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The Clues in Message 1
A more involved explanation of how clues were solved and then used to find the second part of the message will appear in my book but here is a brief outline on what we did.
Message 1 images and information HERE
I was accompanied and helped by Sandy Hamblett and Bill Kersey. The measuring out and discovery was filmed by the Bloodline film company.
Clues leading to Message 2 (part pixilated)
There were two parts to the clues leading to the second part of the message.
Part 1 Clues
These clues told us that we would need to use the figure of Mary Magdalene from the porch as our starting point, from which we then took measurements and compass bearings to and between certain objects in Saunière's church garden.
Mary Magdalene porch Statue
Notice the unusual way she is holding the cross, as if pointing to something.
Part 2 Clues
I have Sandy to thank for solving the second section of clues as it was she that thought of the Source de Magdalene in Rennes-les-Bains. As soon as she said this location I knew it had to be correct. The first message was found by the Devil's Armchair, also in Rennes-les-Bains and only a short distance away from the Source de Magdalene. Also there was a similar source of water by the Devil's Armchair, the Source of the Circle, it all seemed to fit the clues exactly.
The importance of finding this location was so the measurements we had taken from the church garden could be laid from the Source de Magdalene in Rennes-les-Bains. The source would be our starting point here just like the Mary Magdalene porch statue was our starting point in Saunieres church garden.
The Jerusalem Cipher
Jerusalem Cipher from message 1 (part pixilated)
Though we only found out afterwards, the drawing appearing in message 1, which I have named the 'Jerusalem Cipher', is also a map showing the objects that are to be used in Saunieres church garden. Whoever had composed these messages had certainly put a lot of thought into them with many words, sentences or symbols, having many layers, each with a different meaning and I am still finding new information from them. Message 1 information HERE.
A Bottle Hunt
Source de Magdalene
After an unsuccessful search at the first location pointed to by the clue measurements I moved to the second location and though I was a little way off I did eventually discover a stone with markings.
The Mary Magdalene Stone
The markings were faint and it was only when the stone was washed with water did they become clear, revealing a 'B' and a wiggly 'S'. You can imagine our excitement at this discovery, if we found the stone we should be able to find the bottle, if it was a bottle we were being led to.
Having learnt my lesson from the previous stone, I left this one where it was and sighted along the arrow to see what it pointed at, I also took a compass bearing for future reference. Devil Stone information HERE
Me taking a compass reading in the direction of the arrow
The sight line of the arrow pointed at a group of rocks to the left and behind the Source da Magdalene.
(left) Line of sight from the stone arrow and (right) line of sight back towards the stone
Not sure where the arrow was indicating I look, I decide to follow the line of sight searching as I went. One of the locations I searched was the crack in the rocks you can see in the left image above. I did find a bottle here but it was a modern one. Next I climbed up the rocks searching as I went until I came to a Grotto opening and sensed whatever we were looking for we would find it here.
Grotto from below and a close up of the grotto
I searched the grotto for any makings or signs carved on the rock but found none, but I did find a cave at the back on the right-hand side.
The Cave in the Grotto
To cut a long story short, and thanks to Bill Kersey, we eventually made a discovery that now found we realised the clues had told us just where it would be, we had found the second bottle.
First glimpse of the bottle and the message inside
Excitedly, after we had all taken photographs, I carefully lifted out the bottle.
Bottle removed and roughly cleaned so the Message inside can be photographed
The bottle was larger than the first bottle, presumably to accommodate the larger message inside.
Devil Bottle information HERE
It was only after finding the bottle's hiding place that I realised the the wiggly 'S' on the stone was indicating the route to take to get to the bottle from the stone's position.
What really amazed me was that the measurement from the stone to the bottle's hiding place was the exact same measurement as the distance from the Mary Magdalene porch statue to the grotto entrance, a measurement we previously tried to make sense of here from the source, but it ended in the river. Truly amazing.
It seems that Sauniere must have designed his garden to fit in with the landscape here as the odds must be extremely high of someone finding a Mary Magdalene named starting point with a measurement the same as objects in his garden to hide the stone, which is then also the exact same measurement to the hiding place of the bottle in the grotto entrance from the stone as it is from the MM statue to Sauniere's grotto entrance. This sounds confusing but it is explained in detail in my book along with diagrams. Sorry to keep plugging my book but frustratingly there are certain things I am unable to reveal at the present time.
Opening the Bottle
1 - Bottle cleaned 2 - Bottle opened so the Message can be removed 3 - Empty Bottle
We returned to our Gite to open the bottle and read the second part of the message, full details of this will again be in my book but there is a lot of information in this message with both sides completely covered in text.
Bottle Examination
This was an easy bottle to date as it had no seams and was obviously a blown bottle type with a top added for a cork. The bottle is not even and leans over slightly and the neck is slightly crooked. The glass is full of air bubbles which can be seen in image 3 above. The base is thick and rises up into the glass with a pontil mark on the bottom, all are evidence of it being of a blown bottle manufacture.
The Top or Lip Type
Bottle Top
When the body of the bottle had been formed a Lip was added to the top using a special tool. An explanation of how this was done follows:
The finisher then warms the bottle at the furnace, and taking out a small quantity of metal (glass) on what is termed a ring iron, he turns it once round the mouth forming the ring seen at the mouth of bottles. He then employs the shears to give shape to the neck. One of the blades of the shears has a piece of brass in the center, tapered like a common cork, which forms the mouth (inside of the finish), to the other blade is attached a piece of brass, used to form the ring (outside of the finish). (From McKearin & Wilson 1978; clarification added parenthetically.)
Lipping Tool
The "shears" pictured here are of a later variety of lipping tool used in the late 19th century
Conclusion
Being of a blown bottle type this safely dates the bottle as pre-1900.
A 'Tooled Lip' of this type dates the bottle around 1890 and before the 1900's
The top also may be a 'Crown Top' which was used from 1892 when Crown Top was invented.
It is a safe bet that this bottle was manufactured between 1890 and 1900 or maybe slightly earlier. Because of the lip type it would have probably contained wine and was sealed with a cork.
Dating of the first bottle HERE
Though there is no absolute proof, it is amazing to think that Saunière might have opened this bottle and drunk its contents either with friends at one of his lavish parties or an intimate dinner with Marie. Or perhaps sitting alone in his library reading one of his many books or even while composing the message he was going to put in the bottle sitting on the table beside him.
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