by Jay Weidner
He starts over mapping the tree at the bottom, at the foot of the path of return, the Serpent’s Path back up the Tree. Plates 4 through 25 in the second edition of Le Mystère represent the paths on the Tree, attributed to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the trumps of the Tarot. With plate 26, the sefirot pattern picks up again with Daat, the gnosis of the abyss, and proceeds down the Tree to plate 32, an image of the Massacre of the Innocents from Saint-Chapelle, appropriate for Malkuth, considering what happened to the gnostic current in the West. Fulcanelli has here provided us with a very clear and direct image of the entire thirty-two components of the classical Etz Chaim symbology. In terms of worlds, this second level is the archetypal realm, the world of ideas. Fulcanelli demonstrates this by including an almost complete idea Tree, a memory map or mnemonic pattern, at this level. Our inspiration, of course, Binah, or the Black Isis Madonna, comes across from the realm of the Divine.
The next level or world is that of the formational or the etheric. This is the level of the astral or spiritual world so beloved of shamans and mystics of all sorts. Fulcanelli shows great restraint by describing only part of the etheric Tree, not wanting to impart the information from the higher levels of the Tree because his readers were not initiated to that level. He focuses on the seven planetary intelligences and their influence on alchemy. In these seven images, six shown and one only mentioned in the text, Fulcanelli gives us clues to the operational nature of the work. The unshown image is the hidden sun, the mythical sun behind the sun, and the formative images all seem to show how this hidden or dark sun affects the planetary intelligences. Since these intelligences are also attributed to the seven metals, there does indeed seem to be a vast operational secret contained in these images.
Once this multiple Tree of Life pattern is built up from the sections of the first chapter and the plates from Notre-Dame-de-Paris and Amiens, with a few extra plates from Saint-Chapelle, Saint Victor, and elsewhere, an understanding of the basic process of astro-alchemy can be gleaned. This is the real secret, and from Fulcanelli’s point of view there is no mystery about it. But once this secret is revealed, Fulcanelli goes on to propose a fourth Tree of Life that neatly ties the historical, mythological, and cosmological elements into one coherent framework.
This fourth Tree of Life pattern represents the world of action, our world of stars and suns and planets. This Tree of Life grows out of Bourges, in Berry. Fulcanelli ignores the town’s Gothic cathedral, with its stunning apocalyptic stained glass, and concentrates on two mid-fifteenth-century contemporaries of Good King René, Jacques Coeur and Jean Lallemant, and their houses. This is a significant departure; up to this point Fulcanelli has focused exclusively on cathedrals. This departure signals the shift from the theoretical and mystical to the operational. Here we are firmly in the world of action.
Fulcanelli is pointing us toward a moment in the fifteenth century when the underground stream broke the surface of history. He suggests that the mystery of Bourges is the mystery of the esoteric current in the ancient past, the present of the fifteenth century, and the future down to and beyond the twentieth century. The mystery of initiation encompasses a vast reach of time, Fulcanelli insists, but the strands of the tapestry emerged into a pattern at Bourges in the mid-1400s.
Fulcanelli directs our attention toward eight images in the two houses. Two are from Jacques Coeur’s house, plates 39 and 40, and six are from Lallemant, plates 41 to 46. They can be analyzed as two images that establish both individuals as alchemists, the scallop shell and the vessel of the Great Work; three historical and mythological themes, Tristan and Isolde, the Golden Fleece, and Saint Christopher; and three initiatory images from the inner sanctum of Lallemant mansion, the pillars, the ceiling, and the credence of the chapel.
Even this simple pattern reveals groups of threes within threes. The first of the three groups of symbols shows us that Jacques Coeur was a pilgrim, a fellow traveler, but Jean Lallemant was the operating agent with the vessel of the Great Work. The role of grand master, however, is undefined. We are left with the impression that a third personality exists, made conspicuous by his absence. Who was he?
The next of the three groupings reinforces this impression. Here we are met with three narrative images, symbolic stories balanced on that fine line between history and mythology. There is a core of reality to these tales, even when we are aware of their mythological elements. But, on the surface, there is nothing to connect the love story of Tristan and Isolde with the ancient Greek legend of the Golden Fleece, and both seemingly have nothing in common with the Christian legend of Saint Christopher and the very heavy Christ child. And yet, Fulcanelli presents the simple but overwhelming evidence from their own houses that these masters of the subtle art, the green language itself, placed the utmost importance on these three myths. What do these three stories have in common?
Of course, the third mystery grows out of the first two: Just what were these initiations designed to reveal?
The answer to that is the ultimate secret, the secret of time itself. In the second edition of Le Mystère, Fulcanelli provides the solution by adding the chapter called “The Cyclic Cross of Hendaye.” The three plates from that chapter, numbers 47 to 49, added to the eight of Bourges, numbers 39 through 46, complete the sefirot of the fourth Tree of Life, including Daat, gnosis or knowledge. This Tree, as appropriate to the world of action, reveals the cosmological underpinnings of the entire hermetic philosophy of astro-alchemy. The final image in the group, plate 49, the tympanum of Saint Trophime at Arles, completes the circle, both symbolically and on the ground, returning us once again to the ancient city of the Argonauts.
There is also a threefold pattern reflected in the design of the whole book. The first secret, the Tree of Life itself, is formed from the sword-in-the-stone pattern of the nine sections in the first chapter. They form a framework for the sefirot, which is then amplified and deepened by the images from Notre-Dame-de-Paris. To this is added the third level, the planetary seals from Amiens cathedral. The next threefold pattern is the mystery of Bourges outlined above. The last grouping of three is the three interlocking cycles of the Hendaye cross, their symbolic reflection on the cathedral at Arles, and finally the three dragon axes in the sky that form the triple alignment of the galactic Great Cross.
This compounding of threes, 3 × 3 × 3, or 33, = 27, presents us with the key number in the precessional cycle, the core of the secret hidden behind the Christianized INRI, whose letters in Hebrew add up to 270. From this brief explication of the mystery at the heart of The Mystery of the Cathedrals, it is possible to glimpse the genius and coherence of this very guarded and hermetic masterpiece. The message is the medium, language contains its own gnosis, and initiation truly is, as the Grail legends declare, the ability to ask the correct questions.
As we unravel the triple weave of this hermetic tapestry, we shall discover the answer to all of our questions, and in doing so experience a glimpse of a very different reality. Fulcanelli, whoever he was, wrote as the last initiate: not as the one who puts out the light as he leaves, but as the one who makes sure that the eternal flame is burning brightly in some lost corner of Plato’s cave. What we have discovered in the course of this book about our own past, our spiritual heritage, and the hope for human evolution is due to his guidance and insight. Without the help of someone who knew, and could prove it, the mystery might never have been unveiled.
THE SEFIROT IMAGES OF THE FOUR TREES OF LIFE IN LE MYSTÈRE DES CATHÉDRALES
1) Kether, Crown
Tree 1: Section 1 of first chapter, cathedrals as books in stone
Tree 2: Plate 2, Alchemy, from the Great Porch, Notre-Dame-de-Paris
Tree 4: Plate 49, tympanum of porch, Saint Trophime at Arles
2) Chokmah, Wisdom
Tree 1: Section 2 of first chapter, the Philosophers’ Church
Tree 2: Plate 3, the alchemist, Notre-Dame-de-Paris
Tree 4: Plate 48, the four sides of the base of
the Hendaye cross
3) Binah, Understanding
Tree 1: Section 3 of first chapter, Gothic/argotique discussion
Tree 2: Plate 1, Black Virgin of the Crypts
Tree 4: Plate 47, the Cyclic Cross of Hendaye
11) Daat, Knowledge/Gnosis
Tree 1: (no corresponding section in first chapter)
Tree 2: Plate 26, the planetary metals, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, Saturn, lead
Tree 3: Plate 33, the wheel of fire, Amiens
Tree 4: Plate 46, the enigma of the credence
4) Chesed, Mercy
Tree 1: Section 4 of first chapter, the cross
Tree 2: Plate 27, the dog and the doves, Jupiter, tin
Tree 3: Plate 35, the cock and the fox, Amiens
Tree 4: Plate 45, chapel ceiling, Lallemant mansion at Bourges
5) Gevurah, Strength
Tree 1: Section 5 of first chapter, labyrinths
Tree 2: Plate 28, solve et coagula, Mars, iron
Tree 3: Plate 34, philosophic coction, Amiens
Tree 4: Plate 44, capital of pillar, Lallemant mansion at Bourges
6) Tiferet, Beauty
Tree 1: Section 6 of first chapter, the wheel of the year
Tree 2: Hidden sun image (unshown), Sun, gold
Tree 3: Fortress image (unshown), Amiens
Tree 4: Plate 43, the Golden Fleece, Lallemant mansion at Bourges
7) Netzach, Victory
Tree 1: Section 7 of first chapter, star themes
Tree 2: Plate 29, the bath of the stars, Venus, copper
Tree 3: Plate 38, the seven-rayed star
Tree 4: Plate 42, Saint Christopher, Lallemant mansion at Bourges
8) Hod, Splendor
Tree 1: Section 8 of first chapter, Black Virgin
Tree 2: Plate 30, Philosophical Mercury, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, Mercury
Tree 3: Plate 36, the first matter, Amiens
Tree 4: Plate 41, the vessel of the Great Work
9) Yesod, Foundation
Tree 1: Section 9 of first chapter, Notre-Dame-de-Paris
Tree 2: Plate 31, symbolic coat of arms, Moon, silver
Tree 3: Plate 37, the Philosophers’ Dew, Amiens
Tree 4: Plate 40, Tristan and Isolde, Jacques Coeur’s house at Bourges
10) Malkuth, Kingdom
Tree 1: (no corresponding section in first chapter)
Tree 2: Plate 32, Massacre of the Innocents
Tree 4: Plate 39, the scallop shell, Jacques Coeur’s house at Bourges
Figure App. D.1. This is a place holder caption for the full-page art that will be placed on this page in the Appendix D.
The plates numbered 4 through 25, inclusive, in the Paris chapter of Le Mystère are attributed to the twenty-two individual letter paths, which connect the eleven sefirot listed above. Their pattern is the classical Path of Return, pictured as a snake winding its way up the Tree. For example, plate 4, the foundation and the oak, is attributed to the Hebrew letter taw and the Tarot image The World, linking the pilgrimage and persecution of the Kingdom, Malkuth, with the foundational symbology of Notre-Dame-de-Paris, heraldry, the Grail legends, and the Philosophical Dew in the sefirah of Yesod. Filling in the rest of the Tree with these symbols reveals the ongoing alchemical process of creation.
Fulcanelli’s use of three numbered images to represent the sefirah of gnosis, Daat, reveals a deep and profound understanding of the numerical Kabbalah. This understanding can be traced with many subtleties throughout Fulcanelli’s explication of the four Trees. An exhaustive examination of this underlying numerical Kabbalah belongs in an annotated version of Le Mystère des cathédrales, but for now it is enough to look at the obvious and significant connections between Fulcanelli’s gnosis numbers.
Plate 26, our first Daat image, comes after Fulcanelli’s explication of the Path of Return. This is appropriate since 26 is the number of the Unutterable Name of God, YHVH (Y [10] + H [5] + V [6] + H [5] = 26), and in the image, from the Porch of the Virgin at Notre-Dame-de-Paris, the Ark of the Tabernacle, YHVH’s dwelling place, is clearly shown below the seals of the planetary metals. Other Hebrew words with the same numerical value include those for “vision” and “seeing,” implying the light nature of the divine. The mystical kabbalists liked to see 26 as composed of pairs of words with the value of 13, such as love and unity, emptiness and thunder. It is also the sum of the numbers of the sefirot on the Middle Pillar of the Tree of Life, 1 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 26.
Plate 33, the wheel of fire from Amiens cathedral, begins a new Tree with an experience of the internal process of alchemy. In esoteric Freemasonry, a 33rd-degree initiate is one who has internalized the entire 32 paths of the Tree of Life. This master level indicates one who is ready to move from theory to practice, from speculative to practical alchemy. We can also think of 33 as the Trinity, 3, multiplied by the number of gnosis, 11, or as the experience of the nature of the Trinity. In Hebrew, the word for “spring” or “fountain” has the value of 33, indicating the Gnostic origin of the idea of an underground stream, 33, which reveals the sacred 7 of good fortune that flows from the divine source, YHVH, 26 (33 – 26 = 7). In the same way, the underground stream, 33, supplies Elhi, 46, the God Most High, with the thunder, love, unity, or emptiness, all 13s (33 + 13 = 46).
Plate 46, the enigmatic credence from Lallemant mansion in Bourges, completes our gnostic trinity. Forty-six is an auspicious number. In esoteric Freemasonry, a 33rd-degree master has the opportunity to advance further by taking 13 extra grades, or degrees. Therefore, a 46th-degree initiate is supposedly a master of space and time, a bodhisattva-like enlightened adept. In the King James Version of the Bible there is the curious incident of Psalm 46. When one counts 46 words down from the first word in Psalm 46, one comes to the word shake. If one counts 46 words from the bottom of Psalm 46, one comes to the word speare. This would indicate that the author, or authors, of the works of William Shakespeare, called by Victor Hugo “a cathedral of words,” are 46th-degree initiates. A hint of this can also be gleaned from the fact that 3 × 46 = 138, the number of the phrase Ben Elohim, or “Son of the Gods.” It is interesting to note that Francis Bacon was chosen by King James to head the translation team for the Bible. Other interesting ramifications of the number 46 include the number of the name of Adam, the first man. It is also said that it took 46 years to build King Solomon’s Temple. Each human being has 46 chromosomes. As we said above, 46 equals the name of God, Elhi, an ancient name for the El in the Sky, the High God of Draco. It is also the number of the Levite priests who ministered to that God. If we think of what the Lallemant credence has to tell us about the process of transformation, then 46 represents a level of personal attainment. By adding the extra three images of the Hendaye chapter, the personal connection of Elhi, 46, becomes the transpersonal connection of the Living God, El Chai, 49, depicted on the tympanum of Saint Trophime in Arles, plate 49.
APPENDIX E
THE CYCLIC CROSS OF HENDAYEh
Hendaye, a small frontier town in the Basque country, has its little houses huddled at the foot of the first spurs of the Pyrenees. It is framed by the green ocean, the broad, swift and shining Bidassoa and the grassy hills. One’s first impression, on seeing this rough and rugged landscape, is a rather painful and almost hostile one. On the horizon, over the sea, the natural austerity of the wild scene is scarcely relieved by the headland of Fuenterrabia, showing ochre in the crude light, thrusting into the dark greyish-green mirror-calm waters of the gulf. Apart from the Spanish character of its houses, the type of dialect of the inhabitants, and the very special attention of a new beach, bristling with proud villas, Hendaye has nothing to hold the attention of the tourist, the archaeologist or the artist.
Leaving the station, a country road, skirting the railway line, leads to the parish church, situated in the middle of the village. This church, with its bare walls and its massive, squat rectangular tower, stands in a square a few steps above ground level and bordered by leafy trees. It
is an ordinary, dull building, which has been renovated and is of no particular interest. However, near the south transept there is a humble stone cross, as simple as it is strange, hiding amidst the greenery of the square. It was formerly in the parish cemetery and it was only in 1842 that it was brought to its present site near the church. At least, that is what was told me by an old Basque man, who had for many years acted as sexton. As for the origin of this cross, it is unknown and I was not able to obtain any information at all about the date of its erection. However, judging by the shape of the base and the column, I would not think that it could be before the end of the seventeenth or beginning of the eighteenth century. Whatever its age, the Hendaye cross shows by the decoration of its pedestal that it is the strangest monument of primitive millenarism, the rarest symbolical translation of chiliasm,i which I have ever met. It is known that this doctrine, first accepted and then refuted by Origen, St. Denis of Alexandria and St. Jerome although it had not been condemned by the Church, was part of the esoteric tradition of the ancient hermetic philosophy.
The naivety of the bas-reliefs and their unskilful execution lead one to suppose that these stone emblems were not the work of a professional sculptor; but, aesthetic considerations apart, we must recognize that the unknown workman, who made these images, possessed real and profound knowledge of the universe.
On the transverse arm of the cross—a Greek cross—is found the following inscription, consisting of two strange parallel lines of raised letters, forming words almost running into each other, in the same order as I give here:
OCRUXAVES
