gypsies pay homage during their annual pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer the 24^th and 25^th May. The date of the pilgrimage therefore coincides with the passage of the sun into the sign of Gemini, the twins, but Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer indicates the following sign of Cancer. The solution is illustrated in the landscape zodiacs of Auxerre and Vezelay, whereby a remarkable feature of them both is that the sign of Cancer is represented by a boat. In the Auxerre zodiac, the Gemini twins are actually sitting inside the boat. The symbolic union of Gemini and Cancer is experienced during the gypsy pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. It includes a ceremonial procession through the town of statues of the two Marys inside a boat, culminating in their being plunged three times consecutively into the sea, the symbolic return.

The seal of Solomon, or pattern of consciousness that becomes the blueprint of France, contains therefore the cosmic time-scale of the zodiac. The Cancer/Capricorn axis of the zodiac passes precisely through Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and continues to form the path of a series of religious monuments and natural features. Despite lacking the pin-point accuracy of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Vezelay and Le-Mont-Saint-Michel, they are, nevertheless contained within a band 20 Km wide, which over a length of 633 Km is a very slight margin of error. The most important places within the band are, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (G), Brioude (J), Clermont-Ferrand (K), Bourges (L), Orléans (M), Chartres (N) and Rouen (O).

Of particular importance is the cathedral at Chartres, which lies approximately 3 Km off the centre of the Capricorn axis. A 3 Km displacement corresponds with a location relevant to the centre of its own landscape zodiac. There is, however, an interesting feature of the cathedral which is relevant to its position in the French zodiac.

Contrary to the usual case of Christian establishments, this cathedral is not orientated towards the East but 47° towards the north-east. The normal Eastern direction is chosen due to the West to East rotation of the earth, therefore greeting the relative movement of the sun from East to West. The angle of Chartres cathedral is due to an alignment of the south-western corner of its rectangular table, its central axis and the rising sun at the summer solstice, or, in other words, when the sun is at its highest point in the annual cycle as it enters the sign or Cancer. Chartres cathedral, however, is not in the sign of Cancer, but in the opposing sign of Capricorn, therefore in alignment with the zodiacal axis of the two solstices; mid-summer (Cancer) and mid winter (Capricorn).

There is a further curiosity of the cathedral relevant to the summer solstice.

The cathedral has a stained glass window called the « Saint Appollinaire ». It has been purposely made with a small space which allows the passage of a beam of light, at exactly midday on the summer solstice, to illuminate a carefully positioned, white decorated stone within the cathedral.

Chartres cathedral is the chef d’œuvre of sacred Gothic architecture and is far more than a reference marker of the solar solstice axis of the French zodiac. It is also perfectly in harmony with the next crucial development of the pattern of consciousness, but first of all we will consider the remaining axis’ of the French zodiac.

Virgo/Pisces

Of tremendous importance to the Templars was the cult of the Virgin Mary and the zodiacal axis Virgo/Pisces. The seal of Solomon pattern that contains the French zodiac has the point of Virgo precisely at a natural hollow in the Savoie Alps known as the « cirque du fer à cheval » (P). This remarkable ‘natural’ feature is the geometrical centre of the landscape of the Allobroges Celts, which contains Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) (Q), Mont Blanc (R), Matterhorn (S) and the meeting point of the borders of France, Switzerland and Italy