The Palais des Papes
Vaucluse, South of France
Avignon and the Palais des Papes
John and I were on our way to Nice to catch the Plane to Dubai. We had about four days to spare and decided we would visit Avignon on our way. We thought it would be fun to find the bridge in Avignon connecting to the French song sung by children. “Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse, l’on y danse, Sur le pont d’Avignon l’on danse, tout en rond.”
In translation: “On the bridge of Avignon – We all dance there, we all dance there, On the bridge of Avignon, We all dance there in a ring.“
The famous pont (Bridge) of Avignon, of the nursery rhyme
Avignon has over five thousand years of history with the Palace of Popes being in the centre of the medieval walled city. I have to confess we knew nothing about the Palace of Popes, although we knew there had been a few French Popes. How wrong we were – there had been seven popes residing at the Palace over seventy-three years. At the time it was the capital of the Christian world until the Papacy moved back to Rome.
Here is a list of Popes who resided in Avignon:
- Pope Clement V: 1305-1314
- Pope John XXII: 1316-1334
- Pope Benedict XII: 1334-1342
- Pope Clement VI: 1342-1352
- Pope Innocent VI: 1352-1362
- Pope Urban V: 1362-1370
- Pope Gregory XI: 1370-1378
Avignon became the residence of the Popes in 1309, when Gascon Bertran de Goth, as Pope Clement V, unwilling to face the violent chaos of Rome after his election (1305), moved the Papal Curia to Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy.
The Popes departed Avignon 73 years later although there were more Popes in other places (antipopes) creating yet another Papal Schism, with Popes reigning in France and Popes reigning in Rome (and later on, Pisa) at the same time. These inauthentic Popes are called antipopes. This was resolved with the Council of Constance electing an Italian as Pope in 1417. The Palace des Papes remained under papal control, along with the surrounding city for 350 turbulent years.
View of Avignon
We found a comfortable place to stay within the walled city and once settled, made our way to the large Place du Palais and then to the Palace itself. We paid our entrance fee and were given individual audioguides to listen to as we wandered through all the buildings. Some of the halls were large, empty and cold.
Hall in the Palais-des-Papes
I began to experience that ‘past life’ memory feeling again. I wasn’t happy. I recalled a time when sitting with a medium, about 20 years ago, who channeled a message about me having a life as a Pope and then I remembered the name given to me was Clement V. At the time I didn’t take much notice but now it was becoming overwhelming. I had been told that he had died with a broken heart. He believed the life had been so wrong, even though he was guided back to the World of Light by a white dove.
As I walked, I listened to the audioguide speak of many things as I became more and more uncomfortable. I came to a room where an artist had painted portraits of all the popes. They all wore a ring on their finger; either a ruby ring or an emerald ring – but what startled me was the rings looked just like the ring (with the same setting) that Sai Baba had given to me in India.
King Phillip lV of France owed money to the Knights Templar and wanted them destroyed (so would not have to pay the debt). It was said that Pope Clement V was a puppet to his whim. How could The Knights Templar who were held in such high regard and were so well respected, be treated in this manner?
You may read an account of the background of about King Phillip IV and the Knights Templar on The Wayback Machine.
The French King wanted the Church to use their powers of Inquisition to judge the Knights Templar guilty of horrendous initiation rites. He also wanted them denounced as heretics and to be burnt at the stake so that he, the king, could take all their wealth and property unto his own. There has been much written about this and (until the very recent past) history took the view that Clement V acquiesced and allowed this to occur.
View of Palais-des-Papes – plus modern art
For about a week I suffered, constantly thinking, “How could I have been part of this abomination of torture and the Templars being burned alive and cast out from the protection of the Church?”
I mentally made a decision I would record this ‘past life memory’ in this article, when I wrote it, no matter how bad it might seem.
How could Pope Clement V have believed all of the vicious gossip about initiation rites and agree to disband the Order? God’s army, the Knights Templar—who were monk warriors—had sworn never to use the sword in anger or for their own gain. It is true they had become very wealthy from grateful, well-to-do pilgrims giving them treasures and land, in return for The Templars’ giving the pilgrims safe journeys to the Holy Lands.
In this life I am looking at my soul story and the memory of a life as a Cathar. They were the “The Pure Ones” who loved God, and lived with the Love of God. I felt I had to call on Alcheringa and ask what on earth was happening with the life as Pope Clement V; particularly as my soul would have been born into an earth body at Aquitane, South of France, and eventually become the Pope – only 50 years after the previous lifetime as a Cathar. That Cathar lifetime would surely have still been a strong influence within him.
After settling in front of my altar I switched on my Ipod, to make a recording and called Alcheringa by name.
Valerie: “Is Pope Clement V in my soul story?”
Alcheringa: “He is indeed My Dear and it is an earth life that your have found very painful indeed. For you did not want to go along with the edict from the French King. He was asking for all the papers that you had written to be destroyed.
You did not want this at all. And in fact the inquisition went ahead without your sanction – although it was said that you had sanctified the torture and inquisition into the charges being made against The Knights Templar – but this was not true. You, as The Pope, had not sanctified such action.
There were false papers put forward for an inquisition My Dear and you were very upset about this, when you found out.
You wrote another paper to exonerate the Church and what you had really thought and believed. But unfortunately this was not found until much later. [See here]
The life itself gave you insight into another point of view of the Church and you were not happy with this at all. You had come with a Mission, to try and stop the Inquisitions and torture. In the World of Light, the Hierarchy were not pleased that such a thing was taking place, on Earth, in the name of Jesus Christ.
So when you returned to your soul plane, you committed yourself to come back again, to try to rectify this. And that life was as a young woman known as Jeanne d’Arc. She tried to encourage the church to teach, by her example, to listen to God within.
This is enough for you My Dear, but I will be helping you, I will be helping you.
Comment by Valerie: Now that I have received the above information from Alcheringa – I feel now that I can relax – and I understand my feelings about the life. It doesn’t matter how others have written the history, or what they believe. I can certainly understand how when someone has a position of power and comes with the best intentions, it is not always easy to ‘carry off’ the best decisions when there are dark forces around you, trying to usurp what you are attempting to do.
Alcheringa added a little more understanding a few days later …
Alcheringa: “You recorded your dissatisfaction with the course the King wanted to take, My Dear. And so when the papers were falsified and the action of the burning of the Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, had taken place – this upset you greatly. You had met the man personally and did not believe of what he was being accused. In fact you respected the man as honourable, fair and just. It was against your wishes and you did not know the papers had been falsified until after Molay had been burned to death…
You continued to be deeply upset… … However the deed had been done and you wanted to protect the honour of the Church. For there were many, particularly within your cardinals and bishops who were not happy with what immoral actions were said to have taken place by the Knights Templar.
There was a lot of gossip – a lot of writings about strange orgies that were going on. Which you yourself doubted.
And so My Dear you were put in a ‘cleft stick‘ shall I say. To say publically that the French King had gone against your wishes would not have augured well. And to say that you had not agreed with your own cardinals would not have augured well either. You were very angry about this, that the Grand Master had been burnt to death and it had taken place so quickly, against your wishes.”
Valerie: “Who were the cardinals who had falsified my documents—do I know them?” I was told, “Indeed you do”; “And they are with you again in this life.”
Alcheringa: “They felt strongly about it My Dear, that the Templars were guilty of such immoral conduct.” “So it was a moral issue as well My Dear – not just one of the French King owing money to the Templars, and wanting their wealth.”
Alcheringa went on to say,
Alcheringa:”You are receiving the correct information My Dear. The correct documents were found much later – long after you had left your body.”
Alcheringa: “It is important that you release the frustration and anger, before you continue with your story telling.” He also said that I did nothing wrong – and that they know that. The Power of the World of Light know how the truth really is, and it will now be revealed. You have been honoured My Dear – and it is why Sai Baba has given you the ring.
I thanked him sincerely.
I was prompted to research a little more and found Pope Clement V had a strong connection to England through his birthright as a subject of the English King Edward I, in France. Pope Clement V was his own man with powerful allies long before taking the papal throne. He was strong and cleverly insistent on keeping a balance of power between England, France, and the Catholic Church, but most of all his loyalties were to his fellow French countrymen.
I then discovered, just like Alcheringa has said, that the correct papers have been found long after Pope Clement V left his body – in fact this was discovered 700 years later:
“Knights Templar win heresy reprieve; Pope Clement V exonerated the Knights Templar before his death over 700 years ago.” (You may click the link to read the story of the missing Chinon document, which has been authenticated by the Vatican Secret Archives)
The Two Keys on the cover of the recently released documents
And what is more, the two symbolic keys that have followed us for the last two articles appear again; these were given to us by Holy Spirit at Mount Bugarach, at the Valley of God. They are visible on the red velvet cover of the recently released papers from the Vatican, in 2007.
My husband John felt familiar in the Palais des Papes also. He didn’t like it. We did a little kinesiology test on him and it seems he was a Cardinal attached to Pope Clement V; he looked after the treasury. This also explained the feeling we both had; we felt that “we had visited before” when we walked up and through the sacred forest to The Cave of Mary Magdalene at La-Sainte-Baume. It is recorded that Pope Clement V visited there during his reign as Pope. I wrote, “We seemed to walk into a parallel universe when we met the young people dressed in medieval clothes, collecting truffles”.
In that life we weren’t able to stop the medieval inquisition or torture that was carried out in those dark times. My next incarnation came with more power from the World of Light – A Mission to ring changes in France – she was Jehanne d’Arc. Jehanne, regrettably, also fell victim to the inquisition. John, my husband, often joked about how “I burned her (meaning me) in another life.” We later discovered he had been the Duke of Burgundy, who, after Jeanne had been captured–for political reasons—handed her over to the English, who wanted her destroyed. This came after her trial. You can read about the trial of Jehanne d’Arc
Nothing has given me more inner peace than to read the formal apology given by Pope Jophn Paul II – repeated in my last article (see here)
I, too, ask for forgiveness for any hurt I may have caused to anyone in the past, I also forgive myself and I pray to God to forgive me – I love you.
It is easier to go into an altered state of consciousness to recall Past Lives. Sometimes a Soul can experience a ‘parallel lifetime’ meaning living in more than one body at the same time. Some lives are very ordinary lives with an opportunity to experience an understanding as a pauper, a leper, a male life, a female life, an incapacitated life, a happy life, a sad life, a wealthy life – other lives maybe one of great power and/or leadership – we always go back to the World of Light and consolidate what we have gained in the weight and measure of our character building. We are always connected to an Angelic Being who cares for us and guides us. In the order of things I am advised by my Mentors that there is a 3rd and 4th Earth consciousness which they say are together, an Emotional consciousness which stays with us even when we finally leave a body. There is Cosmic Consciousness, a Hierarchy and an Angelic Realm that has no abode at all, and some of us work with The Greater Plan.
Images of people from a past life can be quite similar to that image of themselves in their present life – this is even when there is no inherited bloodline or DNA connection.
John and I have a memory of walking together as friends, as elderly people, dressed in white, living in India. The work we did then is now continued … although not the same.
Annie Besant and Rev Charles Leadbeater; John Barrow
John in this life still wears a large ring on his finger and gave me an equal sided cross, like the one he is seen wearing in the photo – this was all before we became aware of the life in India. He looks like Charles Leadbeater, he used to have a beard, and he still has that ‘twinkle’ in his eyes. We carry forth characteristics from other lives to either heal or to assist us with abilities from the past on our journey in this life.
I have a photo of myself when I was 16 years old and the likeness is very similar to the photo of Annie Besant, taken in her late teens.
Annie Besant when she was young; Valerie Barrow at 16
There are other characteristics and abilities of Annie that have been carried forth into this life.
Past lives still exist, for the Universe does not operate in a linear time; rather, a quantum time. It means everything is happening at the same time. A soul has many aspects from its Monad – its God self.
This is why it is possible to regress into a Past Life and remember or know of other aspects of one’s Soul. A Soul’s story is infinite.
There are a number of ‘experienced living on planet earth’ Souls returning to earth at this time who have permission from the Hierarchy to exchange with another Soul, who want to leave, but who are willing to gift their body to a new Soul. (see my article Does a Soul exist?)
John and I are both ‘walk-ins‘ as the term is often used, and we have a Mission.
My next two articles (the last in this series) will be about our visit to Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza