Emma Calve

In the 1890`s and 1900`s the French esotericist Papus along with Emma Calve traveled to St. Petersburg with their French occult revival. They enjoyed the privileged status of personal confidants of the Czar and Czarina of Russia in the era before Rasputin. Both Papus and Jules Doinel were bishops of the Cathar Church. Was Berenger Sauniere also a Cathar bishop? Was this the reason that he was denied the last rites of the Catholic Church?

Bizarre Décor

Upon entering the door at Rennes-le-Chateau one encounters El Diablo himself who appears to be ready to challenge the visitor to a chess match on the chessboard floor - a Templar design. Infernal themes are the norm in this place, even the carved hourglass depicting fleeting time is propelled by bats` wings. The heretical idea of the twin messiahs is evident in the statues of Joseph and Mary who each hold a Christ-child. A Biblical tableau contains a figure who wears a kilt which probably represents the French Templars who escaped to Scotland after King Philipe IV of France suppressed the order in 1307. This king arranged for the deaths of two popes in order to find a pontiff who was willing to go along with his plan to destroy the Templar Knights.

These are just a few examples of the unorthodox elements in the decoration of Sauniere`s church. Was this odd décor a result of local heretical Cathar influence, or was it something more?

Emma Calve had another association in 1893 with an occultist named Jules Bois, an advisor to MacGregor Mathers who founded The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Jules Bois was a lover of Emma Calve and a Luciferian Black Magician. How much influence did Emma Calve have on the religious attitudes of the Abbe Sauniere? Was it the Luciferian element the caused Sauniere`s confessor priest to go pale and become acutely depressed for the rest of his life?