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REVIEWS @ THE ARK, THE SHROUD, AND MARY Christ while in a state of ecstatic enlighten- _—_ writings and, indeed, their culture, were by Philip Gardiner ment as a burst of photonic energy. wiped out during the Albigensian Crusade, New Page Books, NJ, USA, 2007 The hidden message Gardiner discerns is commencing with the destruction of Béziers ISBN 1-56414-924-2 (318pp tpb) that God is to be found within each of us: in 1209 and continuing till 1229, covering Available: www.NewPageBooks.com; we are the vessels carrying the Divine light. _ the regions of Languedoc and Provence. http://www.gardinersworld.com The way to tapping it starts with learning to Hundreds of thousands of "heretics" to hilip Gardiner has spent years studying balance our desires and developing compas- = Roman Church doctrines were wiped out by sion. Gardiner's book informs and inspires. the popes and their minions. However, esoteric art and literature, making con- tacts with members of secret societies and Rahn managed to piece together a good travelling the world in search of answers to CRUSADE AGAINST THE GRAIL modicum of their history from extant some of the great mysteries of history. by Otto Rahn records and from descendants of survivors. While in Winchester Cathedral, England, __ translated by Christopher Jones His accounts of the demise of the Cathars looking for images to use in his previous Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT, USA, are truly shocking, and perhaps Rahn was book Gnosis (see 13/02), he had an insight 2006 (first pub. in German as Kreuzzug trying to make sense of his own troubled about similarities in symbolism in the reliefs gegen den Gral, Urban Verlag, 1933) times in the light of these bloody massacres. on show, perceiving a link between Mary, ISBN 1-59477-135-9 (229pp tpb A top German archaeologist and Grail his” torian, Rahn caught the attention of Heinrich (the mother of Jesus), the Ark of the Available: see www.InnerTraditions.com yi fier publication of his book Covenant and the Shroud of Turin that some n the process of preparing the first English and was induced to desist the Nazis a their might regard as far-fetched. The story that translation of Otto Rahn's influential 1933 ex lorations into ancient civilisations and emerged for him concerns the loss of the book Kreuzzug gegen den Gral ("Crusade P Di illusioned, i 1939 R h died Old Covenant and the emergence of the against the Grail"), historical scholar inaitanl Cc ih ret e ‘Ie dl aan sti New Covenant or Testimony with the resur- _ Christopher Jones retraced Rahn's footsteps na ia at; a ark ©, @ vod y stribut ing rection of Christ from the tomb or Ark. through the caves and castles of the former wvarnin, about the dan S os of cxuemism a Gardiner has looked further into the Ark Cathar territory of southern France. that's a true now as wthis da : tradition and found evidence of it in Egypt, Based on his reading of Eschenbach's —_ : Seay. Mesopotamia and India, where the festival mediaeval chivalric epic Parzival as an his- of Jagganath—its centrepiece a large ark- torical account, Rahn saw the Cathars as the type vehicle—is still celebrated at the Puri last custodians of the Grail—not the Holy shrine in Orissa state. These ancient civili- Grail or cup of the blood of Christ, but a sations also had their goddesses, and "stone from the stars". In his book, Rahn Gardiner wondered whether Mary was a develops the Grail into an icon for the sur- Christian version of the Egyptian Isis. But vival of the soul—an emblem for the what was her connection with the Ark? unseen. The beliefs of the Cathars stemmed After analysing the myths and etymology from ancient Druidism with a dose of associated with the Ark, Gardiner believes it | Gnosticism and Manichaeism from the East. was a "repository" or "vessel" protecting the Their philosophy was based on the Minne— Divine light of wisdom—and so, too, was ideal, sublime love—as the law, and it was Mary who (as the myth goes) gave birth to practised most diligently by the "Pure the Divine child who grew within her. Ones", spread by the troubadours and sup- Similarly, the Shroud of Turin could be a ported by the knights and the people. repository of the Divine light, released by Rahn points out that most of the Cathar Christ while in a state of ecstatic enlighten- ment as a burst of photonic energy. The hidden message Gardiner discerns is that God is to be found within each of us: we are the vessels carrying the Divine light. The way to tapping it starts with learning to balance our desires and developing compas- sion. Gardiner's book informs and inspires. 70 + NEXUS writings and, indeed, their culture, were wiped out during the Albigensian Crusade, commencing with the destruction of Béziers in 1209 and continuing till 1229, covering the regions of Languedoc and Provence. Hundreds of thousands of "heretics" to Roman Church doctrines were wiped out by the popes and their minions. However, Rahn managed to piece together a good modicum of their history from extant records and from descendants of survivors. His accounts of the demise of the Cathars are truly shocking, and perhaps Rahn was trying to make sense of his own troubled times in the light of these bloody massacres. A top German archaeologist and Grail his- torian, Rahn caught the attention of Heinrich Himmler soon after publication of his book and was induced to assist the Nazis in their explorations into ancient civilisations and treasures. Disillusioned, in 1939 Rahn died in a ritual Cathar style, allegedly committing suicide. His work lives on and contributes a warning about the dangers of extremism that's as true now as in his day. JUNE — JULY 2007 www.nexusmagazine.com