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SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 2014: The mysterious “village of Mary Magdalene” Rennes-le-Château

Philip Coppens, Kathleen McGowan’s unfortunately too early deceased husband, wrote a very impressive book on the small village in which Mary Magdalene has been worshipped for centuries: „The Cryptogram [1] of Rennes-le-Chateau“. The book tells the story of Bérenger Saunière, the former country curate who became extremely wealthy by unknown means in the middle of the 19th century, which enabled him to renovate the church which was dedicated to Mary Magdalene out of his own pocket and fashion it in an unusual way.

Already on entering the church one is staggered by the stoup, which is borne by a horned man. There are several depictions of Mary Magdalene in the interior of the building, for instance in a semi-relief on the altar, as statue or on the marvelous windows.

There are many photos in my Facebook album “The Expected One”, in which I have published many albums that accord well with text passages from the same-titled novel by Kathleen McGowan

[1] A cryptogram is an encrypted text.

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SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 2014: What I have discovered at Saint Hilaire

If you leave Carcassonne and drive south through the placid rolling hills and the picturesque vineyards, you reach the abbey Saint Hilaire (Hilarius). The monastery dates back to the 9th century and for a long time was inhabited by monks who stood under the patronage of the counts of Carcassonne.

During the crusades in the Middle Ages, in the course of which the institutional Church tried to obliterate the Cathars, also the monks of St. Hilaire, who were close to the Cathars, were accused of blasphemy. Therefore, their monastery was destroyed. The Romanesque-Gothic church and the beautiful cloister are especially worth visiting.

However, what I consider to be the most exceptional is the semi-relief which represents Jesus hugging a woman and a woman sitting next to him. Who this woman is with whom Jesus is represented to be very familiar, is a question that should be answered by everyone himself. In the course of our SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 2014 I am going to show this beauty spot to the participants.

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SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 2014: The castle town Carcassonne

The castle town Carcassonne in the heartland of the Cathars is so tawdrily beautiful that it served Walt Disney as a model for the castle in his movie “Sleeping Beauty”. Plunging oneself into the throng of people within the castle walls one is taken back to the Middle Ages immediately. Then one is standing in a small town, which hides behind mighty battlements which have already given shelter and security to the Cathars.

Already in the Middle Ages this faith group, of whom it is said that they have the same origin as the Essenes, has been a thorn in the institutional Church’s flesh, since they refused unwaveringly to acknowledge Jesus as God’s son, but “merely” considered him to be a very enlightened human being. Also gender equality was one of their big concerns and, therefore, male as well as female itinerant preachers propagated the Word of God.

Also the inhabitants of Carcassonne had to make a heroic stand against the superior troops of the king of France and the Pope, nevertheless, the fortress was won in 1209. In the course of our spiritual journey 2014 we are going to have plenty of time to explore Carcassonne and to follow the tracks of the Cathars.

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SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 2014: The Cathars in Toulouse

During the Albigensian Crusades in the Middle Ages the counts of Toulouse were on the side of the “dissenters”, namely the Cathars, who are often mentioned in the same breath with Mary Magdalene and her successors. The town originally carried the epithet “city of hundred towers” and in the course of the religious wars the counts of Toulouse supported those who were persecuted for their faith and harboured them. Hence the town was number one on the hit list of the king of France and the Pope. Although the inhabitants of Toulouse were able to brave the siege for some time, they ultimately had to bend to the superior numbers of the attackers.

We are going to begin and end our spiritual journey through Languedoc in Toulouse. Those who know me well won’t be surprised to hear that I have chosen two beautiful hotels, so that the delightful and aesthetic parts do not go short. On the last day of our circular tour we are going to have the opportunity to visit the most interesting buildings and places in Toulouse, and there is going to be ample opportunity for shopping and rambling about the city.

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