Sauniere Occult

7/27/2019 Sauniere Occult

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Saunire and the OccultGuy Patton

One vigorously debated aspect of the Rennes-le-Chteau mystery is the possibility ofSaunires involvement with the world of the Occult societies.There is certainly physical evidence of his support for a restoration of the Monarchy,confirmed by his anti-Republican sermon.This is also ample physical evidence of the Abb Saunires devotion to the Sacred Heartin his private domain and church at Rennes-le-Chteau. The Sacred Heart movement,interwoven with the Monarchist movement, had strong links to, and received supportfrom, Occult and Esoteric Societies.A socio-political ideology, often referred to as Synarchy, arose from the movementsdedicated to the restoration of the Monarchy and Catholic authority; an ideology sharedby many of the Occult societies of the time.

But was Saunire involved in secret activities not normally expected of a conscientiousparish priest? And if he had been drawn into this secretive world of Occult societies, whatwas it that had attracted him?

From village records we know that there was more to Saunire than we would expectfrom a parish priest. His refusal to allow access to his water cistern during a village fire;his nocturnal secret digging in the cemetery; the installation of an upside-down cross; hisunusually high financial income and expenditure and refusal to explain it to his superiors;the letter from a colleague endorsing his right to such income; other village gossip; alltend to indicate that Saunire had a hidden side and indulged in mystery.

Priory of Sion documents, published from the 1950s, allege that Saunire discoveredancient coded parchments during the restoration of his church and that he took these tothe Seminary of St Sulpice in Paris for translation and decryption. During this visit, he issaid to have met the Abb Hoffet (at that time only a novice in training but interested inesoteric studies). Through Hoffets connections, Saunire, it is claimed, was introducedto the Parisian Cultural and Occult circles that included Mallarme, Debussy and EmmaCalve with whom Saunire is said to have conducted a passionate love affair.There is no independent corroboration for any of these allegations that were firstpublished in the early works of Grard de Sde. However, one more recently establishedfact could well shed some light on this alleged episode in the life of the Abb Saunire.

It is now known that in 1900, Saunire attended at least three meetings of a Martinistlodge in Lyons. Pages of the Lodge minute book reveal his presence as an honourableguest.

Dans la registre de la Trs Rvrente Loge lOrient de Lyon La haute

Philospophie... sur la liste le prsent dhonneur , LAbb Saunire.

To be invited to a lodge meeting as an honourable guest, Saunire must have knownsomeone who was already a member of the Lyons lodge; a lodge that was a considerable


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distance from Rennes. Who might Saunire have known and why go all the way toLyons?We know that at this time most Martinists were clerics; but what attracted them toMartinism and how could they reconcile occult activity with their Faith?To attempt to answer these questions it is necessary to start by looking at the nature ofMartinism and those involved with it.

Although not known by this name until much later, Martinism developed out of themasonic-affiliated Order of the Elus Cohen founded by Martinez de Pasqually around1750. In 1768, Louis Claude de Saint Martin, known as the Unknown Philosopher,became his secretary and eventually took over the Order after Pasquallys death. At thistime there was no centralised administration but a number of independent lodgespractising his system.

Pasquallys book Traite de la Reintegration explains his belief in the theory ofReintegration. The central belief being that Man can return to the divine state that he wasassumed to have possessed before the `Fall; that is, he can become closer to God.The system of ritual designed to achieve Reintegration employed a specific style ofmagic called theurgy. Theurgy was the merging of personal Will with Gods Will andwas called in authentic Martinism `the Inner Way or `the Way of the Heart. It wasbelieved that the creative power of Man was a gift from God, the ultimate Creator; andthat Man can acquire the ability to will something to happen or to manifest.But as a Theurgist, the initiate would invoke Gods Will to bring about a manifestation orhappening. Thus Man becomes an agent of Gods Will.

Saint-Martin rejected some of Pasquallys magical rites, which employed the intercessionof spirit beings, as being medieval, and substituted a more Christ- and God-centredTheurgy that he called Magism of God.The ultimate aim as stated by Saint-Martin was to restore order, peace and life in theworld. He further claimed that it was the duty of the individual to work forReintegration: a reaffirmation of Pasquallys teaching if not his methods.There was a Gnostic dimension summed up by the belief that Mans wisdom (Sophia)blossoms when the individual recovers his `sensitivity, that is his spirituality which isnormally submerged in his inner darkness. Thus with the progress towards Reintegrationcame increased spiritual knowledge: a greater understanding of Mans divinity and Godspurpose.

Saint-Martin died in 1803; there were a number of attempts to reform and although manyother Rose-Croix and esoteric orders were formed at this time, it wasnt until about 1890that Martinism itself underwent a major revival in the form of the new Ordre Martiniste.The Grand Council based in Paris included such notable occultists as, Papus (GrardEncausse), Stanislas de Guaita, Sedir, Maurice Barres, Georges Montieres and JosephinPeladan.Appointed Grand Master, Papus began to unite the various Martinist lodges creating amore structured movement.


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As a young man, Encausse spent a great deal of time at the Bibliothque Nationalestudying the Qabalah, the Tarot, the sciences of magic and alchemy, and the writings ofEliphas Lvi . Papus also studied material that came from Charles Nodier, writer,occultist and chief librarian of the famous Arsenal Library in 1824. Papus becameaquainted with a circle of Gnostics, Rosicrucians, and older Martinists, all students ofthe late Eliphas Levi.His meeting with M Philippe from Lyon c1886 upsets his vision of the world. From thistime on Papus becomes the propagator of Christian Mysticism and the Way of theHeart, which Saint-Martin called the Inner Way. The core of this philosophy, asdescribed by Papus, is published in his The Cardiac or Mystic Path . Papus deals in thispublication with the importance of simplicity and the purification of body, soul and mindin ones spiritual quest. Another text of Papus which reflects the philosophy of the InnerWay is appropriately called the Way of the Heart.

On the purpose and aim of the Martinist Order Papus wrote:...the Order, as a whole, is especially a school of moral knighthood, endeavouring to

develop the spirituality of its members by the study of the invisible world and its laws, by

the exercise of devotion and the intellectual assistance and by the creation in each spirit

of an all the more solid faith as it is based on observation and science.

Papus actively sought an alliance between the clergy and occultists to restore the forcesof tradition against the trend of modernisation that he considered was responsible for aloss of social order.

So far we have not encountered anything that could be considered contradictory to the

Faith of a traditionalist priest. And certainly the socio-political message would have beenequally acceptable to the Catholic Church. But could there have been another aspect thatmay have attracted the Abb Saunire and other priests to Martinism?

Spiritualism, popular in America, had taken hold in Europe in the second half of thenineteenth century and had become a key feature of Martinist ritual. We know that Papushimself held seances for contacting spirits. One can easily see how attractive such activitywould have been to a questioning priest. Despite being outlawed by Rome, direct contactwith the dead would have held a fascination to those whose lives were dedicated topreparation for the afterlife.

Papus and his involvement in esoteric movements became widely known amongst thosewith an interest in occultism. In 1905, Papus was summoned to the court of Tsar NicolasII to hold a Spiritual Seance at which the spirit of his son Alexander III was raised. TheRussian Court had been witness to many seances arising from the interest of TsarAlexander II and his wife in occultism. In fact as early as 1861, the Scottish medium DDHome, accompanied by the French writer Alexander Dumas, held seances at the WinterPalace, St Petersburg for the Tsar, his Courtiers and other Russian aristocrats.

It is during this episode that we become aware of the notorious Protocols of the Elders ofZion. Allegedly the minutes of the World Zionist meeting that took place at Basle in


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1897, they caused quite a stir at the Russian Court where they were used to cast a slur oncertain political factions.Contrary to popular belief, they are not a forgery, nor a fiction; but neither are they ofZionist origin. In fact they formed the basis of a Martinist plan for Synarchic government.Papus himself wrote of such a plan as a necessary counter to what he saw as creepinganarchy. Aware of their political potential, they were used by a faction of dissidentRussian exiles to discredit Russian noblemen involved in Freemasonry who werebelieved to be involved in a conspiracy to influence the Tsar.This Martinist document was then seen by Sergei Nilus; who confused the Martinistsymbol - a six-pointed star - with the Zionist Star of David. He immediately interpretedthe document as being a Zionist plan and part of a Zionist conspiracy. The Martinistswere duly attacked as belonging to this illusory Judeo-masonic plot. Anti-Semitictendencies of the time greatly helped to fuel this confusion and added to its propagandavalue that continues even until today.

But the indefatigable Papus had other interests and beliefs.In 1896, he published the Tarot of the Bohemians. A look at the preface to the bookreveals some of his other occult beliefs.The Tarot pack of cards, transmitted by the Gypsies from generation to generation, is aprimitive book of ancient initiation. The uninitiated reader will find in it theexplanation of the lofty philosophy and science of ancient EgyptPapus further states that the wisdom of the Caballa, the Freemasons and the ancientEgyptians had been kept alive by the Tarot of these nomadic gypsies.Very influenced by Freemasonry, Papus evidently believed in the transmission of sacredwisdom and occult science from the times of antiquity that stretches back as he saw it

through the gypsies, Rosicrucians, Templars, Christ, the Old Testament, ancient Egypt tothe Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man. His quest was to discover and reveal theSynthesis that in his words condenses in a few simple laws the whole of acquiredknowledge.

This very precisely confirms the element of Gnosis found at the heart of Martinism. Wecan now more easily understand the role of Cathar enthusiast, Jules Doinel in this esotericworld and its connections to the Abb Saunire.

In 1888, while working as archivist for the library of Orleans in France, Jules Doineldiscovered an original charter dated 1022, which had been written by Canon Stephan of

Orleans, a schoolmaster and forerunner of the Cathars who taught Gnostic doctrines (Hewas burned for heresy that same year). Doinel had a vision in which the Aeon Jesusappeared, who charged him with the work of establishing a new church. Doinel was aGrand Orient Freemason and a practising Spiritualist. In May of 1890, Jules Doinelattended a sance in the oratorie of the Duchess of Pomar (The Countess ofCaithness). It is said that the disembodied spirits of ancient Albigensians, joined by aheavenly voice, laid spiritual hands on Doinel, creating him Valentinus II, Bishop of theHoly Assembly of the Paraclete (Holy Ghost) and of the Gnostic Church.


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Thus the EGLISE GNOSTIQUE was founded by Jules Doinel in 1890. In 1892 Doinelconsecrated Papus as Tau Vincent, Bishop of Toulouse; he also consecrated otherMartinists, such as Paul Sedir and Lucien Chamuel. These three men formed thenucleus of the newly built Gnostic Universal Church.

Jules Doinel, Patriarch of the Gnostic Church entered into Papus Martinist lodge in1891. As we saw he made Papus Gnostic Bishop of Toulouse and in 1893, he founded theOrdre Gnostique de la Colombe du Paraclete. In 1896, he was appointedArchivist/Librarian at Carcassonne and two years later became Secretary to the Societyfor Arts and Sciences in Carcassonne: at which time he is thought to have visited Rennes-le-Chteau. This becomes an even more credible possibility since Saunires colleague,the Abb Boudet, Cure of Rennes-les-Bains, was also an erudite member of the Society.But most interestingly in 1900, the year when Saunire attended Martinist meetings in

Lyon, Doinel became Gnostic Bishop of Mirepoix which include Montsegur, and of

Alet les Bains which included Rennes-le-Chteau.

It is not known if Saunire continued his interest in Martinism or whether he ever becamea full member. However, the inextricable link between the Gnostic Church and Martinismoffers some interesting possibilities.In 1908 a schism occurred within the Gnostic Church: the branch at Lyon under JoannieBricaud took another name; glise Gnostique Catholique (EGC); later changing againto the EGLISE GNOSTIQUE UNIVERSELLE (EGU). The EGU would later change itsname once more to EGLISE GNOSTIQUE APOSTOLIQUE.In 1911, the E.G.A. headed (since 1908) by Joannie Bricaud, Patriarch of the GnosticChurch, became the official church of Papus ORDRE MARTINISTE.

Furthermore, Joannie Bricaud himself was later to become head of this MARTINISTOrder.

But were Martinists beliefs, or those of the Gnostic Church, in conflict with the doctrineof the Roman Catholic Church?

Jules Doinel, the founder of the first Gnostic Church had dreamed of a church that wouldgive back to Christianity its gnostic dimension. But gnosis needs to be defined so as notto confuse the very holy gnosis which, as Clement of Alexandria said, does not opposefaith but perfects it, with the gnosis whose name is a lie denounced by Saint Irenaeus inhis treatise against heresies in the 2nd century.

Many of the Gnostic Churches can be considered heretical, but those that have remainedtrue to Doinels tradition are not.

So what were the Martinists drawn to Papus, and then to his successors at the head of theMartinist Order, looking for?It was the one, undivided Church, faithful to the Tradition of the Apostles and the

Fathers of the Church, and possessor and dispenser of the gnosis spoken of by Clement ofAlexandria.


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Since its origin, such a Church has remained alive in the East, after having disappeared

in the West in the Middle Ages, to the advantage of Roman Catholicism. That is the

Orthodox Church. Its providential return in the West allows Martinists today to once

again find an authentic ecclesiastical practice, in parallel with those who follow the

practice of the few rare Gnostic Churches worthy of this name, where the faithful are

often hardly more numerous than the priests.

This effective reconciliation of the Orthodox and RCC is one of the stated aims of the

Hieron du Val dOr and LEglise dAvignon that played such a major part in the esoteric

level of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.

An examination of the Creed of the Eglise Gnostique Universelle at Lyon, 1908 shows

nothing that would have caused a conflict or crisis of Faith for a Catholic priest. In fact

the creed takes the prosaic Catholic teachings to a higher spiritual and intellectual level.The main addition to the existing Creed being nothing more than the conscious and

committed search for Reintegration: the quest towards a state of divine spirituality.

Extract from the sermon of H. H. + Johannes Bricaud (Jean II) on the occasion of hisappointment as Patriarch of the Universal Gnostic Church in Lyon, 1908.

1. - That spoke to us through His mouth and taught us the Gnosis and the true holylife, so that we shall be free from slavery of the Demiurges and their earthlyArchons, and as he made our return to the pneumatic World from which we camepossible, where He returned after his death.

2. - We believe in the Third Aspect of the Trinity, Life, which follows from the

Father as from the Son, and reveals itself in the Pneuma-Agion, the Holy Ghost.3. - Who gives us joy in life, and leads us on the Path of Truth and Holiness, whounites all beings, who is worshipped in the Father as in the Son.

4. - We believe in a Pneumatic Universe, immeasurable Church of the Spirit, as oldas God Himself, and older than the Material [hylic] Universe, where our globefinds itself as but a colony in the Perisphere, whereon we men descend as spirits.

5. - We profess the two Baptisms, and the three other Mysteries of the purificationand conversion of mankind.

Amen.Lyons, 1908.

Thus we can see the attraction of Martinism and the Gnostic Church to perhaps the moreintellectual of priest. Of course we must not forget that these esoteric Christianmovements were also deeply involved with Monarchist movements, especially those insupport of Charles Naundorff.But there is one fundamental politico-philosophical belief, shared by Monarchists andMartinists alike, that provides an explanation for Saunires possible connection to thewider occult world.

As previously mentioned, Priory of Sion publications allege that Saunire, on a trip toParis, was welcomed into Parisien occult society: in which he made the acquaintance ofsome very notable people such as Emma Calve and Debussy. Later publications by those


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close to the Priory of Sion elaborate on this aspect of the life of Saunire. We must alsorecall that the Priorys own list of Grand Masters includes Charles Nodier, Victor Hugo,Claude Debussy and John Cocteau, all connected in one way or another with this occultworld; more specifically to the world of Symbolist Art.

The one aspect of political philosophy common to each of these societies, movementsand people, is their unswerving belief in Tradition and Hierarchy as the necessary path tosocial order.

This focus on tradition was typified in the Rose-Croix Orders of Josephin Peladan, whowe must recall was a member of the original Martinist Grand Council under Papus.Peladan had completed his education in Italy during which time he fell in love withItalian Art. In 1882 he arrived in Paris, presenting himself as an art critic. His views canbest be summed up in his own words, I believe in the Ideal, in Tradition, in Hierarchy.

We will see how his view of art was to become a major influence in symbolist art andoccult societies. It was through his meeting with of the renown occultist, Stanislas daGuaita, that he decided to revive 17th century Rosicrucianism. His association with daGuiata brought him into the world of Black Magicians, that included those such as thedecadent satanist, J K Huysmans, and the notorious Abb Boullan whose activities wewill examine later.

In 1892, Peladan organised the first of his annual Salons de la Rose-Croix in which hisversion of traditionalist art, closely linked to that of the symbolist movement, was to bevigorously promoted. We know exactly what he approved of from his own writings,including a set of rules to be rigidly adhered to. It is clearly stated that Catholic Dogma

and symbolism is to be given priority, even if the execution was imperfect. He believedthat the Catholic Church had become a repository for ancient wisdom that could berediscovered in its symbolism. Although at times his writings verged on heresy, and someof his former Rose-Croix Orders were later condemned for becoming overly influencedby eastern mysticism, Peladan himself managed to escape censure by the Church.However, in his mind, Peladan considered himself to be more Catholic than theapparently liberal voices in the Vatican.

First mentioned by Grard de Sde, other researchers have since agreed that Sauniresrose-embroidered chasuble and the many rose motifs found in the decoration of hischurch, especially on the Stations of the Cross, is evidence of Saunires involvement

with Rose-Croix movements. This is possible, but we must be cautious in thisinterpretation, as the rose is commonly found in mainstream Catholic symbolism.

A frequent visitor to Peladans salons was the composer Claude Debussy, a friend of thegreat esoteric writer, Stephane Mallarme, and other leading occultists. Peladans patron inthis enterprise was the Count Antoine de la Rochefoucauld, who had been intimatelylinked with the appearance of a Sacred Heart vision. Following a break from Peladan in1893, Antoine de Rochefoucauld set up a review and appointed a known Satanist, JulesBois, as editor. Jules Bois was the lover of Emma Calve, the famous opera singer alleged


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to have had a liaison with Saunire. This connection to Jules Bois opens up aninteresting, even if rather slender, line of enquiry.

Bois had a reputation as a Black Magician but was also closely connected with othernotable occultists who claimed to be traditionalist Catholics and supporters of theNaundorff claim to the Monarchy.

But how can we reconcile the association of a so-called Black Magician with the world ofCatholic Traditionalists?

Satanists (Black Magicians) are often confused with Luciferians, the terms oftenerroneously being interchanged. Luciferians form part of a tradition known asPromethian. Many of them recognised Christ as one of the prophets in the sense thatChristos (Greek) equates to Lucifer (Latin) which signifies the Bringer of Light.

Lucifer is to Luciferians the prophet who will reveal the true message of the sacred texts(Gospels), obscured and distorted by the Roman Catholic Church. This belief could wellbe seen as a form of Gnosticism rather than the more popular perception of Devilworship. A conclusion confirmed in the writings of the poet Stanislas da Guaita, who in1887 had founded the Rosicrucian Cabalistic Order with Peladan and Papus. His worksshow him to be a Gnostic but he also wrote about Satan and Black Magic.

Returning to Rennes-le-Chteau and Saunire we find yet another mystery. In 1891,Saunire installed a statue of the Virgin Mary on an antique pillar upon which anengraved cross appears upside down. No priest would have remained unaware of thisanomaly and would have taken steps to rectify it. But Saunire compounded this oddity

by engraving two inscriptions on the pillar, thereby confirming his intention to displayprominently and publicly an upside down cross.

It is surely no coincidence that the upside-down cross had been adopted by FrenchCatholic Occultists in representation of not only the martyrdom of St Peter but moreimportantly, of the inner teachings/tradition of the Church. And key amongst these Catholic occultists was Eugene Vintras. A professed

Catholic, he formed his own Church of Carmel and wore an inverted cross on hisvestments. A confirmed monarchist, he actively preached that Charles Naundorffwas the rightful king. Despite being excommunicated allegedly for practising BlackMagic rites, he continued to receive significant support from factions within the

Catholic Church.But is it possible that the true reason for his excommunication was for preaching a formof Gnosticism considered a threat to the Catholic Church?When Vintras died in 1875 the Abb Boullan, a defrocked priest, also a supporter of theNaundorff claim, became his successor at Lyon. Previously, at La Salette he met the nunAdele Chevalier, a friend of the visionary Melanie Calvat. Boullan formed an intimaterelationship with Adele drawing accusations of strange sexual activities. Melanie is saidto have revealed the secret of La Salette to Adele, with whom she had set up the Order ofthe Mother of God. She and Boullan set up the `Society for the Reparation of Souls with


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a view to curing devilish illnesses. Condemned by the Catholic Church he wasimprisoned for three years, but on his release returned to the mission of curing spells.His own writings show that Boullan was indeed participating in depraved sexual activitythat was found to be unacceptable to most of the occult world. In fact after a meeting withBoullan in 1886, Peladans colleague, da Guiata, reported that he (Boullan) had fallendeeply into error.But despite his reputation for sexual and other bizarre practices, Boullan is best knownfor his Law of Sacred Regeneration, which is more or less identical to the theory ofReintegration found at the heart of Martinism.Boullans biographer, Joanny Bricaud, wrote Since the Fall from grace resulted from anillicit act of love, the Redemption of Humanity can only be achieved through acts of loveaccomplished in a religious manner. It was believed that guilty love must be combatedthrough pure love, through a sexual approach, but in a heavenly manner, to the spirits inorder to raise oneself: this is the union of wisdom.

Interestingly in 1908, Bricaud was appointed patriarch of the Universal Gnostic Churchand by 1918, also became head of Papus Martinist Order.

So we have seen that at their heart, Martinism, the Gnostic Church and the Luciferiantradition share common beliefs: beliefs that may not necessarily be in conflict with aloose interpretation of Catholic dogma, especially to the questioning intellectual priest.The conflict arose not in the teachings but in the methods. The Catholic Church believedMans Salvation lay in the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, Confession,Repentance etc., that could only be received from the Catholic Church. Whereas for theGnostic, it was believed that the only way for Man to return to the state of grace heenjoyed before the Fall, was through true Gnosis and by confronting and working through

his natural earthly sexual instinct.

Though at the present time there is no hard evidence to place Saunire in this Esotericand Gnostic world, it is certainly not improbable. On balance, the facts presented hereshow that this possibility does enjoy much credibility.But the ultimate question for Rennes researchers still remains. What was the true natureof Saunires relationship with his house-keeper Marie Denarnaud, who refused to speakabout such matters?

Whether there was an esoteric dimension to the relationships between Jules Bois andEmma Calve or even between the notorious Joseph Boullan and Adele Chevalier, we

might probably never know. But it is possible that however misguided they were, theyshared the aim of Reintegration: the return to a state of perfect grace. Was this in fact thebasis for the protracted and loyal relationship between Saunire and Marie? Is it notpossible that they were imitating the ultimate relationship, as suggested in the GnosticGospels, that of his lord, Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, His most beloved discipleand the repentant sinner?


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Sources:

Symbolist Art Edward Lucie-Smith, Thames & Hudson, 1972 (1986)The Occult Chambers Compact Reference, trans from French 1991Dictionary of Art & Artists Peter & Linda Murray, Penguin, 1959 (1973)The Rosy-Cross Unveiled, Christopher McIntosh, Aquarian 1980Occult symbolism in France Robert Pincus-Witten, 1976The Occult Establishment James Webb, 1976

Internet sources:

A Brief History of the Martinist MovementThe Rose-Croix Martinist Order, Inc, copyright 1995,1996

FUDOSI by Milko Bogaard

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