The Rise: Sauniere's Magical Workings and the Penitential Movement in Europe Paperback – September 12, 2008

Here we go again ! Another cash-in on the Rennes-le-Chateau mythos. Taking the Rise indeed !!! The only good thing to say about this opus is that it's very well researched (and seriously presented !) But, in the end, it's still all a load of hubble bubble, toil and trouble !! This time, poor old Sauniere is hijacked for a Babylonian Cult of the Dead (well, after all this is Adventures Unlimited - and how! ). As ever leaps of unproven speculation bound over the facts (he was a right-wing sympathizer who simply accrued his fortune by selling masses). But a deliciously dark undercurrent is introduced with the Cagoule-wearing Cult of the Deadites whose beliefs, minus the money grubbing, are quite enthralling (as certain black tinged British occultists seem to have found and echoed). But the plethora of academic/historical details does become a bit of a yawn . Isaac (?) has also focused a lot on my dear old departed friend, the Marquis Philippe de Cherisey of the 'Priory of Sion' - a genius Trickster if ever there was one. Again, he appears to take the mad Marquis' fake parchments rather too seriously (Jean Luc Chaumeil showed them to me, in all their modern glory, in Paris many years ago and Philippe personally admitted to me his forgery).What is really cheeky is Isaac is linked to a female artist who partly specializes in rather clever RLC spoofs . At least she's upfront and honest !But, like the Marquis, could she ever produce anything as ravishingly exquisite as his Serpent Rouge !?!

A very interesting take on the whole Rennes-le-Chateau area.