by Jay Weidner
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 a chapter on the Cyclic Cross of Hendaye. The three images that illustrate that new chapter, the plates numbered 47, 48, and 49, added to the eight of Bourges, plates 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 Grail 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 chapter 1. They form a framework for the sefirot, which is then amplified and deepened by the images from Notre Dame. 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 3 cubed, equals 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 (see chapter 11 for more on the significance of 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 the light out 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 of our own past, our spiritual heritage, and the hope of 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.
Let us turn now to the master for his summation of the secret that the design contains. Fulcanelli, in the Bourges chapter of Le Mystère, called the credence, plate 46, a “temple in miniature.” Indeed, when we compare it to the facade of the cathedral of Saint Trophime in Arles, we can see that both pieces of symbolic architecture are built on the same plan. Since Fulcanelli also declares that “this credence itself bears the alchemical imprint, the details of which I have merely tried to describe in this work,” we have another opportunity to test our Tree of Life hypothesis.12
When we superimpose the Tree of Life on the credence, as shown in figure 9.13, we find that it matches perfectly. The three fiery pomegranates of the pediment, which Fulcanelli informs us “confirm the triple action of a single procedure,” are the three upper sefirot, Kether, Chokmah, and Binah. The capitals of the pillars are Chesed and Gevurah and the feet are Hod and Netzach. The center niche is Tiferet, here displaced upward and focused on the rising-sun/scallop-shell motif above the inscription. The bottom step represents the foundation of Yesod and the greenery below it symbolizes Malkuth. The three pillars of the Tree are clearly delineated. The middle pillar is curiously focused on the rising sun of Tiferet, with another larger, inner sun—“fire above the abyss,” as the I Ching puts it—rising above the ledge attributed to Daat. The ornamentation in this space suggests the geometry found on another Daat image given by Fulcanelli, that of the Planetary Metals from Notre-Dame-de-Paris, which is plate 26 (see fig. 8.5).
Figure 9.13. The enigmatic credence from Lallemant mansion the with the Tree of Life superimposed.
The facade of the cathedral of Saint Trophime in Arles also matches the pattern (fig. 9.14). Built in the mid-twelfth century as Notre-Dame-de-Paris rose from the ruins of the Carolingian cathedral, Saint Trophime’s Tree of Life is rich and complex with interwoven metaphors peculiar to Provence and its early Christians. Saint Trophime actually has two Trees collapsed into one, showing the “portal” grade in which the initiate passes into the Grail Castle. The facade itself contains a Tree, with Daat at the upper arch, inside a larger Tree, which displaces Daat upward and onto a columned window. Clearly, the “portal” is the passage through Daat, the true door of Christ as Abbot Suger described it. The facade of Saint Trophime is indeed a hermetic trophy of great price.
Figure 9.14. The front of Saint Trophime in Arles with Tree of Life superimposed.
Most Gothic facades are based on this simple, collapsed Tree of Life principle. The two towers of Saint-Denis or Notre-Dame-de-Paris represent the two pillars of the Tree, with the middle pillar beyond Tiferet displaced backward toward the central spire (fig. 9.15). This suggests that when walking into the cathedral, one is navigating the “portal” between the worlds.
We can see this clearly if we think of stretching out the facade over the floor so that the western rose window, the Tiferet sefirah, is above the labyrinth on the nave in the center of the cathedral. In addition, the basic shape of the cathedral, as Fulcanelli reminds us, is that of an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life. As some of Fulcanelli’s readers were aware, the ankh is the only form of cross that contains all the sefirot on the Tree of Life without rearranging their pattern.
Figure 9.15. The Tree of Life superimposed on the facade of Notre-Dame-de-Paris.
In this symbolic approach, the cathedral is a way to walk through the portal—the True Light of the Christ’s door—and between the worlds. The vertical facade orients the wise to the transition, while the horizontal pattern inside evokes a response whether one is aware of the technique or not. From above, Notre Dame looks like nothing so much as an ankh with a roselike spire blossoming from the central Tiferet junction. This spire, of course, seen from the front is the middle pillar from Tiferet to Kether. These are not accidental metaphors; they show a basic symbolical harmony designed by someone who knew the geometry of the Tree of Life.
Fulcanelli informs us that “this credence itself bears the alchemical imprint, the details of which I have merely tried to describe in this work,” and we have found that not only does the credence bear this alchemical imprint of the kabbalistic Tree, but so does the design of the cathedrals themselves. Once the concept is grasped, however, it makes one wonder why anyone of the intelligence of Canseliet and friends wo
uld try to deny the kabbalistic connections.
In the original edition of Le Mystère, Fulcanelli closed his study of hermetic symbolism “by analyzing a curious and strangely rare specimen,” our “temple in miniature,” the enigmatic credence. From this we may assume that he intended his remarks to be a summary of the entire work. As usual, however, his approach is somewhat oblique.
After drawing our attention to the Golden Fleece bas-relief, which, he tells us, “could have served as a guide,” he jumps to the scallop shells on each pillar of the credence. These he identifies as symbolic of the Philosophic Mercury, while connecting them with the wings and trident of Neptune. He calls our attention to the two dolphins and the three fiery pomegranates. With that, he leaves off describing the other details of the credence and moves on to interpreting the inscription. In that interpretation can be found the essential clues to the nature of astro-alchemy and its secret.
Working backward from Fulcanelli’s comment on chiliasm in the Hendaye chapter, we have unraveled a new perspective on alchemy and its relationship with eschatologies such as chiliasm. Can we now confirm our speculations from Fulcanelli’s guarded and symbolic words?
Indeed we can. At the very beginning of his discussion of Lallemant’s credence, Fulcanelli insists on the same triple transformation that we found at the heart of the alchemical process. “Thanks to this simple arrangement [the RERE pattern from the Lallemant credence], I can already find a clue in the three repetitions of one and the same technique,” Fulcanelli instructs us. “Furthermore, the three fiery pomegranates of the pediment confirm this triple action of a single procedure,” he continues, “in order to achieve the three philosophical works, according to the doctrine of Geber.”
The reference to Geber, or ibn Jabir, introduces the idea of the three alchemical principles, Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury. Fulcanelli expands this concept to cover the triple transformation of the entire ancient Gnostic science. “The first operation,” he tells us, “leads primarily to the Sulphur, a medicine of the first order.” We can see this as the inner yogic alchemical process. “The second operation,” Fulcanelli states, “completely similar to the first, provides the Elixir, or medicine of the second order, which differs from Sulphur only in quality, not in nature.”13
This second or outer transformation follows the same pattern as the inner transformation, and is not different in nature. The transmutation of metals is the demonstration of the inner transformation. The quality of the transformation is projected outward onto matter by the nature—“Only Nature can overcome nature,” Isis the Prophetess reminds us—of the transformative process itself.
“Finally, the third operation, carried out like the two former ones, produces the Philosophic Stone, the medicine of the third order, which contains all the virtues and perfections of the Sulphur and the Elixir, multiplied in power and extent,” Fulcanelli instructs us. The third transformation is the transformation of time itself, and it is, as Fulcanelli points out, carried out like the others. Calling this transformation the Philosophic Stone takes us directly back to the Bahir, where the universe is described as the “Precious Stone in the Sea of Wisdom.” The transformation of time contains “the virtues and perfections” of the other two transformations, as Fulcanelli insists, and it is definitely greater in power and extent.14
Fulcanelli closes the discussion by pointing to another symbol on the ceiling of the strange little room. “If anyone asks, in addition, what this triple operation consists of, whose results I have shown, and how it is carried out, I would refer the investigator to the bas-relief on the ceiling, which shows a pomegranate being roasted in a certain vase.” “Pomegranate” describes the internal alchemy, “roasted” is the action of projecting the transformation, and “vase,” as we shall see, is a metaphor for all three transformations at once. This vase is, in fact, nothing less than the Holy Grail itself.15
Next, Fulcanelli turns to the clues we used above to unravel the mystery of the inscription. As we saw, his rebus of RERE matches the idea of Light shining in and then light, internally derived, shining out again. He describes this as “a double occult property, exactly equilibrated, from nature (the Light) and from art (the light).” Fulcanelli tells us that he would like to be as clear “about the explanation of the second term RER, but I am not allowed to tear down the veil of mystery concealing it.” Fulcanelli tells us that RER contains “a vitally important secret, referring to the vase of the work.” He insists that the creation of this Philosopher’s Vase is the only way to gain “the slightest success in the Work.”16 Fulcanelli is here constrained by his vow to the secret society from which he learned these important truths. And so we come face-to-face with the proof of the existence of those who know. He strains the boundaries of his oath by making his warnings: “Do not, therefore, undertake anything until you have received the light on this eggshell, which the masters of the Middle Ages called the secretum secretorum (secret of secrets).”
“What then is this RER?” Fulcanelli asks rhetorically. He then gives us a lesson in chemical symbology. In arsenic sulfide, he asks, which is the sulfur and which is the arsenic? This alchemical koan provokes in us the realization required to light the inner lamp, the fusion of inner and outer symbolized by the transformation of time.
Fulcanelli gives us more advice. Seek the vessel or vase first, and then the flow of Light will be easily recognized. Pushing the boundary of his oath, Fulcanelli goes on to tell us that according to the Sybil, a philosopher, an alchemist, is “a man who knows how to make glass.”17
“Therefore make your vase, then your compound; seal it with care, in such a way that no spirit can escape; heat the whole according to the art until it is calcinated. Return the pure part of the powder obtained to your compound, which you will seal up in the same vase. Repeat for the third time and do not give me any thanks.” Fulcanelli insists that he is “but a beacon on the great highway of the esoteric Tradition.”
With this outburst of what seems to be clarity, Fulcanelli ends his original tour of hermetic symbolism. He expresses his gratitude to the virtually unknown author of these works, Jean Lallemant, who, “following the example of the great Adepts of the Middle Ages, . . . preferred to entrust to stone, rather than to vellum, the undeniable evidence of an immense science, of which he possessed all the secrets.” Fulcanelli places Lallemant in the first rank of alchemists, along with Geber, Roger Bacon, and Basil Valentine, and above them in his modesty and sincerity. He also tells us that Lallemant was a Knight of the Round Table, a curious title for an alchemist, until we considered the importance of the Grail Stone.18
We began our research on the basis of a remark in the Hendaye chapter, which chapter was not included in the first edition. Without the clue of the connection between alchemy and chiliasm, Fulcanelli’s original big finale is impossibly obscure. In the end, we are left hanging, having heard the voice of an initiate whose words remain occult.
We can only guess that Fulcanelli fulfilled his oath to the secret society that taught him. Between the 1920s and the 1950s something happened, and someone was instructed to reveal the secret. The decision being made, Canseliet was apparently dispatched with the final clue, the Cyclic Cross of Hendaye.
So, how does a Tree become a Stone and then a Star?
Simple. The eternal polar axis of our celestial sphere, whose equator is the sun’s apparent motion against the stars, or the zodiac, forms the middle pillar of a cosmic Tree of Life. This Tree is also found within our bodies, and when we align these Trees and project them outward on the celestial sphere, we create a jeweled sphere, the Precious Stone of the Wise, in which forms the Cube of Space. The Tree has become a Stone.
The next step, from Stone to Star, requires the transformation of light. Aligned properly, the Precious Stone can tell us the quality of time and the physics of creation. Internalized, this projected alignment leads to bursts of light, flashes of kundalini. If the process is supported by dark retreat and sudden light immersion, then it
is possible that the entire body could be transformed. Something similar seems to have happened in the case of Padmasambhava, the Tantric master who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century.
The Tree of Life unites our universe across vast scales of existence. When we identify with that immensity, we expand as we try to encompass it all. The flash of gnosis is the result, and from that, if we are lucky, comes the science of alchemy. Fulcanelli has given us excellent guidance on the alchemical and initiatory process. He shows us how the initiation worked in the past, and points, as we shall see in chapter 11, toward the mass initiation that may be unavoidable in our future. When Isis, the Great Cosmic Womb of the Galaxy, gives birth to the new Horus Light of transformation, let us hope that we have all solved the riddle of becoming a star.
Omnia quia sunt, lumina sunt. “All that is, is Light.”
For it is by fire and in fire that our hemisphere will soon be tried. And just as, by means of fire, gold is separated from impure metals, so, Scripture says, the good will be separated from the wicked on the great Day of Judgment. . . . The age of iron has no other seal than that of Death.
—LE MYSTÈRE DES CATHÉDRALES
TEN
THE MYSTERY OF THE GREAT CROSS AT HENDAYE
A FORGOTTEN CROSS
It is possible to date Fulcanelli’s visit to Hendaye to the early 1920s because of his comment on the “special attraction of a new beach, bristling with proud villas.”1 H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, and the smart young London set discovered nearby Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1920, and by 1926 or so the tourist villas had spread as far south as Hendaye. Today, Hendaye-Plage, Hendaye’s beachfront addition, bustles with boutiques, dive shops, and surfboard emporiums, having become a popular stopover for the young, international, backpacking-nomad crowd.