The story is in part a retelling of the beginnings of the Grail Legend:
- Escape to France: the secret escape of Mary Magdalene (MM), (pregnant?) with Jesus' child, from the Roman and Jewish authorities;
- the beginning of the Romance of the Grail (as told much later by the Troubadours);
- the Cathars' gnostic practices (mystical experience of religion and loving compassion between equals, including women vs. Roman Church and its self-centered male-dominated hierarchy of power;
- the Merovingian dynasty - the Royal Bloodline (Sang Real) of Jesus, alive in Provence (Mero=Mary, Vingian=vine =Vine of Mary);
- the Crusades, one aim of which is to place a (Merovingian) descendant of David on the Throne in Jerusalem;
- the Knights Templar, returning from the Crusades, to become builders of the great Cathedrals of France, but also thought to be keepers of The Grail
- Free Masons - creative activities around the world, the list of famous freemasons, from Da Vinci through Isaac Newton, who contributed massively to the arts and sciences, even to the Renaissance
- the Troubadour tradition of Courtly Love - the "hopeless" devotion of one's love to a lady (usually married) as an icon of "The Lady" (possibly MM);
- Mary worship in France (Mother of Christ or Lover of Christ? Or both?)
- Les Gitanes and May 24th. fete of the Marys by the sea in Ste. Maries de la Mer;
- The itinerant nature of gypsies and Troubadours and Cathar priests - a link?
- Cultural ferment in Southern Mediterranean eventually led to the birth of the Renaissance itself.
So many mysteries!
The Millenium could feature as a backdrop -e.g. Year 2000 = MM = Mary Magdalene = Age of Aquarius = Male and Female energies balanced/united = maybe even a female President of the most masculinity-obsessed country on Earth, the US of A?!
[Another renaissance? Male-dominated/rational/hierarchical/"logos" culture of power becomes balanced by the female/Eros" dynamic of relatedness and loving compassion - Jesus "pure" message, without a Power-obsessed Church behind it - the Cathar religion (?), basically: love and accept your neighbour, period - a belated win for the "Secret Church of the Magdalene"...!]
Gnostics - Nag Hammadi - Gospel of Phillip, Gospel of Mary - LOTS more detail on MM and the conflict with Peter - external institution of Church vs. Inner Vision and personal experience.
In the end the Peter's Church assumes Power - the end of Christ's message: from "Love One Another (equally)" to "We're right , kill the infidel!"
With the Cathars and Gnostics there are some pretty wretched ideas though: totally dualistic approach: God didn't create the World, the Demiurge, a sub-God, did. We are all in the hands of the Devil. Only the Chosen Few who can see beyond this world and who live perfect lives of denial of this world will attain union with the true God. The Cathars, so I've read, ignored their children and let them fend for themselves and perish since they were better off dead than living in this world...!
More later...
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