Rennes-le-Château

I will be writing under the user name of Prophetess from now on.

Prophetess,
I visited Les-Saintes-Maries in 2002. I was a bit disappointed. The church is interesting and the shrine to St Sara also, but I didn't find any new information. The story as written on info pamphlets and such there is pretty much the standard Church version. Still, I'm glad I went. By the way, the Bob Dylan song "One More Cup of Coffee" is about a visit he made there back in the 70s.

If you go to that part of France, I suggest using the town of St Remy as a base. It is a nice little town and not touristy. If you are interested, I can suggest a new B n B/hotel that we stayed in there.

Guy

Badger,
I would love to know of some nice B&B's to stay at. It will come in handy for this spring. Did you visit the crypt in les-saintes-maries-de-la-mer? I have heard several wall carvings in there are very unique, also the spring in there is supposed to have healing powers (?).

I was there in 1973 and 1974 when it already was becoming a highly touristzic event. Still, Manitas de Plata did play too. I did not see Bobby Dylan, maybe he did hide. How did you get to know that this particular song is about LSMDLM? ("one more cup of coffee before I go ... to that alley below" - doesn't that mean: to the underworld e.g. dying?)

Eingoff,
I believe the lyric is "...to the valley below." But as far as I can tell from the lyric, the song is not so much about the MM festival that the gypsies hold each year (on July 22?), but about some gypsies; the girl, the father, etc. I can't remember where I read that this song was about that town or a visit BD made there, but I know it was recently that I read it.

By the way, although the verses just tell about the people involved, I have no idea what he chorus is about:

'One more cup of coffee before I go
to the valley below'

Maybe it just sounded good.

Badger

I wasn't able to find the address of the place we stayed in St. Remy, but if you go on Yahoo.fr and search for hotels and such in St. Remy, you will probably find it. It is just outside the center of town and run by an American woman and her French husband. Whether you stay at that place or not, I highly recommend St. Remy as a good base camp for visiting Provence. It is a nice little town in a cental location and not particularly touristy itself. You will need a car to visit Provence and St. Maries.

We would eat breakfast and dinner at the Cafe Commerce, directly across from the biggest church and near the old part of town. It seemed to be a standard with the locals. Bon chance!

Guy

Badger,
Thank you so much for the tips. It will in real handy. Have you ever read The History and Practice of Magic by Paul Christian. it is citied several times in HBHG.
V.M

No, I haven't read that book, can you tell us a bit about it? I read a similar-sounding one by M. Baigent called "The Elixir and the Stone" about alchemy.

Badger

Bonsoir à tous!

For those questing the meaning behind the appearance of black virgins, who are also interested in hermeticism, I would recommend Fulcanelli Master Alchemist, 'Le Mystère des Cathédrales' (there's a translation by Mary Sworder published by Brotherhood of Life, Inc. ISBN 0-914732-14-5).

Here's a short quote to whet the appetite of those not familiar with it:

"Formerly the subterranean chambers of temples served as abodes for the statues of Isis, which, at the time of the introduction of Christianity into Gaul, became those black Virgins, which the people in our day surround with a quite special veneration. Their symbolism is, moreover, identical; both the one and the other bear the same famous inscription on their base: Virgini pariturae; to the Virgin about to give birth."

The Auvergne in France is full of black Virgins, especially the region around Brioude (where Saint Guilhem of Gellone/Count William of Toulouse laid down his arms before retiring to his 'cella' in the valley of Gellone). There is a bookshop in Brioude which sells books and vast quantities of postcards of 'les Vierges Romanes', many of which are very ancient (which in some cases is probably why they appear as 'black').

Also quite interesting on goddess culture and archaeology is Riane Eisler's 'The Chalice and the Blade' (ISBN 0 7225 3595 3).

In my view, however, nothing beats Egypt, when it comes to direct understanding of the universal nature and function of the feminine principle!

It's great to see some interesting postings again on the RLC English site

Bye now,
Margi

Thanks Margi,
I have the Fulcanelli book you mention. It is interesting, but also quite dense and cryptic as a lot of alchemic writing is.

I read the Chalice and the Blade years ago and found it to be very profound for it's time. I will have to read it again sometime.

Badger

I am reading The History and Practice of Magic, written by Paul Christian. I find this book very amazing, since it was written by a man who was friends with Nodier. The book explains how magic began, its true roots and meanings. How we think of magic today is not at all what it truly is. The book I have is very old seeing as it is no longer in print. But I reccommend it to anyone interested in this subject. Paul Christan is a very interesting figure, he worked with Nodier in the national library. And he states that he wants to record all that he can, before the information is lost to legend. A very profound statement, seeing as most of his cited works are no longer available. How interesting that such works can be made to disappear.

Prophetess,
I'll look up the History and Practice of Magic. It sounds like an interesting book.

Margi,
I just looked up my copy of , 'Le Mystère des Cathédrales' and realized I have it in Spanish translation. I picked it up when I lived in Barcelona. I haven't looked at it in a while. Is there anything in there specifically about the Black Virgins? I will take a look when I get time.

Badger

Salut!
Perhaps you can find & read the apocryphal books about the life of Jesus.
It will allow to understand differents aspects of his life.
Bye!

It is impossible for that to work, it simply can not be done like that.

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I will never understand all of the politics.

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