street ...... 145 Chapter 83:...... 147 Did the Knights Templar “invent” banking? ...... 147 Chapter 94:...... 148 Pelicans in St James Park:...... 148 Chapter 97:...... 148 Newton’s tomb in Westminster Abbey ...... 149 Newton’s Monument...... 150 Chapter 104:...... 152 Rosslyn Chapel – Cathedral of Codes – Edinburg ...... 152 Star of David ...... 158 Solomon’s Temple – it’s two pillars, Boaz (mason) and Jachin (apprentice) ...... 159 Epilogue: ...... 160 La Pyramid Inversee...... 160 Interesting find while researching: ...... 161 There is a Sauniere!!!...... 161

5 Acknowledgements

Research Locations used in the novel: The Louvre (http://www.louvre.org/louvrea.htm) French Ministry of Culture (http://www.culture.gouv.fr/) Project Gutenburg (http://promo.net/pg/) Bibliotheque Nationale (http://www.bnf.fr/site_bnf_eng/index.html) Gnostic Society Library (http://www.gnosis.org/library.html) Catholic World News (http://www.cwnews.com/) Royal Observatory – Greenwich (http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/) London Record Society (http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/lrs/LRSpubs.html) Muniment Collection at Westminster Abbey (http://www.westminster-abbey.org/library/mun_collect.htm)

6 Prologue

Topics in this section: Layout & photos of the Grand Gallery – Louvre Picture of Caravaggio painting in the Grande Gallery – Louvre Layout & photos of the Grand Gallery – Louvre

7 Picture of Caravaggio painting in the Grande Gallery – Louvre The book doesn’t say which Caravaggio is being used. Perhaps it’s this one:

Death of the Virgin

8 Chapter 1:

Topics in this section: Link to Harvard University professor/department of Religious Symbology symbols.com Defn: ideogram from dictionary.com Defn: religious iconography

Link to Harvard University professor/department of Religious Symbology There is not a department; however, there are a couple of professors whose work crosses over into icons and iconography http://www.hds.harvard.edu/dpa/faculty/area3/patton.html http://www.hds.harvard.edu/dpa/faculty/area2/constas.html

Robert Langdon now has his own website: http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/davinci/robertlangdon/

Of course, Robert Langdon is a character! If you’re interested in some real symbologists not working at Harvard, here’s an interesting link: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/discipline/fine-art/theory/analysis/panofsky.htm

symbols.com SYMBOLS.com contains more than 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600 articles their histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly discussed. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti.

Defn: ideogram from dictionary.com

( d - -gr m , d -) n.

1. A character or symbol representing an idea or a thing without expressing the pronunciation of a particular word or words for it, as in the traffic sign commonly used for “no parking” or “parking prohibited.” Also called ideograph. 2. See logogram. 3. A graphic symbol, such as &, $, or @.

From: http://www.mediumbold.com/04_thinking/type/origins/ideograms.html

Ideograms were simplified pictures selected by agreement or custom to become fixed pictorial symbols of an object or concept. For example, a number of "tree" symbols were unified to make a "forest," or the symbol for man, woman, and child were consolidated into a single "family" symbol. The name of the object (or its action) is closely identified with the picture. All written languages have passed through, or halted, at this stage.

9 Defn: religious iconography

( k -n g r -f ) n. pl. i·co·nog·ra·phies

1. a. Pictorial illustration of a subject. b. The collected representations illustrating a subject. 2. A set of specified or traditional symbolic forms associated with the subject or theme of a stylized work of art.

[Late Latin conographia, description, verbal sketch, from Medieval Greek eikonographi : eikono-, icono- + -graphi , - graphy.]

10 Chapter 2:

Topics in this section: Eglise de Saint-Sulpice in Paris Cilice The Way Claude Monet and Tuileries IM Pei and La Pyramide at the entrance of the Louvre

Eglise de Saint-Sulpice in Paris from: http://www.apartexchange.com/Guide_paris6_stsulpice.htm Above the square the towers of the heavy looking, EGLISE SAINT SULPICE rise high above the neighbouring roofs. See the Hebrew JAHWE on the left tower, curious...... The ground map and the size are the same as Notre-Dame. The first stone was laid in 1646 on the remains of an older and smaller church. The building being interrupted several times, all styles and epochs are mixed in the construction. One of the most interesting items inside is the wall fresco (the fighting of Saul with the Angel) painted under the supervision of Delacroix, the Maria chapel and the organ of 1781. A copper line in the middle of the choir symbolizes the zero meridian of Paris. A few anecdotes about the church. The ancestor of the telegraph, the Chappe system (moving panel system set on heights) had a fixed place on the roof until 1850. Baudelaire and the marquis de Sade were baptized in this church. Victor Hugo got married here.

Cilice definition from http://www.odan.org/archives_corporal.htm A spiked chain worn around the upper thigh for two hours each day, except for Church feast days, Sundays, and certain times of the year. This is perhaps the most shocking of the corporal mortifications, and generally Opus Dei members are extremely hesitant to admit that they use them. It is a painful mortification which leaves small prick holes in the flesh, and makes the Opus Dei members tentative about wearing swim suits wherever non-Opus Dei members may be.

The Way “Pain is Good” Mantra by Father Josemaria Escriva – regarding Corporal Mortification http://www.escrivaworks.org/

12 Chapter 3:

Secret codes in the paintings of Poussin

http://www.ludix.com/moriarty/psalm46.html (very interesting...lots of info on secret codes)

Claude Monet and Tuileries life history link: http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/docs/htmldoc_2887_e.jsp

Claude Monet. The Tuileries; Study. 1894. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.

IM Pei and La Pyramide at the entrance of the Louvre

14 from 1908

"Of all the Grands Projets in Paris, none created such a stir as the Pei Pyramids in the courtyard of the famous Louvre Museum. Spectacular in concept and form, they provide a startling reminder of the audacious ability of modern architects to invigorate and re-circulate traditional architectural forms...The main Pyramid is basically a complex inter-linked steel structure sheathed in reflective glass. In fact it is an entrance doorway providing a long-overdue entrance portico to the main galleries of the Louvre. As one descends into the interior entrance foyer, the dramatic nature of the intervention becomes apparent. The main Pyramid, which certainly disturbs the balance of the old Louvre courtyard, is countered by two smaller pyramids, which provide further light and ventilation to the subterranean spaces."

—Dennis Sharp. Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History. p407.

"Probably the pièce de résistance of Pei's extraordinary legacy to modernism, his sense of quiet good taste, consummate attention to detail, and clarity of concept is his intervention into the Cour Napoleon at the Louvre. Beneath the new, elegantly 'hard' and restrained surface of the Cour is accommodated a vast new program of 650,000 square feet of much-needed support spaces for the Louvre. Poised as perfect complement and counterpoint, and rising only a modest 71 feet above the ground, is the symbol of the project, the central entrance pyramid. Despite an almost ephemeral presence that derives from an ingeniously conceived triangular web of supports, clad in a wonderful warm ochre, lightly tinted glass especially drawn by St. Gobain to be compatible with the honey-colored stone of the Second Empire facades of the old Louvre, it was controversial from its announcement in 1985 as one of President Mitterand's most ambitious 'grand projets.' Obviously any insertion would have been anathema to those who hold sacred and untouchable the integrity of the Louvre's classical presence. Time has somewhat blunted the critics against this example of modernism at its most elegant, although it remains less than successful as a sheltered entrance against the elements and the three much smaller flanking pyramids seem aesthetically gratuitous. However, at times the almost fluid, dematerialized presence of the pyramid establishes without bombast, a compelling brave concept whose intent is to be neither aggressive nor subservient but to complement through restraint. Through simplicity the new stands with the old, each acknowledging the other."

—from Paul Heyer. American Architecture: Ideas and Ideologies in the Late Twentieth Century. p275-278

15 Chapter 4:

Topics in this section: 666 panes of glass in La Pyramide? Information about the Denon Wing of the Louvre Goddess Art Gold caducei Tject ankhs Statue of Isis nurturing Horus Crux Gemmata from symbols.com

666 panes of glass in La Pyramide? http://eies.njit.edu/~taher/steelstructures.html

“Pyramide du Louvre: Paris (1983-1993) Architect: I.M. Pei

- A 79-ft tall pyramid flanked by three smaller pyramids. - The structure consists of a web of steel girders and thin cables holding a total of 675 diamond-shape and 118 triangular panes.”

And from : http://www.louvre.or.jp/louvre/presse/en/activites/archives/anniv.htm

The Pyramid: symbol of an enlarged and modernized Louvre

“On 30 March 1989, the first visitors followed the French President François Mitterrand into the Pyramid, the main entrance to the museum which has since been enlarged and modernized. Beneath this 200-ton, 21-metre-high steel structure covered in 673 diamond-shaped panes of glass, they discovered a vast, 17,000-square-metre reception area (ten times larger than before).”

Information about the Denon Wing of the Louvre http://www.angkor.com/cityrain/louvre/index.shtml

A Quick Walk Through of the Denon Wing of the Louvre Created November 23, 2000 - Last updated April 4, 2001

When I am away from the Louvre, I miss it--especially the galleries of the Denon Wing. It is probably just my cultural background, but I miss being in the presence of the icons of my culture. This page is not an attempt to appreciate art. If you want to see the paintings close up, look up the titles on the net or buy a book. It is beyond any passing photographer to take a good photo of a classic painting that is suitable for study. These pages are about what it is like to say "I visited the Mona Lisa today." No matter how jaded you are, there is nothing like moving among the images that inspired generations of the Western world.

Map of the rooms detailed below

On the way Entrance Hall Victory of Samothrace

Room 75

Room 6 Room 76 The Long Gallery Salle des Etats (Room of States)

Room 77

Entrance

It's 9:30 and the Louvre is about to open!

This is the entrance hall under I.M.Pei's glass pyramid. In the center of the spiral staircase is a rising platform used to take people from ground level into the ticket area. To the right is entrance to a shopping mall and subway station.

Luckily today the ticket takers are on strike and admittance is free and there are no lines (if we were unlucky, the guards would be on strike and the whole thing would be closed). Crowds rush toward the Denon wing (in the darkness in the background on the left) to head for the Mona Lisa (or La Gioconda, as the French call her). We follow.

Victory of Samothrace

Behold Victory of Samothrace!

On the way we pass one of the supreme achievements of antiquity, Victory of Samothrace. 2190 years ago, a nameless sculptor was able to use marble to simulate transparent fabric over skin. It was part of an artistic tradition that existed "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" and was lost before being rediscovered from scratch during the Middle Ages. Here, a group of French students listen as their teacher lectures.

On the first floor balcony looking back. Ahead is Room 75.

Room 75

Someone has their picture taken with a celebrity (The Coronation of Napoleon I, 2nd December 1804).

20 This is one of the most memorable halls of the Louvre to enter for the first time. Massive paintings line dark-red walls. Natural light from overhead bathes epic works of art. Looking back, Victory of Samothrace is framed in the door. The scale and grandeur of these rooms bespeaks their former use as a palace. Ahead lies Room 76.

Room 76

21 This dramatic and ornate square hall, noted for its ceiling, houses Lady MacBeth and several famous landscapes.

The spectacular ceiling

Room 6 - Salle des Etats (Room of States)

Home of the Mona Lisa (Note: in 2003, the Mona Lisa will be displayed in a remodeled gallery especially designed to handle the large, noisy crowds that presently fill Room 6.)

Entering through the passage on the left or right, one comes upon the newly restored The Wedding Feast at Cana. 22

Fans gather before the Mona Lisa. It is behind glass in its own cabinet. It is a rather small painting. Why is it so perennially famous? There's an old adage about the work: The Mona Lisa has stood the test of time. When you stand before it, you are not judging it, it is you who are being judged.

Just to the right of the Mona Lisa, an old man with a scarf tossed jauntily around his neck copies Titien's The Country Concert, taking long pauses between each brushstroke.

The room quickly becomes crowded. This is the first place most people come because of the Mona Lisa.

This is wall opposite to The Wedding Feast at Cana (where we entered). These paintings were the blockbusters of their day. The passage on the right leads to the Long Gallery.

One last look back into Room 6 as we move into the Long Gallery.

The Long Gallery

25 This fabled long hall seems to vanish into infinity like the perspectives of early Italian artists. There are too many masterpieces here to digest. Da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks, John the Baptist, and The Virgin, the Infant Jesus and St Anne hang here side by side (and are somewhat neglected compared to the adulation the Mona Lisa receives in the next room).

An artist emulates the masters (Correggio's The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine of Alexandria).

Room 77

One of the most striking works of the Louvre--Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa. Unlike almost anything else, it's unusual composition is without a focal point. The viewer's eye zigzags from hope to death examining a raft of tempest-tossed mariners. And all on a monumental scale.

Delacroix's The 28th of July 1830: Liberty Leading the People-- an icon of French culture. This is a rare moment when no one is clustered around it.

A mortal regards Napoleon.

Goddess Art: labrys axes

A shrine to Mother Earth at Delphi was founded by the Cretans who left their sacred music, ritual, dances, and calender as a legacy to the Hellenes. Mother Earth's Cretan sceptre, the labrys, or double-axe gave its name to the priestly corporation at Delphi, the Labryadae, the men of the axe.

Arthur Evans (1851-1941), the archaeologist, put forward the controversial view that scholars had been mistaken to derive the word labyrinth, in accordance with ancient tradition, from the Egyption loperohunt, meaning "palace (or temple) by the lake" (that is, Lake Moeris). He believed that the labyrinth of Amenemhet III at Medinet el Fayum in Egypt, described by Herodotus and Strabo, could not have been the original source of the term "labyrinth", but that it originated at the Palace of Knossos in Crete. Here double axes, or labrys, were found everywhere as religious symbols. Evans argued that "labyrinth" means something like "palace of the double axes". However the Egyption labyrinth was known by that

27 name long before the rediscovery of the Palace of Knossos, and was known by that name in classical antiquity, but no double axes have been found there or anywhere along the Nile.

The labrys is shown in art as one of the weapons of the Amazons.

Sources: http://www.sbu.ac.uk/stafflag/icons.html#Labrys Robert Graves, (1977), The Greek Myths, vol. 1, Penguin Books, ISBN 0 1402.0508 X.

Hans Georg Wunderlich, (1974), The Secret of Crete, Fontana/Collins, ISBN 0 00 633905 1.

Gold caducei Aesculapius, god of Medicine in Greek and Roman mythology, is usually depicted carrying a staff with a serpent. Mercury in Roman mythology (Hermes to the Greeks) received a magic wand, a caduceus, from the god of music, which he used to lead the souls of the dead to the Lower World. He could also control the living and the dead with it, and could turn anything into gold. Powerful little instrument! Mercury wore a winged cap and winged sandals. Mercury`s caduceus had wings at its top and two snakes wrapped around it.

Tject ankhs The ankh symbol combines the male element (the cross) and the feminine element (the oval). These two symbols, the cross and oval, were said to be the two generative principles of heaven and earth.

In many Egyptian paintings, you can find figures carrying the ankh by the open end. This indicates that it is a KEY which was an important part of early Egyptian spirituality.

Sistrum rattles http://helixmusic.com.au/posters/rattles2.htm

The Egyptian sistrum is characterized by being closed at the top; it then took on the shape of the anhk. It was sacred to Hathor, and when Hathor was later metamorphosed into Isis, it became sacred to Isis. (And was then played by women)

Gold and silver, metal, wood, and clay were used in making sistra. They are still used as magical ceremonial rattles.

The sistrum is common throughout Africa and has a couple of different forms. One is a split stick with metal disks (made from old tin cans or flattened bottle tops) attached to a wire. The other is a circular frame with a number of wires strung across for the metal discs. To play the instrument you need to shake it so the metal discs hit against each other and the frame. You can also spin the discs for a different effect. Sometimes gourd discs are used to replace the metal ones this gives a much softer sound.

Statue of Isis nurturing Horus

The name Isis means "seat" or "throne". She was regarded as the symbolical mother of the King. In myth, she sought her dead husband and brother, Osiris, conceived her son Horus by him, buried and mourned him together with her sister Nephtys. Isis was regarded as the "Eye of Ra" and was worshipped as the "Great of Magic" who had protected her son Horus from snakes, predators and other dangers: thus she would protect mortal children also. Isis is here depicted as a mother suckling her young son Horus and it is in this aspect that the Goddess was regarded as the vital link between Deities and Royalty, since the King was regarded as the living Horus on the throne of Egypt. In the pyramid texts it's stated that the ruler drinks divine milk from the breast of his mother Isis: This is the imagery of the plethora of statuettes of Isis seated on a throne suckling the young Horus who sits in her lap. http://www.deliriummag.com/isismary.html

Crux Gemmata from symbols.com

This sign is the crux gemmata, the cross with precious stones, a cross decorated with 13 graphical representations of gems. As an ideogram for Christ and His twelve apostles it is a symbol for the Christian faith.

29 Chapter 5:

Topics in this section: Opus Dei World Headquarters in NYC Josemaria Escriva’s spiritual book “The Way” – 1934 Opus Dei drugs new recruits with mescaline? FBI spy Robert Hanssen’s involvement in Opus Dei

Opus Dei World Headquarters in NYC http://www.skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/bu/100380/

Street 243 Lexington Avenue at East 34th Street ZIP 10016 Neighborhood Murray Hill Borough Manhattan City New York City Country United States of America

Technical Data 30 Height 69 m 225 ft Floors (OG) 17 Year (end) 2000

Building in General Type of Construction high-rise building Usages office residential Status completed Facts - The building is mixed use office and residential for members of the Catholic Opus Dei Order. They required seperate entrances for men and women from different streets. - Height courtesy Stanley Pinska. - The building incorporates seven chapels and sacristies and six dining rooms. Companies architect May & Pinska mechanical engineering Cosentini Associates

Josemaria Escriva’s spiritual book “The Way” – 1934 http://www.escrivaworks.org/book.php?lang=en&book=1

Opus Dei drugs new recruits with mescaline? I have found no evidence to support this online.

FBI spy Robert Hanssen’s involvement in Opus Dei

Former FBI Agent and Supernumerary Robert Hanssen Convicted of Spying

"A Question of Why: Contradictory Portrait Emerges of Spying Suspect," by Carol Morello and William Claiborne, The Washington Post, February 25, 2001. This article is a portrait of convicted spy Robert Hanssen, a supernumerary member of Opus Dei. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A51800-2001Feb24%20

31 Chapter 6:

Topics in this section: The pentacle – what is it? The Goddess Venus and the Planet Venus Olympic Games ties to Venus (cycle of Venus)

The pentacle – what is it? (www.symbols.com)

The pentagram or pentacle belongs to the group of some 20 basic gestalts in Western ideography. Despite the fact that consists of five straight lines it is still a single entity, a holistic design. It is quite unlikely that this design was discovered by chance. (For a discussion of this, see "The mystical pentagram" in the appendices, Part III.) Here are other gestalts with which to compare it: , , , , , , , , . The pentagram was probably discovered as a result of astronomical research in the Euphrates-Tigris region about 6,000 years ago. For a derivation of this structure, see in Group 29. Isolated pentagrams have been found on broken fragments of burned clay in Palestine, in layers dating from around 4000 B.C. It was a common sign among the Sumerians around 2700 B.C. Some of those who have conducted research of symbols believe was used by the Sumerians as a cosmic symbol representing the four corners of the earth and the vault of the heavens. This, however, seems a bit far-fetched. The sign would have been better suited for this particular purpose. After the Sumerian time there is no clear evidence as to what the pentagram might have meant until the sign appears in Pythagorean mysticism. There it is said to have symbolized the human being. The points of represent the head, arms, and legs of the body. Yet this interpretation seems to underestimate the intelligence and knowledge of the Pythagoreans. They did, however, use the sign extensively and are believed to have used it when signing their letters to each other around 400 B.C. What we do know with all certainty is that was the main ideogram in the logotype or official seal of the city of Jerusalem during the period 300150 B.C. The pentagram has been called the seal of Solomon or Solomon's shield in medieval Jewish mysticism. The fivepointed star has appeared in pre-Columbian America, although not in the form of the pentagram, but as , which shows that the high cultures existing at that time, for example, the Mayan culture, had not succeeded in discovering the design despite their advanced knowledge of the timing of the appearances of the Morning star and the Evening star, that is, the orbit of the planet Venus. After the Sumerian epoch in the Euphrates-Tigris region the Venus goddess seems to have been symbolized by , the eightpointed star. The pentagram fell out of use and did not appear in this region until some 1,000 years later. Count Goblet d'Alviella suggested in his book La migration des Symboles (see bibliography) at the end of the nineteenth century that certain graphic symbols for powerful mythological entities exclude each other. Thus , for Venus as the goddess of fertility and war, excludes the sign . The two do not appear simultaneously in the same political, economic, and cultural spheres. The same applies (an example from d'Alviella) for the sun god symbolized by and by the winged globe, . We could refer to this as the law of the graphic exclusiveness of symbols of dominating power. The pentagram is sometimes known as the Eastern star and is apparently then identical with the Morning star and the planet

32 Venus as the war goddess Ischtar or Astarte. Note that is very popular with the military. All officers in modern armies have a number of fivepointed stars on their uniforms. These stars are also found painted on the sides of tanks and fighter planes in the United States, Russia, China, and some other countries.

The Goddess Venus and the Planet Venus http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_the_goddess http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_(planet)

Venus was the Roman goddess of love, equivalent to Greek Aphrodite and Etruscan Turan.

Other figures possibly corresponding to Venus are: Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli in Aztec mythology, Kukulcan in Mayan and Sif in the Norse mythos.

Her cult began in Ardea and Lavinium, Latium. On August 18, 293 BC, her oldest temple was built. August 18 was then a festival called the Vinalia Rustica. On April 1, the Veneralia was celebrated in honor of Venus Verticordia, the protector against vice. On April 23 215 BC, a temple was built on the Capitol dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasum.

Julius Caesar introduced Venus Genetrix as a goddess of motherhood and domesticity.

Venus is the second planet from the sun, named after the Roman goddess Venus. It is a terrestrial planet, very similar in size and bulk composition to Earth; it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" as a result of this similarity. Sometimes (inaccurately) referred to as the "morning star" or the "evening star", it is by far the brightest "star" in the sky. Because Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth is, it is always in roughly the same direction as the Sun, so can only be seen just before sunrise or just after sunset.

The Origin of the Olympics: Ancient Calendars and the Race Against Time by Valerie Vaughan

Throughout the world, all ancient or primitive cultures have held a similar type of ceremony to celebrate the new year. In general, this ritual usually involved someone, who represented the old year, being driven out by someone representing the new year. The new year person usually led a procession of some kind, often made up of dancers or people who jumped and leaped. Such a procession is precisely what occurred during the earliest Olympic festivals in Greece.

There are several myths which describe the origin of these Olympic festivals which were the inspiration for today's Olympic games. One story tells of a man named Pelops who wanted to marry Hippodamia, the daughter of King Oenomaus. Oenomaus was willing to offer his daughter's hand to any potential suitor who could compete with him and win in a chariot race. Each contestant would take Hippodamia in his chariot and try to beat her father, but Oenomaus would always win and then kill the losing suitor. Before Pelops came along, Oenomaus had so far killed twelve suitors and hung up their heads for display. Hippodamia loved Pelops, and she secretly fixed her father's chariot so it would fail. In the race, his chariot crashed and Oenomaus died, making him the 13th victim, so Pelops won. Pelops got the girl, became the new king, and according to Pindar (5th c. BC), the Olympics were started to commemorate the chariot race of Pelops.

This story is more than a description of a sporting event. Three important features tell us otherwise. First, it is a contest between an old and young king, ending in the death of the elder and the succession of the younger to the kingdom. Second, there is a carrying off of the bride, for at the end of the story, Pelops and Hippodamia drive off in the same chariot. Even though Hippodamia loves Pelops, this is a "marriage by capture," a theme that appears in many myths. Third, there are some very suggestive numbers mentioned, namely 12 and 13, which relate to the lunar cycle. What this story reveals is a transition in calendar systems, from the old Moon-based calendar to one based on the motion of the Sun. When the ancients began to adjust 34 their calendar to the solar cycle, they did not wish to simply abandon the old lunar calendar completely. The great calendar problem of antiquity was how to fit together the old Moon "year" with the new Sun year.

In order to explain how they did this, we need to review some basic astronomical math. As we now know, the Sun appears to turn once through the zodiac in about 365.25 days, one tropical year. (The Greek word tropikos means "turning.") The Moon takes about 29.53 days to move through one synodic month. Synodic comes from the Greek words syn (meaning "with") and hodos (meaning "the way"); thus, syn-hodos means "a meeting of the ways." The ancients wanted to coordinate these two systems of timing, but the Sun cycle and Moon cycle cannot be made to fit together easily. During one solar year there are precisely 12.36827 cycles of the Moon, a value somewhere between the whole numbers 12 and 13. Because such a long decimal is not easily translated into whole numbers of days, it was a big challenge in ancient times to figure out how to reconcile the lunar calendar with the solar.

The Greeks, however, figured out a rather neat solution. They noticed that eight solar years was close to 99 lunar months. So they started a new calendar called the octaeteris, which was eight solar years or 99 lunar months. They arranged the eight years so there were five years containing twelve months each, and three years with 13 months. They inserted each of the three extra months in the 3rd, 5th and 8th years. According to legend and Greek historians, the Greeks started keeping this 8-year calendar when they started the Olympic Games in 776 BC. Later, they measured the octaeteris as two four-year periods, one of 49 months and one of 50 months, and they called these 4-year periods "Olympiads." This 4-year period still survives today. Every four years, we add a leap day in February, and we also hold the Olympics. In America, we even elect a President (a "new king") every four years.

The Olympics originated as a reenactment of an astronomical myth which described a calendar. The triumph of Pelops and his marriage with Hippodamia was the story of the race of the Sun and the Moon. It was not a race to compete but to meet. The Sun and Moon had to meet (syn-hodos) somewhere between 12 and 13 lunar cycles. Here's some more math:

One solar year is 365.25 days

12 months = 12 x 29.53 days = 354 days (too few)

13 months = 13 x 29.53 days = 383.5 days (too many)

However,

8 years x 365.25 days = 2922 days and 99 months x 29.53 days = 2923.5 days

So the Sun and Moon are conjoined every eight years or 99 lunar months (with a difference of about 1.5 days). If we follow this "race" through the entire cycle, as the Greeks added one month during the 3rd and 5th years, we would see that the Moon and Sun take turns leading until the last leg of the cycle, the 8th year, when the final (extra) month is added, and then the soli-lunar congruence happens and the race is a "tie."

The Olympics Games were a moveable festival, like Easter, which combines the lunar and solar calendars. (Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.) The scholars of the late 19th century believed that the Olympic Games were held at the second or third full moon after the summer solstice, and this "fact" is often still repeated in modern texts. However, more recent research has shown that this is not how the Greeks figured it; their counting process actually began earlier in the year. The date for celebrating the Olympics was actually determined as the eighth full Moon following the first full Moon after the winter solstice. This date can correspond to either the second or third full Moon after the summer solstice, which is what confused earlier scholars. Here's how it goes:

35 Start with the first full moon after the winter solstice. (In 777 BC, this occurred in late December.) Then count forward eight more full moons. (The first Olympics occurred in August, 776 BC.) From this date, count 49 more full moons. (July, 772 BC.) Then count 50 more full moons. (July, 768 BC.) A total of 99 moons every eight years. The ancient Olympics were always held at a time we would call July or August, when both the Sun and Moon were strong. (The Sun's energy is strong in the summer, and the Moon is strong when it is full.) The myth about the origin of the Olympic Games shows it is essentially a New Year festival, the inauguration of a year. It is concerned with a royal marriage of the Sun and Moon. As an interesting side note, the Queen and King in a pack of playing cards are the 12th and 13th cards in a suit, following the Jack (11) and the ten card.

This analysis leads us to make a suggestion concerning the study of myths. Special attention should be paid to stories containing contests, races, a marriage (meeting), or a change in rulership. These are likely to be astronomical in nature.

There is another Greek myth that explains the calendar relationship of the Sun and Moon, the story of Atalante. Atalante was an athletic girl, raised by a bear in the mountains. She was a virgin and a huntress, quite clearly a human version of Artemis, the Moon goddess. She was also an excellent runner and no one could catch her. Atalante was pursued by a steady parade of admirers, but she could outrun them all. She finally agreed to marry anyone who could beat her in a race, but any challenger who could not beat her would be killed.

In this story, the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) gets involved. Venus likes everyone to obey their sexual urges, so she helped one suitor, Hippomenes, to fix the race. Venus gave Hippomenes three golden apples and told him to drop one apple each time that Atalante started to overtake him. As Atalante stopped to pick up the apples, she fell behind just barely enough for Hippomenes to win the race. In this story, the three golden apples symbolize the three extra months added in the octaeteris to keep the moon in step with the sun and the seasons. Since the 99 lunar months are just a little bit longer (1.5 days) than eight solar years, this small discrepancy is the amount by which Atalante lost the race.

What is quite interesting about this story is the involvement of Venus, who gives an important astronomical clue. The eight years of octaeteris is not just a soli-lunar cycle; it also happens to be the time it takes for the cycles of Venus and the Sun to meet. Eight solar years is very close to five Venus synodic cycles (averaging 584 days). Thus,

8 years x 365.25 days = 2922 days

5 Venus cycles x 584 days = 2920 days

99 months x 29.53 days = 2923.5 days

So astronomically, the period of eight solar years has triple significance. It is the time period that marks the meeting of the Sun, Moon and Venus. Thus, for example, if the new Moon appears close to Venus on a certain day of the solar year (such as the day of the vernal equinox), this configuration would appear on approximately the same date eight years later.

There is much mythological evidence for the 8-year cycle. Apollo had to serve eight years with Admetus after he killed the dragon Python. The Pythian games were, in the beginning, celebrated every eight years. There was also a Greek myth about King Minos of Crete that involved the eight-year cycle. Every eight years, the Athenians had to sacrifice seven youths and seven maidens (14, a lunar number) to the Minotaur in payment for the death of Minos's son. Also every eight years, Minos went up into the mountains to converse with his father Zeus, a tradition known to Homer. Evidently, many of the Greek kings had to replenish their power at the end of eight years by a fresh communion with the deity. At Sparta, every eighth year, the Ephors had to watch for signs in the sky on a clear and moonless night. If they saw a meteor, the king would be removed from office.

There is another myth that relates the origin of the Olympic games and involves Herakles, who was recognized as a Sun-god. Many of his Twelve Labors correspond to the 12 signs of the Zodiac, such as the slaying the Nemean lion (Leo), capturing the Cretan bull (Taurus), etc. One of the Twelve Labors imposed on Herakles was to clean the cattle stables of King Augeas of Elis, a city-state located about 30 miles from Olympia. He accomplished his task in one day by diverting the Alpheios River from its course and causing it to flow through the stables. According to this myth, Herakles celebrated his success by founding the 36 Olympian games. Historically speaking, Elis was in actuality the city-state that supervised the Olympic games, and the peak of the Olympic festival occurred when one hundred oxen were sacrificed to Zeus.

There is an interesting feature in the story of cleaning the Augean stables, and that is the mention of specific numbers. According to the myth, the stables had not been cleaned for thirty years, and since 3,000 cattle had been kept in it, the accumulation of filth was tremendous. Also, Herakles was required to clean the stables in just one day. Let's consider the possibility that this myth refers to a calendar problem. If the early Greeks were using a calendar system that was not very accurate, there would be a build-up of time discrepancies that would eventually be noticeable as an "accumulation of filth" that needed to be cleaned out. The fact that Herakles was able to accomplish this feat in one day suggests that all he had to do was simply adjust the calendar. (Technically speaking, the Gregorian calendar was adjusted on one day by simply changing the date. The ancient Mesoamericans did the same thing with their calendars.) The following is an explanation of how the myth of the Augean stables could represent a solution to the calendar problem.

According to one ancient writer, Censorinus, the earliest and least accurate soli-lunar calendar that the Greeks used was formed by alternating years of 12 and 13 lunar months. They allowed 12 lunar months for one year and 13 months the next year (an average of 12.5 months per year). Thus, for every eight years, they were counting 100 lunar months (the number of oxen sacrificed during the Olympic festival). With the real value being 12.368 lunar cycles per year, the Greek's lunar calendar would drift off the solar calendar at a rate of nearly 4 days per year. If each of the "years" mentioned in the myth were symbolic (as they sometimes were in myth) of one 8-year period, then thirty of these "years" would in actuality be 240 years (30 x 8). And 240 real years of 12.5 months each equals 3,000 months (240 x 12.5). These 3,000 months could be the mythical cattle because the Moon is associated with the bull/Taurus. Thus, the amount of drift or discrepancy in 240 years would be about 930 days, which is indeed a tremendous "accumulation of filth."

Remember the story mentioned earlier about Herakles capturing the three apples of the Hesperides which were guarded by a dragon? Now, it so happens that this dragon had been placed as a guardian of the apples by Hera, the goddess of marriage. Hera had received the apples as a marriage gift from Gaia when she married Zeus. Hera, incidentally, was the goddess who had suckled Herakles and given him his name. In addition to all these converging coincidences, Hera was also popular at Olympia. The first known temple to be built there was dedicated to her. In the late 6th century BC, Olympic foot races which were run by girls were dedicated to Hera.

There is another interesting story that connects the Olympics with apples. We know from history that it was a tradition for the Olympic victor to be crowned with an olive branch, which is another hint that this was an agricultural or seasonal new year festival. But there is also some evidence that the victor's wreath was not originally from the olive tree. One ancient writer tells that in the sixth Olympiad, the Delphic oracle was consulted as to how the victors should be crowned, and the message was: "Do not make the fruit of the apple tree the prize of victory, but take the wild olive." Consequently, the first victor to be crowned with olive was the winner of the foot race in the 7th Olympiad.

This story tells us something about a transition or cross-over period from the lunar to solar calendar. The Greek calendar was controlled by the priest(ess) of the Delphic Oracle, who harmonized the lunar with the solar calendar. It is known that, during the earliest Olympics, there was only one event, the foot race. There is also evidence that the foot race was a variation on the ritual (mentioned earlier), which is common among many peoples of the world, i.e., a procession to the altar, led by the new year person or replacement "king." Evidently, the foot race was more often associated with the Moon (as it was in the Atalante myth) and with girls (as in the foot races of Hera).

Chariot or horse races, however, were associated with the Sun. The solar cycle is usually depicted in Greek art and myth as a chariot race (for example, in the myths of Phaeton and, as we saw earlier, Pelops). During the period of the first twelve Olympics (12 x 8 years = 96 years), the only competition was the foot race, indicating that the Moon was still considered important at that time. Chariot racing was not introduced at the Olympics until 680 BC (96 years after 776 BC), and this is about the same time that the four-year cycle (Olympiad) became well established and replaced the 8-year cycle. One scholar has suggested that this shift from Moon (8 year cycle) to Sun (4 year cycle) reflects a transition from matriarchal to patriarchal authority. If this is so, it is possible that the chariot race may have been a matriarchal test to check on the virility and fitness of males to qualify as consorts.

37 There is also evidence that the chariot races of the Roman Circus were associated with the movement of the Sun. One ancient writer said that the Roman Circus events represented the change of seasons, with the 2-horse race representing the moon, and the 4-horse chariot that of the Sun. Another ancient writer mentions that there were altars at the Circus Maximus in Rome dedicated to the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Also, in the later Olympic festivals of Greece, there were 12 rounds of the chariot race, and these may have represented the course of the Sun through the 12 signs. According to Pindar, the chariot races were begun at the altar of the Heavenly Twins (Gemini). The foot races, on the other hand, were started in a different place, the tomb of Endymion, who represented the sinking sun who married Selene the Moon. This pair had 50 daughters, which most scholars agree represented the 50 lunar months of the 4-year Olympiad.

There is a parallel to these Olympic myths in a Hebrew tradition which combines the moon and sun races. According to this story, there was once a discussion among Rabbis concerning the hippodrome of Solomon. Solomon held 12 horse races each year, one for every month. One disciple was concerned about the lunar cycle and asked, "Why not 13, since there are 13 months?" The Rabbi answered, "Because one race was not a horse-race, but a foot race," which was run in the intercalary month containing the winter solstice.

Another parallel to the Olympic Games is the legendary Ball Game of the Maya, which was much more than a sports event. The myths that relate the story of the Ball Game have to do with the gods and the planets, especially the Sun, Moon and Venus. Mesoamerican calendars were very complex, but one main feature was the eight-year cycle of Venus.

By the 5th century BC, the Greeks had realized that 99 lunar months was not a totally accurate equivalent of eight solar years, and that a longer cycle of 19 years would work even better because it was nearly equal to 235 lunar cycles. Again, here's the math:

19 years x 365.25 days = 6939.75 days

235 months x 29.53 days = 6939.55 days.

This so-called Metonic cycle shows up in a myth also. Apollo (the Sun god) was supposed to visit an island once every nineteen years. According to one ancient writer, "Opposite to the coast of Celtic Gaul, there is an island in the ocean, not smaller than Sicily, lying to the North, which is inhabited by the Hyperboreans. On this island is a remarkable temple of Apollo, built in a round form. When Apollo visits once every 19 years, the stars complete their revolutions, and the god Apollo plays the harp and dances, from the vernal equinox until the rising of the Pleiades." Modern scholars have suggested that Hyperborea was probably Britain, and many have speculated that this remarkable round temple was Stonehenge. They aren't so sure about the frolicking period from the vernal equinox to the time of Pleiades rising, but there's a possibility that this refers to the extra time it takes to go from the eclipse cycle (18.61 years) to 19 years.

For those who are interested in pursuing the astronomical content of myths, the following advice is suggested. (1) Investigate the original versions and the earliest stories, not the modern adaptations. (2) Always be on the lookout for numbers -- their inclusion is never arbitrary. (3) Take note of myths that involve competitions, contests, or races, the change of rulerships (old kings replaced by new ones) or the conquest of a woman. If there are specific numbers mentioned in such myths, there is a good chance that the story is about a cycle of return, which suggests a calendar, which in turn indicates an astronomical myth.

38 Chapter 8:

Topics in this section: The Vitruvian Man – Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci – The Man

The Vitruvian Man – Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci – the man http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/life.html

Early Years

Leonardo was born on, "Saturday April 15, [1452] at three o'clock in the night". We know this to be correct as the quote is from notes written by Leonardo's grandfather. It should be noted that three o'clock in the night is the equivalent of 10.30 p.m. today. Confusion arises depending upon whether people use the Florentine style of time or the common style now used.

Leonardo's birthplace was the small village of Vinci located between the Tuscan cities of Pistoia and Empoli. He was the illegitimate son of notary (official), Ser Piero d'Antonio and a peasant woman named Caterina. Little is known of her, but she probably came from the village of Anchiano and may have been a barmaid. It is almost definite that she had contact with her son throughout her life.

39 After the baby's birth Ser Piero was quickly convinced to marry into a wealthy family while Caterina was married off to a cowherd. Initially, Leonardo lived with his grandparents on his father's side. After some years had passed Ser Piero realised that his wife could not have children; at this time Leonardo was taken to be raised and educated in his father's house.

Some authors have Leonardo as spending the first five years of his childhood living with his mother, and/or bearing the brunt of much misery from later arriving legitimate half-brothers. However, his grandfather's notes also show us that the child was baptised and accepted into his father's side of the family immediately. It is known that he could not have been the object of teasing from half-brothers as it was not until Ser Piero's third wife that there were to be any legitimate sons; by this time Leonardo was 24. During that period in history illegitimate and legitimate children were bought up together, even in the most noble of homes. Wives would not register any protest over this and there was no stigma attached.

Even as a young child Leonardo showed extraordinary talent, being quick at music and learning to play the lyre; he could also sing beautifully and was strong in the area of mathematics. At a young age he was often to be found out sketching plants and animals.

Verrocchio

When, in 1468, his paternal grandfather died the family moved to Florence. It was at this stage that his father decided the boy had unusual artistic talents and decided to send him to study with the most sought after Florentine master of the time. Andrea Verrocchio was a renown sculptor, painter and goldsmith, all areas Leonardo would study while apprenticed to him. Little remains of Verrocchio's painted works and not much is known of Leonardo's activities during this stage though his apprenticeship would have been the same as those available to all of Verrocchio's students. This involved grinding and mixing pigments, learning geomatry and the mixing of colours, preparing panels correctly so they could receive paintings, the actual act of painting itself and the working of clay and casting bronze.

In 1472, Leonardo was enrolled as a master in the Company of Painters; this indicates that his actual apprenticeship to Verrocchio had probably ended by this time, though he stayed at his master's workshop. Although he is best remembered for his paintings, very few artists painted as little and drew as much as Leonardo. While very limited numbers of paintings have survived their creator, Leonardo's drawings of people, places and things are very numerous with over 10,000 being found in various parts of the world. He always wrote extensive notes on his subject and these were obviously never thought of by him as being for publication as they were often written in codes and mirror writing.

Homosexuality

There are no records of Leonardo's activities between 1476-1478 and no documents to place him either in Florence or anywhere else. The best that is known is that an anonymous charge of homosexuality was made early in this period by a person who wrote a letter to the city governors. After some intervention by both the defendant's family and Verrocchio the charges were dismissed, but if true that may explain why he spent much of his life as a recluse. There is certainly no evidence that he ever showed any interest in women, except as mother figures. Many people have exhausted much time trying to prove or disprove the theory that Leonardo was a homosexual. According to Freud the following sentence, taken from one of Leonardo's notebooks, "indicates his frigidity".

"The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions."

In 1480 Leonardo became a member of the garden of San Marcos run under the patronage of Lorenzo the Magnificent. This was also the year that he was commissioned to paint the Adoration of the Magi for the church of San Donato Scopeto, just outside of Florence. But Leonardo was ready to move on; exactly why is unknown but it may have been due to his disappointment at not being one of the four masters chosen to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel.

Duke of Milan 40 1482 saw him writing to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza listing his capabilities as a designer of both civil and military machines. Italy was being afflicted by wars between the various city-states; this was followed by a French invasion. This was a time of rapid development of firearms and explosives and military engineers were important figures. Leonardo's had many ideas for fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy.

Leonardo's letter of introduction follows:

"Most illustrious Lord, having now sufficiently seen and considered the proofs of all those who count themselves masters and inventors of instruments of war, and finding that their invention and use of the said instruments does not differ in any respect from those in common practice, I am emboldened without prejudice to anyone else to put myself in communication with your Excellency, in order to acquaint you with my secrets, thereafter offering myself at your pleasure effectually to demonstrate at any convenient time all those matters which are in part briefly recorded below.

1. I have plans for bridges, very light and strong and suitable for carrying very easily, with which to pursue and at times defeat the enemy; and others solid and indestructible by fire or assault, easy and convenient to carry and place in position. And plans for burning and destroying those of the enemy.

2. When a place is besieged I know how to cut off water from the trenches, and how to construct an infinite number of bridges, battering rams, scaling ladders, and other instruments which have to do with the same enterprise.

3. Also if a place cannot be reduced by the method of bombardment, either through the height of its glacis or the strength of its position, I have plans for destroying every fortress or other stronghold unless it has been founded upon rock.

4. I also have plans for making cannon, very convenient and easy of transport, with which to hurl small stones in the manner almost of hail, causing great terror to the enemy from their smoke, and great loss and confusion.

5. And if it should happen that the engagement was at sea, I have plans for constructing many engines most suitable either for attack or defense, and ships which can resist the fire of all the heaviest cannon, and powder and smoke.

School of Athens (detail) by Raphael Vatican Church, Vatican City

41 6. Also I have ways of arriving at a certain fixed spot by caverns and secret winding passages, made without any noise even though it may be necessary to pass underneath trenches or a river.

7. Also I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the serried ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and there is no company of men at arms so great that they will break it. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition.

8. Also, if need shall arise, I can make cannon, mortars, and light ordnance, of very beautiful and useful shapes, quite different from those in common use.

9. Where it is not possible to employ cannon, I can supply catapaults, mangonels, trabocchi, and other engines of wonderful efficacy not in general use. In short, as the variety of circumstances shall necessitate, I can supply an infinite number of different engines of attack and defense.

10. In time of peace I believe I can give you as complete satisfaction as anyone else in architecture in the construction of buildings both public and private, and in conducting water from one place to another.

Also I can execute sculpture in marble, bronze, or clay, and also painting, in which my work will stand comparison with that of anyone else whoever he may be.

Moreover, I would like to undertake the work of the bronze horse, which shall endue with immortal glory and eternal honour the auspicious memory of the Prince your father and of the illustrious house of Sforza.

And if any of the aforesaid things should seem impossible or impractical to anyone, I offer myself as ready to make trial of them in your park or in whatever place shall please your Excellency, to whom I commend myself with all possible humility."

It is interesting that the mention of Leonardo's artistic talents is almost an afterthought and it is considered he thought his abilities as an engineer were far more important that his talent with a brush or sketchpad.

To this letter there was actually no reply as princes only ever answered messages from those who were princes themselves. Nevertheless, Leonardo was summoned to court one day where it is said he was the least nervous of the pair.

Michelangelo

In 1500, after many years serving in Milan, Leonardo returned to Florence. By this stage he was a celebrated genius in both painting and engineering. He was also known for a number of celebrated failures, including an overly ambitious design for a bronze equestrian statue. It was here that Leonardo met up with another great genius in the form of Michelangelo. He mocked Leonardo about the unfinished statue and Leonardo was deeply hurt. This would lead to a never ending rivalry between the two, although they had much in common.

In 1503, both were commissioned to produce major murals for the great council hall in the Palazzo Vecchio. Neither finished. Both would also help lead a revolution in anatomy. At that stage in history doctors still relied upon text books and tradition. Artists, as well as doctors, changed everything by beginning to dissect bodies and recording the results accurately. The work of artists and doctors during the Renaissance was often very similar.

Starting about this time, Leonardo developed his dreams of flying and over the next two years he filled a notebook with sketches and studies of bird flight. He also designed a parachute and a helicopter, amongst other flying machines.

Illness

42 Leonardo went to Rome in 1513 where he worked for Giuliano de' Medici and occupied rooms in the Belvedere Palace of the Vatican. The next two years involved much illness for the artist and he was often frustrated during this period. He experimented with flight a little by attempting to attach homemade wings to a lizard; other than this most of his time was spent working on geometric and optical puzzles or creating new types of art oils and varnishes. There is little evidence that Leonardo painted actively after he left Rome.

In 1516, the move was made to France where Leonardo was to work for Francois I. The King provided him with lodgings in a house called Cloux which still stands and has been carefully restored. Though still able to draw Leonardo was already a very sick man and his right hand was partially paralysed due to a stroke. Most of his time was spent organising his notebooks and the King did not require he carry out commissions, though Leonardo had to suffer frequent royal visits and produce plans for festivals and plays. The King would enter the manor house of Cloux via a stretch of tunnel connected to the castle at Amboise. One of the items Leonardo made for him during this period was a mechanical lion with a breast that opened to reveal lilies.

Death

Leonardo died quietly on the 2nd May, 1519 just a few weeks after his 67th birthday. He was buried in the Church of St Florentine, but his remains were scattered during the Wars of Religion. Three centuries later the French artist Jean Auguste Dominique painted a romantic deathbed picture showing the King of France leaning over the dying Leonardo and cradling him in his arms. In reality, the king was not present at the death, but was off celebrating the birth of his second son.

Others also displayed their admiration of Leonardo at various times during and after his life. Italian painter Raphael depicted Leonardo as the Greek philosopher Plato in his famed work School of Athens. This was somewhat ironic since Greek and Latin were two languages Leonardo never mastered, despite making many attempts. The painting shows Plato holding his Timaeus while beside him stands Aristotle with his Ethics

43 Chapter 11:

Topics in this section: Fibonacci Sequence – Leonardo Fibonacci

Fibonacci Sequence – Leonardo Fibonacci http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Fibonacci.html

Fibonacci was born in Italy but was educated in North Africa where his father, Guilielmo, held a diplomatic post. His father's job was to represent the merchants of the Republic of Pisa who were trading in Bugia, later called Bougie and now called Bejaia. Bejaia is a Mediterranean port in northeastern Algeria. The town lies at the mouth of the Wadi Soummam near Mount Gouraya and Cape Carbon. Fibonacci was taught mathematics in Bugia and travelled widely with his father, recognising and the enormous advantages of the mathematical systems used in the countries they visited. Fibonacci writes in his famous book Liber abaci (1202):-

When my father, who had been appointed by his country as public notary in the customs at Bugia acting for the Pisan merchants going there, was in charge, he summoned me to him while I was still a child, and having an eye to usefulness and future convenience, desired me to stay there and receive instruction in the school of accounting. There, when I had been introduced to the art of the Indians' nine symbols through remarkable teaching, knowledge of the art very soon pleased me above all else and I came to understand it, for whatever was studied by the art in Egypt, Syria, Greece, Sicily and Provence, in all its various forms.

Fibonacci ended his travels around the year 1200 and at that time he returned to Pisa. There he wrote a number of important texts which played an important role in reviving ancient mathematical skills and he made significant contributions of his own. Fibonacci lived in the days before printing, so his books were hand written and the only way to have a copy of one of his books was to have another hand-written copy made. Of his books we still have copies of Liber abaci (1202), Practica geometriae (1220), Flos (1225), and Liber quadratorum. Given that relatively few hand-made copies would ever have been produced, we are fortunate to have access to his writing in these works. However, we know that he wrote some other texts which, unfortunately, are lost. His book on commercial arithmetic Di minor guisa is lost as is his commentary on Book X of Euclid's Elements which contained a numerical treatment of irrational numbers which Euclid had approached from a geometric point of view.

One might have thought that at a time when Europe was little interested in scholarship, Fibonacci would have been largely ignored. This, however, is not so and widespread interest in his work undoubtedly contributed strongly to his importance. Fibonacci was a contemporary of Jordanus but he was a far more sophisticated mathematician and his achievements were clearly recognised, although it was the practical applications rather than the abstract theorems that made him famous to his 44 contemporaries.

The Holy Roman emperor was Frederick II. He had been crowned king of Germany in 1212 and then crowned Holy Roman emperor by the Pope in St Peter's Church in Rome in November 1220. Frederick II supported Pisa in its conflicts with Genoa at sea and with Lucca and Florence on land, and he spent the years up to 1227 consolidating his power in Italy. State control was introduced on trade and manufacture, and civil servants to oversee this monopoly were trained at the University of Naples which Frederick founded for this purpose in 1224.

Frederick became aware of Fibonacci's work through the scholars at his court who had corresponded with Fibonacci since his return to Pisa around 1200. These scholars included Michael Scotus who was the court astrologer, Theororus the court philosopher and Dominicus Hispanus who suggested to Frederick that he meet Fibonacci when Frederick's court met in Pisa around 1225.

Johannes of Palermo, another member of Frederick II's court, presented a number of problems as challenges to the great mathematician Fibonacci. Three of these problems were solved by Fibonacci and he gives solutions in Flos which he sent to Frederick II. We give some details of one of these problems below.

After 1228 there is only one known document which refers to Fibonacci. This is a decree made by the Republic of Pisa in 1240 in which a salary is awarded to:-

... the serious and learned Master Leonardo Bigollo ....

This salary was given to Fibonacci in recognition for the services that he had given to the city, advising on matters of accounting and teaching the citizens.

Liber abaci, published in 1202 after Fibonacci's return to Italy, was dedicated to Scotus. The book was based on the arithmetic and algebra that Fibonacci had accumulated during his travels. The book, which went on to be widely copied and imitated, introduced the Hindu-Arabic place-valued decimal system and the use of Arabic numerals into Europe. Indeed, although mainly a book about the use of Arab numerals, which became known as algorism, simultaneous linear equations are also studied in this work. Certainly many of the problems that Fibonacci considers in Liber abaci were similar to those appearing in Arab sources.

The second section of Liber abaci contains a large collection of problems aimed at merchants. They relate to the price of goods, how to calculate profit on transactions, how to convert between the various currencies in use in Mediterranean countries, and problems which had originated in China.

A problem in the third section of Liber abaci led to the introduction of the Fibonacci numbers and the Fibonacci sequence for which Fibonacci is best remembered today:-

A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a wall. How many pairs of rabbits can be produced from that pair in a year if it is supposed that every month each pair begets a new pair which from the second month on becomes productive?

The resulting sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, ... (Fibonacci omitted the first term in Liber abaci). This sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers, has proved extremely fruitful and appears in many different areas of mathematics and science. The Fibonacci Quarterly is a modern journal devoted to studying mathematics related to this sequence.

45 Chapter 20:

Topics in this section: Secret Societies and the Origins of Tarot Mathematics of the pentacle, divine proportion, phi and the Fibonacci sequence Fibonacci Numbers Book on Mathmatical puzzles and Phi: Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music The Golden section in architecture The Golden Section and Art Leonardo's Art Vitruvian Man Architect Marcus Vitruvius – De Architectura The Last Supper Kabbala The study of Anagrams

Secret Societies and the Origins of Tarot The following article is provided by Dr. Robert O'Neill and Tarot.com - the world's most popular authentic tarot site. www.tarot.com/about-tarot/library/boneill/secretsoc by Dr. Robert O'Neill

Many presentations of Tarot history recount the transmission of great secrets of the Universe through an unbroken succession of secret societies. These societies are credited with communicating the wisdom from ancient times through oral instructions and initiations. The purpose of the present essay is to critically examine this concept.

It is certainly true that occult societies developed esoteric aspects of the Tarot in the 18th and 19th century. These developers constructed the elaborate theories of transmission through secret societies to account for the ancient wisdom in the symbols (Webb 1974). Our specific focus will be on the possible role of secret societies in the design of the original 15th century cards.

The modern Tarotist may have experienced some of the negativity associated with secret societies in our culture. The negativity is usually dismissed as propaganda: repression by Science and the Church of a valid but competitive view of the world. But we should be aware that some of the resistence comes from a fear that secrecy implies a hidden agenda.

This fear is not without merit. The Bavarian Illuminati of the late 18th century started as a masonic society but developed a subversive political agenda (Wilgus 1978). We will see below that secret societies may hide criminal activity. Claims of direct access to ancient wisdom through the Great White Brotherhood may be associated with the development of a cult (Kueshana 1963).

As a result of this suspicion, authors have often adopted the occultist version of history and used the claims of unbroken secret societies as evidence of a hidden agenda. In one notable case, the author used occultist history to prove the persistence of the "Jewish Peril" in European history (Webster 1924). In another instance, the ancient and secret search for 'enlightenment' is taken as proof that occultists are servants of Lucifer, i.e., the Light Bearer (Monteith 2000). Thus, reconstruction of the actual history should not be seen as a reductionist attempt to destroy an innocent mythology. Increased information on the actual history is probably also the best defense against malicious distortion of the search for individual spirituality.

46 In this spirit we can proceed to examine the actual secret societies that existed in Europe during the period immediately preceeding the design of the Tarot. Rather than begin with the questionable histories constructed by the later occultists (Marras 1865), we will begin by examining the historical record.

Some of the secret societies of the Middle Ages indeed used the characteristic combination of passwords, initiation ceremonies, and oaths of secrecy. But for the French 'Chauffeurs' of the 14th century, the secrecy covered criminal activity (Axelrod 1997). The Sicilian 'Vendicatori' was founded in 1186 to administer a kind of street justice and avenge public wrongs. The 'Beati Paoli' of the 12th century were also a Sicilian criminal organization that may have had connections with the Cathari heretics (Axelrod 1997). So there is some justification for the suspicion that secrecy may be a cover for criminal activity rather than enlightenment.

One of the societies sometimes mentioned in occult history, the Vehmgericht, operated in 13th century Westphalia. They became an unofficial system of justice during a period of anarchy. They were a secret society but do not appear to have operated in secret and trials were conducted publicly. They do not appear to have made any claims of access to or transmittal of ancient wisdom (Axelrod 1997). In 1371 their right to administer justice was officially recognized by the Emperor. The claims that they were the keepers of ancient wisdom appears to be a fabrication of later occultists (Webb 1974). Even their private documents are concerned with legal matters, such as whether they had authority to try and execute heretics and those that practiced magic (Daraul 1987).

Another group of societies that were absorbed into the occultist history were the religious military orders. These religious orders, living a traditional and orthodox monastic life, had as an element of their religious rule the duty to take up the sword in defense of the Christian faith. There is nothing that directly ties any of these religious orders to the Tarot. However, they must be discussed because of later occultist legends that one of these religious orders, the Templars, were part of the direct lineage of secret societies that conveyed the suppressed wisdom of the ancients. We will deal with the Templars at greater length in a separate essay. For the moment, it will suffice to point out that the Templars were not the first of these military orders, nor were they the last. Many of these orders still exist today, primarily as honorary investitures by the Catholic Church.

The oldest of the military orders seems to be the Order of the Golden Spur, also known as the Order of the Golden Militia (Axelrod 1997). It was probably founded in the 4th century and followed the rule of St Basil which is the standard monastic rule in the Eastern Christian Church. This order still exists with membership bestowed as an honorary investiture by the Church.

The oldest of the western military orders associated with the Crusades is the Order of the Hospital of St John the Baptist in Jerusalem, better known as the Hospitallers. The order was founded in 1050 to operate a hospital for pilgrims. In 1118, they added a vow to fight the enemies of the faith. Contrary to the "Holy Blood" myth, the Hospitallers and not the Templars were the favorite of Godfrey de Bouillon who gave them his own manor house in Brabant as a gift. The order became fabulously wealthy as a result of donations. The order still exists as a small religious community in Rome (Axelrod 1997).

There are two other military orders that preceded the Templars. The Order of St. Lazarus was founded in Palestine in 1060 to assist pilgrim lepers. The order appears to have disappeared although several Popes attempted to fuse it with other orders to help it survive. The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem was founded by Godfrey de Bouillon in 1099. As with many of these orders, it was united with the Hospitallers after the crusades. However, it regained independence in 1496 and still exists as an honorary Catholic society (Axelrod 1997).

Following the Templars, several other military orders were formed. The Brothers of the Hospital of Holy Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem, the Teutonic Knights, were founded in 1190. They originally operated a hospital and later added a military vow. The order still exists as a religious order recognized by the Catholic Church. Another group, the Militia of Jesus Christ was founded in Portugal in 1318. Since this group was given the Templar property in that country, it is likely that they were composed largely of the Templars who were never persecuted in Portugal. Still another group, the Order of the Collar, later called the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, was founded in 1362 and was probably always an honorary society. The Noble Order of the Golden Fleece was founded in Bruges in 1430. It was originally a religious military order but eventually membership became simply an honorary award.

47 The Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, the Templars, were founded in 1119 and imitated the Hospitallers by incorporating military operations into their monastic rule. After the Holy Land was lost, their primary purpose was gone and the Pope sought to incorporate them into the Hospitallers, as was done with the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The Order, however, ran afoul of the French king, Philip IV, who owed them a great deal of money. The king signed a formal treaty of allegience with the Templars in 1303 (Annan 1967) and yet seized their property in France in 1307 and tortured a few confessions of heresy. The Pope, under French 'protection' in Avignon, instituted a formal Council to investigate the allegations of heresy and finally unilaterally disbanded the order before the Council could issue its declaration of innocence.

If the above version of Templar history does not sound familiar, it is because later occultists rewrote the history of the Order. The occultist version makes for a more interesting story of a secret society preserving esoteric secrets learned in the Middle East. The occultist version is full of internal inconsistencies and conflicts with the historical record and is rejected by modern historians. However, the details are so complex and the mythologies so elaborate that it will require a separate essay to deal with them.

It should suffice for the present at make a few points. There is no reason to associate the Templars with the bloodline of Jesus since there were two other military orders that had prior and closer associations with the French monarchy in Jerusalem. The Portugese branch of the Order continued to exist, in their original quarters, but nothing ever emerged to associated them with either heresy or special esoteric wisdom. The great majority of the Templars were faithful to their vow of obedience to the Pope and joined the Hospitallers without protest or incident when he issued his order to disband the Order. If the Church actually believed the allegations of heresy it is strange that they continued to approve of new military orders and to this day bestows membership in these orders as its highest honor.

One of the reasons that the occultists recast the Templars as heretics was that they were considered to be a critical link in the theory of uninterrupted transmission of ancient secrets from the Middle East. The contention is that the knights learned the secrets from a Moslem Shiite sect known as the Ismaeli, later known as the Hashishim. The existence of the sect was reported in Europe by Marco Polo (Annan 1967). The radical sect existed from 1090 until the 13th century and were named after the drug Hashish used in their initiations. Their influence derived from their fanatical obedience to leaders and the assassination of political opponents. The power of the sect was broken by Mongol invaders mid-13th century and they never had much influence after that time.

Occultist history suggests that the Templars were actually derived from the Hashishim. The two military groups had similar organizations, bore similar colors and had the same commitment to the defense of their faith. However, the Templars bore the same similarities to earlier militant monastic orders which were far more likely to be the progenitors.

It is certainly true that the Templars, like all of the other military orders, had contact with the Hashishim. In fact, the Templars and Hashishim formed a brief alliance during the 1129 attack on Damascus (Wilgus 1978). However, by 1152, the Hashishim were under the control of the Templars and paying a crushing tribute. So if the Templars learned great secrets from the assassins, they had a strange way to show their gratitude.

Some occultist writers suggest that the Templars were actually converted to Islam. That assertion is difficult to maintain in light of the many Moslems they killed in battle. Further, Saladin (~1187) vowed death to every Templar. In detailed accounts of Saladin's victories, captured Templars were offered mercy if they would accept Islam. All refused and were killed. If they were, in fact, already Moslems then such accounts make little sense.

One piece of circumstantial evidence is sometimes offered to support the contention that the Hashishim had an influence on the Tarot designs. Henry, count of Champagne, travelled through Ismaeli territory of the Middle East in 1194. He recounts being shown a very tall tower. At a signal from the leader, two white-clad guards hurdled themselves headlong to their deaths. However, in other essays, we will find more convincing sources for the Tower card in the 14th century illustrations of Dante and in illustrations of the destruction of the Tower of Babel in the Apocalyptic artistic tradition.

In summary, there doesn't seem to be much substance to the allegation that the Templars learned the great ancient secrets from the Hashishim. First and foremost, there isn't anything to indicate that the Hashishim knew anything worth communicating! A 48 drug-using cult that practiced assassination to achieve their political aims doesn't seem a likely candidate to transmit spiritual wisdom. Second, opportunity doesn't imply transmittal. Most readers have lived in the United States and therefore been in the right place at the right time to learn how to produce fissionable Plutonium. But have you in fact acquired that secret knowledge?

Along with the Templars, Freemasonry is often cited as a secret society that transmitted the ancient wisdom. Without doubt, Masons were active in developing the occult theories of Tarot from the 18th century onward (Decker et al. 1996, Decker and Dummett 2002). But they are unlikely contributors to the original 15th century symbols.

By the 14th century, there were guilds and journeyman of stone workers. These 'operational' masons developed passwords and secret handshakes so that qualified workers could be identified far from their home base. Documents, known as the Old Charges, date back to 1390 and 1425 (Jones 1967). But these were early labor unions and there were no hints of esotericism.

Esoteric doctrines began with 'speculative' Freemasonry in the 17th and 18th century, too late to have contributed to the design of the Tarot (Roberts 1972). By 1789, there were 600 lodges competing for a potential audience of 20 to 30,000 freemasons. Rivalry among competitive independent lodges in France led to the proliferation of fabricated histories designed to prove the ultimate authority of each new faction as it arose de novo.

Thus, the search for 14th/15th century secret societies produces no likely candidate that might have transmitted ancient wisdom to the Tarot designers. The few societies that existed at the right time, such as the Hommes de l'Intelligence (1398- 1410), were in the wrong place, Brussels. And their leader's propensity for running about the city naked makes it hard to take them seriously.

But if there were actually no secret societies, then why the persistent rumors? The simple truth seems to be that later occultists fabricated the legends to legitimize their own authority. Charismatic leaders, as part of their claim to authority, declared unique access to wisdom transmitted from antiquity through secret societies and oral transmission. We know, for example, that the leaders of the Golden Dawn forged a 'Cipher Document' and letters of authority from non-existent German predecessors. Similarly, the Priory of Zion, formed in 1959, forged documents to legitimize their claims to antiquity.

There are several questions that must be asked about the occultist account of secret societies. If these societies carefully guarded their secrets for thousands of years, then isn't it disrespectful to reveal them now? If the motivation is not self- aggrandizement, then why isn't the revelation made anonymously? Initiation into secret societies involves vows of secrecy and acceptance of dire penalties for violation. If the occultist historians actually had access to the great secrets, why were they never subjected to punishment? The reader is free to disagree, but it appear fairly patent to me that the occultists manipulated history to enhance their own status and that of their newly formed 'secret society'.

But if there was not a direct oral transmission of the ancient secrets through secret societies, then how did they come into our hands? The first part of the answer is straightforward: the secrets were written and preserved through relatively orthodox means. There are two scholarly studies of the history of esotericism and magic, one classic (Thorndike 1923) and one recent (Flint 1991). Neither author found any hints of transmission through secret societies, nor any need to hypothesize such. The orthodox Christian writers were well acquainted with the details of magic, often explaining it in some detail before condemning it! The justification for the detailed explanation being that future generations needed to be able to recognize the evil! But however strange the contradiction seems to us, it remains true that the founders of the Golden Dawn found most of their secret wisdom in the Library of the British Museum.

There is a second important reason why oral transmission and secret societies are not needed to convey the ancient wisdom. As Jung clearly saw (Jung 1953-1967), the fundamentals of this wisdom are archetypic. There were certainly initiatory cults and secret societies in the ancient world complete with secret passwords and rituals. But the same elements occurred in Polynesia, China, Australia, central Africa and Mexico. Apparently, the belief in magic and initiation is a spontaneous phenomenon and no direct transmission is required to explain its reappearance at many times in European history.

49 Thus, although secret societies played an important role in later developments, there doesn't appear to be much evidence that they were influential in the origins of the Tarot. The only real candidates may be the religious Confraternities which we will deal with in a separate essay. The secret societies named by the later occultists seem unlikely candidates and there is absolutely no colloborating evidence to support the contention.

Some writers are suspicious that secret societies were primarily about criminal activity or political conspiracy. For some of the societies existing at the time of the Tarot's origin, the evidence seems to confirm that suspicion.

References

Annan, D. 1967. The Assassins and the Knights Templar. Pp. 106-129 IN MacKenzie, N. (ed.) Secret Societies. Crescent Books, NY.

Axelrod, A. 1997. The international encyclopedia of secret societies and fraternal orders. Facts on File, NY.

Daraul, A. 1961. A history of secret societies. Citadel Press, NY.

Decker, R., T. Depaulis, M. Dummett. 1996. A wicked pack of cards. St. Martin's Press, NY.

Decker, R. and M. Dummett. 2002. A history of the occult tarot. Duckworth, London.

Flint, V. I. J. 1991. The rise of magic in early medieval Europe. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Howard, M. 1989. The Occult Conspiracy: Secret Societies - their influence and power in world history. Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont.

Jones, M. 1967. Freemasonry. Pp 152-177 In MacKenzie, N. (ed.) Secret Societies. Crescent Books, NY.

Jung, C. G. 1953 - 1967. The collected works of Jung, Volumes 7-13. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Kueshana, E. 1963. The Ultimate Frontier. Stelle Group, Quinlin, TX.

MacKenzie, N. (ed.) 1967. Secret Societies. Crescent Books, NY.

Marras, A. P. 1865. The Secret Fraternities of the Middle ages. Oxford University press, Oxford.

Monteith, S. 2000. Brotherhood of Darkness. Hearthstone Publ., Oklahoma City, OK.

Roberts, J. M. 1972. The mythology of the secret societies. Scribner, NY.

Roberts, M. M. and H. Ormsby-Lennon (eds.). 1995. Secret Texts: the literature of secret societies. AMS Press, NY.

Thorndike, L. 1923. A history of magic and experimental science. Macmillan, NY.

Webb, J. 1974. The occult underground. Open Court Publ., La Salle, IL

Webster, N. H. 1924. Secret Societies and Subversive Movements. Boswell Print, London. 50 Wilgus, N. 1978. The Illuminoids: secret societies and political paranoia. Sun Book, Albuquerque, NM.

Mathematics of the pentacle, divine proportion, phi and the Fibonacci sequence

Golden Mean The Golden Mean can be construed as the basis of philosophy and Sacred Geometry, one of the Transcendental Numbers, and is typically derived from Fibonacci Numbers.

According to Robert Lawlor [1], “Ancient geometry rests on no a priori axioms or assumptions. Unlike Euclidian and the more recent geometries, the starting point of ancient geometric thought is not a network of intellectual definitions or abstractions, but instead a meditation upon a metaphysical Unity, followed by an attempt to symbolize visually and to contemplate the pure, formal order which springs forth from this incomprehensible Oneness. It is the approach to the starting point of the geometric activity which radically separates what we may call the sacred from the mundane or secular geometries. Ancient geometry begins with One, while modern mathematics and geometry being with Zero.”

Other authors have noted that “Both the ancient Greeks and the ancient Egyptians used the Golden Mean when designing their buildings and monuments.” “Artists as diverse as Leonardo da Vinci and George Seurat used the ratio when constructing their paintings. These artists and architects discovered that by utilizing the ratio 1 : 1.618..., they could create a feeling of order in their works. Even today, artists are still using this proportion in their works, and scientists, like Roger Penrose are discovering new things about the Golden Mean and its place in science, mathematics, and nature.”

is an excellent website on the subject, and notes among many other things, the connection with classical music and the Golden Mean. In a 1996 article in the American Scientist, for example, Mike Kay reported that Mozart’s sonatas were divided into two parts exactly at the Golden Mean point in almost all cases. Inasmuch as Mozart’s sister had said that Amadeus was always playing with numbers and fascinated by mathematics, it appears that this was either a conscious choice or an intuitive one. Meanwhile, Derek Haylock noted that in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (possibly his most famous one), the famous opening “motto” appears in the first and last bars, but also at the Golden Mean point (0.618) of the way through the symphony, as well as 0.382 of the way (i.e., the Golden Mean squared). Again, was it by design or accident? Keep in mind that Bartók, Debussy, Schubert, Bach and Satie may have also deliberately used the Golden Mean in their music.

In a much more esoteric vein, Ronald Holt, Director, of the Flower of Life Research has included in , “To The Golden Spiral In All of Us” (dated April 21, 1999), in which he notes, “Sacred geometry is the study of geometric forms and their metaphorical relationships to human evolution as well as a study in fluid evolutionary transitions of mind, emotions, spirit, and consciousness reflected in the succeeding transition from one sacred geometric form (consciousness state) into another.”

Furthermore, “True sacred geometric forms never fixate or stagnate on one single form. Instead they are actually in constant fluid transcendence and change (evolve or devolve) from one geometric form to another at their own speed or frequency."

ΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦφΦ

51 The Golden Mean can be determined via geometry by taking a square with all sides equal to 1, drawing an arc with the center of radius at the midpoint of one side and through the corner of an opposite side, and extending the original side to where it intersects the arc.

The length of the extension will then exactly equal φ [and the base’s total length being Φ.] From this same geometry, we can calculate Φ by noting that the diagonal in the square from the midpoint of one side to an opposite corner is equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the opposite sides (i.e. 1 and 1/2) as per the Pythagorean Theorem. From this, we calculate the square root of 5/4 (1.11803398875...), and then add 1/2 the side, to obtain 1.61803398875...

The ancient Greeks, who were really into aesthetic geometric appeal, established as one of their primary axioms concerning proportion, to always use the golden mean in dividing a line, i.e. dividing it at a point, C, on the line AB:

A______C______B such that:

AB/AC = AC/BC = 1.6180339875...

For clarity, the Golden Mean can be assumed to be either one of two values, given by [2]:

Φ = 1.61803 39887 49894 84820 45868 34365 63811 77203 09180... or

φ = 0.61803 39887 49894 84820 45868 34365 63811 77203 09180...

The Golden Mean, the number, is the only number in which, among other things, satisfies the mathematical relationships:

Φ = 1/Φ + 1 ; φ = 1/φ - 1

For the esoteric crowd, f can also be represented by the very strange equation:

f = 1 + 1/{1 + 1/[1 + 1/(1 + 1/{1 + 1/[1 + 1/(1 + ...)]})]}

Another way to view the above equation is to think of it as representing rabbits attempting to draw their family tree in a furry, more prolific version of Roots. [This aside is reference to one original example of the usefulness of Fibonacci Numbers, which mathematically is the easiest manner to obtain the values of the Golden Mean (and to as many powers as one might like) by simply dividing one member of the Fibonacci Series with another.]

In fact, the Golden Mean Mathematics is a whirlwind of fascinating mathematical ideas and curiosities. Suffice it to say -- for the mathematically-less-inclined -- that the Golden Mean is: 1) intimately tied to the number 5 (and in particular to regular pentagons and five-pointed stars), 2) relates directly to the ideal human body (i.e. the Golden Mean raised to various powers are indicative of the body’s proportions), and 3) has been used extensively in ancient (and modern!) architecture -- among other things.

52 In the relationship between Φ, φ, and 5 (they even sound alike!), we take a 5-pointed star -- the points of which form an inscribed five-sized, regular pentagon. By an arbitrary choice of measurement units, the length of a line drawn from one point of the star to an opposite point, can be set equal to φ. This results in the line between two adjacent points (one side of the pentagon) automatically equaling φ2. The line from a point to the interior pentagon is then φ3, the side of the interior pentagon is φ4, and so forth, ad infinitum. Then by connecting these points in sequence, we suddenly discover we’ve been thrown a curve: a new geometrical delight known as The Golden Spiral.

We might also mention in passing that the connection of the Golden Mean to the five-pointed star may be why the sacred practice of Wicca seems so preoccupied with this universal symbol -- regardless of whether or not their practitioners fully understand the significance. (Or why flags of many nations, states, or corporations -- the latter such as Texaco and others -- all enthusiastically use the five pointed star! Not that these nations, states, etceteras, are practicing Wicca, but... Well... You understand!)

With respect to the body proportions, this point can be demonstrated by taking the measurements of the average of many people -- with women’s measurements (for some inexplicable reason) approaching the ideal more closely than men -- whereupon we find that the position of the navel (a human’s first channel of nourishment and life) divides the body’s height at precisely the Golden Mean. Furthermore, if the distance from the brow (top of the eye) to the nose is 1, then the distance from the brow to the crown is Φ. Going in the opposite direction, the distance from the nose to the base of the neck is Φ, the neck to the armpit is Φ2, the armpit to the navel is Φ3, the navel to the reach of the fingers is Φ4, and the distance from the fingertips to the soles is Φ5. On a smaller scale, in measuring the length of the bones in the human hand, we find measurements of 1, Φ, Φ2, and Φ3 (the last bone being within the palm of the hand).

Beginning to get a hand on this? Michael S. Schneider [3]: “The body’s structure is a mirror of our psyche, a denser expression of the energetic patterns of our soul. Body and soul somehow partake of the same design. But in what way can a mathematical ratio permeate our souls? Through beauty. A deep part of ourselves recognizes in flowers and dancers the beauty of the mathematical infinite and sees in it the endlessness of our own depths. Natural beauty resonates with the archetypal nature within us.”

On a decidedly more mundane application of such “natural beauty”, investors in the stock market have used the delights of the Golden Mean for the purpose of making money and, hopefully, large wheelbarrows of it! As it turns out, Φ and φ are important in the stock market, where the index averages (such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average) typically rise a certain number of points (say a hundred), and then fall back a number of points equal to 0.618 x 100, before again rising to new heights. The amount of the initial leg of this cycle is not always clear, but the retreat path is much more clearly defined.

Obviously, this cyclical nature also works in the opposite direction as well (a fact which novice investors might want to keep in mind). It must be noted that there are any number of variations in the amount of the market’s rise and fall, as well as variations in the time periods from minutes to decades. In effect, there are numerous cycles within cycles within cycles. Nevertheless, this predictive technique (known as Elliott Wave Theory) has been practiced successfully by numerous stock market analysts, who seem to have an unusually deep appreciation for Φ Lo Sophia and the money it can effortlessly make them.

53 There now seems to be a justifiable reason for our ancient ancestors having such a reverence toward the Golden Mean. Besides The Great Pyramids, their architecture showed it through such examples as the west facade of the Greek Parthenon, which perfectly fits within a golden rectangle (whose dimensions are 1 and Φ). The west facade of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is also loaded with Golden Mean ratios, and more recently, the United Nations Building in New York City is designed as three golden rectangles (equivalent to three Parthenons stacked upon one another). Perhaps we shouldn’t attribute all our knowledge of the Golden Mean to the ancients, as such examples of Sacred Geometry keep cropping up in more modern structures. At least those designed by more “enlightened” architects.

Why? Because even artists with absolutely no interest in math (or an aversion to the subject) will inevitably respond to the beauty in the architecture which arises from the mathematics! This is likely true of everything from “cubism” to Mozart. For it is the mathematical resonance within the sacred geometry symbolism which touches our soul.

The Golden Mean also touches such intriguing phenomena as The Fifth Element, the Harmony of the Spheres, Connective Physics, Philosophy and the Tree of Life.

______

References:

[1] Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry, Philosophy and Practice, Thames and Hudson, London, 1982.

[2] Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 56th Edition, CRC Press, 1975-1976.

[3] Schneider, Michael S., A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, Harper-Collins Publishers, 1994.

Fibonacci Numbers

We begin our whirlwind tour of Φ Lo Sophia and Sacred Geometry by first stopping in Pisa, Italy, where in the year 1202 A.D. (or as currently written, C.E. for “Current Era”), a mathematician and merchant, Leonardo da Pisa wrote a book, Liber Abaci (The Book of Computation). Born in 1179, Leo had traveled during the last years of the 12th century to Algiers with his father, who happened to be acting as consul for Pisan merchants. From the Arabs the young Leonardo Bigollo discovered the Hindu system of numerals from 1 to 9, and from the Egyptians an additive series of profound dimensions. Leo promptly shared his illumination with Europeans by writing his book and offering to the intelligentsia (the small minority who could read) an alternative to the reigning, clumsy system of Roman numerals and Greek letters.

Books on mathematics are not normally among the best sellers of any era. Leo’s book, nevertheless, had the effect of convincing Europe to convert its unromantic, Romanized numeral system to the one known today as the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. Leo also introduced to the Western World what has become known as the Fibonacci Series. The term derives from the fact that Leonardo’s father was nicknamed Bonaccio (“man of good cheer”), and thus Leonardo was known in Latin as the son of Bonaccio, or “filius Bonaccio”. This latter moniker has been contracted, for the benefit of non-Latin scholars, to “Fibonacci” (fib-oh-NAH-chee) -- and the name we will use hereafter.

Clearly our society owes a great debt of gratitude to Fibonacci -- as well as the Arab scholars who kept the knowledge alive, and the Egyptians for holding the mysteries intact. If you question this statement (as you should question all such statements), try multiplying XCIV by LXXXIII. Better yet, try your hand at long division using these same numbers (and in whichever ratio you prefer). Or take the historical route and try to imagine how European commerce, banking and measurement (science) managed to progress from the first to the twelfth century using Roman Numerals! Scary, isn’t it? There’s a reason for that period of time to which historians have referred to as the Dark Ages. Therefore, after these exercises, you might consider 54 offering a heartfelt word of thanks to the Hindu mathematicians and their intermediaries, the Arab scholars who preserved the knowledge, and our Italian friend, Fibonacci.

History has decreed our Italian hero’s most famous mathematical contribution to be the series of numbers named after him. The original series is constructed from the numbers, 0 and then 1, and then adding the last two numbers in the series to obtain the next number. For example, 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8... (and so forth). [The three dots at the end, “...”, denotes the fact the sequence continues ad infinitum, and is a mathematical shorthand for “and so forth”]. The resulting Fibonacci sequence becomes:

0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584 4181

6765 10,946 17,711 28,657 46,368 75,025 121,393 196,418 317,811...

For the mathematician, the Fibonacci numbers can be calculated from:

F(n) = (2/√5) {- [-2/(1-√5)]n / [1 - √5] + [-2/(1+√5)]n/ [1 + √5]} where the number 5 and √5 figure prominently -- as well as the Golden Mean, Φ.

These Fibonacci numbers might be merely an Italian mathematical curiosity except for the fact Mother Nature has an apparently decided fondness for this strange sequence of Hindu-Arabic numbers! The most notorious of the “natural” examples, and the one of which Fibonacci is credited in bringing from Egypt to Europe, is known as “The Rabbit Riddle”. This puzzlement makes the initial assumptions of a pair of newborn rabbits (one male and one female), who take precisely one month to mature, after which they immediately mate (typical!). The female then gestates for one month, gives birth to another pair like the first two, and mates every month thereafter. Every newborn pair repeats this pattern of monthly maturing, mating, gestating, and breeding other identical pairs, all of whom continue the family tradition and do likewise. Then, assuming that no pair dies or deviates from the pattern -- e.g., none come out of the closet and announce they’re gay -- how many pairs of rabbits will there be after any given number of months?

As it turns out, a count of the newborn, mature, and total rabbit pairs each month produces a pattern, which is nothing more than three versions of the Fibonacci Series (all the same numbers, but beginning on different months). Thus at the outset, the total number of rabbit pairs is 1, and each succeeding month there are: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21... and so forth. Isn’t it amazing what mathematics and/or rampant incest can accomplish!?

Curiously, this same pattern occurs in the case of spreading rumors in a crowd -- an apparently “natural” process, judging by its popularity. In this case, we assume each person passing on the rumor does so after a specified time of thinking about it (say half-a-minute), and then tells another person (who hasn’t already heard it) every half-minute thereafter. When everyone else gets into the same spirit of uncontrolled gossip, the numbers of knowers, tellers, and hearers, follow the same Fibonacci sequence of numbers.

In other areas of nature, Fibonacci-inspired, growth patterns arise in honeybees, the branches of the sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) plant (which has the appearance of a Jewish Minora run amuck), and any process which grows from within itself. The number of flower petals for different types of plants, for example -- such as those given in Table 1 (below) -- may be Fibonacci inspired:

Table 1

55 Number of Petals Flower(s)

2 Enchanter’s nightshade

3 Iris, Lilies, trillium

5 All edible fruits, some delphinium, larkspurs, buttercups,

columbines, milkwort

8 Other delphiniums, lesser celandine, some daisies,

field senecio

13 Globe flower, ragwort, “double” delphiniums,

mayweed, corn marigold, chamomile

21 Heleniums, asters, chicory, doronicum, some

hawkbits, many wildflowers

34 Common daisies, plantains, gaillardias, hawkbits,

pyrethrums, hawkweeds

55 Michaelmas daisies

89 Michaelmas daisies

Humans have caught on to this fad-setting trend by composing the musical scale, where 1 piano has 1 keyboard with black keys arranged in groups of 2 and 3, consisting of 5 black keys (sharps and flats) and 8 white keys (whole tones) for a 13 note chromatic musical octave. Musically, we have thus accounted for seven consecutive Fibonacci numbers. And from the viewpoint of Nature, this form of music becomes harmonious with our physical, emotional, mental, and undoubtedly spiritual bodies.

Why is Nature so intrigued by the Fibonacci series? Perhaps, because of the manner in which it originates, beginning with only two terms, zero and unity. These two numbers may be considered to be the Unknowable and the manifest Monad. Curiously, this quickly yields another Monad (representing the duality or male-female aspects of the creators or possibly the first holy offspring, as per a Vesica Pisces).

But the real intrigue begins with relating the Fibonacci Sequence to the Golden Mean and thereafter to Sacred Geometry. In order to initiate this relationship, we divide each of the numbers in the sequence by the previous number, to yield the series:

∞ (infinity), 1, 2, 1.5, 1.6667, 1.6000, 1.6250, 1.6154, 1.6190, 1.6176... 56 Slowly but surely, each subsequent quotient approaches, ever closer, the number: 1.61803398875... -- the mathematical ratio which has become known as the Golden Mean. For our purposes, we will distinguish between two forms:

Φ = 1.61803398875... and φ = 0.61803398875...

Both of these numbers are considered by different authors as the Golden Mean (although some select one, some the other). Fortunately, there is no real problem with this variation in opinion in that one can quickly discover that:

1 / Φ = 1 / 1.61803398875... = 0.61803398875... = φ

This relationship is accurate to however many decimal places one cares to carry it.

Thus, we can conclude: Life is good. Not to mention, something you can count on.

For the more technically inclined: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FibonacciNumber.html

Book on Mathmatical puzzles and Phi: Gardner, Martin. ``Phi: The Golden Ratio.''Ch. 8 in The Second Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions: A New Selection. New York: Simon and Schuster, pp. 89-103, 1961. 253 p. 2nd Scientific American collection. $14.95.

Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html

This section introduces you to some of the occurrences of the Fibonacci series and the Golden Ratio in architecture, art and music.

The Golden section in architecture

The Parthenon and Greek Architecture

Even from the time of the Greeks, a rectangle whose sides are in the golden proportion (1 : 1.618 which is the same as 0.618 : 1) has been known since it occurs naturally in some of the proportions of the Five Platonic Solids (as we have already seen) and a construction for the golden section point is found in Euclid's Elements in this connection. This rectangle is supposed to appear in many of the proportions of that famous ancient Greek temple, the Parthenon, in the Acropolis in Athens, Greece but there is no original documentary evidence that this was how the building was designed. (There is a replica of the original building (accurate to one-eighth of an inch!) at Nashville which calls itself "The Athens of South USA".) The Acropolis, in the centre of Athens, is an outcrop of rock that dominates the ancient city. Its most famous monument is the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess "Athena" built around 430 or 440 BC. It is largely ruined but is now undergoing restoration. Again there are no original plans of the Parthenon itself, but it appears to be built on a square-root-of-5 rectangle, that is, it is 5 times as long as it is wide. These are also the dimensions of the longest side view of the temple. Also, the front elevation is

57 built on a Golden Rectangle, that is, it is about Phi times as wide as it is tall. However, due to the top part being missing and the base being curved to counteract an optical illusion of level lines appearing bowed, this is only an approximate measure.

Links There is a wonderful collection of pictures of the Parthenon and the Acropolis at Indiana University's web site. Dr Ann M Nicgorski of the Department of Art and Art History at Williamette University in the USA has a large collection of links to Parthenon pictures with many details of the building. David Silverman's page on the Parthenon has lots of information. Look at the plan of the Parthenon. The dividing partition in the inner temple seems to be on the golden section both of the main temple and the inner temple. Apart from that, I cannot see any other clear golden sections - can you? Allan T Kohl's Art Images for College Teaching has a lot of images on ancient art and architecture.

58 Modern Architecture The United Nations Building in New York

The architect Le Corbusier deliberately incorporated some golden rectangles as the shapes of windows or other aspects of buildings he designed. One of these (not designed by Le Corbusier) is the United Nations building in New York which is L- shaped. Although you will read in some books that "the upright part of the L has sides in the golden ratio, and there are distinctive marks on this taller part which divide the height by the golden ratio", when I looked at photos of the building, I could not find these measurements. Can you?

• The United Nations Headquarters On-line Tour has an aerial view of the building (with thanks to Ralph Bechtolt for alerting me to this link). • The Secretariat building from the visitors entrance (photo by Lawrence A Martin) • An aerial view

[With thanks to Bjorn Smestad of Finnmark College, Norway for mentioning these links.] Turku Power Station, Finland Joerg Wiegels of Duesseldorf told me that he was astonished to see the Fibonacci numbers glowing brightly in the night sky on a visit to Turku in Finland. The chimney of the Turku power station has the Fibonacci numbers on it in 2 metre high neon lights! It was the first commission of the Turku City Environmental Art Project in 1994. The artist, Mario Merz (Italy) calls it Fibonacci Sequence 1-55 and says "it is a metaphor of the human quest for order and harmony among chaos."

The picture here was taken by Dr. Ching-Kuang Shene of Michigan Technological University and is reproduced here with his kind permission from his page of photos of his Finland trip.

More Architecture links

University of Wisconsin's Library of Art History images is an excellent source of architecture images and well worth checking out! It has many images of the Parthenon, pictures of its friezes and other details. Use their searcher selecting the Period Ancient Greece: Classical and the Site Athens. Note: the images cannot be copied or even made into links, only viewed on their page! June Komisar's page of architectural links from the University of Michigan. She points to the Great Building Collection which has some excellent photo images on their Parthenon page. Do check this out as they have a FREE 3D viewer to download and lots of buildings in 3D to view. You can take your own virtual walk through the Parthenon! The Kings Tomb in Egypt and the golden section.

59 The Golden Section and Art Luca Pacioli (1445-1517) in his Divina proportione (On Divine Proportion) wrote about the golden section also called the golden mean or the divine proportion: A M B | 1-x | x | The line AB is divided at point M so that the ratio of the two parts, the smaller to the larger (AM and MB), is the same as the ratio of the larger part (MB) to the whole AB. If AB is of length 1 unit, and we let MB have length x, then the definition (in bold) above becomes the ratio of 1-x to x is the same as the ratio of x to 1 or, in symbols: 1 - x = x which simplifies to 1-x = x2 x 1 This gives two values for x, (-1- 5)/2 and ( 5-1)/2. The first is negative, so does not apply here. The second is just phi (which has the same value as 1/Phi and as Phi-1). Pacioli's work influenced Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) and is seen in some of the work of Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and Mondrian, for instance.

Many books on oil painting and water colour in your local library will point out that it is better to position objects not in the centre of the picture but to one side or "about one-third" of the way across, and to use lines which divide the picture into thirds. This seems to make the picture design more pleasing to the eye and relies again on the idea of the golden section being "ideal".

Leonardo's Art The Uffizi Gallery's Web site in Florence, Italy, has a virtual room of some of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings. Here are two for you to analyse for yourself. [The pictures are links to the Uffizi Gallery site and the pictures are copyrighted by the Gallery.] ( image: The Annunciation) is a picture that looks like it is in a frame of 1:sqrt(5) shape (a root-5 rectangle). Print it and measure it - is it a root-5 rectangle? Divide it into a square on the left and another on the right. (If it is a root-5 rectangle, these lines mark out two golden-section rectangles as the parts remaining after a square has been removed). Also mark in the lines across the picture which are 0·618 of the way up and 0·618 of the way down it. Also mark in the vertical lines which are 0·618 of the way along from both ends. You will see that these lines mark out significant parts of the picture or go through important objects. You can then try marking lines that divide these parts into their golden sections too.

This image: Madonna with Child and Saints is in a square frame. Print it out and mark on it the golden section lines (0·618 of the way down and up the frame and 0·618 of the way across from the left and from the right) and see if these lines mark out significant parts of the picture. Do other sub- divisions look like further golden sections?

Links to Art sources

Links specifically related to the Fibonacci numbers or the golden section (Phi): A ray traced image based on Fibonacci spirals and rectangles the Web Museum pages on Durer, Famous Painting Virtual Exhibition. their long list of famous artists and their works. There is a very useful set of mathematical links to Art and Music web resources from Mathematics Archives that is worth looking at.

60 Links to major sources of Art on the Web:

Top9.com's List of the top art sources on the web is an excellent place for links to good art sources on the web. Highly recommended! The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York houses more than 2 million works of art. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco site has an Image base of 65,000 works of art. It includes art from Ancient to Modern, from paintings to ceramics and textiles, from all over the world as well as America. A Guide to Art Collections in the UK Michelangelo is famous for his paintings (such as the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel) and his sculptures (for instance David). This site has links to several sources and images of his works and some links to sites on the golden section. Using the picture of his David sculpture, measure it and see if he has used Phi - eg is the navel ("belly button") 0·618 of the David's height? Why not visit the Leonardo Museum in the town of Vinci (Italy) itself from which town Leonardo is named, of course. There are many sketches and paintings of Leonardo's at The WebMuseum, Paris too.

The work of modern artists using the Golden Section

Billie Ruth Sudduth is a North American artist specialising in basket work that is now internationally known. Her designs are based on the Fibonacci Numbers and the golden section - see her web page JABOBs (Just A Bunch Of Baskets). Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School has a good online introduction to her work (January 1999). Kees van Prooijen of California has used a similar series to the Fibonacci series - one made from adding the previous three terms, as a basis for his art. Ned May has generated some beautiful pictures based on Fibonacci Spirals using Visual Basic (an example is shown here on the right).

Fibonacci in Films

The Russian Sergie Eisenstein directed the classic silent film of 1925 The Battleship Potemkin (a DVD or video version of this 75 minute film is now available, both in PAL format). He divided the film up using golden section points to start important scenes in the film, measuring these by length on the celluloid film. Jonathan Berger of Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics used this as an illustration of Fibonacci numbers in a lecture course. Dénes Nagy, in a fascinating article entitled Golden Section(ism): From mathematics to the theory of art and musicology, Part 1 in Symmetry, Culture and Science, volume 7, number 4, 1996, pages 337-448 talks about whether we can percieve a golden section point in time without being initially aware of the whole time interval. He gives a reference to his own work on golden section perception in video art too (page 418 of the above article).

Fibonacci and Poetry

Martin Gardner, in the chapter "Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers" in "Mathematical Circus" (Penguin books, 1979) mentions Prof George Eckel Duckworth's book Structural patterns and proportions in Virgil's Aeneid : a study in mathematical composition (University of Michigan Press, 1962). Duckworth argues that Virgil consciously used Fibonacci numbers to structure his poetry and so did other Roman poets of the time.

Fibonacci and Music 61 Trudi H Garland's [see below] points out that on the 5-tone scale (the black notes on the piano), the 8-tone scale (the white notes on the piano) and the 13-notes scale (a complete octave in semitones, with the two notes an octave apart included). However, this is bending the truth a little, since to get both 8 and 13, we have to count the same note twice (C...C in both cases). Yes, it is called an octave, because we usually sing or play the 8th note which completes the cycle by repeating the starting note "an octave higher" and perhaps sounds more pleasing to the ear. But there are really only 12 different notes in our octave, not 13!

Various composers have used the Fibonacci numbers when composing music - more details in Garland's book.

Golden sections in Violin construction The section on "The Violin" in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 2, shows how Stradivari was aware of the golden section and used it to place the f-holes in his famous violins.

Baginsky's method of constructing violins is also based on golden sections.

Did Mozart use the Golden mean? This is the title of an article in the American Scientist of March/April 1996 by Mike Kay. He reports on the analysis of many of Mozart's sonatas and finds they divide into two parts exactly at the golden section point in almost all cases. Was this a conscious choice (his sister said he was always playing with numbers and was fascinated by mathematics) or did he do this intuitively?

The Mathematics Magazine Vol 68 No. 4, pages 275-282, October 1995 has an article by Putz on Mozart and the Golden section in his music.

Beethoven's Fifth In an interesting little article in Mathematics Teaching volume 84 in 1978, Derek Haylock writes about The Golden Section in Beethoven's Fifth on pages 56-57. He finds that the famous opening "motto" appears not only in the first and last bars (bar 601 before the Coda) but also exactly at the golden mean point 0·618 of the way through the symphony (bar 372) and also at the start of the recapitulation which is phi or 0·382 of the way through the piece! He poses the question: Was this by design or accident?

Bartók, Debussy, Schubert, Bach and Satie There are some fascinating articles and books which explain how these composers may have deliberately used the golden section in their music: Duality and Synthesis in the Music of Bela Bartók by E Lendvai on pages 174-193 of Module, Proportion, Symmetry, Rhythm G Kepes (editor), George Brazille, 1966; Some striking Proportions in the Music of Bela Bartók in Fibonacci Quarterly Vol 9, part 5, 1971, pages 527-528 and 536-537. Bela Bartók: an analysis of his music by Erno Lendvai, published by Kahn & Averill, 1971; has a more detailed look at Bartók's use of the golden mean. Debussy in Proportion - a musical analysis by Roy Howat, Cambridge Univ. Press,1983, ISBN = 0 521 23282 1. Concert pianist Roy Howat's Web site has more information on his Debussy in Proportion book and others works and links. Adams, Coutney S. Erik Satie and Golden Section Analysis. in Music and Letters, Oxford University Press,ISSN 0227-4224, Volume 77, Number 2 (May 1996), pages 242-252 Schubert Studies, (editor Brian Newbould) London: Ashgate Press, 1998 has a chapter Architecture as drama in late Schubert by Roy Howat, pages 168 - 192, about Schubert's golden 62 sections in his late A major sonata (D.959). The Proportional Design of J.S. Bach's Two Italian Cantatas, Tushaar Power, Musical Praxis, Vol.1, No.2. Autumn 1994, pp.35-46. This is part of the author's Ph D Thesis J.S. Bach and the Divine Proportion presented at Duke University's Music Department in March 2000. Proportions in Music by Hugo Norden in Fibonacci Quarterly vol 2 (1964) pages 219-222 talks about the first fugue in J S Bach's The Art of Fugue and shows how both the Fibonacci and Lucas numbers appear in its organization. Per Nørgård's 'Canon' by Hugo Norden in Fibonacci Quarterly vol 14 (1976), pages 126-128 says the title piece is an "example of music based entirely and to the minutest detail on the Fibonacci Numbers".

There is a very useful set of mathematical links to Art and Music web resources from Mathematics Archives that is worth looking at.

The Golden String as Music The Golden String is a fractal string of 0s and 1s that grows in a Fibonacci-like way as follows: 1 10 101 10110 10110101 1011010110110 101101011011010110101 ... After the first two lines, all the others are made from the two latest lines in a similar way to each Fibonacci numbers being a sum of the two before it. Each string (list of 0s and 1s) here is a copy of the one above it followed by the one above that. The resulting infintely long string is the Golden String or Fibonacci Word or Rabbit Sequence. It is interesting to hear it in musical form and I give one way in the section Hear the Golden sequence section on that page. In that same section I mention the London based group Perfect Fifth who have used it in a piece called Fibonacci that you can hear online too .

Other Fibonacci related music John Biles, a computer scientist at Rochester university in New York State used the series which is the number of sets of Fibonacci numbers whose sum is n to make a piece of music. He wrote about it and has a link to hear the piece online. The series looks like this:

It has some fractal properties in that the graph can be seen in sections, each beginning and ending when the graph dips down to lowest points on the y=1 line. Each section begins and ends with a copy of the section two before it (and moved up a bit), and in between them is a copy of the previous section again moved up. I've written more about this series in a section called Sumthing about Fibonacci Numbers on the Fibonacci Bases and other ways of representing integers.

63 TV Station in Halifax Incidentally, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, there are 4 non-cable TV channels and they are numbered 3, 5, 8 and 13! Prof. Karl Dilcher reported this coincidence at the Eighth International Conference on Fibonacci Numbers and their Applications in summer 1998.

A Controversial Issue

There are many books and articles that say that the golden rectangle is the most pleasing shape and point out how it was used in the shapes of famous buildings, in the structure of some music and in the design of some famous works of art. Indeed, people such as Corbusier and Bartók have deliberately and consciously used the golden section in their designs. However, the "most pleasing shape" idea is open to criticism. The golden section as a concept was studied by the Greek geometers several hundred years before Christ, as mentioned on earlier pages at this site, But the concept of it as a pleasing or beautiful shape only originated in the late 1800's and does not seem to have any written texts (ancient Greek, Egyptian or Babylonian) as supporting hard evidence. At best, the golden section used in design is just one of several possible "theory of design" methods which help people structure what they are creating. At worst, some people have tried to elevate the golden section beyond what we can verify scientifically. Did the ancient Egyptians really use it as the main "number" for the shapes of the Pyramids? We do not know. Usually the shapes of such buildings are not truly square and perhaps, as with the pyramids and the Parthenon, parts of the buildings have been eroded or fallen into ruin and so we do not know what the original lengths were. Indeed, if you look at where I have drawn the lines on the Parthenon picture above, you can see that they can hardly be called precise so any measurements quoted by authors are fairly rough!

So this page has lots of speculative material on it and would make a good Project for a Science Fair perhaps, investigating if the golden section does account for some major design features in important works of art, whether architecture, paintings, sculpture, music or poetry. It's over to you on this one!

George Markowsky's Misconceptions about the Golden ratio in The College Mathematics Journal Vol 23, January 1992, pages 2-19 is an important article that points out the weaknesses in parts of "the golden-section is the most pleasing shape" theory. This is readable and well presented. Perhaps too many people just take the (unsupportable?) remarks of others and incorporate them in their works? You may or may not agree with all that Markowsky says, but this is a good article which tries to debunk a simplistic and unscientific "cult" status being attached to Phi, seeing it where it really is not! This is not to deny that Phi certainly is genuinely present in much of botany and the mathematical reasons for this are explained on earlier pages at this site. How to Find the "Golden Number" without really trying Roger Fischler, Fibonacci Quarterly, 1981, Vol 19, pp 406 - 410 Another important paper that points out how taking measurements and averaging them will almost always produce an average near Phi. Case studies are data about the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the various theories propounded to explain its dimensions, the golden section in architecture, its use by Le Corbusier and Seurat and in the visual arts. He concludes that several of the works that purport to show Phi was used are, in fact, fallacious and "without any foundation whatever". The Fibonacci Drawing Board Design of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh Col. R S Beard in Fibonacci Quarterly vol 6, 1968, pages 85 - 87; has three separate theories (only one of which involves the golden section) which agree quite well with the dimensions as measured in 1880. Golden Section(ism): From mathematics to the theory of art and musicology, Part 1, Dénes Nagy in Symmetry, Culture and Science, volume 7, number 4, 1996, pages 337-448 Section 2.1 says there are at least nine different theories about the shape of the Great Pyramid of Pharoah Khufu (the Great Pyramid of Cheops), two of which refer to the golden section: The angle of the slope of the faces is

64 the angle whose cosine is 0·618... which is about 51·82° the angle whose tangent is twice 0·618... which is about 51·027°

although a better fit is provided by a mathematical problem in the Rhind Papyrus which, in our notation is

the angle whose tangent is 28/22 which is about 51·84°

Since almost all of the material at this site is about Mathematics, then this page is definitely the odd one out! All the other material is scientifically (mathematically) verifiable and this page (and the final part of the Links page) is the only speculative material on these Fibonacci and Phi pages.

References and Links on the golden section in Music and Art

Key: a book an article in a magazine or a paper in an academic journal a website

Music Fascinating Fibonaccis by Trudi Hammel Garland, Dale Seymours publications, 1987 is an excellent introduction to the Fibonacci series with lots of useful ideas for the classroom. Includes a section on Music. An example of Fibonacci Numbers used to Generate Rhythmic Values in Modern Music in Fibonacci Quarterly Vol 9, part 4, 1971, pages 423-426; Links to other Music Web sites Gamelan music Gamelan is the percussion oriented music of Indonesia. The Gongcast recorded online music so you can hear Gamelan music for yourself. New music from David Canright of the Maths Dept at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, USA; combining the Fibonacci series with Indonesian Gamelan musical forms. Some CDs on Gamelan music of Central Java (the country not the software!). Other music Martin Morgenstern has a large list of References (books) on the golden section and music with abstracts (some of which is in German). The Fibonacci Sequence is the name of a classical music ensemble of internationally famous soloists, who are the musicians in residence at Kingston University (Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, UK). Based in the London (UK) area, their current programme of events is on the Web site link above. Casey Mongoven is a composer who has used Fibonacci numbers and golden sections in his own classical music. You can

65 hear it and read more on his web site. Art A Mathematical History of the Golden Number by Roger Herz-Fischler, Dover 1998, ISBN 0486400077. A scholarly study of all major references in an attempt to trace the earliest references to the "golden section", its names, etc. Education through Art (3rd edition) H Read, Pantheon books,1956, pages 14-22; The New Landscape in Art and Science G Kepes P Theobald and Co, 1956, pages 329 and 294; H E Huntley's, The Divine Proportion: A study in mathematical beauty, ISBN 0-486-22254-3 is a 1970 Dover reprint of an old classic. C. F. Linn, The Golden Mean: Mathematics and the Fine Arts, Doubleday 1974. Gyorgy Doczi, The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art, and Architecture Shambala Press, (new edition 1994). M. Boles, The Golden Relationship: Art, Math, Nature, 2nd ed., Pythagorean Press 1987.

Vitruvian Man

66 Architect Marcus Vitruvius – De Architectura http://www.architecture.com/go/Architecture/Reference/Links_1401.html Marcus Vitruvius (c. 70-25 BC). Author of the treatise 'De architectura'. The work is divided into 10 books dealing with city planning and architecture in general; building materials; temple construction; public buildings; and private buildings; clocks, hydraulics; and civil and military engines. Used as a classic text book from ancient Roman times to the Renaissance.

If you can read in Latin, here is the whole book by Vitruvius: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/vitruvius.html here it is in English: http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html

The Last Supper

Kabbala http://www.occultopedia.com/k/kabbalah.htm

Also spelled Kabbala, Kabalah, Kabala, Cabala, Cabbala, Cabalah, Cabbalah, Qabala, Qabbala, Qabalah and Qabbalah.

Generically, Jewish mysticism in all its forms; a mystical Hebrew study of methods for controlling spirits and demons; Jewish mystical tradition.

Specifically, the Jewish esoteric theosophy; the system of esoteric mystical speculation and practice that developed during the 12th-century and crystallized in 13th-century Spain and Provence, France, around Sefer ha-zohar (The Book of Splendor), referred to as the Zohar, and generated all later mystical movements in Judaism. It is largely mathematical in nature, concentrating on the configurations of certain magical words, anagrams, names of angels, etc.

The word 'Kabbalah' is derived from the root 'to receive, to accept', and in many cases is used synonymously with 'tradition'. Kabbalistic interest, at first confined to a select few, became the preoccupation of large numbers of Jews following their expulsion from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1495).

67 Like every other Jewish religious expression, Kabbalah was based on the Old Testament revelation. The revealed text was interpreted with the aid of various hermeneutic techniques. Of the many methods available, the Kabbalists most frequently used three forms of letter and number symbolism: gematria, notarikon, and temurah.

The study of Anagrams http://www.anagrammy.com/anagrams/faq5.html (Adapted from The Anagram Dictionary by Michael Curl, Words at Play by O.V. Michaelsen and The Oxford Guide to Word Games by Tony Augarde. Additional information about Lycophron from Zoran Radisavlevic)

Anagrams were often believed to have mystical or prophetic meaning in Roman and early Christian times. History then mentions little of anagrams until the 13th century A.D., when the Jewish Cabalists again found mystical significance in them.

According to some historians, anagrams originated in the 3rd century B.C. with the Greek poet Lycophron who lived in Alexandria at the palace of King Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.). In a poem on the siege of Troy entitled Cassandra, Lycophron included anagrams on the names of Ptolemy and his queen, Arsinoë:

• PTOLEMAIOS = APO MELITOS (made of honey - an allusion to the king's goodness) • ARSINOH = ION HRAS (Hera's violet)

Other sources suggest that Pythagoras, in the 6th century B.C., used anagrams to discover philosophical meanings. Plato and his followers believed that anagrams revealed divinity and destiny. Alexander the Great dreamed that he had caught a satyr the night before the siege of Tyre. His advisor Aristander told him it was a good omen, because the Greek word for satyr (SaturoV) anagrammed to "Tyre is yours" (Sa TuroV). The city fell the next day.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, anagrams became popular. However, the principal activity of anagrammatists in the Middle Ages was in forming anagrams on religious texts. For example:

• Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum [Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee] = Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata [Virgin serene, holy, pure and immaculate] • Quid est veritas? [Pilate's words to Jesus, "What is truth?"] = Est qui vir adest! [Jesus' possible reply, "It is the man before you!"]

Many authors anagrammed their names to make pseudonyms. François Rabelais became Alcofribas Nasier, Calvinus became Alcuinus (v and u being interchangeable in Latin), and each wrote abusive anagrams of the other's names.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, scientists such as Galileo, Huygens and Robert Hooke often recorded their results in anagram form to stake their claim on a discovery and prevent anyone stealing the credit.

68 In the days of French Royalty, Louis XIII appointed a Royal Anagrammatist, Thomas Billon, to entertain the Court with amusing anagrams of people's names.

The 19th century bought about the vogue of anagramming the names of famous people. Lewis Carroll gave us:

• Florence Nightingale = Flit on, cheering angel. • Disraeli = I lead, sir. • William Ewart Gladstone = Wild agitator means well!

This era also gave us the cognate anagram, where the anagram has some relevance to the original, e.g.

• Astronomer = Moon starer.

The British naturalist, Sir Peter Scott, believed in the existence of the Loch Ness Monster so strongly that in 1978 he gave it a scientific name. Scottish MP Nicholas Fairbairn later anagrammed it:

• Nessiteras rhombopteryx = Monster Hoax by Sir Peter S.

Apart from their frequent appearances in cryptic crosswords, anagrams seem to have gone out of favour in recent decades. However, with the advent of the Internet and the creation of sophisticated anagram-generating software, this trend has been reversed and the art of anagramming is once again thriving.

69 Chapter 21:

Topics in this section: 62 english words from “planets” Vile Meaningless Doodles Anagram Make an anagram Make a cryptogram Sfumato style of painting of Da Vinci Mona Lisa

62 english words from “planets” http://www.wordles.com/getwordsinwords.asp Here are all the words in planets:

A AE ALE ALES ALP ALPS AN ANE ANES ANT ANTE ANTS APE APES APSE APT AS ASP ASPEN AT ATE ATES EAST EAT EATS EL ELAN EN ETA ETAS LA LANE LANES LAP LAPS LAPSE LASE LAST LAT LATE LATEN LATS LEA LEAN LEANS LEANT LEAP LEAPS LEAPT LEAS LEAST LENS LENT LEPTA LEST LET LETS NAP NAPE NAPES NAPS NATES NEAP NEAT NEATS NEST NET NETS PA PAL PALE PALES PALEST PALET PALS PAN PANE PANEL PANELS PANES PANS PANT PANTS PAS PASE PAST PASTE PASTEL PAT PATE PATEN PATES PATS PE PEA PEAL PEALS PEAS PEAT PELT PELTS PEN PENAL PENS PENT PES PEST PET PETAL PETALS PETS PLAN 70 PLANE PLANES PLANET PLANETS PLANS PLANT PLANTS PLAT PLATE PLATEN PLATENS PLATES PLATS PLEA PLEAS PLEAT PLENA SAL SALE SALEP SALP SALT SANE SAP SAT SATE SEA SEAL SEAT SEL SEN SENT SEPAL SEPT SEPTA SEPTAL SET SETA SETAL SLANT SLAP SLAT SLATE SLEPT SNAP SNEAP SPA SPAE SPAN SPAT SPATE SPEAN SPELT SPENT SPLAT SPLENT STALE STANE STAPLE STEAL STELA STEP TA TAEL TALE TALES TAN TANS TAP TAPE TAPES TAPS TEA TEAL TEALS TEAS TEN TENS

Vile Meaningless Doodles: Les Demoisselles d’Avignon – Picasso

anagram (an-a-gram) A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase. For example, Elvis to Lives. verb tr., intr. To rearrange letters in such a way. To anagrammatize.

71 Make an anagram: http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/advanced.html

Make a cryptogram: http://www.wordles.com/getmycrypto.asp

Sfumato style of painting of Da Vinci http://130.238.50.3/ilmh/Ren/flor-leonardo-monalisa.htm

Sfumato [It.- "smoke"] - Technique characterized by indistinct contours that lends a hazy or smoky appearance to the image. Sfumato is often used to create an illusion of distance similar to atmospheric perspective.

Mona Lisa

73 Chapter 22:

Topics in this section: Compass Rose Wind Rose

Compass Rose

Wind Rose n. A meteorological diagram depicting the distribution of wind direction and speed at a location over a period of time.

74 Chapter 23:

Topics in this section: Leaders of the Priory

Leaders of the Priory http://www.pharo.com/secret_societies/priory_of_sion/articles/sops_08a_at_the_helm.asp The Priory of Sion claims that it was founded in 1090 (or 1099) by Godfroi de Bouillon. However, the Priory sources do not name the head of the Order from its foundation until the establishing of the Knights Templar in 1118. From 1118 until 1188 the Templars and the Priory of Sion shared the same Grand Masters, namely:

1118-1131 Hugues de Payens 1131-1150 Robert de Bourgogne 1150-1153 Bernard de Tremblay 1153-1170 Bertrand de Blancafort 1170-1171 Janfeders Fulcherine 1171-1179 François Othon de SaintAmand 1179-1184 Théodore de Glaise 1184-1188 Gérard de Ridefort

After the separation of the two Orders, the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion were as follows (relationships and connections between successive Grand Masters are noted where known):

1188-1220 Jean de Gisors Norman nobleman, lord of Gisors with estates in England.

1220-1266 Marie de Saint-Clair Norman noblewoman, possibly Jean de Gisors’s second wife.

1266-1307 Guillaume de Gisors Norman knight, grandson of Jean de Gisors.

1307-1336 Edouard, Comte de Bar Anglo-French nobleman, grandson of Edward I of England. Relationship to Guillaume de Gisors unknown.

1336-1351 Jeanne de Bar Anglo-French noblewoman, elder sister of Edouard de Bar.

1351-1366 Jean de Saint-Clair Minor French nobleman. Relationship to Jeanne de Bar unknown.

1366-1398 Blanche d’Evreux Better known as Blanche de Navarre, daughter of the King of Navarre and wife of Philippe VI of France. Comtesse of Gisors. Relationship to Jean de Saint-Clair unknown.

1398-1418 Nicolas Flamel French scholar and alchemist. Blanche de Navarre is said to have been his patron, but this has not been confirmed by historical sources. 75 1418-1480 René d’Anjou King of Naples and Sicily, and (among many other titles) Duc d’Anjou, Comte de Provence, Comte de Bar, Comte de Guise and King of Jerusalem. Renaissance patron. Connection to Flamel unknown.

Until 1428, when René reached the age of 20, the Priory of Sion is said to have been under the control of a ‘regent’, René’s uncle Louis, Cardinal de Bar.

1480-1493 Iolande de Bar René d’Anjou’s daughter.

1483-1510 Sandro Filipepi (Botticelli) Italian artist. Botticell’s patron, Georges Antoine Vespucci, was tutor to Iolande de Bar’s son René, Duc de Lorraine.

1510-1519 Leonardo da Vinci Italian artist and polymath. Friend and colleague of Botticelli’s, with whom he shared several patrons.

1519-1527 Charles de Montpensier and de Bourbon Powerful French lord who held the important position of Constable of France. Related by marriage to the d’Anjous and employed Leonardo as military engineer.

1527-1556 Ferrante (Ferdinand) de Gonzaga, Count of Guastalla Spanish-French nobleman, cousin of Charles de Montpensier.

Ferrante was deposed from the Grand Mastership in 1556, leading to a period of schism in the Priory of Sion during which leadership was exercised by ‘regents’ who did not officially hold the title of Grand Master.

1556-1566 Nostradamus (Michel de Notre-Dame) (regency) Physician and seer, famous for his prophecies of the future.

1566-1575 Triumvirate (regency) Triumvirate consisting of the Duc de Longueville, Nicolas Froumenteau and a third anonymous member.

1575-1595 Louis, Duc de Nevers French noble, Ferrante de Gonzaga’s nephew. Close supporter and ally of the House of Guise, claimants to the French throne.

76 Chapter 26:

Topics in this section: Mona Lisa The Egyptian God Amon – god of fertility Female goddess – Isis

Mona Lisa

Unarguably the most famous painting in history, it is also the only portrait by Leonardo whose authorship remains unquestioned. Though neither signed nor dated it is universally accepted to be by Leonardo. But who was the subject, when was it painted and what is the story behind the mystical smile?

Historians agree that Leonardo commenced the painting of Mona Lisa in 1503, working on it for approximately four years and keeping it himself for some years after. Supposedly this was because Mona Lisa was Leonardo's favourite painting and he was loathe to part with it, however it may also have been because the painting was unfinished. Whatever the reason, much later it was sold to the King of France for four thousand gold crowns. The world has talked about it ever since. After the revolution in France the painting was transferred to the Louvre. Napoleon took possession of it using the panel to decorate his bedroom. Upon his banishment from France Mona Lisa once more returned to the care of the Louvre. What is certain is that the painting was never passed onto the rightful owner, that being the man who originally commissioned and presumably paid for it. .

The first written reference to the painting appears in the diary of Antonio de' Beatis who visited Leonardo on the 10th October 1517. He was shown three paintings by the master, who was aged sixty-five at the time. These three consisted of one of the Madonna and Child in the lap of St. Anne, one of a young St. John the Baptist and a third of a Florentine lady.

Who was the lady in question? At this time researchers remain uncertain of the sitter's identity with some claiming she was Isabella of Aragon -- the widowed Duchess of Milan; they point out the 'widows veil' on her head as supporting evidence. Others conclude she was the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, but the veil on her head may well be a symbol of chastity, commonly shown at the time in portraits of married women. The path shown may also be the 'path of virtue', a reference to the story 'Hercules choice'; this was frequently referred to in Renaissance art and would be unlikely to appear in a painting of a mistress. It is probable that she was Mona Lisa Gherardini, the third wife of wealthy silk merchant Francesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Giocondo. At this stage Lisa would have been over twenty-four years of age, by the standards of the time she was not in any way considered particularly beautiful, though Leonardo saw certain qualities which have now made her the most heavily insured woman in history.

The smile has become a hallmark of Leonardo's style. It is most obvious in the painting of the Mona Lisa, but also to be seen in most of his other works. There is no mistaking the same smile -- and upturn of the left side of the mouth -- on the face of St. Anne in the Burlington House Cartoon. That drawing dates from a bit earlier than the Mona Lisa, somewhere around 1498. Speculation exists that the smile originated from his mother, Caterina. A less romantic suggestion is that the painter merely "concerned himself with certain arrangements of lines and volumes, with new and curious schemes of blues and greens."

Various other suggestions have also been made as to the reason behind the smile including the simple idea that during this period in history women were instructed to smile only with one side of their mouths so as to add an air of mystery and elegance. An Italian doctor's answer was that the woman suffered from bruxism; this is an unconscious habit of grinding the teeth during sleep or times of great stress. The long months of sitting for the portrait could well have triggered an attack of teeth grinding. Leonardo did attempt to keep his subject relaxed and entertained with the use of music; he had six musicians to play for her plus and installed a musical fountain invented by himself. Different, beautiful works were read out loud and a white Persian cat and a greyhound bitch were there for playing with.

77 The most unusual suggestion is that Mona Lisa was really a man in disguise, perhaps being a form of self-portrait and the face of Leonardo himself. Computer tests show some of the facial features match well that of another(?)self-portrait of Leonardo. Some copies of the Mona Lisa also show the sitter as a male.

The truth is that this style of smile was not invented by Leonardo da Vinci. It can be found in a number of sculptures from the fifteenth century, one of these being Antonio Rossellino's Virgin; it is somewhat reminiscent of Greek funerary statues and Gothic statues in medieval cathedrals. The mysterious smile can also be found very widely in the works of Leonardo's master, Verrocchio and Leonardo used the same smile in a number of his paintings.

Much has also been made about the Mona Lisa's 'uncommonly thick' eyebrows, a belief which came about after Vasari wrote a description of the painting. A close examination of the above detail shows there aren't any eyebrows; women of the time commonly shaved these off. Vasari had never seen the Mona Lisa and though it is popular to quote his text on the painting it must be realised he wrote his treatise based entirely upon hearsay. Despite this, he was totally accurate in stating that, "On looking at the pit of the throat one could swear that the pulses were beating."

The most expressive parts of the human face are the outer points of the lips and eyes. Leonardo has deliberately left these areas in shadow which creates the effect of causing different people to read different emotions on the face of the sitter, whomever she may be.

Mona Lisa is distinguished by her complete absence of jewellery whereas the norm for the day was to present subjects with elaborate decoration as can be seen in the painting done by Titan of Caterina Cornaro, Queen Of Cyprus. Mona Lisa's hair is smooth with only the covering of a black veil, hands are free of rings or bracelets and nothing adorns her neck. There are small intricate loops across the neckline of her dress; such was Leonardo's interest in codes that many people have searched in vain for a message in these loops. This painting went against all the trends of the time and is a perfect example of how Leonardo never followed traditions. He abandoned the usual poses, which had subjects shown as stiff and upright, replacing this with a relaxed sitter, her beautifully painted hands resting easily on the arm of her chair.

While most people are aware the Mona Lisa is also called La Gioconda by the Italians (translation: "a light-hearted woman."), fewer know the French refer to it as La Joconde. Done in oils on poplar wood it was originally much larger than it is today. Two columns on either side of Mona Lisa have been cut off making it difficult to recognise she was seated on a terrace. The bases of these columns can just be seen on the very edges of the painting which now measures only 77 x 53 cms.

At the time Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa he was also doing some of his finest sketches of plant life and nature. This can be clearly seen in the background of the panel and it is very elaborate, perhaps the finest he ever did. The bridge shown has now been identified as being at Buriano (Arezzo).

The painting of Mona Lisa has had an interesting history being stolen on the 21st August 1911 from an Italian thief who had taken the painting to Italy. The loss of the painting was not reported for twenty-four hours as most employees assumed it had been removed by the official museum photographer. It then took a week to search the 49-acre Louvre with the only find being the painting's frame, which was located in a staircase. It resurfaced some two years later in Florence, when an Italian named Vincenzo Perugia offered to sell the painting to the Uffizi Gallery for US$100,000. It was exhibited for a time and then returned to Paris.

To steal the painting Perugia had spent a night hiding in a little-used room at the Louvre. While the museum was closed he simply walked into the room where the Mona Lisa was hung, removed it from the wall then cut it from the frame once he reached the staircase. He then exited the building breaking out through a 'locked' door by unscrewing the doorknob. Ten months prior to the theft the Louvre had made the decision to begin having their masterpieces placed under glass. Perugia was one of four men assigned to the job and so in a position to get to know the Louvre well enough to pull off the crime.

In 1956 acid was thrown on the lower half of the painting with the required restoration taking some years.

78 The situation today is that the Mona Lisa has become so well-known that it may only be viewed behind thick protective glass after battling through a large crowd of sightseers. The cover of triplex glass which protects the painting was gifted by the Japanese during the Mona Lisa's 1974 visit to Japan -- that being the last time it left the museum. By international agreement the painting will no longer be displayed in other countries but will stay safely on display at the Louvre in Paris where it may be properly protected against further damage, theft or attack. The bulletproof box is kept at a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity of 55 percent; a built-in air conditioner and nine pounds of silica gel ensure no change in the air condition. Once a year the box is opened to check the painting and for maintenance on the air conditioning system.

Time may have cracked and crazed the paintwork of the Mona Lisa, but the air of mystery remains. It has been endlessly reproduced, has inspired numerous writers, poets and musicians, yet remains little understood. The same style can be seen used by other masters such as Raphael (Maddalena Doni) and Carot (Dame à la Perle). Many naked women have been painted or drawn in the attitude of the Mona Lisa and these were a favourite on the occasions when artists were called on to portray royals in their baths. The Carrara Academy in Bergamo has just one of many nude versions, this one having been painted in the 17th century. Copying of the Mona Lisa style started even before the painting was finished.

By far the most controversial version of the Mona Lisa is in the Vernon collection in the U.S. This painting clearly shows the columns on either side of the sitter which have been cut off the Louvre example. The owners consider the artwork to be authentic and value it at $2.5 million.

The last work done on the panel was in the 1950's when age spots were removed during a cleaning. Suggestions that the painting should experience a thorough facelift involving the removal of layers of resin, lacquer and varnish from the past 500 years have received a firm thumbs down from the Louvre. Computer restoration shows that the colours of the painting may be quite different without the grime that presently covers it. Rosy cheeks instead of sickly yellow, pale blue skies instead of the present green glow. On the downside, any attempt to clean the painting may result in irreparable damage from the various solvents required to remove the varnish and there is no guarantee the suspected bright colours exist below the coatings which have been applied over the years as a protectant. For those lucky enough to have viewed the work under natural light state there is still a surprising amount of colour evident to the eye, maybe more is below the grime, but no one dares to clean her. X- rays have shown there are three different versions of the Mona Lisa hidden under the present one.

The Egyptian God Amon – god of fertility http://www.loyno.edu/~lmfontan/Grmythology.html

The Hidden One

Amon, Amen, Amen Ra, Amon Re

Amon is the Egyptian god of wind, fertility, and secrets. The name Amon means the "hidden one" and became associated with the color blue, which symbolizes invisibility. He is represented by a bearded Man wearing a cap surmounted by two tall plumes. A ram, a ram headed man, or a ram headed sphinx represents his duty as fertility god. Amon, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu, the god of the moon, formed the Theban Triad. In Thebes, he became the god of the pharoahs.

Amon then combined with Re, the sun god, to form Amon-Re. Amon-Re became the father of all gods and the creator of all. Temples for the Egyptian god are built in Thebes. The Luxor temple, formerly known as Karnak temple, is one of the chief architectural monuments of ancient Egypt.

Female goddess – Isis http://members.aol.com/egyptart/isis.html

The Throne.

• Cult Center: A temple is dedicated to her on the Island of Philae, near the first cataract. She is revered throughout Egypt.

• Attributes: Isis is one of the earliest and most important goddess in ancient Egypt. She was regarded as the feminine counterpart to Osiris, a role she probably occupied before the dawn of dynastic Egypt. No other Egyptian deity has stood the test of time as well as Isis. Her cult was not extinguished with the other Egyptian gods, but was embraced by the Greeks and Romans, her worship has even lasted into the present day.

She was revered by the Egyptian people as the great mother-goddess and represents the maternal spirit in its most intimate form. She is often seen suckling a young Horus. In the Osiris legend she is seen as a dutiful wife, a grieving widow and as a protector of the dead.

As a winged goddess she may represent the wind. In the Osiris legend there are references to Isis wailing and moaning like the wind. She is also continually travelling up and down the land in search of her lost husband. Upon finding Osiris' body, she takes the shape of one of the swiftest birds, a kite. Flapping and darting above his dead body she wails in mourning. She restores life to Osiris by flapping her wings and filling his mouth and nose with air.

Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic. Together with Thoth, she taught mankind the secrets of medicine. She was the embalmer and gaurdian of Osiris. She is often rendered on the foot of coffins with long wings spread to protect the deceased.

80 Chapter 29:

Topics in this section: Job 38:11

Job 38:11 – and whole chapter 38

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. 4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, 11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? 12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; 13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? 14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. 15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. 16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? 17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. 19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, 20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? 21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? 22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, 23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? 24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? 25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; 26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; 27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? 28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? 81 30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. 31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? 33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? 34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? 35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? 36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? 37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, 38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? 39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, 40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? 41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat

82 Chapter 30:

Topics in this section:

Virgin of the Rocks & Madonna of the Rocks http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/l/leonardo/02/3virg_l.html

Commissioned by: Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception This version of the painting for the ancona (a carved wooden altar with frames where paintings were inserted) in the chapel of the Immacolata in the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan has distinctly sixteenth-century characteristics: larger figures, made more plastic by a very decided chiaroscuro so unlike Leonardo that scholars were immediately led to consider the work a collaboration. The canvas is generally considered the one that replaced the first version of the Virgin of the Rocks on the altar of the Immaculate Conception, after that version had been given to Louis XII. This version was then, in 1785, purchased by the 84 English collector Gavin Hamilton. It was joined, in England, in 1898, by the two musician-angels of the De Predis brothers, and the three paintings are now displayed together in London's National Gallery.

The picture substitutes a motif popular in Florence for the image normally required by Franciscan patrons promoting the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception: a Virgin without the Child, shown standing among prophets holding texts taken to refer to her exemption from Original Sin. In the Virgin of the Rocks the infant Baptist, sheltering under Mary's cloak, venerates the Christ Child in a cool, watery wilderness. The artist's Milanese clients must have worried about confusing the two infants, for a later hand has given John an identifying scroll and a cross clumsily rooted in one of Leonardo's exquisite studies of plants.

The panel was inserted into a pre-existing frame, elaborately decorated with carving, gilding and painted shutters. (The two musical angels shown nearby, executed by an associate, probably come from the front and back of the right-hand shutter.) In the candlelit chapel the glittering frame and the painted rocks from whose shadows the figures emerge would have combined to suggest a mysterious cavern. In his notebooks Leonardo records a moment, when standing before the mouth of a cave, `Suddenly two things arose in me...fear of the menacing darkness... [and] desire to see if there was any marvellous thing within.' The contrast between the unfinished areas of the picture - such as the hand of the angel on Christ's back - and the finished passages would not have been as disturbing as it is now. Leonardo's intentions in this deeply emotional yet strangely uncommunicative work were perhaps most fully carried out in the angel's head and diaphanous veil, where the shimmering brushstrokes are of miraculous firmness and delicacy.

The London version shows some details generally neglected by Leonardo in the other version: the haloes of the figures, the child Saint John's cross of reeds. Other elements which differ from the Paris picture are the pose of the angel, who no longer points his finger towards the little Paraclete, and his face, whose gaze no longer seeks out the spectator, but is directed inwards. The drapery, too, which in the Paris version was heavy and concealed the body, is lighter here, revealing the anatomical structure. Also the rocks seem painted in a more plastic fashion; the light does not glide over them, creating dewy areas of semi-darkness, but leaves strong contrasts of light and dark. The flesh of the children here is less tender, and though the shadows are insistent, the children's faces seem flatter and less sweet than those of the two sublime creatures in Paris. The intervention of followers on the painting already sketched by Leonardo has made the portrayal less vibrant, more banal, though it retains a compositional authority and an originality in its variants that make this work not a copy but an autonomous version, of high quality, of the unequalled masterpiece in the Louvre.

85 Chapter 34:

Topics in this section:

History of the Vatican Observatory and Its Castel Gandolfo Headquarters http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo/history.html

In its historical roots and traditions the Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutes in the world. For the first foreshadowing of the Observatory can be traced to the constitution by Pope Gregory XIII of a committee to study the scientific data and implications involved in the reform of the calendar which occurred in 1582. The committee included Father Christoph Clavius, a Jesuit mathematician from the Roman College, who expounded and explained the reform. From that time and with some degree of continuity the Papacy has manifested an interest in and support for astronomical research. In fact, three early observatories were founded by the Papacy: the Observatory of the Roman College (1774-1878) (illustrated), the Observatory of the Capitol (1827-1870), and the Specula Vaticana (1789-1821) in the Tower of the Winds within the Vatican. These early traditions of the Observatory reached their climax in the mid-nineteenth century with the researches at the Roman College of the famous Jesuit, Father Angelo Secchi, the first to classify stars according to their spectra.

With these rich traditions as a basis and in order to counteract the longstanding accusations of a hostility of the Church towards science, Pope Leo XIII in 1891 formally refounded the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory) and located it on a hillside behind the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Several religious orders contributed personnel and directors to the Observatory. These included Barnabites, Oratorians, Augustinians, and Jesuits.

(Father Angelo Secchi in the foreground is surrounded by (from left background to right foreground) Pope Gregory XIII, Pope Leo XIII, and Pope Pius XI. Painting by Fantini.)

For a little more than four decades astronomical research, which included a prominent international program to map the whole sky, was carried out in the shadow of St. Peter's, but it eventually became obvious that the urban growth of the Eternal City was brightening the sky to such an extent that the fainter stars could no longer be studied. Thus it was that Pope Pius XI provided a new location for the Observatory at the Papal Summer Residence at Castel Gandolfo [illustrated] in the Alban Hills some 35 kilometers southeast of Rome. It is here that the modern observatory, entrusted to the Jesuits, was refounded in the 1930s with the construction of two new telescopes, the installation of an astrophysical laboratory for spectrochemical analysis, and the expansion of several important research programs on variable stars. With the installation of a Schmidt wide-angle telescope in 1957 research was extended to other topics such as new techniques for the classification of stars according to their spectra. This is still an active program at the observatory and recalls the pioneering work of Angelo Secchi.

With the continuously increasing population of Rome the skies above the Observatory again became too bright. For this reason in 1981, for the first time in its history, the Observatory founded a second research center, the Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG), in Tucson, Arizona in the United States, one of the world's largest and most modern centers for observational astronomy. The Observatory staff have offices at Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona (picture shows S.O. on the right and its Mirror Laboratory under the football stadium at the end of the road). From here they have access to all of the modern telescopes located in the Tucson area.

In 1993 the Observatory, in collaboration with Steward Observatory, completed the construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mt. Graham, Arizona, probably the best astronomical site in the Continental United States. This is the first optical-infrared telescope of the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO), a project which in the coming years will see the construction of some of the world's most sophisticated and largest telescopes. The VATT has pioneered the new technology of creating large, lightweight, stable mirrors in a rotating furnace (illustrated). With the VATT we are pursuing long- term research programs which, although they were the hallmark of research at Castel Gandolfo, we have never been able to carry out before in Tucson. Thus from its two centers, located at Castel Gandolfo and at Tucson, the Observatory is continuing various current studies and international collaborations.

As translated by Dr. Martin McCarthy, S.J., the dedication plaque of the VATT reads: This new tower for studying the stars has been erected during the XV year of the reign of John Paul II on this peaceful site so fit for such studies, and it has been equipped with a new large mirror for detecting the faintest glimmers of light from distant objects. May whoever searches here night and day the far reaches of space use it joyfully with the help of God.

The library at Castel Gandolfo contains more than 22,000 volumes and possesses a valuable collection of rare antique books including works of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Brahe, Clavius, and Secchi. In addition there is a unique meteorite collection from which a knowledge of the early history of the solar system is being derived. Research results are published in international journals. The Annual Report is distributed to more than 400 institutes around the world. The observatory also publishes the Studi Galileiani, a series of current research on Galileo and the Copernican controversies.

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Topics in this section: Image and Layout of Paris Park: Bois de Boulogne aka The Garden of Earthly Delight Info on French king Godefroi de Bouillon Info on origin of Knights Templar Info on origin of Friday 13th

Image and Layout of Paris Park: Bois de Boulogne aka The Garden of Earthly Delight which is a painting by Bosch (image) http://www.parisdigest.com/takingarest/boisdeboulogne.htm

The 865 hectares Bois de Boulogne lies on the western edge of Paris and was created under Napoléon III (second part of the 19th century). Its designer, the Baron Haussman, was an admirer of the large and central London parks (such as the beautiful Hyde Park and Regent Park). He decided to create two similar parks in Paris.

They are respectively the Bois de Boulogne on the west side of Paris and the Bois de Vincennes on the east. The Bois de Boulogne, the most fashionable of the two, is bordered by the very residential cities of Neuilly Above, the Bois de Boulogne with the large La Défense business district in the and Boulogne. background. The Bois de Boulogne is a welcome green oasis on the edge of the very busy city of Paris. The Bois de Boulogne is a favourite destination of Parisian walkers, The Bois de Boulogne is close to the business oriented western districts of the bicycle and horse riders. It also houses Paris region such as La Défense, Levallois and Boulogne Billancourt. the two Parisian horse courses - Picture Ducatez JPDB - (Auteuil and Longchamp) and the pretty Bagatelle gardens. The Roland Garros tennis courts lie on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. At night, the Bois de Boulogne welcomes a very different population and becomes the red district of Paris.

The Garden of Earthly Delights

c. 1504; Triptych, plus shutters; Oil on panel; Central panel, 220 x 195 cm;

Bosch's most famous and unconventional picture is The Garden of Earthly Delights (c.1500; Prado, Madrid) which, like most of his other ambitious works, is a large, 3-part altarpiece, called a triptych. This painting was probably made for the private enjoyment of a noble family. It is named for the luscious garden in the central panel, which is filled with cavorting nudes and giant birds and fruit. The triptych depicts the history of the world and the progression of sin. Beginning on the outside shutters with the creation of the world, the story progresses from Adam and Eve and original sin on the left panel to the torments of hell, a dark, icy, yet fiery nightmarish vision, on the right. The Garden of Delights in the center illustrates a world deeply engaged in sinful pleasures.

In reference to astrological alignments at the time this was painted, a lot of the instruments of torture are also musical instruments.

Info on French king Godefroi de Bouillon Info on origin of Knights Templar http://www.knightstemplar-be.org/Lord-Templars.html

Our story starts about 1095, after Jerusalem's conquest by the muslims. The underlying inspiration was provided by Peter the Hermit crusade. He raised an unfortunate "Crusade of peasants" of men, women and children in order to reconquer the Holy Land. The larger part of them did not reach at all their final destination, being murdered on the way by bandits and renegates of the Byzantine Empire. After the complete failure of this crusade, Pope Urbanus II raised a considerable army, under the command of Europe's most excellent knights. Adhemar, bishop of le Puy was responsible for the coordination. Robert, Duke of Normandy, as wel as Stefan, Comte de Bois and Hugo, Comte de Vermandois, formed the advance guard. The Flemish troops were commanded by Robrecht, Duke of Flanders and other earls, such as Eustace, Comte of Boulogne and both his brothers Baldwin and Godefroid de Bouillon. The South of France was represented by raymond de Saint Gilles, Comte de Toulouse At the time, Godefroid de Bouillon, was also Duke of lower Lorraine. He had inherited the trone, as well as the estates of Bouillon from his mother, Ida. In order to pay for his campaign, he pawned his complete legacy to the bishop of Liège. It should be mentioned that, at the time of the first crusade, Godefroid had been appointed commander-in-chief. Afterthe decisive victory in 1099, he was proclaimed King of Jerusalem. He called himself "Guard of the Holy Sepulchre". When we consider the 8 crusades that took place from 1099 till 1291, only Godefroid's first crusade was succesful. The second crusade to Edessa, under command of Louis VII of France and the German Emperor Koenraad III, flopped completely. One hunderd years after Godefroid's first victory, Jerusalem was conquered by the mighty Saladin. This fact gave rise to the third crusade under the command of Philipe Auguste of France and Richard Coeur-de-Lion of England. however, they did not succeed in reconquering the Holy City Jerusalem. the fourth and fifth crusade were concentrated on Constantinopel and Damietta. After the sixth crusade, Jerusalem was reconquered for a short time by the Emperor Frederik II. Finally, the city came again in hands of the Sultan of Egypt. Louis IX was in command of the seventh and eight crusade but failed to alter the situation. By 1291 the muslims strongly controlled Palestine and Syria and the crusades came to an end. During the crusades various knighthoods came into being. the Order of Sion was founded to allow muslims, jews and other possible groups to join the Christian Order, later on to be known as the Order of the Templars. This "Order of Sion" was founded by Godefroid of Bouillon, who died in 1100, shortly after the victory in Jerusalem. His younger brother Baldwin of Boulogne succeeded him to the trone. Reports at the time tell us that in that year the Order of the Templars, "the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Salomon" was founded; The founders are a group of nine knights. Hugues de Payens, the first Grand-master of the Templars, was a nephew and vassal of the Comte de Champagne. His right-hand was a Flemish knight Godfried of Saint Omaars; André de Montbard, an other recruit, was a blood relation of the Count of Burgundy. In 1120, Fulk, Comte d'Anjou (father of Godefroi Plantagenet) joined the Order. Hugues, Comte de Champagne and the Flemish knights Archaumbaud de Saint Amand, Rosal, Godfried Bisol, Gondemare, Godefroid and Payen de Montdidier followed. About 1180, - at the climax of the crusades - the Frankish historian Guillaume de Tyre, wrote that th Templars main task was to secure the roads for the pelgrims. Considering the extent of this task, it seems rather improbable that the poor nine knights did not enroll recuits, prior to returning to Europe in 1128. However, things did not happen exactly that way. The Templars had already been founded a few years earlier before Hugues de Payens "so to say"

90 founded them. For sure, their assignment was not at all to protect the roads but, in reality, they where diplomats of the King in the frontline of a muslim controlled area. In that capacity they tried to limit injustices and harm caused by licentious crusaders to the Sultan's defenceless subjects. So the Templars were called "Soldiers of Christ". At first the nine founders of the Templars lived in the castle of Baldwin. Later they moved to the premises of the Temple of Salomon. In reality, the pelgrims where being protected by Saint john's Hospital knights, where as the Templars actually where an excusive and special unit. They had sworn a special oath of allegiance, not to their King or leader, but to the Christian abbot Bernard de Clairvaux. Deep hidden in the Temple of Jerusalem was situated the vast stable of King Salomon. Since the biblic times, nobody had set foot on these premises. The Templars original andsecret mission was to trace and open up this vast stockroom. According to Saint Bernard, the Covenant's Arch was hidden there. In 1127 the mission of the Templars came to an end. Indeed, they only did not find the Arch and its contents, but also a fortune of raw gold as well as other treasures. Long before the Roman devastation and looting in 70 a.C. this treasure had been buried safely. It is only in 1956 that convincing evidence of the existence of the treasure of Jerusalem was found by the University of Manchester. In that year the Cupper Roll of Quiram was deciphered. The roll reveals an immeasurable treasure, together with a huge stock of raw gold and valuables buried under the Temple. After the tremendous succes of the Templars, and at the request os Saint Bernard, Hugues de Payens attended a council in Troyes. When Hugues left for Troyes, in the company of a group knights, he took along the remarkable find from the Holy Land. It should be mentioned that the Court of Champagne, at Troyes, had made thorough preparations for translating the expected cryptic scripture. In 1128, the Council of Troyes went off according to plan and Bernard was named as official patron of the Templars. He took the beehive as his private emblem. In the same year, the Templars acuired the international status of a sovereign Order, having its seat in Jerusalem, in the governmental centre of the capital. The templars were recognized by the Church as a religious Order, Hugues de Payens, being its first Grand-master. In token of a special distinction, the Templars were recognized as a monastic order, which entitled them to wear the white cloak of purity, a particular privilege not conferred just like that to any military order. In 1146, the Templars got their famous bloodred cross from the Cistercian Pope Eugene III. It was after the Council of Troyes that the international esteem of the Templars grew quickly. They were engaged on a high level with occidental politics and diplomacy. In that capacity, they acted as councellors as well as kings as of members of the parliament. Eleven years later, in 1139, Pope Innocent II conferred the "international status" by freeing the Order from all except the Pope's spiritual authority. So, the Templars were not subordinated to any King, cardinal or governement. Even before that time, they acquired vast territories and extensive possessions. As a result of growing wealth from donations by outsiders, of castles, estates, money, juwels and possessions of new members, it was possible to establish supply-stations, enabling an active trade over road system. The Templars secured these trade roads and, at the same time, they got plenty of cash from its activity. They also laid the foundation for a system of traveller's cheques, which enabled a merchant at his estate in England to pay the money for a trade in Marseille with guarantee against theft and robbering. It also can be said that as well the conception as the draft for cathedral building were inspired by Templars and Cisterians. the architectural style was called "Gothic" and was totaly new. Many majestic Gothic vaults arose. In Jerusalem besides the raw gold, the Templars also found handwritten books in Hebrew and Syric. Needless to say that most of these books date back to the Gospel and contain eyewitness accounts not yet known by the ecclesiastical authorities. It is a matter of common knowledge that the Templars had a far better insight in the Scriptures than the Christians. In the 14th century, this famous knowledge would lead to their fanatic persecution by the Inquisition. At that stage of Christian history, the last stronghold of free thinking was crushed. A parallel climate of thought with respect to the traditional Christian interpretations can be found with the Cathars, living in the old province Languedoc, near the Gulf of Lyon, west/southwest of the Provence. In 1208, Pope Innocent III rebuked them for their unchristian behaviour. Like the Templars, the Cathars were very tolerant with respect to the Jewish and Islamic cultures. Moreover they recognized the equality of man and woman. Nevertheless, they were condemned and cruelly oppressed by the Catholic Inquisition. The Church charged them with all sorts of blasphemous things. According to the Pope and King Philip they where a pagan sect. Their perseculation lasted for 35 years and made a thousands of lives. The all time low was the massacre at the seminary of Montsegur, were more than 200 hostages were burnt alive. This false crusade took an end in 1244. However, it would take 62 years before Pope Clement V and King Philip IV had sufficient power to tackle the Templars in order to lay hands on the secret treasure. By 1306, the Order of Jerusalem had become so tremendously powerful, that Philip IV became very frightened. Until 1306, the Templars had been going their way without papal interference. Philip put an end to this freedom of action. As a result of a Vatican's verdict that forbade his levying taxes on the clerical order, the French King plotted the kidnapping and murdering of Pope Boniface VIII. Moreover, his succesor Benedict VI soon perished under suspicious circumstances. In 1305, Philip's own candidate, Bertrand de Goth, archbishop of Bordeaux, was elected Pope Clemens V. Together with Pope Clemens V, Philip drew up a list of charges levelled at the Templars. On Friday, October 13th, Philip's henchmen went int action: everywhere in France the Templars were arrested, put into jail, questioned, tortured and put at the stake. At the time Jacques de Molay was Grand-Master. As Jacques de Molay knew that Pope Clemens was King's Philip counter, he had the Templars treasures transported from La Rochelle to Scotland by a fleet of 18 galleys. In 1312, Philip forced Clemens V to oulaw the Templars. Two years later, on March 18th 1314, both the Grand-master Jacques de Molay as the Grand-gouvernor of Normandy, Godefroid de Chasney, were put at the stake in

91 Paris. With this the curtain falls over the mighty Order of the Templars. After this drama, many Templars, set free, moved to the "Johannieter". Others, went to Portugal since King Dyonys (1279-1323) had not arrested Templars. So, in 1317, the Order of Christ - with all characteristics of the Templars - was born. Finally, in 1789, this Order was secularized into a military and civil Order of Merit

Info on origin of Friday 13th http://www.infoplease.com/spot/friday13th.html Unlucky No. 13 Friday the 13th combines Christian, pagan beliefs by David Johnson

Friday the 13th is an unlucky day in much of Western Europe, North America, and Australia. Many people avoid travel and avoid signing contracts on Friday the 13th. Floors in tall buildings often skip from 12 to 14. And while the superstition is believed to be fading, it nonetheless has deep roots in both Christian and pagan culture.

The Day Jesus Was Crucified?

Many Christians have long believed that Friday was unlucky because it was the day of the week when Jesus was crucified. The number 13 was believed to bring bad luck because there were 13 people at The Last Supper. Since there were 12 tribes of Israel, that number was considered lucky.

Roots in Norse Mythology

Thirteen was also a sinister number in Norse mythology. Loki, one of the most evil of the Norse gods, went uninvited to a party for 12 at Valhalla, a banquet hall of the gods. As a result, he caused the death of Balder, the god of light, joy, and reconciliation. Loki tricked Balder's blind brother, Hod, into throwing a sprig of mistletoe at Balder's chest. Since mistletoe was the only thing on Earth fatal to Balder, the beloved god fell dead.

Literature and Folk Wisdom

During the Middle Ages, the superstition against Friday the 13th grew. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templars and sixty of his senior knights in Paris. Thousands of others were arrested elsewhere in the country. After employing torture techniques to compel the Templars to "confess" to wrongdoing, most were eventually executed and sympathizers of the Templars condemned Friday the 13th as an evil day. Over time a large body of literature and folk wisdom have reinforced the belief. In the 18th century, the HMS Friday was launched on Friday the 13th. It was never heard from again. Since then, ships are not usually launched on that date.

Dinner With 13

It is considered especially unlucky to have 13 people at the table during a meal, such as in Agatha Christie's mystery novel, Thirteen at Dinner. During the 1880s, a men's group that felt superstition was an unhealthy influence on public life held Thirteen Club dinners. Those diners would have doubtless deplored Triskaidekaphobia, which is a fear of the number 13. They

92 would also have looked askance at Triskaidekamania, which is an excessive enthusiasm for the number 13. (Take our Phobias Quiz on Triskaidekaphobia and other scary phobias.)

93 Chapter 38:

Topics in this section: The Holy Grail

The Holy Grail http://www.holygrail-church.fsnet.co.uk/Mystery%20of%20the%20Holy%20Grail.htm

All the text and images here are taken from THE GRAIL CHURCH: Its Ancient Tradition and Renewed Flowering by Seán Manchester (Publisher: Holy Grail, 1995) ISBN 1871151015. This is hardcover book, illustrated throughout.

Mystery of the Holy Grail

“Our Lord knew that the Sanhedrin and its following would reject Him, so it had to be to others ~ the lost sheep ~ that the new covenant would pass. … Guardianship of the Holy Grail had been given to Joseph of Arimathea. … Joseph bade farewell to Philip and the faithful … and set off with his company of twelve for the Sacred Isle of the West.”

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. ~ Matthew 21: 43

“In 597 St Augustine of Canterbury wrote to Pope Gregory: ‘In the Western confines of Britain there is a certain royal island of large extent, surrounded by water, abounding in all beauties of nature and necessaries of life. In it the first Neophites of Catholic Law, God hath beforehand acquainted them, found a Church constructed by no human art, but divinely constructed by the hands of Christ Himself, for the salvation of His people. The Almighty has made it manifest by many miracles and mysterious visitations that He continues to watch over it as sacred to Himself.’ … The new covenant, superseding the old covenant of the Jews, was inaugurated by Our Lord in the words which referred to the chalice that became known as the Holy Grail. The Passover Supper ended with His injunction … which Christians have ever since observed as the Last Supper when the Lamb of God replaced the paschal lamb.”

Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant … ~ Matthew 26: 27, 28

“The true Sangreal is the cup sealed by the Holy Blood of the Saviour which was entrusted along with its sacred mysteries to Joseph of Arimathea, who, clothed with the virtues of the risen Christ and the Holy Grail, was sustained spiritually and physically. The Holy Grail became a sign of saving grace and wonder to that company which he was elected to take westward. The cup contained the Saviour’s Blood and unlimited powers of healing were attributed to it, but it was also an outward symbol of unity with god as well as an inward means of transmitting a direct apprehension of God. While the established Church became absorbed into the pagan pantheon of the Roman Empire, the Grail Church and its episcopacy with a super-apostolic succession and extra-valid form of consecrating Eucharistic elements, took root in Celtic Britain.”

“By preserving the Body of his Master after the Crucifixion, Joseph became an instrument of the Resurrection. On Ascension Day the arch-natural Body was removed from the world, but there remained the Holy Grail into which the Precious Blood of the natural Body had been received by Joseph. Later chroniclers would employ the word Sangreal within which lies the words Saint Gréal (Holy Grail) and Sang Real (Royal Blood). The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus was of royal blood.”

from:

The Grail Church : Its Ancient Tradition and Renewed Flowering

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If payment is made in dollars it must be via a cheque or money order that is negotiable in the UK and can be drawn at a UK bank. International money order arranged through your bank is the most efficient method. There is no credit card facility.

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97 Chapter 39:

Topics in this section: Was Noah an Albino?

Was Noah an Albino? Yes. Famous albinos include Noah of flood fame and the Rev. Dr. Spooner. Evidence that Noah was an albino was presented by Sorsby (1958). Spooner was a brilliant classicist at Oxford whose amusing tendency to errors of speech came to be known as spoonerisms.

NOAH is also the acronym for The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation

98 Chapter 40:

Topics in this section: LDV’s Adoration of the Magi and it’s secret below the layers of paint

LDV’s Adoration of the Magi and it’s secret below the layers of paint http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15440a.htm The Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi is unfortunately only a sketch, a rough cartoon, chiefly interesting for the information it gives concerning the basis of Leonardo's painting and his manner of preparing a picture. It belongs to the same period (about 1505) as that work of the artists which is most popular, most complete, and most closely associated with his name as that which best sums up in a woman's face all the research, grace, and seductiveness of his genius. This is the portrait of Madonna (Monna) Lisa, wife of Ser Giocondo, and universally known as Jaconde (La Gioconda), and which, acquired directly from the artist by Francis I, and preserved for three centuries at Fontainebleau, disappeared, 21 August, 1911, under mysterious circumstances, from the Louvre, where it had been since 1793.

Adoration of the Magi (also Adoration of the Kings) - The Gospel of St. Matthew (2:1-12) tells how certain Magi (the Wisemen) from the Orient arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We observed the rising of his star, and we have come to pay him homage.' (Mat. 2:2-3). King Herod and his court were greatly perturbed on hearing this; he asked the magi to report to him after they found the Child, so he too could go and worship him. Guided by the star, the magi discovered the Infant in a house at Bethlehem, worshiped him and presented him with their gifts. A dream warned the magi not to return to Herod’s court and they set off instead for their own country by another route. Apocryphal gospels have enriched and embelished Matthew's story. In the 2nd-3rd centuries A.D. the wisemen were also 99 refered to as kings. In, approximately, the 9th they were given names: Caspar, or Jaspar, usually the oldest, Balthazar, and Melchior, usually the youngest. Though Matthew did not reveal the number of the magi, they are traditionally thought of as being three because of the number of symbolic gifts they presented to Christ: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Later the three magi (or kings) came to personify the three parts of the known world: Asia, Africa, and Europe.

100 Chapter 44:

Topics in this section: The Rose Through Time

The Rose Through Time -by Old Rose Nursery proprietor Carol Quin, from the Winter, 1997/98 edition of Coastal Grower From the earliest times, indeed throughout the history of civilization, people from around the world have held the rose close to their hearts. We know now that roses have existed much longer than any of us imagined. Even before human time roses flourished: 35 million year old fossilized rose flowers and hips have been found in Europe and petrified rose wreaths have been unearthed from ancient Egyptian tombs.

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, is said to have created the rose which arose from her tears and the blood of her lover Adonis. The Romans, turning Aphrodite into their goddess Venus, also adopted the rose: it became the symbol of love and beauty. Cupid, offering a rose when trying to bribe the God of Silence to hush Venus's amourous escapades, made the flower into a symbol for secrecy: Roman dining room ceilings were decorated with roses, reminding guests to keep secret what had been said during dinner. Sub rosa, under the rose, up to this day means "confidentially."

The early Christians saw the five wounds of Christ in the five petals of the Rosa sancta. However, in view of the decadence connected with the Roman rose, the official Christian Church was reluctant to consider the rose a religious symbol. Only after much hesitation was the red rose declared a symbol of the blood of the martyrs. But not only in Christian literature, also in ancient Confucian and Buddhist religious documents we find references to the rose. http://www.oldrosenursery.com/rosethrough.htm

101 Chapter 47:

Topics in this section: LDV’s cryptex What is a caesar box? Why does vinegar dissolve papyrus? Wired article on Leonardo Da Vinci, Cryptology and tha Da Vinci Code

LDV’s cryptex I haven’t been able to find any evidence of this device on the web.

What is a caesar box? Info on the web was for Caesar Cypher http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/cpsc/cryptography/caesar.html

The Caesar Cipher

One of the simplest examples of a substitution cipher is the Caesar cipher, which is said to have been used by Julius Caesar to communicate with his army. Caesar is considered to be one of the first persons to have ever employed encryption for the sake of securing messages. Caesar decided that shifting each letter in the message would be his standard algorithm, and so he informed all of his generals of his decision, and was then able to send them secured messages. Using the Caesar Shift (3 to the right), the message,

"RETURN TO ROME" would be encrypted as,

"UHWXUA WR URPH"

In this example, 'R' is shifted to 'U', 'E' is shifted to 'H', and so on. Now, even if the enemy did intercept the message, it would be useless, since only Caesar's generals could read it.

Thus, the Caesar cipher is a shift cipher since the ciphertext alphabet is derived from the plaintext alphabet by shifting each letter a certain number of spaces. For example, if we use a shift of 19, then we get the following pair of ciphertext and plaintext alphabets:

Plaintext: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Ciphertext: T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S

To encipher a message, we perform a simple substitution by looking up each of the message's letters in the top row and writing down the corresponding letter from the bottom row. For example, the message

THE FAULT, DEAR BRUTUS, LIES NOT IN OUR STARS BUT IN OURSELVES.

102 would be enciphered as

MAX YTNEM, WXTK UKNMNL, EBXL GHM BG HNK LMTKL UNM BG HNKLXEOXL.

Essentially, each letter of the alphabet has been shifted nineteen places ahead in the alphabet, wrapping around the end if necessary. Notice that punctuation and blanks are not enciphered but are copied over as themselves.

Breaking a Caesar Cipher by Hand

Can a computer guess what shift was used in creating a Caesar cipher? The answer, of course, is yes. But how does it work?

The unknown shift is one of 26 possible shifts. One technique might be to try each of the 26 possible shifts and check which of these resulted in readable English text. But this approach has limitations. For one thing how would the computer recognize "readable English text?" For another, what if a muiltiple Caesar shift was used, as is the case for a Vigenere cipher , where each letter of the keyword provides the basis for a Caesar shift. That is, if the key word is bam, then every third letter of the plaintext starting at the first would be shifted by 'b' (=1) and every third letter beginning at the second would be shifted by 'a' (=0) and every third letter beginning at the third would be shifted by 'm' (=12). Obviously we can't depend on obtaining readable English text here.

A better approach makes use of statistical data about English letter frequencies. It is known that in a text of 1000 letters of various English alphabet occur with about the following relative frequencies:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 73 9 30 44 130 28 16 35 74 2 3 35 25 78 74 27 3 77 63 93 27 13 16 5 19 1

This information can be useful in deciding the most likely shift used on a given enciphered message. Suppose the enciphered message is:

K DKVO DYVN LI KX SNSYD, PEVV YP CYEXN KXN PEBI, CSQXSPISXQ XYDRSXQ.

We can tally the frequencies of the letters in this enciphered message, thus

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 4 3 0 0 0 3 0 4 1 0 4 1 4 3 1 6 0 0 4 0 7 4 0

Now we can now shift the two tallies so that the large and small frequencies from each frequency distribution match up roughly. For example, if we try a shift of ten on the previous example, we get the following correspondence between English language frequencies and the letter frequencies in the message.

English Language Frequencies

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 73 9 30 44 130 28 16 35 74 2 3 35 25 78 74 27 3 77 63 93 27 13 16 5 19 1

Enciphered Message Frequencies

103 K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J 4 1 0 4 1 4 3 1 6 0 0 4 0 7 4 0 0 1 2 4 3 0 0 0 3 0

Note that in this case the large frequencies for cipher X and Y correspond to large for English N and O, the bare spots for cipher T and U correspond to bare spots for English J and K. Also, an isolated large frequency for cipher S correpsonds to a similar one for English I. In view of this evidence we needn't even worry too much about the drastic mismatch for English E, which is usually the most frequent letter in a random sample of English text.

If we now apply this substitution to the message we get:

A TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT, FULL OF SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFIYING NOTHING.

Using the Chi-square statistic The chi-square statistic allows compare how closely a shift of the English frequency distribution matches the frequency distribution of the secret message. Here's an algorithm for computing the chi-square statistic:

• Let ef(c) stand for the english frequency of some letter of the alphabet • Let mf(c) stand for the frequency of some letter of the message • For each possible shift s between 0 and 25: • For each letter c of the alphabet • Compute the sum of squares of mf((c + s) mod 26) divided by ef(c)

That is, for a given character, say 'a', we compute the square of the frequency of that character shifted by one of the possible Caesar shifts and then divide it by the English frequency of that character. For a given shift, say 5, we do this for each of the 26 letters in the alphabet. We thereby get 26 different chi-square values. The shift s for which the number ChiSquare( s ) is smallest is the most likely candidate for the shift that was used to encipher the message.

What is Transposition Cipher? http://www.simonsingh.net/file/633.doc In the Sixteenth Century, there was an attempt to overthrow Elizabeth, Queen of England. Elizabeth had kept Mary, Queen of Scots, prisoner for many years. Some English Catholics were unhappy that England was led by a Protestant monarch and plotted to assassinate Elizabeth and rescue Mary, a Catholic, and have her instated as Queen of England. Babington led the plotters; they used both steganography and a substitution code. Unknown to the plotters the carrier of the message (who was unable to read the code) was a double agent and gave copies of the code to Elizabeth’s minister Walsingham, who used frequency analysis on the symbols to crack the code. http://www.math.nmsu.edu/crypto/public_html/Transposition.html The transpostition cipher is actually a very simple idea. Instead of replacing the characters with other character, this cipher simply changes the order of the characters. For decoding purposes, because we are not substituting anything, this cipher is not effected at all by a frequency analysis.

The key for this cipher is also not standard. Instead of a list of alphabetic substiutions, it is a mapping order. Such as (1,2,3,4,5)=(3,4,5,2,1). This means that the third element is put in place of the first, thus followed by the fourth, then the fifth, second, and finally followed by the original first element. A example of this particular mapping is as follows: "WORLD" -> "RLDOW"

Permutations of this cipher run in blocked matrices. This means that the message is spread out into a matrix. Let's take the message: 104 "FOOD IS GOOD FOR YOU" In a matrix form this becomes: F O O D I S G O O D F O R Y O U

These rows can be then transposed using some key, Let's say (1,2,3,4)=(4,1,3,2) so the transposition shows: R Y O U F O O D O D F O I S G O

Thus the message now reads "RYOU FOOD ODFO ISGO" or one may choose at this point to read the rows top to bottom first then left to right so it comes out "RFOI YODS OOFG UDOO".

This same method can be done on the columns or on both rows and columns. This leads itself to be quicker to encode something, and generate a smaller key, however the main advantage the permutation is the fact that a cryptanalysis would have a harder time.

The only cryptanalysis technique that can conquer this cipher is the exhaustive key search. However by using permutations, this search increases exponentialy. Upon the combination of a transposition and a substitution can lend itself to almost uncrackable. For instance, if one first performs a complex affine transformation to some message, then uses a permutation transformation upon the alredy ciphered text, Any cryptanalysis would have a hard time getting the message straight.

What is Polyalphabetic Substitution Cipher http://www.albany.net/~cybernet/Vigenere.html

The monoalphabetic (simple) substitution cipher uses only one replacement scheme for all letters of the plain text. Polyalphabetic ciphers use more than one replacement scheme.

The Vigenere Cipher Given a letter of the plain text and one letter of the key word, the following table is used for encryption:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

B B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A

C C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B

D D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C

E E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D

F F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E

G G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F

H H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G

I I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H

J J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I

K K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J

L L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K

M M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L

105 N N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M

O O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

P P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O

Q Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P

R R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q

S S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R

T T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S

U U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T

v V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U

W W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V

X X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W

Y Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X

Z Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

The letter of the key word is located in the first row and the plain text letter is located in the first column. To find the substitution letter, trace the column of the key letter down to the row of the plain text letter and use the letter found in this cell.

For decryption, the same table may be used in a different way: From the key letter in the first row trace down until you find the cipher text letter. The plain text letter is then found at the first column of that row.

Why does vinegar dissolve papyrus? acid.

Other things that vinegar will dissolve: The acid in vinegar will eat the shell off a hard boiled egg if the egg is allowed to sit in vinegar for 48 hours. It is a good idea to bring in a hard boiled egg that has not been soaked in vinegar so that students can compare the feel of a regular hard boiled egg with one whose shell has been eaten away. Vinegar will also dissolve a piece of chalk in a short period of time.

Wired article on Leonardo Da Vinci, Cryptology and tha Da Vinci Code: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,58378,00.html

Da Vinci: Father of Cryptography? By Michelle Delio

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,58378,00.html

02:00 AM Apr. 16, 2003 PT

106 Ever looked at the Mona Lisa and wondered why he's got such a goofy grin?

Yes, we do mean he.

Evidently, Mona isn't quite the woman art historians thought she was. But only those who know the secret code can look at Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait and see the happy hermaphrodite that lurks within.

Dan Brown's latest novel, The Da Vinci Code, published by Doubleday Books, is about the famous Renaissance artist and the oblique references to the occult contained in his equally famous paintings. It's also about ancient secret societies, modern forensics, science and engineering, and the history of religion.

Most of all The Da Vinci Code is about the history of encryption -- the many methods developed over time to keep private information from prying eyes.

The novel begins with Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receiving an urgent late-night phone call: The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum.

Near the body, police have found a secret message. With the help of a gifted cryptologist, Langdon solves the enigmatic riddle. But it's only the first signpost along a tangled trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. If Langdon doesn't crack the code, an ancient secret will be lost forever.

Brown's characters are fictional, but he swears that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

The author provides detailed background on the novel's historic basis on his website, but he suggests readers finish the book before reviewing the site, which gives away some of the plot's twists.

The book's publicity hints darkly that the story lays bare "the greatest conspiracy of the past 2,000 years." Perhaps, but anyone who is interested in conspiracy theories won't find anything new here.

The basic thesis is that da Vinci was a member of a secret society charged with protecting the true history of Christianity until the world is ready to hear it. This theme has been explored in depth in other books such as Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Messianic Legacy, both written by Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh.

Where The Da Vinci Code does shine -- brilliantly -- is in its exploration of cryptology, particularly the encoding methods developed by Leonardo da Vinci, whose art and manuscripts are packed with mystifying symbolism and quirky codes.

Brown, who specializes in writing readable books on privacy and technology, cites da Vinci as an unheralded privacy advocate and encryption pioneer. His descriptions of da Vinci's cryptology devices are fascinating.

Throughout history, entrusting a messenger with a private communication has been rife with problems. In da Vinci's time, a major concern was that the messenger might be paid more to sell the information to adversaries than to deliver it as promised.

To address that problem, Brown writes that da Vinci invented one of the first rudimentary forms of public-key encryption centuries ago: a portable container to safeguard documents.

Da Vinci's cryptography invention is a tube with lettered dials. The dials have to be rotated to a proper sequence, spelling out the password, for the cylinder to slide apart. Once a message was "encrypted" inside the container only an individual with the correct password could open it. 107 This encryption method was physically unhackable: If anyone tried to force the container open, the information inside would self-destruct.

Da Vinci rigged this by writing his message on a papyrus scroll, and rolling it around a delicate glass vial filled with vinegar. If someone attempted to force the container open, the vial would break, and the vinegar would dissolve the papyrus almost instantly.

Brown also brings readers deep into the Cathedral of Codes, a chapel in Great Britain with a ceiling from which hundreds of stone blocks protrude. Each block is carved with a symbol that, when combined, is thought to create the world's largest cipher.

"Modern cryptographers have never been able to break this code, and a generous reward is offered to anyone who can decipher the baffling message," Brown writes on his site.

"In recent years, geological ultrasounds have revealed the startling presence of an enormous subterranean vault hidden beneath the chapel. This vault appears to have no entrance and no exit. To this day, the curators of the chapel have permitted no excavation."

Brown specializes in literary excavation. His previous books have all involved secrets -- keeping them and breaking them -- and how personal privacy slams up against national security or institutional interests.

He's written about the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that designs, builds and operates the nation's reconnaissance satellites. He's also written about the Vatican and the National Security Agency.

Brown's first novel, Digital Fortress, published in 1998, details a hack attack on the NSA's top-secret super computer, Transltr, which monitors and decodes e-mail between terrorists.

But the computer can also covertly intercept e-mail between private citizens. A hacker discovers the computer and takes it down, and demands that the NSA publicly admit Transltr's existence or he'll auction off access to the computer to the highest bidder.

"My interest in secret societies sparks from growing up in New England, surrounded by the clandestine clubs of Ivy League universities, the Masonic lodges of our Founding Fathers and the hidden hallways of early government power," Brown said. "New England has a long tradition of elite private clubs, fraternities and secrecy."

To encourage his readers to discover the joys of cracking code, Brown has created an Internet-based treasure hunt based on The Da Vinci Code that involves Google searches, code cracking, e-mail missives and low-level password hacking.

Winners will receive a prize that, Brown said, involves "something money can't buy." He declined to provide details, saying that he wants winners to be surprised.

108 Chapter 48:

Topics in this section: Les Dossiers Secrets

Les Dossiers Secrets http://www.ordotempli.org/priory_of_sion.htm

A mysterious set of transcripts and photographs entitled Dossiers Secrets was deposited in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (although the little book was never authenticated by the library). The Dossiers Secrets contained two genealogies dating from 1244 C.E. and 1644 C.E., a quasi-Masonic charter and a sketch of the inscription on the tomb of the Countess of Blanchfort. Of even greater interest were two documents which were purported to be of the parchments found in the pillar at the church at Rennes-le-Château.

109

110 Chapter 55:

Topics in this section: Transmogrification Vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbolism Mithras – who was he? The Last Supper

Transmogrification – trans·mog·ri·fy (tr ns-m g r -f , tr nz-) tr.v. trans·mog·ri·fied, trans·mog·ri·fy·ing, trans·mog·ri·fies To change into a different shape or form, especially one that is fantastic or bizarre. See Synonyms at convert.

Vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbolism http://realmagick.com/articles/51/1551.html The Pagan Origins Of Christian Mythology by Brice C. Smith

The Judeo-Christian religions were founded in a region of the world where savior religions existed for thousands of years. Much of the symbolism and many of the stories in the Bible may be traced to earlier myths of the Persians, Egyptians, and other people from the near east. Under Constantine when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity the festivals and stories were further infused with the traditions of the earlier Roman pagan religion. Constantine himself worshipped both Jesus and the sun god Sol Invitus, the Romanized version of Mithra, until he died. It is, therefore, crucial to the proper understanding of the Bible to understand the influence that these ancient religions had on the early Jews and Christians when they were forming what was to become the Jeudo-Christian tradition.

Mithra Among the religions that played large roles in influencing the types of religious beliefs of the ancient near east, Zoroastrianism was probably the must important. Zarathushtra is the Iranian word for Zoroaster who founded this religion in ancient Persia approximately 2000 BCE. In ancient Iranian mythology, Ahura Mazda was the lord of light and wisdom, originally an equal to Mithra the god of light and justice, was elevated to the supreme being by the prophet Zoroaster. The extent to which the writers of the Old and New Testaments were acquainted with the Persians is evident in the numerous references to the Medes and the Persians in the Bible. Mithraism, an off-shoot of Zoroastrianism, holds many striking parallels in symbolism and mythology to the latter Jewish and early Christian writings.

One very interesting addition to the Jewish mythology thought to have been taken from Mithraism is Satan himself. Up to the time of the exile, the source of both good and evil to the Israelites was God. After the exile from Egypt, the doctrine of Mithraism became widely know to the Israelites. Their writings then begin the claim that God is the one God of the universe and that he is a God of righteousness. They introduce the character of Satan to explain all of the evil in the world. It is probable that the earliest writings about Satan were actually modeled on the arch deity Angra Mainyu of Zoroastrianism. The elaborate angelology and demonology of the later Judaism, the idea of a divine judgment and a final resurrection, and a future life which may be definitely described all seem to have come at least partially from the mythology of Zoroastrianism. An interesting side note to be mentioned here is that it is commonly believed that the Magi who are described visiting Jesus at his birth were Zoroastrian priests.

The influence of Mithraism on Christian mythology is even more pronounced. Mithra, a character already ancient by the birth of Jesus, appears to be one of the models for the later mysticizing of Jesus and his ministry. It is apparent that as each of the

111 gospels was written more and more mystery and magic was accredited to Jesus. It is these additions to the story, added many years after his death, that borrow heavily from the earlier religions already well established in the near east. The story and role of Mithra is very similar to that of Jesus. The Zoroastrian religion centered on the struggle of Order against Chaos, Light against Dark. In this battle the Sun-god was a powerful ally for the side of light. Mithra was the son of the Sun- god sent to Earth to aid in this battle against evil and to be the savior of the world.

The Mithraic festival in celebration of Mithra's birth was held on December 25, the recognized date of Jesus' birth. Long before Christmas was celebrated, December 25th in the Roman world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. This feast, which took place just after the winter solstice, was in honor of the Sun God Sol Invitus who was nothing more than the Roman adaptation of Mithra. Mithra was said to have been born in a cave or grotto where shepherds attended him and gave him gifts. This brings to mind much of the story of Jesus' birth in a stable. Mithra, like Jesus, is believed to have descended from heaven to earth, shared a last supper with twelve of this followers, and redeemed mankind from sin be shedding blood and rising from the dead. Mithraism postulates an apocalypse, a day of judgment, a resurrection of the flesh, and of a second coming of Mithra himself when he will finally defeat the principle of evil. The Mithraists even baptize their followers as Christians do, though they use bull's blood instead of water.

The similarities do not stop there. The symbol of Mithra was the setting and rising sun, which invoke images of Christ's death and resurrection. Both religions also included a sacrament of bread and wine derived from the last supper of their respective saviors. The influence of Mithraism on Christianity is even more pronounced in the symbolism and style of the later Gospels as well as in the language and dress of the early Christian leaders. The style of many Mithraic verses seem quite familiar to modern Christians. A typical verse used in a Mithraic service is "Be of good cheer, sacred band of Initiates, your God has risen from the dead. His pains and sufferings shall be your salvation." It is clear that many of the phrases used by Paul seem to draw heavily upon the terminology and style of the Mithraic religion. Another example of this borrowing of Mithraic symbolism is when Paul says "They drink from that spiritual rock and that rock is Christ" (I Cor. 10:4). Mithra was sometimes termed the god out of the rock and Mithraic services were often held in caves. In fact the Vatican hill in Rome that is sacred to Peter, the Christian rock, was already scared to Mithra. Many Mithraic artifacts have been found there. This should not be surprising when it is realized that Mithraism was introduced to the Roman empire around 70 BCE, over 350 years before Christianity was adopted as the official state religion, and that Tarsus, the home of Paul, was one of the chief centers of Mithra worship in the ancient world.

The liturgy of the Eucharist that John describes requires the converted to be born again. In John 3:3 Jesus states that "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." This concept of rebirth is again not unique to Christianity. It was in fact integral to the Mithraic religion for 2000 years before Jesus was born. In the Mithraic liturgy, it is stated that it is necessary "so that [the speaker] may gaze upon the immortal beginning with the immortal spirit that I may be born again in thought." Along with the concept of rebirth, the description of the Mithraic communion is nearly indistinguishable form the Christian accounts. The prayer said at a Mithraic communion is "He who will not eat of my body, nor drink of my blood so that he may be one with me and I with him, shall not be saved." This prayer may be compared to the Christian communion story in Luke 21:19 when Jesus breaks the bread and says "This is my body to be given up for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be shed for you." It is clear just how much influence the symbolism and terminology of Mithraism had on the earliest Christian writers. The other stylist influence that Mithraism had on Christianity is in the dress and trappings used during religious services.

The Mithraic Holy Father wore a red cap, garment, and ring and carried a shepherd's staff. The early Christian leaders adopted the Mithraic title of priest as well as their style of dress. Like the Mithraic priests, the Christian's became Father' despite Jesus' specific proscription of the acceptance of such a title. In Matthew 23:9 Jesus states that you should "call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." The Mithraic priest wore robes which featured the sword (cross) of Mithra which are identical to the robes worn by Catholic priests to this day. The Mithraic bishops wore a mithra, or miter, as their badge of office which was also adopted by early Christian bishops. During a mass, Mithraists commemorated the ascension of the sun-god by eating a mizd, a sun shaped bun with the sword (cross) of Mithra. The mass and the communion wafer were likewise adapted to Christianity. The Roman Catholic mass wafer has maintained this sun shape for over a thousand years. No one would claim that the Judeo-Christian religious tradition is taken entirely from one source. As I will show, many similar adaptations were taken from Egypt, Rome, and other ancient civilizations, but it is clear that the Persian cult of Mithra was one of the most influential sources of mythology and symbolism to the ancient Israelites who wrote the Bible.

Egypt

112 Another important source that the early Christians drew from was the great civilization to the west, Egypt. Many of the pieces to the stories surrounding Jesus which differ from Mithraism may be found in the mythology of the Egyptians. Due to the vast differences in writing systems, the Egyptian religion did not have as strong an influence on the style of early Christian writings, but the influence of the characters and the magic associated with each is even more pronounced than it is for Mithraism.

The four most import figures in Egyptian mythology needed to understanding the Christian stories are Set, Isis, Osiris, and Horus. In earliest times, Set was the patron deity of Lower (Northern) Egypt, and represented the fierce storms of the desert whom the Lower Egyptians sought to appease. However, when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and ushered in the First Dynasty, Set became known as the evil enemy of Horus (Upper Egypt's dynastic god). In Egyptian religion Set, of Seth, came to stand for the forces of chaos and destruction, of energy misplaced. He was the opposer of light and the champion of darkness. Set was the principle of all which burns and consumes. In later periods, Set was identified with the Greek genie Typhon who had a serpents body. The snake is a symbol long associated with Set which undoubtedly influenced the use of the snake as the evil influence in the story of Adam and Eve. In the dynastic periods, when Osiris, Horus, and Isis were worshipped, followers of Set were persecuted and his priesthood was finally destroyed in the XXV dynasty. When the Hebrews emigrated from Egypt during the XIX dynasty, it is clear that they took with them the character of Set which was later used along with Angra Mainyu as the model for Satan. Even the word Satan was probably derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphic Set-hen, one of Set's formal titles.

The next major Egyptian character who had a large influence on the early Christians is Isis. Perhaps the most important goddess of all Egyptian mythology, Isis assumed, during the course of Egyptian history, the attributes and functions of virtually every other important goddess in the land. Her most important functions, however, were those of motherhood, marital devotion, healing the sick, and the working of magical spells and charms. She was the sister and wife of Osiris, sister of Set, and the mother of Horus the Child (Harpocrates). Isis was responsible for protecting Horus from Set during his infancy; for helping Osiris to return to life; and for assisting her husband to rule in the land of the Dead. Isis figures strongly in the rites and symbolism associated with Mary. She was considered to be the mother of the king who is thought to be a God made man to rule over his earthy kingdom. The cult of Isis was widespread in Egypt and spread from there to Phoenicia, Syria and Palestine; to Asia Minor; to Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Samos and other islands in the Aegean; to many parts of mainland Greece - Corinth, Argos and Thessaly amongst them; to Malta and Sicily; and, finally, to Rome. In the first century BC, Isis was perhaps the most popular goddess in Rome, from which her cult spread to the furthest limits of the Roman Empire, including Britain: her only rival was Mithras. An interesting side note to this is that the 'Black Virgins', so highly reverenced in certain French cathedrals have been shown to be in fact basalt figures of Isis. Many of the parallels between Isis and Mary also figure in the parallel between Horus, her son, and Jesus. Obviously the most important similarity is that Isis was said to be a virgin when she gave birth to Horus. This is, of course, to be compared to the biblical story of the immaculate conception. As well as similarities between their stories and their functions, there are several similarities in the types of symbols and language surrounding Isis and Mary. Isis is constantly referred to as the honored one or as the holy one. She is referred to with language like "Immaculate is our Lady Isis" which is nearly identical to the language used about Mary. Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria, openly embraced Isis and simply anthropomorphized her into Mary.

Osiris was the god of the dead, and the god of the resurrection into eternal life; ruler, protector, and judge of the deceased. Osiris was the brother of Set and Isis, who was also his wife by whom he fathered Horus. Osiris ruled the world of men in the beginning, after Ra had abandoned the world to rule the skies, but he was murdered by his brother Set. Through the magic of Isis, he was made to live again. By Dynasty XVIII, Osiris was probably the most widely worshipped god in Egypt. Reliefs of Roman emperors, conquerors of Egypt, dressed in the traditional garb of the Pharaohs, making offerings to him in the temples exist to this day. His death was avenged by his son Horus, who defeated Set, castrated him, and cast him out into the Sahara. Horus then became the divine prototype of the Pharaoh. As Heru-Ur, "Horus the Elder", he was the patron deity of Upper (Southern) Egypt. Initially he was viewed as the twin brother of Set (the patron of Lower Egypt), but he became the conqueror of Set around 3100 BCE when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and formed the unified kingdom of Egypt.

There are many striking similarities between the stories surrounding Osiris and Horus and those surrounding Jesus. I will first describe the similarities between their stories and then I will talk about the similar themes and imagery used in the stories. Horus was born to the virgin Isis as Jesus was to Mary. Horus was born in Annu, the place of bread, where a star announced his birth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, with an eastern star leading the Magi to his birthplace. Horus was baptized with water by Anup the Baptizer at the age of thirty just as Jesus was baptized at thirty by John the Baptist. Horus had twelve followers known as Har-Khutti and Jesus had his twelve followers known as disciples. Horus was carried off by Set to the summit of Mount Hetep where they did battle. Jesus was carried off by Satan to the Mount where Jesus was tested by Satan. After

113 Horus' death he was wrapped in a mummy bandage that was woven without seam just like the vesture of Christ is without a seam. And finally there was That-Aan who bore witness to the word of Ra and to the testimony of Horus just as John bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus. The stories of Osiris also shows many similarities to Jesus. Osiris was considered to be the bringer of enlightenment. He forced no man to carry out his will. He induced them to practice what he preached by means of gentle persuasion. His lessons were often imparted to his listeners through hymns or songs. Much of this may be seen in the later writings about the ministry of Jesus.

Of course, the most important similarity between the stories of Osiris and Jesus is their death and resurrection. Osiris was killed by his brother Set, his body stripped, torn to pieces, and finally scattered about. In this way, the death of Osiris bears similarity to the death of Jesus when his body is stripped and his clothes were divvied up among the soldiers. Osiris was then resurrected with the aid of his wife/sister Isis and his son Horus and in doing so became the lord of death and the keeper of the afterlife. This is mirrored in the story of Jesus' resurrection and subsequent mastery over death. Each year Osiris was the subject of the Abydos passion play, a ritual that stretched from the Old Kingdom up until around 400 CE. The Abydos passion play depicts the slaying of Osiris and his followers by Set. The figure of Osiris is then torn to pieces by Set, after which his remains are gathered up by his wife, Isis, and son, Horus, who then restore him to life. This ritual is mirrored by modern day Christians during Easter when the death and resurrection of Jesus is reenacted in modern passion plays. Some of these stories about Horus are accredited to Osiris and vise versa, but what is clear is that much of the mystical aspects that were added to the later stories of Jesus' ministry drew heavily from the earlier Egyptian texts with which the writers were undoubtedly familiar.

Even more startling than the plot similarities are the symbolic similarities between the Egyptian and Christian stories. Horus was associated both with the lion and with the lamb as was Jesus. Horus was identified with the Tat or cross as well as with the shepherd's crook and the rod. This association was first made through Isis, his mother. In an ancient Egyptian text Isis states that "I am the staff of his power in his youth, and he is the rod of my old age." This association was strengthened by the pharaohs, who were called Kings of the Kingdom and The Great Shepherds of Their Flock. In the tradition of Horus, who was called "The Good Shepherd", the pharaohs carried the staff and rod as the symbols of their heavenly power . Jesus' association with the cross goes without saying but he was also portrayed as the Good Shepherd, and in Rev. 12:5 and 19:15 he is said to "rule with a rod of iron." There are also Old Testament associations between God and the shepherd's crook and the rod. In the Book of Psalms the famous line "Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy Rod and thy Staff, they comfort me" ( Psalms 23:4 ) points to the influence of the Egyptian traditions.

Horus was known as Iu-em-Hetep, he who comes in peace, Horus the avenger, and Horus the afflicted one. Latter Jesus would be called the bringer of peace, he who brings the sword, and the afflicted one. Horus was the sower and Set was the destroyer in the Harvest field. Horus was identified with the plant, the shoot, and the natzar. Jesus was the sower of good seed and Satan the sower of tares. Jesus was also associated with the "true vine".

The influence of astrology on the stories of Horus and then later on the story of Jesus goes far beyond the star that signaled both their births. Horus was known as the Morning Star or as he who gives the Morning Star to his followers just as Jesus was. Horus also spoke of the paradise of the pole star Am-Khemen just as Christians have the Holy City lighted by one luminary that is neither the Sun nor the Moon, which makes it most likely the pole star. Along with the symbolic comparisons, some of the sayings attributed to both deities also show the influence of the Egyptians on the early Christian chroniclers and to those who later translated the Bible. Horus says "It is I who traverse the heavens; I go around the Sekhet-Arru (the Elysian Fields); Eternity has been assigned to me without end. Lo! I am heir of endless time and my attribute is eternity". Striking a remarkably similar cord, Jesus later says "I am come down from Heaven. For this is the will of the Father that everyone who beholdeth the Son and believeth in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Another similarity in speech is when Horus says that "I open the Tuat that I may drive away the darkness." Jesus is later quoted as saying "I am come a light unto the world." One final example is when Horus says that "I am equipped with thy words O Ra (the father of heaven) and repeat them to those who are deprived of breath. These were the words of the father in heaven." Jesus speaks with much the same feeling when he says "The Father which sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."

Finally the most important similarity between the Egyptian religion and Christianity is the concept of a holy trinity. The tradition of the trinity goes back to the Amon theology of the Rameside period. The one god has three appearances or forms which are

114 combined and treated as a singular being. In the later periods, the Egyptian trinity was taken to be Atum the Father, Horus the Son, and Ra the Holy Spirit. This is of course paralleled in the Christian trinity of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is clear that not only the Persian cult of Mithra, but also the ancient pagan religions of Egypt strongly influenced the formation of the Judeo- Christian religion which grew up trapped between these two giants.

Conclusions With all of these comparisons and similarities, I have not intended to imply that the Bible is merely plagiarized from these earlier sources. Nor have I intended to prove the that the Bible is a work of fiction. What I have intended to show, and what is apparently clear, is that when the founders of the Christian faith set out to document the life and message of their founder, Jesus, they drew from the best sources of religious doctrine available.

Just as any other writer, the writers of the Bible were influenced by their own cultural biases and view points as well as by the religious figures they met. And as time went on and Christianity was adopted and spread throughout the Roman Empire and the rest of the world, it is not surprising that it was infused with the religious doctrine, symbolism, and mysticism of the cultures it encountered.

To show that these were not just isolated examples from two religions, here is a list of over thirty saviors who were said to have descended from heaven, taken the form of men, and furnished evidence of their divine origin by various miracles and marvelous works. Each laid the foundation for salvation, all were worshipped as Gods or sons of Gods, many were said to have been born to virgins, and many were also said to have been crucified. The list includes such figures as Chrishna of Hindostan, Budha Sakia of India, Salivahana of Bermuda, Zulis and Orus of Egypt, Odin of the Scandinavians, Crite of Chaldea, Baal and Taut of Phoenecia, Indra of Tibet, Bali of Afganistan, Jao of Nepal, Wittoba of the Bilingonese, Thammuz of Syria, Atys of Phrygia, Xamolxis of Thrace, Adad of Assyria, Deva Tat and Sammonocadam of Siam, Alcides of Thebes, Mikado of the Sintoos, Beddru of Japan, Hesus or Eros and Bremrillah of the Druids, Thor of the Gauls, Cadmus and Adonis of Greece, Hil and Feta of the Mandaites, Gentaut and Quexalcote of Mexico, Universal Monarch of the Sibyls, Ischy of the island of Formosa, Divine teacher of Plato, the Holy One of Xaca, Fohi and Tien of China, Ixion and Quirinus of Rome, Prometheus of Caucasus, Mohamud or Mahomet of Arabia. So, truly, the study of the Christian faith must be a study of world faiths. For if we ignore or dismiss the beliefs of others, even those of ancient civilizations, then we are missing an essential part of our own faith.

Article by Brice C. Smith [email protected]

Mithras – who was he? http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/833_Mithras.html A Persian god from the Zoroastrian pantheon where he was a helper and assistant to the power of Good against the power of Evil. Mithras was born from a rock, and his main service in the fight against Evil was the slay a bull, created by the Evil Lord. He killed the bull in a cave, and from its blood sprang all life.

The cult of Mithras, Mithraism, gradually detached itself from Zoroastrianism, and developed a mythology and rituals of its own.

Originally, Mithras was subordinate to the Lord of Good, identified with the Sun-god, but gradually he was regarded as a peer to the Sun, and finally identified with Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun.

115 The cult of Mithras came to Rome in the first century BCE, and quickly gained a steady following, mostly among soldiers, public servants and merchants. It was widespread throughout the Roman Empire in the first century CE, and peaked in the third century CE, before being suppressed along with all other non-Christian cults at the end of 4th century.

Mithraism was a mystery cult. New members, only men were allowed, had to go through an initiation ritual, which seems to have included some kind of test, before the rituals and ceremonies of the cult were revealed. There were seven levels of initiation, corresponding to the seven heavenly bodies known in antiquity. The rituals included a kind of baptism and communal meals. Statue of Mithras The sevel levels of initiation were: Corax (Raven) was associated with Mercury, and emblems were a heralds want and a cup. Nymphus (Bridegroom) was associated with Venus. Emblems were a lamp and a veil. Miles (Soldier) was associated with Mars. Emblems were a kit bag and a quiver of arrows. Leo (Lion) was associated with Jupiter. Emblems were a thunderbolt, fire shovel and sistrum. Perses (Persian) was associated with the Moon. Emblems were a sickle and spikes of cereal crops. Heliodromus (Courier of the Sun) was associated with the Sun and the emblems were a radiant crown, a torch and a globe. Pater (Father) was associated with Saturn and carried a Phrygian cap, a staff, a sickle-like sword a patera.

Mithras' birth Ceremonies and rituals were held in a Mithraeum (pl. mithraea), which was usually underground to resemble the cave where Mithras slew the sacred bull. The sanctuary had benches on both sides, probably for the ceremonial banquets, and in the back an altar, normally with a depiction of Mithras killing the bull. The mithraea were usually small in size, which indicates a rather limited number of worshippers. About a dozen mithraea have been found in Rome alone, often in natural caves or in the basement of private houses. Many others have been found outside Rome.

116 The Last Supper

Interesting reading on this subject at eeggs.com http://www.eeggs.com/items/4783.html

117 Chapter 58:

Topics in this section: The Gnostic Gospels Peter and Mary in the Last Supper – disembodied hand with a dagger Definition of Sang Real – Royal Blood

The Gnostic Gospels http://www.netacc.net/~mafg/book/v1c3s3.htm

Peter and Mary in the Last Supper – disembodied hand with a dagger

Definition of Sang Real – Royal Blood http://www.geocities.com/elchasqui_2/Bloodline.html

Cups and stones aside, the importance of the Grail exists in its definition as the Sangreal. From this came San Greal = San Graal = Saint Grail = Holy Grail. More correctly, it was the Sang Real - the Blood Royal, carried by the uterine Chalice of Mary Magdalene. As detailed in medieval literature, the Grail was identified with a family and a dynasty. It was the Desposynic 'Vine of Judah', perpetuated in the West through the blood of the Messiah. The lineage of Jesus included the Fisher Kings and Lancelot del Acqs. It descended to the Merovingian Kings of France and the Stewart Kings of Scots, and included such reputed figures as Guilhelm de Gellone and Godefroi de Bouillon.

118 Chapter 60:

Topics in this section: Merovingian Bloodline Did the Merovingians found Paris?

Merovingian Bloodline http://www.ordotempli.org/the_merovingians.htm

The Merovingians by G C H Nullens

The Facts This Frankish dynasty has always been known as the "first race" of the kings of France. It reigned on Gaul from the 5th to the 8th century that means from Clovis I (481-511) to Childeric III (743-751). Its name comes from Merovech who was Childeric I's father. Childeric I ruled over the Salian Frank tribe from his capital in Tournai, Belgium. His son, Clovis I born in 465 succeeded him in 481 or 482 A.D. He rallied under him in addition to the Salian the Ripuarian Franks and the Alamanni. He defeated Syagrius and the Visigoth king Alaric II in 507. His country extended this way to the Pyrennées. His conversion from Paganism to the Catholic religion promoted the fusion between the Franks and the Gallo-Roman population of the conquered countries. This assured the survival of his achievements whereas his Visigoth predecessors had been Arians trying to rule the Catholic Gaul.

The territories were partitioned between his three sons at his death in 511 but he expansion went on with the conquest of Burgundy. Clotaire I reunited the territories in 558 but it was partitioned again in 561, It took half a century of internal battles and the arrival of Clotaire II to reunite them again in 613. Dagobert I became the sole king in 629. On Dagobert's death in 639 the kingdom was divided again. Siegebert III had been King of Austrasia under Dagobert I until 639 and then sole king until 656. At his death Dagobert II became King of Austrasia until 660 or 661 when the Carolingians took over. Dagobert II was restored in 676 until his assassination in 679. He had a son called Sigebert IV. It is not known for certain if he was killed with his father or if he escaped.

The Carolingians took gradually over as Grand Master of the Palace and reduced the Merovingians Kings to mere puppets especially with Pepin II of Herstal. In the winter of 751-752 the last Merovingian King, Childeric III, was deposed and the Carolingian Pepin the Short was elected King in his place. He was send to a monastery with his son and did not leave any successor.

The only possibility to have continuity in the Merovingian dynasty would be with Dagobert II's son, Sigebert IV, if it could be proved that he was not killed with his father.

119

The Story The treasure found by the priest Bérenger Saunière in Rennes-le-Chateau was saved for the future King of France. This King is not the official pretender from the Orleans family but the offspring of the Merovingian King, Saint Dagobert II. His son, Sigebert IV, was thought to have died with his father. This is not true according to the fourth parchment found by Saunière. As we know it was taken from Saunière and kept in Paris by the experts of Saint Sulpice. The abbot Bieil gave it to Emile Hoffet who kept it for himself.

120

When he died this document was bought by the British "International League of Antiquarian Booksellers" or so the story goes. A copy was given to the owner of the castle of Rennes-le-Chateau, Mr Marius Fatin, a well-known mason. According to this league, the castle is important due to the fact that it is there that Sigebert IV hid himself after he escaped after his father' s assassination. His descendants, the counts of Rhedae and the Dukes of Razès lived there too. This was written in the fourth parchment signed by Blanche de Castille found by Saunière in the Visigoth pillar in his Church. The parchment, according to the same source, was put there by the priest Bigou in 1788-1789. Before that date it was with the will of François-Pierre, Baron d'Hautpoul de Rennes and registered by the public notary Captier on 23 November 1644 in Espéraza. Saint Dagobert II was the grandson of Dagobert I. This last one succeeded to keep the Francs kingdom created by Clotaire II united until his death in 639. His successors divided the kingdom and Dagobert II, for instance, was only the King of Austrasia. After the death of his father, Sigebert III, in 656 his adopted son, Childéric I, reigned from 656 to 662. Childéric II followed him from 662 to 676. Finally Dagobert II climbed on the throne but he was assassinated in 679 as well as his son Sigebert IV according to the official history. The assassination was ordered by the palace Master Pépin d'Héristal.

The Merovingian dynasty continued formally with Thierry IV and Childéric III who was removed in 751 and this was the end of the dynasty. According to the parchment found by Saunière, and this could be true according to some historians, Sigebert IV escaped and arrived in the Razes on the 17 of January 681 where he took refuge with his grand father. Dagobert II had as a second wife Gisèle, the daughter of Béra II the count of Razès. The Merovingian line included, after Sigebert IV (676-758) also known as the "Plant-Ard" - from whom Mr Plantard took his name!-: Sigebert V (695-768), Bera III (715-771), Guillemon, Bera IV (755-836), Bera V (794-860), Hildéric I and finally Sigebert VI known as "Ursus". From this lineage came the Blanchefort family who gave three centuries later a Templar Grand Master, Bertrand de Blanchefort. The Pope who destroyed the Templars, Clement V, came from the same family. According to the parchment found by Saunière the lineage did not stop with Sigebert VI but continued up to this date although nobody claimed the French throne. (o)

Did the Merovingians found Paris? http://www.paris-on-line.com/eng/turisme/historia.htm LUTETIA: GALLO-ROMAN TOWN

As early as the second Iron Age the Parisii (Celtic population from Germania) settled on the Île de la Cité, which was called Lucoticia, and fought against the Roman conquest.

Thanks to the gold coins found in archaeological digs, we can assume that already at this time Lutetia enjoyed considerable economic importance.

The Romans won the battle for Lutetia and left the town in ruins. Lutetia then divided into two towns:

* The Gallic town rebuilt on Île de la Cité according to the models of Italian cities, from where the Roman governor ruled. * The new city established on the left bank. There are still traces of Gallo-Roman remains from that time, such as the Amphitheatre ("les Arènes") of Lutetia or the Thermal Baths of Cluny.

The right bank was left uninhabited and abandoned to the marshes (hence the name of the Marais neighbourhood).

Under Roman rule the town was prosperous and commercial, of average importance, with a population of around 8000.

The town prospered for three centuries, then from the middle of the third century the invasions of the « Barbarians » (peoples from across the Rhine) began to destabilize the Roman Empire.

121 These invasions did not spare Lutetia, where the inhabitants withdrew to the Île de la Cité, a defensive site made even more effective by the construction of fortifications. It was at this time that Lutetia took the name of Paris and that Christianity appeared with the first bishop, Saint Denis.

LUTETIA: MEROVINGIAN CAPITAL

The fifth century was marked by invasions, notably those led by Attila and the Huns, who destroyed Gaul but did not touch the Parisian Basin (then making up an independent Gallo-Roman state). Legend has it that Paris was saved thanks to the courage of a small shepherdess called Geneviève. She even became the patron saint of the city.

Although the Huns spared Paris, it finally came under the yoke of the Franks. Paris became the capital of the kingdom of Clovis, and his successors had numerous churches and basilicas built there (notably the Abbaye Sainte Geneviève as a tribute to the patron saint of Paris, the Église Saint Germain des Prés, and the Palais Royal.). The town now spread onto both banks.

DECLINE UNDER THE CAROLINGIANS

The Carolingians succeeded the Merovingians in the 7th century and moved the centre of power toward northeast France, closer to the regions from where they originated (the Rhine area).

The emperor Charlemagne decided to establish the two capitals of the Empire in Rome and in Aix la Chapelle.

With the Carolingian decline Paris, which lost its political importance, was weakened. It became the scene of numerous assaults and sieges by Norse Vikings.

The town resisted as it could, but the Roman town located on the left bank and the suburbs were destroyed. For a century, the Parisians once again inhabited the Île de la Cité.

THE CITY OF THE FIRST CAPETIANS

In 987 Hugues Capet offered Paris the opportunity to become the first capital of the kingdom. The town then grew rich, thanks to its trading activity and to its major land commercial routes (sheets from the north, wheat, fish).

The monarchs established themselves in the palace of the Cité and the densely constructed and inhabited Île de la Cité remained the royal and episcopal power centres.

In 1163 Bishop Maurice de Sully began the construction of Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was only completed in 1330. The kings Hugues Capet, Henri Ier, Philippe Ier and Louis VI succeeded each other in the Palais of the Cité.

The fortifications were reinforced, notably at the bridges, while the left bank was almost abandoned. It was used as agricultural land.

THE WORKS OF PHILIPPE AUGUSTE

Under Philippe Auguste, Paris became a more important defensive town, capable of resisting the attacks of the king of England thanks to the construction of strong ramparts which also encircled the left bank (Paris moreover remained a fortified town for over seven centuries).

The Louvre, which was then a fortress, began to be built in 1180.

122

123 Chapter 61:

Topics in this section: Legends of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Mozart;s Magic Flute full of Masonic symbols and grail secrets? The "Little Mermaid" and the Archetype of the Lost "Bride."

Legends of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/htmlpages/legendliterature5.html

Gawain is best known for his adventure with the Green Knight. In this famous tale, Gawain is a devout but humanly imperfect Christian who wins a test of arms, resists temptation by a lord's wife, but succumbs to an offer of invulnerability.

The poem has 2,500 alliterative lines that are broken up into irregular stanzas by short rhyming passages.

The story is basically this: Gawain and other knights are in attendance at Arthur's court on New Year's Day. Arthur, as is his custom, refuses to eat until he has seen some marvel. A mysterious man appears and issues a challenge: One man may strike him one blow with an axe. If he survives, he will expect the knight who struck the blow to afford him the same chance in a year's time. Gawain takes up the challenge and beheads the man. The man grabs his head, laughs, and tells Gawain to fulfill his part of the bargain. The Green Knight leaves the axe as a memento and a sharp reminder of Gawain's promise: He must go to the Green Chapel in a year and a receive a blow just like the one he gave the Green Knight.

Not to be thought cowardly or vulnerable, Gawain agrees.

Fast forward to the following December:

124 Gawain reaches a splendid castle (as if by chance) at Christmas; he is entertained for a few days by the castle lord, his ravishing wife, and a mysterious black-shrouded older woman. The host tells Gawain that the Green Chapel is just around the corner and further invites him to stay the last three days of the year in the castle. Ever gracious, Gawain accepts. The castle lord proposes a game: He and Gawain will each share with the other what they have gained at the end of a day. For the lord, this is game that he has hunted and killed; for Gawain, it is kisses that he has received from the lord's lady, who has tried to seduce him while her lord is away. She also gives him a talisman-laden green girdle, which he does not give up. The next day, the first of the new year, Gawain and a guide from the castle set out for the Green Chapel. The guide tries to dissuade Gawain from fulfilling his part of the bargain by boasting of the Green Knight's fearsome deeds, but Gawain will not be swayed. At the Green Chapel, the Green Knight appears and swings the axe three times: The first two are feints, and the third nicks Gawain slightly. The Green Knight then explains that he was Sir Bertilak, the lord of the castle where Gawain had stayed, and that he had deliberately set his wife to tempt Gawain and that the third knick was for the green girdle, which Gawain had not revealed. The Green Knight further reveals that the black-shrouded older woman at the castle was Morgan Le Fay, whose idea the whole challenge was. She, it seems, was trying to stir up trouble.

Gawain returns to Arthur's court, the knights rejoice to see him alive, and they all wear green girdles in his honor.

This poem is largely regarded as the finest of its kind. Preserved in the same manuscript with the Green Knight tale were three other poems: Patience, Purity, and Pearl. The author of these four tales is frequently referred to as the "Pearl Poet."

Legend of King Arthur http://www.legends.dm.net/kingarthur/

Attempting to build a comprehensive Arthurian reference site would be redundant, since there are many good sources with access to original texts, bibliographies, and other materials on the net. Finding the cream of the many existing Arthurian sites is trickier. Here's our list of the best, in no particular order.

A Guide to Resources on the Net King Arthur site at Britannia, an internet magazine, is a great place to start your explorations of the Arthurian legends. Includes essays by (and a conversation with) Geoffrey Ashe, surveys of various aspects of the legend, and an illustrated "Magical History Tour" of Britain. Britannia's Sources of British History page also includes some original Arthurian documents.

Arthurian Resources on the Internet, an annotated guide by John J. Doherty, includes links to both general and scholarly sites, with commentary.

Arthur: A Man for the Ages is David White's site on the history and legends of Arthur. Heavily cross-referenced. 125

Arthurian Resources by Thomas Green, a scholarly survey site emphasizing current research, with excellent bibliographical notes on reliable editions of the source materials. New URL.

The Camelot Project, University of Rochester, is designed to make available in electronic format a database of Arthurian texts, images, bibliographies, and basic information.

The TEAMS Middle English Texts are published for TEAMS (The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) in association with the University of Rochester by Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The available texts include many primary Arthurian sources.

Arthuriana is the official journal of the North American branch of the International Arthurian Society. The first of Arthuriana's peer-reviewed, online analytical and bibliographical surveys of Arthurian subjects to be made available on the net is Arthurian Fantasy, 1980-1989: An analytical and bibliographical survey by John J. Doherty. New URLs.

Projects supported by Arthuriana include:

A Gazetteer of Arthurian Sites Arthuriana Chronology

Llys Arthur / Arthur's Court explores the Welsh origins of the Arthurian cycle. It's part of Jeff Davies' Gwarnant, which aims "to be the best resource on the web for the history and poetry of early-medieval and medieval Wales."

Glastonbury Abbey's official website.

Mozart;s Magic Flute full of Masonic symbols and grail secrets? http://www.indianamasons.org/imosanctum/mozartandmasonry.html Mozart, Music and Masonry By William K. Bissey, MPS

(Johann Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on January 27, 1756 and died in Vienna on December 5, 1791. He was the seventh and last child of Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria, nee Pertl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth on the feast day of St. John Chrysostom; thus, his first two names. Of the seven children born to Leopold and Anna Maria, only Wolfgang and his older sister Nannerl (Maria Anna) survived infancy. Nannerl was four and one- half years older than her famous brother.

Leopold was a violinist and later organist and Assistant Conductor at the Court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Austria. Among Wolfgang's paternal ancestors were several operative master masons (i. e., architects) including his great-grandfather David.

By watching his sister at her piano studies, Mozart was playing simple pieces on the Clavier at age four. He gave a public concert at age five and one-half. Over the succeeding year, Mozart played at the Royal Courts of Munich, Vienna, Paris, and London. He composed his first opera before he was fourteen (Mitridate K.87) and directed it for twenty performances in Milan, Italy.

Mozart and his father Leopold made several musical journeys throughout western Europe. Most of these journeys were made possible by the generosity of Archbishop Schrattenbach who recognized Wolfgang's genius and did not object to the projects. 126 Schrattenbach's successor, Hieronymus von Collordeo, was a dull and unartistic individual who did not approve of the various projects. Mozart's relations with the new archbishop become increasingly strained and he left Salzburg for Vienna.

On August 4, 1782 Mozart married Contanze Weber. He described his wife has having no wit, but plenty of common sense and the kindest heart in the world. The union had six children, but only two survived.

In Vienna, Mozart achieved his greatest fame as a composer, but was never able to secure a decent paying post. Neither he nor his wife was capable of managing their financial affairs. And it was in Vienna that he became a Freemason.

There has been much confusion and many falsehoods about Mozart's death and burial.

In 1790 he was in poor health in Prague. He took ill again at the end of November, 1791 and was confined to bed. On December 4 his condition worsened and he died at 55 minutes past Midnight on December 5, 1791. The cause of death was originally registered as hitziges Friesel Fieber (severe military fever). Later his death was diagnosed as due to rheumatische Entziidungsfieber (rheumatic inflammatory fever).

Last rites were held at St. Stephen's Cathedral on December 7, 1791. Burial was at St. Marx Cemetery outside the city walls. He was quietly buried in a mass grave in accordance with Contanze's orders and in accordance with then contemporary Viennese custom. The lack of mourners at the burial was also a contemporary Viennese custom.. The weather was mild with a frequent mist, with a light east wind and a temperature of about 37°F. A few days after the burial, a Lodge of Sorrow was held at Lodge zur gekrönten Hoffnung (Crowned Hope) which was the newly adopted name for Lodge zur neugekrönten Hoffnung (Newly Crowned Hope).

Austrian Freemasonry

The first lodge, in what was then the Austrian Empire, was founded in Prague in 1726.

In 1731, six English Brethren initiated and passed Francis, Duke of Lorraine, at an occasional lodge at the home of the English ambassador to The Hague of the Austrian Netherlands. He was later raised at an emergency lodge in Norfolk, England. He married Maria Theresa in 1736 and in 1740 became Emperor and joint ruler of the Austrian Empire of the Hapsburgs.

Maria Theresa was strongly opposed to the Craft. In 1764, she issued an Imperial Decree forbidding the practice of Freemasonry. This Decree was ignored.

In 1765, Francis died and his son, as Joseph II, became joint ruler with his mother. Joseph was not a Freemason, but had a benign interest in the fraternity. Maria Theresa died in 1780. On March 26, 1781 Joseph decreed that no spiritual or secular orders were to submit to a foreign authority outside the Empire. Thus on April 22, 1784 the Gross Landesloge von Österreich (The Grand Lodge of Austria) was established with 62 lodges.

On December 11,1785, under pressure from the clergy, Joseph issued a decree ordering the consolidation of lodges. The eight lodges in Vienna were to be consolidated into three lodges. All lodges were to periodically submit detailed membership lists for the inspection of the government.

Joseph II died in 1790 and was succeeded by his brother Leopold II who was pro-Masonic. Leopold ruled for only two years. His son and heir Francis II was anti-Masonic and believed that all secret societies, including Freemasonry, were working against him. Given this climate, lodges voluntarily closed in 1794 and the Craft was formally suppressed in January, 1795. Freemasonry did not return to Austria until 1918.

Sadie notes in his biography of Mozart that "The society was essentially one of liberal intellectuals, concerned less with political ideals that with the philosophical ones of the Enlightenment, including Nature, Reason and the brotherhood of Man." This 127 description of the fraternity was reflected in the membership of the Viennese lodges which included nobility, senior army officers, leading businessmen, and intellectuals of the city.

Mozart and Freemasonry

Mozart was proposed for membership in Lodge zur Wohltätigkeit (translated either as Charity or Beneficence) on December 5, 1784. On December 14 he was initiated as a Lehrlinge (Entered Apprentice), becoming number 20 on the lodge roll. Ten days later he attended Lodge zur wahren Eintracht (True Concord) and, at the request of his mother lodge, was passed to the degree of Geselle (Fellow Craft) in that lodge on January 7, 1785. The Master of Lodge True Concord was Ignaz von Born, a distinguished scientist and writer.

Leopold visited Vienna in early 1785. Because he was to be in Vienna but a short time, his progress through the degree work was expedited. Leopold was proposed as a candidate on March 28, 1785. He was initiated in Lodge Charity on April 6, 1785. It was in Lodge True Concord that he was passed on April 16, 1785 and raised to the degree of Meister (Master Mason) on April 22, 1785.

The date of Wolfgang's being raised to the degree of Master Mason is the subject of some debate. Smyth, Nettl, and others maintain that the actual date is unknown. Main and Chailley state he was raised on April 22, 1785. The divergence of opinions is due to the interpretation of the attendance register of April 22, 1785 of Lodge True Concord.

In a letter commenting on Bro. Smyth's paper on Mozart, Bro. F. de Backer of Kortrijk, Belgium states the following. The minutes of Lodge True Concord of April 22, 1785 show the following "Bro. Leopold Mozard (sic) of Lodge zur Wohltätigkeit ...[with two other candidates]...were raised to the Third Degree of our Royal Order with the accustomed ceremonies." Bro. de Backer continues stating that "In the Attendance Register of Eintract for 22 April both Leopold and Wolfgang signed as a Master Mason but the name of Leopold was struck through because he had signed as a Master Mason while still a Fellow Craft." A photo copy of the attendance register in question is reproduced as plate 2 in Nettl's book Mozart and Masonry. Thus, Wolfgang Mozart was raised as a Master Mason sometime between January 7, 1785 and April 2, 1785.

Mozart's Music

Although he lived only thirty-five years, Mozart produced over 600 works: 41 symphonies, 15 major church choral works, 23 piano concertos, 130 concertos for other instruments, 23 operas, and some 500 other pieces of music.

A chronological catalog of his music was compiled by Ludwig von Köchel whose K. numbers are used to identify Mozart's works. There have been several revisions of this catalog, including a revision in 1937 by Alfred Einstein, a cousin of the famous scientist Albert. Alfred Einstein has been considered by some as the foremost Mozart scholar of the 20th century.

Mozart's Masonic Music

In Smyth's paper on Mozart there are several lists of what are to be considered Mozart's Masonic music. Some of the works were composed for performance in lodges or were obviously Masonic in nature. Some Mozart scholars include other compositions that were Masonic in spirit, but not written to be performed in a lodge. A conservative estimate yields seven compositions which are Masonic.

On March 26, 1785, Wolfgang composed Gesellenreise (Fellow Craft's Journey) K.468 with the text by Bro. Franz Joseph v. Ratschky. It was first performed in Lodge True Concord on April 16, 1785, the date that Leopold was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft. It can be assumed that Wolfgang wrote this composition in honor of his father's being passed to the second degree.

128 A cantata, Die Maurerfreude (Masonic Joy) K.471, with words by Franz Petran, was composed on April 20, 1785 and first performed in Lodge Crowned Hope on April 24, 1785. The cantata was composed for a celebration in honor of Ignaz von Born who was Master of True Concord.

Maurerische Trauermusik (Masonic Funeral Music) K.477 was composed in Vienna on November 10, 1785 for a Lodge of Sorrows held by Lodge Crowned Hope a week later. The occasion was the funerals of Brothers Georg August, Duke of Mecklenburg-Streletz and Franz, Count Esterhazy of Galantha.

In December of 1785, Mozart wrote Opening (K.483) and Closing Odes (K.484) for Lodge Crowned Hope. The texts of both compositions were by Bro. Augustin Veith Edler von Schittlersberg, Senior Warden of Lodge True Concord.

Eine Kleine Freimaurerkantate (Little Masonic Cantata) K.623 was composed by Mozart in Vienna on November 15, 1791 with the text purportedly by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work was written for the dedication of the temple of Lodge New Crowned Hope. The performance was held on November 18, 1791 which was two days before the onset of his fatal illness. This was the last work completed by Mozart.

The Little Masonic Cantata was published after his death and the score stated that the words were the work of a member of Lodge New Crowned Hope of which Schikaneder was not a member.

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

Of all of Mozart's works, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute K.620) is one of the most famous. The libretto was written by Bro. Emanuel Schikaneder who was director of the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna. It was at that theater that The Magic Flute was first performed on September 30, 1791.

The two act opera is a confusing story whose first act starts as fairy tale, continues as a comedy, and ends in philosophic tirades. As Chailley notes, "The second act is occupied entirely by initiatory trials." These trials, a part of the Entered Apprentice degree of European Freemasonry, evoke the four elements of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.

The story of The Magic Flute has many sources. Schikaneder apparently drew the basic plot from Liebeskind's Lulu oder Die Zauberflöte. Many of the ritual elements were from Jean Terasson's novel Sethos which has an ancient Egyptian setting. Another source for the Egyptian setting was Gebler's Thamos, König in Agypten.

Schikaneder was a member of Lodge Karl zu den drei Schüsseln (Charles of the Three Keys) in Regensburg, Germany. His "free ways" caused him to be suspended for six months on May 4, 1789. He was not listed on any Viennese lodge roll.

In a book on opera published in 1849 in Germany, it was suggested that the libretto was written by Johann Georg Metzler who was known as Giesecke. It was convenient that the book was published long after everyone involved was dead. Most scholars dismiss the idea that someone other that Schikaneder wrote the libretto. However, at least one published copy of the opera cites the libretto having joint authorship of Schikaneder and Giesecke.

According to Sadie in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, "Die Zauberflöte is an allegory set in no real locality or historical period. Ancient Egypt is evoked by the mysteries...The exotic costumes and settings are a mask. Mozart and Schikaneder intended a coded representation of Freemasonry."

The Magic Flute is accepted as a Masonic opera. But to what extent Masonic symbolism is used in the opera depends upon who is interpreting the symbolism of the opera. Also, it should be remembered that the opera is written using the symbolism of European Masonic ritual which is somewhat different from the English rituals from which American rituals are derived. And, if the theories of one French musicologist, Jacques Chailley, are to be accepted, the opera is really about Adoptive Masonry. Adoptive Masonry, which admits both men and women, was popular in France in the 18th century. Chailley's book contains

129 illustrations which demonstrates that five, not three, is the prominent number in Adoptive Masonry. After the abolition of Freemasonry in Austria, some argued that the opera was political, not Masonic.

Oscar Wilde, in his Preface to Dorian Gray, commented that "All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril." Perhaps the best comment about the interpreting the symbolism of The Magic Flute is from William Mann, a music critic for The Times of London. Mann states that he is not a Mason, but that his father was a Mason. Mann's father said that The Magic Flute had special relevance for him but not as much as people have suggested.

The symbolism of the opera, which is limited to the first degree, starts with the overture. According to Sadie "The overture is in the 'masonic key'of E flat major (with three flats). The introduction sounds three chords, two of them twice. This signifies the number three (or possibly the masonic feminine number five)." The Magic Flute is loaded with threes: three ladies, three boys, three knocks at the door, three priests, three temples (named Wisdom, Nature, and Reason), etc. The frontispiece of the original printed libretto of 1791 shows a blazing star and what looks like a compass and a trowel in an Egyptian setting.

The first act's Masonic symbolism is limited. Besides the repetition of the number three, there is serpent which is considered a symbol of brotherhood. There is also a reference to a Starblazing Queen.

It is in the second act that Masonic symbolism becomes pronounced. In Scene One, priests are questioning Sarastro about the youth who is accompanying him. The questions are similar to those asked of the Senior Steward in the First Degree. In the same scene Sarastro notes "...the greatness of our arduous craft."

It is in Scene Two that the trials begin. Of the four trials, only Water and Fire are readily visible. The first trial is a trial by Earth in a room resembling a Chamber of Reflection. According to MacNulty, "European Masons provide an opportunity for thought before joining the Order." The prospective candidate sits alone in a small room and writes his reasons for wanting to become a Freemason. His reasons for wanting to join the order are reviewed by the Brethren and, if acceptable, then the individual accepted as a candidate.

The next trial is Air which is announced by the arrival of the Three Boys in a flying chariot who present Tamino with a "wind" instrument, the flute, which Chailley says is a sign of Air.

Scene Three clearly shows the trials by Water and by Fire. Much later in Act Two there are two mountains, one with a waterfall and one that spits fire.

In an aria in Scene Twelve, Sarastro sings "...our holy masonry..."

It has been suggested that the primary characters in The Magic Flute represented people in the history of Austrian Freemasonry. Sarastro is Ignaz von Born, the Queen of the Night is Empress Maria Theresa, Tamino is Joseph II, and Pamina represents the people of Austria. These are speculations as Mozart did not leave any information as to whom the characters in the opera may have represented.

Johann Wolfgang von Geothe, the German poet and novelist, was also a Freemason. He started writing a sequel with the title of Der Zauberflöte 2.Theil (The Magic Flute, Part Two). Only a fragment of this work was ever completed.

William K. Bissey is a member of North Park Lodge No. 646 and a Dual Member of St. Johns Lodge No. 20. The author would like to thank Brother James E. Granneman, Librarian of the Valley of Indianapolis, AASR for his assistance.

References

Abbot, Scott. Fictions of Freemasonry: Freemasonry and the German Novel. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1991. 130 Brophy, Brigid. Mozart the Dramatist. Revised ed. New York: Da Capo Press, 1990.

Chailley, Jacques. The Magic Flute: Masonic Opera. Translated by Herbert Weinstock. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971.

Coil, Henry Wilson. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia. Revised by Allen E. Roberts. Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1995.

Köchel, Dr. Ludwig Ritter von. Chronologish-thematisches Verzeichris sämtlicher

Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart. Revised by Alfred Einstein. Leipzig: Breitkopf and Härtel, 1937.

Denslow, William R. 10,000 Famous Freemasons. Vol. 3 and 4. Trenton, Missouri:

Missouri Lodge of Research, 1959.

Landon, H. C. Robbins. Mozart and the Masons: New Light on the Lodge Crowned

Hope. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1983.

_____. Mozart: The Golden Years 1781-1791. New York: Schirmer Books, 1989.

MacNulty, W. Kirk. Freemasonry: A Journey through Ritual and Symbol. New York:

Thames and Hudson, 1991.

McLeod, Wallace. "Masonic Symbols-Their Use and Abuse." The Philalethes

48 (June, 1995): 52-55.

Main, Lewis L., Jr. Brother Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Buena Park, California.: Southern California Research Lodge F& AM, n. d.

Mann, William. The Operas of Mozart. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. The Magic Flute. Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, English version by Andrew Porter. London: Faber Music, Ltd., 1984.

_____. The Complete Masonic Music. Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper. VoxBox CDX 5055, 1991.

Nettl, Paul. Mozart and Masonry. New York: Dorset Press, 1957.

Pick, Fred L. and G. Norman Knight. The Freemason's Pocket Reference Book. 3d ed. Revised by Frederick Smyth. London: Frederick Muller, Ltd., 1983.

Pott P. H. "Working the Craft in The Netherlands." On-line. Internet. Available:

131 www.porta.com/vrijmetselarij/workingcraft

Sadie, Stanley. The New Grove Mozart. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1983.

_____, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. New York: Macmillian, 1992.

S. v. "Die Zauberflöte," by Julian Rushton.

Smyth, Frederick, "Brother Mozart of Vienna." Ars Quatuor Coronatorum

(Transactions of Quator Coronati Lodge No. 2076 London). 87(1974): 37-73.

William K. Bissey 8305 Sobax Drive Indianapolis, IN 46268-1731

Ariel, the "little mermaid" in the Disney® film, is much more than a fairy tale for little girls. Rather, she is a powerful metaphor for the plight of the "Sacred Feminine" over the last several thousand years of western civilization. Since Mary Magdalene, the "Lost Bride" in the Christian story, is a "carrier" of the Sacred Feminine, (in fact, a composite of Aphrodite, Athene, and Demeter, not to mention similarities with Isis, Inanna and Astarte--and the Holy Sophia!), this discussion is relevant especially to her. She was to have been the Lady of the Age of Pisces as Christ was its Lord, forming together the sacred mandala of "hieros gamos" for the Age of the Fishes.

What happened to this "Goddess" of the ancient world--she who was "Queen of Heaven and Earth"? She has been systematically devalued and made diminutive, relegated into the watery depths of our unconscious (like Ariel, the seventh of seven sisters), controlled and patronized by the "benevolent" patriarchy (Ariel's father, King Triton, in the Disney movie). Ariel's face is dark, like that of the Bride in the Song of Songs (1:5), "swarthy" from her labor in her brothers' vineyards. And she has long wavy red hair, a commonly held attribute of Mary Magdalene.

And what is the dream and desire of Ariel, the littlest mermaid? Why, to walk upon the green earth, out in the sunlight. It is interesting to note that in the Disney film, it is not Ariel who needs to be saved, but rather it is the "handsome Prince" who is in deep trouble, shipwrecked and dying (the condition of the partriarchy at the dawn of Aquarius??) it is Ariel who is HIS redeemer, not the other way around!

In her cave under the ocean, Ariel collects artifacts from Spanish galleons shipwrecked at sea. She examines the commonplace items used by humans and wonders what they are for and what it would be like to be human. Among her treasures is a painting by Georges de la Tour called "Magdalen with the Smoking Flame." Mary is gazing at a candle burning on the table beside her. In the film, Ariel tries to pluck the flame out of the picture. 132 Of all the possible pictures available from art galleries around the world, it is incredibly significant that the directors of the Disney® film chose to place Mary Magdalene at the bottom of the sea, for it is SHE who represents the lost Bride and the archetype of the "Sacred Feminine" as partner in Christian mythology. She also represents the Church as Bride and was recognized as the model for "ekklesia" by the early Christian fathers -- the "beloved community" redeemed by Christ. In this connection, it is almost uncanny that the little mermaid is called Ariel, for Ariel is a synonym for Jerusalem, the Holy City besieged (see Isaiah 29:1-8). Either the use of these symbols was deliberate on the part of the directors of the film, or it rose spontaneously from the depths of their unconscious and was intuited to be appropriate!

And what is the condition of young Ariel? She, too, is besieged. She is chided and teased about her wish to be human. Her kindly father and the sea witch even conspire to prevent her from being joined with her beloved. Her voice is stolen and she is unable to speak her truth. In a similar way, Magdalene's voice was "stolen" when she was called prostitute (without any scriptural justification whatsoever!). Her story was desecrated, her robes and mantle of honor, like those of the Bride in the Canticle, were stripped from her by the "guardians of the walls" (5:7).

In the film, the little mermaid does not carry a book and a mirror by accident. These are icons readily identified in Medieval art. The mirror is not just a symbol for feminine vanity but represents the role of the material world (Mater, mother, matter) to manifest the Divine in "the flesh," as the moon mirrors the sun. The "Sophia" is called the "immaculate mirror" of Divine energy. The book represents all natural and spiritual law -- science and revelation -- and the Wisdom of seeking to know God's precepts. In Medieval times the adage "Nothing is without meaning" applied to every icon in every painting. I would love to ask the Disney® film director if these icons were used by holy accident -- or by design.

An interesting aside is that the Merovingian bloodline, identified as the "vine of Mary" in the heresy of the Holy Grail, is said to have had a mermaid as a progenitoress and to be descended from a king "Merovee" who was half man, half fish. Mermaids are prominent among the medieval watermarks related to the heresy of the bloodline, and some are rendered with the fleur-de-lis of the Merovingians entwined around their double tails. The connection of Mary Magdalene with the mermaid and the "Queen of the Sea" is very old.

What is the ultimate desire of the "devalued" Feminine archetype personified by "Ariel"? Of course, it is to be reunited with the "Divine Masculine" in sacred partnership -- not sublimated to his interests as her savior and mentor, but as his partner, his Beloved and his equal -- something women are barely able to imagine after centuries of being the "little sister," one of the poignant epithets of the Bride in the Song of Songs! (8:8)

Carl Jung speaks of the condition of the patriarchy at the end of the age when its energy has been spent and it is no longer able to uphold the "establishment" it has built over the millennia. The "masculine" suffers burnout. Jung calls it the "enantiodromia." At some point, the feminine rises and returns to lend her strength and for a period the two are reconciled and unite to forge a new cultural "thrust" for the next age. It is time now for the "sacred feminine" to reemerge to play her role in the waning hours of the Age of Pisces, for her "prince" can't be whole without her!

How interesting that the image of the little mermaid, with the MM's of Mary Magdalene formed at the ends of her two tails and in her crown, is posted at streetcorners worldwide in the form of the Starbucks® logo! She is the "siren" calling to us from our unconscious, hoping that we will hear her voice! She is intent on finding her way into our conscious lives as she rises to join her Beloved!

Ave Millennium -- MM!

======

133

Margaret Starbird is the author of The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail (1993) and The Goddess in the Gospels: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine (1998)

Margaret Starbird's e-mail address: [email protected] Margaret Starbird's webpage: http://www.telisphere.com/~starbird

134 Chapter 67:

Topics in this section: King Arthur’s Avalon is believed to be in Glastonbury, England

King Arthur’s Avalon is believed to be in Glastonbury, England http://www.lightworker.com/HotSpots/glastonbury/glastonburyarticle.shtml By Tyberonn

Copyrighted-Oct 14, 2001

Located in England's southwest corner is the legendary village of Glastonbury. Rich in both myth and history ,Glastonbury is one of the most spellbinding places in the world. Recognized as a spiritual center since the megalithic era, it is the site of the first Christian church in the British Isles and claimed to be the Avalon of King Arthur.

The small village of Glastonbury itself is lovely and quaint, cradled among a series of velvety green hills. The tallest of these hills is the famous Tor, an oblong hill formation with the impressive remains of a church tower on top, dedicated to the Archangel Michael. At the foot of the Tor is the Chalice Well and the spherical dome of Chalice Hill. Below in the town center lay the ruins of the great Abbey, site of Joseph of Arimathea's church, and gravesite of the legendary King Arthur. Wearyall Hill, location of the legendary thorn tree is on the west entrance to the village.

Glastonbury was a major religious center long before the time of King Arthur or Joseph of Arimathea. The Druids utilized the Tor from 2500 BC as an initiation center for priests. Megalithic Age remains dating from 5,000 BC reveals Glastonbury as the site of a massive astrological calendar combining a stone circle, with solar and lunar alignments, (atop the Tor) and a land carved zodiac map, ten miles in diameter.

Druid priests and society considered Glastonbury their 'holy mecca'. Understandably so. Complete with temples, stone circles, fertility sites and a sacred Goddess center, druid high priests and high priestesses were trained, initiated and centered at the Tor and Chalice Well. The Chalice wellspring was considered to be the earth source for the Goddess, Gaia. Her red waters were sacred and used for healing.

Cradle of Christianity

Traditional legends claim that the first Christian church in Britain was formed in Glastonbury by Jesus' uncle, Joseph of Armithea and that Jesus himself was brought here as a boy to be schooled by esoteric druid priests. Legends further claim Glastonbury was temporary home to the 'Holy Grail', and housed the great 'Arc of the Covenant'. While certain claims are perhaps folklore, others are supported with credible historical evidence. Though notable historians are divided on these claims, there is ample academic evidence to support the presence of Joseph of Armithea in Glastonbury. England was part of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ's birth.

Roman occupation on the British Isles actually began around 55 BC and continued for 400 years. The Romans invaded England to take possession of the burgeoning mining activity in order to supply their vast military needs. At this time, Glastonbury was an inland island, surrounded by a great tidal fed lake, and therefore directly accessible from the sea. While Romans conducted

135 mining operations in nearby areas, Glastonbury Isle served more as a center for religious sects and as a refuge for healing, due to its well-known curative springs. The Romans recognized the healing properties of the spring, and are credited with building the well basin.

The nearby area of Cornwall and Somerset were the principal sites of Roman mining, where lead and tin were extracted and smelted. Ancient remains of tin mines still remain in several area locations.

According to historians, Joseph of Arimathea, uncle of Jesus and provider of his tomb, was a wealthy tin merchant and had on numerous occasions come to the British Isles in his business capacity. Southwest England had active lead, iron, zinc, tin and copper mines from the Bronze Age forward, and was the primary supplier of tin and lead to the Roman Empire by 15 BC.

Jesus in Glastonbury

As a metal trader, Joseph of Armithea had business dealings in Roman occupied Somerset and Cornwall, and made numerous trips to Britain on the regular routed ore vessels. Popular legend claims he brought the boy Jesus with him on several of his trips. The Cornish Celts claimed that Joseph of Armithea left Jesus, by divine order, at the druidic college at Place on the Roseland peninsula in Cornwall. Several pictographs dated to 500 AD on the arched door of the Saxon and Norman church in the township of Place, Cornwall, depict the scene of a young Jesus arriving and receiving instruction.

After the crucifixion of Christ in 33 AD, Joseph of Armithea sought refuge in the British Isles with his family and a small entourage of family and believers. Some claim Saint Mary was among this group. The sacred and powerful Lady Chapel in the Glastonbury Abbey Ruins is named in her honour.

Wearyall Hill

Joseph of Armithea reputedly carried with him a staff made from an Israeli hawthorn tree. Legend claims Joseph thrust his staff into the moist ground at his campsite in Glastonbury Isle on Wearyall Hill. Within days it took root. This he interpreted as a sign from God to stay here and establish his home and church. He established the first Christian church in Glastonbury in 37 AD. The descendents of the Glastonbury Thorn tree still grow on Wearyall Hill and near the Tor. This particular variety of hawthorn blossoms twice annually at Christmas and at Easter, as do varieties of hawthorn found only in Palestine and Israel. Interestingly, no indigenous English varieties of hawthorns bloom at Christmas time.

The oblong Wearyall Hill, like the Tor and Chalice Hill was an island 1500 years ago in the great tidal lake of Avalon. The Michael line flows freely along its base, an up to the holy thorn. At the thorn, an impressive spiral of energy fountains upward. Renowned Cornish dowser and author Hamish Miller confirmed both the leyline path and the spiral energy fountain at the Holy Thorn in 1997. Miller traces the leyline across England in his book " The Sun and the Serpent". He further notes that the leyline turns at a sharp angle toward the Abbey, precisely at the holy thorn. I found the energy there to be very invigorating, very crisp. The lushness of the hill is similar to the Tor, and mediation comes easily.

Despite the proximity of the entrance road 350 meters below the thorn, I could hear only the serene flow of breeze while on the hill. The silence and serenity were unique and somewhat striking. I was able to lapse into alpha state immediately in the perimeter of the holy thorn. Visions and inner voices are enhanced, the energy fountain mesmerizing. Wearyall Hill and the holy thorn resonate to the fifth chakra.

The ancient remains of a church and chapel have been discovered on Wearyall Hill, It is thought to be the initial location of Joseph's Waddle Church. Sacred earth indeed.

136

The Holy Grail

Joseph is said to have brought with him a precious relic that was displayed on the churches alter; the chalice from which Jesus and the 12 disciples drank in the Last Supper, and that Joseph used to collect Christ's blood at the Crucifixion. This chalice became the legendary Holy Grail proliferated in Arthurian legend, symbolic of man's eternal quest for perfection. He is said to have buried the grail near the Chalice Well, and in so doing the well flowed red, signifying the healing blood of Christ.

The Blue Chalice

There are fascinating connections between the Chalice Well, Glastonbury, the 'Holy Grail' and the arc of the covenant. In the early 1900's a chalice was found in Bridies well in Glastonbury and determined by the British museum to be 'consistent with'Syrian or middle eastern artifacts from the period of 100 BC to 300 AD. There is an incredible sequence of events that led to the discovery of the Blue Chalice. The 'blue chalice' received great notoriety & became the topic of global interest and study.. Today it is stored in a protected chamber of the 'St. Michael Retreat House' on the grounds of the Chalice Well Gardens. Members of the Chalice Well Trust are able to request appointments to see and on rare occasions hold the chalice, under the guidance of the Well Trustees. These are dealt with on a discretionary basis. Many reputed clairvoyants & psychics laud the the chalice, and claim it to be connected to Christ, still others claim it to have extra terrestrial origins. All believe it emits a strong vibratory field. I had the great opportunity to have one hour alone with the 'Blue Chalice' in the spring of 2001, and it had a profound effect on me. There is an undeniable pure energy radiated from the precious crystalline vessel. It has an unusual texture and color, and is unlike anything I have ever touched before.

A marvelous history of the 'Blue Chalice', Glastonbury and the three sacred sites is available from Amazon.com in the book "The Avalonians" written by Dr Patrick Benham. Dr Benham is a native of Somerset, and still lives just outside of Glastonbury. He teaches music at a nearby university, and is a longtime admirer and spiritual protector of the Chalice Well. I met him quite by 'accident' in a small music store on one of my pilgrimages to Glastonbury a few years ago. He was 'test' playing a new acoustic guitar, and we joined in together on some 'delta blues' tunes quite spontaneously for half an hour, perched happily on a couple of chairs in the music shoppe. The proprietor, a familiar older Irish gentleman, delightfully encouraged us. After a few impromptu songs he asked where I was staying, and I told him at St Michael's retreat at the Chalice Well.He told me he was a trustee and asked if I was a 'Companion of the Chalice Trust'. We became friends, and he later sent me a signed copy of his book. I sent him a couple of delta blues cd's in fair trade. We still correspond and get together when possible.

Isle of Avalon - Camelot

The Chalice Well and the Holy Grail became centerpoints of the King Arthur Legends. The actual site of Camelot is calculated to be at Cadbury Mound near Glastonbury. Arthur's birthsite is Tintagel Castle on the nearby rugged Cornwall coast. King Arthur's deathbed hours were at the Tor, near the Chalice Well, and his burial at Glastonbury Abbey. King Arthur's gravesite is marked with a plaque at the Abbey ruins.

The Arthurian Myth and Fables are well known, but what is less known are the historic evidences of the actual existence of King Arthur in Glastonbury, Cornwall and eastern Wales. The epic story has been so sensationally projected in print and film, that to the general masses it is merely a wonderful fable. It is much more. Arthur lived, and was a Christ consciousness. The written works, coming centuries later, were in a true sense a channeled symbolism of the sojourn and trinity of man in the three dimensional plane.

Obviously the actual story lines of King Arthur are symbolic truths and probably do not trace his life story verbatim. They served as a metaphoric treatise on the struggles of man searching for truth. It is and was a repetition of the inserted living hologram of the Man/God passion. The symbology of the Arthurian epic reveals a slightly different aspect of the Christos hologram, in mirror of that of Jesus the Christ. Subtle correlations exist, the 12 knights of the roundtable symbolic of the 12 disciples and

137 Gueniverre tempted with the forbidden fruit, (as with Eve in the Garden of Eden) are but two of literally dozens of correlations that subtly mirror the story of Christ.

I urge readers to decide its validity for themselves, by visiting and experiencing this very real energy directly in Glastonbury, Cornwall and Wales. Several renown-channeled sources also confirm the existence of King Arthur, as a 'Christ Consciousness'. A man of sincere and true heart, trained by the savant Merlin as a boy, to lead 5th century England into the true knowledge of spirit and one god. In fifth century Britain, local religion had deteriorated into a distorted Paganism sometimes involving human sacrifice. Feudal lords reigned and invading Picts, Irish and Normans plundered the country. Violent bands of thieves preyed on the vulnerable. Christianity was only sparsely established. Arthur sought to inspire men to live for good, honor and truth, and to establish law and order under a central just ruler, and to allow men the right to worship as they chose, and live without fear. The vibration of Arthur the Christ-King is very present in Glastonbury, Cornwall and Wales. It has a feeling of deep symbolic truth and purity.

This writer notes that before visiting Glastonbury in 1980, I had never considered Arthur more than a literary legend. My experience in Glastonbury burned such a strong impression in my psyche that I became intuitively aware of not only Arthur's existence as an actual historic figure, but more importantly his Christ consciousness, symbology and sacred mission.

Grid System Glastonbury is the principle of three portals within the UK. These portals, Iona, Findhorn and Glastonbury form a triangular energy grid that injects the enclosed leylines with an infusion of cosmic energy. This cosmic energy facilitates the acceleration of the earth's vibratory rate, and thus her ascension. These portals are anchored by the intent of resident Lightworkers' working with the portal site.

Glastonbury's placement as a portal extends to a global triune and has extended energy lines to many sacred centres worldwide. Glastonbury is in fact one of the 12 sacred global centers. Its energies are multi faceted. A tremendous influx of ley energy, earth currents, anionic plasma and electrical vortexes connect to create an incredible force field. The energetic cocktail can be overwhelming, it extends to a radius of about 3.5 miles from the town center.

The template for our Earth contains three grids. One of these, the 'crystalline or ascension grid' is composed of a lattice of triangulated pentagons and covers the earth in a geodesic matrix. This pattern of 3-D and 5-D pentagonal shapes interlock to create a multi dimensional goedome sphere over the planet. The connecting apexes of these triangles and pentagons are points of energy focus. The grid lines joining these apexes conduct an energy flow. This flow can be regulated. Glastonbury is a primary apex that functions in all 3 earth grids..

An interesting side note to the triangulation of apex energy points, is that indigenous people such as the Hopi, Lakota and Aborigines, have advocated for centuries that sacred sites are always placed in 'three's.

Leylines

The Druid Masters were keenly intune with earth energies and they carefully identified and tracked the sacred energy lines called 'leys' throughout Great Britain and Western Europe. The most notable of these are the Michael and Mary lines. Even before being given Christian names and associated with the Arc Angel Michael, the Druids and Celts discerned the male and female identities of the ley energies. They assigned Celtic names of deities of light and protection to the lines.

Leylines are by definition, amassed flowing telluric energy. These lines are paths of concentrated living energy that allows for people to find peace and well being. Electrical in nature, they are the nervous system of the planet. The Michael line is the instrument of the Arch Angel Michael. Manifestations of Arch Angel Michael have appeared along the 'Michael' line for centuries.

138 . The lines can be detected by dowsing, and in fact have been mapped for millennia. They are discernable, and carry a vibrant electrical pulse. I find ley energy identifiable by a projected tangible sense of 'well being' all around the areas of their path. Plant life thrives, animal life seems happier and the air seems to 'sparkle', in the proximity of ley energy.

In England, the Druids recognized the unique swirling vortex formed when two ley lines intersected. At these sites, they established sacred ritual points, initiation centers or healing refuges to utilize this amplified energy. Worship and spirituality was particularly enhanced at the powerful intersections of the Mary and Michael leylines.

Sacred Geometry and Freemason Architecture

Christian Freemasons came along centuries later and built churches (using sacred geometry) on the exact religious sites situated along the leylines vortexes chosen by the earthwise Druid Shamen eons before. Historians speculate this was done to assist in converting the Paganistic masses to Christianity. However, the illuminati amongst the Freemasons had a more divine method than simple political sway. They were aware of the amplified spiritual energy of these vortex sites, and chose them with intuitive intent for construction of the great cathedrals. The amplified leyline energy flowing in these British cathedrals built along the Michael Leyline is simply magnificent, and must be experienced! Several cathedrals actually have the leyline channeled symmetrical down exact center aisle of the structure. The energy is curved into circular patterns inside the brilliantly designed cathedral domes and circulates inside throughout the vaulted ceilings. Saint Paul's in London is one such example. The powerful reverent emotions of the thousands upon thousands of worshipers is imprinted upon and further amplifies the sacred energy pulsing inside many of these 'Freemason' designed cathedrals. The sacred geometry utilized in the architecture enhances these energies somewhat in the fashion of the stone circles.

Among the beautiful cathedrals in Britain ingeniously positioned over leyline vortex crossings and nodes, are Saint Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral, Wells Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral, to name a few.

Earthen Zodiac Carvings

There is an additional Glastonbury mystery revealed in the recent past. In 1927 Katherine Maltwood, a local sculptor and illustrator (re)discovered the 'Glastonbury Zodiac', while surveying fields surrounding Glastonbury. Also referred to as the 'Glastonbury Giants', the zodiac had actually been referenced in various writings since medieval times, but was thought to be merely part of the Glastonbury lore. Maltwood painstakingly retraced the impressive and undeniable landscape carving. These zodiac tables etched into the actual landscape in a circular pattern about 10 miles in diameter, correctly and chronologically templates the twelve zodiac signs using existing landmarks, hills, rivers and land-etched boundaries.

The maps clearly show human and animal figures in place around the circular zodiac, with a carving of a hound some five miles in length, (locally called the Langford Girt-Dog) along the zodiac circle's exterior. Names of villages along the zodiac that correlate to the actual placement of the star-map indicate some local knowledge of the zodiac existence in mediaeval times. Aires road has been so called for centuries and occurs within the Aires sign. The village of Earlake is on the hound's ear! Like the Nazca plane etchings in Peru, these are only truly discernable from aerial views of about 6,000 feet above the land. Some anthropologists have estimated the zodiac to have been built at about 3000 BC, while still others connect it to the period of the Dendarah Zodiac built in Egypt circa 7000 BC. Maltwood considered The Glastonbury Zodiac to be the original 'Roundtable'.

Glastonbury is host to the annual Glastonbury Music Festival every year in mid June. A modern day Woodstock equivalent, the event is a three-day concert featuring top recording artists to crowds of twenty to forty thousand. The spiritual traveler may well wish to avoid the crowded festival when planning a trip to Glastonbury. Besides clogging the roads, hotels and B & B's become virtually impossible to obtain the week of the festival.

Glastonbury is an epicenter of the 'New Age', and its energy attracts all types. The village streets are lined with historical churches, buildings and museums situated side by side with a myriad of shops. The high street promenade offers the full gamut of wares and services to both tourist and

139 pilgrim. From local art galleries, vegetarian restaurants, English high tea rooms, Arthurian swords, souvenir chalices, healing arts, tarot readings, incense, crystals, wands, capes, herbs and astrological readings, it is all there. Buddhist, traditional Church of England Protestants, druids, wiccans, and New Age pilgrims recognize and share the potent traditions and energy of Glastonbury. Each claims it as their own. The spiritual duality is present. Like many mega power centers, Glastonbury has an electro-magnetic field that is held in balance by the integral presence of both electrical polarities, positive and negative. So when making ones pilgrimage, enter the potent energy of the duality fully aware, and establish astral protection upon visiting the wondrous Avalon, for the veil is indeed thin, and both energies are present.

The powerful energy amplifies the aura, and visitors not accustomed to this level of energy can expereince an auric depletion after a few days. This is the signal to move into a lesser amperage. That signal should be respected, to overstay can result in a feeling of tiredness and erratic mood swings. Time is usually required for the human aura to adjust to the highly concentrated electro-magnetic fields in power centers such as Glastonbury. Residents of such mega energies centers develop an auric sheath that allows them to retain balance within the concentrated energy fields.

Accommodations in Glastonbury are plentiful. I highly recommend staying at the Chalice Well 'Little St Michael's Retreat', actually on the grounds of the Chalice Well gardens. This does require becoming a member of the Chalice Well Trust, a very worthwhile non-profit organization. Information can be obtained at: http://www.chalicewell.org.uk .

Glastonbury is easily reached in a three-hour drive from London taking the M-4 to Bristol, then heading south for twenty-five miles on the M5. Watch for the exit, and prepare to be enchanted when the Tor appears on the horizon.

140 Chapter 71:

Topics in this section: LDV’s CODEX bought by Bill Gates

LDV’s CODEX bought by Bill Gates http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/codex/

141 Chapter 72:

Topics in this section: Atbash Cipher

Atbash Cipher Atbash is a simple substitution cipher in Hebrew. It consists of substituting aleph (the first letter) for tav (the last), beth (the second) for shin (one before last), and so on, reversing the alphabet. A couple of words in the Book of Jeremiah, Leb Kamai and Sheshakh, are atbash for Kasdim (Chaldeans) and Babel respectively, probably written thus.

142 Chapter 74:

Topics in this section: Hieros Gamos Gnosis

Hieros Gamos Hieros Gamos: The Sacred Marriage

Each culture has its own metaphors for the Sacred Marriage. Some of the most dramatic can be found in the Hindu tradition. The image of Ardhanarishwar where the god Shiva is shown as half man and woman expresses our dual nature. Each man is half man and half woman and each woman is half woman and half man. Similarly, the traditional Hindu altar stone is a symbolic representation of the conjoined male and female genitalia whose purpose is to remind worshippers that the sacred union of male and female principles is the very force that keeps the Universe in motion. When the inner man and the inner woman meet and become one with each other, we are initiated into the process of the Sacred Marriage.

Gnosis From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosis

Gnosis (from the greek word for knowledge, ) has several uses:

• Among the gnostics, gnosis was the "knowledge of the heart" or "insight" about the spiritual nature of the cosmos, that brought about salvation to the pneumatics - a group of humans that could achieve this insight. • Among heresiologists gnosis denote different christian belief systems of esoteric nature, such as, first and foremost, gnosticism and other dualist systems the two first centuries A.D., but also rosicrucianism, christian kabbalah etc.

143 Chapter 77:

Topics in this section: Mystery of Sheshach – Babel… Atbash Cipher

Mystery of Sheshach – Babel… Atbash Cipher http://www.murky.org/cryptography/classical/atbash.shtml

Atbash

Atbash is a simple substitution very similar in nature to the Caesar Substitution. Whereas the Caesar substitution was Roman in origin, atbash is Jewish in origin.

In atbash, the last letter represents the first, the second to last represents the second and so on.

Atbash is even simpler to solve than the Caesar Substitution as there is only one solution to try!

You may start to wonder how we could start to solve a monoalphabetic substitution if we do not know whether the cipher alphabet is atbash, caesar, some combination of the two or just random! This is addressed in the monoalphabetic substitution section. In the meantime, can you decode the following atbash?

PLAINTEXT a b c d e f g h i j k l m CIPHERTEXT Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N PLAINTEXT n o p q r s t u v w x y z CIPHERTEXT M L K J I H G F E D C B A

Blf ziv mlg z Qvwr bvg (Wzigs Ezwvi gl Ofpv Hpbdzopvi)

You shouldn't have had a problem with this, it's fairly easy!

Atbash can also be combined with a caesar shift, to produce a Reversed Caesar substitution.

An example is shown below.

PLAINTEXT a b c d e f g h i j k l m CIPHERTEXT W V U T S R Q P O N M L K PLAINTEXT n o p q r s t u v w x y z CIPHERTEXT J I H G F E D C B A Z Y X

144 Chapter 82:

Topics in this section: The Temple Church on Fleet Street

The Temple Church on Fleet Street http://www.templechurch.com/pages/history.htm

The History of The Temple Church The Temple Church is one of the most historic and beautiful churches in London. Use the left-margin tool-bar to read its story, period by period. Here are eight hundred years of history: from the Crusaders in the 12th century, through the turmoil of the Reformation and the founding father of Anglican theology, to some of the most famous church music in London, Sunday by Sunday - music which we invite you to come and hear when you are next within striking distance of the Temple at a weekend.

The Temple Church lies 'off street' between Fleet Street and the River Thames, in an 'oasis' of ancient buildings, courtyards and gardens. To make sure that you find you way to the Church, you may like to check Directions before coming.

The Church is generally open Wednesday - Sunday. We would not want you to be disappointed by finding the Church closed; if you are planning a visit, you may like to contact the Verger first, Brian Nicholson, 020 7353 3470, [email protected], to confirm our current opening hours.

The Church was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks founded to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem in the 12th century. The Church is in two parts: the Round and the Chancel

FOUNDATION-THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

The Temple Church was consecrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 10 February 1185 by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The whole Temple community had moved from an earlier site in High Holborn, considered by the 1160s to be too confined. The church was the chapel serving the London headquarters of the Knights Templar, and from them it took its name. The Templars - as the knights were popularly known - were soldier monks. After the success of the First Crusade, the order was founded in Jerusalem in a building on the site of King Solomon's temple. Their mission was to protect pilgrims travelling to and from the Holy Land, but in order to do this they needed men and money. For more details of the Templars and this early history of the Church, see The Round Church, 1185.

The London Temple was the Templars' headquarters in Great Britain. The Templars' churches were always built to a circular design to remind them of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, a round, domed building raised over the site of the sepulchre where Jesus was buried. At first, the Templars were liked and respected. St Bernard of Clairvaux became their patron and they gained many privileges from popes and much support from kings. In England, King Henry II was probably present at the consecration of the church; King Henry III favoured them so much that he wished to be buried in their church.

145 As a consequence of this wish, the choir of the church was pulled down and a far larger one built in its place, the choir which we now see. This was consecrated on Ascension Day 1240 in the presence of the king. However, after Henry died it was discovered that he had altered his will, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

146 Chapter 83:

Topics in this section: Did the Knights Templar “invent” banking?

Did the Knights Templar “invent” banking? http://www.templarhistory.com/who.html Feared as warriors, respected for their charity and sought out for their wealth, there is no doubt that the Templar knights were the key players of the monastic fighting Orders. Due to their vast wealth and surplus of materials the Templars essentially invented banking, as we know it. The church forbade the lending of money for interest, which they called usury. The Templars, being the clever sort they were, changed the manner in which loans were paid and were able to skirt the issue and finance even kings.

147 Chapter 94:

Topics in this section: Pelicans in St James Park

Pelicans in St James Park:

148 Chapter 97:

Topics in this section: Newton’s tomb in Westminster Abbey Newton’s Monument

Newton’s tomb in Westminster Abbey http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

Sir Isaac Newton 1642-1727 Newton was born at Woolsthorpe in the parish of Colsterworth, Lincolnshire and educated in Grantham and at Trinity College Cambridge. He became a Fellow of Trinity in 1667 and was Lucasian Professor from 1669 to 1702. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1672, Newton served as its President from 1705 to 1727. He became Master of the Mint in 1699 and was knighted in April 1705.

Newton is most commonly known for his conception of the law of universal gravitation, but his other discoveries and inventions in mathematics (e.g. the binomial theorem, differential and integral calculus), optics, mechanics, and astronomy place him at the very forefront of all scientists. His study and understanding of light, the invention of the reflecting telescope (1668), and his revelation in his Principia of the mathematical ordering of the universe are all

149 represented on his monument in Westminster Abbey.

Newton died at Kensington on 20 March 1727 and was buried in the Abbey on 28 March. Before the funeral his body lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber and his coffin was followed to its grave by most of the Fellows of the Royal Society. The Lord Chancellor, two dukes and three earls were pall bearers.

Newton’s grave is in front of the choir screen, close to his monument. The Latin inscription reads: Hic depositum est, quod mortale fuit Isaaci Newtoni. This may be translated as ‘Here lies that which was mortal of Isaac Newton’.

Newton’s Monument

Newton’s monument stands against the choir screen, to the north of the entrance to the choir. It was executed by the sculptor Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770) to the designs of the architect William Kent (1685-1748) and dates from 1731.

The monument is of white and grey marble. Its base bears a Latin inscription (see below) and supports a sarcophagus with large scroll feet and a relief panel. The latter depicts boys using instruments related to Newton’s mathematical and optical work (including the telescope and prism) and his activity as Master of the Mint. Above the sarcophagus is a reclining figure of Newton, in classical costume, his right elbow resting on several books representing his great works. They are labelled ‘Divinity’, ‘Chronology’, ‘Opticks’ [1704] and ‘Philo. Prin. Math’ [Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1686-7)]. With his left hand he points to a scroll with a mathematical design, held by two standing winged boys. The background is a pyramid on which is a celestial globe with the signs of the Zodiac, of the constellations, and with the path of the comet of 1680. On top of the globe sits a figure of Astronomy leaning upon a book.

The monument originally stood out against the flat front of the choir screen, but was enclosed within a decorative arch when Edward Blore re-modelled the screen in 1834.

The inscription reads:

H. S. E. ISAACUS NEWTON Eques Auratus, / Qui, animi vi prope divinâ, / Planetarum Motus, Figuras, / Cometarum semitas, Oceanique Aestus. Suâ Mathesi facem praeferente / Primus demonstravit: / Radiorum Lucis dissimilitudines, / Colorumque inde nascentium proprietates, / Quas nemo antea vel suspicatus erat, pervestigavit. / Naturae, Antiquitatis, S. Scripturae, / Sedulus, sagax, fidus Interpres / Dei O. M. Majestatem Philosophiâ asseruit, / Evangelij Simplicitatem Moribus expressit. / Sibi gratulentur Mortales, / Tale tantumque exstitisse / HUMANI GENERIS DECUS. / NAT. XXV DEC. A.D. MDCXLII. OBIIT. XX. MAR. MDCXXVI

This can be translated as follows:

Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined, the properties of the colours thus produced. Diligent, sagacious and faithful, in his expositions of nature, antiquity and the holy Scriptures, he

150 vindicated by his philosophy the majesty of God mighty and good, and expressed the simplicity of the Gospel in his manners. Mortals rejoice that there has existed such and so great an ornament of the human race! He was born on 25th December, 1642, and died on 20th March 1726/7.

Translation from G.L. Smyth, The Monuments and Genii of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and of Westminster Abbey (1826), ii, 703-4. © Dean & Chapter of Westminster Abbey 2003

151 Chapter 104:

Topics in this section: Rosslyn Chapel – Cathedral of Codes – Edinburg Star of David Solomon’s Temple – it’s two pillars, Boaz (mason) and Jachin (apprentice)

Rosslyn Chapel – Cathedral of Codes – Edinburg http://www.crystalinks.com/rosslynchapel.html

Rosslyn Chapel, or the Collegiate Chapel of St Mathew as it was to have been, was founded in 1446 by Sir William St Clair, third and last St Clair Prince of Orkney. It is in fact only part of the choir of what was intended to be a larger cruciform building with a tower at its centre.

More than thirty-seven collegiate churches were built in Scotland between the reigns of James I and James IV (1406-1513). They were secular foundations intended to spread intellectual and spiritual knowledge, and the extravagance of their construction depended on the wealth of their founder.

After Sir William died in 1484, he was buried in the unfinished Chapel and the larger building he had planned was never completed. But the foundations of the nave are said to have been excavated in the nineteenth century and found to extend ninety-one feet beyond the Chapel's original west door, under the existing baptistry and churchyard.

What was built however is extraordinary enough, 'This building, I believe, may be pronounced unique, and I am confident it will be found curious, elaborate and singularly interesting, impossible to designate by any given or familiar term' wrote Britton on his Architectural Antiquities of Britain (1812), adding somewhat despairingly that its 'variety and eccentricity are not to be defined by any words of common acceptation.'.

152 The principal authority on the history of the Chapel and the St Clair family is Father Richard Augustine Hay, Canon of St Genevieve in Paris and Prior of St Piermont. He examined historical records and charters of the St Clairs and completed a three volume study in 1700, parts of which were published in 1835 as A geneologie of the Sainteclaires of Rosslyn. His research was timely, since the original documents subsequently disappeared.

Of the founder Father Hay said this: 'Prince William, his age creeping on him, came to consider how he had spent his times past, and how he was to spend his remaining days. Therefore, to the end, that he might not seem altogether unthankful to God for the benefices he received from Him, it came into his mind to build a house for God's service, of most curious work, the which that it might be done with greater glory and splendour he caused artificers to be brought from other regions and foreign kingdoms and caused daily to be abundance of all kinds of workmen present as masons, carpenters, smiths, barrowmen and quarriers... the foundation of this work he caused to be lain in the year of our Lord 1446, and to the end, the work might be more rare, first he caused draughts [plans] to be drawn upon eastland boards [imported Baltic timber], and he made the carpenters carve them according to the draughts thereon and he gave them to for patterns to the masons, that they might cut the like in stone and because he thought the masons had not a convenient place to lodge in...he made them build the town of Rolsine that is now extant and gave everyone a house and lands. He rewarded the masons according to their degree, as to the Master Mason, he gave nearly £40 yearly, and to everyone of the rest, £10...

Sir William's son and successor to the Barony of Rosslyn, Sir Oliver St Clair, roofed the choir with its stone vault but did no more to fulfil his father's original design.

The Chapel was generously endowed by the founder, with provision for a provost, six prebendaries and two choristers, and in 1523 by his grandson, also Sir William, with land for dwelling houses and gardens. On February 26th ,1571, however, just forty-eight years after his last endowment, there is a record of the provost and prebendaries resigning because of the endowments being taken by 'force and violence' into secular hands as the effects of the Reformation took hold.

The Presbytery records of Dalkeith reveal that in 1589 William Knox, brother of John Knox and minister of Cockpen, was censured 'for baptizing the Laird of Rosling's bairne' in Rosslyn Chapel, which was described as a 'house and monument of idolatrie, and not ane place appointit for teiching the word and ministratioun of ye sacrementis'.

The following year, the Presbytery forbade Mr George Ramsay, minister of Lasswade, from burying the wife of a later Oliver St Clair in the Chapel. The St Clairs had not yet succumbed to the Reformation and remained Roman Catholics.

This Oliver St Clair was repeatedly warned to destroy the altars in the Chapel and in1592 was summoned to appear before the General Assembly and threatened with excommunication if the altars remained standing after August 17th, 1592. On August 31st, the same George Ramsay reported that 'the altars of Roslene were haille demolishit'. From that time the Chapel ceased to be used as a house of prayer and soon fell into disrepair.

In 1650, during the Civil War, Cromwell's troops under General Monk attacked the castle and his horses were stabled in the Chapel.

On December 11th, 1688, shortly after the protestant William of Orange had landed in England and displaced the Catholic James II, a mob from Edinburgh and some of the villagers from Roslin entered and damaged the Chapel. Their object was to destroy the furniture and vestments, which were now regarded as Popish and idolatrous.

The Chapel remained abandoned until 1736, when St James St Clair glazed the windows for the first time, repaired the roof, and relaid the floor with flagstones. The boundary wall was also built at this time.

When Dorothy Wordsworth visited the Chapel on September 17th, 1807, she remarked: 'Went to view the inside of the Chapel of Roslyn, which is kept locked up, and so preserved from the injuries it might otherwise receive from idle boys, but as nothing is done to keep it together, it must, in the end, fall. The architecture within is exquisitely beautiful.'

153 Further repairs to the Chapel were undertaken at the beginning of the nineteenth century and in 1861 it was agreed by James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn, that Sunday services should begin again. He instructed the Edinburgh architect David Bryce to carry out restoration work. The carvings in the Lady Chapel were attended to, stones were relaid in the crypt and an altar established there. The Chapel was rededicated on Tuesday April 22nd, 1862, by the Bishop of Edinburgh and the Bishop of Brechin preached from the text, 'Our Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth' (Psalms xxvi, v8).

The Reverend R. Cole, then resident military chaplain at Greenlaw Barracks near Penicuick, became private chaplain to the Earl. Lady Helen Wedderburn, daughter of the 7th Earl of Airlie, who lived nearby at Rosebank, organised a subscription from which some of the interior fittings were provided.

In 1880-1, Francis Robert, 4th Earl of Rosslyn, added the apse to serve as a baptistry with an organ loft above. The work is by Andrew Kerr. The Earl also filled the baptistry arch with the handsome oak tracery which you see today, decorated with his crest. Together with the two Chapel doors, this is the only wood used in the construction of the building.

The cost of the work was seven hundred and fifty eight pounds, eight shillings and six pennies, with a further thirty four pounds and eighteen shillings to Andrew Kerr for fees. Kerr told the Earl that a party of visitors 'had remarked that it was wonderful that such young men should be entrusted to execute such carving,' to which the estate factor 'very coolly replied, that it was not wonderful here, as the finest pillar in the Chapel was the work of an apprentice boy.'

The Earl was happy with the work and in a letter to Kerr on November 16th, wrote: ' I must say that the author pronounces your building a complete success.'

In 1915, a report on the fabric by Sir Robert Lorimer observed: ' The stone work of the Chapel is in fairly good order and requires very little done to it... a few of the stones are crumbling but not to the extent to cause any alarm. The condition of the roof is not satisfactory... and there are a number of gaps and cracks all over.' He recommended that the exterior of the roof be covered with asphalt and this was carried out.

In 1942 the Chapel was almost closed for a second time when a government official called Robertson wrote to the Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin MP, 'that the Episcopalian Church at Roslin was almost empty every Sunday... on a recent Sunday there was a congregation of only two, and apart from the Clergyman's labour there must be other workers employed in cleaning and looking after the church and I suggest that steps are taken to close it down.'

A copy of the letter was sent to Gwilym Lloyd George MP, the Minister of Fuel, who in turn wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland in the following terms; 'I enclose a copy of a letter from David Robertson which causes me considerable embarrassment, who am I, a Welshman, that I should do anything that might imperil the eternal salvation of one Scottish Episcopalian. In any case, from the fuel point of view, I doubt whether I would be justified in securing a small economy of fuel in this world at the possible cost of a disproportionate expenditure of it on myself in the next.' The Chapel remained open.

Further work was carried out by Anthony 6th Earl of Rosslyn, in the 1950's when the crypt roof was repaired and the interior carvings cleaned by hand over a period of several years. He also added the stained glass windows in the baptistry. A report of May 1954 from the Ancient Monuments Branch of the Ministry of Works records that 'surfaces covered with green algae will be scrubbed down with stiff bristle brushes... using a solution of .880 ammonia and water. Water will then be used copiously until the surfaces are clean and free from dirt and vegetation. Flaky patches will be sealed off... Hollow areas in ornament will receive special treatment by grouting... and when the surfaces are thoroughly dry they will be hardened with silica fluoride of magnesium at a rate of 1lb per two gallons of water.'

This work was in accordance with the thinking of the time but not, unfortunately, with current conservation philosophy. The effect of the magnesium fluoride - a cementitious slurry - was to seal the internal surface of the masonry with an impermeable coating, so that the stone became saturated with water containing soluble pollutants. In addition, the coldness of the wet stone encouraged condensation. A report in 1995 confirmed that damage was occurring and that humidity in the Chapel was very

154 high. It recommended that steps should be taken to dry out the saturated masonry, remove if possible the cementitious coating, and restore the permeability of the richly carved inner surfaces of the Chapel.

In March 1997, a free-standing steel structure was erected to cover the Chapel. It will enable the stone fabric of the roof vaults to dry outwards, away from the carved interior surfaces. In due course the bituminous felt, asphalt and concrete coverings of the stone roof vaults will be removed to assist this process. Stone and mortar repairs to the external walls, pinnacles, and buttresses, renewal of the rainwater disposal arrangements, repairs to the stained glass, and appropriate repair and conservation of the interior are all required. The coverings over the stone vaulted roofs will be renewed in lead and ways of removing the cementitious slurry are being investigated, in order that this magnificent building can be preserved for future generations to use and admire.

The year 2000 saw the Trust embark on a second phase of work. Funded jointly by The National Heritage Lottery Fund, The Eastern Scotland European Partnership, Historic Scotland and the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, this phase has a number of elements. Essential stabilisation works to the east boundary walls will protect the Chapel. A new roof of Caithness slate has been placed over the existing Crypt roof, and the Priest's Cell and two more modern buildings beside the Crypt have been made functional. The stairs to the Crypt have been repaired and the access to the Crypt is now both safer and more of an experience. Work has also been carried out to improve the electrical services in the Chapel, repairs to the wooden screen at the west end, and our interpretation of Rosslyn's story.

It is known that the Templars fled to Scotland, too, after the dissolution of 1312, and it is known that some found refuge among the Saint-Clairs of Rosslyn in Midlothian. There is a Templar cemetery there.

-Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic

We encountered repeated references to the Sinclair family - Scottish branch of the Norman Saint-Clair/Gisors family. Their domain at Rosslyn was only a few miles from the former Scottish headquarters of the Knights Templar, and the chapel at Rosslyn - built between 1446 and 1486 - has long been associated with both Freemasonry and the Rose-Croix. In a charter believed to date from 1601, moreover, the Sinclairs are recognized as 'hereditary Grand Masters of Scottish Masonry'. This is the earliest specific Masonic document on record.

-Baigent and Leigh, The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail

Rosslyn Chapel is decorated inside with carvings of Masonic significance...and botanical significance. Arches, lintels, pillar bases and such like are mostly covered in decorative but highly detailed plant motifs, with many different species represented.

Two of the motifs resemble the aloe cactus and maize cobs, plants indigenous to the New World and supposedly unknown to Europe before the sixteenth century.

Everywhere there were manifestations of the 'green man', the Celtic figure that represented fertility. Over a hundred 'green men' have been counted but it is believed that there are even more subtly peeping out of the vegetation.

The symbolism is Egyptian, Celtic, Jewish, Templar and Masonic in profusion. A star-studded ceiling, vegetative growth coming form the mouths of the Celtic Green Men, entangled pyramids, images of Moses, towers of the Heavenly Jerusalem, engrailed crosses and well as squares and compasses. The only certain Christian imagery was in later Victorian alterations: the stained glass windows, the revolting baptistery and a statue of the Madonna and child.

Recalling the legend of Hiram Abif, high up in the corner where the south and west walls meet, and level with the organ, is a head with a severe gash on the right temple and in the opposite side of the west wall is the head of the person who killed him.

155 William St Clair himself masterminded the whole construction of the building from its inception to his own death in 1484, just two years before it completion; furthermore, he personally supervised every tiny detail of the work...William St Clair had brought some of Europe's finest masons to Scotland for this great project, building the village of Rosslyn to house them.

From the outside, Rosslyn is a representation in stone of the Heavenly Jerusalem as depicted in Lambert's copy, with towers and a huge central curved, arched roof. Inside the Rosslyn shrine, the layout is a reconstruction of the ruin of Herod's Temple, decorated with Nasorean and Templar symbolism. In the north-east corner we found a section of the wall carved with the towers of the Heavenly Jerusalem complete with the Masonic compasses, styled exactly as they are shown on Lambert's scroll.

As we looked directly upwards from the organ loft, we could see that the arched roof had a running series of keystones down its length, just like the one the Royal Arch degree describes as found in the ruins of Herod's Temple.

In Rosslyn, we observed that the fourteen pillars had been arranged so that the eastern eight of them including Boaz and Jachin, were laid out in the form of a Triple Tau. The formation and the proportions were exactly as the Royal Arch degree depicts today.

- The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus

The famous Grail Seeker Trevor Ravenscroft claimed in 1962 that he had finished a twenty year quest in search of the Grail at Rosslyn chapel.....His claim was that the Grail was inside the Prentice Pillar (as it is known) in this chapel. The chapel is often visited now by Grail Seekers and many references to the Grail can be found in its stonework and windows. Metal detectors have been used on the pillar and an object of the appropriate size is indeed buried in the middle. Lord Rosslyn adamantly refuses to have the pillar x-rayed.

- Chris Thornborrow, An Introduction to Current Theories about The Holy Grail

Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas believe that the small crypt of the Rosslyn shrine was the lower middle chamber where the masons received their wages. Before the vaults were sealed off when the chapel was completed, twenty Templar knights were buried there in full armor.

- Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel

The vaults themselves may yet be far more than a simple tomb, other important artifacts may be contained therein. The one recorded action of the Lords Sinclair that apparently contradicts their well earned reputation for chivalry and loyalty may also be explained if the vaults are opened, for it is just possible that some clue as to the whereabouts of certain treasures of great historical interest may also be discovered."

- An Illustrated Guide to Rosslyn Chapel

The Companion's Jewel of the Royal Arch is a double triangle, sometimes called the Seal of Solomon, within a circle of gold; at the bottom is a scroll bearing the words, Nil nisi clavis deest - 'Nothing is wanting but the Key', and on the circle appears the legend, Si tatlia jungere possis sit tibi scire posse - 'If thou canst comprehend these things, thou knowest enough'.

-Royal Arch Degree

Knight and Lomas speculate that the reconstructed treasure vaults of Herod's temple are located below the main floor of the Chapel. An Seal of Solomon (Star of David) can be constructed from the alignment of pillars between the entrance and Triple Tau formation.

156 At the very center of this invisible Seal of Solomon, in the arched roof there is a large suspended boss in the form of a decorated arrowhead that points straight down to a keystone in the floor below. It is, we believe, this stone that must be raised to enter the reconstructed vaults of Herod's Temple and recover the Nasorean Scrolls.

Rosslyn is not a free interpretation of the ruins in Jerusalem; as far as the foundation plan is concerned, it is a very carefully executed copy. The unfinished sections of the great western wall are there, the main walls and the pillar arrangements fit like a glove and the pillars of Boaz and Jachin stand precisely at the eastern end of what would be the inner Temple. The spot we identified as being at the center of the Seal of Solomon turned out to correspond exactly with the center point of the medieval world; the middle of the Holy of Holies; the spot where the Ark of the covenant was placed in the Temple at Jerusalem.

- The Hiram Key: Pharaohs,Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus

Knights Templar to use latest imaging in search for Grail

January 6, 2003 - Independent.co.uk

For centuries the intricately carved stones of Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh have tantalised historians, archaeologists and devoted Christians.

A labyrinth of vaults beneath the 15th-century home of the Knights Templar is reputed to contain dozens of holy relics, including early gospels, the Ark of the Covenant, and the fabled Holy Grail.

More than 550 years after the first foundation stones were laid, modern technology is about to put the legend to the test.

A group of Knights Templar, successors to the warrior monks who sought asylum from the Pope by fleeing to Scotland in the early 14th century and fought for Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn, are to make a "non-invasive" survey of the land around the chapel. They will use the latest ultrasound and thermal imaging technology in the hope of finding evidence of the existence of the vaults. "The plan is to investigate the land around the chapel to a depth of at least 20ft," said John Ritchie, Grand Herald and spokesman for the Knights Templar.

"The machine we are using is the most sophisticated anywhere and is capable of taking readings from the ground up to a mile deep without disturbing any of the land.

"We know many of the Knights are buried in the grounds and there are many references to buried vaults, which we hope this project will finally uncover." Rosslyn Chapel, or the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew as it was to have been, was founded in 1446 by Sir William St Clair, third and last Prince of Orkney. Built as a celebration of Christ, it is also a monument to craftsmanship.

Bristling with flying buttresses and gargoyles in the highest Gothic style on the outside, the interior is carved with scenes from the Bible, the fall of man, the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the birth of Christ, the crucifixion and the resurrection.

"Rosslyn is an amazing building. It is a book in stone but, because the symbolism which is written into the chapel is in a medieval language, we haven't even cracked the introduction page yet," Mr Ritchie said.

Pillars and arches are covered with hundreds of exquisitely carved leaves, fruit, animals and figures. Some curious carvings are said to depict cactus and sweetcorn, chiselled before Columbus set foot in America in 1492.

157 "There is a whole series of stuff on each section of the chapel, which relates to a different period of time," Mr Ritchie added. "We have to go back to the 15th century and read it with a medieval eye to understand what it all means. All these symbols relate to events in history. It is a book created in stone, which brings in all the apostolic religion, laid over by an astrological form which tracks the seasons, and the plants in the seasons."

Both the Freemasons and the Knights Templar claim the ornate stonemasonry of the church is a secret code which, if broken, will reveal the whereabouts of treasures.

One theory suggests that one of the ornate columns, known as the Apprentice Pillar, may contain a lead casket in which is hidden the legendary cup used by Christ at the Last Supper and later used to collect his blood, the so-called Holy Grail.

"Once we understand the introduction page we will begin to understand what this book in stone means," Mr Ritchie added. "We hope to start as soon as possible and get a load of readings from it. We hope to at least find this burial place and maybe the Holy Grail itself."

Rosslyn Chapel, History, Hauntings and Mystical Connections

The chapel has been described as a 'Tapestry in Stone' - some of the most impressive stone carving in Scotland if not Europe - the Apprentice Pillar - said to have been carved by an apprentice to the master mason.

Star of David

The Magen David (shield of David, or as it is more commonly known, the Star of David) is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaism today, but it is actually a relatively new Jewish symbol. It is supposed to represent the shape of King David's shield (or perhaps the emblem on it), but there is really no support for that claim in any early rabbinic literature. In fact, the symbol is so rare in early Jewish literature and artwork that art dealers suspect forgery if they find the symbol in early works.

Scholars such as Franz Rosenzweig have attributed deep theological significance to the symbol. For example, some note that the top triangle strives upward, toward G-d, while the lower triangle strives downward, toward the real world. Some note that the intertwining makes the triangles inseparable, like the Jewish people. Some say that the three sides represent the three types of Jews: Kohanim, Levites and Israel. While these theories are theologically interesting, they have little basis in historical fact. The symbol of intertwined equilateral triangles is a common one in the Middle East and North Africa, and is thought to bring good luck. It appears occasionally in early Jewish artwork, but never as an exclusively Jewish symbol. The nearest thing to an "official" Jewish symbol at the time was the menorah.

In the middle ages, Jews often were required to wear badges to identify themselves as Jews, much as they were in Nazi Germany, but these Jewish badges were not always the familiar Magen David. For example, a fifteenth century painting by Nuno Goncalves features a rabbi wearing a six-pointed badge that looks more or less like an asterisk.

In the 17th century, it became a popular practice to put Magen Davids on the outside of synagogues, to identify them as Jewish houses of worship in much the same way that a cross identified a Christian house of worship; however, I have never seen any explanation of why this symbol was chosen, rather than some other symbol.

158 The Magen David gained popularity as a symbol of Judaism when it was adopted as the emblem of the Zionist movement in 1897, but the symbol continued to be controversial for many years afterward. When the modern state of Israel was founded, there was much debate over whether this symbol should be used on the flag.

Today, the Magen David is a universally recognized symbol of Jewry. It appears on the flag of the state of Israel, and the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross is known as the Red Magen David.

Solomon’s Temple – it’s two pillars, Boaz (mason) and Jachin (apprentice) http://www.solomonstemple.com/page1.html

159 Epilogue:

Topics in this section: La Pyramid Inversee

La Pyramid Inversee Inverted Pyramid in the Carrousel du Louvre http://www.atkielski.com/inlink.php?/PhotoGallery/Paris/Louvre/default.html

This is the inverted pyramid in the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping mall just west of the Louvre that connects with the museum. It is the kid sister of the large pyramide in the main courtyard of the museum above ground. The top (or should I say the base?) of the inverted pyramid is covered with glass to let sunlight in. Photographed on August 22, 1999

160 Interesting find while researching:

There is a Sauniere!!!

FATE Magazine, July 1997 1997 Llewellyn Publications

Rennes-le-Chateau: The Priest and the Puzzles Article and Photos by Jon C. Crusoe July 1997, FATE Magazine

In the south of France, hiding in the foothills of the Pyranees, is the tiny village of Rennes-le-Chateau. Reached only by a narrow, twisting road, it perches high atop a remote peak that overlooks the surrounding countryside. It seems an unlikely place for a mystery, but in reality, one of France’s greatest fiddles has been a major part of this village since the late 1800’s.

Central to the mystery was the parish priest, Berenger Sauniere. A powerful and intelligent man, the handsome cleric first came to Rennes-le-Chateau in 1885.

For the next six years, Sauniere lived simply on his small salary. Then in 1891, he borrowed funds to begin a restoration of his deteriorating church. The foundations of this church dated back to the sixth-century Visigoths, and the altar was even supported on Visigothic columns.

When the altar stone was removed, a hollow section was revealed in one of the columns. Within, Sauniere found four parchments sealed inside wooden cylinders.

Two of the parchments were reported to be genealogies, one from 1244 and the other from 1644. The other two had apparently been written in the 1780’s by a pervious priest of Rennes-le-Chateau. These latter two initially appeared to contain only quotations from the New Testament written in Latin. When examined closely, however, the passages contained run-on words and sentences, added letters, and in some cases, letters and words positioned in ways that made no sense.

The eighteenth-century parchments were actually ciphers - codes so complex that without the key no one has been able to completely break them.

A translation of the first parchment reads, "Shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers holds the key peace 681 by the cross and this horse of God I complete [or I destroy] this demon guardian at noon [or mid-day] blue apples."

In the second parchment, letters raised above the others can be read to say in French, "A Dagobert II roi et a Sion est ce tresor et il est la mort. (To Dagobert II king and to Sion belongs this treasure and he is there dead.)"

The Artistic Clue

Sauniere knew he had stumbled onto something important enough to take to the bishop at Carcassonne. The bishop was so impressed that he sent the village priest on to Paris. There, Sauniere was to present the documents to even higher officials for the Catholic Church.

161 While in Paris, he met not only with Church authorities at the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, but was welcomed into the company of several secret and occult societies. During his stay, he also visited the Louvre and bought reproductions of three paintings.

The first was a portrait of Pope Celestine V by an unidentified artist. The second was a work by David Teniers. And the third - the most important to the mystery - was Nicolas Poussin’s painting Les Bergers d’Arcadie, or the Shepherds of Arcadia. Do the three paintings provide part of the key to deciphering the first parchment? -"Shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers holds the key."

No one knows what was depicted in the unidentified work by David Teniers, but the Poussin painting shows a group of shepherds gathered around a tomb in a valley.

The tomb was a representation of one that Sauniere knew to exist in a valley near his village. A closer examination of the painting show that one of the mountains in the background is the same crag that holds Rennes-le-Chateau.

A Sinister Restoration

After three weeks in Paris, the priest returned to the mountains and continued his restoration of the church, but in a strange and sinister way. He found and opened a curiously carved flagstone over a burial vault from the seventh or either century. But his disturbance of the dead did not stop there.

In the church’s graveyard was the sepulcher of Marie, Marquise d’Hautpoul de Blanchefort. The headstone and coverstone had apparently been placed there by the same priest who had written the coded parchments a century before. The headstone’s inscription contained a number of spelling and spacing errors similar to those found on the mysterious scrolls.

Sauniere had the inscription destroyed, not knowing that it had already been copied. Then, leaving strict instructions with the work crew for the restorations, he and his housekeeper began to make long journeys on foot into the countryside surrounding Rennes-le-Chateau.

Rags to Riches

Suddenly, in 1896, the supposedly poor parish priest began to spend money as if he had an unlimited supply. It is estimated that over the rest of his life, he spent tens of millions of francs.

He built a tower (the Tour Magdala, shown below) on the edge of a cliff and used it as his library and as an observation point, though no one knows what he was observing. He built an elaborate house, the Villa Bethania.

162

And he continued the church’s restoration, redecoration it in a strange and frightening way. Over the entrance he had the workers inscribe, "Terriblis est locus iste (This place is terrible)."

Just Inside the doorway, the holy water basin was held by a hideous statue of the demon Asmodeus - the protector of secrets and guardian of treasures. Asmodeus may be the demon referred to in the first coded parchment, "I complete [or I destroy] this demon guardian."

The paintings depicting the stations of the cross were filled with deviations from the religious norm and strange additions. The most interesting occurs in Station XIV, which shows Jesus’ body being carried into the tomb. The Bible says that Jesus was placed in the tomb before nightfall, but this painting shows a full moon, as though it depicts a scene several hours later. One interpretation is that the painting actually portrays a body being removed from the tomb.

Over the years, Sauniere continued his spending, furnishing his home with fine china, statuary, and rare antiquities. Notable visitors began appearing in Rennes-le-Chateau, including the Archduke Johann von Hapsburg, cousin to the Emperor of Austria, Franz Josef.

The Secrets of God

What else did the priest and his housekeeper discover besides gold? And why did a fellow priest refuse Sauniere the last rites?

163 Rumors abound concerning the ‘secret’ and the ‘true treasure’ of Rennes-le-Chateau. All seem to point to a major religious artifact or secret hidden in the area.

Interestingly, the tomb in Poussin’s Les Bergers d’Arcadia bears an inscription. The words form an incomplete sentence in Latin that read Et in Arcadia ego (And in Arcadia I). Treating the sentence as an anagram, the letters of the Latin inscription can be arrange to read: I tego arcana Dei (Begone I conceal the secrets of God).

Many of the clues to Sauniere’s discovery still remain in and about the village, although the tomb does not. The owner of the property destroyed it just a few years ago "for the sake of privacy" - or was there another reason?

Each year, the curious arrive along with the serious researchers, each trying to find the answer. Someday, perhaps someone will discover the missing pieces of the puzzle. Until then, the mystery of Sauniere, his housekeeper, and whatever they found in the tiny village of Rennes-le-Chateau will remain unsolved.

164 Images: The Last Supper

165 Images: Leonardo Da Vinci

166 Images: Louvre

167 Images: Louvre

168 Images: Les Dossiers Secrets

169 Images: Venus

170 Images: Westminster Abbey

171 Images: Merovingians

172 Images: Mona Lisa

173 Images: Lost Bride

174 Images: Churches

175 Images: Virgin & Madonna of the Rocks

176