The Cromlech of Boudet.

It is an exciting time - especially regarding recent research in to the Cromlech of Rennes-les-Bains described by Boudet. For example I have come across the work of French researcher Christophe Carlier, predominately via his You Tube video channel. 

Christophe has kindly given me permission to present some of his work in the next Rhedesium Journal. But while watching one of his videos on a much larger screen [and before translating any texts] one of the shots of the Rennes-les-Bains area via Google Earth that Christophe used was, to me, like having a Birds Eye view of the area. And because the image was in relief and I was watching from further away [than in front of a small computer screen] somehow features of the landscape jumped out at me more vividly than I had ever noticed before. 

Here is the image below:

I was able to see a kind of crater like dip in the centre of the image, shaped in fact like a circle in the landscape around and in Rennes-les-Bains as a  natural feature. You can almost track it. 

 In the photo below I have circled this in RED for you to see. 

And a free-form circle ...

Here is the image cropped and 'closer';

For me this seemed much more interesting than trying to envisage a Cromlech 'on' [or sitting on] the landscape as it were. 

Perhaps however Boudet was referring to natural landmarks and shapes etc for some important reason?

Of course, Christophe was ahead of the game, as he then showed an illustration which he had marked as illustrating what he thought was both Cromlech's of Boudet's invention. This is pictured below;

Here you can see the outer Cromlech and the inner Cromlech as discussed by Boudet. Biudet writes;

"The centre of the stone circle of Rennes-les-Bains is found in the place named, by the Gauls themselves, the Cercle. In calling it Cercle - to circle (cerkl) to surround - [environner], surround [entourer] the central point of the stone circle of the Redones, and reaffirming in this way a small circle in a larger one, the Druids wanted to express the very clear idea that they possessed one unique God who was existing in the beings. God being the Being even through essence, he is also in everything in a very intimate way, in that he is the cause of everything that exists. The created world is here represented by the small circle surrounded by the larger one, and this large circle by its spherical shape, offers to the spirit the idea of the essential perfection of God, in whom all beings live and die, who contains everything and exists inside them, not at all like a part of their being or an accident, but like an agent is present in the being on which it acts and which it reaches by its virtue."

As you can see if you adjust your mindset to 'in' landscape features rather than looking for some form of stone creation 'on' the landscape one can see better what Boudet may have been suggesting.

And the whole area seems to be like a crater in the landscape - a sunken hollow area. 

This simple insight is a revelation to me. 

The ideas of Monsieur Carlier will be further explored in they next issue of the Journal Rhedesium. 

Thank you Christophe, and here the video I reference;