Cathar

The record

The Cathars were a mediaeval Christian sect whose idiosyncratic interpretation of Christian belief put them at odds with the Catholic Church. They first appeared in Italy during the 11th century and their influence spread via trade routes throughout Central Europe and Britain, until they were more or less eradicated in the early 12th century. Central to their beliefs was the idea that the Demiurge (not God) created the world - a paradise in which there was no expulsion from Eden, and no 'Original Sin'. Jesus Christ was viewed as a wholly supernatural entity thus invalidating the possibility of resurrection after death. In addition to this Cathars were pacifists, vegetarians, disinclined to procreate – although the sanctity of marriage was not essential in Catharism either. It was basically a path of tolerance, kindness, and self responsibility, quite diametrically opposed to the orthodoxies of the powerful Catholic church. In spite of the extermination of the Cathars by the mainstream church, their ideas have passed into and profoundly influenced Western spiritual and philosophical development. The Cathar Tarot takes as its foundation ideas rooted in Gnosticism and also the Nazaren

Source & full review →