Arcadia, the place in Greece thought to be the home of the oldest antideluvian races, was also associated in medieval iconography and symbolism with the "underground stream" Alphaeus, which was said to flow all the way to Sicily. According to the "prieure documents," the Benjaminites, who were ancestors of the Merovingians, fled to the Arcadia region of Greece, and later migrated to Europe, becoming one of the ancestral origins of the Salian Franks. Rene D'Anjou did a great deal to promote the romantic idea of Arcadia and it turns up in much of his work, as well as Renaissance poems and songs.

The original name of Nova Scotia was Arcadia, but the r was dropped to shorten it to "Acadie". It is from Acadie that the "Cajuns" of Louisiana are from, who sing the old folk song "Good King Dagobert". Some authors claim that Prince Henry Sinclair sailed to A(r)cadia in the 14th century, and may have even brought the Grail with him, leaving it in Oak Island. The blue lotus or waterlily, the stargate of the Egyptians, also grows in Arcadia National Forest.

The Meridian:  Many of the PoS texts deal with the Paris Meridian, and hint that the line created by Colbert, Cassini, and Arago, passing through the Paris Observatory, is really an "impostor" - France already had a "hermetic" or hidden meridian, possibly dating back thousands of years. It seems that the very PoSish site of Saint-Sulpice is on the line of the old meridian or "roseline", as hinted at by Le Serpent Rouge, subtiled Notes on Saint Sulpice and Saint Germain de Pres. By moving the line, Cassini and company threw an ancient system out of whack.

One strange discovery I have found is that a similar episode appears to have occurred in the American capitol of Washington, DC. Apparently, DC was originally designed so that 16th street would be its original north-south meridian -- and this meridian was going to be the "zero meridian" of the United States. After Greenwich was made the international meridian, DC and Paris both renounced their claims. Today,  DC uses Capitol Street as its N-S axis, but certain monuments, especially those in Meridian Hill Park, point to the older axis. On 16th street, one also finds the home of the Scottish Rite Temple and several esoteric churches and monuments.

The Rose: Rosicrucianism, the Rosy Cross, and rose-line symbolism is all over the place in this mystery. In Sauniere's church, St. Germaine de Pribrac releases a bevy of roses from her apron. The "Fleury Mural" seems to show a rose-filled flowery landscape, associated with the Fleury family. Go to Rodez, and you will find a rose-colored cathedral with rose windows emblazoned with the Star of David. In the Middle Ages, the rose was a symbol of esotericism - sub rosa means to do something in secret. The Templars' cross pattee was a red or rose cross.

How interesting, then, to discover, as I have recently, that the name of several places in France - Rhedae/Rennes, Rouen/Rhodom, Rodez/Rhodes, are derived from the Greek Island of Rhodes, whose name itself comes from the rose-goddess Rhoda. Contemporary texts say that the red-haired Celtic "Redones" or "rose people" (Rutheni/Rhodanim) setlled both Rennes in the Midi and Rennes in Brittany - the name derives from the ethnic group. It is said that the resident goddess of Mount Sion-Vaudemont, the "other Sion" of the "priory of Sion" in Switzerland, is Rosemertha - the Rose mother. Interestingly, one interpretation of the King Arthur legends is that "Arthur" or "Ursus" was really Riothamus, a Dark Age Celt ruler of a "thalassocracy" that spanned Brittany in France and Cornwall in England. Many of the places near Breton Rennes are associated with Arthur and the Grail legends, and many of the Breton kings had Judaic names. And some derive Riothamus' name from... Joseph of Arimathea, the supposed bearer of the Grail to Glastonbury.

Rosslyn Chapel:  As with many other aspects of this mystery, the importance of Rosslyn Chapel is unclear and seems to have been obfuscated, unfortunately. Its owners, the Sinclairs, claim to be the hereditary patrons of Scottish Freemasonry, to have explored the New World (particularly Nova Scotia and Oak Island) a century before Colombus, and to be connected to the Templars through marriage and descent. Some of this appears to be in doubt, because it's based on the work of Jacobite historian Father Hay, who used documents that were lost in a fire... in any case, we do know William Sinclair did build Rosslyn in the 1400s, it does contain very unusual carvings (particularly people who look like Templars engaging in things that seem like Masonic rituals), and it does incorporate unusual geometry. (SOME say that this geometry replicates the Temple of Solomon.) Pierre Plantard seems to have changed his name to "de St-Clair" in order to claim affiliation with the Sinclairs of Scotland.

CAROLINE E. KENNEDY

Isabella di Aragona (October 2, 1470 – February 11, 1524) was born a princess of Naples, granddaughter of King Ferdinand I of Naples and daughter of King Alphonse II of Naples by his wife,Ippolita Sforza. From 1489 to 1494 she was the Duchess Consort of Milan, and from 1499 to 1524 the Duchess of Bari and Princess of Rossano. After her brother Ferdinand II's death, she was the heir of the Brienne claim to the title King of Jerusalem.

She married her first cousin Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan. They had one son and two daughters: Francesco (Duke of Milan in 1494-1512), Bona (Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania, and second wife of King Sigismund I of Poland), and Ippolita Maria, who died in 1501 at the age of 7. Isabella also outlived Francesco, who was killed in 1512 by falling from his horse. Of her three children, only Bona survived her.

It has been argued that Isabella is the model for Leonardo da Vinci's immortal painting the Mona Lisa. There have also been suggestions that she had a secret morganatic marriage to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), supposedly bearing him two sons and three daughters.^[1]

As for the Mona Lisa controversy, Maike Vogt-Lüerssen argues that the woman behind the famous smile is Isabella of Aragon, the Duchess of Milan. Leonardo was the court painter for the Duke of Milan for 11 years. The pattern on Mona Lisa's dark green dress, Vogt-Lüerssen believes, indicates that she is a member of the house of Sforza. Her theory is that the Mona Lisa was the first official portrait of the new Duchess of Milan, which requires that it was painted in spring or summer 1489 (and not 1503). Notwithstanding the variety of theories, the recent findings of Heidelberg academics confirm the traditional identification of the Mona Lisa as Lisa del Gioconda.^[2]

There is another portrait, painted by Raffaello Sanzio, (Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome, which shows much similarity with Isabella of Aragon. The dress of the lady is definitely from 1515 to 1525 and the young fair-haired woman shows the symbols of the Milanese House of Sforza, the bow, and the colours red and white. Isabella of Aragon was at that time 45 to 55 years old and she had dark hair.