The Mysteries of the Great Cross of Hendaye Read online

  The sphinx protects and controls science. Jean-Julien Champagne’s frontispiece for Le Mystère des cathédrales, 1926.

  You, who are thirsty, come hither: if, by chance, the fountain fails,

  The goddess has, by degrees, prepared the everlasting waters.

  TRANSLATION BY FULCANELLI OF AN INSCRIPTION ON THE

  STATUE OF MAÎTRE PIERRE, WHICH STOOD ON THE PARVIS OF

  NOTRE-DAME-DE-PARIS UNTIL ITS REMOVAL IN 1748

  For The Brotherhood of Heliopolis,

  the Children of St. Vincent,

  and the Knights of the Chateau Marie;

  may this Work be a Beacon on the Path.

  I would like to thank my teachers—you know who you are—

  my parents, George and Ruth Bridges,

  and most especially my wife, DARLENE,

  without whom none of this would have been possible.

  VINCENT

  Dedicated to the wisdom of the Great Tradition

  and the servants of the Work.

  Thanks to Phil Lipson, Jerry Redfern, and John Mullet at the

  Seattle Metaphysical Library.

  Thanks also goes out to John Major Jenkins, Robert Lawlor,

  Janie Noble, Juris Kalnins, and Chris Knab.

  A special thanks to my late grandmother

  Mary Magdeline Weidner and my wife, partner,

  friend, and teacher, Sharron Rose.

  JAY

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  With a project of this size, there are many people to thank. Thanks are due first of all to our artist, Darlene, who provided all the line drawings and diagrams. Without her skill, patience, and commitment this book would not have been possible. We would also like to thank The Tate Gallery, London, for permission to use Max Ernst’s painting on page 18.

  Thanks to Richard Buehler of the Brotherhood of Life for permission to use illustrations and quotes from the English version of Le Mystère and to Kevin Townley of Archive Press, who let us read the translation of Dwellings as it was finished and confirmed the importance of the Cube of Space. Thanks to Robert Lawlor for correcting some misperceptions early on and to Dr. Paul LaViolette, who kindly let us use illustrations from his work Earth Under Fire and encouraged us to see alchemy through an even larger lens. Dr. Alberto Villoldo, Dr. Juan del Prado, and William Sullivan deserve thanks for pointing us so directly to Peru as does J. M. Allen for guiding us to Atlantis in the Andes. Thanks are also due to our many local guides and friends in the far corners of the earth where our research led us: Mlle. Marie Yavanna de Rokay in Paris, Juan-Jesus de la Vega in Cusco, Mohammed ibn Ali in Luxor, Su Ling in Lhasa, and the mayor of Pharping, and his rice brandy, in Nepal.

  As this book grew over time, many people had the opportunity to read parts of it and supply some helpful comments. Foremost of these long-suffering test readers are the e-group Priory of Sion (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/priory-of-sion). Thanks to Stella, Nick, Tim, Andrea, Steven, Alice, and all the rest for their unflappable scholarship in time of need. Also thanks to Moira Timms, John Major Jenkins, and Steve Crockett for sharing their research and thereby contributing to our own. And thanks to elfsbeth for just being a fan.

  Finally, major thanks are due the team that helped produce this new edition. Dr. Terri Burns lent her invaluable research skills to the job of locating sources and references in libraries on three continents. Our copyeditor Cannon Labrie performed wonders; being edited by someone of his skill and erudition was a pure pleasure. Cannon forced us to deal with the hard questions, and the book is far better for his input. Also at Inner Traditions, thanks are due to Jon Graham for remembering a two-year-old manuscript, Jeanie Levitan for her diplomatic skills and grace under pressure, and the entire production staff for solving riddles of style involving names in many languages and from different centuries. A sweeping tip of the Phrygian cap to you all . . .

  On a personal note, I would like to especially thank my coauthor, Jay Weidner, for graciously allowing me to take the lead role in reworking this new edition. Any errors in the text are mine, therefore, not Mr. Weidner’s.

  VINCENT BRIDGES

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  PREFACE

  Hendaye: A Monument to the Cosmos

  INTRODUCTION

  The Politics of Secrecy: Fulcanelli and the Secret of the End of Time

  PART ONE

  Fulcanelli and the Secret of Alchemy

  ONE

  The Fulcanelli Mystery

  The Apocalypse, the Lost Generation, and the Rediscovery of Alchemy

  Le Mystère des cathédrales, Alchemy, and Surrealism

  A New Chapter

  The Fulcanelli Legend

  The Cross at Hendaye

  A Lodestone of Pure Weirdness

  TWO

  The Secret of Alchemy

  The Alchemical Meme and Secret Societies

  Egypt: Isis and Horus

  The Underground Stream: From Egypt to the Middle Ages

  The Underground Stream: From the Black Death to Fulcanelli

  The Threefold Transformation

  Transformations and Transcendence

  PART TWO

  Eschatology and Astronomy

  THREE

  Gnostic Eschatology

  The Gnostic Return: Isis and Mary the Alchemist

  The Alchemical Eschatology of Christianity

  Revelation, the Antichrist, and Chiliasm

  Constantine and the Orthodox Apocalypse

  FOUR

  The Ancient Illuminated Astronomy

  Hebrew Illuminism

  The Teli, the Cycle, and the Heart: Serpents in the Sky

  The Kaaba, the El Most High, and the Covenant of Abraham

  Islam: Sanctuary of Sacred Science

  PART THREE

  The Gothic Renaissance and the Holy Grail

  FIVE

  The Hermetic Pope and the Knights Templar

  The Alchemical Transmission and the Recovery of the West

  The Alchemical Pope and the Creation of the Millennium

  Peter the Hermit, the First Crusade, and the Rock of Zion

  The Secret of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon

  SIX

  Grail Knights, Perfecti, and the Illuminated Sages of Provence

  The Hermetic Grail

  The Grail in Provence

  The Perfecti

  The Stone of the Wise

  Elijah, Eschatology, and the Underground Stream

  SEVEN

  Temples of the Cosmos, Cathedrals of the Goddess

  The Hermetic Cathedrals

  “Bright Is the Noble Work . . .”

  The Gothic Cathedrals of Our Lady

  The Stone That Fell from Heaven, Black Virgins, and the Temple of the Grail

  The Philosophers’ Church

  PART FOUR

  The Mystery of the Cathedrals

  EIGHT

  The Grand Hermetic Theme and the Tree of Life

  Fulcanelli’s Notre-Dame-de-Paris

  Our Hermetic Tour Guide Poses a Conundrum

  Solving the Conundrum

  Saint Marcel’s Dragon

  The World Tree and Astro-Alchemy

  NINE

  Fulcanelli’s Tree of Life and the Mystery of the Cathedrals

  Le Mystère as the Tree of Life

  The Alchemy of Light: Fulcanelli’s Kabbalah

  PART FIVE

  Hendaye’s Message: The Season of Catastrophe and the Place of Refuge

  TEN

  The Mystery of the Great Cross at Hendaye

  A Forgotten Cross

  Precessional Mythmaking and an Enigmatic Altar t
o the God of Time

  Vishnunabhi, the Mother, and the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor

  The Mystery of the Stone Altar

  ELEVEN

  The Message of the Great Cross at Hendaye

  Triangulating the Myth and the Message

  Deciphering the Code

  The Monument Speaks: The Season of the Apocalypse

  The Philosopher’s Stone and the Quality of Time

  TWELVE

  Catastrophe and Refuge

  Cosmic Superimposition: Wilhelm Reich, Orgone, and the Center of the Galaxy

  Messages from Many Sources

  Earth under Fire: The Double Catastrophe Revealed

  The Inscription’s Message and the Place of Refuge

  A Sign Pointing toward Peru

  Atlantis in the Andes

  The Navel of the World

  Incan Caves and the Cross at Urcos

  PART SIX

  The Great Mystery: Illuminated Masters, Apocalyptic Refuges, and Mythic Time

  THIRTEEN

  From Atlantis to Shambhala

  The Cross and the Myth of Time

  Looking East: A Refuge in the Himalayas

  Padmasambhava and the Temple of the Cosmos

  Shambhala and the Wheel of Time

  FOURTEEN

  Alchemy and Transcendence

  EPILOGUE

  Fulcanelli Revealed

  APPENDICES

  APPENDIX A

  Fulcanelli on the Green Language

  APPENDIX B

  The Emerald Tablet

  APPENDIX C

  Notes on Mount Zion

  APPENDIX D

  Tree of Life Symbology in Le Mystère des cathédrales

  APPENDIX E

  The Cyclic Cross of Hendaye

  Index

  Footnotes

  Notes

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  About Inner Traditions

  Books of Related Interest

  Copyright

  PREFACE

  HENDAYE: A MONUMENT TO THE COSMOS

  Any earnest inquiry into the reasons for human existence eventually comes up against the two most difficult questions of all, “Who are we?” and “Why are we here?” Despite today’s advances in science and technology, these two questions have remained unanswered. Focused as it is on the physical, modern science can show us how we got here and it can show us of what this world is made, but it cannot satisfactorily answer these fundamental metaphysical questions about the meaning of life.

  As a result of this gap in our knowledge, human beings appear to be caught in a delusion, unaware of their vast potential. So where do we go to find answers to life’s ultimate questions? Many have sought insight in the texts and teachings of the world’s sacred traditions, only to find that many of these ancient traditions are either partially or wholly lost or nearly incomprehensible. These once vital and significant traditions have left behind fragments of knowledge that, at least, seem to point to the solutions, but these answers are often vague, difficult for modern minds to grasp, or else shrouded by the veils of time and cultural changes. Our own Western esoteric alchemical tradition, once guided by a deep and profound understanding of the intimate relationship among human beings, nature, and the cosmos, has been on its last legs for centuries.

  Because of the vast changes in culture, language, and perception that have taken place since the Industrial Revolution, any serious study of the past is made much more difficult. The Industrial Revolution caused a serious disruption in Western culture that cannot be overemphasized. The rise of the machine and mechanism changed the way we think, the way we see the past, and the way we view our ancestors. No longer are our ancestors valued for their wisdom or knowledge. As the mechanized Age of Iron enveloped Western civilization, we almost lost our spiritual heritage as well.

  From the time of the Inquisition onward, many of our most sacred teachings were rooted out and expunged from the dominant view, creating the continuing drama that we call European history. “Europe’s inner demons” is how historian Norman Cohn characterized the spiritual and historical nightmare that has haunted Europe for centuries. The result of the conflict, madness, and destruction that have marked modern European history was the almost complete loss of the mythologies, wisdom, and profound knowledge that sustained the West through the Middle Ages. This loss was the problem that Fulcanelli attempted to correct when he wrote his masterpiece Le Mystère des cathédrales, or Mystery of the Cathedrals, in 1926. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the secret of alchemy had become lost in the well of time. Replaced by rampant speculation, obscure texts, and many failed attempts to turn lead into gold, the once deeply spiritual science of alchemy was headed for the dustbin of history. With one book by Fulcanelli all of that would change. The twentieth century’s entire intellectual and artistic interest in alchemy was reawakened and energized by the appearance of Le Mystère. In writing it, Fulcanelli sought nothing less than to resacralize, relegitimize, and reinvigorate the entire Western esoteric tradition. He promised that through an in-depth study of its pages, any sincere and conscientious student would begin to comprehend what is referred to in the lore as “the secret language of the birds,” the subtle language of spirit that “teaches the mystery of things and unveils the most hidden truths.” From this understanding, a profound inner awakening would begin to take place.

  Through a careful and exquisite unveiling, Fulcanelli, himself an adept of this Western lineage of transmission, provides readers with the keys to unlock the doors to the sacred mysteries that lie at the root of the alchemical arts. These mysteries include not only the “science of light and time” but also the path toward communication with living matter itself and with the Divine Intelligence presiding over our galaxy.

  In addition to its profound restatement of the Western esoteric tradition, which is significant enough, perhaps the single most important aspect of Le Mystère was the single chapter added to the 1957 edition of the book. This chapter, called “The Cyclic Cross of Hendaye,” discusses a simple yet mysterious monument located in southwestern France that Fulcanelli dates to the middle of the seventeenth century. The monument’s few inelegant symbols reveal that not only was it built by a “master mason,” but that its creator possessed a surprising amount of arcane knowledge. It also proved, and Fulcanelli echoes this, that there was, and possibly still is, a group of people, a secret society, if you will, that knows the very secret of time and light, which secret is the basis of all true alchemy. More surprising, Fulcanelli tells us that this secret society was still active as few as three hundred and fifty years ago.

  The message of the cross at Hendaye is that time is not a mystery, that the secret of time itself could be understood. Like a river, time has many bends and turns, many tributaries and creeks, but it is possible that time, like a river, can be mapped. And when the map of time is properly understood, the mystery of the future disappears. In addition to this remarkable revelation, the symbols and teachings encoded in the cross at Hendaye offer us a new understanding of the cosmos, especially with regard to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and its effect on us.

  Finally, the cross at Hendaye reveals that its maker understood the great alchemical experiment that occurs at the end of time. The secret alchemical Mercury that rules the primordial essence of life itself is enlivened and invigorated during the time span indicated by the cross. Practical alchemists would know, just by examining the symbols on the cross at Hendaye, when to perform their most secret experiments. As Fulcanelli intimates, this secret experiment is nothing less than the creation of a Golden Age.

  History appears to be a long initiation into the mysteries of the universe. As with any initiation, attention to ethical standards, clear communication, and right action are the necessary ingredients for the initiation to take place. When the initiation is over, we shall know who we are and why we are here.

  The great return of the alchemical tradition is
the road back to a science based on timeless spiritual principles. Alchemy is the science of human development, the art of turning glass into light and lead into gold. But as any true adept will tell you, these are merely metaphors for deep and secret mysteries of the spirit. As we in the West reestablish contact with the primordial source of life and wisdom, we shall shed the veils that conceal the profound nature of ourselves and this planet. With the return of this grand and glorious tradition we shall once again understand who we are and why we are here. The main rule of alchemy, that “only like can become like,” will be recognized for what it truly means. As the atoms that make up the flesh and bones of our bodies were once thriving inside the hearts of stars now dead, so will our consciousness one day occupy future stars. Human beings are the stuff of stars endowed with consciousness. We are the seeds of the cosmos. It is our true heritage to take our place in the order of the universe. That is the real promise of alchemy, Fulcanelli, and the Cyclic Cross at Hendaye.

  JAY WEIDNER

  INTRODUCTION

  THE POLITICS OF SECRECY: FULCANELLI AND THE SECRET OF THE END OF TIME

  For me, it all started a few years ago when Jay Weidner asked me what I thought of Fulcanelli. Being full of my own opinions and sure of their validity, I gave him the quick rundown on what I knew: “Mysterious twentieth-century alchemist featured in Morning of the Magicians and therefore somewhat suspect. Colin Wilson suggests that he is another alchemical con man such as Cagliostro or St. Germain.”

  Jay laughed and suggested that I read Mystery of the Cathedrals, Fulcanelli’s first book, and The Fulcanelli Phenomenon, by Kenneth R. Johnson. When I did, I realized that the books described one of the most fascinating puzzles of all time. Alchemy was certainly a key part of the mystery. At the heart of this puzzle, however, lay something even stranger—ancient knowledge of the location of the center of our galaxy and from that knowledge a way to estimate the date of a celestial event of eschatalogical magnitude. The sophisticated astronomical culture of the Maya considered this event to be the end and beginning point of time itself. After the fall of the ancient cultures in the Old World, simple knowledge of the event became the secret possession of the initiated elite.