The Portal
An Initiate's Journey into the Secret of Rennes-le-Château
The true-life memoir Patrice Chaplin began in City of Secrets continues here in the story of her spiritual initiation into the Kabbalistic tradition preserved since the Middle Ages by a secret society in the pre-Roman city of Girona, Spain. Salvador Dalí was a member of that society, as was the renowned author Umberto Eco, the filmmaker Jean Cocteau, and Jancint Verdeguer, one of the most celebrated Catalan poets. Importantly, so was the mysterious Berenger Sauniere, the priest who in the late 1800s built Rennes-le-Château in southern France, with the Tour Magdala, a tower that is twin to the neo-gothic tower in Girona. In this gripping story that reads like the adventures of a female Castenada, Chaplin is led through a series of initiatory stages which correspond to the magical square of Venus, containing the constellation of the Great Bear.
Patrice Chaplin is an internationally renowned playwright and author who has written twenty-six books; her novel Siesta became a film starring Jodie Foster and Isabella Rossellini. As a Bohemian in Paris during the 50's and 60's, she spent time with Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Married to Charlie Chaplin's son Michael and living and working in Hollywood, she was friends with everyone from Lauren Bacall and Miles Davis, to Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau, who gave her a starring role in one of his films. with Lauren Bacall, Miles Davis, and Salvador Dali. Chaplin has contributed to collections of short stories, including "Black Valentine" and "The Minerva Book of Short Stories". Her plays, documentaries, and short stories have been extensively written and adapted for radio. The short story "Night in Paris" has been translated in many countries, and other short stories of hers have appeared in magazines and newspapers, including The Independent. Her stage play "From the Balcony" was commissioned by The National Theatre in London in conjunction with Radio 3 and was performed at the Cottesloe Theatre. She has also written articles for publications including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Jewish Chronicle, The Daily Mail, Marie Claire, and The London Magazine. Today, Chaplin finds herself thrown deep into the Grail culture, and at the heart of a raging new controversy about the reality of the Rennes-le-Château mystery. Chaplin is the director of The Bridge®, a non-profit organization that leads workshops based in the performing arts as a new and unique way to help fight addiction. She resides in London and is currently writing The Garden of the Frenchwoman.
