Finding Mary Magdalene In the South of France
Early in our trip to France, my friends, Barb and Randall and I went on a Mary Magdalene treasure hunt in the south western region of Languedoc. We visited the two villages of Rennes-le-Chateau and Rennes-Les-Bains.
Village of Intrigue
You may have heard of Rennes-le-Chateau if you read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The small village of 20 full time residents makes it’s living on tourists looking to discover the secrets of this quirky town. The intrigue is based on a priest, Berenger Sauniere, who, in the early 20th century, was assigned to this ramshackle church and then, spent, what would be millions in today’s dollars, fixing it up and building himself a grand home. He had a few important patrons but none who provided money for the renovations. Where he got or found all this money remains a mystery.
Legend has it that he found various treasures while renovating the property. One of the treasures is said to have been very old documents that were hidden in the alter, written in a language he could not understand. Apparently, he took them to the nearest place where someone might know the value of these papers. He started the renovations shortly after, suggesting that he received money for them or was paid to keep quiet about what he found. Some say it could be stories about Mary and Jesus, missing gospels, or other important documents that tell a story inconsistent with what the Catholic Church wanted people to know at the time.
Another treasure is believed to have been gold of the Visigoths in the crypt below the chapel. In the 5th through 8th centuries, it was an important Visigoth community with nearly 30,000 inhabitants. Stephanie, the areas intrigue expert and my tour guide, believes it is possible that a Visigoth king is buried in the crypt under the chapel, along with much more treasure. Only a few years ago, treasure hunters were coming from all over the world trying to dig various tunnels into the crypt to find the additional treasure. The proper citizens of this peaceful community have had to prohibit treasure hunting in the area around Rennes-le-Chateau.
I was in Rennes-le-Chateau in 2015 with a group of nine travelers. Besides me, no one was too interested in the secrets of the place. They came because I hauled them all there. I knew it had something to do with Mary Magdalene and I was certain I would learn more by coming to this village. Not so. Their secrets are tightly held. Over the past few years, I have found a bunch of information on the Internet about the sites to visit in and around the area.
First Stop, Montsegur
This trip, I was armed with information and two of my besties, Randall and Barb, to help me navigate the hunt.
My traveling companion, Randall Sampson, is greatly interested in the South of France and the Cathars. He guided us to and then, up the steep climb to Montsegur. On this site archeologists have found artifacts dating back to the stone age along with a plethora of Roman coins. In the 13th century it was an important center for the Cathars. During the Albigensian crusade, in March 1244, the strong hold fell to the invading forces and 220 pacifistic Cathars were burned en masse in a bonfire at the foot of the mountain because they refused to renounce their faith.
It was a drizzly day when we visited Montsegur, which made our hike up slippery and ominous, fitting considering what transpired in the past. We poked around for a time, having the entire place to ourselves and then, walked back down slippery steps, arriving at the parking area as the tour bus unloaded its passengers.
Second Stop, Rennes-les-Bains
We had arranged to stay the night in Rennes-le-Bains, so drove directly to our hotel, Hotel Christine. The proprietor, Christine, met us, checked us in and guided us to the “must see” sites of the special town. When I say “guided” what I really mean is that she sketched a few lines on a sticky note and said, “Its just up there.” It reminds me of directions given in the farm country of Iowa, “Go past the red barn, take the third left and you will see a gate with a blue string. Go through the gate, drive down a hill and when you go through the second bend in the road, next to the old plow, you will see it.” Seriously. Here is what she said, “Just out of town you will see a parking lot on the left and a road going up a hill on the right, walk up the road on the right. Once you go past the hamlet (stand of four houses), you will see a small path off to the left. Take that path and you will find the Devils Chair, Quacking Rocks and Fountain of Love.”
We walked and walked, never seeing a sign of any kind. It was raining off and on and the path was slick and mossy. Eventually, we came to what had to be the Devil’s Chair, sometimes called the Seat of Isis. It had a small spring next to it which looked a lot like a stone toilet. We each took turns sitting in the magical seat of Isis or the Devil and snapped a photo.
We walked on to find the quacking stones, which were a collection of stones that looked as though they had been placed there deliberately. People had been vandalizing these stone for years, the oldest carving was from 1896. We walked on looking for the fountain of love. We never found it. Based on the photos available on the Internet, the fountain of love is a formation of rocks in the river rather than something we would find on a forest hike. I literally bushwhacked (meaning not following a path and struggling through the brush) up and down the river, never finding (or recognizing) the fountain of love. What I did find is an area where warm water gushed from a hole out of a stone wall into two rock lined pools (main photo). This is a place where people gather to heal in the warm waters of the earth. But this was NOT the fountain of love.
Later that day, the three of us set out to find the cave where Mary Magdalene supposedly performed
ceremonies and possibly lived. We followed these directions, “At the bottom of the hill from Rennes-le-Chateau, drive past the hotel and you will see a small parking area on the left. Walk across the road and up the road on the right to get to the path.” We walked a good hour and a half up the path/road, never seeing an sign or indication of where to turn off. Finally we asking the local residents for clearer instructions. We had gone a good mile too far. The last person said, “The trail begins about 500 meters back. So, Barb counted 500 steps back from whence we came. Sure enough we found a fence that had a blue handled release and a seldom used road that looked like it had potential. We headed down that path until we came to the cliff’s edge. Finally, we spotted the top of the cave opening but did not see a way down. At that point, my fellow treasure hunters had had enough and we called it a successful journey.
Meditating in Mary’s Caves
A few days later, I headed back by myself, bound and determined to find the fountain of love and cave and spend some time in these places. I poked around Rennes-les-Bains for a few hours, lounging in the hot springs and looking for the fountain of love. I had a private tour of Rennes-le-Chateau scheduled with Stephanie at 5:00 so I had the whole day to find the missing sites. Despite my best efforts, scratched up arms and legs and the near loss of my shoes, I never found the fountain.
I did have great success with the caves. I knew I was able to drive right to the point in the fence where the final trail to the caves begins, so I drove right to it. I scurried down to the cave top and looked for an easy way down. I could see paths below so just headed toward them. It was extremely precarious, very steep and slippery with no good foot holds. Eventually, I connected with the worn path and was led directly to the first cave. Just getting into it looked questionable because it was very muddy and I was wearing a ruffled skirt and glittery birkensocks. As I was about to abandon my efforts to climb in, I heard an American voice say, “You can make it.” It was a sweet man sitting quietly in the cave. His name is Bart Sharp. He brings people on spiritual tours to this area every summer and his tour was just about to begin. He came early so he could put a stash of crystals in the cave to charge them for a few days. Then, when his guests arrive, they will have charged crystals from the caves of Mary Magdalene. That is very special.
He shared his wonderful sitting pad, otherwise I would have been sitting on the muddy ground. Then, he performed a ceremony of sorts invoking the spirit of Isis and Mary Magdalene. There are three caves, the masculine cave, the feminine cave and the star cave. Each had a very different energy. The floor of the caves was on a significant slant making it unlikely that Mary would have been comfortable actually sleeping in these caves. The feminine cave was incredible. It was shaped much like a vagina and womb. The small opening at the bottom led to an expansive oval cave. It was a womb cave where great things are birthed. We each said an intention of what we would like to see manifest in our lives.
Bart did a special prayer ceremony in each cave. It was magical. The energy of each space was easily detectable. I could feel a strong vibration. If you go, plan to spend hours in the caves meditating and feeling the gentle hum of the caves.
Reluctantly, I left the caves and scurried off to meet Stephanie who was going to give me a private tour of
Rennes-le-Chateau. She is very lovely and shared some cool information. This was the third time I had toured the church but this time I had someone pointing out all the strange things about it. You will notice in the picture that there is a statue of a young father holding a child on the left and a young woman holding a child on the right. Might be Joseph and Jesus and then Mary and Jesus. But the residence of this small community believe it is more likely Jesus and Mary and their children.
It was the best day ever.
