Cathars And Ancient MysteriesBlog | Spirit of the Rainbow

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Spirituality (27)
Building a Better World (18)
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Cathars and Ancient Mysteries (16)

Thecla
Feminist Icon or Fable?

Few people know of Thecla today, but in the early Church this 1st century woman missionary was famous, working alongside Jesus’ key follower St Paul, a man whose preaching and writing shaped much of Christian thinking. She was even called “equal-to-the-apostles”. Yet she challenged not only the accepted position of women in Roman society but the entrenched patriarchal views of women’s role within the Church. She was also venerated as the first female Christian martyr and became a saint. So what was her story?

Surviving as a Healer in 16th Century England
The Story of “Mother Shipton”

Although it is commonly thought that in medieval times women and men who were healers were often accused of being witches, at village level people clearly distinguished between benevolent practitioners of “natural magic” often called “cunning folk”, “wise women” or “wise men”; and malign users of magic which were usually identified as “witches”. In his book Instruments of Darkness, the historian James Sharpe identified four services provided by cunning folk:

Voices of the Cathars
Writings that survived from a thousand years ago

The Catholic Church did its level best to destroy not only every last Cathar but every last trace of them and very nearly succeeded. The whole machinery of Church and state – military, administrative, legal and religious – was employed to crush the ‘heresy’ that at one time seemed likely to undermine the power of Catholicism in southern France. Even so, it took over a hundred years to supress Catharism and a few their writings still survived. It is these that give voice to the movement that so terrified the Catholic establishment.

Spirituality in Power?
Saint Margaret Queen of Scotland

Our story begins with a small intuitive thought to read a freebie magazine that usually ended up going straight into the recycling bin. An article “The history of St Margaret, The Queen of Scotland” caught my eye, with an exhibition celebrating the 775th anniversary of her being made a saint, held at a nearby church named after her.

A Spirituality of Earth and Stone

Spirituality, unlike religion, cannot be easily classified. By its very nature, it has no fixed doctrine. It is both universal, coming from a source of spiritual light that fills the entire cosmos; and it is personal, as each one of us gives it a unique flavour. Yet we can also see people drawn to expressions of spirituality that share much in common.

Is The Cathar Mission Still Relevant Today?

The Cathars were probably the most serious threat to the Catholic Church's hold over people's faith during the Middle Ages. Their spiritual movement stretched from the Languedoc region of southern France, across Italy and eastwards to their original homeland, Bulgaria, where they were known as Bogomils.

Qumran & the Cosmic Network
The Mystery of Jesus and the Essenes

At Spirit of the Rainbow we seek to be both intellectuality rigorous and open to our intuitive senses. These can complement each other in bringing a light to our spiritual exploration as we delve into ancient mysteries.

The Search for the Promised Land
Book of the Month - Testament

The Promised Land made its second major appearance in Scripture with the story of the Exodus when Moses led his people from slavery in Egypt. Crossing the desert, they faced many hardships as well as experiencing miracles

A War on Womankind? Part II
She knows another way

Historically women have faced systematic discrimination from religious authorities, denying them opportunities to preach, conduct rituals and hold leadership positions. Women have responded in different ways.

St Francis and the Cathars

In the year 1209, Pope Innocent III’s crusade against the “heretical” Cathars of southern France was launched. At the same time, the pope blessed Francis of Assisi’s proposal for a new religious order, to be guided by a “Rule”,

A War On Womankind?
Part 1: The Search for a Spiritual Voice

In our book Riverlution, where we explore the natural spiritual evolution of humanity, the section on womankind discusses the damage done by, "what may be called 'the war on women' – that is the widespread and systematic repression of women and all they stood for that has lasted for centuries". The age-old discrimination against women is a story sadly all too well known. Was it a war? In this article, we will be focusing on womankind’s search for a spiritual voice.

Getting Christ off the Cross
Challenging the traditional Christian narrative

The image of the crucified Christ is central to traditional Christian thinking. It lies at the heart of the doctrine that Jesus saved humanity from sin by his supreme sacrifice. In the Christian Bible, the story of Jesus reaches its climax with his crucifixion and resurrection. So deeply embedded is this idea, that the Cross has become the symbol of Christianity.

Rethinking 'Primitive' with the Avebury Stones
An insight from the Ceremonial Avenue

Even as we reach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, our understanding of our human story is deeply influenced by our Victorian forebears. For them, our evolution was a more or less straight-line progression from primitive ape-like creatures to advanced modern humans, replete with all sorts of technological inventions which we have continued with till the present day. This has shaped the way we look at ancient peoples, who were thought to have lived in a world of ignorance and superstition, devoid of the benefits of modern civilisation.

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Cathars and ancient mysteries