The enigmatic and compelling figure of Leonardo da Vinci has become virtually an obsession with novels such as, obviously, The Da Vinci Code, and the oft quoted book, Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
     It seems everyone has his or her own angle on exactly what codes or secrets da Vinci has spun into his paintings, drawings and sculptures.
     With so many studying this great Renaissance artist and scientist, the scholar must literally plough through hundreds of often poorly researched books, each often contradicting or supporting the others.
     But what is clear is that da Vinci knew a secret so controversial that it was hidden in his paintings.
     According to most researchers that secret was that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they formed a holy blood line. But the question most of us ask is: “is that all?”
     For most researchers this supposed secret, controversial as it might be, seems a paltry secret to obsess a highly intelligent genius such as da Vinci.
     Needless to say, there is so much more to the da Vinci secret, and so it is perhaps with some relief that we can relax into the open arms of one of the most serious studies of the da Vinci secret, The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ written by Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince.
     These two very talented and diligent researchers first burst onto the international stage back in 1989 when they presented a similarly controversial book, Turin Shroud: In Whose Image? The image on the shroud has influenced artists, and the basic image of Christ has been founded on the features in shroud.
     However, Picknett and Prince believe that the shroud was a fake created by da Vinci using the body of another, and his own face. They point to the fact that there is a sharp line on the cloth just above the torso, indicating that two separate bodies were used for the image.
     This da Vinci legacy led them on a quest to discover his motives and what influenced him to employ certain codes and symbols in his work for posterity to solve.
     Da Vinci is commonly believed to be an atheist and a rationalist, but Picknett and Prince find evidence that he was not.
         The journey began with da Vinci and from there, back to John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene and Jesus along with the many groups and secret organisations such as the Freemasons, the Knights Templar, the Cathars, the Priory of Sion, the Essenes and the cult of Isis and Osiris.
        Of course the reader will acknowledge that these subjects have been discussed in many books and a veritable cornucopia of conclusions. In the end the researcher must come to his or her own conclusions.
     It is important to keep in mind that as Pickett and Prince point out, our entire culture is based on certain assumptions about the past, and in particular about Christianity and the character and motives of its founder. But if those assumptions are wrong, then the conclusions based on them will stop very short of the truth, or will at least present a distorted picture of the facts.
     The book traces the beliefs of thousands of “heretics” over the centuries and uncovers a remarkable consistent picture. Underneath the traditions of many apparently disparate groups there lies the same, or very similar, secret.
     Initially, the researcher might suspect that the secrecy was merely customary, or to create a mystique around their organisation, as well as the obvious need for secrecy during a time when “heretics” were put to the flame.
     The book begins, somewhat predictably, with the famous fresco, The Last Supper, the one surviving piece of the original church of Santa Maria delle Grazie near Milan, which was painted by da Vinci. The image of the Last Supper has been depicted by hundreds, if not thousands of artists, yet it is da Vinci’s that has captured the imagination of the collective consciousness.
     The images of the figures makes the M symbols, presumably the first letter of Mary’s name or often the symbol of Virgo, the astrological sign of the virgin. Through research, the authors discover that da Vinci was indeed a hermetic thinker.
     The group took its name from the Egyptian magus, Hermes Trismegistus, who believed that humanity was literally divine. This concept was threatening to the Church, and so da Vinci hid secret hermetic codes in his works.
     Of course, as the name of the book implies, the writers finally discover the link between da Vinci and the Templars. This link is exemplified through da Vinci’s use of sacred geometry. They point out that the Knights Templar were the prime movers behind the building of the great Gothic cathedrals, particularly that of Chartres.
     Throughout the long history of the great cathedrals, the strange symbolism of their decoration and design has been puzzled over. The layout of these cathedrals use the principles of geometrical proportion which has in itself a resonance with divine harmony, and some particular proportions are more divine than others. The hermetic concept is that mathematics is the inner code with which the gods speak to man.
     Da Vinci was particularly interested in sacred geometry, as can be clearly attested in his famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, which literally embodies the Golden Mean. Sacred geometry is traced back to Solomon’s Temple, which it was claimed was the very soul of God written into stone.
     From there we trace the tell-tale clues back to Egypt and the famous temples of Osirus and Isis. Osiris and his beautiful consort-sister brought love, healing and magic which included sacred geometry to humanity.
     It is at this point, that perhaps most controversially, the authors discover evidence that Jesus was in fact an Egyptian trained magician who started as a follower of John the Baptist.
     The book also reveals that Mary was a priestess who was also Jesus’s partner in a sacred marriage, and whether they had children or formed a sacred blood-line is a minor consideration compared with the spiritual message the two of them melded for the world.
     The findings in this well researched book may shock many, but the evidence is self-explanatory.
     It is clear that much as some would like to bury their heads in the sand, modern-day Christianity has its roots in the cult of Osirus and Isis. There is strong evidence that indeed Jesus lived most of his life in Egypt. Even one of the most quoted lines, from the Book of John, “In the beginning was the word” is etched over the doorway of the Temple of Isis in Egypt, as are many other wise sayings attributed to Jesus.
     So many people feel that books such as this are written to attack Jesus and his wisdom, but I certainly did not feel that, quite the opposite. In fact the authors use quotes from the Gospels to uphold their research.
     In the end, I believe, books such as this liberate the true Jesus from the web of superstition and fear woven by the church to enslave the minds of its congregation. It is clear the Jesus was not literally the “son of God” but rather an amazing priest who, along with his priestess-consort Mary Magdalene, brought the ancient seeds of wisdom from Egypt into the modern world.
     These signs and codes are everywhere, and whilst many worry that it will destroy Christianity as we know it, perhaps it will rather birth the hidden wisdom, the gnosticism, or direct knowledge of God, that Jesus and Mary gifted to our world.
     Perhaps that is the true da Vinci secret, a finger pointing to this time when we would have diligent researchers able to unveil the hidden truth.
     It is clear that the true and eternal teachings of the Egyptian priest Jesus and his priestess Mary are finally ready to be embraced.