Abbé Boullan
When Vintras died in 1875 the Abbé Boullan,
a defrocked priest, also a supporter of the Naundorff claim, became his successor at Lyon. Previously, at La Salette he met
the nun Adele Chevalier, a friend of the visionary Melanie Calvat. Boullan formed an intimate relationship with Adele drawing
accusations of strange sexual activities. Melanie is said to have revealed the secret of La Salette to Adele, with whom she
had set up the Order of the Mother of God. She and Boullan set up the `Society for the Reparation of Souls’ with a view
to “curing devilish illnesses”. Condemned by the Catholic Church he was imprisoned for three years, but on his
release returned to the mission of curing spells.
His own writings show that Boullan was indeed participating in depraved
sexual activity that was found to be unacceptable to most of the occult world. In fact after a meeting with Boullan in 1886,
Peladan’s colleague, da Guiata, reported that he (Boullan) had fallen deeply into error.
But despite his reputation
for sexual and other bizarre practices, Boullan is best known for his “Law of Sacred Regeneration”, which is more
or less identical to the theory of Reintegration found at the heart of Martinism.
Boullan’s biographer, Joanny Bricaud,
wrote “Since the Fall from grace resulted from an illicit act of love, the Redemption of Humanity can only be achieved
through acts of love accomplished in a religious manner”. It was believed that “guilty love must be combated through
pure love, through a sexual approach, but in a heavenly manner, to the spirits in order to raise onself: this is the union
of wisdom”.
Interestingly in 1908, Bricaud was appointed patriarch of the Universal Gnostic Church and by 1918, also
became head of Papus’ Martinist Order.
So we have seen that at their heart, Martinism,
the Gnostic Church and the Luciferian tradition share common beliefs: beliefs that may not necessarily be in conflict with
a loose interpretation of Catholic dogma, especially to the questioning intellectual priest. The conflict arose not in the
teachings but in the methods. The Catholic Church believed Man’s Salvation lay in the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion,
Confession, Repentance etc., that could only be received from the Catholic Church. Whereas for the Gnostic, it was believed
that the only way for Man to return to the state of grace he enjoyed before the Fall, was through true Gnosis and by confronting
and working through his natural earthly sexual instinct.
Though at the present time there is no hard
evidence to place Saunière in this Esoteric and Gnostic world, it is certainly not improbable. On balance, the facts presented
here show that this possibility does enjoy much credibility.
But the ultimate question for Rennes researchers still remains.
What was the true nature of Saunière’s relationship with his house-keeper Marie Denarnaud, who refused to speak about
such matters?
Whether there was an esoteric dimension to the
relationships between Jules Bois and Emma Calve or even between the notorious Joseph Boullan and Adele Chevalier, we might
probably never know. But it is possible that however misguided they were, they shared the aim of Reintegration: the return
to a state of perfect grace. Was this in fact the basis for the protracted and loyal relationship between Saunière and Marie?
Is it not possible that they were imitating the ultimate relationship, as suggested in the Gnostic Gospels, that of his lord,
Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, His most beloved disciple and the repentant sinner?
1839 l'Oeuvre
de la Miséricorde / Church of Carmel
Pierre-Eugène-Michel
Vintras (1807-1875) claimed a great vision in
which the
archangel Michael appeared as well as the Holy Ghost,
St.Joseph,
and the Virgin Mary. In this vision (or "visions") the
coming of
the Paraclete was formally declared. Vintras also stated
he was informed
that he was the reincarnated prophet Elijah who
would establish
a new religious order to proclaim the coming of the
Paraclete
/ the age of the holy ghost. It is also interesting to
know that
Vintras stated that he was told that Charles Naundorf was
the ' true
king of France'. It is generally known that several of
the well-known
French and Belgian occultists of the first half of
the 20th
century were "Naundorfists."
It appears
that Vintras believed that his form of ministry was a
renewal
of the Catholic Tradition. Vintras' publications, as for
instance
his book "Evangeli Éternel", are written in the tradition
of the Roman-Catholic
Church. Most of the members of Vintras' cult
considered
themselves as "faithful Christians". His Holy Mass was
identical
to the Roman Catholic one, the controversy about Vintras
concerned
his "gifts". The "bleeding hosts", the seances with the
Saints and
the Holy Virgin etc. led to the opposition against
Vintras'
cult, including the Pope's ban. Vintras' circle also
incorporated
the aspect of the 'Black Madonna' into their
doctrines.The
'Naundorf-aspect' could be another reason for the
opposition
against Vintras. Vintras also apparently attracted other
small movements
which later merged with the Church of Carmel . One
of these
groups were "the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine",
established
in 1838 by the three brothers Baillard, all Priests. The
brothers
set up two 'religious houses' , 1) at St.Odile in Alsace,
2) at Sion-Vaudemont
in Lorraine. Their doctrines were similar to
those of
Vintras, including the emphasis on the coming of the Holy
Spirit.
"The Brothers of the Christian Doctrine" attracted great
support,
and it is said that this support included that of
the 'House
of Habsburg' (source unknown).
Another controversial character of the movement is the priest Joseph-
Antoine
Boullan (1824-1893), who is probably better known as the
Abbé de
Boullan. Boullan became 'active' in the 1850's when he
founded
the "Society for the Reparation of Souls" together with a
former nun,
Adele Chevalier. It is stated by the general sources
that Boullan
'specialized' in "excorcising demons by unconvential
means".
After his conviction for fraud and serving his time in jail,
at which
he was suspended from his priestly duties, Boullan
voluntarily
presented himself at the Holy Office (i.e. the
Inquisition)
in Rome, which reversed its former decision. Boullan's
doctrines
were written in Rome at the time, and this notebook became
known as
the "Cahier Rose",
which was later found by the novelist
Joris Karl
Huysmans after Boullan's death in 1893. The "Cahier Rose"
apparently
was locked away in the Vatican Library, after being
described
as a "shocking document". There are sources that claim
that Boullan
was 'protected by the Church' and infiltrated Vintras'
cultus "with
the sole object of bringing it down".
Boullan
apparently met Vintras shortly before the latter's death in
1875. At
the time Boullan claimed to be the reincarnated St.John the
Baptist
(but this proclamation was done after Vintras death,
obviously).
Boullan joined Vintras' "Church of Carmel" and became
its leader
when Vintras died. Shortly thereafter a schism ensued,
because
most of the members refused to accept Boullan's supremacy. A
few followed
Boullan's splintergroup which remained active until
Boullan's
death in 1893. Around 1889 Boullan's group
was 'infiltrated'
by Stanislas de Guaita and Oswald Wirth. De Guaita
published
an exposé, titled "Le Temple de Satan". This work belonged
to De Guaita's
"Essais de sciences maudites", which consisted of
four publications,
published between 1886 and 1897 ( see "1888
OKR+C").
It is generally assumed that Boullan's sect used a rite
derived
from a 18th century printing of "Cult des Goules". Boullan
is portrayed
in J.K.Huysman's "La Bas" as Dr.Johannes ( the
novel "La Bas" can be found at: http://www.huysmans.org.uk/ ), "The
French occultist
would probably have remained, virtually unknown to
the world
at large if it wasn't for the work of J.K. Huymans "
The "Church
of Carmel" was probably not a formal church, it appears
that there
was no strict hierarchy nor leadership. Vintras was no
Patriarch
nor Bishop of the 'Church'. Vintras did appointed several
so-called
"Pontifs Divins", with each 'Pontif' leading a group or
community.
According to Terje Dahl Bergerson (e-mail on the "Eglise
Vintrasienne",
July, 2000) men like the Abbé Boullan, Abbé Roca and
Louis Van
Haeckel were ordained Pontifs Divins in the "Elie
Carmel ".
After Vintras' death these men, and probably others,
established
their own communities on the model of the Carmelite
Order. Several
of these groups developed their own theology. "Some
of those
who followed Van Haeckel developed a rather darker view of
things and
apparently associated themselves with certain occultists
who believed
in the efficacy and correctness of Black Magic - they
also developed
a Luciferian Theology". Bergerson corrects "his"
vision in
a later email-correspondence by stating that the
information
(on Boullan, Roca en Van Haeckel) is probably unreliable
by stating
: "Luciferian Theology sounds omnious as well. In view of
both the "heterodox" spirit of the specifically Gnostic
esoteric
orientation(s)
(my view, not necessarely shared by any other
contemporary
Gnostic) and our modern ideals of Humanism, certain
interpretations
of the *myth* of Lucifer, or at least the biblical
occurance
(2 places??? Isaiah and Revelation?) of Lucifer and
consequent
speculation - wouldn´t be so "dark" by far. I now rather
think that
Haeckel and Boullean, like Huysmans and Levi on the
outside,
only contributed to the history of the order(s) in the
capacity
of stirring up public awareness towards the *existence* of
these for
posterity.
Furthermore
Bergerson also mentions another descendent of
Vintras'
"Work of Mercy", John Kowalski (+1941), who continued
Vintras'
work in the "Order Maria Vitae". The Order caused as much
controversy
as Vintras had done before Kowalski, by introducing
certain
ideas as the abolition of celibacy among the Clergy, nuns
and monks
etc. The Maria Vitae Order has its own church, "Eglise
Vielle Catholique
Maria Vitae". The "Carmel Elie" affiliation
descends
from Feliksa Magdalen Kozlowskaya (+1912), who
apparently
'initiated' Kowalski into the ideals and workings of
the "Carmel
Elie", which had its "headquarters" at the beginning of
the 20th
century in Warsaw, Poland, thus Terje Dahl Bergerson.
Finally
Bergerson mentions another interesting Polish "Gnostic"
mystic, Maria Naglowska (+ early
1900's). Naglowska apparently knew
Pascal Beverly
Randolph, with whom she had some 'working
relationship'
of some kind. She was a charismatic mystic
('channeling'
or 'attunement" with the Virgin) who had
some "connection
to an underground dissenting church, in the company
of a 19th
century Magus" . I can add to Bergerson's information that
In 1931
she eventually published Randolph's "Magia Sexualis". She is
also mentioned
in the history of the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua,
where she
allegedly studied Voodoo with some of Jean-Maine's
disciples
from 1921 until 1930.
