Paris Meridian

The Paris Meridian is a meridian line running through Paris, now longitude 2°20′14″ east. It was a long-standing rival to Greenwich as the prime meridian of the world.

Esoteric interpretations

In certain circles, some kind of occult or esoteric significance is ascribed to the Paris Meridian; sometimes it is even perceived as a sinister axis. Dominique Stezepfandts, a French conspiracy theorist, attacks the Arago medallions that supposedly trace the route of "an occult geographical line"; to him the Paris Meridian is a "Masonic axis" or even "the heart of the Devil".

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Henry Lincoln, in his book The Holy Place, argues that various ancient structures are aligned according to the Paris Meridian. They even include medieval churches, built long before the meridian was established according to conventional history, and Lincoln finds it obvious that the meridian "was based upon the 'cromlech intersect division line'." David Wood, in his book Genisis, likewise ascribe a deeper significance to the Paris Meridian and takes it into account when trying to decipher the geometry of the myth-encrusted village of Rennes-le-Château: The meridian passes about 350 meters (yards) west of the site of the so-called "Poussin tomb", an important location in the legends and esoteric theories relating to that place. (A skeptical discussion of these theories, including the supposed "alignments", can be found in Bill Putnam and Edwin Wood's book The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château - A mystery solved.)

Related Topics:
Henry Lincoln - Rennes-le-Château

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The Paris Meridian also turns up in Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code, where it is referred to as the "Rose Line" and presented as "the world's first prime meridian" (p. 106). Actually the idea of establishing a prime meridian dates back to antiquity, with suggested meridians running through Rhodes or the Canary Islands. When Greenwich was adopted as the universal zero longitude in 1884 (not 1888 as the novel says), it had at least nine rivals besides Paris (Berlin, Cadiz, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Rio, Rome, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Tokyo).

Related Topics:
Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code - Berlin - Cadiz - Copenhagen - Lisbon - Rio - Rome - St. Petersburg - Stockholm - Tokyo

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Brown's novel confuses the Paris Meridian with a local meridian found in the Parisian church of Saint-Sulpice, marked in the floor with a brass line (the Paris Meridian actually passes about 100 meters east of it). At the climax of the novel, the protagonist follows the line of Arago medallions to the Louvre museum, where the Paris Meridian passes beneath the so-called Inverted Pyramid in an underground mall in front of the museum. Following the tradition of esoteric interpretations of this meridian, the novel hints that this is the final resting-place of the Holy Grail. The fact that the meridian passes beneath the Inverted Pyramid is also noted in the book Le guide du Paris maconnique by Raphäel Aurillac, who likewise ascribes some deeper, esoteric significance to this. (See: La Pyramide Inversée.)

Related Topics:
Louvre - Holy Grail - La Pyramide Inversée

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