Prieure Of Sion
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The Mystery Deepens
by Steve Mizrach
Like many Americans, I first became aware of the mysterious Priory of Sion by reading about them in the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail
The second requires some degree of confession. I don't wish to offend people's religious beliefs by stating my own. I am essentially a secular Jew that distrusts most forms of organized religion. I long believed that the essential narrative of Christ's life as given in the New Testament was inaccurate, and the way it was given was especially redacted to place blame and guilt on Jewish people for his death. Thus, HBHG (how I shall heretofore abbreviate the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail
I first wrote about HBHG around 1990, focusing on the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau as described in that book and in Lionel Fanthorpe's book (Secrets of Rennes-Le-Chateau
Baigent, Lincoln, and Leigh wrote a sequel to HBHG entitled the The Messianic Legacy
Lincoln's books, The Holy Place: Saunière and the Decoding of the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château
Esperaza Circle of Churches
A listmember on the PoS' list brought something to my attention which was fairly significant: this diagram's nodes actually form the Qabalistic Tree of Life when connected.
This is significant because the Qabalah is thought to be, at its oldest, only 2 millennia old; whereas some of the sites in the 'temple' of the Rennes region appear to be of the megalithic era, and should thus be twice as old...
One author that seems to have been inspired by Henry Lincoln is British Mason Patrick Byrne, who offers his theory through an 'e-book' which can solely be downloaded through the Internet. Byrne believes that the key to the mystery may lie in the Masonic Degree of the Holy Royal Arch. Suffice to say, in the interests of brevity, Byrne believes that Masonic symbolism seems to also link up to a geomantic diagram in the area, and that in essence the root of the story seems to be that the Templars found the Ark of the Covenant underneath Solomon's Temple and brought it to the mountain known as Pech Cardou in the Languedoc as a hiding place. Pech Cardou seems to be pointed to as the key node of this geomantic network, however, Byrne thinks that the Ark might no longer be there since some Allied Masons may have moved it to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Nazis. He seems to suggest that the French national cartographic authority— the IGN— is in some way descended from the Knights Hospitaller— and is further (aren't they always?) blocking further inquiry into this area.
Baigent and Leigh's research has been to further probe the history of early Christianity and specifically the controversy surrounding academic censorship of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Dead Sea Scrolls Deception
Some other recent books on this subject have been Picknett and Prince's The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ
Laurence Gardner's Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed
Andrews and Schellenberger's book The Tomb of God: Unlocking the Code to a 2000-Year-Old Mystery
Ean Begg's The Cult of the Black Virgin
The indefatigable Robert Anton Wilson weighs in on the mystery of the Priory in Cosmic Trigger III: My Life After Death
Tired of theories from authors testing the limits of human imagination? Well, you've yet to meet the unpublished 'Sion wonks' that populate the Priory of Sion mailing list. During my brief time on the list, I met "Idris," who suggested the conspiracy hid an ancient malevolent Sumerian extraterrestrial virus and the search for an antidote, "Fastcat," who asserted that the Merovingians were alive and well in California and were also part of the foundation for Mormonism, and "Online.Design," who thought that the PoS hid secret geometry in the Great Pyramid which could predict any event which had happened in human history. "DasGoat" (aka Hawthorne Abendsen) saw the PoS at the heart of patriarchal, Catholico-fascist, cryptopolitical P2/Opus Dei/Knights of Malta-style conspiracies. "Stella Maris" described harassment at the hands of rogue elements from the Dragon Order because her abilities of 'psycho-navigation' helped her unlock the puzzles sponsored by their website, Entropic Arts. And then there was "Queribus," who took her name from the last stronghold of the Cathars in France, who was ever so interested in Begg's Black Virgins. (Although deeply mystical, she also had a great deal more sense than some of the others.)
Not everyone used the ubiquitous pseudonyms. (As always, I went by "Seeker1".) Alan Harmony (who as far as I know used his own name) suggested that the true basis of Jesus' teaching was the prophetic power of dreams, and that his own dreams led him to believe (like David Wood and Ian Campbell) that a disastrous comet was heading to strike the Earth which could only be deflected by the Ark of the Covenant, which he asserted was hidden from the Priory in Canada. We even had posters claiming that the PoS had hidden treasure troves buried in the U.S., that Jesus was actually a Celtic Druid, that the PoS "bloodline" originated with the godlike 'Nephilim' of Andrew Collins' book From the Ashes of Angels: The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race
Both were, not surprisingly, cryptic and unforthcoming about the organization, although Guelfi indicated that the 'wellspring' of the Priory's bloodline began (long before David, Jesus, Merovech, or Godfroi de Bouillion) in the Middle East around 3500 BCE, and hinted but never verified that the source of the 'wellspring' was extraterrestrial. Daemon Magus asserted that the successor to the Grand Mastership of the PoS, which was held until 1984 by Pierre Plantard, was a Canadian, Carl LaFleur. Msr. LaFleur, claimed Daemon Magus, made him head of the Gnostic Patriarchate of North America (and he showed me a letter verifying this), which, he indicated, was really the "front" for the 'secondary' order of the Priory (which, with some deliberateness, he called "P2") in North America. However, LaFleur was driven out, he claimed, by more sinister elements within the Priory (people more interested in power and wealth than esotericism), and Magus thought he could have been kidnapped or even murdered. At this point, he really didn't know who was in charge of "P1" (the European Priory.) Is any of this true? I have no way of knowing. If anyone can verify the identity of this individual (LaFleur) for me, it might go a long way. I can't find a biography or anything about him.
Although I was skeptical of both, I still had the strange dilemma of facing the fact that they seemed to know too much to be trolls. I told both of them I thought they were either frauds or disinformers, but for all I know we on the list may have entertained 'Sionites' unawares. Perennial topics of discussion on the PoS listserve were, not surprisingly and in no particular order, the authenticity of the Shroud, the origins of Gnosticism, early Christianity, whether the PoS had a New World or American "branch" operating in the U.S., the fate of the Templars after their dissolution, the validity of 'Merovingian' origins for modern European royal houses (such as the Stuarts and Hapsburgs), the role of Freemasonry in Europe and the U.S., and the location of the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. (At least one poster thought the two artefacts were, in fact, one and the same.) One thread that seems to stick in my mind is the mysterious survival throughout history of skull and crossbones symbolism, and what it might or might not have to do with the PoS.
The skull and crossbones seems to have been used as an emblem first and foremost by esoteric and heretical groups as a symbol of rebirth. It later became the battle flag of the Knights Templar (and a nasty rumor about the Templars claimed they chose it because of a horrific necromantic ritual) and, in the 17th century, the "Jolly Roger" flag of British and French pirates. Most mysteriously, it is the emblem of the secret society Scull N' Bones at Yale, which George Bush and so many other members of the American elite have been initiated into. (Yale's graduating classes, according to some authors, seem to have provided the rich white young men of distinction which formed the early OSS and, later, the CIA.) What are the connections here? Did some of the post-dissolution Templars eventually turn their naval skills toward the service of pirate fleets? (We know many in Portugal eventually joined the Knights of Christ who, with Prince Henry the Navigator, circumnavigated the world's oceans.) Why does the secret society S & B use a skull in its ceremonies which supposedly belongs to, of all people, the Native American Geronimo? Is it to commemorate, in some sinister ritualistic way, the "piracy" and plunder of Native lands in the U.S.? Is there a link between Scull N' Bones and the (less secretive) academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa?
And, of course, there was the lingering doubt that behind all of this might be nothing. There is no definitive proof that the PoS existed prior to 1956, when an organization by that name appeared in French official records, although it claims (through its secretly deposited documents in the French national library) to have originated from an earlier organization, the Ordre du Sion, founded by Godfroi de Bouillion, Hugh de Payns, and a Calabrian monk named Ursus in 1099. And there has been at least one book suggesting that all of Father Sauniere's illicit wealth came from selling masses (simony)— thus, he may have made up all the business about parchments and hidden treasure in Rennes-le-Chateau to cover up his ill-gotten gains. Other authors insist that Sauniere found a Visigothic gold stash or a gold mine belonging to the Dagobert family (take your pick); end of story. So— ask yourself this. Why would Sauniere have redecorated his church with such garish and odd symbolism? Why do the families that seem to comprise the PoS seem to have acted against the French monarchy earlier in history? And, according to Ted Cranshaw, even if Sion forged the Rennes parchments in the 1950s, the "code" contained therein must date back to the 18th century. Is the PoS just a modern 'artwork' tying together disparate figures in history (Poussin, Lord Shugborough, etc.) or are their paintings and monuments really part of a mystery which goes back (at least) several centuries?
For people interested in pursuing further leads on the Prieure du Sion/ Rennes-le-Chateau mystery, I think there are several directions that could use more research. There seems to have been a veritable explosion of neo-Templar organizations within the last decade— one of the most famous may have been the Order of the Solar Temple, whose members committed mass suicide shortly before the Heaven's Gate sect did (promptly attracting far more media attention.) As one listmember put it, Templar organizations are "popping up out of the woodwork." While there have been chivalric societies claiming (however falsely) Templar pedigrees in the past 500 years, they seem to be sprouting up like mushrooms now. One of the notions that is alluded to in The Messianic Legacy
Another interesting question is whether or not the Templars and/or Sion and/or the Sinclair family of Rosslyn may have established some sort of presence in the New World prior to Columbus. Does Sion's grasp extend to the New World? Bradley thinks they may have sequestered the Grail— or something else of value — in the famous "Money Pit" of Oak Island near Nova Scotia... whereas Fanthorpe thinks there is some sort of mysterious link between the Cajuns of Louisiana and "Arcadia" (as opposed to Accadia). (There is a curious Cajun folk song about Good King Dagobert... sort of an unusual ballad.) 'Fastcat' thinks that some of Mormon doctrine (although, he suggested, the majority is erroneous) arose out of 'Templar Masonry'. And of course there are the curious hints of Masonic influence in both the creation of the American government as well as even the layout of the streets of its Capitol. Is it possible the more "left wing" of Sion may have committed itself to republicanism (as opposed to the monarchist goals of the other wing) and sought to realize it through the American experiment?
There is the curious question as to whether Chris Carter's mysterious Millennium Group from his TV show Millennium is based on the Priory of Sion. In one episode, it was revealed that the group controlled (or protected) a 'bloodline' which according to 'DNA schematics' was 'proven' to be the offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There seems to be some hints that if Sion has some sort of 'plan' for European unification under Merovingian rulership, that it is about to pass one of its major milestones around the turn of the millennium. There are hints that one or more republican countries in Europe may be restoring their monarchies soon (although only for ceremonial purposes, as Spain did with King Juan Carlos I)— with 'Merovingians' at the throne? Of course, the riddle of Sion already had Christian eschatologists going apeshit, since they see the whole scenario as coming straight out of the Book of Revelations (although others think it more closely follows the prophecies of Nostradamus, who may have been a Priory agent.) If the group exists, and it has connections to the existing power structure in the French government, some of the things going on in connection with France's Millennial plans (which include highlighting the Paris Meridian, something Lincoln and Byrne find highly significant) may need to be examined more closely.
If the PoS is a hoax, it is one of the best orchestrated ones of all time. If it really exists, it may be one of the most powerful secret societies of all time. Sion's goals may include a reunification of the world's major monotheistic faiths and/or a unification of all of Europe. On the other hand, this all-powerful secret society— according to its own documents— never once managed, through the course of several centuries, to topple a single French king and put one of their 'bloodline' on the throne. So we should be cautious. "Members" of Sion such as Pierre Plantard and the Marquis de Cherisey have already admitted that they rely on disinformation to accomplish their objectives. Any strategy of that kind always tries first and foremost to make a group appear more all-powerful than it really is. Also, there is the possibility that the PoS is a fraud exploiting a nonetheless genuine mystery at Rennes-le-Chateau. Whichever the case may be, the mystery deserves closer scrutiny by people of a Fortean persuasion, for as far as I can see, it remains "case not closed."
Disclaimer:
Some material presented will contain links, quotes, ideologies, etc., the contents of which should be understood to first, in their whole, reflect the views or opinions of their editors, and second, are used in my personal research as "fair use" sources only, and not espousement one way or the other. Researching for 'truth' leads one all over the place...a piece here, a piece there. As a researcher, I hunt, gather and disassemble resources, trying to put all the pieces into a coherent and logical whole. I encourage you to do the same. And please remember, these pages are only my effort to collect all the pieces I can find and see if they properly fit into the 'reality aggregate'.
Personal Position:
I've come to realize that 'truth' boils down to what we 'believe' the facts we've gathered point to. We only 'know' what we've 'experienced' firsthand. Everything else - what we read, what we watch, what we hear - is what someone else's gathered facts point to and 'they' 'believe' is 'truth', so that 'truth' seems to change in direct proportion to newly gathered facts divided by applied plausibility. Though I believe there is 'truth', until someone representing the celestial realm visibly appears and presents the heavenly records of Facts And Lies In The Order They Happened, I can't know for sure exactly what "the whole truth' on any given subject is, and what applies to me applies to everyone. Until then I'll continue to ask, "what does The Urantia Book say on the subject?"
~Gail Bird Allen
