A Guide to Mystical France: Secrets, Mysteries, Sacred Sites

France is one of the most visited countries in the world--and one of the least known. This book takes you beyond the superficial coverage of conventional guidebooks--history, architecture, etc.--in search of the deeper truths.

A Guide to Mystical France takes you deep under the psychic skin of France into the invisible dimensions that our materialistic world does its best to ignore. Science stops at the most interesting questions. To describe, say a painted prehistoric cave as a sacred space used for ritual is to beg more questions than it answers. It is impossible to fully appreciate the cathedral of Notre-Dame, Mont St Michel, or the alignments of Carnac if you do not understand the reasons these structures were built and they way they have been used over the centuries. The book makes no assumptions. The reader is not required to believe anything. He is merely pointed in the direction of the invisible and the hidden and left to judge for himself. You get much more out of a visit if you look for what isn't there as well as what is. Only by engaging with such enigmas in an open-minded, non-logical way can we begin to unravel them. This approach also makes sightseeing more satisfying and more meaningful. Covered here are a multitude of fascinating themes: the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, Black Virgins, prehistoric cave paintings, labyrinths, ley-lines, symbolism and sacred geometry, the tarot, etc. The backdrops for the drama includes such legendary places as Chartres, Rennes-le-Chateau, churches carved out of the rock and mountain sanctuaries. The cast list, meanwhile, includes Templars, Cathars, mystics, Gurdjieff, King Arthur, Nostradamus and alchemists such as the enigmatic Fulcanelli (who is rumoured to be immortal).

Nick Inman is a writer, a photographer, and a translator. He is the author, coauthor, and editor of more than 30 books, including ＂Eyewitness Spain＂, ＂The Optimist’s Handbook＂, ＂Who on Earth Are You?＂ and ＂The Road Less Traveled: Amazing Places Off the Tourist Trail＂. See his website for more info: www.nickinman.com