A forgotten magic square Part 1: numbers and keys

 

Salvaterra

Early Christianity is known to have reworked some of the pagan deities either into demons, or saints. Indeed, some of the early local saints should not be seen as historical characters, but largely as a mixture of a local pagan religion reworked into a saint, so that the people could be “Christianised”. Often, the names of these saints leave traces of their original alliance. In Southern France, it is now commonly accepted that places devoted to Mary Magdalene, were in origin devoted to the cult of Venus.
Equally, place names are up for such analysis, and in the past, some analysis has not been limited to the local language, but has been used “imaginatively” to come up with all types of theories.

In the case of Salvaterra, we fortunately do not need – at first – to stray far to get an idea of how this plateau got its name. The Saviour – Saveur in French – is also Salvator, which enables for a nice alliteration with terra – land – Salvator-terra, or Salvaterra – and onwards to the present Salveterra.
This, however, is but the “open reading” – visible to all. But the French language is known to have a particular predisposition to instil secondary meanings into most things. It is a type of hidden language, which can be used by using the same words, yet with a different meaning, which is only accessible to those who have an understanding of this “green language”, as it is sometimes known as. French is furthermore unique – at least when compared to e.g. English – in that it enables this phonetic “double entente” easily.
Let us use the example of SOL – sun – and note it is SOLIS, in French Soleil – sun. But in French it is linked with seul oeil – one eye. Indeed, is it then not remarkable how we note that some depictions – e.g. in Freemasonry – have a single eye? How the sun is often linked with an eye, and has the appearance of a solar deity?

Today, we find that Salveterra is hidden by another name, the so-called “Chateau d’Opoul” – the Castle of Opoul – even though it never was the castle of Opoul. But using our “double entente”, we easily transform it into “chat eau de poule” – “cat water of hen.” Such “tricks” might appear foreign – if not totally unscientific – to the English mind, but the French have centuries of experience with them, either as a secret language, or as a source of fun. Indeed, whereas Freemasons sometimes need to refer to code words such as asking whether it rains or not – to find out whether someone can talk openly or not – the French have the “double entente” to sneakily achieve the same goal.
“Tricks” such as “chat eau de poule” – “cat water of hen” – is also an almost alchemical, or esoteric, dissection, which will enable some to create another layer of understanding that goes far beyond the “double entente”. E.g. they will take each word – cat, water and hen – and transform it into something else. E.g. a phrase like “the cat threw water twice at the hen”, which might be a phrase through which the decodation needs to arrive at “chat eau poule” – to arrive at “Chat-eau eau-poul” – which orally is the same as “Chateau Opoul”. Indeed, who would ever guess that a phrase “the cat threw water twice at the hen” might be a code for a place name? But it is perhaps just such a leap of faith – though of course with a different system of decodation – that might one day make the “True Celtic Language” of Henri Boudet, or even the infamous verses of Nostradamus, understandable to all.

The magic dance

We find that on the plateau of Salveterra, there is a magic square, which is a key that “something” magical has to occur here. It is nothing more or less than a coded message. And though most people in the esoteric fielding are aware of what a magic square is, few are unable to work with it, or understand its true importance, let alone decode one.
So, first observation, when being confronted with the “magic square” of Salveterra, is that it is not a magic square as such, but a “Latin square”. As mentioned, there is no “play” with numbers, as is usual with a magic square; at Salveterra, it has the appearance of a magic square, but most observers will note it is not a “real” magic square. For some, this might mean that the person creating it was unaware how to draw a genuine magic square; these observers might fall at the first hurdle – which, of course, is what magic or Latin squares are all about: to hide their true meaning.

This Latin Square has only four numbers: 1, 2, 3 and 4. Above thesquare, we note that there is a double chevron, also known as a twin(ned) chevron. Indeed, it is clear that the sequence of four times 1 2 3 4 is in itself insufficient to achieve a decodation, and hence we will need the double chevron to tell us more. Indeed, most unfamiliar with such magic squares would not have “seen” the importance of the chevrons – again, a telltale sign of knowing what is required to read a secret language.

At a most basic level, we can see in them a series of dates:

1234 – start of the crusade against the Bogomils.
1243 – The Dominicans are charged with establishing the Inquisition.
1324 – The Larmenius Charter, a document claiming the succession of the Knights Templar, is allegedly drawn up.
1342 – the birth of Clement VII, one of the “antipopes” of Avignon
1423 – death of Pedro de Luna, another antipope
1432 – death of Guillaume de Montfort
As to dates such as 2143, or 4312… we need to wait a bit longer before knowing whether anything might happen there! Enough played though…

The position of the chevron “on top” was meant to also imply it was “master” of the situation: hence, in French, we have “Carré latin chef chevron jumelé”. One possible rendering – for let us note that I am not the one who created this inscription, hence I need to follow all possible routes, in order to see what outcome is the most logical – and hence the correct one – is to break it down as follows:
“CARRE LAT IN CHEF CHEVR RON, JUME LE", which in more readable French becomes "CAR TEL UN CHEF, C’EST VRAI, ROI NE JUMEAU L’EST" – or in English, either “BECAUSE A SUCH CHIEF, It IS TRUE, TWIN KING THE EAST” or “BECAUSE A SUCH CHIEF, It IS TRUE, TWIN KING HE IS.” Aficionados of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château might begin to realize that here we are confronted with another enigmatic phrase, some of which became part and parcel of the mystery in the late 1960s. By now, hundreds of potential interpretations of “Blue Apples at Noon” and “Peace 681” have been put forward. With each attempt, it is clear that those who try to decode, do not have the first inkling of how to truly begin such a decodation.
We hope we are therefore providing a suitable context as to how these rather unintelligible phrases were arrived it – and perhaps they might inspire someone to try and reconstruct what the true meaning of these nonsensical phrases meant to those who created them – whether de Chérisey or someone else.

As to anyone who objects to my reasoning how I acquired my phrase, I note that the double chevron is utilised twice, and hence, the letter R was doubled too.
However nice this effort is, little meaning is created. Hence, we’ll try: "Carré latin chevron double chef", which becomes "Querelle latine, c’est vrai, double chef": "Latin quarrel, it is true, double chief.” More “information” on par with the so-called codes of the Priory…

So far, we have shown – used – little sign of a true approach towards this decodation. We have tried to see meaning in it at a very basic level, but without true understanding. So let us rectify this problem. First of all, let us note that the double chevron is known as a mechanism to “orientate”– very much like someone uses a compass to find north – which he requires to read a map accurately. The same applies to magic – or Latin – squares. And in Freemasonry, is it not the “Great Orient”? But we digress, again.
Placed in the east – the orient, right – of the square, the double chevron takes on, in Pythagorian numerology – the value of 90, or nine times ten, with 9 signifying the number of the Creator God, placed in front of the law (10), as well as nine times five times two, the Creator God (9) becoming on Earth (2) the Quintessence (5).

The magic square… for sure

So far, we have dabbled with the science of magic squares, largely to familiarise the novice with the practice. We hope that by doing so, perhaps a larger framework has been created, which might reveal that this “science” – or perhaps it is art – might be present in the “popular side” of the enigma of Rennes-le-Château too. But it is now time to trade one castle for another.
The internal structure of the square of Salveterra allows us to draw several geometric shapes, namely the cross – or crosses, to be more general. We will show a few, and the more common ones in use for such decodations.

The crutch cross
This is a tracing by using a design which has the Cross of Jerusalem at its foundation. This was known by the Merovingians, who made money that carried this sign on it.

Cross of the consecration
Also known as the "German Cross”, it was used by the Visigoths. It traces the diagonals of the four numbers, of 1 and 4, and reuses them two by two: 2 and 3.

The Templar Cross
Finally, there is another option, the so-called Cross of the Templars, and later known as that of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem.

There are, once again, other approaches we can take, but some of these are less common, and we need to start somewhere, so why not here. First of all, and perhaps long overdue, we need to look at the numbers themselves:

1 – Heaven
2 – Earth and the Temple
3 – Adam, the active principle. The triangle of the Temple, fire (triangular number) which it contains.
4 – Eve, the passive number

1 + 2 + 3 + 4= 10, i.e. the Law. Take, for example Moses and his ten commandments. But it is clear that this number also puts into equilibrium Heaven and Earth (as above, so below), as well as the active and passive principles, in order to produce the number of the law.

The Magic Square and its significances

So, after all that, this is what we have:

However we turn or twist it, we end up with the number 10. Four lines, and four columns, is eight times the number ten, or 80. There is a variation on this, which is 8 x 5 x 2, or the son of God (8) on Earth (2), with the Quintessence (5). Here, we are of course within the bailiwick of religion.
Within a mythical context, Earth and Heaven were also linked with the stone that had fallen from the sky, upon which Jacob slept, resulting in a vision of a ladder between Heaven and Earth. This stone is linked with Bethel – the House of God – and further linked to Bethlehem. Indeed, we would argue that the site was chosen not for historical accuracy, but for mythical connotation. It is also the stone devoured by Saturn, as well as the sacrificial stones of the Druids, which was anointed with wine, oil and blood. Such stones were also often known as the Stone of the Moon, or Moonstone. In French, that translates as Pierre de Lune, or in Spanish, Pedro de Luna – by coincidence also the name of a pope that has been closely associated with the story of Perillos – a connection that can be proven historically. As to Jacob’s stone: let us note that it is this verse that is decorating the lintel above the entrance to the church of Rennes-le-Château.

If we read our magic square – etched in stone – differently, the totals are 1, 3, 7, 16… i.e. 28 in total.

28, or 7 x 4, is another well-known number. Most will know that it is linked with the Moon – there are 28 days in a lunar month. As such, it was also linked with the Mother Goddess, and by extension to Eve. Let us also note that 28 is the double of 14, the number of the Stations of the Cross. 28 was the nuptial number of the Pythagorians, as it was equal to the sum of its dividers (14 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 28).
Let us, nevertheless, return to the “Moonstone”: sacrificial stones have recently made a more prominent appearance in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, one of which has been put on display near the mayor’s office, while another is part of the “Girona enigma”. Other such sacrificial stones elsewhere often display a lunar crescent – as is the case in the one that was discovered by Jos Bertaulet in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château.

We’ll next decompose the magic square according to a different principle:

This provides totals of 4, 6, 8, 4, or 22, a number that might appear to many to be primarily linked with Mary Magdalene, but this is on a too materialistic plane. 22 is linked with the Terrestrial Throne of the Earth. Indeed, 22 is two times 11. 22 is the image of the double potential power on Earth, that of the King and that of the chief of the Church. Twenty-two is also linked with the number of paths in the Kabbalah. It is also the triangular number of six, fire contained in the union of the microcosm and Heaven, which enables the acquisition of this Quintessence.
Let us also note that 28 times 22 equals 616. Following major announcements in the press in recent years, some have argued that the “true number” of the Beast is not 666, but 616. To quote: “In May 2005, it was reported that scholars at Oxford University using advanced imaging techniques had been able to read previously illegible portions of the earliest known record of the Book of Revelation, from the Oxyrhynchus site, Papyrus 115 or P115, dating to the mid to late third century. The fragment gives the Number of the Beast as 616 (chi, iota, stigma), rather than the majority text 666 (chi, xi, stigma). The other early witness Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C) has it written in full: hexakosiai deka hex (lit. six hundred sixteen).” So to find 616 in a town that now has 666 in it as its postcode, is a nice “coincidence”.

By doing this "trick", we thus get a new conclusion: all 5s. It is a nice “squaring” of the “Magic Square”, with a clear statement about the Quintessence.

To be continued

Zéphyrin & Filip Coppens