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Crusade Against the Grail - Rennes-le-Chateau Research and ...

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106 PART Two<br />

Many times in Greek mythology, Artemis is identified with Daphne (laurel),<br />

<strong>the</strong> first <strong>le</strong>gendary Sibilla of Delphi. The Sibillas wrote <strong>the</strong>ir orac<strong>le</strong>s on laurel<br />

<strong>le</strong>aves, laurel being <strong>the</strong> sacred tree of poets <strong>and</strong> prophets. Peire Vidal knew very<br />

well why he invited his Lady Grace to rest beneath a laurel tree.<br />

The dove was a bird dedicated to Artemis. In Dodona, <strong>the</strong> priestesses of<br />

Artemis cal<strong>le</strong>d <strong>the</strong>mselves "doves." The most sacred oak tree of Greece could be<br />

found <strong>the</strong>re, <strong>and</strong> its timber served as <strong>the</strong> keel for <strong>the</strong> Argo before <strong>the</strong> Argonauts<br />

visited <strong>the</strong> prophet <strong>and</strong> soothsayer Medea, who helped <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong>ir quest for <strong>the</strong><br />

Golden F<strong>le</strong>ece.<br />

The dove was <strong>the</strong> emb<strong>le</strong>m used by <strong>the</strong> Cathars—as in <strong>the</strong> gospels— to<br />

designate God-Spirit. A Cathar sculpted a dove in <strong>the</strong> rocky wall of one of <strong>the</strong><br />

caves of <strong>the</strong> Sabar<strong>the</strong>s. In <strong>the</strong> ruins of Montsegur, small clay pigeons have been<br />

found. A dove was depicted on <strong>the</strong> shield of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Grail</strong> knights. A dove <strong>le</strong>ft a host<br />

on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Grail</strong> on Good Friday, <strong>the</strong> day of <strong>the</strong> supreme Minne. A <strong>le</strong>gend that I heard<br />

from <strong>the</strong> lips of a shepherd in <strong>the</strong> Pyrenees told haw a dove split Mount Tabor in<br />

two <strong>and</strong> how Esclarmonde transformed herself into <strong>the</strong> emb<strong>le</strong>m of God-Spirit. The<br />

concordance of images that are so apparent here are not susceptib<strong>le</strong> to various<br />

interpretations.<br />

The creation of Lucifer brings death with it; death that can only be fought by <strong>the</strong><br />

refusal to propagate <strong>the</strong> human species. When <strong>the</strong>re are no longer men, <strong>the</strong>re will<br />

no longer be death.<br />

This is <strong>the</strong> reason <strong>the</strong> Cathars rejected carnal love <strong>and</strong> replaced it with <strong>the</strong><br />

ce<strong>le</strong>stial Minne; in o<strong>the</strong>r words, <strong>the</strong>y only recognized <strong>the</strong> original divine Amor-<br />

love. Dante cal<strong>le</strong>d Beatrice, <strong>the</strong> Queen of his Loves, "The Beloved of <strong>the</strong> First<br />

Love." Original love has nothing to do with Earthly love that procreates human<br />

beings.<br />

When a man's life ends in such a way that God is not robbed of<br />

his soul Because of <strong>the</strong> body's sinning <strong>and</strong> who never<strong>the</strong><strong>le</strong>ss succeeds in<br />

keeping his fellows' good respect, this is a useful toil.<br />

WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH

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