Secret_History

Chapter 1: The Nature of the Quest 53
The argument against this strange event ever having happened is that plutonium
was specifically named by the mystery man, yet it was not isolated until February
of 1941, and was not named until March of 1942. This was five years after
Bergier’s encounter. Nevertheless, Bergier stood by his story. 27 And, the fact is, if
we are talking about Master Alchemists, the history seems to indicate that they
have “time travel” capabilities to some extent. So, the matter of knowing the name
of the element would not have been too great a difficulty.
In the early 1920’s, in Paris, there was a small man in his early twenties, named
Eugene Canseliet who was known as an alchemical enthusiast. He made many
references to the fact that he worked with an actual “Master of the Art”. His friend
and companion, a poverty stricken illustrator named Jean-Julien Champagne, who
was a score of years older than Canseliet, supported these claims. The two of them
lived in a run-down building, in adjacent apartments, at 59 bis, rue de
Rochechouart, in the Butte-Montmartre district. Because of their hints that they
had contact with such a “Hidden Master”, they soon became the center of a circle
of aspiring occultists who became known as the Brothers of Heliopolis. It seems
that both Canseliet and Champagne were frequently seen in the city libraries, the
Bibliotheque Nationale, the Mazarin, the Arsenal and the Sainte Genevieve,
studying rare books and manuscripts. Obviously, they were looking for something.
The story heard by those on the edges of this elite little group was to the effect
that this “Hidden Master Fulcanelli” was old, distinguished - possibly an aristocrat
- and very rich. He was also said to be an immensely learned, practicing alchemist
who had either already, or almost, achieved the Great Work.
Nobody (until later, as we saw with Jacques Bergier) except Canseliet and
Champagne ever claimed to have met Master Fulcanelli, and, because of this, a
great deal of skepticism arose in the occult circles of Paris. But then, the
skepticism was laid to rest with the publication of Le mystere des cathedrales in
1926. This first edition consisted of only 300 copies, and was published by Jean
Schemit of 45 rue Lafitte, in the Opera district. It was subtitled, “An esoteric
interpretation of the hermetic symbols of the Great Work”,and its preface was
27 It has been noted by the student of Fulcanelli’s only disciple, Eugene Canseliet, Patrick Riviere, that
Bergier - just before he died - claimed that Schwaller and Fulcanelli were one and the same individual.
Andre VandenBroeck’s AL-KEMI, A MEMOIR: Hermetic, Occult, Political and Private Aspects of
R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz (1987 Inner Traditions/Lindisfarn Press) claims a clandestine collaboration
between Fulcanelli and Rene Schwaller. Supposedly, Schwaller confided to VandenBroeck that
Fulcanelli stole from him an original manuscript on the alchemical symbolism of the Gothic Cathedrals
and published it under his own name as Mystery of the Cathedrals. VandenBroeck’s allegation seems
to be supported only by VandenBroeck himself, and simply does not fit the facts or the timeline.
In her work Fulcanelli Dévoilé (1992 Dervy) Geneviève Dubois suggests that Schwaller believed Jean-
Julien Champagne to be Fulcanelli and that it was Champagne who took the manuscript. Champagne
was quite a practical joker and was happy to let others think he was Fulcanelli.