PIERRE PLANTARD - FROM ARCHIVES TO MYTH: THE ESOTERIC SOURCES OF PIERRE PLANTARD

Pierre Plantard occupies a central place in the Rennes-le-Château affair, yet the truth about what he actually knew, when he knew it, and how he acquired his obvious vast knowledge remains elusive. This last question—how he came by his information—is particularly crucial. The puzzle is never more illustrated and highlighted than by a comment made by authors Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend in their study of ancient star lore, Hamlet’s Mill. There, they noted with some surprise that Gérard de Sède had quoted an “archaeologist - Pierre Plantard” in Les Templiers sont parmi nous (1962), attributing to him the remark: 

“Canopus, the sublime eye of the architect, which opens every 70 years to contemplate the Universe”. 

Santillana and von Dechend wrote;

“We should be glad to learn, moreover, where the archaeologist Pierre Plantard [?] got hold of the information on “Canopus, The sublime eye of the architect, who opens his eyes every 70 years to contemplate the Universe.” 

The implication was that this information was so ancient and so obscure regarding astronomical lore, where did a nobody like Plantard obtain it from?

The full Plantard quote was from an interview Plantard gave de Sède [Interview with a Hermticist] in Les Templiers sent parmi Nous [which appeared as an Appendix] and is as follows:

“The Chariot of the Sea, the White Ship of Juno with the sixty-three lights of which Canopus is one, the sublime eye of the architect, which opens every seventy years to contemplate the Universe, the ship Argo that transported the Golden Fleece, in Christianity the modest barque of Peter. It is the symbolic Ark where nothing profane can penetrate without incurring punishment: ‘To the sacriligious a fall, to the thief death within a year.’ Only those who are capable of working the cube of the wood of Mars – that magic ‘die’ entrusted to the vigilance of two children: Castor and Pollux – to perfection, in every sense, can enter there. Trying to penetrate through the Hermetic as quickly as possible, the star Canopus was identified with the eye of God, who looked at the Universe every 70 years".

The star Canopus (alpha Carinae) is the second-brightest star in the night sky, tied in mythology to Jason’s ship, the Argo. Its symbolic weight is great, but its mention in such an arcane context raises the obvious question: where had Plantard obtained this kind of information?

Some view Plantard as a latecomer to the Rennes-le-Château Affair, appearing “officially” in the early 1960s after possibly reading press accounts of the mystery written by Albert Salmon, Robert Charroux and Noël Corbu. It seems that Plantard compiled an enormous dossier on the affair and in fact the self-appointed spokesperson for Plantard in the 70's, Jean-Luc Chaumeil reported that;.  

"Yes he certainly did [keep a large file]! Especially documents and articles he picked up here and there, everything was grist to his mill. He followed the news via "Ici Paris" and similar rags, and he also listened to the radio. To be precise, his dossier comprised of 1014 pages".

Others, however, argue that Plantard had access to relevant material much earlier, evidence of which surfaces in scattered references throughout his various publications starting in the late 1940's. He worked with Philippe de Chérisey and   Chaumeil [again] said in interview that;

"Pierre Plantard  ... &  .... Philippe de Chérisey ...  certainly knew each other in the 1950s, and joined Gérard de Sède in excavating the cellar of Monsieur Jacques Rouët in Gisors in 1962". 

Perhaps Chérisey met Plantard via his Priory of Sion creation in the 50's? It is possible as those associated with the beginnings of the group/s created by Plantard included actors/actresses and radio personalities [as reported in police investigations in to Plantard] - this was the background of Chérisey. Chérisey started off as a well known radio personality and was an actor in several films. He was a French writer, radio humorist, surrealist and a supporting actor as well as a main actor (using the stage name Amédée [This name he used along with his work with Plantard]). He had trained with the René Simon drama school in 1946 where he started his actor's training, and his most notable film appearance was in Jeux interdits in 1952. He claimed acquaintance with Eugene Ionesco.  He considered himself a satirist from his days in French radio. An actress friend of his was Denise Carvenne, who studied arts in Brussels, and then studied dramatic arts in the classes of Marcel Herrand and Andrée Bauer-Thérond in Paris. She participated in about twenty films of the 1950s, where she met Philippe de Chérisey and they acted in five films together. She was an active member of Robert Charroux's Club des Chercheurs and she visited Rennes-le-Château during the early 1960s. Romantics among us wonder if the two of them talked about the mysteries of the Two Rennes? Of course, they must have. You dont act in 5 films with someone and both go to Rennes without talking about it together!

Whatever the truth of the matter, their [Plantard Chérisey] material, over time, coalesced—or, perhaps more accurately, was carefully arranged—into the Rennes myth as it emerged in the 1960s, suggesting a depth and obscurity in the knowledge they shared. However Chérisey certainly got alot of his information from Plantard and observers speculate his approach was deliberate, disseminating fragments of information to select confidantes and friends without ever revealing a full picture. It was a way of keeping control some might argue. What is indisputable, however, is that the local villages of the Rennes Affair held significance for him: he bought land there, he lived there for a time, and, as Philippe de Chérisey reports and hints in his novel CIRCUIT, Plantard’s presence in the area was long-standing and associated with a particular part of village folklore, particularly Rennes-les-Bains. This involved a specific house in a specific village and its connection with priest Henri Boudet. 

By 1972, Plantard had purchased substantial property in the area which he later associated with his narratives about the Priory of Sion. While Plantard's land ownership in the region is documented, the significance he attributed to these properties is part of the elaborate mythos he constructed. He claimed that these sites were linked to ancient secrets and royal lineages, but these assertions are widely regarded as part of his esoteric inventions. In other words, while he physically had property there, there’s no real independent evidence that these sites were tied to secret treasures, and ancient manuscripts prior to his interventions apart from legend and folklore. 

However one has to be careful in this assertion because the work by Henri BOUDET in La Vrai Langue Celtique et la Cromlech de Rennes-les-Bains [we will look at this the next article] does indicate a local mystery, which is also suggested in some real archaeological reports from the time which certainly held importance for Chérisey and Plantard, and to which they most certainly referred to in the Priory documents. 

Plantard leveraged his land ownership in the area in two main ways:

1     Geographical Credibility: By buying land and living in the area, he could present himself as someone with direct access to the “secrets” of Rennes-les-Bains. This gave his stories of hidden knowledge a veneer of legitimacy, even though the actual claims were fabricated.    

2     Mythic Anchoring: He tied specific locations he owned (or nearby landmarks) to elements of the Priory of Sion legend and the supposed Merovingian mysteries. For example, he and his collaborators would hint that certain points on maps, churches, or estates were markers of esoteric knowledge. This gave his fictional narratives a tangible “real-world” anchor, making them appear historically plausible.

In essence, the land holdings are either props in his myth-making or they are the actual source of it. It allowed him to blur the line between reality and fiction: he lived there, so he must know something, and thus his imaginative reconstructions of history and secret societies could be presented as credible. 

Examples of Property + Mythic Claims

Critical Points     

•     No verifiable archaeological basis: Many of the “underground temple,” “round temple,” “secret chamber” claims have no reliable archaeological confirmation. They depend on unverified or forged “documents,” conflated local legends, and Plantard’s own writings.  Chérisey however elaborates a lot about an underground Temple situated at Rennes-les-Bains and others have researched legends attached to the land of the Marquis de Fleury & some references from local archaeological societies at the time of Henri Boudet & Bérenger Saunière.     

•     Use of older legends & archives: Plantard often refers to older legends (e.g. of Dubosc, of mining, of local folklore), mashed up with private or obscure archival materials. But in many cases the archival sources are unverifiable, or used in ways that suggest mythmaking rather than historical reconstruction.

•     Changing stories over time: The details of what is claimed shift: parcels bought change, names of temples change, what exactly is said to be hidden moves. For instance “Temple Rond” appears in texts in the 1980s/1990s covering earlier eras. This suggests retrofitting or evolving myth rather than consistently held secret knowledge.

Putting it together:

Plantard’s own personal history during these years building up to the myths is shadowy. He is reported to have been briefly imprisoned, though records, such as they are, are contradictory. Robert Amadou and Massimo Introvigne for example, both note accusations of fraud in 1953, for allegedly selling esoteric “degrees” for exorbitant sums. Yet a police report from 1954 curiously asserts he had no criminal record after the Police had searched the same files. There is also the claim that he was detained for abuse of a Minor in possibly Fresnes Prison. The contradictions leave room for speculation that Plantard himself either blurred the facts to enhance his mystique or full disclosure of these events has not been given.

From the 1930s onward, Plantard moved within a milieu steeped in occultism, monarchist politics and esoteric Catholicism. His early ventures included the creation of various groups such as the French Union and later the Alpha Galates, a grandiose order with quasi-Masonic initiations culminating in a title of his “Druidic Majesty.” His personal circle of contacts [according to the same police reports referred to above] overlapped with, as we saw, radio actors, actresses, right-wing thinkers, and esoteric Christians.  And through an assertion made by Gérard de Sède [although this needs to be clarified as I tried to source the reference and cannot find it] it is posited that the Plantard family had some sort of connection linked to the Zaepffels, a Breton couple fascinated by spiritualism and Grail legends. Their cook was apparently Amélie Raulo, Plantard's mother, and the widow of Plantard’s father. This is possible because Raulo's family origins were in the Breton district, and she did indeed work as a maid/house-servant [according, again to the police reports above. She also for a time lived in Paris a few streets away from the famous spiritist centre set up by the Zaepffels [Wagram street] — so it is entirely possible Raulo may have known the Zaepffels.  

The Zaepffels were immersed in spiritualist prophecy and Celtic revivalism, hosting gatherings at their Manoir du Tertre in Paimpont. There, amid talk of druids and Druidry, fairies, and Grail visions, and whatever exposure to this the young Plantard may have had, it would presumably exposed him to a heady mix of folklore, mysticism, and esoteric speculation. These kind of interests were later reflected in magazines and pamphlets he later published [he directly referred to them] and had an echo in his later interests [Boudet, Celtic issues and Druidry etc, zodiac's and prophecies etc]. It may also explain his preoccupation with the specific areas of the Two Rennes, in particular Camp Redon. This environment, combined with access to confiscated archives and postwar publishing ventures, provided him with an arsenal of themes—from Egyptian rites to Templar legacies, from Grail myths to apocalyptic prophecies—that would later crystallise in the Priory of Sion.

By 1956, Plantard had formally registered the Priory of Sion in Annemasse under the title “C.I.R.C.U.I.T.” (Chivalry of Catholic Rule and Institution and of Independent Traditionalist Union) -  the group was registered in the town of Annemasse in 1956 as an association under the 1901 law. Although the statutes and registration documents are dated May 7, 1956, the registration took place with the representative of the sub-prefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois onJune 25, 1956 and was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic on July 20, 1956. From the first original documentation one can see the date of creation. 

The following page details the meaning of the acronym and also the identifying marks of the Priory. 

It reports that Plantard's Priory; 

• is subtitled Chivalry of Catholic Institutions and Rules of Independent and Traditionalist Union
• is an Association Governed by the Law of July 1, 1901 and Decree of August 16, 1901
• is an association formed between the undersigned of these Statutes and the persons who adhere to them and meet the following conditions, governed by the Law of July 1, 1901 and the Decree of August 16, 1901.
• Its insignia is a white lily enclosed by a circle, named "CROSS of the SOUTH'. Its emblem is a white rooster/cockerel. 
• The purpose of the Association is:
  a) the establishment of a Catholic Order, intended to restore in a modern form, while preserving its traditional character, the ancient chivalry which, through its actions, promoted a highly moralising ideal and [is] the element of constant improvement in the rules of life for the human personality.
  b) To this end, the Association, through the active cooperation of its members, will provide both moral and material assistance and protection to all those in a state of infirmity, particularly the elderly, the infirm, etc.
  c) With the help of its members, it will establish a PRIORY at the place called Montagne de Sion (Hôte-Savoie), which will serve as a place for study, meditation, rest, and prayer.
• For the purpose of publicity, the Association will publish a periodic bulletin, under the name CIRCUIT, covering the topics listed in the preceding paragraph.

Below is a photograph of the Mountain of Sion in Haute-Savoie near Annecy, where the rules in the Priory statutes state that 'with the help of its members it will establish a Priory' -- 'to serve as a place for study, meditation and rest' at this Mount Sion. Of course, this term would probably be loaded with symbolism for Plantard. For example Sion in Jerusalem and others have speculated about Sion in Switzerland - a mere few miles away. Or maybe something entirely different! Plantard lived in Annemasse - located on the outskirts of the Franco-Swiss border, in the north of the French Alps, 2 km from the Geneva and 45 km from Annecy, the prefecture of Haute-Savoie. 

The Col du Mont-Sion and the village of Saint-Blaise have a long history linked to their position of strategic passage between Geneva and Southern Europe, marked since Roman times by a major road. In the Middle Ages, a hospice welcomed travellers there, later replaced by a relay of stagecoaches and cars that operated until 1960.

In the map below one can see how close Annemasse is to Geneva, which has this Mount Sion. But just across the border is another Sion, that it was confused with at times. 

According to some researchers which Sion being referred to is not clear - many of the first "prieure documents" seem to have been released through the Swiss Grand Loge Alpina (GLA). As Pierre Jarnac writes;

"During the years 1965 and 1966, Pierre Plantard and Philippe de Chérisey produced half a dozen handout publications, relating to Rennes-le-Château and its mysteries, true or supposed. They were all deposited at the National Library. Among these, was a brochure entitled: Merovingian descendants or the enigma of the Visigothic Razès, attributed to a certain Madeleine Blancasall. We will recognise in this surname the pure fiction of the combination of three natural resources of Rennes-les-Bains: the Blanque and the Sals, two rivers that meet in the south of the agglomeration, as well as the source of the Madeleine, visible from the Bugarach road. However, the publication I have just mentioned claims to be an internal brochure of the Swiss Association Alpina, whose headquarters would be in Geneva. Of course, in retrospect, we know that it is agreed not to take the writer's word for it. What is this Swiss association Alpina? In fact, this qualification of Swiss association is superfetatory: it is de facto! It is in fact an exclusively Swiss Masonic Obedience Lodge, which was founded in 1844.

Alpine lodge - a constituted Lodge, it in fact federates all the so-called Swiss blue Lodges, as opposed to the Red Lodges, which depend on the Swiss Supreme Council. The Blue Lodges are thus designated with the colour chosen to adorn their reception rooms. History professor Jean-Jacques Hottinger, from Zürich, was the first Grand Master. Perhaps more than philosophical debates, the Grande Loge Alpina has long preferred action on the ground. The list is long of charitable, patronage, philanthropic or simple humanity initiatives that it has aroused within Masonic societies where its influence could be exercised. ...Asked several times about this Blancasall brochure, the Swiss Grand Lodge has always denied being the originator, in any form whatsoever".

Above - positions of many of the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland (GLAS) [marked in red] from there website here and the closeness of Annemasse to Sion in Switzerland [Annemasse in second photo is bottom left, Sion is middle right].

You can see Plantard's place he was living when he registered the Priory of Sion - Annemasse, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois - just across the border in the Geneva capital were 2 Lodges, and the Sion Lodge is off to the right.

Be that as it may there is another Priory of Sion, claiming to be the original, which has a completely different history often reported on but is said to be associated with Plantard [is that Plantard changed his original details to this 'new' one]. A French web-site reports that; 

"In 1957 Plantard abandoned the Priory of Sion (first formula), the newspaper Circuit, the house project on Mount Sion in Annemasse and the collaboration with the Catholic Church to devote himself to his alleged personal Merovingian ancestry and the advent of the "Grand Monarch". 

From 1961, Plantard developed a mythical story for the Priory of Sion stating that it was a venerable Catholic religious order housed in the abbey of Notre-Dame du Mont Sion which had been founded by Godfrey of Bouillon in the kingdom of Jerusalem during the first crusade in 1099. The priory is an abbey, the abbey dates from 415, linked to the Basilica of Hagia Maria Sion (Sainte-Marie de Sion) fallen into ruins after the defeat of the Crusaders in the Holy Land and then rebuilt from 1900 to 1910. Between 1964 and 1967, Plantard and his friend Philippe de Chérisey created supposed evidence to give credibility to the lineage and origin invented. They filed with the National Library of France a series of false documents, the most famous of which is entitled Secret Files of Henri Lobineau. Plantard will then use the popularity of Bérenger Saunière and the so-called treasure of Rennes-le-Château to draw attention to these false documents filed with the BnF. He called on Gérard de Sède with whom he had already worked, in 1962, on Les Templiers are among us: L'Énigme de Gisors. He helped him, in 1967, to rewrite a book based on his unpublished manuscript and the documents of the BnF, L'Or de Rennes: La Vie Insolite De Bérenger Saunière parish priest of Rennes-le-Château which was a real popular success".

The same site also reports;

"Plantard having resigned from the title of Grand Master of the Priory of Sion in 1984, the authors [Lincoln et al] are led to see the consequence of an internal power struggle between Plantard and an Anglo-American contingent as well as a campaign against Plantard in the press and books written by sceptics. Although Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh remain convinced that the pre-1956 history of the Priory of Sion is true, they admit the possibility that all Plantard's claims to a post-1956 Priory of Sion are part of a mystification elaborated in the French esoteristic and monarchist circles". 

If Lincoln et al are right in their supposition why has no researcher investigated that Plantard's first Priory may have had nothing to with the second, which could have been a mystification spread by other esoteric groups? This group is also called 'the Priory of Sion' - but the subtitle is different - Order of the Rose Cross Veritas. 

The organisation prohibits political debate, because it wants to focus on spirituality and personal development. It is in fact the arch opposite of what Pierre Plantard originally wrote in the 'original statutes'. And on its website is the following; 

"The Priory of Sion is an initiatory Order of chivalry, founded on July 15 1099 in Jerusalem, by Godfrey of Bouillon, at the Abbey "Our Lady of Mount Sion" as "Order of our Lady of Mount Sion." .... The Order, after being registered for the first time in history, in 1956, and then being dissolved in 1993, was newly registered in 2015, perpetuating the legitimate Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair's lineage, through the actual Grand Master, Marco Rigamonti..... The Prieuré de Sion - Ordre de la Rose-Croix Véritas O.D.L.R.C.V. has as reference authority for the initiatory transmission and Grand Patriarch, Gino Sandri". 

Elsewhere on the website it states in 'In 2015, the Order was re-registered, with the aim of also acquiring an institutional dimension. The Prieuré de Sion - Ordre de la Rose-Croix Véritas O.D.L.R.C.V. has as reference authority for the initiatory transmission and Grand Patriarch, Gino Sandri'. However there was a major falling out, because several years later Gino Sandri was 'expelled'. 

'On 20th September 2020, [the Council] declared him GUILTY, with the unanimity of the judging members and issued the following judgment:

«Gino Sandri is expelled from the Order with dishonour and all his initiatic powers are therefore cancelled. He can no longer speak or act for the Prieuré of Sion in any way or form. He has 7 days to come to his senses and recant, and if he does and wishes to have an appeal he can write directly to the Most Serene Grand Master bringing his own sincere apologies and evidence that can be used to re-evaluate his position. At this point this issue could be suspended and reviewed by consequently the clemency of the Most Serene Grand Master."

They went on;

'It is therefore evident that this attempt to build a parallel and fake Prieuré de Sion was caused by former members who despite being recognized and expelled because they acted against the Order, did not want to recognize that they were spotted and declared unworthy of being in the Order, so having no rights at all within the One and Only Prieuré de Sion.About Gino Sandri, on 11 March 2017, he transmitted the initiatory powers of Grand Maître of the Order to the current Most Serene Grand Maître Bro Marco Rigamonti.page "2 of "4Since Marco Rigamonti was regularly invested with the office of Grand Maître of the Order, he assumed a position protected by the Statute of the Order as inviolable and sacred.Brother Gino cannot act against the legality of the Order, specially because he is a member of the Order, so he is to follow its Statute.
From the Statute of the Order, in Article 5 we read:"Article VThe Grand Master is the highest spiritual authority and the sovereign of the Order, consequently his final decisions cannot be overturned in any way. “Therefore Brother Gino had no rights at all to undermine the Powers of the Most Serene Grand Master of the Order while he was the Patriarch.'

Poor old Pierre Plantard. All this done in his name. And one wonders why Sandri is an acceptable and trustworthy candidate to take over from Plantard when, as one web-site quoted 'he is a well-versed occultist who has spent his life infiltrating esoteric societies only to get expelled from them". 

Pierre Plantard, to my knowledge, whether in person, or in documentation or even in legend has never suggested Sandri as the anointed successor of Plantard and his Priory. 

Gino Sandri himself seems to have 'taken over' the Priory of Sion when Pierre Plantard died February 3, 2000. In an interview given in 2003 - [not that I take what Sandri says at face value either, he does NOT seem to have had any link with Plantard above what he himself claims] Sandri said;

'... the writing of these parchments [ie the famous Sauniere parchments] was at the time for a specific purpose. Again, it was a matter of diverting attention in order to protect other documents. As you know, from 1956, a series of publications disseminated under various pseudonyms was put into circulation. We are in the presence of a real campaign that targets a character or a company that acts in the field of the occult. This exchange concerns only a small circle. Forty years later, these documents have become of no interest if only historical. It is amusing to say the least to note that "ophakery" [?] installed at the time in Rennes-le-Château produces a lot of identical invoice documents as well as papers or correspondence attributed to Abbé Boudet or Abbé Bigou. These writings were then the subject of a juicy trade that, it seems, continued. Unfortunately, authors involved in the history of Rennes are victims of this scam in which the Priory of Sion has no share and does not derives any benefit from it. Abbé Saunière discovered parchments in the Sainte Madeleine church in Rennes-le-Château, their content has nothing to do with the papers published here and there. The same is true for those he subsequently exhumed. The plot of Gérard de Sède's novel is clever. Everything begins in 1888 with the discovery of mysterious encrypted parchments and it is the decryption whose key is engraved on a tomb that gives access to the treasure. Does that remind you of anything? As for the famous documents published and analysed by Gérard de Sède (and others...), their appearance is part of the context that I have just briefly exposed. They were not intended for the general public, nor were the famous brochures. These papers served as support for an exchange of coded messages between networks in action, even in competition. They have nothing to do with a treasure of any kind. However, elsewhere, authentic texts are actually engraved in stone.....'[my translation].

So here Sandri is stating there were two different Priory of Sion's, and that the anonymous publications [ie the Lobinean Files, Secret Dossiers etc] were nothing to do with Plantards Priory. It was part of a campaign to target a character [that acts in the field of the occult]. This description fits Plantard, especially with his creation of groups, and possible access to esoteric files [see below] in the 1940's and 1950's. In fact he states the Priory of Plantard has no share or benefit from this behaviour. 

But which line is Sandri towing? As we saw above the Priory he is/was associated with is The Prieuré de Sion - Ordre de la Rose-Croix Véritas O.D.L.R.C.V. ...... [which] has as reference authority for the initiatory transmission and Grand Patriarch, Gino Sandri"

Presumably the one he set up to carry on from Plantard, but remember, there is no external evidence to suggest Plantard gave Sandri his blessing to carry on his creation. In fact, the history given for this Priory would be the 2nd Priory created - the one with the pedigree going back to Godfrey de Bouillon etc etc. And let us not forget that this Priory claims that;

'Our mysteries, lie within allegories and symbols, which correspondence with the clumsily called "real" plan is not therefore an essential prerogative, such as the legend of the Quinotaur, joining the King's Chlodion wife, Meroveo conceives. It is clear that what matters is what is concealed in this particular allegory, that is to say that Merovingians has received a deposit of knowledge that has non-human origins; therefore, even though we believe in the existence of other forms of life and intelligence, we do not consider central the existence of the Quinotaur in itself, in that particular situation, but rather consider the importance of the representation, through this allegory, of the transmission through the Merovingians of this initiatic deposit of knowledge'.

A somewhat strange parallel to de Sede's book, Le Fabulous Race!

Sandri is known to operate in the occult world. He was a member and spokesman for SNFOCOS (Syndicat National Force Ouvrière des Cadres des Organismes Sociaux), a socialist trade union for managers in the public sector. And according to Massimo Introvigne, Sandri is ‘a well-known figure in the French esoteric milieu'. He contributed to the esoteric conference in 2000 - La "religion" des Maqons: de I 'ésotérique au religieux  Bibliotheque Nationale de France, [- Gino Sandri, 'Theosophie et Franc-Maçonnerieen milieu protestant a Genève au XIXe siecle']. 

Sandri's various suggestions mean that different groups in the 'field of the occult' [whatever that means, or is a cover for] create and pursue campaigns against other 'occult groups'. Not so hard to believe. This was rife at the time of Sauniere. We also saw it playing out when Au Pilori way back in the 50's rubbished Plantard! Plantard HAD become some sort of target perhaps via his group that he created. But isn't it interesting that Sandri is a front for an 'alternative' Priory and does conferences about Freemasonic Lodges at Geneva?

Be that as it may Plantard's early and original political sympathies [as seen in Vaincre etc] seem to lean to a Gaullist predisposition, echoing the Zaepffel milieu, and Charles de Gaulle himself, Plantard claims, sent a polite acknowledgment of support. From this, the tangled network of Plantard’s claims, connections, and alleged fabrications grew into the sprawling legend that continues to cloud the Rennes-le-Château mystery today. Seen in this light, Plantard was not simply an opportunist who joined the Rennes affair late, but a figure whose formative years immersed him in overlapping worlds of occult speculation, esoteric rites, political intrigue, and archival secrets. Out of these strands, he wove a mythology both compelling and confounding—a mythology that still leaves us asking: what did he truly know, and from where did he draw it?

The connection between his life-history, land holdings and the broader Rennes-le-Château mystery is thus intertwined with his own myth-making rather than historical fact. Plantard deliberately purchased (or attempted to purchase) land in areas like Roque Nègre / Blanchefort near Rennes-les-Bains. He used these properties as loci in his mythic geography.  

•     By connecting those physical properties to folklore of ancient mines, hidden underground temples, “Devil’s Treasure” stories, and supposed genealogical claims (for example, of Merovingian descent, or Priory of Sion), he lent his fabrications a tether to tangible geography.   

•     But there is no independent, credible evidence that any of these places—parcels of land he owned—ever did hide the secret treasures, manuscripts, or ancient temples as he later claimed. Much of the “mythic geography” seems to stem from his own inventions or reinterpretations of folklore, rather than records that pre-date his involvement.

One possible answer to all o f this may have been answered by John Saul in his book; An Extra Player on the Playing Field of History. He situates Plantard’s original sources in the turbulent wartime years, when Freemasonry was systematically being suppressed under the Vichy regime, that moral fight between Freemasons and the Catholic Church [a whole point of interest in itself!]. Beginning in 1941, the French government, under Marshal Pétain, confiscated vast Masonic archives—records stretching back into the nineteenth century—including those of the esoteric Rites of Memphis and Misraïm. These rites, claimed links to Egypt and the Knights Templar, and though sometimes dubious, nevertheless preserved traditions with a powerful imaginative appeal. 

According to Saul, these Freemasonic materials were gathered at the Centre d’Action et de Documentation (CAD), which undoubtedly played an important role in the anti-masonic repression of the Nazi years. Installed in the premises of the Grande Loge de France, 8 rue Puteaux, and funded by the Germans, it was divided into 4 sections and had a network of correspondents in the regions responsible for investigating anti-collaborationist elements. It recorded several thousand suspects and distributed throughout France several thousand copies of an Anti-masonic Information Bulletin-La Libre Parole written largely by Coston, a tireless polygraph participating in the publication of many anti-Jewish papers (Au pillori, Je vous hais, etc). Coston was based in Paris, located only a short walk from where Plantard and his mother lived. Saul suggests that Plantard, perhaps through connections with Coston, gained access to confiscated documents during the early 1940s. 

Coston had salvaged Drumont’s anti-Dreyfusard weekly La Libre Parole, and also contributed to the infamous Au Pilori. ["Au Pilori" refers to an anti-Semitic newspaper published in Occupied France during World War II]. Coston therefore had connections to the editors of Au Pilori, particularly through his involvement in other collaborationist publications during the Vichy regime. He directed Documents maçonniques, a monthly publication edited by the Centre d'action et de documentation. Bernard Faÿ, a collaborator and contributor to Documents maçonniques, was also associated with Au Pilori. Moreover, Coston's secretary during this period was Henri-Robert Petit, who later became the editor-in-chief of Au Pilori. These connections suggest that while Coston was not an editor of Au Pilori, he was closely associated with individuals who held editorial positions within the publication and were responsible for Plantard being mocked in Au Pilori when his chivalric society, Alpha Galates, and its extravagant “Druidic” grades were lampooned in print.

One does wonder if the mocking of Plantard by the Au Pilori team is because Plantard had incurred their displeasure for some reason? Could these people could have been instrumental with the assistance of the German authorities investigating Plantard to also get him jailed? 

Anti-Masonic measures in France revolved around the Catholic Church believing that Masons were heretical and working against the Catholic religion. In their search for documentary evidence to prove a Franco-British collusion to provoke the War, the Germans sealed Freemasonic Lodges [with the help of the Church] and confiscated documents to prove their theory. They were also trying to lay their hands on the mythical treasure of the lodges to support their war effort. The Germans were not too concerned about the fate of individual Masons or Freemasonry itself and they were not interested in hunting down Freemasons but only in acquiring archives and documents to prove their own theory of an international Judeo-Masonic plot and perhaps to investigate the possibilities of a Masonic treasure.

Saul believes Plantard may have been authorised—or at least allowed—to mine these archives confiscated by the Germans which came in to the hands of Coston, for material, some of which later surfaced in his journal Vaincre and, eventually, in the mythos of the Priory of Sion. Saul says that Plantard had recognised some broad importance in these papers but had initially been unable to do much of anything with them & by one way or another Plantard's possession of these documents had enabled him to acquire financial support and intellectual help in the late 1950's. 

As authors such as Massimo Introvigne asserted that Plantard 'went to jail for six months at the end of 1953, accused of selling degrees of esoteric orders for exorbitant sums' did Plantard try to make money on these files? According to Robert Amadou, Plantard in 1953 was accused of selling degrees of esoteric orders for exorbitant sums - and in a letter written by Léon Guersillon, Mayor of Annemasse in 1956, Plantard was given a six-month sentence in December 1953 for abus de confidance (breach of trust). In fact, Smith reports on his website that Plantard, on '17th December 1953 by the court in St. Julien-en-Genevois [was sentenced] to six months imprisonment for a ‘breach of trust’ under articles 406 and 408 of the Penal Code.' [theft, extortion, blackmail, fraud, and embezzlement - which would fit the idea of selling degrees of esoteric degrees for exorbitant sums'.]

Smith reports that 'While carrying out investigations during the late 1990s for a television documentary that partly involved the life of Pierre Plantard, a researcher came across a reference to Pierre Plantard having served 6 months in prison in 1953 over allegations relating to fraud, while sifting through the File containing the 1956 Priory of Sion Statutes and Registration Documents, in a letter dated 8 June 1956 written by the Mayor of Annemasse'. 

Smith does not say which TV documentary or which researcher. 

Smith is also the proponent of a further accusation - that Plantard suffered a second prison sentence in 1956, but because there are no secondary references to this event, it cannot be verified with any certainty. However, French researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil, whose Father was a Commissioner of French Police, does claim to possess copies of material that confirms such an imprisonment, but he is unable to make it public without breaking the French Defamation Law and finding himself imprisoned in the process!  Whilst making investigations for the same television documentary referred to above during the late 1990s, a researcher noted down what Chaumeil said in a telephone interview dated 21 November 1995: The documents in his possession contra Plantard include a copy of the report of his arrest (I'm not entirely sure what form this appears in) dating from 1956 and implicating Plantard in: passing bad cheques, fraud, and abuse of a minor - Jean-Luc did state that to show this report on the screen would be tantamount to defamation under French laws.

In some quarters this has been interpreted as some kind  statutory rape claim. And yet I read it as still committing some sort of fraud ..... anyway, the strange thing is this; Plantard seemed never have to have done this at all before or since these two claims in the 1953 & 1956. And the time when he really could have made lots of money fraudulently [selling degrees of esoteric orders for exorbitant sums] via the Priory of Sion after Holy Blood, Holy Grail sales took off, he never once did that. 

If you think about it logically, perhaps the speculation behind this is that Palntard was trading on certain documentary information he had gained from confiscated esoteric archives as speculated by John Saul? If these police reports are correct, was this breach of trust for a kind of fraud involving esoteric documents? 

A police report from a YEAR later after his supposed imprisonment, on 4th May 1954 however, confirms that; 

"On the subject of the arrest of Monsieur PLANTARD, his mother states: 'My son was arrested by the Germans on a date that I am unable to recall precisely, as I suffer from amnesia. His apartment was not searched by the French police but by German gendarmes accompanied by German civilians. My son remained in Fresnes Prison for 4-5 months where he was subjected to numerous physical abuses'." 

Why was his apartment searched by gendarmes when the Gendarmerie was a military police force serving rural and peri-urban areas? Instructed by the likes of Coston because he might have appropriated documents from CAD, for example? The phrase “French gendarmes accompanied by German civilians” might be describing a situation where members of the French national police force (the gendarme) were in the company of, or escorted by, civilians from Germany. During wartime/occupation (e.g., WWII) – it might mean French gendarmes working alongside or under the supervision of German civilians who were assisting the occupying authorities. This could imply collaboration, surveillance, or administrative duties and the gendarmes carried out their duties (e.g., inspections, searches, checkpoints) under occupation - with the Germans often sending civilian administrators or police-observers to accompany or supervise local forces. Exactly as Coston was doing to steal archives!

Apart from the quite humorous response given by his mother [I suffer from amnesia!] she reports her son suffered physical abuse. The report also states that 'Checks made with the various departments of the Prefecture of Police have not revealed any trace of the arrest of Monsieur PLANTARD. He does not have a criminal record". Yet he was supposed to have been imprisoned in 1953. This report is dated a year later,  May 1954!

Researcher Introvigne also referred to Eugène Deloncle, who created a group known as CSAR (Secret Committee for Revolutionary Action), nicknamed “La Cagoule”. He claimed that 'one high school student who followed Deloncle and ran into trouble with the police, without being involved however in any terrorist activity, was Pierre-Athanase-Marie Plantard, the son of a butler and a concierge who was so much in love with the Monarchy to invent for himself imaginary aristocratic and even Royal genealogies. In 1937, Plantard dropped out of high school and established with some of his friends the Union Française (French Union), a group inspired by Deloncle’s ideas but probably without any contact with Deloncle himself, who was at that time operating underground.'

Other connections appear. Raymond Abellio - the pseudonym of Georges Soulès - after he had developed a long literary career— moved into a lifelong fascination with esotericism and astrology after being deeply involved in politics. In 1942, he became secretary general of Eugène Deloncle’s far-right party, the Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire (MSR). 

Deloncle’s family [origins which are found in Britanny France], in turn, was connected at the highest levels of French society: his niece, Édith Cahier, married Robert Mitterrand, the brother of future president François Mitterrand. 

Pierre Plantard at one point claimed a connection François Mitterrand. It is reported that Plantard had a cousin, Jean Plantard, son of a François Plantard—likely Pierre’s brother. This François Plantard was closely linked to André Rousselet, a trusted confidant of François Mitterrand. The tie becomes even more striking when one learns that Rousselet’s adopted daughter, Chantal, married Jean Plantard. In other words, the adopted daughter of Mitterrand’s closest ally became part of the Plantard family. 

François Mitterrand's itinerary between 1935 and 1942 has been the subject of many contradictory interpretations. In 1934 he had joined the National Volunteers, a youth organisation of the Croix-de-Feu and, in 1935, participated in a demonstration organised by the Action française, which is attested by two photographs. He is a resident of the boarding school of the Marist fathers at 104, rue de Vaugirard, whose residents then frequent the chiefs of the Cagoule, without joining it. Other members of the Mitterand family also have connections with La Cagoule: Robert Mitterrand, brother of the president, married Eugène Deloncle's niece in 1939. François Mitterrand's sister, Marie-Josèphe de Corlieu, was, from 1941 to 1947, the mistress of Jean-Marie Bouvyer, a former La Cougoule member. The latter's mother, Antoinette, became in 1946 the godmother of Jean-Christophe Mitterrand. It is proven that the former President of the Republic never joined the terrorist organisation. However, this "rumour" will continue throughout his political career.

One Jacques Corrèze became Deloncle's secretary and confidant in 1936. After the armistice, in June 1940, he joined the Revolutionary Social Movement (MSR) which as we read above was launched, with the blessing of Berlin, by Eugène Deloncle and he actively plotted in this organisation which advocated total collaboration with the Nazi occupier. In 1941, Corrèze joined the Legion of French Volunteers (LVF) to fight alongside the Nazis against the Soviet Union. On his return to France he made contact with the Resistance, but remained at the side of Eugène Deloncle. He witnessed the murder of Deloncle by the Gestapo (January 7, 1944). Corrèze then married Mrs. Mercedes Deloncle, Eugène's widow. Paul Cahier was the brother of Mercedes and he married Henriette DESBARATS and had a daughter, Edith Cahiers, who married Robert MITTERRAND. 

Eugène Schueller had hired Corrèze to his company [L'Oréal] and entrusted him with the position of general agent of the L'Oréal-Monsavon group for Spain and Latin America. He will employ Henri Deloncle brother of Eugène, Louis Deloncle son of Eugène, Thierry Servant son of Claude Deloncle and André son of Jean Filliol.  
Filiol was a French militant, who was active in La Cagoule before the Second World War. Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at L'Oréal headquarters. 

Taken together, these interlocking relationships form a curious web: Deloncle’s niece married into the Mitterrand family; Deloncle’s right-hand man, Abellio, not only had insider knowledge of Pierre Plantard but was also later associated with Belisane Publishing; and, through Rousselet, Plantard’s family became connected—albeit indirectly—to Mitterrand’s inner circle. 

Abellio and the Belisane Publishing house published the journals of the Gerard Nerval Society and also out of print books on Rennes-le-Chateau. In fact, after the war, the above cited Henry Coston and other collaborationist authors emerged from prison & were given a new start by Noel Jacquemart (1909-1990), the Director General of the magazine Le Charivari. [Issue #18 of Jacquemart's Le Charivari, for October-December 1973, reproduced the "The Archives"and "Statutes of the Association of the Priory of Sion' [founded by] Pierre Plantard, aka Chyren", in “Annemasse, May 7, 1956”]. Rather interestingly Claude, who was the son of Noël Jacquemart, and a French journalist, was the first to claim that  Paoli's real name was Ludwig Scheswig in “Á propos des ‘Archives de Prieuré de Sion’” in Le Charivari No 19, (1974). It is obvious that Jean-Luc Chaumeil [who often touts himself as an ex-member of Plantard's Priory, although there is no evidence of this whatsoever] got alot of his information from his links at Le Charivari. In an interview Chaumeil reports that;

"I very early on made the acquaintance of Daniel Réju, who asked me to write some articles for the magazine "L'ère d'Aquarius".... In 1971 I read the book "L'or maudit" and my editor-in-chief, Claude Jacquemart, asked me to guest-edit a special edition, number 18, devoted to "The archives of the Priory of Sion" ( Charivari magazine) - a young writer, Claude Pimont, who wrote "Dieu n'existe pas, je l'ai rencontré" ("God does not exist - I know, I've met him"), along with a friend of Réju's, a Monsieur Renard, told me the story of a curé who had claimed to have found "billions" in the south of France! The book they were referring to was by Gérard de Sède, the author of another book that I had long pored over, "Les templiers sont parmi nous". Knowing that the history of Gisors bore an uncanny resemblance to the story of Rennes I mistrusted "L'or de Rennes", and I think I was right to do so. Anyway, Daniel Réju gave me Plantard's telephone number and, in parallel, I met Gérard de Sède in the Rue Danrémont (Paris). Around the same time Mathieu Paoli, a friend of the Romanian writer Doru Theodoriciu, began making a film for T.S.R about Arginy and Rennes-le-Château. Right at the start of 1972 I left for Rennes-le-Château with my photographer Bernard Roy".

And later;

"After several telephone conversations I finally met Pierre Plantard. As for questions, there were thousands of those, but when it came to answers these were allusive, irritating for several reasons, often contradictory, sometimes naively disconcerting, always carefully thought-out - a little too carefully thought-out perhaps. But he was a cheerful soul even so, with a great sense of humour, although a bit crazy perhaps. You might describe him as Joan of Arc in a 1930s-style suit, a "Man in Black" wrenched out of the present time, his pockets bulging with documents. But I also knew that he had been both a sacristan and a practising clairvoyant (under the name "Chyren" ) during his days in Aulnay. Although he believed in the importance of his official responsibilities he devoted himself utterly to his clairvoyance work. He dreamed of one day becoming a priest but was only a sacristan; having failed in his ambition he lost his faith and never recovered!".  

One always takes with a pinch of salt what Chaumeil says. He was never really accepted by Plantard, and as one person described his relationship with Plantard to me 'he always had his nose pressed up against the glass of the window looking in'. 

Plantard also boasted about being in touch with political circles, particularly Mitterand, so one wonders if it really was via distant family connections? That is, he exaggerated? But this does not preclude the possibility that Plantard may have heard information through family connections?  

The Masonic links to the Rennes affair, in particular is The rites of Memphis and Misraïm who traced itself back to the late eighteenth century and the Philadelphes of Narbonne, established by the Marquis de Chefdebien. Members of this family had connections to Rennes-le-Château through the Hautpoul line, the same family later woven into Plantard’s and de Chérisey’s fabrications surrounding the “Saunière parchments.” The traditions of Memphis-Misraim are said to have been "especially" derived from a Masonic Philadelphes of Narbonne" group called the "Primitive Rite of the Chefdebien (1753-1814). All six sons of the marquis became members, established around 1779 by the Marquis ....the Philadelphes of Narbonne and members of the de Chefdebien family remained active in Masonic affairs through a number of generations. The group received a second wind in 1798 during Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign when unidentified officers in the French army installed a lodge in Cairo. The Rite reached the area of Rennes-le-Château following the initiation of Charles Marie Benjamin d'Hautpoul-Félines (1772-1853), whose mother was Marie d'Hautpoul-Rennes, whose own mother was Marie de Negri d'Ablès, whose name of course is attached to the story of the Affair at Rennes by Plantard and Chérisey, using the missing headstone of her grave to create the famous Sauniere Parchments and the code associated with it. [We may also note that it was Marconis de Nègre from the same family as Marie d'Ables by the Le Clat branch. In 1626, Philippe de Niort married Paule de Nègre, aunt of the Baron de Coustaussa. The Nègre's themselves came into possession of the territories of Sault and Able. Since 1696, the Cazemajou have been co-lords of Niort in cousinage with the Negri of Ablès. And that finally, Béranger Saunière's father will later be manager for the Cazemajou in Montazels].

The group supposedly ceased activities in 1814 around the time of the death of the Marquis de Chefdebien," but in 1815 the Rite was reputed to have been reestablished in Montauban by an entirely individual named Samuel Honis, supposedly an initiator of the Cairo lodge. This reestablished Rite was given the name “Disciples of Memphis” and its Grand Master was Gabriel Mathieu Marconis de Nègre who had also been in Egypt with Bonaparte. This figure was, as we saw above, related to the famous Marie de Negri d'Ablès.

Perhaps Plantard then, did obtain insider information from files confiscated by CAD, if he did get access to them? 

Alfred Saunière, the brother of Bérenger Saunière, once worked as a tutor to the Chefdebien family before being dismissed amid a claim that he stole documents from them. Some of these threads would reappear in Plantard’s postwar creations, bolstered by texts of J.-É. Marconis de Nègre concerning the sage Ormus and the Disciples of Memphis. 

If we return to the suggestion that Plantard may have frequented circles close to Geneviève Zaepffel [she worked originally in Rennes at the Hotel Du Guesclin, Place de la Gare. It was here that she met René Zaepffel there]  he may have been aware of her journal, the monthly Bulletin of the Spiritualist Centre of Paris (1931–1941), where her prophetic messages were published. This address lay only a few streets from where Pierre Plantard’s mother was living and working. It may explain why he did clairvoyance, dont forget Chaumeil reported that Plantard 'devoted himself utterly to his clairvoyance work'.

There may even be a cross over with the Masonic history because Geneviève's husband not only helped manage publications of the Spiritualist Center of Paris,but also a periodical entitled the National Arche. It dealt with various subjects including: Freemasons and Jews, the national revolution, France facing its duty etc. These all seem equivalent to that which Plantard continually referred to in his own publications. In November 1942, Geneviève's husband declared: Jews and Freemasons continue to govern our country through interposed persons. In this troubled pre-war period when spiritism was in fashion, Geneviève Zaepffel built the image of a high priestess and presented herself as a medium. She published her first prophetic work in 1930. We can but wonder if this is why Pierre Plantard himself became a 'seer' using the name Chyren. 

The Zaepffels were immersed in spiritualist prophecy and Celtic revivalism, hosting gatherings at their Manoir du Tertre in Paimpont. There, amid talk of druids, fairies, and Grail visions, the young Plantard perhaps was exposed to a heady mix of folklore, mysticism, and esoteric speculation. This environment, combined with access to confiscated archives and postwar publishing ventures, provided him with an arsenal of themes—from Egyptian rites to Templar legacies, from Grail myths to apocalyptic prophecies—that would later crystallize in the Priory of Sion.

Zaepffel’s prophetic and political ambitions grew bolder during the war. In 1939 she telegrammed Prime Minister Édouard Daladier, urging him not to “declare a lost war in advance.” That same year she wrote to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in apocalyptic terms, warning that at “the first weakness you will leave, at the second you will no longer be.” On 9 December 1940, speaking at the Salle Mustel, Avenue de Wagram, she proclaimed herself “the missionary sent by God to save France,” [which also has echoes of texts Plantard wrote when he was very young, most likely youthful heady exuberance no doubt] and announced her intention of advising Marshal Pétain personally, guided by her “spiritual masters.”

In 1942 she founded the Arche Nationale, aligned with the Pétainist “return to the earth.” From her manor she launched schemes to support rural communities whose men were in captivity, equipping tractors at her own expense and offering young people agricultural apprenticeships as part of a quasi-spiritual “family of the Ark.” After the Liberation her fortunes changed. On a pilgrimage to Lourdes in April 1945, she claimed to have received a vision of the Virgin foretelling her imprisonment. Indeed, upon her return to Paris she was arrested and eventually imprisoned in Fresnes—the very prison where, years later, Pierre Plantard would also serve a sentence for his activities with the group Alpha Galates.

Zaepffel, who styled herself as “a Breton woman, born in the Brocéliande forest, land of druids and fairies,” wove her personal mythology around Celtic legends and Joan of Arc. She claimed her birthplace carried occult radiance, guarded by the fairy Viviane, whose “prophecy” of Joan of Arc she saw as a foreshadowing of her own mission. Even late in life she maintained these legends, identifying a stone sink in her garden as “Viviane’s bathtub” and presenting her manor as a place of prophecy and Arthurian resonance. Plantard’s own trajectory mirrored, in curious ways, the prophetic-political blend of Zaepffel’s milieu. 

As Jean Markale later recalled, Zaepffel’s Manoir du Tertre was steeped in Arthurian fantasy. She proudly told him that the staircase of the Manor is where “Joseph of Arimathea, carrying the Holy Grail from Palestine to Brittany, passed on this very staircase.” [pictured below]. For Markale, it was a tale “too beautiful and too naïve” to answer with criticism. Yet it illustrates the mythic atmosphere in which Plantard grew up—a world where Celtic legend, esotericism, politics, and prophecy fused into a powerful imaginative environment.

Here are the main points of influence on Pierre Plantard drawn from the various texts, in clear bullet points: 

Proximity to Geneviève Zaepffel’s circle 

   ◦     Plantard’s mother worked as a cook for Zaepffel, bringing young Pierre into her environment.   

  ◦     The Paris Spiritualist Centre (near his mother’s residence) likely facilitated early contact.   

Exposure to spiritualism and prophecy     

  ◦     Zaepffel ran the Paris Spiritualist Centre, issuing prophetic messages. 

  ◦     Her world was steeped in visions, apocalyptic warnings, and a sense of divine mission for France—ideas Plantard later echoed. 

Immersion in Celtic and Arthurian mythology  

  ◦     Zaepffel rooted her identity in Brocéliande, land of druids and fairies, and invoked Viviane and Merlin.   

 ◦     Her manor at Paimpont was presented as a Grail site, shaping an atmosphere of myth-making Plantard later drew upon. 

 •     Blending politics with esotericism 

 ◦     Zaepffel corresponded with political leaders (Daladier, Chamberlain, Pétain) in prophetic terms. 

 ◦     Her project Arche Nationale combined spiritual rhetoric with social policy, echoing Plantard’s own later attempts to tie esoteric orders to political causes. 

Models of charismatic authority

 ◦     Zaepffel proclaimed herself “missionary sent by God to save France.” 

 ◦     Plantard later cast himself as “Grand Master” of the Priory of Sion, claiming hidden authority and prophetic insight.  

 •     Experience of imprisonment   

 ◦     Zaepffel was imprisoned at Fresnes in 1945; Plantard would also be jailed at Fresnes years later—parallels reinforcing the motif of persecution and martyrdom.     •     Connection to General de Gaulle  

 ◦     Zaepffel’s orientation toward nationalist revival aligned with Plantard’s later positioning of the Priory of Sion as pro-Gaullist. 

The myth-making environment

 ◦     Zaepffel’s mix of spiritualism, Celtic myth, prophecy, and politics created the cultural atmosphere in which Plantard grew up—encouraging him to weave esotericism, history, and power into his own elaborate constructions.

René Zaepffel (Geneviève’s husband) is often overlooked, but he provided a very different kind of influence on Pierre Plantard than Geneviève’s mystical visions. Here’s how his role fits in, alongside hers and the Freemasons:  

Financial patronage / social standing   

◦     René Zaepffel’s fortune funded the transformation of the Manoir du Tertre, giving Geneviève the means to project her spiritual authority.  

◦     This exposed Plantard, through his mother’s employment, to an upper-class milieu—teaching him how money and status could underpin spiritual or esoteric authority.     •     Elite networks  

◦     The Zaepffels entertained artists, intellectuals, and mystics at the manor. 

◦     This provided Plantard with early exposure to the blending of culture, myth, and influence among elites—a pattern he later imitated by trying to connect the Priory of Sion to famous names and secret lineages. 

Political positioning  

◦     As a wealthy landowner, René represented the conservative, Pétainist-leaning milieu of Brittany. 

◦     His resources helped Geneviève launch ventures like the Arche Nationale, blending land, tradition, and politics—again prefiguring Plantard’s fusion of esotericism with nationalist politics.  

•     Model of enabling “authority figures”

◦     René’s role was to bankroll and legitimise his wife’s visions, without being their creator.  

◦     Plantard learned from this dynamic: he, too, positioned himself as the one who “reveals” secret traditions, while leaning on others’ scholarship, money, or networks for validation.Putting it together  

•     Geneviève Zaepffel → gave Plantard the mythic, prophetic, Celtic/Arthurian worldview.  

•     René Zaepffel → provided the example of how wealth and social status could amplify esoteric authority. 

•     Freemasonry → gave him the structure, lineage-building, and secretive hierarchy to formalize it.

Out of this mix, Plantard forged the Priory of Sion myth: a wealth-backed esoteric authority, wrapped in legendary myth, and legitimized by the language of secret societies and hidden lineages.The main Masonic influences on Plantard seem to cluster in a few key areas:

The Rites of Memphis and Misraïm  

   •     These “Egyptian” rites fascinated Plantard and provided much of the symbolic language (Ormus, Hermetic Egypt, sacred initiations) that later reappeared in the Priory of Sion mythos. 

    •     Though considered irregular or spurious by mainstream Freemasonry, they preserved a rich imaginative tradition linking Egypt, the Templars, and occult Christianity — exactly the blend Plantard recycled.  

   •     Their texts, especially those of J.-É. Marconis de Nègre, contained the lore of Ormus, the Disciples of Memphis, and esoteric cosmology.The files came from the Hautpoul family, central of the affair at Rennes-le-Chateau.The Philadelphes of Narbonne & the Chefdebien family  

   •     The Marquis de Chefdebien founded this proto-Masonic society in the late 18th century.  

   •     His family had genealogical ties to the Hautpoul line of Rennes-le-Château — the very family Plantard and de Chérisey later roped into the “Saunière parchments.”         •     This overlap gave Plantard a ready-made bridge between Masonry and the Rennes legend.Vichy-Era Confiscated Archives  

   •     Under Marshal Pétain, Freemasonry was outlawed and its archives seized (from 1941 onward). 

 •     These included extensive records of Memphis-Misraïm and other fringe rites. 

    •     According to John Saul, Plantard (possibly via Henry Coston) may have had access to these confiscated archives at the Centre d’Action et de Documentation in Paris.  

   •     This could explain why Plantard had knowledge of obscure Masonic/occult material that seems disproportionate for his age and background. 

The Blending of Masonic Lore with Christian Mysticism  

   •     Freemasonry often blends Biblical symbolism with esoteric cosmology.     •     Plantard absorbed this, then repurposed it into a Catholic-esoteric synthesis: the Priory of Sion presented itself as both a mystical order and a guardian of a “Christian bloodline.”  

   •     His quote about Canopus as the sublime eye of the architect is pure Masonic-style cosmic allegory — showing how stellar myth was reframed in esoteric terms.Influence of Esoteric/Occult Masonry on Alpha Galates 

    •     Plantard’s wartime group, Alpha Galates, imitated Masonic-style structures: hierarchical grades, initiations, and lofty titles (e.g., “Druidic Majesty”).   

  •     This suggests that he didn’t just read Masonic material but actively modeled his organizations on its framework.  

   •     The work of Paul LeCour 

In short: Plantard was influenced most directly by the Egyptian rites (Memphis-Misraïm), the Narbonne Philadelphes/Chefdebien family link, and wartime access to Masonic archives. These gave him mythic material (Ormus, Egypt, Templars), genealogical connections (Hautpoul–Rennes), and structural models (degrees, grades, orders). He then hybridised this with Catholic-esoteric mysticism to forge the Priory of Sion.