#sainteloi

During a holiday to Rouen in France I noted the reference to an old temple place on the city centre map in our rented apartment. Knowing that names historically bearing the word temple are all referencing an ancient link to Templarism, I made  visiting the location a priority of my stay.

I expected to find some evidence of perhaps a what could have been an ancient Templar castle or keep, likely long ruined or unrecognisable, particularly because of the French King’s determination to eradicate the legacy of the Templars.

I was surprised and very impressed to find a fully intact temple, Temple Saint Eloi.

A church was built on a island in the Seine from approximately July 5th 1228

The 5th of July is the birthday date of Mayan ruler Ahkal Mo' Naab' I in the year 465 and perhaps an early indication of an ancient heritage to the location. It is also a date associated with the celebration of St Modwenna, who founded Burton Abbey in Staffordshire in England in the 7th century. 

St Modwenna’s legacy is intriuging and mystical, shrouded in myth perfect for an older association with the beliefs and knowledge that inspired Templarism and Gnosticism. St Modwenna is believed to have lived to 130 years old and raised Saint Oswyth, daughter of  Wilburga, daughter of the pagan King Penda of Mercia. A medieval Anglo-Norman text tells of how Alfred the Great personally knew St Modwenna, although he reigned some 200 years later, supporting the belief of her extended life or perhaps that she shared knowledge that lead to a transference of her spirit.

St Oswyth’s mother, Wilburg was the daughter of King Penda, a son of Pybba of Mercia and said to be an Icling, with a lineage purportedly extending back to pre-Christian, pre-Roman, Norse mythological God Wōden. Perhaps this lineage, associations and miracles support further the understanding and sharing of great knowledge and power which has been overshadowed by doctrine, Christianity and the regal establishments crusade for unchallenged power.

The miracle that most caught my attention was perhaps the application of this ancient family power, tutored under the direction of St Modwenna in that after her execution St Oswyth stood up, picking up her head like Saint Denis in Paris, and other cephalophoric martyrs and walked with it in her hands, to the door of a local convent, before collapsing there. The legends of cephalophores miraculously walking with their heads in their hands may be related to the Celtic cult of heads.

The discovery of the temple is started with a view of the a great West window with a clearly marked great heptagram, with a heptagram at its centre. 

The central heptagram resembles a star at the centre of a sun, perhaps a child within a God.

Within the heptagram is a flower, representative of femininity and lining the perimeter are hearts to indicate love and the sacred heart.

The dedication of the temple to Saint Eloi is perhaps most poignant as he is predominantly recognised as the patron saint of goldsmiths and this could indicate that this temple, close to the banks of the Seine in an important river shipping city, was perfectly placed for moving Templar wealth in and out of Paris. This may even have been a location for the evacuation of Templar gold and treasure just prior to the issue of the arrest warrant.

On the North side of the temple is another beautiful window featuring hearts and flames appearing to grow from the structure of the window frame and in the wood paneled door below a subtle hexagram, the star of creation in Christianity. The Seal of Soloman is representative of the path to higher spirituality.

Further indication of the influence and inspiration of Templarism is the decorative stone features, including the long reaching gargoyles and the flying buttresses, somewhat reminiscent of other inspired works of stonemasonry of the same period and influence, namely Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.

The work is signed on the West facing wall by ‘Barbe’, a family of glass painters whose legacy became legendary in Rouen, it is likely that these windows were completed later in the Temple’s life most likely when it was rebuilt in the 16th century.

Further evidence of the influence of the Templars on Rouen can be found on Rue du Gros Horloge. Les Gros Horloge is one of the oldest in France and although it was constructed in 1389, there are a significant number of Templar inspired features.

It is so much more than a timepiece, it also indicates the phase of the moon by the representation at its top and the days of the week in the dial at its base.

More significantly below this in the peak of the arch is an interesting combination of symbols.

The red heart is representative of the heart of Jesus or the love of Jesus and there is a direct relationship between this and the secret knowledge or powers that inspired Templarism.

The sheep represents spiritual living, community or followers and being inside the heart this would represent the followers or community of Jesus. It also represents Jesus as the lamb of God, the self sacrifice of faith.

The sheep has a halo of the Templar cross and carries a cross with a banner hung from it, representing the religious crusade of the Templars and their protection of Christianity through battle and occupation of Holy sites, which ultimately contributed to their understanding or a great and secret knowledge.

The baby cherubs as humans are representative of humanity and the original meaning of a cherub was for the protection of the Garden of Eden a symbol of the garden of human and religious origin and the interconnective balance of humans and nature.

This depiction is beautifully sculptured in the stone beneath the clocktowers arch. A haloed shepherd, almost desperately hanging onto their staff with one hand is reaching down to feed a sheep grain from the open palm of their other.

The detail is superb, the shepherd features a whistle hanging around their neck.

The shepherd and their flock are in front of a detailed woodland, including even the detail of their secondary branches. They are at one within their natural surroundings.

The quality of the workmanship is reminiscent of the masterpieces of stonemasonary associated with the inspirations of Templarism and gnostic beliefs such as Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.

The inscription reads ‘animam suam dat pro ovibus suis’ which translates as ‘gives his life for his sheep’.This comes from the Gospel of John, and reads: Ego sum pastor bonus. Bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep." It is interesting that the piece ‘Bonus pastor’, ‘Good Shepherd’ is missing, perhaps deliberately as a message of perhaps this is a lost piece of the sculpture.

In the lower portion of the frieze there is further incredible detail in the township, complete with chateaux, a mill and a cottage in the woods. The trees of the landscape feature, natural flows of branches and foliage. The human working township, sheep, trees and undergrowth, all depicting the joint balance of life.

Master craftsmanship of stone masonary and art continue to surprise you as you are drawn to look closer and find new images within the undergrowth. Below you can see a close up of what could be a leaping hare or rabbit beside what appears to be the painted head of a rabbit, with even the downturned mouth. Does this indicate that this frieze was once decoratively painted, alive with colour?

Elsewhere there is what appears to a a distant perspective of a person either following a horse as it rears up on its hind legs or is the figure reaching upwards to stave off a rampant dragon?