The last remaining and leading author of The Holy Blood Holy Grail, the controversial proponent of the theory that Jesus survived the crucifixion, married Mary Magdalene and their descendants lived on in southern France founding a secret monarchical bloodline connected to the Knights Templar, has died. Henry Lincoln, a former actor and scriptwriter of the fantastical Dr Who, had previously made BBC documentaries on a related subject, when he hooked up with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh to write the best seller which became the publishing sensation of the 1980s.
After writing it they fell out so when Dan Brown published the stupendously successful and ‘prosperous piece of pulp fiction’ The Da Vinci Code twenty years later on a similar theme, Lincoln refused to join the other two in suing for infringement of copyright. He pocketed the surge of royalties from their original book which soared with the Brown epic and movie, while the other two went down millions in legal fees after losing in court.
Michael Baigent, a New Zealander, went on to write with Leigh and solo a range of books on Templars, Dead Sea Scrolls, mysticism and alchemy as well astrology during a period when the publishing world became obsessed by Templars, ancient Egypt and all matters freemasonic. Richard Leigh, an American-British novelist, brother of Liz Greene, was the third.
Henry Lincoln, 12 February 1930, a Sun Venus in Aquarius, came out of the tough, innovative Depression generation with Pluto opposition Saturn in Capricorn square Uranus. His Mars in stubborn and can-be-mischievous Aquarius sat square to the Nodal Axis of Taurus NN. And his Jupiter in communicative Gemini is square Neptune. All three of these are significant since:
- his bleak, unyielding Saturn opposition Pluto fell across Michael Baigent’s Descendant/Ascendant axis; and Richard Leigh’s MC/IC axis making for an important but difficult partnership.
- His Mars opposed Baigent’s Pluto and squared Leigh’s Pluto Jupiter – for a battle of wills. His Sun Mercury also opposed Baigent’s Saturn Mars in Leo which would give rise to major aggravations.
- Lincoln’s Jupiter square Neptune mirrors Dan Brown’s Jupiter opposition Neptune. Dan Brown was born three days after Boris Johnson, and although a Sun Cancer has similar chart placings. Jupiter in hard aspect to Neptune can give rise to impracticality and a tendency to build castles in the air, not deliver what is promised, be over hopeful, sometimes downright dishonest, smooth talkers pushing ideas/schemes which lack substance.
Richard Leigh, 14 August 1943 10.20pm Teaneck, New Jersey, US, was a Sun North Node in Leo in his entertaining 5th square Mars in Taurus; with a confident Jupiter Pluto also in his 5th on the point of a mini Grand Trine to Neptune trine Uranus.
Michael Baigent, 27 February 1948 4.25pm Nelson, NZ, had an 8th house Pisces Sun and Mercury in Aquarius with his Mercury opposition Mars, Saturn (Pluto in Leo) square North Node in Taurus. His Moon Neptune were in the communication 3rd house.
All three came together to create the sensation of the moment which spawned a raft of interest in all fields mystical, culminating in the blockbuster nonsense of the Da Vinci Code which sold 80 million and blossomed into three movies. In each case their North Node is tied into key planets in their charts which connects them to the zeitgeist; even if some would argue their ideas gave rise to ridiculous conspiracy theories – nuggets of truth wrapped up in smoke and mirrors.
This is a ramble but it was cluttering up my astrological inbox and had the attraction of being NOT Russia.
Different Liz here – perhaps I should rename myself Liz II. Anyway I believe I cracked the Da Vinci Code a few years ago.
The Robin Hood of The Geste (the Lytle Geste of Robin Hood and Little John) is probably Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Hooton Pagnell, Nottingham and Lincoln (see the Luttrell Psalter in the British Library). He was a Templar Master involved in trade from the East – bringing silks via the Lebanon, the Balkans, North Germany and Hull/Holderness across Yorkshire to Hooton Pagnell in Barnsdale and then down the Great North Road (present day MI) to Nottingham for dyeing (there is historical evidence).
When the Templars were kicked out of the middle east, trade dried up. Furthermore the Templar Order was disbanded (brutally in some places) and the lands in England taken over by Edward I and redistributed. Since Luttrell was a Knight of that Order, he automatically lost his title. The Geste actually starts with Little John, his bodyguard, asking what title he now had – the answer being ‘a yeoman’ the next level down.
The full name of the Knights Templar was of course ‘The Order of Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon’ euphemistically known as ‘The Poor’ though in fact very wealthy through trade and usury – the wealthiest Order in Europe. Though the Templar land was taken over, the wealth was squirreled away.
The former Templars later joined with Thomas, Earl of Lancashire, in an uprising against Edward II but were defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 when they fled into Barndale Forest and were ‘outlawed’. The tales in the Geste narrate the doings of those men in that period (written by Richard Rolle, it predates Chaucer and is just as funny). They were merely trying to retrieve the wealth handed over to the Roman Catholic Church (The Rich) to give back to Templars (The Poor)!
As usual, the men were brought back into the fold after a few years (who wants groups of armed men roaming the highways and byways) and Luttrell retired to his place at Irnham, Lincs. On his death, and in accordance with his will, the vast Templar wealth was distributed amongst the major Minsters of his day – to be later acquired by Henry VIII at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. So now we know – even if Dan Brown doesn’t.
NB. The daughters of Luttrell married into the Scrope family. A descendent, Richard 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton, built Bolton Castle, Wensleydale, between 1378 and 1399. The website states that no one knows where the family wealth to build the castle came from. If the present owners are interested, it came from Luttrell and the Templars.
This reminds me of my old friend, Robert Anton Wilson. Bob wrote “Illuminatus!” in the 60s and pretty much invented the Illuminati conspiracy (even the BBC thinks so). But he always had humor in it, an appreciation of satire, all of which has been lost. At the end of his life Bob spoke of wanting to sue these four authors mentioned in your post, but he knew it would take all his money and exhaust him. A lot of Bob’s research was in these books. Bob is in the astro databank I see. Mercury rising in Capricorn, no wonder he was a great stand-up comedian.
“pretty much invented the Illuminati conspiracy (even the BBC thinks so”
Isn’t that mentioned in Adam Curtis’ “Can’t get you out of my head” documentary?
Not sure who Adam Curtis is, but I’ll look into him.
“a fairy tale for paranoids,” – I love it. I didn’t know where all that illuminati stuff came from. Deliciously funny.
I knew Bob from the late 70s so for 40 years I watched this idea he created get darker and darker. Now the Illuminati are supposedly these scary Satanic overlords but originally they were a sly joke. Interesting how ideas deteriorate over time.
Yes, refreshing to have something non-Russia – not that those posts aren’t welcome.
It always sticks in my trivia mind that Brown called one of the characters “Liegh Teabing” in reference to them. But it’s a mystery to me how they could sue for infringment of copyright if it was historical fact (as I assume the original book claimed) – think that was the nub of his defence case.
Will have to look at which Dr Who stories Lincoln wrote as I always had a liking for it.
Quick read up on Lincoln and seems he was really Henry Soskin but must have decided to go under the name Lincoln because he shares the birthdate with Abraham
More interestingly, he say he declined to join the lawsuit because their ideas weren’t original and were actually from a book by Liz Greene (as mentioned by Marjorie)
Crazy, you can’t copyright ideas. Very difficult to prove especially with a good deal of source material from previous years. But Baigent had a v tricky chart – 8th house Sun; and Mercury opposition that megaton collection in Leo.