I do not dare to call this newsletter my December newsletter.

For who knows what will happen in December. I would like to report on that month separately, with your permission of course. But yes, the heat is building up. If you look at your mailbox or your Facebook account, or Twitter or Linkedln, you will notice all kinds of activities taking places.

Meditations, excursions, sound healings, prayers, special events, calling on Mary Magdalene to change the world and more of these wonderful thoughts. All with the best intentions of course.

We will stay here at Les Labadous and see what happens. With sufficient, clean drinking water, the wood fires burning and all positive thoughts.

If you want any of these pictures in higher resolution or if you want a further explanation, be my guest and mail me.

 

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To see all pictures in a slide show just click on the image.

Les Labadous

Les Labadous is preparing herself, I like to think that she is feminine, for winter. My garden has stopped providing us with ‘summer’ food. Several plants were frozen to death during a few nights of early frost. So now we are switching to winter food, mostly cabbages. The last roses showed us their beauty. The ivy coloured our buildings. The mist embraced the land. The trees, our majestic black poplar trees were hanging on to their last leaves {PIC 01}. And the river was filling up {PIC 02}.

 

En route

I planned to stay for ten days in the Netherlands. With one stop on the way out and one stop on the way back. I always try to combine these stops with a visit to special places. See later. But the main objective for my trip to Holland was to bring Femke the rest of her belongings {PIC 03}, to provide several of my friends with badly needed boxes of Blanquette and of course to visit my sons and granddaughter, my bank, my accountant, my publisher and many, many dear friends. And to do some shopping. Dutch cheese, Indonesian curries, peanut butter, etc.

The weather in the Aude has been, with a few exceptions, very nice. Sunny, warm and dry. But when I got further north it changed. It got cold, misty and dark clouds appeared on the horizon {PIC 04}.

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La Colline Inspirée

I always wanted to visit this place. Close to Contrexeville and 37 kilometres south of Nancy. A place called Sion-Vaudémont. Chief pilgrimage of Lorraine. A hill with twin peaks on a horseshoe plateau housing the deities of war and peace, Wotan and Rosmertha. Vaudemont means mountain of Wotan. A place with a turbulent history. And with links to the Priory of Sion, to Jerusalem and to Rennes-le-Château. Where François Bérenger Saunière , returning from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, wanted to make Rennes-le-Château into a pilgrim site called “La Colline Inspiree.”

The way up was like magic. Sun, mist, wet roads, strange skies {PIC 05}. On one peak stood a monument dedicated to Maurice Barres (1862-1923), famous French novelist, journalist and politician {PIC 06} and {PIC 07}. The view is awesome {PIC 08}.

On the other hill stands the beautiful church of the Notre Dame de Sion {PIC 09} with inside a heavily crowned Black Madonna {PIC 10}, Christianised as usual by the Virgin Mary on top of the church {PIC 11}. It is a lovely spot with a beautiful chapel facing the church {PIC 12}. And on the way back I could not resist photographing these trees full of mistletoe {PIC 13}.

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Friesland

I love Friesland, up in the north of the Netherlands. Still largely unspoiled, green, fresh, not too much traffic and very nice people. I like to stay in Franeker where I rent a small bungalow with bath and have my car right in front of the house. Let me show you some pictures of this beautiful land. First of all the Afsluitdijk, connecting Noord-Holland with Friesland. See this statue of a man laying stones {PIC 14}. And the sun setting over the statue of Lely, the builder of the dike {PIC 15}. And the white bridge in Franeker {PIC 16}. And this famous church in Leeuwarden, the Oldehove, that was never finished {PIC 17}. Or the misty flat land with a bird of prey on the fence {PIC 18}. And this typical, characteristic rich Frisian farm {PIC 19}. I also visited the place of my ancestors near Wolvega. So sad the sorry state of this house of my great grandfather, a blacksmith in Oldeholtpade. I wish I had the money to buy this place and restore it. And surprise surprise. In Franeker in an old antique shop I found this painting of Jesus being layed down. Surrounded by Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. What is a painting like that, painted in 1942, doing in Franeker {PIC 21}?

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Books

Of course I went to my publisher, Uitgeverij Aspekt in Soesterberg. To pick up two boxes of my new book “Jamie op zijn wolk” {PIC 22}. It was published two months after my book “Maria Magdalena in Frankrijk” {PIC 22}. That book seems to be pretty successful. In 6 weeks time no less than 146 books were sold. I hope Jamie will be a success as well. But it is difficult to “place” this book in any category. So it will to be sent to all the major spiritual magazines in the Netherlands and Belgium.

I would like to mention another book, called The “Cathar View “, Polair Publishing {PIC 23}. A book consisting of 25 very different contributions from various authors, including my friends Anneke Koremans, Ani Williams, Val Wineyard and myself. Well worth reading!

I tried to persuade my Dutch publisher to publish my manuscript on Orbs and even showed him several awesome pictures. He was duly impressed and will think about it.

My good friend Abraham Tol, a wizard in making websites (see www.Atol-Solutions.com), has been editing my Manuscript “Mary Magdalene in France”. If I can’t find a British or American publisher for this book, a book that has already been published in Holland (written in Dutch) and is a success, I will publish it as e-Book. On Kindle and Amazon. We just need someone to check my English grammar.

 

Stille Wille

With a dear friend I paid a visit to my good friend Maarten Oversier and his lovely wife Arjanne at their Farm/Therapeutic Center “Stille Wille” in Roden, Drenthe {PIC 24}. Maarten is a successful reincarnation- and regression therapist, who has written several articles (See Spiegelbeeld van November 2012) and given various presentations. It was special. He really has everything on his farm. A swimming pool, a place to practise his skills {PIC 24}, a sweat lodge, a tipi {PIC 26}, wonderful statues, beautiful paintings, magic Canadian Indian ornaments, lovely chickens, fruits trees and a magnificent kitchen. It was good to be there.

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Dolmen

When we think that Great Britain, Ireland, the Faeroes, Bretagne and the south of France have impressive dolmens, think again. They can be found in Holland as well. With a good friend I went to Borger, between Assen and Emmen, where the largest Dolmen in the Netherlands can be found.

It is a wonderful touristic attraction. They have gathered there thousands of special stones, most of them carried by the ice from Sweden to Drenthe {PIC 27}. Then there was this huge Hunnebed (Dolmen), with my friend just visible sitting in the entrance {PIC 28}. I took several pictures and discovered only later that on one of the pictures two beautiful Orbs appeared. Look at this amazing, enlarged picture {PIC 29}.

 

Going back

On the way back I stopped at some typical Dutch locations and took a few pictures. Like here, with the windmills in the flat landscape of the Wieringermeer polder. Or at the sluices in Vreeswijk and Vianen {PIC 31}. Where I watched, as a kid, for hours the ships passing by {PIC 32}.

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Paris

On the way back I planned to go to Sens, some 60 kilometres southeast of Paris. Some say that Sens is the centre of sacred geometry in France. Others say that Sens was Atlantis. A magical place anyway. My Tom-Tom showed me the quickest way to get there. Via Paris. All ways seem to be going through Paris. Well this was a big mistake. Can you imagine, arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris, on a Friday evening, a little after 1700 hours in the rain and at the start of another holiday period in France. What an experiences. Millions of cars milling around. Long, very long ques. Crazy motorcycles driving at over hundred kilometres an hour trough the queues, in the space between the outer lane and the middle lane. Accidents waiting to happen. Being dazzled by the red lights of car breaking in front of you. Being poisoned by the exhaust gasses of millions of cars. Being deafened by the sirens of police cars and ambulances. Being squeezed by busses and lories. Needing all your concentration to squeeze in and out of your lane and to take the right turn-off before being swept up by the on-going traffic. It was a nightmare. And it lasted for three hours. Then I was finally free.

 

Sens/Ferrieres en Gatinais

I treated myself to a good hotel in the centre of Sens. Hotel de la Poste {PIC 33}. After a good night sleep I went to the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne in Sens. Where I admired the statue of the Vierge {PIC 34} and a stained glass window showing Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross {PIC 35}. Very moving.

Then I went west towards the pilgrim place of Ferrieres en Gatinais. A lovely old village, on top of a hill, with an abbey-church dedicated to “Saint-Pierre et Saint Paul” and a little church, or rather a chapel, of the Notre Dame de Bethleem {PIC 36}. It is an early Christian settlement, dating from 461 AD.

It was very busy in the town, but there was nobody in the church, only a woman playing the organ. And there was nobody in the chapel either. The chapel houses a beautiful stained glass window with the three Marie’s mourning Jesus hanging at the cross {PIC 37}. And the Notre Dame de Bethleem, a tiny Black Madonna with child, dressed in a very long robe, with much too large crowns on their heads {PIC 38}. Also a lovely statue of Anne and Mary {PIC 39}. And finally two beautiful stained glass windows, showing king Clovis and his wife Clothilde. Very important people, for Clovis was the first Merovingian king of France, a descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. He met Clothilde in Ferrieres. And was baptised on her request in Reims. Clovis was the king who saved France for Christianity or Christianity for France, depending on what view you take.

Then back to Rennes-le-Château, by way of Clermont-Ferrand and the floating bridge of Milau {PIC 41}.

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Les Labadous

Back home the leaves are falling. Reminding me of the song “Les feuilles mortes”. The yellow leaves from the Lindentree are all over the place {PIC 42}. And all the red ivy is gone from our big building. Only some yellow leaves are hanging on {PIC 43}. But temperatures here are at least 7 degrees higher than in Holland. So walking outside is a pleasure. The weather is good, the sun is shining and the colours are beautiful. Look at the blue drops of water hanging from the branches {PIC 44}. Unfortunately Les Labadous still has its defects. Roof tiles must be replaced. Copper tubing must be replaced. We need a new septic tank network. And because the prices of gas are rising so fast, we are now thinking of changing over on “Chaudieres a Granulee”. Heating our water and central heating systems with huge stoves fed by grains of wood. Realising at least a 40% reduction in heating costs!

 

Rua

We have a new friend. He is called “Rua”. This poor dog has been changing hands too many times. The last couple of months he stayed at the restaurant Le Dragon in Rennes-le-Château. Where he was not allowed inside. So most of the time he lay on the road in front of the restaurant, waiting for a car to run him over. When Beatrice, the owner of Le Dragon, asked us if we could take Rua, we said we would give it a try. For we have three cats and Rua is a hunting dog so there are a lot of interesting animals around Les Labadous. But the cats have accepted him and he seems to be settled in. It is a lovely dog, with a nice loud dark bark and a funny face {PIC 45}. Now he is roaming free around Les Labadous and from time to time even lying down in the sun {PIC 46}. Welcome Rua!

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Rennes-le-Château

To end this newsletter and reconnect again with Rennes-le-Château, the place where it all began, just a few pictures of this magic village. See Asmodeus with an Orb, or is it a light effect? {PIC 47}. Then the church, basking in the striking sunlight {PIC 48}. The Orangerie {PIC 49}, the little church next to the Villa Bethania {PIC 50} and the inside of the Tour Magdala {PIC 51}.

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Apocalypse

The possible Apocalypse on December 21st or December 23rd has attracted lots of people to the area. All Bugarach, the place where it will all be happening, or the only place on earth that will be spared, is fully booked. And also all the hotels, B & B’s and Chambres d’Hotes in Quillan have been booked. That is because people who don’t know the area, have looked at the

Map and discovered that Quillan is the largest city closest to the Bugarach mountain.

As it is dear readers, we still have rooms and apartments free at Les Labadous in that period. And we are much closer to the Bugarach than Quillan. So see you in one month! Check out our programs.