by Philip Coppens
from
PhilipCoppens Website
There was a “movement” named AGLA,
about which we know very little. As a secret society, it maintained
its nature very well. On first appearance, it seems they were an
underground movement that was not very active. However, this is a
dubious statement to make: as they were little known, bluntly
suggesting they were not very active is dangerous, owing to the fact
that we do not know anything about them, which means we know nothing
about their activities or frequency thereof either.
Robert Ambelain defines AGLA as an autonomous society and firmly
closed. He suggests that rather than a subgroup, they were in fact
the group behind a more visible organization, like for example, the
organization led by another priest, Nicholas Montfaucon de Villars,
author of “Count de Gabelis”, subtitled “The Extravagant
Mysteries of the Cabalists, expounded in Five pleasant Discourses on
the Secret Societies.”
The book which appeared in 1670, was a
treatise on the occult and elemental sex magic, assuring its ban in
France, even though it sold out several editions in the first few
months. Nevertheless, it had no known author, until Montfaucon’s
name was advanced. He was a well-known figure, a “Libertin”, an
intellectual whose ideas were deemed dangerous both for the church
and the king. In March 1673, De Villars was murdered by a rifle
bullet, near Lyons. His murder was never solved, but René Nelli
believes that Montfaucon de Villars had been assassinated, possibly
because in his book, he had revealed “too much”.
Villars wrote on
the topic of,
“the great name of AGLA, which
operates all these wonders, at the same time as it is called
upon by the ignoramuses and the sinners, and who would do many
more miracles in a Kabbalistic fashion”.
What could this secret be that had to be
protected at all cost, even with the life of this priest? This
question remained unanswered, but raises another, almost identical
one: what could be the secret that had to be protected at all cost,
even with the life of the priest Antonin Gélis? No answer has ever
been provided for his murder either. That murder occurred on the
evening of 31st October, 1897, in his presbytery. Newspaper accounts
relate how Gélis was found lying in a pool of blood, his arms placed
on his belly, but his legs in an awkward position, with one leg
firmly underneath the body. He had suffered 14 blows to the head,
fracturing his skull and even making the brain visible.
There were further minor injuries on the
rest of his body. Gélis had locked up the night before and it was
known he never let anyone in at night, unless he knew the person
visiting. With no signs of a break-in, it is clear that Gélis let
his murderer in – and was thus familiar with him. The murderer
killed the priest, but did not steal anything of value. Although
cabinets had been gone through and some documents had been stolen,
nothing of value, including 500 Francs, had been taken. Newspaper
reports spoke of a “masked intruder” who had also broken into the
presbytery many years before and had got away with certain papers.
He was never found and now history was repeating itself and no-one
was ever charged with the murder.
One organization known as AGLA was not esoteric at all. That
AGLA
was, from its inception, only intended to attract invited members
from the publishing industry: booksellers, printers, etc. The
presence of a Rabelais, Nicholas Flamel, Sebastien Greif,
Montfaucon
de Villars would therefore not seem odd – neither would the
booksellers of Lyons, who bought Saunière’s books. According to
Robert Ambelain, AGLA also attracted the makers of the first sets of
Tarot cards.
There is AGLA, but there is also A.G.L.A. – written with all capital
letters punctuated by a point. In this interpretation, “AGLA” would
not be one word, but the abbreviation of four words. It is clear
that this approach would be a clever “trick” – a smokescreen. For
all intents and purposes, any observer would read AGLA or A.G.L.A.
as an incorrect rendering of Agla – a society which had no esoteric
connections whatsoever. Even if someone felt that A.G.L.A. could not
be an error, but meant something else, there was no way for that
person to know what each letter stood for – unless he had powerful
computers at his disposal, or, more likely, came across someone who
“knew”.
So what might A.G.L.A. stand for? One proposed reading is
Attâh, Gibbor, Leholâm, Adonâi:
“Thou art strong for ever, O Lord”.
Actually, many people in Germany thought it stood for
“Almachtiger Gott Losch Aus!”
It is said to contain all the letters of
the Kaballah. Tradition has it that the Divine Power resides
within this simple set of four letters, containing at the same time
absolute knowledge, the science of Solomon and the Light of Abraham.
In other readings, it is the Secret or Hidden Name of God, so
cherished by the Kaballists, but also other esoteric traditions,
including the Freemasons. The question arises, therefore, as to
whether Saunière’s remotely guided steps were to direct him into
that direction?
The A.A. is a genuine organization – the very organization
that was identified as the one to which Henri Boudet, the
priest of Rennes-les-Bains, and Felix-Arsène Billard,
the bishop of Carcassonne, belonged. However, trying to find
information on the A.A. is next to impossible. We note that a
document was found, which listed Boudet and two bishops of
Carcassonne as members of this organization. This information was
given to us by Gérard Moraux de Waldan.
It seems that several movements, at least four to our knowledge,
claimed to be a part of this organization. However, although it was
certainly present in more than 39 areas of France, only the Toulouse
area seems to have had retained documents on the subject.
The general presentation of these little known groups shows a
structure established on secrecy, accompanied by an undeniable
spiritual improvement. At the time of the French Revolution, these
secret societies opposed a clergy managed by a civil Constitution.
One also finds their virulent action against the Napoleonic Regime
during the plundering of the Vatican archives, the general confusion
in Rome and the arrest of the pope.
According to Jean-Claude Meyer, in the Ecclesiastical
Bulletin of Literature,
“The study of the AA of
Toulouse, founded into the 17th century, forms part
of the understanding of the more general movement of spiritual
and apostolic reform of the clergy of France at that time.
Beyond rules which appear out of date today, the history of this
AA reveals the spirit of a sacerdotal fraternity lived by
the fellow-members: thus is explained its exceptional longevity,
one which will see the positive effects during the decade of the
Revolution.”
There is also the work of Count
Bégouin who, in 1913, presented one of rare works on the subject
in the form of a work entitled:
-
UNE SOCIETE SECRETE
EMULE DE LA COMPAGNIE DU SAINT-SACREMENT
L’AA DE TOULOUSE
AUX XVIIe et XVIIIe SIECLES
D’APRES DES DOCUMENTS INEDITS
-
A SECRET SOCIETY
EMULATING THE COMPANY OF THE SACRED SACRAMENT
THE AA OF TOULOUSE
FROM THE XXVII and XVIII CENTURY
ACCORDING TO UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
On the bottom of the title page is the
address of the “editors”, set in two columns:
• on the left: “PARIS, Auguste
Picard, rue Bonaparte 81”
• on the right-hand side: “TOULOUSE, Edouard Privat, rue des
Arts, 14”.
At the bottom of the last page of text
(page 131), is the identity of the printer:
“Toulouse, Imp. Douladoure -
Privat, rue St Rome, 30–678.”
Count Bégouin himself admits that
there are difficulties when he tries to base his argument on
previously unpublished documents, which are, of course, essential
for his work. These documents were extremely difficult to find,
although apparently some were said to exist in the region of Lyons
and Vienna, at the beginning of this century.
The starting point of Bégouin’s quest is the Parliamentary Decree of
13th December, 1660, marking the dissolution of the “Compagnie
de St-Sacrement”. It also stated that it was now forbidden “to
all people to make any assemblies, neither brotherhoods,
congregations or communities” anywhere in France “without the
express permission of the King”.
During the 17th century, the Compagnie de St Sacrement
was a genuine movement which seems to have gone against the French
King. It actually involved his mother, Anne of Austria, who seems to
have plotted on the side of the conspirators, a group of people
including Nicolas Pavillon, Vincent de Paul and, it seems, the
Fouquet family. The statutes of the Compagnie stated that its sole
goal was the “maintenance of the secret”. But the French king came
down hard on the organization, and on any future attempt to
reorganize it.
However, it seems that the AA’s original
role was to perpetuate the Compagnie, to maintain “the secret” – and
to make sure that this time, the powers that were, could not stop
them.
Curiously, one of the first documents to use the term A and
AA, was
published by Mr. Lieutaud, a librarian in Marseilles. It was in the
reproduction of a report of 1775, on the AA of that city, written by
its president, with the complete order of what was known as a “Société”.
The title does not match up with the contents. It is curious that in
a total of 16 pages, there is no reference to details of printing or
the publisher. It is known as “A and AA, Preamble of a Future Encyclopaedia of Provence”.
It is difficult to understand the
relationship between the AA and an encyclopaedia of Provence,
however glorious its scenery is perceived to be. The same can be
said of another booklet, again without any references, entitled
“French history by a Carthusian monk”. Two further works on the same
topics would follow.
At this stage, two points demand our attention. First is the
question as to how a librarian can publish books which lack all
references; it is the very opposite of what his job description
entails. Furthermore, as Bégouin himself stated, the titles are “odd
and disconcerting”. Any normal search in a library would fail to
come up with these booklets, except for someone who knew what he was
looking for.
But even stranger collections would be published:
“A secret society of
ecclesiastics in the seventeenth and eighteenth century -
AA Cléricale - its history, its statutes, its mysteries”, with
the epigraph: ‘Secretum prodere noli.’ To
Mysteriopolis, with Jean de l’Arcanne, librarian
of the Company, rue des trois cavernes, at Sigalion, in the
back of the shop. MDCCCXCIII - with permission.”
On the back of the page, it reads:
“100 copies printed – none will
be sold.”
The reference is so enigmatic that you
might suspect you had become a character in a detective novel! The “with
permission” reference is just one in a long series of incredible
details. Is it a hoax? A joke? Have these documents been falsified,
as has been the case in some instances in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château?
However, the booklet does exist and the reader will find that there
is an accompanying document at the end of the collection.
Our librarian Lieutaud never betrayed his sources, except to state:
“By ways that were both multiple and
unexpected, the original parts that were used to compose this
work fell into my hands. We are not authorized to say it, and
thanks to God, though we never belonged to any AA, we know to
maintain its secrecy.”
There is little else, except some
throwaway sentences:
“Knowing how jealously the last
owners took care of these invaluable papers, keeping them
contained and hidden, allows me suppose that, as for the Company
of the Blessed Sacrament, we are far from knowing all the places
where these files lie.”
On page 20, it explains that in
Toulouse, it had access to the files of the AA, which had more than
1,300 names of ecclesiastics from the Toulouse region who were
members.
This was not the only book of its kind. There was another such
document printed in Lyons, at Baptiste de Ville, rue Mercière, in
1689. The book is extremely rare and unknown to bibliographers, just
like yet another book, dated to 1654, which is intended “for a
restricted number of initiates, those that belonged to the small
group of elected officials comprising the AA”.
The reason for the choice of AA or A.A. as the title is never
explained in the documents. It is argued that it comes from the
expression “Associatio Alicorum”. Others say it comes from taking
the two A’s from AssociAtion, and to present them in a
similar way to those that appear in certain alchemical writings such
as AAA, for the term “AmAlgAmer”, i.e. removing the
consonants to keep only the vowels. If that were the case, such
coding is contrary to Egyptian or Kabbalistic writings, where
normally, the vowels are removed and the consonants kept, e.g. YHWH rather than
Yahweh – which
would be AE if the “vowel-retention cipher” had been used.
Bégouin himself believed that the AA should for “Amis” and
“Assemblies”, Assembled Friends, thus summarizing the spirit of this
company. Another assumption advanced by Lietaud is that AA stood for
“Association Angelica” – the organization which, according to some,
was related to “AGLA”.
One of the few letters sent by the AA does have the heading:
J. M. J. A. C., which are the initials of: Jesus, Maria,
Joseph, Angeli
Custodes, i.e. Custodian Angels. This is an intriguing analysis.
It seems to identify the AA somehow as being “Guardian Angels” of a
“secret” that was at the heart of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement,
and its successor, the AA. Perhaps the AA is the
Association of Angels?
The rule of the “secret” was absolute and without exemption.
Admittedly, for certain researchers within this framework, the
“secret” was simply that of the “good deeds performed under
religious initiative”. But what is secret about “doing good”? If
“good things” had to be kept secret, there are normally very good
reasons for it – and the “good deeds” would not be of the everyday
variety that you might do on weekends or weekday mornings in the
church, those normally practiced by elderly men and women, who are
“doing good” for the community.
Instead, the AA says:
“It is thus essential to maintain
our secrecy. Reveal it to no-one, neither to the most intimate
friends, nor to the dearest parents, not even to the most
trustworthy confessor. Why would one speak with the confessor
about it? In a project of this nature, that the only natural
lights come from the Father of Light, a similar confidence was
never necessary; it would always be imprudent and often contrary
to the existence or the propagation of our AA. Outside of the
assemblies, the fellow-members will behave together as though no
secret bond linked them. No sign, no word to make anyone
suspect. In their letters, if they happen to mention the AA, it
should only be in the shortest and most general terms possible.
The AA will never be named, either in the letters, or in
ordinary conversations. Those who have some papers relating to
our Association on their premises, will preserve them with care
and under key.”
Surely this is not “just” so that no-one
would know when the next cake stall is on – or what profit margin
there was on the second hand books sale? These rules are similar to
those of other secret societies, or societies, which require
initiation. It could be that of a Masonic lodge, as they could still
be found at the beginning of the 20th century. But
whereas the secrecy of a Masonic lodge these days is a matter of
form, it seems clear that the AA is serious. The secrecy
instilled in their members is more along the lines of an
intelligence agency rather than a brotherhood of mutually interested
individuals.
But the question is whether the AA is a secret society, or a
discreet society. In the documents of the AA, the rules
relating to the secret start from page 71 onwards.
There is mention of a password, how to
envisage the self-destruction of the cell, to destroy all traces of
its existence, to pass from action to silence if there is the
slightest doubt. You can wonder whether terrorist organizations
practice such a level of secrecy. This type of moral convention is
of such an inconceivable rigor that the only framework in which this
document could come about is that of a fanatical sect… or of a
movement that was elected to safeguard a frightening secret.
It is difficult to believe that within the Church, there would be a
company, made up of monks, that could impose such injunctions to
protect themselves if their only goal was prayers, benevolence or
charity. After all, “doing good” has always been out in the open;
“doing bad” is normally done in secret.
There is another intriguing aspect to the AA. Under certain
conditions, it allowed the admission of women from exclusively
female congregations. Furthermore, laymen could, under very strict
conditions, be accepted too. According to the type of members, they
were distributed over several “congregations”. For the Seminarists,
the AA rule envisaged a type of ante-room, called “Small
Company”. In this, the future priests were allowed to meet, without
ever knowing the “active members” of the brotherhood. As in all
other brotherhoods, there were several levels, or grades, in the
hierarchy. No doubt, the lower echelons had no idea what the higher
ranks were up to – as is the case in any hierarchical organization,
whether a business organization or a secret society.
Even so, at this stage it is still possible to consider that we are
talking about a congregation, though of a very exceptional severity,
reserved for a kind of religious elite… yet without being able to
accept or acknowledge that it could be something else – something
more obscure – secret.
Yet, that this is the case, is argued by the document itself:
“At the same time, behind this
congregation or visible company, there was another occult one.
It was the true AA, whose existence was a mystery and the
name of the members an even greater mystery still. There were
several political characters among them. The meetings were
secret and certain members, in particular Prince de Polignac,
only went to them in disguise. For on being allowed into this
association, it was necessary to swear to absolute secrecy, to
promise a blind obedience with passwords which no-one else
knew.”
Prince Jules de Polignac (1780 -
March 29, 1847) was a French statesman, who played a conspicuous
part in the clerical and ultra-royalist reaction after the
Revolution. If he attended such meetings, then it is clear that they
were important – and controversial. If we place Saunière in the same
environment, then we find a solid reason why he felt he could never
divulge the origins of his income – not to his bishop, or to anyone
else. He had sworn himself to it – to protect “the secret”. Although
it might seem bizarre that a small village priest should become a
member of such a notorious organization, he was a priest – somehow
predisposed towards joining the AA – and a discovery in his
church might have propelled him to the forefront of their attention
– and their cash flow.
It is clear that if Boudet and Billard were members of
this organization – and the evidence suggests they were – then they
too would be part of this secret brotherhood. It would seem that de
Beauséjour was not…
The AA is the best candidate for the framework in which Saunière and his closest allies operated; membership of the
AA could explain the extreme level of secrecy that Saunière
adhered to – at the same time being instructed on how to
maintain that secrecy so that his “double life” would never be
known…
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