I picked up this book from a thrift shop, as a paperback, but in a nice condition. Plus it appeared to have some slips of paper inside containing some notes from the previous owner about the Knights and The Da Vinci Code). I’d flicked through the book in the shop and while I’d never heard about Gisors before, I’ve certainly read about the Knights Templar.

Apparently the book is translated from French, and while the writing style seemed somewhat quirky from the start, it soon settled down.

The book is written in three parts, but as I’ve encountered before with other books like this, only the first part deals directly with the topic at hand; Gisors, which lies 40 miles north-west of Paris. The final two parts of the book are more a general history and verdict of the Templars and their ‘mystery’. While I wouldn’t class these chapters as ‘bumpf’, it is clear that there isn’t enough ‘stuff’ written about Gisors to warrant a whole book. That being said, I found the whole thing largely interesting. Essentially, as I read it, Gisors is France’s quieter version of Roslyn Chapel, Scotland, which I visited a few years ago.

The above image is from Wikipedia, where someone on the Talk page says the following:

"Ah, Gisors. The center of a tangle of theories and legends. If you have ever been to modern-day Gisors, you will find that it is a much more simple place than the English-speaking world would have you to believe. The French regard it merely as the backdrop of an old fable, which never amounted to more than a rumor and a coincidence. The lush, often grey-skied landscape is just the kind of place from which fables of valor and clandestine activity spring forth- not unlike the blustery, windy isles of Ireland and the UK. Whatever your reason for reading this article on Gisors, remember that not everything in print is true. And, more importantly- most things which sound too fantastical to be truth are truly fiction."

My picture of Roslyn Chapel for comparison.

Book notes:

p.15 "...symbols are always intended to express a specific meaning.... The covered alley in Aveny (France) is sufficient by itself, and when you have remained there for a while with your back pressed up against the stone, you eventually gain the feeling that everything is possible because the energy emanating from the earth in this spot is so strong that it leaps out, like a flash of lightening, toward the sky through the trees. I am convinced that the megaliths of Trie-Château and Aveny are necessary keys to opening the real doors of Gisors - those within us. More direct routes to ourselves lead to the void of obtrusive vanities.

"I often remained by the covered alley in Aveny for hours. At that time, the number of visitors who had noted the monument in the tourist guides and decided to see what it was all about were relatively few. Generally these visitors left quickly, adding a heap of stones to their collection of images from the trip. I have seen those, however, who examined the stone, photographed it, and became imbued with its inspiration. Likewise, when I felt I had been 'recharged' with my fill of indispensable vital forces, I resumed my journey on the path that threaded its way through the trees."

p.21 "We know that Gallic society was essentially rural, with habitations dispersed along rivers, on the plains, or on the edges of the forest. Villages in the sense that we conceive of them were practically nonexistent among the Celts."

p.22 "...the discovery of an ancient underground tunnel connecting the church to the castle..." [Like Roslyn?]

p.28 "Charles Nodier, who, though he often got carried away by his romantic enthusiasm, was not such an innocent when it came to hermetic traditions, spoke of the tree with strong emotions..."

p.30 "It has been reported that the overall plan of the fortress at Gisors obeys strange astronomical and astrological laws. The same has been said of Montségur and of other, similar examples of twelfth-century military construction. The builders of castles were the same as those who built cathedrals. They had their own rules, distinctive techniques, and construction secrets, which the transferred to one another within the framework of guilds and apprenticeships, but they especially possessed their own state of mind, which is considered essentially esoteric. This is a cold, hard fact..."

p.37 "It is true that the designs of God are unexplainable, especially when individuals assume the right to speak in his name."

p.55 mentions a poem with an "allusion to Uranus so dear to Vincent Voiture, Malleville, and other[s]..."

...From the tomb emerged the resurrected Jesus.
But dear Uranus, delay a while in your course
And, as you have taken the Virgin for your guiding star
At the time you set sail,
Take her Son as your pilot.

I was somewhat curious about this link with Uranus; the "birth of Jesus" already has its links to astronomy/astrology with the "three wise men" (astronomers/astrologers) "following the star to Bethlehem". Was this another? In searching for more information about Vincent Voiture his Wikipedia page mentions a quarrel between the Uranistes and the Jobelins over a sonnet by Voiture addressed to a certain Uranie. Who were these Uranistes? Did they worship Uranus?! It seems they (as were the Jobelins) a group famous for their literary quarrels and I know why they have this name or even if it has any ties to the wandering star. [link]

Santos Bonnaci links Uranus with God in his video here:

In that video Bonnaci refers to the book "Stowe's Bible Astrology (The Bible Founded on Astrology). I'm interested in sourcing a copy of that.

p.58 A tale of how the powers that be deter people in their efforts to uncover Truths.

p.64 The author wrongly claims that "while much hunting for the Templar treasure goes on in France, the question of whether or not the treasure exists is totally ignored in England." #RoslynChapel

p.67 "...Gnostic tradition ... based on the earlier Mazdaism: The Sages of the Light are necessarily the Sons of Light - in other words, the descendants of the partisans of the great Persian god Ahura Mazda (aka Ormuzd), symbol of the Light that wages unending war against the forces of darkness... [something] the Christians incorporated into their doctrine under the name of Satan... Syncretism always pays off when it comes to religious matters - especially religious 'mysteries'."

According to Wikipedia, "The religion [of Zoroastrianism] states that active and ethical participation in life through good deeds formed from good thoughts and good words is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay."

p.69 "There are shadowy zones in history inside which we long to shine a light."

p.73 "We know that areas beneath the castle and beneath the church of Gisors have been excavated but have never officially led to any precise discoveries, and that no efforts have been made to enable these searches to reach a positive outcome.

"Is the reason for this to allow for any hypothesis on the treasure hidden in the basement of Gisors? Does knowing that the plan of the castle corresponds to the position of the sun and the stars in the sky on December 25, 1090, help us to solve the mystery?"

p.75 “Templar establishments… can also be found in Cyprus… But we cannot help but be surprised by the impressive number of Templar sites found throughout the whole of Western Europe – in Spain, England, Ireland, and especially France.”

p.83 “…the treasure of the Temple of Paris was transported west through Gisors on the night of October 13, 1307, we can also theorize that it could have passed through the Bourgoult commandery before being securely stashed elsewhere, probably in England [or Roslyn in Scotland].”

p.86 “...in Rouen and Caudebe-en-Caux. The house of Caudebec – at least its magnificent façade – still exists, but the Sainte-Vaubourg establishment has vanished. Not a single stone of the chapel remains today, though by happy chance its stained-glass windows have been preserved. They were, in fact, removed and restored and transferred to a more advantageous site: the Templar chapel of the Villedieu-les-Maurepas commandery, located today in the new town of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvesline. These are the only know Templar stained-glass windows at present. Notable in particular is one depicting a majestic Virgin and a kneeling Templar clad in a blue robe with a white hood and wearing a small cross in a red circle. Other windows depict Knights Templar, with a true representation of the colour of their uniforms: white for knights and black for sergeants, squires, and formerly married knights. Each of them wears a large red cross.” [The windows can apparently be seen here, but I don't see all what the author describes.]

p.90 “There was, of course, a church within the Paris Temple enclosure… Many questions have been raised about this Roman chapel with its circular rotunda because it was the only example of its kind in France, excepting the mysterious Temple of Lenleff (Cotes-du-Nord), which has absolutely nothing to do with the Templars. This model has several examples in the English Templar churches, though, the Temple of London in Particular. Some have tried to insist that this be viewed as a specifically Templar kind of construction, which is absurd, for in addition to the Temple of Lanleff, there are several sanctuaries known to have been started long before the founding of the Templar Order yet composed of similar characteristics, such as the church of Neuvy-Saint-Sepulchre, which dates from 1042, and even that of Selestat, dating from 1094.”

“The circular sanctuary could only have been an immense satisfaction to converted Celts, recalling to them the ancestral memory of the nemeton, the circular sacred clearing in the center of the forest, the only authentic sanctuary tolerated by the druids and considered a symbol of a portion of the sky (nem) projected upon the earth.”

p.94 “...we can maintain the theory that all construction with a material objective, including military construction, also had a spiritual objective. But here again, such action involved a general phenomenon, a state of mind common to all in the Middle Ages. There is nothing specific to indicate a deliberate and unique intention on the part of the Templars.”

p.95 “...the Chartres region – once covered by thick forest, was the religious center for all the druids of Gaul. It was here, still according to Caesar, that the druids gathered each year in a secret sanctuary at the center of the forest… to settle all problems that were of concern to them. Because some in hermetic and esoteric circles wished wholeheartedly that the Templar doctrine was in some part a legacy of druidism, it was quite tempting to claim that Sours, located in the middle of the Beauce region and thus in the very sanctuary of the ancient druids, was the center of the Templar initiation. The problem is that we have a very poor understanding of druidism and know almost nothing at all of the Templar doctrine.”

p.96 “The Templars were suspected of practicing alchemy.”

p.97 “...the evanescent shade of the Templar, entreated to reveal the Great Secret, apparently responded that the time of the Apocalypse was too near to commit such a indiscretion – which is why the Templar treasure of Argin has not been recovered. For the record, it seem appropriate to point out that the etymological meaning of the word apocalypse is ‘revelation’.”

p.102 “In [some] places it is not ancestral folk traditions that prevail, but rather intellectual speculations fueled by intriguing remains. This is the case with the former commandery of Arville near Mondoubleau (Loir-et-Cher). The buildings are almost intact and countless alchemical ‘symbols’ can be found there… even a way leading to the Great Work [the true task of every alchemist, usually referring to the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone – could be found there. Likewise, the lectern offers a summation of a hermetic message transmitted across the centuries, and an old altar cloth allegedly bears a heraldic pelican in which can be recognized a symbol of the Rosicrucians and the Scottish Freemasons…”

There seems to be a great blurring of the lines between the Templars and Freemasons.

p.102 “In the wind that roars violently across Causse, you may sometimes hear the moaning of the knights who have yet to find rest in the Other World… Dream is sometimes closer to reality than the dust-covered documents found in some archive where the smell of mould prevails.”

p.112 “The figure nine has been seized upon by a number of commentators, some of whom have viewed it as a symbolic number. The ninth Major Arcana of the Tarot is the Hermit and the ninth house of the zodiac, Cancer, rules oer secrets and hidden things.”

p.116 “It is in fact vain to attack outside enemies if one has not first prevailed over those on the inside… Let’s first conquer ourselves, my dear friends, and then we may safely battle our outside enemies. Purify our souls of their vices, and then we can purge the earth of barbarians.”

p.154 “The Colonna cardinals…. who hated the pope… even went so far as to suggest that Boniface had performed magical or diabolical ceremonies with the intention of obtaining help from demons.”

p.155-6 “The surreptitious accusations were multiplying. It was declared that the deceased pope had been not only a heretic but also a magician and wizard. He was said to have a ‘private demon whose advice he sought on every matter’ (Nogaret). Later it was claimed that he had not one demon familiar but three. One of these demon advisers had been offered by and Italian woman; another, more powerful had been given him by a certain Boniface de Vicenze. In addition he was said to carry a ‘sprite’ in a ring on his finger: Numerous clergymen and cardinals noted that the ring sometimes seemed to reflect the image of a man and sometimes that of an animal head. It was further noted that during the election of Celestine V, the future Boniface had been heard conversing with one of his demons while closeted in a room filled with clouds of incense. It was also alleged that he declared he had been saved from the Colonna at Anagni not by divine intervention but through diabolical assistance.”

p.182 “… to enter the Templars was to give yourself to the Temple; you were no longer your own man after being accepted into the community. While this is a distinguishing feature of any religious commitment, what was unusual about the order was the deep distrust it attached to those who wished to leave it… If a brother is forbidden to quit the order, it is for the purpose of preventing him from telling others of what was conducted within it.”

p.184 “...a second Rule governing those who were granted admission to a higher degree… Currently this Rule is carefully concealed in the cellars of the Vatican, and the papacy especially desires it not to be revealed for fear of being tainted by scandal.”

p.185 “… we can be reassured knowing that official history often lies – a well known fact – with the purpose of masking the Truth that only the occultists, hermeticists, and other keepers of the Tradition have the privilege of knowing.”

p.186 “One must have eyes to see and ears to hear”...”Realize that kings, popes, bishops, abbots, and masters have wished to see and hear what you hear and see, but they have not seen, nor have they heard, and they will never know.”

p.187 “One may ask if the Templars, at least those who were among the initiates, did not believe that Christ’s tomb was symbolically everywhere and that consequently it served no purpose to hold or reconquer Jerusalem… ‘Realize that everything Jesus has said by the true Christ is the spirit and life in God. It is the spirit of God that gives life, the flesh of Jesus can no longer serve any purpose.’”

p.195 “Perhaps [the secret Rule] lies in the underground tunnels beneath Gisors. Who knows?”

p.196 “...the accusation of idolatry… In itself there is nothing original about the charge; it was filed against the majority of heretics, the accusers seeming unaware of the fact that certain Catholic devotions could be considered, by ill-informed observers, as veritable idolatrous acts.”

p.198 “The brothers clearly did not comprehend much of this ritual they were obliged to attend…”

p.199 Regarding bafomet… “In Sufi terminology, ral-el-fahmat (head of knowledge) refers to the mental process of the initiate.”

p.210 “...the Templars were suspected of practicing alchemy, though not with any proof.”

p.215 “...myths are realities that are much more powerful than material objects or even human beings. We must raise ourselves quite high to comprehend what is incomprehensible. The mysterious head of the Templars is a symbol of an essential goal to be won: the love of oneself for the sake of God. All the rest is only cheap fiction…”

p.226 “we [must consider] the idea of a double Temple with a parallel hierarchy [where] the overwhelming majority of the participants [do] not understand.”

p.227 “All that [survives is] incomprehensible ritual, and likely the Templars [and Freemasons] are working with whatever remains of it.”

p.229 “The betrayal by the clergy is not exactly what we might think it is. It is made up of believing that the majority of people could be satisfied with fables when what they need are revelations.”

p.232 “Every initiatory society – that is, one based on certain knowledge transmitted to its members in an elitist or hierarchical manner – uses specific signs and various symbols that crystallize certain doctrinal points or that detail in coded form the necessary means for advancement.”

p.235 “The tripling of certain motifs is probably of remote Celtic origin and corresponds to a tradition that lived for a long time in the memories of builders and artists.”

“All the oratories are oriented precisely in an east-west direction… In this they express a specifically Western orientation of Celtic origin. The east is in front, symbolizing birth, origins, and the primordial deity. The south is on the right and symbolizes light, the divine force in action, and life. Behind is the west, death, the Other World. On the left is the north, the negative side traditionally attributed to malefic forces. There is never any opening on the north side.”

p.238 Tumulus mound on the isle of Gavrinis, visited by Templars from Ile-aux-Monies.

p.249 “The Celtic ritual includes the presence of a magic stone, the Stone of Tara… the famous Fal Stone, a phallic stone if ever there was one, which was allegedly transported to Scotland, where it became the Stone of Scone… now incorporated into the enthronement ceremonies of British sovereigns.

p.251 Parzifal was Adolf Hitler’s favourite work and he planned to have it performed on the day of the Third Reich’s final victory. Think of secret societies like Thule, which preceded the ascent of Nazism and provided its ideological and mythological framework. Was Wolfram consciously aware of what he was doing when he presented the Grain guardians…?

“There are angels who do not wish to take part in the struggle between Lucifer and the Holy Trinity…”

p.253 “And the reason for this conquest of the world? It can be found in the New Titurel: the extermination of sin…”

p.254 “alchemy… a personal asceticism that has as much bearing on the mind as on matter and which seeks to discover the great secrets that govern the world. Knowledge of these secrets would enable domination of the world through mastery over religion, seizure of political and economic power, and the exclusive use of science.” [That sounds familiar!]

p.256 Wagner set to music… which was mentioned in Sands of Time.

p.258 “The task involved not only healing the wounded Fisher King, but also – and especially – restoring life to the kingdom whose lands are stricken with sterility…. The Templars have been charged with the responsibility of watching over the purity of the Grail (the royal blood), even if this requires the systematic elimination of those who wish to approach this royal blood without having been chosen.”

p.266 Cyprus was the last resting place for the Templar’s treasure?

p.270 “Perhaps the secret lies sleeping in the underground corridors of Gisors, protected by tons of rubble and a layer of concrete…”