Day 1 July 4, Tuesday ITINERARY STEPPING INTO THE MYSTERIES OF SOUTHERN FRANCE July 4 13, 2017 Our Group will be picked up in Toulouse at Blagnac airport at 11:30 am for a 12:15 pm departure. We arrive in Alet Les Bains, a tiny village for lunch and where we will stay for our nine nights in France. Our B&B is a beautiful place not far from the ruins of an Abbey built by Benedictines in 813 and set above the flowing waters of Alet, where people still come to drink from ancient fountains. The name Alet is derived from a word meaning, the chosen place, and whose deeper treasures and mysteries are still unknown. An early Jewish community of Cabbalists and scholars once thrived here, including the family of Nostradamus whose grandparents
home still stands and still has unusual carved symbolic markings on the outside timbers. In walking distance, are the enchanting medieval streets showing half timbered houses. There was once a wall with 4 gates, built in the twelfth century, protecting the abbey that can still be seen today. After lunch everyone can settle in briefly exploring the exquisite grounds, before we have an introduction to the area. Some may wish to retire early to catch up from long flights. Others may have a light dinner at the hotel restaurant. (Our welcome dinner will be the following evening). Day 2 July 5, Wednesday Breakfast followed by the beginning of our journey with a group meditation centering and sharing led by Haejung and Nancy. Through our on-going quest for truth and deeper wisdom, we may focus and meditate on God and the possibility of a Holy Grail, which is part of the mystery of southern France and these lands. We will discuss what it symbolizes, where it is located - within without and how Mary Magdalene, the Cathars and Knights Templar are connected to it.
After walking the grounds, swimming and exploring the Aude River which flows alongside our hotel, we will have our first presentation by a Knights Templar, who will meet us in Alet Les Bains first speaking about its mysterious history, the elusive treasures of the Knights Templar and who passed through here. He will talk of the Jewish lineage of Jesus and Magdalene in the area, before we explore the ancient symbols in front of Nostradamus medieval home, still inhabited today, and then visit inside the ancient church/basilica. Later in the evening we gather for our welcome dinner and celebrate the sacred journey that has called you each to this Holy place. Day 3 July 6, Thursday Yoga will be hosted by Haejung every morning before breakfast. Following breakfast we depart for a day in the hilltop village of Rennes Le Chateau with its famous strategic location recognized
by many previous groups who settled here over hundreds of years, including the Celts, Romans, later the Visigoths and the Merovingians with a Merovingian Chateaux still standing. Lunch in the famous garden café, near the Tour Magdala and Church, before we meet our special Templar friend who will give us a presentation with detailed information and humor about the Rennes Le Chateau mystery including the sacred geometry of the natural land temple located amongst the landscape. From this location we have a good view of all the other four points of the landscape temple. Next we visit the Tour Magdala and church, both dedicated to Mary Magdalene followed by a visit to the museum. It was this church that Abbe Sauniere, the famous parish priest of Rennes Le Chateau, was renovating when he mysteriously discovered some
coded documents. He took them to Paris and returned with a great amount of money, with which he built the Tour Magdala and renovated the church. Its source still unknown today. There has always been a quest for treasure here both for hidden and elusive monies as well as the spiritual treasure of the Holy Grail. Curiously, some people believe that there is an ancient Temple of Isis hidden deep within the earth below Rennes Le Chateau. We finish the evening at our B&B for dinner. Day 4 July 7, Friday Yoga followed by Breakfast and then off for a day in Rennes Les Bains to experience their special healing thermal waters. Our journey will begin in a place of the eternal Priestess, the one who facilitates and honors the sacred spirits of nature and of all life, who has been a
guardian of this Holy doorway to the inner Temple. It is a place of surrender, where we each ceremonially receive an invitation to drop the veils and trust our Divine from within. Lunch at a favorite café before we continue our magical path to the 5000 year old stone seat which was mysteriously carved into what many call, the Seat of Isis. From here we visit her sacred spring where each person has time for quiet reflection and a personal attunement as the powerful ley lines pass through the placement of this Seat here, which offers a uniquely different initiatory experience with each visit. Finally, on our return path, we pass where the fresh and salt waters come together in an alchemical merging symbolism of the primordial waters of creation. The red, the white and our balance within. This is an appropriate place for us to complete the powerful experiences of the day, whereby the two merge into one. Then a special presentation and dinner in Rennes Les Bains, by a Danish couple who have completed astounding
research about the area. Return to the B&B. Day 5 July 8, Saturday Yoga followed by Breakfast then we depart for the Gorges de Galamus, first stopping at the Chateau Puilaurens for a picnic lunch. Following lunch we continue our journey to the Gorges de Galamus. A special sanctuary in the rocks that has always been associated with St. Antoine, Saint Anthony, as a place for hermits who wanted to live a life within prayer. Today it is viewed as one of the most remarkable natural curiosities of the Pyrenees, situated halfway up a cliff with cold spring waters flowing below in a narrow gorge. We descend onto a path leading to this mystical rock grotto which today serves as a Franciscan Monks chapel. Taken in the 15th century and made into a traditional place of pilgrimage this ancient sanctuary will offer each person a place for quiet reflection. Some might find it an important and personally historic moment to step through another veil to understanding yourself, your life
and your world around you. We return to our B&B for dinner. Day 6 July 8, Sunday Yoga followed by Breakfast. Departure for a morning at a traditional marketplace in Esperaza where we too experience what the famous French open market tradition is all about. This market offers various kinds of fresh local produce, wines, fresh cheeses and many personal gift items. There is a beautiful church dedicated to Archangel Michael located here, as this tiny village marks the center of a six-pointed star, identified in the Temple landscape of the area. Each person gathers items for a nice picnic en route, before we arrive at the famous Cathar Castle, Montsegur. This famous Cathar Castle Montsegur, referred to as the Grail Castle is the stronghold where 200 Cathars made their last stand and were burned rather than renounce their beliefs for those of the Catholic Church. However,The night before legend
says that four Cathars escaped down the most dangerous ledge of the Castle with ropes to safety, carrying their sacred treasure. That treasure was has never been revealed. Some people surmise that it was the Grail Cup, while others feel it was the mystical Book of Love the Cathars considered their treasure, containing the true teachings of Jesus. Magdalene is said to have taught this knowledge in caves and in remote places, away from the public eye. In fact, some of the rites and initiations of the Cathars carried them deep into these grottos or caves high up in the nearby mountains, sometimes for days or months. As we climb up to this ancient Montsegur Castle, the views are something to behold. Certainly this is a moment to acknowledge a people who never lost their faith. They held their truth sacred, their Holy Grail both individually and together as a group, dying with it in their hearts. Here we can honor their courage and wish the same truth for all beings as we stand in this ancient mountain portal. We too will have an opportunity to recalibrate our lives, go beyond where we ve been and identify our new beginning. Co-creating a ceremony at the peak of this sacred mountain might be perfect opportunity before we
return for a dinner celebration. Day 7 July 9, Monday Yoga followed by Breakfast and a free morning to do as you wish before Haejung facilitates a past life regression for the group. Through Haejung s guidance we each have the opportunity to connect to a past life from this area that is possibly related to the Cathars, Knights Templar or Mary Magdalene and the Holy Family who once lived here. Following your exhilarating morning we depart for a day journey to the 12 th century medieval walled city of Carcassonne, an experience like no other anywhere else in France. It was first settled about 3500 BC, and then later by the Celts and then became an important trade center in the 6th century BC. Then the Romans followed by the Visigoths, who were reputed to have hidden their elusive treasure. Carcassonne was also the place where most of the Cathar inquisition took place. A
famous Basilica is within the walls here now dedicated to Saint Nazaire, with beautiful stained glass windows one showing the tree of life within it, perhaps indicating the Cabalistic traditions that were once practiced here. Later in the day a very special wine tasting followed by dinner in town before returning to our B&B. Day 8 July 10, Tuesday Yoga followed by Breakfast. Departure for the outstanding Mediterranean town of Collioure, known for its beautiful beaches and situated a short distance between the French and Spanish border where many earlier peoples once settled including the Celts, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. They each used it as a special port for trading before the Visigoths took it over in the 7th century. There may have been an ancient Temple dedicated to Isis here thousands of years ago. The town hosts a Royal Palace, a Castle owned by the Kings of Aragon said to have been their summer home and a large Templar fortress still standing
today. Collioure at one time was closely associated with the Knights Templar who passed through it on their crusade routes to the Holy Land and would often hide their mysterious treasures in this 12 th century fortress used today by the French military for special seals training. Collioure is also famous for its very intriguing light, which inspired the early Fauve Painters here. Among them were Derain, Braque, Matisse and Picasso to mention a few. Our stop here in this peaceful serene town offers us an opportunity to relax and explore the beach walkways, the church, observe the castle of the Aragon Kings in the distance and explore the Templar fortress situated on the rocks elevated above the beach. We may also experience a mermaid
connection, as there are legends of mermaids marrying men in this area. In fact at a small hotel, Les Templiers, the bar has been carved to resemble a wooden ship and it has a mermaid on the bowsprit holding a human child in her arms. We have plenty of time to swim and enjoy the beach and have lunch either together or individually before we return to our B&B. Day 9 July 11, Wednesday Yoga followed by Breakfast. Holy departure to the Holy Mt. Bugarach. It sits on one of the pentagram points in the landscape temple and is known to be a place where an Essene community once lived. There are numerous Cathar caves located inside this mountain. Haejung will guide us in a lake side meditation below a large Buddha figure seemingly carved out in stone looking down the volcanic mountain. Mt. Bugarach is also described as an intergalactic doorway. In fact Jules Verne once lived and wrote several books to include Journey to the Center of the
Earth. The tour continues to the Fontaine des Amours (The Fountain of Lovers). As we walk down the sacred line of trees to these famous salt waters flowing from high above. This will be our last ceremony and people are welcome to swim in these cool spring waters before we depart and travel to Rennes les Bains on our way to our B&B with a possible stop for a last walk or sit in the café one last time. Upon arrival at the B&B we have time to pack before our final celebration dinner or Farewell Dinner. Day 10 July 13, Thursday Early breakfast followed by 7:30 am departure for the Toulouse airport. May your journey continue to be filled with blessings of joy, love, peace and harmony...until we meet again. Most of these photographs are the copyright of Nancy Safford. The text is copyrighted to Nancy Safford. www.sedonayogahealing.com info@sedonayogahealing.com