Cathar View: The Mysterious Legacy of Montségur: The Mysterious Legacy of Montsegur - Softcover

Dave Patrick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190539828X ISBN 13: 9781905398287

Publisher: Polair Publishing, 2012

Synopsis

The Thirteenth-Century Cathars, slaughtered at Montsegur in 1244, today offer an alternative to mainstream Christianity that, for many, integrates better both with ancient pagan traditions and with modern 'new age' attitudes than does the church. They are used to focus a sense of local pride and independence in the Languedoc of France and they still offer a symbol of largely non-violent resistance against persecution and near-genocide. While they are the source for substantial studies into reincarnation, they, also, give us extraordinary detail to help us understand mediaeval life and the horror of the inquisition. Their spirituality and what it stood for remain alive in countless exemplary ways and it is easy for the picture to become contradictory, contentious and confused. Contributors to THE CATHAR VIEW range from the scholarly to the 'alternative'. Chapters take us from accounts of their predecessors, the Bogomils, through to a review of recent 'heretical' viewpoints about the holy Grail - the basis of the Da Vinci code and the burgeoning legend of Mary Magdalene. There are contributions about Cathar sympathisers such as Otto Rahn, who for many is the original for Indiana Jones, and a look at some of the occultists who have been intrigued by the Cathar inheritance, such as the mysterious Polaires. Also investigated is the landscape of the Languedoc and what it holds for walkers and mystics alike. In sum, this is a unique and valuable contribution to the literature about the Cathars or Albigenses, sympathetic to its subject and offering new clarity about what really underlay their intriguing beliefs.

About this title

About the Author:

Dave Patrick has spent much of his life on the Scottish east coast but now lives in central England. A former Shell Finance executive and trained facilitator, he moved into the area of complementary medicine in 2003 and qualified in Quantum Touch(r) therapy. He compiled The View in 2010 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and followed it with The View Beyond, on Sir Francis Bacon. He sees the books he has edited as a physical manifestation of a spiritual life-journey. He is a member of The White Eagle Lodge and the Francis Bacon Society

Colum combines academic training with an ever-questioning sense of the spiritual and how it may represent a reality that is richer and more valuable to us than the material. He is the grandson of Grace Cooke, founder of the White Eagle Lodge, whose vision in the early days of the Cathar rediscovery continues to inspire him. Today he leads retreats in Cathar country and elsewhere and is actively involved in the White Eagle Lodge in London. He survived a 600 ft mountaineering fall in 1999.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polair Publishing
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 190539828X
• ISBN 13: 9781905398287
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288