Did Leonardo Da Vinci belong to a secret society? Did he leave decipherable clues in his works for the future and is the so called secret 'code'not all fantasy and fiction? Is it true that he came quite close to being burned at the stake for some of his esoteric works?

What if answers to all the above questions have new evidence now turning towards a highly probable yes... and if so what was he trying to encrypt secretly?

A number of new documentaries claim that a whole range of arcane knowledge about the Renaissance era, which has recently been emerging, is all nonsense.

Yes, this widely read book may have some obvious fictitious elements, and fraudulent documents have corrupted the credibility of some of the substantial historical material. Be that as it may, we must seriously ask ourselves whether the inclusion of a single false document, is enough to laugh off a fairly large collection of repeating convincing clues.

This hardly seems reason enough to ridicule all further findings on this subject, albeit that they are still in the evaluation stages, and have not yet been fully publicised.

Before touching on some of the clues that lead us to Da Vinci's mysterious obsession with sacred geometry and the human form, and what this is leading to, here is some breaking news about a 'hidden' Da Vinci painting:

DA VINCI APPEARS TO HAVE PAINTED A MASTERPIECE TITLED 'MARY MAGDALENE'... AND HER FACE IS IDENTICAL TO THE PERSON SEATED TO THE RIGHT OF CHRIST IN 'THE LAST SUPPER '

Art experts believe this Renaissance artist was responsible for painting a recently 'discovered' work depicting Mary Magdalene semi-naked! They are convinced that the forgotten painting titled ‘Mary Magdalene’ shown below, clearly exhibits Da Vinci’s style and technique, and therefore is most likely a genuine portrait. If you are surprised that this finding has not been given the kind of media coverage that it is deserving of, ask yourself: "Why?"

The painting can be easily referenced on the internet from reliable sources. And if it intrigues you as much as it has Wayne Herschel, this is a challenge to you to prove for yourself that it is an original painting.

Art experts believe this Renaissance artist was responsible for painting a recently 'discovered' work depicting Mary Magdalene semi-naked! They are convinced that the forgotten painting titled ‘Mary Magdalene’ shown below, clearly exhibits Da Vinci’s style and technique, and therefore is most likely a genuine portrait. If you are surprised that this finding has not been given the kind of media coverage that it is deserving of, ask yourself: Why?

The painting can be easily referenced on the internet from reliable sources. And if it intrigues you as much as it has Wayne Herschel, this is a challenge to you to prove for yourself that it is an original painting.

One might wonder… Is this the face of the woman seated on the right hand of Christ in Da Vinci’s famous Last Supper?

Was Da Vinci forced to portray Mary Magdalene in this manner, half naked, so he would not have to endure the wrath of his piers and possibly the law. What law you may ask? This was the era where the Church had the power to influence the beheading of, or burning at the stake, of anyone who threatened the church.

Does it suggest that the people of Da Vinci's era, in the grip of what was socially acceptable, were in denial that a woman could have a physical relationship with a man of flesh and blood, who most believe was the creator of the known universe?

The significance attributed to Mary Magdalene seems to be only one aspect of the ‘big secret’. Watch this space for part 2 of a 7 part update story… The human codex that follows has new updating evidence that will prove it conclusively and it will be posted over the next few months.

Avid readers of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown – which has been making headline news for selling some twenty million copies, thanks to the mystery it creates around a legendary hidden code – may not be aware that this ‘hidden code’ is a reality, and the solution is tied in with Stonehenge and the pyramid mysteries. While Dan Brown is keeping his readers in suspense with the promise of a sequel, a new book titled ‘The Hidden Records’, which has been recently published, will reveal all.

Wayne Herschel – a new author in the field of archaeo-astronomy (seen on the highly acclaimed South African television programme Carte Blanche last year) – has just launched this long awaited very controversial book. Not only does the author propose a new solution to the ancient pyramid civilisations, but in his research of Stonehenge, he inadvertently stumbles on the Da Vinci code solution encrypted in this ancient monument.

Wayne, who resides in the South African coastal town of Umdloti (near Durban) – is firmly of the opinion that Dan Brown’s basic research was very real. He believes Brown chose to apply dramatised fiction around facts as a marketing tool, to make for very exciting reading.

It must again be reiterated at this point that Wayne Herschel’s ‘The Hidden Records’ was not intentionally intended as a response to Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Wayne's biggest concern is that if his own research – which he claims has a tried and tested sound foundation – does not get recognised for its true worth, humanity will dismiss the true value of this age-old codex as inconsequential… or even worse, as sacrilege:

“Before the subject of the Da Vinci codex is ridiculed as ‘fantasy’, which may even result in this timeless code being given derogatory press… the time has come to reveal the factual wonder of the sacred knowledge Leonardo Da Vinci may have kept as a tightly guarded secret.”

“The most likely reason this knowledge may have remained hidden is because people during his time were very quick to prejudge and take action against ‘blasphemers’. Those who practised anything that was not clearly explained in the Biblical works were perceived to be evil.”

The human form fits very mathematically into the centre of the stone circle at Stonehenge with the head positioned above the ‘altar’ stone. In a wider context… the solution becomes even clearer… because it turns out that Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments were designed as a star map of the heavens. A grouping of nearby manmade mounds replicates a prime star constellation explored in the author’s book, while the outer stone circle’s geometry is suggestive of the outline of a star in conjunction with two smaller mounds mimicking planets in orbit (see Stonehenge page). Herschel believes that because the shape of the human form is very ingeniously linked to the star that their pyramid star maps isolate (found also at two other ancient sites), it seems the ancient civilisations were trying to tell us that their ancestors… the ‘gods’ came from one and the same star.

One cannot help asking: Is this star suggesting the place of origin of the human gene lineage? A lineage evolved somewhere else completely independent to any Earth evolving hominid?

Will Dan Brown propose a similar interpretation to this solution in his next book? It is highly unlikely… especially since the pyramid star maps that became pivotal to Wayne ’s decoding of the Da Vinci code, do not form part of the equation for Brown.