Part 2 - AMORC

means of redemption and at thesame time as a consecration of thecondition of purity attained bythe disciple after a long period offasting and meditation. This rite wasalso practised upon the dying, tohelp the passing of the soul to theGreat Beyond. In such a case, theConsolamentum could also be givenby a member of the family, or bya woman, provided he or she hadalready received the sacrament; thatis, that the mediator be fully andspiritually qualified to bestow it upon the dying.The ordination as a Perfect was alsoconferred by the Consolamentum, and even towoman, who were then consecrated deaconesses.Each community of Christian Cathars had at leastone deaconess. In Western Europe, women weresecond or even third class citizens, but in Catharsociety, women and men were equal.They were individualists and believed thatthere was no road to evolution except throughpersonal work and personal effort. Whatever yourstanding in society might be, noble or peasant,the same consideration was granted to all. Themost humble of workers had as much right astheir bishops to attunement with the Cosmic Spiritand the only things that mattered were purityand perfection. The humblest neophyte therefore,could aspire to the highest spiritual developmentand attainment.Cathar BeliefsTheir beliefs about marriage in particular weredistorted by false reports and misunderstandingsof their adversaries in the Inquisition. Someauthors claim that they were against marriage andpreached abstinence and celibacy for all. But thatis inconsistent with their faith in reincarnation,for how could man be reborn upon this Earthif marriage and the family were condemnableinstitutions?Certainly they held the state of celibacy inhigh regard, but that was only for the Perfects, thosewho had already attained the required condition ofpurity as a means of liberation of the senses and ofA stone dove representing theHoly Spirit: One of the few knownsurviving artefacts recovered fromthe site of Montsegur.The first great centres of Catharism inthe South of France were at Montpellierand Narbonne.a lessening of his or her karma andreincarnations. For the men andwomen who had to live “normal”lives however, they acknowledgedthe necessity of marriage, thoughthe only valuable sacrament in suchcase was the true union of twosouls.Among married people, thosewho received the Consolamentumwere at times authorised byhusband, or wife as the case maybe, to break the bond of marriage sothey could devote the rest of their lives to greaterpurification and more absolute asceticism.Such was their probity that the giving oftheir word was sufficient bond and they refused totake oaths. In this regard they adhered strictly tothe spirit of the 2 nd and 8 th commandments. This inparticular was regarded as seditious, as oaths werewhat bound medieval society together: man to hisfeudal superior and man to church.OccitàniaThe Occitanian civilisation of the south of Francehas all but faded into the mists of time. So successfulwere the papal crusades against the Catharsof the Languedoc that nowadays we findbut faint echoes of a land of peace, love andcivilisation that once existed where France andSpain now meet.Here was a land where the blendingof several races produced a strong, independentindividuals, and where the Cathar teachers foundpropitious soil for the spreading of their religiousideas. The sum of their knowledge was translatedinto Occitanian. At this time Occitània had moreCathar Cross etched in stone.14The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2008