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To: alt.magick
From: "ningubal" 
Subject: The Cathars
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 01:39:55 -0600

The following information about the Cathars is taken from an article in Man,
Myth, and Magic.

The Cathars also know as the Albinenses, from the town of Albi, north-east
of Toulouse, were a powerful religious sect, which flourished, in the 12th
and 13th centuries, chiefly in southern France and Northern Italy.  The
belief system of the Cathars was heavily rooted in Gnosticism, and
Manicheanism.  The Cathars saw the Universe as having two active principles
in it, which were opposed to each other.  One was the good principle and the
other, the evil principle.  The evil principle was weaker and less real, but
at the same time the potency good principle was reduced by the existence of
the evil, and hence the good was not all-powerful.  This weakened potency of
the good principle by the evil, was the cause of all suffering in the world.
The evil principle itself was an eternal principle, but in time its effects
would eventually perish.

Although the above stated beliefs were quite obviously heretical in the eyes
of the Church, the Cathars insisted that they were the only true Christians.
The Cathars believed that the evil principle appeared in various forms.  The
being was known as the Monster of Chaos.   It partook of the nature of man,
fish, bird, and beast, yet at the same time it was a spirit, which had no
beginning.  The being also had various physical forms and among these were,
Satan, Lucifer, and the god of the Old Testament. The Cathars asserted that
Christ's true mission was accomplished in superior worlds, and the Christ
that appeared in this world was merely a phantom.  The phantom Christ, and
his crucifixion was an image of torture inflicted on the demon that created
the world. According to the Cathars the phantom Christ appeared for the
purpose of giving mankind the doctrine of salvation, which revealed the
truth that the Old Testament deity was really the demon.  The world of flesh
partaking of the nature of the demon, it was the task of mankind to liberate
the good part of himself from the evil product of the demon's creation.  The
Cathars condemned the cult of the cross, asserting that the cross was made
out of the wood of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

There were two classes of Cathars.  The 'ancients', also known as the
'perfect', and those not of the 'ancients' who were known as the 'believers'
.  The 'ancients' were a priestly class who were rigorously initiated as
such.  They renounced the material world, and would not partake in the
eating of meat, drinking of wine, or sexual intercourse.  Their way of life
was one of simplicity and celibacy.  Their rigorous training and initiation
prepared them to remain faithful in spite of torture.

The Cathar faith was hardly an insignificant, or minor movement.   It was a
legitimate threat to the Catholic establishment, and the Cathars were
persecuted for over a century by the Catholic Church until Pope Innocent III
decided to put them down once and for all, by declaring a crusade against
them.  The crusade ended in 1244 on a hill where the remaining 200 Cathar
ancients had been holding out for 10 months.

What remains most fascinating about the Cathars are the legends, which say
that their treasures consisted of numerous holy books, the treasure of
Solomon's temple, and the Holy Grail.  A popular book entitled Holy Blood,
which was published sometime in the early 1970s, explores the history of the
Cathars.  Although the book is filled with a great deal speculation, it
never the less does raise some interesting questions.  When the book was
published it was meet with a great deal of hostility by various Christian
organizations due to some of the things that the book suggested.  Of the
greatest concern to Christian organizations, were suggestions that Christ
was not actually crucified, and that he fathered a child with the Harlot
Mary Magdalene.

The book mainly focuses on the life of the clergyman Barenger Sauniere, who
was appointed as the village priest of Rennes le Chateau.  On June 1 1885.
Also the existence of a secret society called The Priory de Sion.  As the
story goes, shortly after Sauniere was appointed to his position he
mysteriously became quite wealthy and began to spend large sums of money.
The book suggests that Sauniere found some secret hidden in his church, that
even Kings would be at great pains to have.  The author then goes on to
discuss his research into what the nature of this secret might be, by
reviewing various historical events, which might seem to indicate a
connection between Sauniere, and his mysterious secret, and that of the
Modern day Priory de Sion, and also the Cathars.

Among one of the most unusual aspect of Sauniere were his strange beliefs,
which as the book points out, seemingly resembled the beliefs of the
Cathars.  Sauniere put an image of a diabolical being nameRex Mundi, (Lord
of the Earth) in his church, which very much resembles that of the Demon of
Chaos of the Cathars.

What I personally found very interesting about the book Holy Blood Holy
Grail, was that the story of Barenger Sauniere so very much resembles the
story of the alchemist Nicholas Flammel, who came into possession of a book
written by Abraham the Jew, and supposedly by means of this book, Flammel
was able to produce the Philosopher's Stone, After which, he also went on to
spend huge sums of money.

See the following URL: http://www.levity.com/alchemy/f_hyglph.html

Holy Blood Holy Grail does discuss the possibility of Alchemy as the source
of Sauniere's wealth, but quickly blows it off as a smoke screen.  Rather,
the author prefers to pursue his speculation that the Sauniere's secret was
in the form of documents which, could provide proof that Christ's
crucifixion was a Myth maintained through the ages by the Catholic Church,
and possession of such a secret was something which could fetch a healthy
sum of money for those willing to pay for it, or for those who would pay to
have it kept quiet.

The Majority of information for the parts of this post dealing with the
Cathars was obtained from the Man, Myth, and Magic series.

The book Holy Blood Holy Grail can be purchased by clicking on the following
link.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440136482/theaeoninternati

For additional reading see the following link for The Hiram Key.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1862042217/theaeoninternati

Regards

ningubal


Website http://members.nbci.com/~ningubal

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