The Portal: An Initiate's Journey into the Secret of Rennes-le-Chteau

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Clearly the author is knowledgeable in the spiritual side of life and the journey she, Patrice Chaplin took in Girona certainly must have been an overwhelming experience. I would say she probably had a lot more to say about her experiences and let the reader only glimpse into this adventure.

Overall, I found this book a good read - although the many excursion into the author's neurosis was often frustrating. But then it is a book about a personal journey so it comes with the territory and so I'm probably being a bit harsh I suppose.Before buying the book I read the reviews here and noted that the few who were negative seemed to me to lack the necessary insights of what the journey is all about. Perhaps there is a element of the Rennes le Chateau treasure seeker not really understanding what the true treasure really is.Like Jordi & Olga's review above, I have visited most of the sites mentioned in the book - although not all of them - albeit not as part of the private society "journey", but rather as a tourist over the decades.Likewise I, too, have been trained in the techniques of the inner journey and do not require to be in close physical proximity to a sacred site to activate inner experiences. In fact, I imagine that few initiates today need physical proximity anyway, as the world is less dense than perhaps it was in past times. These days people who have been trained can activate from a distance in their inner imagination and might only use a physical location as an imaginative focal point only, although for most I suspect the paths and spheres on the Qabbalistic Tree of Life replace the material geographical aspect anyway.In the last analysis, this book has helped clarify the Rennes le Chateau mystery for me by revealing some of its historical secrets, and for that I am grateful.

Seller was very, very obliging. Great service and good buy.

Hard to get into.

a great read if interested in Sacred Geometry, the Pyrenees both French and Spanish side, life and the Cosmos. Patrice Chaplin has done a great service in sharing her life and this particular experience with us. Difficult to put down

Very enjoyable read. Very interesting and informative. It made me want to visit The Frenchwoman's Garden in Girona. I look forward to reading more of this author's books.

The most interesting feature on this book for me is that the action takes place in my hometown. I can even follow as I please the different "points of power" as told in the book.Apart from that, the inner voyage of Ms Chaplin disguised as a pilgrimage around Girona and mount Canigou, is nothing new to me as I am used to work with the uncomfortable corners of my mind, although I do it without traveling around from one "point of power" to another.It would be an interesting plot for a movie, as well.The book is worth reading, well written and interesting enough, althoug the secrets-seeker will probably be disappointed.

Absolutely brilliant.spiritually enlightening.

Interesante viaje inciático que recorre el norte de Catalunya i el sud de Francia. La autora, Patrice Chaplin, sintetiza parte de un conocimiento "secreto" y lo desarrolla en el libro de forma muy interesante. No está traducido al español.

I studied Christian Origins for several years at the University of Toronto. Nothing regarding Rennes Le Chateau or the Holy Grail or anything to do with the Priory of Sion or any occultism or esotericism was even mentioned during all that time of reading related books, listening to professors lecture, nor discussions with the few peers I had. So for years I dismissed everything to do with these topics as basically meaningless fiction.That all changed when I read the book that really started it all: Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. It's a fascinating, scholarly exploration of all these areas and demonstrates that there really is something to all of this stuff in the Da Vinci Code. So it's appalling that none of these areas are even mentioned, let alone studied, in mainstream academic circles IE universities. With the massive success of the Da Vinci Code, what better way to re-invigorate interest in Christian origins than by offering courses devoted to any of these areas?Since I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail I've been hooked and have read many books on the topics the book explores. While reading the most recent related book ("Inside the Priory of Sion" by Robert Howells) I started to get the impression that this book (and probably all the books written on any of these topics) were written by people on the outside looking in, people who were talking the talk but not walking the walk, and were at best speculative inquiries solely based on the crumbs of information that have gradually leaked into the public domain about these topics in the past 50 years. None of these writers seemed to have had any first hand experience or direct knowledge of exactly what is "behind the veil" on any of these mysterious topics or about these secret societies. Consequently, their speculations (especially Howells' views on alchemy) were really just shots in the dark and therefore probably having little or nothing to do with the true reality of these mysteries. The only exception has been "The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau (Keys of Antiquity)" by Gerard de Sede, the author who also wrote "L'Or de Rennes", the single book that got Henry Lincoln on the path to eventually writing Holy Blood, Holy Grail.Having now read The Portal by Patrice Chaplin, my impression these books were written by outsiders was proven correct. In the documentary "Bloodline" we learned that secret information previously withheld from public view for decades, centuries or even millennia by these secret societies is gradually being released to the public, and in recent decades and especially recent years the pace this information is being released at is rapidly increasing. In the past 10 years alone we have witnessed critically important documents surface (I think no doubt as part of this controlled information release) that contain striking new information about Jesus and the origins of Christianity (most notably the Gospel of Judas, the Jordan Lead Codices, the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" (the Coptic fragment in which Jesus refers to Mary Magdalene as "my wife") and the findings of Ben Hammott detailed in Bloodline and his book "Lost Tomb Of The Knights Templar" which I still believe is authentic, despite Hammott's recanting of the work, probably at the behest of the Priory of Sion), all of which show there was much more to the Jesus story than we've been previously told by the New Testament and the Catholic Church and that basic facts about Jesus' life (his marital status, what happened during and after the crucifixion, and his teachings) have been suppressed.I believe The Portal is the latest instance of this acceleration of information release because the book is certainly a quantum leap on information never before seen publicly regarding Rennes Le Chateau and Berenger Sauniere.In this book we finally learn that Sauniere got his wealth from the Habsburg family, a name which will be familiar to Rennes Le Chateau enthusiasts, as are many other names mentioned in Chaplin's book. A major part of Sauniere's commission by the Habsburgs was re-building the tower that became known as the Tour Magdala. That re-built tower was to match an existing tower in Girona, Spain and both would be used to activate a portal on the peak of Mt. Canigou in France which lay directly on a straight line between the two towers (though Mt. Canigou is not equidistant between the two towers). Sauniere "first needed to copy the Girona tower in Rennes-le-Chateau exactly and at the exact energy pulse to activate a magnetic path and so mark the central point that previously had been accessible only to the initiated. Secondly, Sauniere had to understand and learn how to open this central point, which, thirdly, depended on his acquiring the ritual documents and the power to use them ... under these conditions, matter and spirit are apparently able to leave also re-enter our existence. The phenomenon allows contact with layers of realities beyond us and not normally within our reach. This point can reclaim the past existing on the etheric plane." This portal also allows people with sufficient preparation to peer into the future but requires preparation for the uninitiated before one can experience it. For this preparation 11 geographic sites are designated throughout France and Spain that one must travel to in sequence with a learned guide and with notes in hand written by previous travelers of this journey.Again and again, with me being highly familiar with the Rennes Le Chateau and Priory of Sion books out there, as I read The Portal I delighted in seeing the pieces of the puzzle really starting to fall into place about Sauniere and Rennes Le Chateau.One anecdote that really stood out was that Charlemagne was once a traveler on this same initiatic journey Chaplin undertakes. He was said (through a Cabalistic ritual) to have caused a sign of fire (reportedly a cross) appear over Girona, thereby scaring away the Moors who had been attacking Girona. When I read this I immediately thought of the cross in the sky witnessed by the Roman Emperor Constantine. Before the battle of the Milvian Bridge outside Rome in 312 A.D., Constantine claimed to have seen a cross of light in the sky with this inscription: IN HOC SIGNO VINCES or IN THIS SIGN CONQUER. He immediately had the Roman eagle replaced by the cross on his battle standards. This event caused his conversion to Christianity and was THE pivotal event in Christianity becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire and becoming what it is today and not one of the many forgotten religions buried through the centuries. Could the rise of Christianity have been caused by a Cabalistic ritual? If so, was it deliberately conjured by Cabala initiates to trick Constantine into conversion, or was it just one of the worst instances imaginable of something happening at the wrong place at the wrong time? Is there a connection with the phrase "In This Sign Conquer" and this Cabalistic ritual and clues left by Sauniere in his church designs? Questions for the next ardent Rennes Le Chateau researchers.Sadly, this book sheds no further light on anything regarding Jesus, the bloodline question or the extant replica of the Temple Of Solomon built beneath Rennes Le Chateau, although it does provide very interesting information about Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail. Further, Cocteau and Debussy (both held to be past Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion) are both mentioned in this book. Cocteau is repeatedly mentioned and Debussy is present at the garden recital by opera singer Emma Calve re-experienced by Chaplin as a vision of an event from the distant past, so there must be a connection between the "private society" of Girona and the Priory. What exactly that connection was is an open question that hopefully future authors examining the Priory will attempt to further uncover.The journey to the underground temple in Rennes Le Chateau is itself reputed to be an initiatic journey, perhaps not unlike the journey described in The Portal. We can only hope that in the near future another outsider will be introduced to and shepherded on that journey by an initiate and will record their story in the same way Chaplin has done with her amazing initiatic journey, a must read for anyone as fascinated by Rennes Le Chateau as I am.

Si te gusta el misterio y la magia te encantará . En la misma línea que “La ciutat dels secrets”.

I've been to Rennes-le-Chateau, read books about it, viewed documentaries on the subject of its mysteries, and I recall nowhere hearing about Girona. In this book, The Portal, author Patrice Chaplin reveals what appear to be crucial missing pieces in the puzzle, including the important role that Girona plays. Chaplin's story of her personal journey of discovery rings true. Neither she, nor her guide, nor the "custodian" of the secret society who drew her back again and again to Girona appear to be trying to make names for themselves or gain riches or sensationalize. Chaplin tells a meandering and often confusing story because that is how she experienced her journey. It's anything but neat, and she reveals herself in all her humanness--her fears and distrust, and her resistance, to the point of pettiness, to the necessary material and emotional hardships of of the journey. At times, I wanted to shout "Grow up!" Then I'd laugh and realize that I, too, can be incredibly petty at times and jealous and rebellious. I ended up deeply inspired to stay on my journey, facing up to and releasing, though grudgingly at times, my ego defenses and insecurities and self-doubts so that I, too, can become more free and able to do my part to tip the balance of the human experiment from driven by fear and greed to opened to love, truth, and grace. Thank you, Patrice Chaplin, for writing your story with such humility and honesty. May the time come soon when enough of us have freed ourselves from fear for the full secret to be revealed.

Charlie Chaplin's daughter-in-law has done it again. She has produced a sequel to her 2003 autobiographical City of Secrets, and it kept me on the edge of my chair. It's a book that grabbed me with its captivating, almost mesmerising effect. I could not put it down.The Portal picks up where her previous book left off, and goes into much greater depth with the story of her life since she first met her great love, José Tarres, in Girona, Spain in the 1950's.This time we find out what Holy Blood, Holy Grail's priest, Abbé Bérenger Saunière, was actually doing on his extended sojourns away from Rennes-le-Château. In City, we learned of his Cabalistic work with a secret group in Girona, but now we delve into the substance of his search and the search of a select group Chaplin calls "the custodians." Custodians of what?It seems that centuries ago different religious and mystical groups recognised Girona and the area of Catalonia around it as harbouring a number of planetary power points at intersections of ley lines.From very ancient times, the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Moors, Christians, Jews, and others venerated and practiced their rituals in the area, so it's not surprising that a great deal of psychic energy has built up there over time. Cabalists, especially, have found this earthly spot very powerful.Chaplin says, "In the twelfth century, a centre of Cabala was founded by a Jewish settlement that had existed in the province since the fourth century AD. The renowned scholar Gershom Scholem said this Girona School of Nachmanides was the most important in history." It is thought to be the location where the Zohar may have been written.We see a number of famous personalities passing though the area from time to time, and now we know why... folks like Salvador Dali, Umberto Eco, Jean Cocteau, opera singer Emma Calve, and many more. We find from Chaplin that not all were there to satisfy their curiosity. Over the years, certain more spiritually-minded seriously undertook what can be called a pilgrimage - a physical and experiential journey of psychological transformation.Patrice Chaplin was made privy to this, and because she wrote City of Secrets, she was chosen by the "custodians" to partake of the same pilgrimage. The Portal conveys in detail what she remembers of that journey.Her guide, Liliane, who appears to be an advanced initiate of Girona's present day esoteric Cabala group, is a stern but understanding director of Chaplin's adventures. She even carries with her a notebook with copies of written records recounting the journeys of others who were guided on the same "path" through the Catalan countryside, including Chaplin's lover José and Abbé Saunière. We learn of their doubts and frustrations at the conditions and questions their guides imposed as we experience the doubts and frustrations of Chaplin herself.Although the Cabalistic Tree of Life is not mentioned by name, the route she takes, walking and sometimes driving, consists of 11 locations corresponding to the 11 Sephiroth of the Tree, and also corresponding to 11 stars in the constellation Canis Major, The Great Bear, as well as 11 squares in what is called the Venus Magic Square.At one extremity of the route is Girona, at the other is Rennes-le-Château, and between those two is the sacred Mt. Canigou, the strongest power point on the journey. Each site has attributed to it qualities, influences, elements, angelic beings, dimensions, numbers, colours, and symbols that reinforce the transformative process as one passes through.It turns out Saunière was instructed to build his Magdalene Tower at Rennes as a copy of a very similar tower which used to exist until recent times in Girona. He faithfully accomplished this task, and the two towers stood as north (Rennes) and south (Girona) ends on an axis with Mt. Canigou as a focal point in the middle between them. Canigou, we find, is the most powerful "portal" and the final visit on the journey.Just what is a "portal"? Let me quote some of what Liliane says to Chaplin: "Portals are in precise places at various locations on this planet. They can be approached by those sufficiently initiated to recognise the vibration and to match the resonance. A portal to the average eye is invisible. It is a passage beyond the five dimensions we know; ....Portals are not all the same.... Portals contain all that has been and all that will be."We follow Chaplin on a kind of "roller coaster ride" as she is induced to shed her layers of conditioning and surrender her lifelong habits. She learns, for instance, that her morning cups of coffee are not necessary to her real well-being. She is able to fast for certain periods. She finds her physical endurance is greater than she thought. As she proceeds, she acquires new sources of energy and perceives familiar locations in entirely new ways, as if a veil is lifted from her. She becomes increasingly sensitive. She observes that even the stones of certain buildings house power. And, as she takes on the practices Liliane gives her, she receives new understanding of life. Nothing is as it seemed to her before.While Liliane remains her guide in this earthly realm, the enigmatic figure of "The Lady with the Cup" becomes her inner guardian as Chaplin goes "Walking with the Great Bear" or "Treading the Seven Stars," and we see the step by step transformation of her being. She finds herself not as rigid and resistant as she begins to go with the flow of her journey. At times we, as she, do not know if she is dreaming or not, but it makes little difference because it's the transformative process that is important. She even finds from her visions she may have been a character in history in this same Catalan location.As Chaplin passes through one "doorway" after another, she gains further insight, leading to the final "portal" atop the great mountain. And, at various times throughout her trip, the sound of the mysterious musical note F-sharp seems to reinforce her ascension as it subtly changes the material world around her.While she learns the Cabalistic meaning of numbers and patterns and symbols like the "beheaded pyramid," such knowledge appears not to be an end in itself but part of a ritual path to higher understanding and a gateway to supernatural realms.In the final analysis, we learn, as does Chaplin, that it is the pilgrimage that counts, not the destination. If we are truly on the journey, we will be met at the doorway and help will be given to us.- This review first appeared in New Dawn magazine issue #123