Viral Mythology

by Marie D. Jones

  Again, much of this activity had to be done on the “down low” to avoid the wrath of the powerful institutions that survived by control and authority, so the idea of anyone achieving spiritual enlightenment or attaining spiritual truth was in direct conflict with the need to keep the people under the proverbial thumb. The Catholic Church, most notably, had no use for anyone who didn’t see it and its practitioners as the only way to truth, and heretics and blasphemers experienced all sorts of wonderful tortures at the hands of those who refused to cut out the mystical middleman between the divine force and us.

  The Cathar Story

  One perfect example of an early “secret society,” a group designed to carry on knowledge and secrets under the radar of watchful eyes, that operated under such spiritually and intellectually suffocating conditions was the Cathars. Also called the Albigensians, the Cathars were members of a religious sect in Europe, mainly in southern France and Italy, in the 12th and 13th centuries. They were considered heretical by the Catholic Church at the time, and paid the price by being slaughtered into non-existence at the hands of the Albigensian Crusade ordered by Pope Innocent III beginning in 1209 AD. The Cathars were dualists, and because they associated materialism with evil, they led simple, aesthetic lives. But that’s not what pissed off the Church. Cathars denied the material body of Jesus and instead viewed him as a spiritual entity in a spirit body. They believed that good was of the spirit and heavenly, and evil was of man and the material world. Thus they despised the Catholic Church’s lavish architecture and wealth as evil. They also refused to acknowledge the pope as an authority figure and practiced a form of non-resistance similar to Buddhism.

  In other words, the Cathars were a peaceful people. They referred to themselves as “The Pure Ones,” feeling their own belief system to be far more pure than the money, power, and greed of the Catholic Church. Their priests were called “perfecti” and gave up all worldly possessions in a quest for purity, and all Cathars lived as they believed Jesus would have lived and were treated as equals, including women, which angered the Catholic Church to no end. They were also adept at the use of occult symbolism and may have revered Mary Magdalene as a partner to Jesus, suggested as well by the Nag Hammadi texts found in Egypt in 1945, in which the Gospel of Phillip mentions Jesus proclaiming the mystery of marriage as “great” when asked about his relationship with the Magdalene. This also aligns with the concept of “Pure Ones” having an origin in their belief in the Goddess/Creator Mother Mari (some believe a prototype of Eve), according to William Henry in Secrets of the Cathars: Why the Dark Age Church Was Out to Destroy Them. Henry suggests that the Cathars may have possessed a divinely written Book of Love, the handiwork of Jesus himself who gave it to John the Divine and was later adopted by the Knights Templar as well (who, by the way, were the victims of another Catholic Crusade). The Holy Grail, to the Cathars, was not a cup, but a process by which our own body could be made into a spiritual and worthy vehicle for the light of love, or the Holy Spirit. According to Henry:

  The existence of this lost, or hidden, gospel was revealed when the Catholic Church subjected the Cathars and Templar (in 1308) to torture. Its contents were a secret skill (symbolized by a Templar skull) said to grant one the ability to control the forces of nature and to transform ordinary human blood into that of the wise, holy and pure blood of life of the immortal Illi or Illuminati. It is equated with the Holy Grail.

  (Note the name Illuminati. More on that and the Templar connection in a bit.)

  Many Cathars, before the Crusade, settled in the Languedoc region west of Marseilles in southern France, where it soon became the majority religion in the area, with many adherents that included some defectors from the Church itself, and it is there that so many traces of Magdalenian worship still exist, and there are whispers from the past to the present of this being the potential burial place of Christ himself. Cathar belief also suggested that Mary and Jesus had offspring.

  So to make a very long story short, these Cathars were slaughtered by the Catholic Crusaders over a period of two generations, and the few who survived scattered across the region and laid low. But the big mystery that remains to this day surrounds a “Cathar treasure” that was somehow smuggled out of the fortress at Montsegur right before it was seized and the slaughter began, a treasure that might be untold amounts of silver and gold, the Holy Grail itself, the blood of Mary Magdalene, who had arrived in southern France earlier, the burial place of Christ, and, as many believe, a written bloodline of Christ and his offspring with the Magdalene. In any regards, some believe the treasure is still in the region, possibly buried deep below a place called Rennes-le-Chateau.

  Rennes-le-Chateau

  At the top of a hill in the Pyrenees, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Carcassonne in the south of France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, sits a tiny town with a church and grounds called Rennesle-Chateau that may hold the secret of the Cathars, and more. The church, which is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and bears the dedication above the front doors “This is a place of awe, this is God’s House, the gate of heaven, and it shall be called the royal court of God,” was restored from an almost ruined state starting in 1887 at the hands of a mysterious priest, Berenger Sauniere, who, according to legend, found some shocking and enigmatic parchments containing a genealogy that could shake the foundation of human history. He found them after moving a heavy altar stone inside a hollow pillar. One of the messages allegedly translated by Sauniere was “A Dagobert II Roi et a Sion est ce tresor et il la mort,” which translates to “To King Dagobert II and to Sion belongs this treasure, and he is dead there.” Later, Sauniere was in Paris, where he purchased a reproduction of an intriguing painting called The Shepards of Arcadia originally painted by Nicholas Poussin in 1640. The painting depicts three shepherds standing near a sarcophagus upon which is the inscription “Et in Arcadia, Ego,” which means “And in Arcadia, I.”

  Figure 6-1: The Shepars of Arcadia by Nicholas Poussin is said to contain secret symbols and signs as to where the tomb of Christ is located.

  This sarcophagus was said to be buried somewhere near Rennesle-Chateau because of similarities in the featured terrain and may have been the burial place of Jesus. And the genealogy Sauniere found at the church ruins site may have been Christ’s lineage, the “royal bloodline,” the “san graal” or Holy Grail itself, showing the line of holy offspring up to the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks.

  One of the groups responsible for keeping these secrets—well, secret—was another “secret society” called the Priory of Sion, referring to the “Sion” mentioned in the enigmatic writings Sauniere found in the hollowed out pillar, and written about in modern pop culture books like The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and the non-fiction Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Henry Lincoln, Richard Leigh, and Michael Baigent, among many others that have cropped up since.

  The Priory was an alleged sect that may have been behind the creation of the Templars, and was said to exist to guard the secret of all secrets, this royal bloodline and all involved. Initiates of the Priory who achieved Grand Master status may have included the likes of Da Vinci himself, Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and other such luminaries who devoted their lives to protecting the descendants of Christ and the Magdalene. However, the entire Priory may have been nothing more than the wild creation of one Pierre Plantard in 1956, an anti-Semite and member of a minor occult group himself, who forged the fake order in a series of letters found dating from the 1960s to try to set himself up as the next Grand Master of the Order. Whether or not Plantard was fictionalizing fact, or making the whole thing up from scratch, people continue to believe the legend of the Priory and their connection to the secret treasure.

  But let’s get back to that painting. The fact that Jesus might be buried near the church site at Rennes-le-Chateau, and the potential existence of treasure deep below the bowels of the church floors, again made even more popular by Dan Brown’s novels and other books making similar claims, has
led to a constant influx of researchers, tourists, and treasure seekers. As of yet, no treasure has been discovered, and no sarcophagus matching that of Poussin’s painting—and yet, the Church holds many symbolic secrets that may one day give up the location of what so many seem to be seeking the truth.

  Henry Lincoln, a researcher and author who has devoted a great deal of time to the history and mystery at this site, believes that sacred geometry played a distinct role in the building and design of the church site, including hexagons, pentagons, and triangles that can be drawn around the landscape. He cites that this can be done anywhere, of course, but that here at Rennes-le-Chateau, the precision of measurement is so specific it could not be random, as he documented the locations of specific churches related to the legend. He also found that the nearby mountain peaks of Blanchefort, La Soulane, Bezu, Serre de Lauzet, and Rennes-le-Chateau created a perfect pentagon, with La Pique at the dead center point. He associated it with the planet Venus, itself associated with the Magdalene, as being a heavenly symbol of the geometric shape below, marking it as a holy place and possibly the location of the tomb of Christ.

  Some claim that the sepulcher of Christ painted by Poussin didn’t exist until 1933, and that no tomb existed on that spot prior to that, but we must point out that assumes these researchers actually found the right spot. To this day, there is still incredible controversy over whether any of the legends of this locale are true or fabricated, yet one has to wonder why a tiny, sleepy place would want all the attention from noisy, nosy tourists—and we all know now that even myth and legend have, at their core, a nugget of truth.

  Still, regardless of whether Sauniere found any treasure, or whether he created the whole story to make himself richer and bring money to his little part of the world, or whether Jesus and Mary Magdelene ever were married and their lineage documented on parchment and guarded by secret knights of God, the main church, and the Tour Magdala, which was built on the edge of the village and used by Sauniere as a library, continue to suggest that Mary was far more than just some harlot Jesus tolerated on his preaching route. It suggested that, to some, she was a woman of incredible importance, to be revered and worshipped of her own right, for reasons that still elude us but are found in clues in the Nag Hammadi, Rennes-le-Chateau, and in the history of the Cathars, Templars, and the alleged Sion. Though no excavations in the area have turned up anything like a treasure, and the bloodline documents are nowhere to be found, the legend persists. In fact, because of pop culture it has grown. But again, we have to ask: Is there a grain of truth here, hidden deep within the fictional elements, yet there nonetheless? Why was a whore so important as to become the central figure of such legends? Things that make you go “hmm….”

  Templar Connection

  Another secret society linked with the Cathar treasure and possibly the bloodline of Christ is the Knights Templar, also known as the Order of the Temple, the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, and sometimes just plain old Templars. This medieval order was a powerful group of dedicated Christians who took on a military role and even fought in the Crusades, their flags emblazoned with the now-famous red cross on a white background. They had their own infrastructure and secret initiations, and ruled supreme, with the Church’s blessing, for two centuries, but they also had alleged associations with the protection of the bloodline of Christ and the Cathar secrets, which would have made them double agents.

  Yet the Templars are often portrayed as monks who became militarized to protect Christian pilgrims that were traveling from Jaffa, a port city in Israel, to Jerusalem, and were said to have discovered the legendary treasure buried at King Solomon’s Temple, which they then took under their protection. They got very rich, very quick, and that got the current king, Phillip IV of France, very suspicious and angry because he was said to be indebted to the Templars himself. So with papal blessings from Pope Clement, he ordered their arrests as a way to take possession of their riches. The Templars were rounded up on Friday the 13th of October in 1307 (which later became associated with the superstitions surrounding “Friday the 13th”), tried, and tortured into confessing to all sorts of charges, including homosexuality, and many were burned at the stake, including two of the leaders of the Order. Their assets were seized, and those who survived were sent packing to other regions or were absorbed into an existing military order called Order of Hospitallers. Portuguese Templars were smart; they escaped and simply changed their order’s name to “Knights of Christ” to avoid further papal scrutiny.

  Legend has it that one Templar leader, Jacques de Molay, who was burned at the stake, cursed both Pope Clement, who ordered the arrests, and King Phillip. One month later, Pope Clement passed on, and King Phillip IV died shortly after of a hunting accident.

  Later Templar groups were closely linked with Masonic teachings and were not directly connected to the Middle Ages version, even though they continued to pattern their rites and order degrees after the original Templars of old. They are now considered a philanthropic, chivalric order, and members share no specific religious affiliation, just a belief in a supreme being. Modern Templars are associated with other groups like the Knights of Malta, Knights of Saint Paul, and the York Rite of the Knights of the Red Cross.

  Today, we know of many secret societies of the past and the present that appear enigmatic and mysterious, suggesting they hold knowledge passed down from the ancients that we, the general riff raff, are not privy to. Some of these societies take on a religious or spiritual bent, but others seem more political and power-oriented.

  Mannerbund

  Though many people suggest these groups are nothing more than a chance for a bunch of men to get together, dress up, perform silly rites, and pretend to be important, the rumors persist of real power, importance, and even the transmission of secrets down family lines. Possibly as a tribute to the original concept of “Mannerbund,” or pre-modern warrior societies what were men only, to qualify as a secret society, all you really must do is operate in secret, keep out women (usually, but not always), and have some cool initiation rites and order rules. You might throw in some costumes like robes and strange hats. Some societies actually are in existence to teach knowledge, especially esoteric knowledge, and they do so with very structured lessons and initiation levels a member must go through to learn great truths. Why these great truths are available only to the select few may seem arrogant, but originally could have been to keep the teachings pure and avoid public adulteration of ideas and concepts, which could be kept under control by vetting initiates and novices to make sure they were of the right motive and intent.

  One of the oldest student groups is the infamous Skull and Bones, of which past U.S. Bush presidents both belonged to. This is a group, founded in 1832, of elite Yale University students who join and partake of rites and rituals that are inspired by Masonry. They meet twice a week in a building called The Tomb (they were originally known as the Brotherhood of Death) and no doubt plan world domination while their fellow students are out rowing and wooing co-eds. Some conspiracy theorists suggest the CIA is behind the creation of this society, from which they can pick upcoming leaders, or maybe keep an eye on them! A number of colleges and universities sport secret societies, and this also leans toward the fraternities and sororities, and their selective memberships and bizarre initiations.

  Other elite secret societies include the OTO, or Order of the Temples of the East, or Order Templi Orientis, a fraternal and religious order founded in the early 20th century, which has some roots in Masonic rites, but the religious beliefs of Thelema, courtesy of occultist and general spokesman Aleister Crowley. The founding principle of Thelema was “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, love is the law, love under will,” but the Gnostic masses created by Crowley were all over the map, often featuring naked priestesses, and invoking Egyptian Gods and even the Devil.

  The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, created by three men who were Freemasons, was a magical
order based in England during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The founders, William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, based their rituals and teachings on Christian mysticism, Kabbalah, the Tarot, alchemy, theosophy, and even ancient Hermeticism, based upon the Cipher Documents that were attributed to Johannas Trithemius. The documents were said to be magic rituals that had a touch of Rosicrucian influence. There were three Orders initiates had to master, each based upon a different level of esoteric or magical philosophy and practice. The Golden Dawn is often considered to have had great influence on later occult groups such as the Ordo Templi Orientis and even Wiccan teachings.

  Other more modern societies include the Illuminati and Opus Dei, which are often portrayed in pop culture as evil power-mongers who are out to overtake the world, although for different motivations. They may not have any secrets to pass on except how to control populaces, banks, monetary systems, and real estate, and create a legendary New World Order. Interestingly, the Illuminati originated after the Enlightenment, sometime in 1776, as a group of Bavarian thinkers, intellectuals, and progressives, who did not require any particular religious belief, despite having many Masonic members. Most were humanists, and this may have led to today’s conspiracy-oriented portrayal of a modern, powermad Illuminati intent on destroying all religion. The original group probably petered out in the late 1700s when the government attempted to outlaw such groups, but some conspiracy theorists suggest they are still around and more sinister than ever, overseeing every action of every politician, religious leader, and corporate entity on the planet.