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The Rise

Monday, July 14th, 2008

The Rise, Isaac Ben Jacob & Sarah FishbergPre-sales have started for the Rise. This long awaited book by writers collective Isaac Ben Jacob and Sarah Fishberg will throw a completely new light on the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château.

Within medieval Europe, a new power was rising. Within the heart of the Catholic Church, a heresy had infiltrated its hierarchy almost to the very top, and began a centuries’ long campaign of altering its original teachings, to make it conform with their own.

Today, best known as “penitent movements”, the somewhat bizarre public spectacles they continue to display on the streets of Europe were originally but smokescreens as to the movement’s true doctrine, which was based on a Babylonian cult of the dead.

Isaac ben Jacob & Sarah Fishberg are the figureheads of a team of researchers that has identified and tracked this movement from the Middle East to Italy, Germany and France. Eventually, they realised that the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, linked with the extra-ordinary fortune of one Béranger Saunière – at the basis of numerous bestsellers, including The Da Vinci Code – was but another episode in the long and intriguing tale of this heretical movement.

The Rise unveils a battle between factions that has been waged in front of our eyes for centuries – and which is now wonderfully explained, in all its gory detail.

The cover was designed by Corjan de Raaf, creator of RLC Research.com

You can order the book by clicking this link

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Resurrect Rennes!

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Anyone who has visited Rennes-le-Château over the last couple of years will have noticed that the Saunière estate is in a bad state. If nothing is done soon, two of the major landmarks in the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château, the Villa Bethania and the Tour Magdala will have to be closed for the public or worse.


Click on one of the photos to see the current state of the Villa Bethania and Tour Magdala

Alex Painco, the new Major, is calling to the rescue. Since Rennes-le-Château is a tiny village, in spite of what you would expect from the visitor numbers, it has very few resources at its disposal. To be able to restore the Villa Bethania and the Tour Magdala to its original splendour, the Community Council is asking everyone that carries the village and the mystery in his/her heart to make a donation. Every donor will be added to the official community list, maintained to keep track of all restoration work to the domain. It’s an elegant way for every enthusiast to become associated with the Saunière estate for eternity.

Any amount can be sent to:

la Mairie de Rennes le Château,
à l’ordre du Trésor Public,
Mairie,
11190 Rennes le Château
France

Inhabitants of France can transfer the money by national bank transfer:
Mairie de Rennes le Château
Banque de France
CODE BANQUE : 30001
CODE GUICHET 00257
N° Compte 0000S050043
CLE RIB 17

Anyone who wants to donate from abroad, please transfer the money using the International Bank Account Number (IBAN):
Rennes le Château - ( Banque de France)
IBAN : FR35 3000 1002 5700 00S0 5004 317
BDF BIC (Swift) : BDFEFRPPCCT

More photos can be seen on the village’s official website.

Photos copyright Jean-Patrick Pourtal (thanks Jean-Patrick)

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Brothers in God

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Brothers in GodDuring the last General Assembly of the Terre de Rhedae Association, chairman Antoine Captier presented an unknown photograph of 4, perhaps 5 key players in the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château. The photo was taken between 1895 and 1897 and was found in the archives of the Saunière family who handed it to Antoine.

On the photo, 5 priests are positioned around a book on a table, possibly the Holy Bible. From left to right you can see Bérenger Saunière, Maurice Malot (the cousin of Antoine Gélis), Bérenger’s younger brother Alfred Saunière, an unknown priest and at the very right Antoine Gélis, who would be murdered not too long after this scene was recorded. There’s a distinct possibility that the unknown priest is in fact Henri Boudet, but since no confirmed photos of him exist it is impossible to check at this stage. It is not certain where the photo was taken or what the ocassion was. However, since the men clearly posed for the ocassion, all looking in different directions, there was probably a good cause for taking it.

Many thanks to Jean-Pierre Garcia for sharing this and to Terre de Rhedae, with whose kind permission this photo is published.

It’s great to see these men together after all this time. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Take care | Corjan de Raaf

©2007-2008 rlcresearch.com, all rights reserved

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Photo updates

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Musée Pietet, LimouxDid some major updating on the photos page.

- Added photos to the Rennes-le-Château section
- Added photos to the Rennes-les-Bains sections
- Added a dedicated section to old postcards from Rennes-les-Bains, most I got from Marcus Williamson, who is an expert on the region’s history and runs an art gallery in the village. Thanks Marcus!
- Added an Alet-les-Bains section
- Added a Montazels section
- Added a Notre Dame-de-Marceille section
- Added a Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet section
- Added a Niort-de-Sault section

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Rennessence 2007

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

This News Service is brought to you by RLC Research and Radio Rennessence.
Subscribe to this News Feed | View the News Archive (slow) | View the French News Service
_______________________________________________________________________

A new skin for Bloodline

26 Mar 2008, 16:53
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedWith approximately six weeks to go before theatrical releases in LA and New York, the Bloodline website has gone for a complete overhaul, including a new trailer and further background information and excerpts, including interview with alleged Priory representative Nicolas Haywood, Antoine Corbu, Gino Sandri and the controversial Gerard Thom.

Further Christian controversy

24 Mar 2008, 07:54
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedMalcolm Brocklehurst, will have his controversial book, The Secret History of Christianity, published on April 13. The book – 23 years in the making – touches on themes of the Christian church, templars, masons and the Holy Grail, and began while Brocklehurst was exposed to Rennes-le-Château while working in Toulouse.

Back with a vengeance?

21 Mar 2008, 18:16
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe British newspaper The Guardian sends its reporter on the streets of London, in search of modern Knights Templar - and apparently finding some! Not surprisingly, they seem to be hiding as accountants - seeing they invented the banking system.

Rescanières: murdered?

20 Mar 2008, 11:24
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos tackles the death of Rescanières, Boudet’s successor as priest of Rennes-les-Bains, wondering whether he might have been murdered – an allegation that has been made about other deaths in the mystery too.

The Supper Music Code

20 Mar 2008, 08:13
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedItalian musician and computer technician Giovanni Maria Pala claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a composition to accompany the wall painting.

Led Zeppelin and the Holy Grail

17 Mar 2008, 09:11
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedA spectacular Victorian tapestry bought by the rock star Jimmy Page for £40,000 30 years ago went on show before a £1 million auction in London. It shows a scene from the legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail.

Last goodbye to Jean-Luc Robin

13 Mar 2008, 07:43
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThere will be a commemorative service for Jean-Luc Robin, Monday 17th March at 10h30 in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Rennes-le-Château.

Death of Jean-Luc Robin

12 Mar 2008, 10:46
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIt is with extreme sadness that Rennessence once again has to announce the death of a Rennes-le-Château researcher – and former guest of Radio Rennessence: Jean-Luc Robin. Jean-Luc was caretaker of the Villa Bethania for several years in the 1990s, before starting the restaurant/bar in front of the Villa. His passion for the mystery led him to write two books. Jean-Luc suffered from a heart attack about two years ago, after which he began to mount a campaign to oust the then mayor of Rennes-le-Château, Lhuillier, from his post. Last Sunday, his party triumphed in the local elections, but three days later, it is clear that disaster struck. During the night of March 11-12, 2008, Jean-Luc suffered a fatal heart attack.

Say it with a pentagram

11 Mar 2008, 16:39
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedGeoff Bath tackles Poussin’s The Shepherds of Arcadia, whose hidden pentagram propelled Henry Lincoln into the sacred geography of Rennes-le-Château. Bath argues that the same technique might have been employed by other painters too.

Regime change in Rennes-le-Château

10 Mar 2008, 14:41
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe results of the mayoral elections for Rennes-le-Château are in. Jean-Francois Lhuillier was narrowly defeated by a list headed by Antoine Captier, and which also included another researcher, Jean-Luc Robin. Both had 43 votes. Marcus Van der Grinten and Jacqueline Goostens had most votes - 46 - and will thus be the odds-on favourites to be chosen as mayor. The winning party has ten days to nominate the mayor.

Forgotten Magic Square of Salvaterra

9 Mar 2008, 07:44
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedSociété Perillos has an article about the Magic Square on the plateau of Opoul, location of the Château the Salvaterra. A magic square is a key that “something” magical has to occur here. It is nothing more or less than a coded message. And though most people in the esoteric fielding are aware of what a magic square is, few are unable to work with it, or understand its true importance.

GPR, anyone?

5 Mar 2008, 20:31
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedWith dynamite, axes and shovels no longer allowed, GPR - ground penetrating radar - is the only viable means of finding out whether and what is hiding underneath the village of Rennes-le-Chateau. Ben Hammott publishes the report that is the last - if not the first - of official archaeological studies done on the village.

The Cash Code

2 Mar 2008, 22:31
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRosslyn Chapel has chalked up a £1.35m surplus due to the stream of visitors who came to see the building in the wake of the Da Vinci Code film. The 15th-century Scottish church saw no less than 176,000 visitors in 2006/07. The cash is being ploughed into speeding up a planned £12.75m renovation of the building.

Templar Emblem filmed deep inside Mount Cardou

1 Mar 2008, 20:37
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedEarly 2000, Dutch bestselling author and researcher Klaas van Urk discovered a narrow shaft hidden high on Mount Cardou. He had been led to the location using the Rennes-le-Château parchments, the Coumesourde stone and the enigmatic text of La Serpent Rouge. Some 15 metres down in the shaft, that is located on a difficult location high on Mount Cardou, he discovered an engraved Templar emblem, an eight-pointed star. In February 2008, a combined team of Belgian and Dutch researchers returned to Mount Cardou to let an infrared camera down the shaft on a 100 metres long rope. Objective was to see how deep the shaft is and where it ends. You can now see the Templar engraving for yourself.

Trembling Rocks of Rennes-les-Bains destroyed

1 Mar 2008, 16:11
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedMuch to their horror, a group of researchers recently discovered that two of the 4 ‘Roches Tremblantes’ (Trembling or Dancing Stones), a prominent landmark near the village of Rennes-les-Bains have been destroyed. Featuring in Abbé Henri Boudet’s enigmatic work ‘The True Celtic Language and the Cromleck of Rennes-les-Bains’, the stones had been swinging in the wind for centuries. It looks like yet another mindless crime in the Rennes-le-Château region by some lunatic without any respect for the history or environment.

Another curiosity church?

29 Feb 2008, 09:15
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe church of Espéraza can be seen as the legacy of Rivière, the priest who heard Saunière’s deathbed confessions. The Société Perillos wonders whether some of the church decorations might reveal insights into the mindset of this priest, who allegedly was perturbed by what he had heard.

Oh Brother!

24 Feb 2008, 16:28
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedResearcher Ben Hammott demonstrates how the two Saunière brothers Bérenger and Alfred were mixed up even in death. Someone paid tribute to Bérenger by adorning his tomb with an image of his brother.

Rhedesium

24 Feb 2008, 09:37
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedWhat used to be the Rennes Alchemist magazine is now Rhedesium. The latest issue has just been published. It contains articles about the Bloodline findings, Mary Magdalene and an article by Gay Roberts about Philippe de Cherisey’s ‘ Stone and Paper’ .

Ark of the Covenant recovered in Zimbabwe?

23 Feb 2008, 21:03
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedTudor Parfitt, a professor at the University of London’s prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies, claims to have traced the Ark of the Covenenant to a dusty bottom shelf in a museum in Harare, Zimbabwe. Parfitt thinks that whatever the supernatural character of Ark, it was, like the ngoma, a combination of reliquary, drum and primitive weapon, fueled with a somewhat unpredictable proto-gunpowder. That would explain the unintentional conflagrations.

Bloodline set for release

22 Feb 2008, 18:20
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedVariety reports that Cinema Libre Studio has acquired international rights to distribute “Bloodline”. The doc will preem in May in Gotham and Los Angeles, with a platform release to follow.

A second model, and a revealing letter

22 Feb 2008, 08:55
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos report on their discovery of two, and recovery of one, further models, ordered by Saunière at the end of his life. They also publish a letter, which shows that Saunière intended to send one copy to a colleague priest – whose name or location they are withholding for the moment.

Bill Kersey Interviewed on Radio Rennessence

15 Feb 2008, 21:13
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRadio Rennessence interviewed Bill Kersey, perhaps best known for his translation of Gerard de Sède’s ‘The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Château’. However, always quietly present in the background, Bill has had quite a career in the genre. Currently he is involved with the controversial Bloodline findings and the documentary around his research companion Ben Hammott the Tombman.

Boldly driving where few have driven before…

15 Feb 2008, 08:35
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos take a drive in the hinterland of Rennes-les-Bains, where Kate Mosse’s Sepulchre is set, to find a valley of forgotten megaliths, souterrains, enigmatic roads, and evidence that some of Saunière’s friends were very much present here.

Golgotha… England?

12 Feb 2008, 10:59
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAndrew Gough discovers that Golgotha isn’t just a place near Jerusalem… it’s also the name of a hamlet on the outskirts of the English city of Lancaster. What’s more, he stumbles on references to Mary Magdalene and theories how the real Jerusalem may once have been located in Britain!

Cross correspondences

8 Feb 2008, 08:36
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedHaving mapped the hidden dimension of the crypt of Rennes-le-Château, the Société Perillos points out a series of correspondences with the underground of Perillos, asking the question whether this might be one of the reasons why Saunière became involved in that mystery.

Old photo collection of Notre Dame de Marceille

3 Feb 2008, 21:03
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedJean-Pierre Garcia and Franck Daffos have published a large collection of old postcards and photos of the Basilica of Notre Dame de Marceille.

How Rivière connected the dots to find the Magdalene

3 Feb 2008, 17:59
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedFrench researcher Jacques Rivière, who unfortunately passed away in 2006, left us some of the more serious books on the mystery of Rennes-le-Château as well as a great many things to ponder. On of his most intriguing claims was that, if the summits of the hills in the Aude region are joined up, the dots connect into the figure of Mary Magdalene as she appears on the bas-relief of Saunière’s altar, her head being the ramparts of Carcassonne. RLC Research pays tribute to a great researcher.

Excavation at Rennes-le-Château

1 Feb 2008, 21:16
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedBen Hammott has posted an article on Robert Eisenman’s soundings in Rennes-le-Château in April 2001 and the excavations in the Tour Magdala in August 2003.

Cryptic Clues

1 Feb 2008, 18:21
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos goes in search of the crypt of Rennes-le-Château, wondering why there is such controversy surrounding this crypt… when its existence is clearly documented and the clues as to its whereabouts, all there.

The Code auction

30 Jan 2008, 22:56
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedPaintings and statues used in The Da Vinci Code movie are being auctioned to raise money for Lincoln Cathedral, which was doubling for Westminster Cathedral when it refused Hollywood to film the blockbuster there.

Oak Island Treasure Tales

29 Jan 2008, 08:16
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedOak Island is an enigma not unlike Rennes-le-Chateau; one could argue there is no mystery at all, only copious amounts of fraud and misdirection. And then comes Will, an informant who claims to be part of team that has blown the mystery wide open. But can he be believed? Andrew Gough reveals.

Bloodline Movie will be released in spring 2008

26 Jan 2008, 13:18
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe producers of Bloodline, the documentary that is based on the discoveries of researcher Ben Hammott, have signed a deal with an LA Studio. The movie is now set to be released in the spring of this year. On their website, further reports have been published, that are claimed to support the authenticity of Hammott’s findings, involving english handwriting expert Emma Bache.

The forgotten part of the mystery

25 Jan 2008, 08:39
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos return to the early days of the mystery, and find references to another enigmatic priest, Cayron, which the Priory of Sion tried to work into the enigma. But why, four decades on, is he forgotten? And even misplaced?

Lifting up the altar cloth

18 Jan 2008, 11:21
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos lift up the altar cloth of Rennes-le-Château – figuratively speaking – to see what’s the deal with the secret caches, parchments and other secrets that it allegedly once contained. A crash course in religion and Rennes history. Some mysteries are shattered, but some questions remain.

Grails, Cups and Saucers

18 Jan 2008, 11:01
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedGrailseekers is making a brave effort to make an inventory of all pottery claimed by someone to be the Holy Grail. In Part 1, Brian Kannard gives us the first 5 contenders.

Could the real Mona Lisa please step forward

16 Jan 2008, 13:25
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Mona Lisa’s true identity has been revealed by experts at Heidelberg University library who say a manuscript found in the library of a good friend of Leonardo reveals that she was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Florentine merchant Franceso del Giocondo. In October of 1503 the Florentine official Agostino Vespuccui wrote a note in the margins of one page, saying that his friend was working on three paintings, one of them a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. The fact that the painting has long been known as ‘La Gioconda’ would seem to support the Heidelberg academic’s theory.

Rosslyn: back to the drawing board

15 Jan 2008, 20:57
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedArchitects are invited to submit proposals on how to improve visitor access and ‘comprehensive conservation’ for the small Scottish chapel that has in recent years become overrun because of the success of The Da Vinci Code.

Rennes-le-Château in motion

12 Jan 2008, 10:46
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRLC Research, the Rennes-le-Château Research and Resource website is now offering all the best publicly available video material on Rennes-le-Château in one spot.

Revelation: a movie filmed in Rennes-le-Château

11 Jan 2008, 08:43
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedPhilip Coppens analyses the movie Revelation, which, much more than The Da Vinci Code, used the enigma of Rennes-le-Château, and worked it into a movie that was in his opinion superior to it. Parts of the movie were filmed in Rennes-le-Château, and contains one scene of a priest whose body was walled into the Tour Magdala - while still alive.

Anyone speak Latin?

11 Jan 2008, 08:38
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedStephen Anderson contributes his comments to the analysis of the enigmatic Latin texts the Société Perillos were given. The texts seem to date from the 19th century and appear to be a rhymed text tackling the Mary Magdalene and the enigmatic mountain of Bugarach.

Nazi Code Press Release

10 Jan 2008, 15:46
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedBarely six months after German violist Stefan Krah famously cracked a Nazi code that had eluded even the best cryptographers, there’s a new challenge. This time it is a coded document allegedly drafted by Hitler’s secretary Martin Bormann. While in April 1945 the Russians fought their way through Berlin, the Nazi’s hastily transported a stash of gold and Hitler’s personal diamonds to a secret location. The cargo was meant to finance the operations of the guerrilla movement Werewolf. During the final hours of the war, Hitler’s secretary, Martin Bormann, handed a coded document to an army chaplain and ordered him to take it to party-treasurer Schwarz in Munich. The document apparently revealed the location of the gold and diamonds. However, Schwarz had already been arrested by the Allied forces and Bormann did not survive the Russian assault. Over sixty years later the document coincidentally landed in the hands of Dutch investigative journalist Karl Hammer. He now offers a € 25,000 reward to anyone who can solve the puzzle. To help researchers on their way Hammer has found Dutch publishing house Elmar willing to publish his dossier in a book. Hammer: “Just like Stefan Krah and his network of amateur researchers managed to crack the earlier Enigma code, I now hope that the same can be done with this one.”

Steve Berry on Radio Rennessence

10 Jan 2008, 13:10
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRadio Rennessence has an exclusive interview with American best selling author Steve Berry. The author sold over 6 million books in 43 countries and 41 languages. In his novel The Templar Legacy, Steve tells about the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, linking the mystery to the Knights Templar past and present. All that separates you from illumination is your ears.

Karl Hammer offers 25,000 Euro reward for Nazi Treasure

7 Jan 2008, 21:10
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIn his new book ‘The Tears of the Wolf’, Dutch author Karl Hammer-Kaatee tells how Martin Bormann, Hitler’s secretary, gave a coded document to his chaplain in the final hours of the war. Hammer found this document and after intensive research concluded that there is a Nazi treasure waiting to be discovered. It would contain the ‘Tears of the Wolf’, a set of the finest and biggest diamonds from Hitler’s private collection. Hammer will pay 25,000 Euro to anyone who will break the code in the document and show him the diamonds. He or she can keep the diamonds but must give Hammer exclusive rights to the story. The Chaplain’s document can be downloaded here.

RLC Research Digest

7 Jan 2008, 15:00
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIn the last couple of months, a large number of new topics have been added to the website of Rennes-le-Château Research. Among others, they include Saunière’s crypt, the Château of Bézu, Johann Habsburg, father Bernard Mongé and some completely new pictures of Louis de Coma’s Monastery of Carol. Not to be missed.

Rennes-le-Château in 3 Dimensions

5 Jan 2008, 20:22
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedFinally, a tourist-free tour of your fav mystery village. The Google 3D warehouse has been supplied with a three dimensional model of the Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, the Calvaire and the Villa Bethania in Rennes-le-Château. To be viewed in a so called ’sketchup’ application or in Google Earth.

Sour blue apples?

3 Jan 2008, 14:55
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos proclaim the ‘Blue Apples at Noon’, a light phenomenon occurring on January 17, inside the church of Rennes-le-Château, to be the biggest non-event of the entire mystery. Showing the display is a complete coincidence, without significance, they argue that any further speculation on the topic is best avoided.

Another year, another Grail in Iceland

2 Jan 2008, 15:16
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe world is quickly running out of places where the Grail isn’t. The latest claim comes from Icelandic architect Thórarinn Thórarinsson. He has requested permission to start searching the area of Hrunamannahreppur. Your editor agrees that it is certainly a mysterious name. His reasoning is partially based on the consistency between da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper and an aerial photograph of the area. The theory is that the Knights Templar came to Iceland in 1217 to find a hiding place for their treasure and that Snorri Sturluson, the author of Prose Edda and other mediaeval scripts, helped them create the underground dome in Iceland’s central highlands.

Best wishes for 2008

1 Jan 2008, 11:11
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRennessence would like to wish you all the best for 2008. 2007 was the first full year of our operation, and from “just” a newsfeed in late 2006, we have grown to incorporate a French newsfeed, as well as offer monthly interviews, in French and English, including doyens of the mystery such as Antoine Captier and Jean-Luc Chaumeil, and world bestselling authors like Kate Mosse and Patrice Chaplin. Fireworks are in order… and there are more to come in 2008!

Campaign to save Royston cave from damage

28 Dec 2007, 16:01
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAn ancient cave in Royston, England, thought to have been used by the Knights Templar for some of their initiation ceremonies, is being damaged by the weight and vibration of excessive heavy lorry traffic.

Is the Grail on display in Paris?

27 Dec 2007, 14:28
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedGlasgow historian Mark Oxbrow believes he may have found the Holy Grail: he believes it has been on display in the Louvre for several years! Mark’s curiosity was aroused when he spotted the Patene de Serpentine tucked away in the medieval section of the museum. The dish dates back to 100BC-100AD, and is, in his opinion, the best candidate for the sacred relic.

Radio Rennessence Christmas Special

21 Dec 2007, 19:34
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRadio Rennessence treats its listeners to over an hour of debate between Corjan de Raaf, Andrew Gough and Philip Coppens about everything Rennes-le-Château in 2007. They discuss all the background stories and share their most secret inside insights. If you’re interested in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, this might well be all you need for Christmas this year.

Learn about the funny handshakes

21 Dec 2007, 10:28
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedBrian Kannard feels that the release of “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” and the buzz about Dan Brown’s next book “The Solomon Key” is the perfect pretext to educate the web community about Masonic symbolism. This way, no viewer will arrive unprepared to the movie theatre.

A postcard, not a Christmas card

21 Dec 2007, 10:25
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos have dug up a postcard from Perillos’ past, which reveals some interesting insights into some ancient water features, for which they have found parallels in Rennes-les-Bains. With rumours of a subterranean lake underneath Rennes-le-Château and evidence of water points in the immediate vicinity of the church, could the article also shed light on what lies between Rennes’ church?

Lights, but no action

21 Dec 2007, 10:21
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRosslyn Chapel will enter 2008 with a total ban on photo and video recording. The new rule is a consequence of a Health & Safety Review, commissioned after some tourists had fallen, looking at their camera screens… and not where they were going. The move has already received massive criticism, some arguing it is a money-making scheme to sell postcards and other memorabilia.

Mr. Rigby’s Pentagon

12 Dec 2007, 17:22
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAdrian Lodge Ph.D. returns with a sequel to his earlier analysis of the existence or not of sacred geometry in Nicolas Poussin’s celebrated painting, The Shepherds of Arcadia. Coincidence, serendipity, the writer Greg Rigby and the fallibility of memory all contribute to Adrian’s rather surprising conclusions.

When the Hammer hits home

7 Dec 2007, 09:41
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos present the final part of Hammer’s Satan’s Song, discussing the finale of the book, set in Rennes-le-Château and Notre-Dame de Marceille. They find a number of inconsistencies in the account, though are unable to shake the notion that despite these problems, something seems to be going on. But what?

Modelling Lincoln

7 Dec 2007, 09:40
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedDan Green is absolutely determined to have a Grail in Lincoln, no matter what, as attested by his latest article in which he claims that Sauniere’s model actually represents the city of Lincoln! Green states that this rather surprising conclusion is the result of coincidence and unconscious collectiveness. It will therefore not come as a coincidence that his claims will be seen as controversial, at best.

Fortean Wonders of the World

4 Dec 2007, 15:37
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedPursuing the example of the competition to elect new seven wonders of the world, the Charles Fort Institute has decided to organise a competition to select the ‘Seven Fortean Wonders of the World’. One of the short-listed wonders is Rennes-le-Château, which in the first round of a three-part competition, is in competition with pyramids, crystal skull, Atlantis… and even the Loch Ness monster.

Unmasking Satan’s little helpers

2 Dec 2007, 17:03
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Société Perillos continue their expose of Hammer-Kaatee’s ‘Satan’s Song’, by revealing whom some of the intelligence agents are that allegedly spurred Tom R. onwards, in efforts to uncover the Arma Christi. Some, like Donovan, were indeed Knights; others, like Henry Luce, had connections to the Just Judges.

Obituary of Richard Leigh

29 Nov 2007, 14:31
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedOn the Daily Grail, Rennes-les-Bains resident Marcus Williamson has released an obituary for Holy Blood, Holy Grail author Richard Leigh, who passed away on 21 November. Williamson, who earlier wrote an obituary for alleged Priory-of-Sion Grandmaster Pierre Plantard, recounts how Leigh came to the UK to become a literary writer and ended up co-writing a non-fiction bestseller.

Umberto Eco denies interest in Kaballah and Occult Practices

29 Nov 2007, 14:27
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIn an interview with New York Times, Italian author Umberto Eco denies having an interest in the Kabbalah, alchemy and other occult practices. The author states ‘I wrote the grotesque representation of these kind of people’ and calls Dan Brown one of the creatures he created. Eco is known best as the author of the highbrow murder mystery ‘The Name of the Rose’. He’s also a prolific political commentator whose essays have now been collected in a book,’Turning Back the Clock’, in which he warns against the dangers of ‘media populism’.

Dan Brown to unveil Washington’s Masonic past

29 Nov 2007, 13:43
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedA sequel to the blockbuster thriller “The Da Vinci Code” is set to lift the veil on mysterious Freemason symbols carved into the very fabric of the historic streets and buildings of the US capital. Novelist Dan Brown has set the new adventures of his hero, scholar-adventurer Robert Langdon, right in the heart of Washington, which could reveal some astonishing facts for history buffs. Washington has strong historic roots in Freemasonry, an old and widespread fraternity which traditionally practised secret rituals. The first US president after whom the city is named, George Washington, was a Mason, as were his fellow founding fathers James Madison and Benjamin Franklin, plus James Hoban, the architect of the White House.

Tombs of the Grandmasters

28 Nov 2007, 22:03
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedFew orders are as famous, and rich, as the Order of Malta. BibliOdyssey presents an overview of the tombs of their grandmasters, portraying the wealth of the order and the influence of its members, which today are still by invitation only and count 12,000, spread over 100 countries.

Keepers of the Lost Ark?

28 Nov 2007, 21:59
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Smithsonian Magazine sent its reporters to Ethiopia, to visit the local Christian community, who for more than one decade have become the centrepiece of attention, following Graham Hancock’s book on the possibility that they harbour the Ark of the Covenant.

Mayoral Elections Rennes-le-Château in March 2008

28 Nov 2007, 12:52
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIt has been confirmed that the Rennes-le-Château Mayoral elections will be held on the 9th of March 2008, at which time the majority vote winning team will be decided and subsequently ratified on the 16th of March. Rennessence has learned that the opposition party has 10 of its 11 members confirmed, including 4 non-French residents (1 English, 2 Dutch and 1 Belgian) and 6 French members. The 11th member has yet to be named. The Opposition Party, which includes Jean Luc Robin, has agreed to promote the team member who receives the most votes to the office of Major, but would like to stress that if elected, they will govern as a team. One of the first things the Opposition Team would like to establish, if elected, is a Trust to ensure that RLC is restored and maintained to the highest quality.

Richard Leigh dies aged 64

27 Nov 2007, 19:34
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedNews has reached us that Richard Leigh passed away on 21st November of this year. Leigh was best known for his co-authorship on the best-seller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) together with Henry Lincoln and Michael Baigent. In February 2006 Baigent and Leigh filed a case against Random House, publisher of the book The Da Vinci Code, on charges of plagiarism by Dan Brown. They eventually lost the case. Leigh wanted to be remembered as a writer of novels like Erceldoune & Other Stories and Gray Magic. Thanks to Mariano Tomatis and Demian Lee Kusturiza for reporting this.

Secret Ops fix Pantheon clock

26 Nov 2007, 19:10
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedFour members of an underground “cultural guerrilla” movement known as the Untergunther, whose purpose is to restore France’s cultural heritage, were cleared on Friday of breaking into one of Paris’ best known 18th-century monuments in a plot worthy of Dan Brown or Umberto Eco. For a year from September 2005, under the nose of the Panthéon’s unsuspecting security officials, a group of intrepid “illegal restorers” set up a secret workshop and lounge in a cavity under the building’s famous dome. Under the supervision of group member Jean-Baptiste Viot, a professional clockmaker, they pieced apart and repaired the antique clock that had been left to rust in the building since the 1960s. Only when their clandestine revamp of the elaborate timepiece had been completed did they reveal themselves.

The real powerbrokers behind Rennes-le-Château

24 Nov 2007, 15:02
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIn the fourth instalment of the Satan’s Song series on Société Perillos, Filip Coppens puts all the pieces of the puzzle together to find a big overlap in recent research by completely different sources and from different directions. It appears the real powerbrokers behind the mystery of Rennes-le-Château can now be identified better than ever before.

Exoneration for the Knights Templar

23 Nov 2007, 21:41
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAmerican Grialdiary blogger Brian Kannard is requesting everyone with an interest in the history of the Knights Templar to sign a petition “to call upon the Pope and the Catholic Church to officially exonerate the Knights Templar from heresy charges leveled against them after 13 Oct 1307″. This petition will be delivered to the Vatican on 18 March 08, the day Jacque DeMolay and de Charney were burned at the stake.

Diamond found with a Templar Cross inside?

23 Nov 2007, 21:33
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedWhat to think of this? It’s claimed a Californian diamond dealer recently found a diamond with a perfect natural Templar Cross inside.The diamond in question is almost 3 carats in weight and a natural greenish color. No photos are available yet. The press release reads like a cheap marketing trick, but you read it here, in case miracles exist.

Ark of the Covenant claimed to be in Kenya

23 Nov 2007, 21:22
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe original chest of the Ark of the Covenant has been in Kenya since the year 1210 AD, according to James Kamweru, a Kenyan tour operator. In an article, the writer reveals that the Mt Kenya is regarded as a God’s Mountain. It is in there the Ark is kept according to the writer. The shrines therein are held in trust by a college of 12 seers who operate in secrecy to guard their wisdom.

DVD Ancient Mines of Rennes-le-Château

22 Nov 2007, 08:39
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedVeteran German Rennes-le-Château researcher Peter Ernst, has published a DVD on the ancient mines in the area of Rennes-le-Château. There’s a preview of the DVD available on YouTube. Ernst crawled through an impressive number of caves and mines around the two Rennes, Bugarach and Arques to name just a few of the areas.

Another take on the Jesus Tomb

22 Nov 2007, 08:28
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThis week, Canadian-born film maker Martin Himel released his documentary ‘Archeological Minefields’, a new take on Simcha Jacobovici’s Lost Tomb of Jesus, which was released last winter. In his documentary he defuses many of Jacobovici’s arguments and calls for a more careful approach of archeological findings. Perhaps the most damning of Himel’s findings is that ossuaries were routinely reused over several generations, and that the 10 ossuaries in the Jesus tomb may have held up to 35 separate sets of bones. In the film, archaeologist Joe Zias calls it “intellectually dishonest” to suggest each box held one set of bones.

Bugarach from the sky

21 Nov 2007, 14:13
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedJan Alain posted some pictures of the mountain of Bugarach (Pech de Thauze), seen from the sky. Bugarach, called the Mountain of God by the locals, dominates the landscapes around the two Rennes: Rennes-le-Château and Rennes-les-Bains. Countless legends are told about its mines, caves and the alleged silhouet of Joseph of Arimathea’s face at the top.

Merovingian papyrus in Barcelona Cathedral

21 Nov 2007, 10:56
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe Archive of the Cathedral of Barcelona preserves ten papyruses of the 6th century still not deciphered, that were found in the leather cover of the codex that is known as the Homilies of Sant Gregori, which is dated before the 8th century. In a study in Augira magazine, Montserrat Tudela, director of the research institute, stated that recent study proves the documents originated from Merovingian France. The article is in Catalan.

Strike hits arrival of Angels and Demons

19 Nov 2007, 08:51
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe prequel to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, has become the first big-screen casualty of the Hollywood writers’ strike. The movie is delayed by Columbia Pictures because its script needs more work, after an attempt to complete it before the strike. It had been due for release around Christmas 2008, but has now been pencilled in for May 2009.

Kate Mosse on Radio Rennessence

16 Nov 2007, 23:02
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRadio Rennessence interviewed best selling author Kate Mosse. After the colossal success of her first novel Labyrinth, her second book Sepulchre is cooked with ingredients of the Rennes-le-Château mystery. Mosse’s great in-depth knowledge of the landscape, the actors and the legends of the region make for a fascinating interview. Not to be missed.

Satan’s Song, a secret search

16 Nov 2007, 18:59
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedIn the third article of the Satan’s Song series, Société Perillos takes a closer look at the theft of the Just Judges, one of the panels of Van Eyck’s masterpiece The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Was this panel really a map leading to the holiest of relics? The Nazi’s certainly seemed to think so.

Hollywood takes action hero Jesus to India

16 Nov 2007, 08:53
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedHollywood is to fill in the Bible’s “missing years” with a story about Jesus as a wandering mystic who travelled across India, living in Buddhist monasteries and speaking out against the iniquities of the country’s caste system. The Aquarian Gospel, a $20m movie, portrays Jesus as a holy man and teacher inspired by a myriad of eastern religions in India. The Aquarian Gospel takes its name from a century-old book that examined Christianity’s eastern roots and is in its 53rd reprint.

Rat Scabies in 17 Questions

14 Nov 2007, 18:03
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedRat Scabies is the godfather of punk. He also knows a hell of a lot about Rennes-le-Château. And thanks to Christopher Dawe’s sensational book, Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail, he’s a modern day Grail hero as well. Andrew Gough met Rat in his local, the Griffin Pub in Brentford, West London, where they talked about the whole affair

Italian musician uncovers hidden music in Da Vinci’s Last Supper

11 Nov 2007, 20:29
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAfter the Rosslyn Motet, an Italian musician and computer technician now claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a somber composition to accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting. In his book La Musica Celata (The Hidden Music) Pala describes how he found what he says are other clues in the painting that reveal the slow rhythm of the composition and the duration of each note. The result is a 40 second hymn to God that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ.

Where art thou, Just Judges?

8 Nov 2007, 09:45
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedFilip Coppens continues his exposé on Hammer’s Satan’s Song the Société Perillos website. In part 2, he delves into the esoteric message of Van Eyck’s The Adoration of the Lamb, which Hammer argues is a treasure map in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château.

The name’s Kate Mosse. Not Kate Moss.

4 Nov 2007, 10:29
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedKate Mosse says her new book Sepulchre, which focuses on tarot cards, Rennes-les-Bains, old music pieces and a mysterious death, follows in the footsteps of her previous bestseller Labyrinth, winner of the Richard & Judy’s Book Club 2006.

‘Take 2′ for Lincoln Cathedral

2 Nov 2007, 17:33
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedDan Green, author of two books and numerous articles about the Lincoln Cathedral Da Vinci Code (the cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey in the film), has released a multi part video tour of the cathedral and its surroundings on YouTube. If you can’t make it to Lincoln, let YouTube - rather than Ron Howard - take you there.

Singing Satan’s Song

2 Nov 2007, 06:46
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedFollowing on from Karl Hammer-Kaatee’s interview on Radio Rennessence, Société Perillos begin a multi-part series of the material and theories proposed in Hammer’s book. Part 1 tackles an overview of the main thrust of the book.

Play it again, Rosslyn

31 Oct 2007, 15:32
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedJeff Nisbet looks into the background of The Rosslyn Motet, including previous attempts to decode the cubes as a musical code and argues that Mitchell did not arrive single-handedly at his musical masterpiece.

Da Vinci’s Last Supper goes high definition

27 Oct 2007, 23:05
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedA 16 billion pixel image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper has been posted on the internet, allowing art lovers close up details of the 15th Century work. The image is 1,600 times stronger than those taken with a typical 10 million pixel digital camera.

Knights Templar innocence on sale for $8,375 apiece

26 Oct 2007, 14:47
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedOn October 25, the Vatican added another colourful chapter to the Knights Templar mythology, when it published a long-misplaced, 699-year-old papal report on the medieval holy warriors. Vatican publisher Scrinium will offer 799 copies (the 800th will go to the Pope), at $8,375 apiece, of a 1308 parchment titled Processus Contra Templarios (Trial Against the Templars), which chronicles the order’s sordid endgame: the accusations of heresy, the Templars’ defense, and Pope Clement V’s absolution of the order, before he did an about-face and eliminated it.

Coumesourde stone rediscovered by Catalan research group

26 Oct 2007, 09:49
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAfter having been lost for almost a century, a group of Catalan researchers has rediscovered the original Coumesourde stone. Discovered by Ernest Cros in 1928, the stone became one of the cornerstones of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. The Spanish team allowed Société Perillos, the premier French-language site on the subject, the scoop of publishing their discovery, including four photographs of the site. More photographs are expected to be released in the future, once the authorities have been made aware of the stone’s precise location.

Another reading of the Boudet tombstone

25 Oct 2007, 14:44
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedAndrew Gough provides a new interpretation of the famous inscription on Boudet’s tombstone, which many have seen as a reference to his book, La Vraie Langue Celtique. But Gough believes the explanation may be more down to earth… or ascended to heaven?

The Coustaussa crime scene investigation

22 Oct 2007, 21:07
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedResearcher Ben Hammott visited Coustaussa to look at what is left of the place where Abbé Antoine Gélis was brutally murdered in 1897. There are some great pictures in this article.

National Treasure 2 released on Winter Solstice

20 Oct 2007, 10:02
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedThe second film in the National Treasure series will be released on 21st December of this year, Winter Solstice. In the movie, subtitles Book of Secrets, treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth’s diary. The movie trailer contains several Scottish Rite images.

Rennessence Newsfeed on the Daily Grail

20 Oct 2007, 09:45
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedMystery Newsportal The Daily Grail has integrated the Rennessence News feed in its frontpage. We would like to thank Greg for that, it’s much appreciated! The Daily Grail is probably the largest mystery news portal in the world covering a staggering amount of mystery and scientific subjects.

A Penitentiary movement in the Lowlands

19 Oct 2007, 20:15
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedCorjan de Raaf goes on the trail of author Karl Hammer-Kaatee’s provocative research about the holiest of relics, the Arma Christi, the Instruments of the Passion of Christ. Were the relics really guarded by Ebionites as Hammer has recently suggested and what is their relation to the Franciscans? Along the way de Raaf links up traces of the Nazis, Joan of Arc, La Sanch, stolen statues and a tragically decapitated Black Madonna. On Andrew Gough’s Arcadia.

And now for the real Coumesourde stone

19 Oct 2007, 20:12
Rennessence, the Rennes-le-Chteau News FeedSociété Perillos reports how a group of Spanish researchers retraced the footsteps of Ernest Cros and recovered the real stone of Comousesourde. If this is the real thing it is spectacular news. André Douzet reports on how they found it and the Spanish connection.

Scottish author claims Jesus’ twin was crucified

13 Oct 2007, 20:49
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