The Green Stone

by Graham Phillips

  That day, the fleeing plotters stayed overnight at the Worcestershire home of Robert Wyntour, Thomas Wyntour’s brother and co-conspirator. It was there at Huddington Court that Catesby, seeing that all was lost, handed the Stone to Robert Wyntour’s wife, Gertrude Wyntour, whom he charged with its safe keeping while they tried to make their escape.

  The conspirators left Huddington next morning, and by the evening had made their way to Holbeach House. Here they were surrounded by the Sheriffs men and either killed or arrested. Gertrude Wyntour had made sure the Stone was safely hidden and it was never retrieved.

  Joanna said that people in various parts of the country had been chosen to perform a task, and whether they liked it or not the Parasearch team was involved. For this reason, the power of the opposition would move against them. If their task was to succeed, they must rediscover the Stone by 31 October.

  Joanna said she did not know where the Stone was hidden, but she did say that someone else had been involved with Gertrude Wyntour, a close friend named Humphrey Pakington, who had lived at a nearby manor called Harvington Hall.

  The Stone could be found if they could crack a secret code, from which its whereabouts could be logically deduced. The only clue she gave was that Humphrey Pakington had commissioned a series of paintings, which hung on the walls of Harvington Hall and which might hold the key to the puzzle. She said these pictures were called the Nine Worthies.

  She went on to make an even more startling revelation. The opposition they could expect involved living people, who would also be searching for the Stone.

  Joanna concluded by explaining that she could not talk to them again until the Stone was found. It would be too dangerous. The opposition might have the power to intercept her communications.

  Humphrey Pakington

  In the space of a few short months, Parasearch had been thrown headlong into a bizarre tale of Ancient Egyptians, a Celtic queen and medieval warrior monks. On the instructions of a strange whispering voice, they had travelled to an ancient hill fort to prepare their minds for a coming task, a task to oppose a mysterious occult power and to rediscover something called the Meonia Stone, buried centuries ago after the ill-fated Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

  Never had there been so fantastic a story! To ignore it would be irresponsible. However incredible, however impossible, it might be true. Their investigations had to continue. If the Meonia Stone existed, then they must find it.

  But first they must check the facts. Did Humphrey Pakington, Harvington Hall and the Nine Worthies exist? For that matter, how much of this subsequent Joanna information was correct?

  Chapter 5

  The Nine Worthies

  Andy spent Tuesday at the local reference library checking the facts. Was there more to the Gunpowder Plot than history had so far revealed, and did a mysterious green jewel called the Meonia Stone really exist?

  Once again, the accuracy of Joanna’s story was astounding. He found confirmation that the Gunpowder Plot had been initiated by a number of Catholic extremists persecuted under the reign of James I. The plot had been the brainchild of Robert Catesby, a country squire from Ashby St Ledgers in Northamptonshire. Catesby had convinced a number of close friends that his plan to blow up the King and his ministers at the state opening of Parliament was feasible, and eventually a storage cellar was rented beneath the House of Lords. Barrel loads of gunpowder were smuggled in and conspirator Guy Fawkes volunteered to remain behind and light the fuses, then make good his escape at the last possible moment. But the plan went disastrously wrong. On the night before the opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, the King’s soldiers broke in, discovered the gunpowder and arrested Fawkes.

  Realising that the plot was discovered, Catesby and the other chief conspirators attempted to rouse a rebellion among the Catholics of the Midland counties but met with no support.

  The forty or so conspirators were left to fend for themselves and escape the authorities. As Joanna had said, they spent the night of Wednesday, 6 November at Huddington Court, the home of Robert Wyntour, but nowhere was there any mention of a Stone, or in fact anything being handed to Gertrude Wyntour for safe keeping. However, if Catesby really had possessed this Green Stone, which perhaps acted as a symbol of unity for their cause, then Gertrude would have been the most likely person to have been entrusted with it. She had remained behind when the plotters moved on after their overnight stay at Huddington, and so was perhaps the last trusted person, not directly implicated in the plot, that they had contact with before being intercepted.

  In the early hours of the 7th, the conspirators left Huddington to make for North Wales, where they hoped to receive assistance. But the weather was against them and the unruly band did not get far. The heaviest rainfall for years made the muddy roads virtually impassable. Catesby and his followers must certainly have known that their chances were slim indeed. So if they had possessed this mysterious Stone, which they wished to safeguard from enemy hands, then Huddington was possibly their last chance of securing its safety. The following day, their worst fears were realised when they made a last stand against the Sheriff of Worcester’s soldiers at Holbeach House, the home of sympathiser Stephen Lyttleton, some twenty-five miles away. After a brief but desperate struggle, Catesby and a number of his fellows were killed. The remaining conspirators were arrested and swiftly taken to the Tower of London. (1)

  Harvington Hall

  Andy went on to explain what he had discovered about Harvington Hall, and the man who had shared the secret of the Meonia Stone, Humphrey Pakington.

  Once again Joanna’s information had proved correct. Harvington Hall had existed at the time of the Gunpowder Plot and, as she had claimed, it still stood today.

  Not only had Pakington existed, but it was he who was chiefly responsible for the building of the present house. Although Andy had found no direct correlation between the Gunpowder Plot and Pakington, there was little doubt that the Pakington family had been Roman Catholics, since the old hall was riddled with secret places built during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to hide Jesuit priests, whose capture would have meant certaindeath. Even the pictures Joanna had described could still be seen at Harvington and, as she had said, were called ‘The Nine Worthies’. These old paintings depicted nine heroic characters from history and legend, but who they represented or who had had them commissioned he had been unable to discover.

  The Nine Worthies wall painting, Harvington Hall

  Then an intriguing question arose. If Joanna knew about a coded message, how was it that she was unable to say where the Stone was hidden? Eventually, the researchers decided that there was little hope of answering this question until they could discover who Joanna actually was.

  Andy was uncertain if there was more to the Gunpowder Plot than a simple Catholic rebellion, or whether it had links with the secret mystical organisation dating back to the Knights Templar and Akhenaten in Egypt. They would have to consult historians or spend a great deal more time researching before they could resolve these questions.

  So were the Rosicrucians connected with the Gunpowder Plot as Joanna had said? Here there was a problem. The Rosicrucians seemed to have been Protestants, or at least anti-Catholic. However, few historical events are so veiled in mystery. Perhaps there was a link; indeed many historians admit that it is very probable that they will never know the real truth about the Plot.

  But what about the Rosicrucians themselves? The name Rosicrucian comes from the title Fraternity of the Rose Cross, the name derived from the symbol of the Order, a red rose mounted at the centre of a Calvary cross. In all the objectively researched books that Andy had consulted, the authors admitted that it was impossible to say anything with certainty about the Rosicrucians, since from its very outset the organisation had been shrouded in mystery.

  The Rosicrucians first made themselves known to the world at Kassel in Germany in 1614, when a mysterious document was publicly circulated. The manuscript known as the Fama decl
ared to the world the existence of an international brotherhood called the Order of the Rose Cross, whose purpose it was to bring about a new age of enlightenment. The order claimed to possess hitherto undisclosed mystical knowledge, which they would impart to new brothers they hoped to attract, urging the likeminded among the intelligentsia of Europe to join them. The only problem for anyone wishing to join was that they left no forwarding address, while the author or authors of the document remained an enigma. (2)

  The following year, a second Rosicrucian document appeared in Kassel, and once again the anonymous author urged the same response. (3) The third and final document in the series was published in Strasbourg in 1616. (4) These three documents, which came to be known as the Rosicrucian Manifestos, were for the most part allegorical or coded messages and full of alchemical and occult symbolism, although their real purpose has never been fully understood.

  One of the Rosicrucian Manifestos

  However, most authorities agree that the intention of the authors of the Manifestos was to make themselves known, and to excite the academic world into learning more about this anonymous and secret brotherhood in order, at some later date, to introduce themselves to certain chosen scholars.

  The later history of the Rosicrucians is unclear. Only one thing appears certain, and this is that the Manifestos were undeniably anti-Catholic, since the enlightenment they were advocating, namely free thinking in religion, the arts and the sciences, could only be achieved under a Protestant regime. Indeed, the occult and mystical flavour of the symbolism in the Manifestos would have been considered heretical by the seventeenth-century Roman Catholic Church.

  In the later years of the seventeenth century, and indeed until the present day, many mystical, occult or religious groups have appeared, all claiming to be true Rosicrucians. However, most historians agree that there is little evidence to link these organisations with the authors of the original Manifestos. (5)

  In addition to the accuracy of Joanna’s information concerning the Gunpowder Plot, something happened that indicated she may well have been right about the possible link between the Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians.

  Just a few weeks later, the BBC broadcast a programme in its ‘Chronicle’ series entitled ‘The Shadow of the Templars’. In this documentary writer and broadcaster Henry Lincoln suggested that the Rosicrucians were heirs to the lost wealth of the Templars. When the Order was outlawed, vast amounts of their wealth disappeared and were never found. Lincoln advocated that the Rosicrucians were eventually founded using this money, as a secret underground group to carry on where the Templars left off.

  That evening, Alan Beard telephoned the Wolverhampton flat to explain how he had been lying in bed, half awake and half asleep, in the early hours of that morning, when a vivid image suddenly flashed into his mind and he found himself looking at what he felt was Berry Ring. In the sky above the centre of the ring, he saw an egg-shaped object glowing white, which gradually transformed into a small green stone. He next saw the stone set in an old pewter ring.

  Andy and Graham were taken aback by Alan’s description. He could give no further details, except to say that he felt very strongly that this vision was connected with the events they had been discussing on Sunday. He described the stone as oval-shaped, about an inch long and green in colour. The green was similar to jade. He later gave them a drawing of the ring and the stone.

  The most amazing thing about Alan’s dream was that he knew nothing of the events of Monday evening, and hence nothing about Joanna’s description of a green stone, the supposed Meonia Stone. His vision was independent confirmation of the latest Joanna information, and firm enough to justify further investigation. The question, however, was where to begin? It was decided that the best place would be Harvington Hall, since it was here, in the paintings of the Nine Worthies, that Joanna had said there was a secret coded message.

  So began the search for the Meonia Stone, and with it a quest that would lead those involved into a head-on clash with forces beyond their comprehension.

  Just three miles south-east of Kidderminster in the heart of Worcestershire, a winding lane leaves the A448, giving visitors their first glimpse of Harvington Hall. A jumble of roofs and red-brick walls encompassed by a deep moat, this splendid Elizabethan manor house remains almost unchanged from the days of the Gunpowder Plot. Some parts have been renovated, but for the most it stands unaltered since those eventful years of the early seventeenth century.

  In the 1920s, the Hall was little more than an ivy-covered ruin, its moat choked with vegetation. In 1923, it was bought and given to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham and. In 1929, Archbishop Thomas Williams took steps to safeguard it from falling into irreparable decay.

  A stone bridge leads across the moat into the cobbled courtyard. Walking across it that warm afternoon, Andy and Graham could not help but wonder if Humphrey Pakington was really involved in some strange mystical sect. Had he truly played a part in a mysterious cosmic game of chess in which they had now become inextricably involved?

  As they entered the large oak-panelled room called the Withdrawing Room, the afternoon sun came in through the leaded windows, casting long shadows on the antique furnishings. On the wall behind the window hung three paintings. One was of a man, middle aged with receding hair and a pointed beard: Humphrey Pakington. According to the guidebook he was born in 1555 and died in 1631. So it seemed that he had survived the reprisals dealt out to the Catholics following their abortive conspiracy.

  The labyrinth of narrow well-lit passageways led from room to room in the old building. Here and there were secret places, hide holes for the Jesuit priests: heavy wooden panels that slid away in the walls, hidden trap doors beneath floorboards, and staircases that lifted to reveal small claustrophobic rooms. In these cold, dank holes, the renegade priests must have hidden, sometimes for days on end, as the house was searched from top to bottom by agents of the Protestant authorities.

  The Nine Worthies were not paintings on canvas as the researchers had expected, but mural decorations on the wall of a narrow passage on the second floor. Although faded with age, portions remained of six. The Nine Worthies were evidently a favourite subject of illustration in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They depicted nine heroes from history, myth and legend, all renowned for heroic deeds: Judas Maccabaeus, David, Joshua, Julius Caesar, Alexander, Hector, Charlemagne, Arthur and Godfrey de Bouillon. Sometimes they also included Hercules, Pompey, or Guy of Warwick.

  The six remaining murals at Harvington represent the biblical Joshua, in armour, carrying a lance and seated on a horse; Samson, as a long-haired bearded figure holding above his head the jawbone of an ass, with which, the Old Testament tells us, he slew the Philistines; Hercules, hero of Greek mythology; Pompey, the Roman general; Guy of Warwick, champion of the Saxon King Athelstan. Lastly, a young man wielding a huge broadsword, that some believe to be King David.

  Samson wall painting, Harvington Hall

  The only way to crack the supposed code, accepting that Joanna was right, was to assume that Pakington had left the message for the Rosicrucians. But here was a dilemma. Why, if the Stone existed, had the Rosicrucians not retrieved it? It seemed likely that only a handful of people in England knew about the Stone, and most of these had either been killed or arrested. Perhaps of those who knew of this sacred relic, only Pakington or Gertrude Wyntour had remained alive. So why had Pakington not smuggled a message out of the country to the Rosicrucians in Germany? As a Catholic, he was watched closely after the plot, and probably had the Worthies painted to reveal the location of the Stone in the event of his death.

  If, therefore, the murals had been painted for the benefit of the Rosicrucians, and concealed a coded message, then they could expect to find some form of symbolism that would have been recognised by the Rosicrucians. The known Rosicrucian documents of the early seventeenth century had used occult, alchemical and astrological symbolism, so possibly somewhere in the painti
ngs evidence of this would be uncovered.

  It was the number nine, the Nine Worthies, that first intimated the possibility of Rosicrucian symbolism being employed. Of course, it may have no connection with the Nine Worthies, but nonetheless it was something Pakington might have utilised.

  Joanna had of course spoken of The Nine. In occult and mystical tradition, The Nine continually appear. For centuries there has existed a mystical legend and tradition that somewhere in the world there are nine grand spiritual masters who control man’s ultimate destiny. They are known as ‘The Nine Unknown Men’. In Rosicrucian tradition, the Inner Order of the Rose Cross comprises nine spiritual overseers, the nine ‘Secret Chiefs’, sometimes called the ‘Illuminati’ or simply ‘The Nine’. Was this some form of indication to the Rosicrucians, who would undoubtedly have known and used such symbolism? (6)

  Next there was the figure of David slaying Goliath. But David had slain Goliath with a sling, not a huge broadsword, as depicted. Samson was accurately shown wielding a jawbone, so it seemed unlikely that the artist would have portrayed David with a long sword. Since one of the main Nine Worthies usually depicted was King Arthur, it was concluded that the figure was more likely to be him rather than David. Arthur, as a young man, wielding Excalibur as portrayed in the Arthurian legend.

  As Graham examined the Arthur figure, he noticed something strange about the position of the sword above his head.

  They scrutinised the paintings closely, hoping to find some occult or mystical design, and perhaps an astrological symbol. But there was nothing so obvious or simple.

  Graham looked again at Arthur wielding the broadsword, and then at the other figures and the way in which they held their respective weapons.

  ‘I don’t suppose it means anything,’ he said, ‘but notice the way they’re holding their weapons. Above their heads in the same position.’