Lyonese friends Part 2: Friends in distant places

 

Friends

It is clear that these short stays in Lyon must have had specific reasons – reasons, which apparently ceased to be after June 1900. The documents also show that he had specific needs – very specific needs when it comes to his photographic material, which was very professional and not kept in stock by the shop from which he tried to buy it. Note that he tried to acquire these not some small town, but in Lyon, the second biggest town in France.
One key question was how did the Lyon bookshops find out about Saunière’s death? The founder of the Derain bookshop was a well-known figure in esoteric circles, specifically in Martinist and Masonic circles.

Another dimension of his life in Lyon is that it was not that secret… to other people in Lyon. In fact, it seems that it was only in Lyon that the “true” Saunière surfaced. One document shows Saunière attending meetings of a Martinist lodge in this city. Furthermore, the house he stayed in while in Lyon was two doors away from Joanny Bricaud, a prominent Martinist. It tentatively suggests that his “business” in Lyon had to do with Martinism – and that would be a logical conclusion, as the city was the centre of this esoteric movement.

Martinism

Saunière’s attendance at this Lyon lodge meeting was as a “visitor”. This title is specific and refers to Martinists who were members of a lodge elsewhere, but, being in Lyon, wanted to attend a lodge meeting there.
So what is Martinism? The movement originated in the 18th century, with Martines de Pasqually, a Portuguese Jew who was born in Alicante in 1671. Martinism promoted contact with the spirit world, the desire to reconnect with the “divine self” and also promoted a new cosmogony based around Jesus Christ, with touches of various belief systems, including the Jewish Kaballah.

Martines had two famous disciples: Jean-Baptiste Willermoz and Louis-Claude de Saint Martin. He was affiliated to the Masonic lodge “La Française” (G.L.F.) and between 1754 and 1764, he founded his “Ordre des Chevaliers Macons Elus Cohens de l’Univers”, based on the model of the Masonic lodge. The order would receive many initiates from the Languedoc, Lyon and Paris.
Martines died on September 20, 1774 and his order was dissolved in 1781. His disciple Jean-Baptiste Willermoz was a notable citizen of Lyon and in 1753, he had founded his own group, “La Parfaite Amitié”. He would remain faithful to the theurgic system of Martines even after Saint Martin had embarked on a course that would go in the opposite direction to the principles of Freemasonry. Willermoz would be the principal founder of the “Rite Ecossais Rectifié” (R.E.R. – The Scottish Rectified Rite), which is still an operational system of masonry today.

The Secret Masters

Another important figure in Martinism in Lyon, in Saunière’s time, was Gérard Encausse. Encausse was born on July 13, 1865 in La Coruña, in Spain. Later, he became known under the pseudonym Papus, and founded the Martinist Order, directed by a Supreme Council. It is Papus who knew Emma Calvé and if the rumours that Calvé knew Saunière, we have another inroad into Martinism.

Papus

Papus’ meeting with “Philippe de Lyon” was a decisive moment in the life of this initiate. Philippe de Lyon, the pseudonym of Nizier Anthelme Philippe, did not openly belong to any secret organisation. However, he seems to have been unquestionably a vital element for the expansion of the Lyon Martinists. He designed a pentacle specifically for the Order and a medal worn by the Martinist dignitaries. Another rather remarkable coincidence is that the group of Philippe de Lyon would later settle in the vicinity of Rennes-les-Bains… of all places.

Between 1900 and 1906, Papus and “M. Philippe” went to the Russian court, where they were received with benevolence and attention. “Of course”, by a complete coincidence, the Protocols of the Elders of Sion were put into circulation between 1901 and 1905. In his book Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler used the Protocols of the Elders of Sion to “prove” deceptively that a global conspiracy was afoot. Recent research has argued that the “Lyon synarchists”, i.e. the group that involved Papus, might have been responsible for the release of this document, which would become one of the most controversial documents of the 20th century – and which is still forbidden in some countries.
This conclusion would definitely make sense. According to Jean Saunier, Papus – a synarchist – would indeed have wanted to show that the political heads of state were not the true leaders of this world, but that they were in fact manipulated by a small cabal of people behind the scenes: an international council of modest, largely unknown, though high financiers and associates – though not necessarily Jewish. These were allegedly the real powerbrokers, instigating social reforms, without belonging to visible organisations or companies. These men were allegedly brought together in small groups and created the tools to bring about change in selected countries.

Further synarchic inroads

If Papus was indeed the creator of this document and if this was indeed what Papus tried to aspire to, then suddenly we find Saunière mingling with people, who were not only very secretive, but who were also highly ambitious. In short, these were people who had political ambitions, which largely spoke about a unified Europe, run largely as a theocracy. We need to wonder whether the mystery of Rennes-le-Château – or that of Saunière – might be at all related to these ambitious plans – or whether that is a coincidence.
One intriguing character involved with such synarchic plots was another priest by the name of Roca. Born in 1830 and ordained in 1858, he was appointed honorary canon of Perpignan in 1869. A well-travelled man, he dreamt of modifying the Catholic teachings, which he felt had become “dead writings” for the benefit of the “greater mystery of Christian esotericism”. His thesis quickly obtained excellent reviews in theological circles. Roca consequently published many works filled with a prophetic vigour; in 1884: “Christ, the Pope and democracy; the fatal Crisis and the safety of Europe; A critical Study on the missions”; in 1886: “End of the Old World”…to quote but a few, and perhaps the most intriguing.

The Synarchist Dream

Roca did not hide that he was an enthusiastic admirer of Saint Yves d’Alveydre, and endorsed the prediction of Joshua: “And I will choose myself in all Mankind an elite of spirits, which will become the priests of my new ground and my new heaven.” He added however: “These Missionaries are not to come, they are already on Earth and they are the new apostles.”

Saint Yves d’Alveydre

The dream of Roca became neither more nor less than the installation of an Order of Synarchical priests, whose pioneers would come from the Languedoc, the area of Saunière, Boudet and Billard. In 1885, Roca would also enter into talks with some Masonic lodges of the Grand Orient of France… and even propose to Rome a first protocol. The Vatican answered very quickly, but it was to firmly require of Roca to put a stop to his delusions.
Roca never retracted, even though the Order of the Synarchical Priests died before ever seeing the light of day – or so it seems, for by their very nature, their existence would of course never be made public. Nevertheless, it was the “Order of the Star” that ensured the secret survival of this principle, originally financed by Mme. Piou de Saint-Gilles and Albert Jhouney. One of its famous members would be one of the owners of the castle of Bugarach, near Rennes-le-Château. Dare anyone argue these continue to be coincidences?

Saunière, the Martinist?

Roca and Saunière were contemporaries; the periods when Saunière worked on his church and Roca wrote his books coincide. But there is no clear evidence that the two ever met, although it is clear they might have operated within the same framework. Most intriguingly, the list of Roca’s works were found in the list of books purchased by the Lyon bookshop Derain-Raclet from Saunière’s library. It is therefore obvious that Saunière was aware of Roca’s writings.
Could Saunière have been a Martinist? We mentioned that there is evidence that while he stayed in Lyon during 1898-1900, he definitely attended a meeting of the local Martinist lodge. This proves he was member of a Martinist Lodge somewhere else. Where? At present, there is no available evidence. As to the question whether he conducted his life according to that of a “Martinist member”, the answer is yes.

More friends

One “S. Valon”, first name unknown and of which there is no evidence in the marriage records in Lyon, seems to have been involved in the Martinist lodge of Lyon. He was Saunière’s contact for his enquiries about jewellery. His home was in the St Just and St Irenée district, close to the dwelling of another jeweller, Soulier, and within close distance of the house of Joanny Bricaud, future leader of the Martinist movement after Papus’ death. If there ever was contact between Saunière and Bricaud, then geographical proximity would definitely have brought their paths close – if not together. It should be added that at one point in his life, Bricaud was a priest himself.

There were no specific directives from the Church that priests could not enter or were requested not to join the organisation. Martinism was perfectly “Christian” and did not work for anyone who did not worship Jesus Christ, however much esoteric veneer was added to the experience.

Linking lodges

The files of the Martinist lodge at Lyon have hand-written notes from Papus and correspondence with members and other lodges. Some of this information is interesting. Lodge No. 23 was founded in 1893 by Elie Steel or ALTA, the pseudonym of the Bouchet bookseller, living in 17, rue de Sully. This lodge had amongst its members the jeweller Beau, Boride and in particular, Bricaud. In 1895, Gabriel Rivoire (lawyer at the court of Lyon) was asked by Elie Steel to request Papus to transform the “Cercle Catalan et Roussillonnais” and the “Fraternité Lyonnaise et Catalane” – of which he was both president – into a Martinist lodge. Rivoire was known in theatre circles as an unconditional admirer of Emma Calvé… and at one point, we were offered documents about this union of lodges, with its proprietor claiming that the union was executed by none other than Saunière himself. (At present, we continue to try to retrieve this archive.)

Summary

At this stage, we can sum up the circles in which Saunière moved when away from Rennes-le-Château:

Contact with Martinist circles:
- Three Lyon booksellers specialising in esoteric subjects, including two strongly connected with Martinism: Derain and Bouchet. Remember that Derain purchased part of Saunière’s library.
- A Martinist goldsmith: Beau.
- Bricaud, who lived near the location where mail addressed to Saunière in Lyon was delivered.

Practical contacts:
- a goldsmith and a jewellery shop owner.
- He used his Lyon address to make enquiries with Parisian highly specialised shops.

It underlines quite precisely what Saunière was doing in Lyon – and what he could not do in Rennes-le-Château.