Nicholas Poussin's The Shepherds at Arcadia Featured in the Film Monuments Men

If there are such things as “constants” in the enduring Priory of Sion, Rennes-le-Chateau and post 1307 Knights Templar mysteries, Nicholas Poussin’s painting The Shepherds of Arcadia (also known in French as Les Bergers d’Arcadie or by the Latin inscription featured in the painting, Et in Arcadia Ego) would be at the head of the list. The Shepherds of Arcadia, due to works like Holy Blood, Holy Grail and TheDa Vinci Code, has become a something of a mascot for the hunt for the Holy Grail, unearthing the lost treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau, and any number of other conspiracy theories. Even if Poussin had no greater machinations than to create a painting, the fact that Shepherds has come to represent the quest the unobtainable is appropriate. The subject shepherds and their female counterpart have seemingly just discovered the inscription, “Et in Arcadia Ego”, and are questioning the meaning of tomb’s epigram. I can think of few better personal visual representations of delving into the unknown than Shepherds. I was able to view The Shepherds of Arcadia a few years back at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, which only went to further that symbolism in my own mind. 

Nicholas Poussin's The Shepherds at Arcadia

Of course, once the thought of a visual ends up having a meaning for you, it’s rather easy to pick that image out in seemingly random places. One of the unexpected places I spotted The Shepherds of Arcadia was in the widely panned the George Clooney film Monuments Men (2014). The film is loosely based on Allied efforts during the Second World War to secure art looted by the Nazis. For what history Monuments Men gets wrong, the film does, at least, let the public know that there were men and women who risked their lives to preserve the shared cultural heritage art represents.

In keeping with my own personal feelings about The Shepherds of Arcadia, I thought it was rather appropriate that around the four minute mark in Monuments Men, Poussin’s painting makes an appearance. In the scene, a German officer is making it quite clear to an art curator, played by Cate Blanchett, just who is in charge of Paris’ works of art. While the image of a Nazi standing in front of Shepherds is cringe-worthy, it was nice to see that someone in the set department of Monuments Men included the painting along with other, more recognizable, works of European art. One can make their own conclusions as to why The Shepherds of Arcadia was included in such a prominent fashion in this film, but I would rather recognize the painting’s insertion as a nod to the caliber of artist Poussin was rather than being part of a hidden agenda.

Poussin's The Shepherds of Arcadia as featured in Monuments Men

I had actually just about forgotten The Shepherds of Arcadia turned up in Monuments Men until I saw a recent episode of NBC’s The Blacklist. While The Shepherds of Arcadia is not in the show, one of Poussin’s other paintings, Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion is featured at the tail end of “Mr. Gregory Devry, No. 95” (The Blacklist season 3 episode 11). It would seem that the themes of mystery and intrigue get heaped on Poussin’s works in a variety of corners...

A rather hasty screen grab of Poussin's Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion as seen in The Blacklist

River Near Rennes-le-Chateau Runs Red the Day Pope Francis Is Elected?

File this in the ultra-strange bin. Posted on You Tube today was a scene of the La Sals river in Rennes-le-Bains flowing red. Rennes-le-Bains is a scant three miles, as the crow files, from Rennes-le-Chateau and the village is often linked to its mystery riddled counterpart. From the information I'm getting at the moment, the video was shot today. At the moment I'm trying to firm up exactly when the video was shot and will update this post if and when I find out.

If the video was shot today, the timing just adds another layer of mystery to the region. The same day Jorge Bergoglio is elected Pope maybe mean someone is sending a message. If that message is a prank, synchronicity via natural phenomena, or a secret society playing games is up to your discretion. 

UPDATE 15 Mar 2013: We have an explanation. The poster of this video has confirmed that this was done as some sort of hydrodynamics test. Other parts of the river were running "green" the same day. Good to know the world is still running on greased grooves. 

Two Poussin Paintings Discovered in France?

I received this comment on one of my older blog posts this week by someone calling themselves "Gasc": "2unkwown Poussin's paintings discovered :the key of Poussin's secret and Rennes le chateau mystery. How 2 family's paintings have given me the key of this mystery ? all is explained on http://www.lesecretdepoussin.com/ there are 6 years, 2 paintings are given me at my mother's death and it's the beginning of my discoverings:2 coded paintings we discover Poussin's paintings ,which came from my priest ancestor . Priest near from Rennes le chateau ."

The comment was either from someone who doesn't speak English very well or uses a horrible translation program. I decided to check out the link and it directed me to a site in French called "Le Secret de Poussin".  Since my French is about as good as my Latin, I ran the site through Google translate.  From what I can gather from the site, the author is a relative of Henri Gasc a "pastor of Our Lady of Marceille near Rennes-le-Chateau. Mrs.Gasc is claiming that she inherited these two previously unknown Poussin paintings that are sure to blow the lid off the RLC mysteries. Below are the two paintings for your inspection...

"Previously Unknown Poussin" #1

"Previously Unknown Poussin" #2

There's a whole litany of explanations, whys, and wherefores on the site that I haven't had a chance to check out at the present time.  One of the more interesting items on the site is what appears to be a broadcast of a French TV show dated 26 Dec 2011 that deals with the discovery.  Since my French isn't up to snuff, I've only been able to pick out the odd phrase of the "broadcast".  If anyone would like to translate the broadcast, drop me an email.

Given the revelations of Ben Hammott this past month, I'm a little gun shy about anything new coming from Rennes-le-Chateau. If these are really previously undiscovered Poussin paintings, at very least they're a great find for the art community. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that these paintings are linked to the mysteries at Rennes-le-Chateau. That is if they are the genuine article at all.... As I find out more on this one, I'll let everyone know.

Ben Hammott Discusses the Bloodline Tomb Hoax

Picture of Ben Hammott's "Tomb"

Last night Ben Hammott appeared on Rene Barnett’s Night Vision Radio show to make his first public statements about his hoax of the “Bloodline tomb”. (You can download or listen live to the show here. Scroll down to the 21 Mar 2012 show listing.) Ben’s confession on air was basically a rehashing of the email he had sent out earlier this week with a number of other revelations. I’ll cover the highlights in bullet points below. If you’re interested in this developing story, listen to the interview and make your own determinations about Ben’s statements. Here are some of the highlights of Hammott’s statements:

• He was the only party who knew of the hoax. Everyone involved with the Bloodline documentary had no knowledge on the hoax.
• The “tomb” photos that were originally shown of Ben’s website were of a small scale model. A life sized tomb was constructed somewhere in the UK. Ben admitted that when he visited the tomb site in Rennes-le-Chateau with Bruce Burgess, he gave Bruce a bogus recording of the tomb set.
• The skeleton used on the tomb set was a real skeleton purchased on eBay and doctored with a latex compound to simulate mummified flesh. Other items that were used to “point Ben to the tomb” were vintage items that dated to the late 1800’s to get around carbon dating.
• Bruce Burgess and an unnamed American investor had visited France after the release of Bloodline to find the tomb. Burgess had told the French authorities that the illegal digging for the tomb was actually Hammott in an attempt to cut Hammott out of the glory of discovering the tomb.
• Ben had fed information, via an unnamed third party, that led Andrew Gough to question the veracity of Hammott in general. Last week Gough broke the story of Hammott faking pictures of the Loch Ness Monster and indications that Ben had faked an Ark of the Covenant at the present time.
• Ben further claimed that he had not been pressured or bought off to cover up the location of the tomb. There has been the suggestion that the tomb actually exists and the hoax confession was a ruse to cover up the existence of the tomb.
• Ben also claimed that he was in Rennes-le-Chateau during last night’s interview. At another point in the interview Ben also stated that he would go back to Rennes-le-Chateau in the future.
• The primary motivation for the hoax was to spotlight the Rennes-le-Chateau mysteries. Ben hoped to find something “real” relating to Saunière's inexplicable wealth and will continue to look in the future.
• Hammott, whose real name is Bill Wilkerson, will continue using the pseudonym. (He has been referred to as Hammott in this article simply for simplicity's sake.)

In the popular vernacular, the whole situation is a hot mess. No matter how you come down on Ben Hammott’s situation, the affair is a black eye for the community. It’s time to lick our wounds and move to other business.

Ben Hammott Confesses to Bloodline Tomb Being a Hoax

I don’t believe I have never come out and said it in public, but I have to admit that I took a leap of faith. I had the more than a glimmer of hope that Ben Hammott, of Bloodline documentary fame, had found a tomb in the wilds of France that would forever change the Rennes-le-Chateau mysteries. When I first heard about the story, I dug into the evidence that was presented and even went to New York to the Bloodline pre-release press conference. There I met the documentary’s principal movers Rene Barnett and Bruce Burgess, as well as the experts they had called in to authenticate the items found by Hammott. (The article about that trip was posted here) Hammott was not present at the press conference but since that time I had the chance to interview him on the Unraveling the Secrets podcast.

Following all that, I had faith. I had faith that there might have been some dramatic license taken with Hammott’s story, but the story’s essence was true. A little more than 24 hours ago, I found out that faith was ill founded.  This message appeared on Rene Barnett’s Facebook page:

“JUST THIS MOMENT RECEIVED IN MY EMAIL--- THE CONFESSION OF BEN HAMMOTT. I AM STUNNED AND SICKENED. I WILL ISSUE A FURTHER STATEMENT LATER."

Hello Rene,

This has been a long time coming and something that is long overdue. And to tell the truth, for once, I am glad it has all finally come out. I have thought many times about coming clean and telling you and others the truth, but lacked the guts to do so.

Everything I said I discovered is a hoax, planted by me and only me and no one else involved knew the truth, not even my brother.

I have no idea why I did it, or carried on what was at first a stupid prank that escalated out of control. My intention was never to deceive, but then of course it was by doing what I did. Perhaps I did it for the money, though very little was ever forthcoming and realised (sic) early on that it probably never would.

Did I do it for fame and attention? Perhaps. I did enjoy it at times but it wasn’t the driving force behind it.

Maybe I just carried on to see what I could get away with. I really don’t know. I know saying sorry to you and the many friends and acquaintances I have made and deceived over the years, can in no way make up for what I have done. There is probably nothing I can say or do now to right the wrong. But I am very, very sorry and know that many of them I will lose, which is perhaps the worst thing about this sorry and despicable act of mine.

I have had nothing since bad luck since I become involved with the Rennes-le-Chateau affair, bad karma, almost certainly. Today I have no money, no family life, no home and now probably very few friends. It is perhaps a well disserved (sic) outcome.

I apologize to you, someone who has supported and defended me over the years, I cannot say sorry enough for what I have done. I have lied to you and let you down in such a big way I cannot even hope for your forgiveness and so will not ask for it.

Ben [Hammott]

I was on the phone with Rene within 30 minutes of the posting.  Rene also indicated that she had authenticated that the email did come from Ben and was not some prank. Rene was devastated about Ben’s confession. Something she had placed her faith in had been taken away from her.

For those of you who think that Ben might be “taking one for the team”, I would ask that you consider that everyone has been duped at one time or another. If it be by a professional grifter, a duplicitous co-worker sacking work, or a cheating spouse, we’ve all placed our faith in someone who was not worthy of that gift.

Ben had lied directly to me on the Unraveling the Secrets show and to an entire world interested in the Rennes-le-Chateau mysteries. Furthermore, stunts of this magnitude go to discredit and dishearten those of us who try to find the truth in matters of the underground stream.  Do I feel badly that I had bought into Ben’s story? Yes. I acted on faith and isn’t any quest for the Grail built on the proposition of faith?  Sling stones and arrows if you will.

Today I found out that Ben will be appearing on Rene’s podcast, Night Vision Radio this Wednesday night at 10PM PST.  From what I understand, Rene will give Ben a chance voice his mea culpa to the world. Questions will be taken via Night Vision’s chat room. I personally will be glued to my monitor to see what Mr. Hammott has to say for himself and suggest that if you’re interested in this topic you do the same.

BK

Interview with Priory of Sion Ambassador Nicholas Haywood on Night Vision Radio

Nicholas Haywood

Last night Priory of Sion Ambassador Nicholas Haywood was interviewed on Rene Barnett's Night Vision Radio.  Even as cryptic as Haywood is, there are a a few revelations that can be gleaned from the chat.  First off, there seems to be a rift between different factions within the Priory.  Haywood seems to be quite put out with the fact the Priory isn't releasing information to the public in a timely fashion. Secondly, Haywood  admits that political power broker/industrialist Armand Hammer was a member of the Priory.  For those interested in the Priory, it is defiantly worth a listen... The interview with Nicholas Haywood can be listened to by clicking this link.

Does Poussin's Ideal Landscape Painting Hold A Templar "Easter Egg"?

A number of years ago I was lucky enough to catch the Louvre exhibit at Atlanta's High Museum of Art.   The High had imported an number of pieces from the Louvre and the centerpiece, for myself, was Poussin's Shepherds of Arcadia painting. (For more about that visit click here) The exhibit also included a number of other paintings by Poussin that I was familiar with, but were not seemingly connected with any of the esoterica that  Shepherds of Arcadia had been linked. One of the "secondary" works of Poussin caught my attention that day and for the last few years my observations has been in the "I really should write about..." file.

Poussin's Ideal Landscape (click image to enlarge)

Known as Ideal Landscape, this Poussin circa 1650 painting has virtually escaped the scrutiny of those interested in connecting Poussin to the Rennes-le-Chateau mysteries. On the surface, Ideal Landscape appears to be little more than just that. (If the image that appears here is too small to pick out fine details of this painting, a larger image may be found at this link.) The focal points of the central village and the lonely mountain almost draw one's eye away from the understated activity going on in the painting. At the bottom center, Poussin has included what appears to be two shepherd-like travelers asking directions from a supine figure. Up and to the right of that, are figures watering horses that reinforce the notion that the central village is some sort of way-point. Smaller still are the figures walking towards the buildings on the rise above the stream/river. Once again, there are hints of motion in the minutia of Poussin's work.

There's one of these nearly imperceptible figures that caught my attention when viewing the original.  Slightly above the heads of the two shepherd-like travelers asking for directions is a horse with two riders. The two riders on a single horse is of course reminiscent of the seal of the Knights Templar. The symbol was used to exemplify the vow of poverty that each Templar Knight took. The symbol also evokes the notion of sacrifice for one's brother and therefore for the order. 

Two Riders on a Single Horse Highlighted (click image to enlarge)

Seal of the Knights Templar

The larger question is why did Poussin include two riders on the same horse in this painting?  Is Ideal Landscape yet another Easter egg in the Gordian knot that Rennes-le-Chateau mysteries have become?  If Poussin did indeed mean for the riders to be a reference to the Templars, what purpose does that serve?  Could the sub-textual traveling theme in this painting give clues to a real geographic location that should be searched for?  I personally have little doubt that Poussin was either making a visual reference to the Templars, but what is the deeper message here? As in all things, I will leave that to your own thoughts.

City of Secrets and Beyond, An Interview with Patrice Chaplin

Residing in a London neighborhood is a remarkable woman who carries with her the burden of a city’s secrets. To pass her on the street one could make the mistake many make of dismissing those approaching their twilight years. Scores of people walk side by side with her and never know there is an author, actress, and chronicler of a Grail story a shoulder width’s away.

The woman I am referring to is Patrice Chaplin, author of City of Secrets. Patrice graciously made herself available for a phone interview with me from her London home this Sunday. Many of you living in the States might not be familiar with Patrice and her story. The potential impact of her work on the mysteries of Rennes-le-Chateau seems to have been glossed over as of yet. However, she is a living historian who has wondered into and out of the lives of those that might have held the very essence of Berenger Sauniere’s secrets.

I hate to give away too much for those of you who will pick up the book. Let’s just say that the Tour Magdala in Rennes-le-Chateau is a near exact replica of a tower in Girona. That is just the beginning of Patrice’s investigations into the connections of all things Rennes-le-Chateau…

Patrice’s story beings as a simple tale of teenage wanderlust. While traveling in 1955 with a friend, Patrice found herself in the Catalonian burg of Girona. As in many stories of teenagers looking for adventure, Patrice found herself involved with a dashing Catalonian named Jose. It is through her connection with Jose, she was introduced to a cast of esoteric and politically underground characters

Patrice and Jose shortly after they met in Girona

Patrice was thrust into the world of Franco Fascism mixed with the ever present undercurrent of the esoteric. Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí and Umberto Eco intermingle in the micro chasm of her association with Jose and his seemingly ordinary friends. Interspersed in their talk of the banal are hints of rituals, guardians, hidden societies, elusive “materials” and how they somehow connect to a Frenchwoman who lived in town.

Over the next fifty years, Patrice stepped into and out of the story of Girona. Each visit to the town or with its denizens brought her a little closer to piecing together their clipped conversations and sub-rosa activity. At the center of this wheel was always Jose. Patrice’s sometimes synchronistic meetings with Jose eventually brought into focus her understanding of how the activities of the “society” in Girona and their guardianship of a ritual that brings the Grail into our realm.

Notably, the “society” in Girona contained a cadre of women sometimes its avowed guardians. In many descriptions and crypto-historical accounts of secret societies, the role of females seems to be relegated to that of support or overlooked entirely. Patrice seemed to think that the veneration of the Magdalene and practical matters made women’s roles in so prevalent. Since many of Girona’s leading families were involved in the society, the men took on “traditionally” high profile social stations. This left their wives free to conduct the business of the society with less notice.

Patrice views her work as more of a journalist than an active participant in esoteric Girona. The people she had met over the years opened up to her because she was not viewed as an outsider. That trust seems to run both ways. Patrice commented that because of her long standing association with those involved, she has confidence in their story. “I’m a writer, I stand behind my work and what was told to me.”, she said.

So what’s next for Patrice? Currently she’s doing research into Salvador Dali’s connection to Girona, Mount Canigou and the Grail ritual. “The ritual changes people”, Patrice said. “Dali opened up a portal on the peak of Mount Canigou and went into another dimension.”

Best of luck with your new project Patrice, the Grail Seekers team will be waiting for it to come out.

Bloodline Movie Review

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.

Proverbs 25:2 KJV

Albeit a little on the tardy side, which seems to be my lot these days, I’ve decided to come full circle with the Blooline issue. I finally got an advance copy of the film a few weeks back from a fellow Grail Seeker. The ripped copy came a full week before the release copy I preordered came in the mail. I guess anything in the shadowy Grail world is possible.

Since then I’ve watched the film at least three times. I searched the footage for minutia that would assist me in coming to a conclusion on the film’s veracity, but to quell questions within myself. Since going to New York for the initial press conference held at the Jewish Museum in May, I’ve had doubts about continuing on with my work here. The range of reasons stem from a spectrum of thoughts ranging from “If this is real, what is there really left to search for” to “If this is an elaborate hoax, why should I waste my time picking through the chaff of charlatans?”

Given this mindset, in watching Bloodlines, it was as if our Mulder and Scully from X-Files were having a running dialogue in my head. Given the theme of the recent X-Files movie, this didn’t seem too far a stretch. Their internal dialogue seemed a fitting, if not goofy, way to structure my review.

Scully: Are we done watching that self aggrandizing hoax yet? It’s the third time he’s made us sit through it. This Kannard fellow is nice enough, but a grown man displaying Dogs Playing Poker in his home is a greater mystery than that film.

Mulder: Come on Scully, he calls it his War Room; it’s obviously his version of the Fortress of Solitude. The whole thing isn’t a hoax; you saw the body this Hammott fellow found in the cave. Besides you could tell Nicholas Haywood believed what he was saying was true. There were none of the classic tells, no breaking eye contact when ask a question, no nervous ticks, no poker face tells. You’ve interviewed enough suspects to have seen that.

Scully: People with mental disorders believe they are Napoleon and are quite convincing at it, but that doesn’t make it true. There was no supporting documentation. No officials from the French government buying into the find, no time or date stamps showing a time line of events, blurred out faces and garbled non descript voices, boxes and bottles found throughout an area treasure hunters have combed for years, and associations with people who might well have faked or stolen documents. P.T. Barnum did a better job with the Fiji Mermaid.

Mulder: Scully, when was the last time the History Channel presented the documentation you were looking for? There is reputable scientific DNA, carbon dating tests, and archeological testing that has been done on various items they found and posted on their web sites. The History Channel doesn’t do that. One thing you have to remember about the folks involved in some of the interviews is they don’t want to be known. Maybe this Hammott guy is smarter than the average treasure hunter. Yes, I know his finds have been attacked as fakes based on the use of French grammar and the like. But maybe Sauniere’s housekeeper did all of this after he died and never divulged it to anyone. She supposedly was told his secret on his deathbed, maybe she was not that educated and parroted his writings for someone else to find.

Scully: Nothing of the sort, you just want to believe that all of this is true Mulder. For every argument I have you’ll have a “plausible” counter. So I’m wasting my breath.

Mulder: You’re right Scully; I do want to believe that it’s true. That will always be the difference between you and me.

That is the point of difference for everyone that watches the film. One falls into three camps: Those that believe, those that don’t believe, and those that think there’s something to this but not everything that has been presented is on the mark. View Bloodlines with an open mind and let your faith guide your decisions.

Bloodline Press Conference

I wasn’t quite prepared for what I walked into at Monday morning’s Bloodline press conference. Set up around the Jewish Museum’s Scheuer Auditorium were TV cameras and reporters from AP and Reuters milling about drinking coffee. I was definitly the little fish in the big media pond.

Running around the auditorium was producer Rene Barnett making last minute arrangements and jolly-glad-handing the media heavy hitters. Requests from reporters were flying past Rene, and from a distance sounded like adults talking in a Peanuts cartoon. I had to just sit back and observe the spectacle of the pre-event simply as an exercise in people watching.

Standing on the stage, next to the box found at the Cave of the Magdalene, in Rennes-le-Chateau, was an imposing figure of a man dressed in black with a Templar crest sewn onto his suit coat. I came to find out this man was a modern day Templar named Victor. He and his cousin Gloria Amendola had been tasked by the film’s crew to be the security detail for the relics that were about to be presented to the world.

Chest found in the Cave of the Magdalene

In making my way to introduce myself to Rene, I caught tid-bits from the media moguls gad-flying about the room. Their timbre was less than excited about what might be presented. One local reporter was grousing about having to be there. “Yea, I’ve got this to do then I go to the Met for the Superhero as art exhibit. But that kind of ties in, Jesus was the original superhero wasn’t he?”

Finally I got over to Rene and introduced myself. The rather gracious, if not harried native Oklahoman, thanked me for coming and offered to spend some time with me after the event was over. Almost before I could accept, she was drawn over to the stage for requests to take pictures of the relics.

Reverently, Victor took the chest from the panel’s table and laid it open for everyone to see. This slightly larger than a shoe box sized chest was opened and contained: 29 coins ranging in date from 100 BC to the Crusades (30 were found in the chest originally, but only 29 were on display), a small cup, an alabastra phial, a rolled parchment and long necked jar. Could I really be looking at the Holy Grail was all I could muster in my thoughts in observing the contents of the chest.

Shortly thereafter, the press conference began. Below is the video of Bruce Burgess’ presentation. I would urge you to go to the Bloodlines web site and check out the other video clips from the news conference. I’ve looked at them all and they give a good representation of what was presented.

I was impressed with the tone of Burgess’ message. The subtext to everything was that this is a beginning point. Burgess made clear that the finds need to have further examination. He is quite sure that the relics that were presented at the conference were from the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene because of the Bérenger Saunière documents found by Ben Hammott. As to the Templar Tomb, Burgess believes that someone of importance is buried there. Is it Mary Magdalene? Burgess believes it could be, but is waiting for further excavations to make a claim of the identity of the corpse.

I asked the question in the conference what was to become of the relics and the stance of the French Government on the finds. Burgess’s answer was that everything has been done with the full knowledge of the French authorities and he would like to see all the relics on display for full public access.

After the conference was over, I ended up having lunch with producer Rene Barnett. In between phone interviews Barnett and I talked about everything from the process of “birthing” the film to the Priory of Sion. It was clear from our conversation that she and Burgess had sunk every last dime they had in getting this story out. “There were times Bruce was flying to Europe and we didn’t have the money for a hotel room for him.” she said. “Somehow we would mange to scrape together the money to put in the account for him on each trip”.

On the film’s detractors, Barnett was not too worried. In recent articles, the veracity of the film’s claims and the authenticity of the finds have come into question. Not batting an eyelash, Barnett said they had e-mails, pictures, and video to document each part of their story. Her tone was one of a person that would not associate her name with an elaborate hoax. “The film is dedicated to my daughter that passed away as filming began. Do you think I would dedicate this film to her if this were a hoax”, she said.

I then asked her about the Priory of Sion and the allusions in the trailers to their lives being in danger during the filming. “Oh, Ben’s brake lines were cut on his rental car at one point and film was stolen out of his camera. Not the camera itself, just the film.” Barnett said. I then ask if she thought they were in danger in New York. With a wistful grin, Barnett said, “If we were a little smarter we probably should be.”

I parted with Rene heading to another interview and I was left with the feeling I had just talked to a true believer. With the rest of the day on my hands, I made my way to play country come to town in the Big Apple. During my sightseeing, I was contacted by Erika Jones from the production company inviting me to dinner with Barnett, Burgess and a majority of the panel from the press conference. Well, who was I to say no?

I made my way to Harlem and Patsy’s Pizzeria for the engagement. Present was Dr. Gabriel Barkay and wife from Bar Ilan University in Jerusalem, retired Scotland Yard Homicide Detective Colin Taylor; Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe and his wife. The talk throughout dinner was of the finds, their importance, and the press conference. There wasn’t anything conspiratorial about the meeting. Everyone’s conversation was more of old friends chatting about a day at the office.

Which brings me to my conclusions about everything I had seen that day. I have no doubt that everyone I came in contact with, that had anything to do with the film, are open and honest. Everyone had the air of acting on the good faith of the evidence that had been presented to them and what they had found and examined. Now the possibility exists that Burgess and Barnett have been duped by outside forces. Then again, that’s always a possibility when dealing with anything in the underground stream. Never once did my spider sense tingle that I was being led down the primrose path by Burgess or Barnett.

So I will take the same approach that Burgess did in the press conference. Bloodlines should be a beginning point and not the final solution to the Rennes-le-Chateau mysteries. The Templar tomb, when excavated might very well be that ending point. But for now, I will wait with the rest of the world to see what the next chapter in the Bloodline story holds.

A New Perspective on Station of the Cross VIII at Church of Saint Marie Madeleine

Most aspects of the life and construction works of Bérenger Saunière have been analyzed by Rennes-le-Chateau enthusiasts ad infinitum. The driving force behind our fascination with Saunière is that his unusual behavior and building projects had some specific purpose. No matter what theory you hold to the RLC mysteries, most believe that Saunière was trying to leave clues behind for later generations to solve his enigma.

One of these sets of clues is found in Saunière’s 1896 restoration of the Church of Saint Marie Madeleine. Saunière oversaw every aspect of the restoration himself. As part of the restoration, Saunière replaced the Church’s Stations of the Cross. The molds for the fourteen Stations were purchased from a religious art dealer in Toulouse. However, the Stations were modified somewhat and painted at Saunière’s direction. The modifications and painting differences can be seen when comparing these Stations to those at the Jean d'Alcas church. Ben Hammontt’s site provides an excellent side by side comparison of the two.

I was reminded of one such modification this week while reading Michael Baigent’s The Jesus Papers. Baigent reminds us that in Station VIII, there is a woman beside a child “wearing a Scottish tartan robe”. (A photo of the station can be found here, scroll down for a close up) Baigent also made the same claim in Holy Blood, Holy Grail. This claim has become a rather disjointedly accepted fact in the Grail world.

If Saunière directed a tartan to be painted on this Station, there had to be some significance attached to it. One common explanation is that the tartan is a reference to Scottish Rite Freemasonry. Tartans are used as a part of the Masonic organization Knights of Saint Andrews. However, tartans worn by this group are unique to each jurisdiction. It is unlikely that Saunière was trying to make this connection since there is no single tartan that represents the organization. No where else in Masonry, can I recall any ritual references to tartans.

Scottish tartans are the hallmarks of specific clans or families. A single clan/family might have a number of different tartans; each tartan is uniquely linked to that group. So was Saunière trying to point us in the direction of a Scottish family via the Station VIII tartan?

After a few hours of pouring through on line tartan guides, I could find no credible match. Since light blue is an unusual background color for a tartan, I contacted a number of tartan manufacturers to see if they could identify a tartan with these properties.

The folks at Lochcarron, Kilts of Caledonia , and The Scotch Corner graciously gave me a number a possibilities. Ancient Anderson, Musselburg, Bell of the Borders, and the Princess Diana Memorial Tartan topped the lists, but none matched the Station VIII tartan. Going back to the photo of Station VIII, I thought I’d return to the original premise.

I realized then that the child is not swaddled in a tartan at all. One thing that all tartans have in common is that they have horizontal and vertical intersecting lines of weave. Look closely at the depiction of the cloth around the child’s leg. The colors are all vertical. Around the child’s shoulders the color stripes turn horizontal. This is because in the mold, the cloth has twisted around the child’s shoulder.

Whoever painted this station was trying to get the perspective of the lines correct, not attempting to display a Scottish tartan. You can do a simple experiment with a rectangular piece of lined paper. Orient the paper with the lines vertically and twist one end up 90 degrees. The lines on the twisted portion of the paper are now horizontal. The only thing that has changed is the perspective of the line’s orientation.

So what was Saunière up to with the stripped cloth on the child in Station VIII? I suspect nothing more adding some detail to the mold. This just goes to prove that sometimes we see what we want to, even though the evidence is staring us right in the face.

Ed McGrath on Teniers

Below is the final e-mail I received from Ed McGrath on his theories about paintings and the RLC mysteries. Unfortunately, I've heard from Ed that he doesn't have time to work on this project any more. I wish Ed all the luck in the world in what ever he goes on to do.

The following email is re-printed verbatim

Hi Brian,

Here is my proposed solution for the Teniers painting clue and the parchment. You can use them if you want to.

When it is established that the Poussin painting "Shepherds in Arcadia" contains the geographic coordinates of Rennes le Chateau, encoded in longitude and latitude, the next question is: What about Teniers? The Sauniere parchment says Poussin Teniers keep the key. If Poussin is showing the location to look then maybe Teniers is showing what to look for.

I believe the Sauniere misinterpreted the Teniers clue in the parchment and looked at “The Temptation of St. Anthony” painting. The clue clearly states no temptation that.

The full clue is:

BERGERE PAS DE TENTATION
QUE POUSSIN TENIERS GARDENT LA CLEF PAX 681
PAR LA CROIX ET CE CHEVAL DE DIEU
J'ACHEVE CE DAEMON DE GARDIEN A MIDI POMMES BLEUES

(shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers hold the key Pax 681. By the cross and this horse of God I dispatch this guardian demon at midday blue apples).

Another Teniers painting may show the object that is sought in the search. See the Teniers painting: “Witches preparing for the Sabbat"

(St. Anthony was tempted by demons, the witches were calling them – no temptation that!)” “Poussin [and] Teniers keep the key”).

The parchment can be read a number of ways, my interpretation is that it is actually in two parts:

Part 1

Shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers hold the key

(Shepherdess relates to Poussin and "no temptation that" refers to Teniers. You need both paintings to solve the clue)

Pax 681

(Peace, [closing of the first part clues]

[Psalm 68:1] (Signature, Psalm 68 is the "Psalm of David" and Jesus was of the house of David. Verse 1 reads:

"Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him."

This signature fits if the clues are pointing to the continued bloodline "Let God arise"

The Teniers Witches Preparing for the Sabbat painting shows a horse’s head skeleton (no lower jaw) with an “all seeing or God’s eye” and skull and crossbones.

The skull and crossbones have a vase of flowers placed on the head.

The skull and crossbones, with the flowers on top seem to signify a Templar grave. This may be the pointer to the Knights Stone at Rennes (this stone was placed face down on the altar – hiding a crypt beneath)

This Knights tomb is the object (Teniers) RLC is the location (Poussin)

The museum at his church has the skull and crossbones.

Part 2

By the cross and this horse of God (The man of the cross, on God’s horse appears to be a very good likeness of Cardinal Richelieu)

I dispatch this guardian demon at midday (Nicolas Flamel, a member of the Priory of Sion, had reason to believe Richelieu was a "guardian demon" – not a guardian angel)

blue apples: (Reference to Eve reaching for a blue apple at St. Sulpice Church).

St. Sulpice was considered by some to be the headquarters of the Priory of Sion.

Ed McGrath talks about Poussin, Rennes-leChateau, and Shughborough Hall

Last month I reported that Ed McGrath had come up with a simple solution to the Shughburough Hall; Shepherds at Arcadia inscription. Since Ed posted his theory on Daily Grail
it would seem that he's been busy fleshing it out. Ed sent me a couple of e-mails the other day expounding on his theories. He's done some interesting work that I thought everyone might be interested in. The e-mails are reprinted in their entirety.

Hi Brian,

I like your blog. I solved the “mystery” of the Poussin painting but the anointed ones do not accept it, too simple they say, no geodic designs or sacred pentagrams. It is heresy to stomp on their “holy grail”. The mystery itself has become the grail to them, nobody should upset it. I am offering a solution, if you would like to publish it on your site. I will send a separate mail for OUOSVAVV.

Please let me know what you think of the discovery.

This is the solution to a 370 year old mystery painting done in France in 1638. The "best minds" in the world have tried to solve it and failed; Dan Brown tackled the subject in the Da Vinci Code but could not come up with the solution. This is NEWS for anyone interested in solving puzzles similar to those proposed by Dan Brown in his books. People like to "see" a problem, with a logical solution provided. Even if the solution sparks debate, they are still interested in it. I would like to see this published because it provides an alternative explanation.

Poussin Painting Decoded – A New Theory

My theory is that Poussin encoded the location of Rennes le Chateau in the painting, using longitude and latitude references. When the painting was done in 1639, the international Prime Meridian in Greenwich was not yet established. The French used the Paris Meridian as the zero longitude reference. Paris is at 002 degrees E longitude, based on the Greenwich meridian.

The shepherds in Poussin's painting seem to be pointing to 42.9N and 0E (O degrees, relative to the Paris Meridian). Rennes le Chateau is at 42 Degrees 56 Minutes North and 0 Degrees East (using the Paris Meridian). Here is what it looks like! Poussin Pointing the Way to Rennes le Chateau http://ca.geocities.com/lmcgrath2158@rogers.com/Poussintwo

Rennes le Chateau Mystery

The mystery at Rennes le Chateau has baffled people for years. A parchment was found by Abbee Sauniere in 1891 that gave a clue to an old Nicholas Poussin painting and it is believed that the painting refers to Rennes le Chateau. The painting "Et in Arcadia Ego" http://et-in-arcadia-ego.mezzo-mondo.com/poussin-et-in-arcadia-ego.html " shows a tomb and people consider that the background scenery fits the location of Rennes. Nobody can provide a clear answer how a painting, with a scene that could be anywhere in the world, definitely points to that location. There would be thousands of tombs and locations to search. There is doubt about the existence of the tomb at Rennes when Poussin did his painting (tomb was built in 1902, destroyed in 1986).

History of the Prime Meridian

The International Prime Meridian at Greenwich England was not established until 1884. France did not participate at this meeting and continued to use Paris for their Prime Meridian.

King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu re-established, the French Prime Meridian in 1634 by Royal Decree,. Richelieu commissioned Poussin in 1635 to paint “The Triumph of Pan” (they knew each other five years before Shepherdess painting) Longitude and Latitude measurements were known to them in the early 1600s.

I may not be "right" about the discovery of the pointing Shepherds, but at least it points to a simple solution of the Poussin painting.

QUOTE

To paraphrase Occam's Razor: All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.

Please get a decent copy of the painting and measure the angles yourself rather than accept what I have shown. I used Visio 2003 and the footer image from Andrew Gough's Arcadia website http://www.andrewgough.co.uk/

Ed McGrath

Second E-mail

Hi Brian,

Here is something else for you to consider on your blog:

When I read Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, I read about the mystery sculpture, a Reverse bas relief of a Poussin painting, at Shugborough House in England http://www.shugborough.org.uk/holy-grail-78 it says that the code can not be broken, its inscription DOUOSVAVVM could not be deciphered.

I have read about a lot of decoding attempts. They all have one thing in common, they do not consider that this is an inscription on a monument.

Why does everyone try to decipher the inscription out of context? It is an inscription on a very detailed, and modified, mirror image of a famous painting. If the monument above the inscription is not significant, why carve it? Carving the inscription alone would save a lot of time and grief.

My solution keeps the inscription and monument in the same context and it can be validated by external information (i.e. Sauniere parchment clue to Shepherdess and Poussin painting) The

Background Information Antoine Bigou miscarved the date MDCCLXXXI (1781) as MDCOLXXXI. He changed C to O (not a Roman Numeral). His uncle preceded Sauniere as Abbee at Rennes-de-Chateau. http://www.rennes-discovery.com/dalleblanchefort.htm
Poussin painted Les Bergers d’Acadie (1635-50) – the title is French http://www.parnasse.com/etinarc.jpg
Sauniere discovered a parchment (1891) that read, in part, “Shepherdess…Poussin…key…”

A reverse bas relief carving of Les Bergers d’Acadie, by Stuart is located at Shugborough house near Staffordshire England (1755) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shugborough_arcadia.jpg
There are eight letters on one line of the bas relief, two letters on next line
Sauniere decoded the messages and found the Grail even though he was not a Templar initiate – he did not possess the esoteric knowledge thought to be needed.

The Bas relief at Shugborough Hall England is a “REVERSE” image of the Poussin’s painting.
There are 10 letters on inscription, eight on one line.
Bigou replaced C with O in his carving (Bigou was also involved with Sauniere parchments)

Solution
Read the word on the first line of the inscription O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V REVERSED (i.e. upside down and mirrored) A.A.V.A.S.O.N.O

Now, REVERSE what Bigou did on the headstone: Replace the O with a C in the eight-letter word.

The modified line now looks like this: A.A.V.A.S.C.N.C

This is an anagram, in French and has two words: "Canvas and Ca (Picture and That – it will not translate as a phrase from French to English, it is two separate words: Picture! That! Admonishing the reader to look at the original painting) As I have noted elsewhere, the original painting has shepherds pointing to the Longitude and Latitude of Rennes le Chateau

The. D and M appear on a separate line and seem to be meaningless, outside the clue (Help??)

N.B: I have also solved the Teniers painting clue and all of Parchment #1

Ed McGrath