Cathar Truth: Why These Pacifist Good Christians/Cathars Were Brutally Persecuted as Heretics by the Medieval Church of Rome

By Beverley E. Gould

This is the story of my encounter with a monk from a shared past life in the thirteenth century. His message to me was “I want you to remember the Gilded Rose. It could be useful for you now. We were the Pure Ones, who were rent asunder for official gain in the Languedoc South, France. We were put to the rack in the Inquisition. It was not your fault. I love you, I forgive you, and I want you to be happy.”

My thirty-five years of research of the fascinating life and times, origins, and beliefs of these Pure Ones known as Cathars are detailed in this book. They were taught by Mary Magdalene in the first century and persecuted by the church of Rome in a forty-year Crusade ending in their ultimate defeat at Montsegur in 1244.

This book is my tribute to all those thousands, if not millions, of good Christians/Cathars, who stood fast for their truth in the face of certain death. It leads you into understanding their relationship to Jesus and Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail, the Troubadours, the Shroud of Turin, the Knights Templar, the Ark of the Covenant, the Sacred Feminine, and more.

This deeply researched book will enrich your spiritual life and give you insights into the beliefs and gentleness of a hitherto unknown world—the Church of Love—brutally suppressed by the medieval Church of Rome because they refused to obey the Roman Church's man-made rules.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984500526

Beverley E. Gould

Beverley E. Gould has had an interest in Past Lives and Life after Death since her Near Death Experience in 1972. She has already published two books .."Child of the Universe"...a slim volume of poetry, and "Sacred Journey.....On Earth as it is in Heaven"...a story demonstrating the reasons for Reincarnation. Her third book "Cathar Truth" is very dear to her heart and she regards it as her magnus opus because of the extensive research undertaken to bring back into the light the truth about her beloved Cathars. Her pursuit of truth led her into studying Theology at The Faculty of Theology attached to Melbourne University. Confident then in her ability to write lucidly about complex issues and weigh up religious and spiritual matters, she set off on her journey to find out the truth of the Pure Ones and the words of her Monk. The result is a fascinating read. Beverley E. Gould lives with her husband and daughter in Melbourne Australia. She is an Author, Poet and Visionary Artist.

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Copyright © 2018 by Beverley E. Gould.

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ISBN:                  Hardcover                       978-1-9845-0054-0

                            Softcover                          978-1-9845-0053-3

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Rev. date: 09/17/2018

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JESUS, MARY MAGDALENE, SACRED FEMININE, KNIGHTS TEMPLAR,

THE HOLY GRAIL, SHROUD OF TURIN, ARK OF THE COVENANT, TROUBADOURS, ESSENES, REINCARNATION, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE CATHARS OF THE LANGUEDOC, SOUTH FRANCE

THE LADDER OF LOVE

Last night I saw a vision splendid

A Golden Ladder … which extended

From Earth to Heaven – even further yet

This radiant ladder was many-fold

And on its rungs I did behold

A Magnificence that I’ll never forget

For these were the Souls of All Mankind

Returning to the Great Divine

The lower rungs held souls material

Then onward … upward … those ethereal

Progressed on…towards the Light

Then … as they grew more phosphorescent

All matter changed….became transparent

Glowing Spirit became the Light

The Music of the Spheres proclaimed

The Alchemy of Souls reclaimed

The Cosmic Christ leads you through

the mirror of reflection to the ladder of perfection

Beverley E. Gould

In tribute to all those Cathar Good Christians who refused to recant their beliefs, and so were brutally tortured, maimed, hanged, burnt, or put to the sword by the Church of Rome, in the medieval times that went down in history as

The Burning Times.

Also to all those brave souls who have returned, seven centuries later, to serve the Light again.

May the Laurel green anew!

shutterstock_1097832044.jpg

Monument to Martyrs of Montsegur

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Who Were The Pure Ones The Cathars?

Cathar Church Hierarchy

The Book Of John / Gospel Of John

Could Mary Magdalene Have Written The Gospel Of John?

Further Understandings Of Cathar Beliefs

Where Do We Find Our Information On The Cathars?

What Did The Cathars Believe?

What Are The Origins Of Cathar Thought?

Who Were The Essenes?

Who Were The Nazarenes?

Jesus The Nazarene – Not Of Nazareth

The Relationship Of Jesus To The Essenes And The Nazarenes

The Secret Of The Grail ‘Heresy’

The Desposyni – Jesus Heirs And Relatives – Heirs To The Jerusalem Nazarene Church

The Roman Agenda Of Early Christianity

The Nicene Creed – The Church’s First Attempt To Control Heresy

The Apostles Creed

The Nicene Creed

The Medieval Inquisition Took It Further

The Languedoc –Home Of Mary Magdalene - The Setting For The First Inquisition

The Sacred Feminine And Mary Magdalene The Teacher Of The Cathars

The Grail Code And The Sacred Feminine

But, Nothing Could Be Further From The Truth, Surely?

The Crusade To Wipe The Cathars From The Face Of The Earth Began On The Feast Day Of St. Mary Magdalene - 22Nd July

Mary Magdalene, The Apostle Of The Apostles And Probable Teacher Of The 1St Century Cathars In The Languedoc – South Of France

The Eventual Fate Of The Cathars At Montsegur

Jesus As Avatar

The Essenes/Nazarenes – Keepers Of The New Covenant – Jeremiah 31:33

Jesus’ Reverence For Women Reversed By Saul Who Became St Paul

Where Is The Kingdom Of Heaven?

Dare To Disobey!

Sparks Of God Imprisoned In Flesh

True Followers Of ‘The Way’ ‘The Truth’ And ‘The Life’

The Cathars Created Copies Of The New Testament, For All To Read, In Their Native Provençale

Were The Cathars True Christians?

Summary Of Cathar Beliefs And Practices

What Is Gnosticism Or Gnostic Christianity?

The Gnostic Gospels Of Nag Hammadi

Were The Cathars ‘Life Haters’?

Hieros Gamos/Sacred Marriage

The Cathars And Sexuality

Who Or What Was The Gilded Rose?

Were The Cathars Heretics?

What Was The Punishment For One Who Was Convicted Of Heresy?

Did The Cathars Fear Death Or The Charge Of Heresy

What Happened To You If You Were Charged With Heresy?

Did The Cathars Celebrate Christmas?

Did They Really Believe In Reincarnation?

What Is Reincarnation All About?

When Was The Belief In Reincarnation Removed From Christianity And Why?

What Happened Then?

Is There Any Evidence That Jesus Believed In Reincarnation?

Is There Any Evidence That Jesus Travelled To Other Countries?

The Mystic Christ Takes You Through The Mirror Of Reflection To The Ladder Of Perfection

The Caves Of Ornolac And Lombrives, Ussat Le Bains

Were They Guardians Of The Holy Grail And What Was The Cathar Treasure?

The Ark Of The Covenant

Whom Does The Grail Serve?

What Was The Cathars Relationship To The Knights Templar?

The Knights Templar / Temple Knights

The Medieval Church Used The Following To Torture The Templars:

The Last Grandmaster Of The Templars, Jacques De Molay, Is Burnt To Death In Paris

What Do We Know About The Shroud Of Turin?

Was The Shroud Of Turin In The Languedoc?

The Cathars Did Not Worship The Cross And Neither Did The Knights Templar

What Is The Kabbalah, Qabalah, Cabbalah?

The Mystical Rose / Rosa Mystica

What Was The Cathars Relationship To The Troubadours?

Why Were The Cathars Exterminated?

Were The Cathars Simply Following Paulician, Bogomil Or Manichean Beliefs?

Why Was There A Need For A ‘Holy’ Inquisition?

Crusades Against The Cathars Of The Languedoc

Rennes- Le- Chateau

What Was The Truth That Made The Roman Church Want To Wipe Catharism From The Face Of The Earth?

How Do I See Jesus?

The Rose

The Gilded Rose

Foreword

Preface

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

The Cathar Creed

Bibliography

PREFACE

My purpose in writing this book, is to explore the essence of Cathar thought and to link it to an earlier belief system, that of the Essenes. In doing this, I hope to show that the Cathars were following in the footsteps of the first Apostles. I also hope to show that the first-century Good Men/Cathars were taught by Mary Magdalene, the Woman who knew the All, and that she was the person to whom Christ entrusted his Church. If this is the case, then we need to look closely at their beliefs. Perhaps we can resurrect them from the ashes and begin to apply them within our own daily living. Maybe then, at last, we will be able to engender the way of life that Christ envisaged for us when he said, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ Maybe then, we may, at last, begin to have ‘Peace of Earth and Goodwill to All People’.

I am willing to open my mind to possibilities, and not restrict myself to a blinkered view of spirituality or religion. My journey is to search for the truth, even though I realise that even a close approximation of the ‘truth’ is probably the best that I, or anyone else is, capable of finding.

You are very welcome to accompany me on my journey. Feel free to disagree with me if you will. Any Good Christian/Cathar worth their salt would want open and informed discussion – and discourage dogma.

INTRODUCTION

After the birth of my third and last child, my life changed, and so did my choices. I could no longer fit myself in to any church, and I had attended just about all of them. I had come through a near-death experience, my new baby had problems that my first two had never had, I had an expanded sense of the imminence of the Spirit, and I knew, beyond doubt, that I was more than my body. My body was what ‘I’ wore and utilised, but it was not ‘I’. I – and everyone else, presumably – was much, much more than a body. But what?

From the night of that near-death experience, I was irrevocably changed. In April 1972, my spiritual life began in earnest. My search for truth began in earnest. I could never go back to what I was or where I had come from. I just didn’t fit in anymore. What’s more, I felt that my new ideas were dangerous to their belief systems.

I was in no man’s land, unchartered territory, the road less travelled. I was bursting with the good news that we are all more than just our bodies, that death is not the end, just a glorious continuance of life. But nobody really wanted to listen.

At times, it felt as though my soul flew like an eagle, and I saw and understood the entire meaning of life, and then I would fall to Earth again and promptly forget, left alone with just fragments of memories and a deep, wistful longing to ‘Go Home’. I longed to find other people who thought or felt as I did, someone I could communicate with. ‘They must need me as much as I need them’, I thought.

I resolved to strike out on my own, whatever happened – alone or not – away from the rigidity of church thinking. I felt more and more like a heretic, but there was nothing I could do about it. I had no explanation other than the things that they really didn’t want to hear because they didn’t fit into their ‘norm’.

All I had now was my unshakeable belief in Jesus himself and the words that he said; all else was open to question. I looked to him as an elder brother, someone to show me the way – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This would be my anchor, my litmus test for truth, and my guiding star as I journeyed forth into my New World – a World that was unseen and unknown, just sensed and intuited; a World that has no boundaries, no divisions, just limitless love and limitless life waiting to be found.

I found that I was being taught by the Spirit internally. Words and phrases would pop into my head. ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all else shall be added unto you.’ The Kingdom of God … The Kingdom of God … What did that mean really? What was it ‘really’? It was up to me to find out. Or, if I was worried, ‘Who amongst you can add one cubit to his height by worry? Consider the lilies in the field. They neither toil nor spin, yet Solomon himself was not arrayed in greater glory.’ A lesson in trust!

Once, when I was agonising over my need for a mother’s love and understanding and desperately needing God to be female, I found this ‘voice’ for want of a better word, telepathically telling me, warmly and positively, ‘The Holy Spirit is female, Bev … The Holy Spirit is the Feminine aspect of God … You are so dearly, dearly loved … Believe in yourself as we believe in you, and mighty things can begin to happen … Just let go and let God … Trust. We love you deeply and completely … Just love yourself.’

Love myself? Good heavens, how was I supposed to do that? Wasn’t that a sin? Aren’t you supposed to put everyone else first, especially as a mother and wife? Isn’t loving yourself selfish?

‘Nooooo’, the warm, honeyed voice replied, ‘loving yourself is essential … You are God’s creation … There is no other quite like you nor will there ever be. You are a fingerprint of God, no less and no more than any other fingerprint but nonetheless infinitely valuable and unique … just as you are. You are God experiencing more Godliness, through you and your experiences … What you touch, God touches, and what you experience, God experiences. It’s a two-way communication … perfect in the moment … and infinitely blessed.’

How wonderful! My soul was thirsting for truth, and these words were like a balm to my spirit, but I still felt that I needed other people to communicate with. Where were they?

Surely, I could not be the only one who felt as I did.

Eventually, I did find others who thought somewhat like me, and the joy of recognition was immeasurable. All these new friends were female, and we fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw. We each seemed to have a tiny fragment of ‘the truth’, and we all felt as though we were on the same wavelength.

We could speak our deepest thoughts without fear of ridicule. Around this time, I also took up Yoga. My mind, body, and emotions were all stressed from trying too hard to ‘get it right’, and I felt close to a breakdown. I was deeply conscious of my second chance at life and concerned for my baby’s welfare and progress, plus the everyday needs of my other two children and my husband, John, and, as well, worried about my mother’s alcoholism and the dysfunctionality of my family of origin. It was all piling up on me. I needed time out!

Timidly, I started my first yoga class, unsure of what to expect. My coordination was poor. Some days, I could hardly put one foot in front of the other without hanging on to the wall. (I did not realise then that I had had my first minor stroke during my daughter’s birth.)

I needed help! But I firmly believed that God helps those who help themselves, so I persevered with the ‘spinal twists’ and ‘cat’ and ‘cobra’ poses, gradually bringing my body back into harmony. It was bliss just to lie there in the dark, under a blanket, and listen to my teacher’s warm, liquid voice intone. ‘And now you are drifting on a white fluffy cloud, gently floating high above the Earth, nothing to think of, nowhere to go …’ What a release! I needed more of this!

My girlfriends and I continued to explore meditation. One night a week, we would spend some time putting together the fragments that we knew and practicing.

‘We need to sit on straight-backed chairs,’ one offered.

‘With our feet on the ground and our palms upward in our laps,’ said another.

‘Some neck relaxation exercises would be good,’ said I.

‘We should say a prayer of protection,’ my Catholic friend insisted, and I suggested, ‘We should write down our experiences.’

‘We need to breathe deeply and slowly,’ said another.

Eventually, we just did it. It was 1974.

My specialty was Christ Consciousness. I was quite happy to tell people that I was a ‘Jesus Freak’. Remember, we are talking ‘hippie’ times here, the ’70s. Cosmic Consciousness was high on my agenda too, oneness with the Universe – the One Song – Uni-Verse. We were – I firmly believed, and still do – ‘The Love Song Sung’, each of us a note, each of us a sound within the ‘Sound of All Sounds’, the Universal Song of One, the Music of the Spheres, Harmonic Resonance.

These were heady days! It was Heaven for me to be able to talk to others of like mind, to share experiences and try to evaluate their meaning or worth. There were not many books around relating to these subjects at that time. The few that we had between us we shared and devoured, eager to learn.

Previously, soon after my daughter’s birth, when I was making my first faltering steps towards a ‘better way’, a friend and work colleague of my husband started sending me books. She was a Yoga Teacher and serious seeker, and finder, of truth.

The books were heavy-going, serious literature, but I soaked them up like a thirsty sponge. They included Wings of Power by Margrit Segesman, the founder of the Gita School of Yoga in Melbourne; Yogi Ramacharaka’s 14 Steps; The Upanishads; and several books on Raja Yoga.

Although I had a myriad of questions, she was always reticent to give me answers. I soon realised that I was expected to find them on my own. I was not going to be spoon-fed. She had no intention of setting herself up as my Guru, however much I may have wished it at the time. As time passed, I realised the wisdom of her ways. My truth was to be my own, not a regurgitation of someone else’s.

She gave me information. What I made of it was entirely up to me.

Around this time too, I was introduced to a couple who were Charismatic Catholics and spiritual healers. I had never heard of spiritual healing other than in Jesus’s times, so I was eager to meet them. I was not disappointed. They seemed to be psychic to me and very sincere, simple, ordinary people. The woman used to pray intercessory over photographs that people had sent her. She seemed to be able to tell what was wrong with these strangers and pray for their healing.

Sometimes she would write to them, suggesting a change in diet or some such. Money was not involved. They gave of their gifts generously and freely. Sometimes they would use their hands to remove negativity from people’s auras. I certainly experienced an increased feeling of well-being whenever I allowed them to work on me.

‘You could do this, Bev,’ they urged.

‘Who, me? Never!’

‘Yes, you could … if you wanted to.’

I pondered on this. This was too way out. I knew Jesus healed, and I knew that I wanted to be like Jesus, but … I wasn’t too sure about that one.

THE PROBABLE LINEAGE OF CATHAR THOUGHT IS THROUGH THE GNOSTIC (SECRET KNOWLEDGE) KNOWERS OF THE FOLLOWING:

1. BOOK OF ENOCH - ancient texts still used in Early Christian times, strong on Angelology.

2. MOSES - Prince of Egypt. Probably Pharoah Ahkenaton, writer of the first five books of the Old Testament.

3. THE ESSENES - The White Brotherhood/ Egyptian Therapeutae. They called themselves Pure Ones. They were also strong on Angelology. Modern theology suggests that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were Essenes.

4. JESUS - always wore a seamless white gown and taught in parables so that his were earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. He said, Let those with ears to hear hear and those with eyes to see see. So that the Gnostics were aware of his higher meanings.

5. MARY MAGDALENE - after the Crucifixion Mary Magdalene went to Provence in the South of France. There she taught her Gnostic beliefs to all of Provence so that Jesus’ work could continue. These followers were called The Pure Ones. In the Languedoc next to Provence these Pure Ones were also called Cathars.

After the pacifist Cathars were persecuted and killed by the Crusades waged against them by the Medieval Church of Rome (the first Crusade began on 22nd July the Feast day of Mary Magdalene) Cathar thought then went underground and resurfaced in different forms from time to time particularly through the Rosicrucians and Freemasons.

CHAPTER ONE

In 1983, some of my New Age friends invited me to a party. My husband was in Copenhagen on business, so I arranged to stay overnight with my girlfriend Bev and her husband, Neville, and attended the party. During the evening, a mutual friend, Rex, who was a well-known trance channeler and clairvoyant, called me aside and asked if he could have a word with me. Affably, I agreed and was slightly bemused when he asked me, ‘Who is this monk dressed in black robes that you’ve got with you in spirit, Beverley?’

‘I don’t know anything about a monk, Rex. I wouldn’t have a clue. I didn’t know I had anyone with me!’

‘Well, he’s there!’

‘Ask him what he wants, will you, Rex!’

‘He wants you to be happy …’

‘Uh-huh … OK … What’s it to him anyway?’

‘He says you were together in the thirteenth century.’

‘Uh-huh … Mmmm … doing what?’

‘You were both tortured in the Inquisition … You wrote something down that should not have been written down, and you were both captured and put to the rack.’

With this revelation, Rex lightly indicated the areas of my body that had been dislocated and began speaking a prayer in Aramaic. At least I instinctively knew it was Aramaic, and I knew it was a healing and cleansing prayer. It was quite humbling. And I sensed a deeper truth, something echoing and reverberating in some secret cavernous recess of my being, something I could sense but not see.

‘You know, Rex, there’s something vaguely familiar about that … What else does he say?’

‘He says that he loves you, he forgives you, and he wants you to be happy. He says that you are to remember the Gilded Rose!’

‘The Gilded Rose … I don’t know anything about it!’

‘You have to remember. It’s important. He’s nodding his head. It’s something you used to know a lot about … You need to remember. It could be useful for you now. I feel it’s some kind of secret society, an underground thing, an underground stream of esoteric knowledge that you were tapping in to.’

‘OK, Rex … Does he say where we were, where this happened?’

‘South of France … the Languedoc … They were the pure ones, and they were rent asunder for official gain … That’s what he is telling me. He’s getting upset. He wants you to remember!’

‘Tell him … thank you … and I’ll do my best, will you, Rex? I’m sorry I caused him so much trouble!’

‘He’s not worried about that … He says it wasn’t your fault … He’s only interested in your happiness now!’

‘Thank you, Rex. Whew! You never know who you are going to run into, do you?’

‘It’s not funny, Bev … He’s serious … Don’t dismiss this!’

‘OK, OK … Lighten up … It’s supposed to be a party here … Let’s get back to the dancing … I’ll think about it later.’

I felt a bit strange knowing that I had this monk with me. I really wasn’t sure what he wanted from me. But somehow it rang a bell, and I felt a soft, warm tenderness in my heart towards him.

How wonderful it was that someone could still care about someone else after seven and a half centuries had passed. But what could I do about it? What did it really mean?

And what was the significance, if any, of his black robes? And if he was a monk, didn’t that mean he must be celibate, and if he was celibate, how on earth would he get mixed up with me? Did I seduce him or something? What was the truth of the matter? This all sounded like dangerous stuff to me. And I hadn’t even asked him his name. Dangerous stuff, indeed! I had no idea just how dangerous those times really were until I began my research in earnest.

I had to. I couldn’t turn my back on this. It just wouldn’t go away. I could try to forget about it, pretend it was just imagination, or an interesting aside, until I came in contact again with psychic or clairvoyant people, and then it was awakened yet again, even in the most unexpected places and by people who did not know me from a bar of soap.

For instance, I was lunching with a girlfriend. I had never bothered to tell her about my monk. It wasn’t the sort of thing that she and I spoke about. Her mother was visiting her from Western Australia, and as she joined us for lunch, I noticed her giving me a quizzical look.

Later on, as the conversation flowed, she asked me if I believed in past lives.

‘Yes, I think I do nowadays. It makes sense to me …’

‘Well, my dear, I can see you living in France, in medieval times. You belong to a spiritual community … They are under siege, under persecution. You are wearing a long blue robe or gown, like a nun would wear … with a hood, though, with a hood. You have got a silver chain around your waist with a special cross hanging from it … a Tau cross, like an Egyptian Ankh. You are a healer. You know how to heal through touch, use of herbs, and the sound of your voice. Pure water is very important to you, and you are vegetarian. They all are.’

I was a bit taken aback by this, but somehow it struck a bell, a very sad bell. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

‘That feels right … I’m sure you are right … but … my people … we were all killed, weren’t we? It was all for nothing in the end, wasn’t it? Nobody even remembers who we were.’

‘No, dear, you’re wrong. Some do remember, and it wasn’t all for nothing. They made a pact that they would return … when times were better. The Laurel Tree shall bloom again after seven centuries have passed. That is what they vowed.’

‘The Laurel Tree?’

‘Yes, the Laurel Tree.’

‘Why the Laurel?’

‘Because the Laurel is impervious to fire. It continues to bloom even though it is burnt, and my dear, your people were systematically put to the fire … burnt at the stake … ‘auto-da-fé’ … and they went willingly, preparedly. Their tormentors marvelled at their equanimity, and not a few went over to their side and died with them. They were admired that much’

‘Who were my people?’

‘They were known as the Cathars, the pure ones,