Why has Rennes le Chateau affair become an opportunity for italian freemasonry to enunciate about initiation and counter initiation?
On Sulle tracce del Graal Francesco Bizarri, a symbolism expert writing essays on a Masonic site, has produced a very interesting book on the little and enigmatic french village.
We must start from far away: It is a fact that, in Western World, all that is out of ancient Roman culture is traditionally considered to be evil. It is a paradox, because Romans did not express their own culture, but absorbed intellectual achievements and religions from conquered people. They first acquired the Etruscan culture, then Greek one, Syrian-Iranian, Egyptian and finally Jewish, in the meantime Rome only managed to cover surrounding world with roads, fortifications, aqueducts, arenas, ports. To chiefly serve its army. And that was the greatest Rome legacy: the purple color legionary. What distinguished him from all the warriors of the time was team spirit, that made him one with his legion.
Before Rome there were warriors, after Rome only soldiers. Sparta itself judged negatively total annihilation of the individual warrior, in fact spartan shields were personalized with individual representations. Symbolism generates a mysterious and irresistible charm on warriors and soldiers. Indeed no ancient army had more symbols than roman. But legionary was imposed signs expressing only his belonging to the legion pyramidal hierarchy. And here we can understand why ancient Romans did not absorb anything, and even persecuted, Celtic and Eurasian tribes cultures.
Without this legacy, it is impossible to figure out Templar knights and other military and chivalry orders. They were called orders because they took their name from the strict hierarchies in which they were structured and where obedience was quite appreciated. Entry levels generally knew nothing about what was happening at higher levels. These orders were fond of symbolism as legionaries. Their signs were not newly invented, but largely taken from ancient hermetic symbolism.
Freemasonry is a contemporary esoteric order difficult to place and sharing some aspects with these ancient orders. They exist in different and independent lodges around the world. Some Italian lodges pretend to be charged by Templar and Roman initiation ( the last one probably Mithraic, since adherents were preferably a narrow circle of legionnaires).
Many documents are in possession of these italian lodges and are generously disseminated, explained and made available to even non-brothers. No wonder that in Italy they are recognized to have an important role in the study of hermetic symbolism. In this regard, an outside researcher may feel somewhat envy, because masons apprentices have the opportunity to acquire a hermetic symbolic knowledge that an old alchemist fatigues life to obtain. But we find that symbolism explanation is intended to demonstrate just the opposite of alchemical operations as well as the possibility for psyche immortality. Masons do not destroy the hermetic documents, as it would be easier, but they read them in reverse instead. Freemasons justify their aversion to alchemical axioms on the grounds that Alchemy is operating counter initiation. It’s amazing how they were allowed to build a world of human initiatory chains inside an orbit, the alchemist one, that does not provide them, on the contrary it abhors.
This long preamble to introduce a topic that intrigues and angers me at the same time: the concept of initiation and counter initiation in Freemasonry. To us alchemists, Freemasons are counter initiation. Not the opposite.
“Sulle tracce del Graal” On the Trail of the Grail, Roma 1995, by Mariano Bizzarri and Francesco Scurria is an interesting example. Bizzarri also writes essays in Masonic sites, with great symbolic-hermetic competence. In their book authors loaded any subject they identified as counter initiation with negative adjectives such as “obscure, chill, sinister, bloody, sacrilegious, and so on”. Another adjective that Bizzarri and Scurria add to negative series is then “very ancient”. It seems that great antiquity afraid them. They create a real setting for horror around dates before 2000 B.C..
“On the trail of the Grail” is a research on Rennes le Chateau affair, identified by the authors as a counter initiation center standing against true initiation which heart would be, incidentally, Rome and Templar Knights. Book main positive asset is its focusing on the two marquises d’Hautpoul alleged physical immortality. Supposition that, being quite unlikely (though their bodies seem to have been actually dissolved into air), it would not deserve a whole book dedicated. But when authors make a statement which seems off topic, namely that immortality of the soul only belongs to true initiation, I begin to suspect that the core diatribe of initiation versus counter initiation is psychic immortality and not physical.
Bizzarri and Scurria make soon their aim easily perceived by presenting a quotation from Julius Evola’s “The Mystery of the Grail”.
Bizzarri and Scurria: “to Julius Evola must be ascribed the undoubted merit of having pointed out the pre-christian celtic origin of the Grail myth, thus describing the virtues: “Virtue of Light, that is illuminating virtue. From Grail enacted a supernatural light. According to Wolfram von Eschenbach, it is the Stone of Light, perfect fulfillment of all desires, before which the whole human glory is nothing.
Besides being illuminating Light and supernatural force, Grail donates food and Life.
If the Grail, on one hand, has a life-giving virtue, on the other has a fearsome, destructive virtue.Grail blinds. Grail strikes. Can he make the search for the Grail only who will be sitting on the seat of gold made by a supernatural woman.
Grail has the virtue to heal mortal wounds, to supernaturally renew and extend life.
Grail leads a force of victory and domination. All those who can see it, besides enjoying eternal joy, will never be deprived of their right and will never be defeated in battle.”
Grail on the other hand has a fearsome, destructive virtue. Grail blinds. Grail strikes. It seems as Evola was scared of this Stone of Light. Indeed our authors start locating Rennes le Chateau on “ south-east towards the Spanish border, where the look runs towards the peak Bugarach, the “Sinai” of black occultists”. And they stated in their opinion the story of Rennes le Chateau was about Grail. So, if I guess right, Bizzarri and Scurria present our sacred Stone of Light nothing more, nothing less than a black occult practice. Very interesting……and challenging too.
All pictures of roman vexillums have been downloaded from romanoimpero.com.
To be continued at Rennes le Chateaux, Alchemy & Counter Initiation.