Cowbells tinkle. Great peace pervades me and I drop deeper into the embrace of this beautiful land. The stories of the Cathars, or
‘Good people’, have always moved me profoundly. Catharism was a peaceful, egalitarian, spiritual movement that spread through the south of France on a wave of immense popularity through the between the 12th and 13th centuries. The Roman Church declared them heretics and began a crusade that amounted to genocide. The Montsegur siege in 1244, effectively ended the Cathar resistance. Villages and cities were ravaged, with tens of thousands slaughtered. Those remaining fled south to the caves at Ussat, where they
continued to teach and be of healing service. Their initiation cave can still be visited. It is a remarkable place, not only for the energy and acoustics, but for a great dolmen stone altar inside the cave.
THE POWER OF MONTSEGUR Many ley lines, Wouivre (French for snake or dragon lines), cross here at Montsegur as well as at other mountaintop Cathar castles, like Queribus and Peyrepertuse. The area is bounded by five mountains, energetically creating a pentacle, which mirrors the cosmic trajectory of Venus. It forms a powerful chalice of the divine feminine. Local stories, statues and
stained glass windows abound, telling of Black Madonnas, Mary Magdalene, of women who teach, heal and bless. There is a rich river of teachings about recognising and experiencing the love and divinity in every form of life without need for priests; from the Isis priestesses who created a temple at Rennes Les Chateau, the Druids whose island in the Aude river near Alet Les Bains still harbours amazing energies and the Cathars who carried on the same tradition, the ‘Way of Love’. After such a history of great
suffering I feared I would be overwhelmed by grief by what is held in the land, when I finally arrived at the mountain fortress of Montsegur. Instead, something extraordinary happened. As I walked across the wildflower strewn meadows, in the shadow of the hill, to the ‘burning field’, I suddenly felt joy arise within me; an uplifting, immense joy. Pain has not been held in the land here. Through their song and forgiveness of their captors, the Cathars transformed the suffering. Every group my partner and I have taken to Cathar sites feels the same response, joy and the presence of limitless Grace. Montsegur embodies peace beyond understanding, a tangible experience of beloved. I understand more of the ‘Way of love’ now. A lark sings nearby and soft light shines on an abundance of crimson roses climbing over rocks. Something within me expands and I feel radiant. Joy fills me. l
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www.livingnow.com.au
Jacqui Bushell is a plant spirit alchemist, teacher, author and transformational healing practitioner, working with nature and the
Magdalene energies. She offers retreats and workshops worldwide supporting people to experience the sacred within the earth and themselves, to live the Divine in everyday life.
MARCH | APRIL 2018 49
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