gnostic handbook

The Gnostic Handbook Page 108
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Galations 3:24,5
The Parfait
There are many groups throughout history whose legacy is still found today in the continuation
of the Gnostic Ecclesia. One of the most important was the Cathari. The Cathars means "The
Pure Ones" , the term comes from the Greek word Katharos which is translated the purified.
Within western Europe these early Gnostics appeared in northern France and the Low Countries
toward the late 11th or early 12th century. Persecuted and expelled from the north, the Cathars
travelled south and found success in the semi-independent province of Languedoc and the surrounding
areas. Here they became known as Albigenses. It is believed the Cathars originally derived
from sects such as the Bogomils and Paulicians who originated in such regions as Armenia,
Syria and Asia Minor. The Cathars or Albigenses were a distinctly Gnostic sect believing
strongly in the Dualism between the Higher and lower worlds and identified the creator of matter
with the Demiurge. This creator they called the Rex Mundi or King of the World. They centred
their worship on God the Father and the manifestation of the Logos in his Son. They
strongly opposed the ecclesiastical hierarchy and they held that the traditional Christian church,
with its corrupt clergy and its immense material wealth, was the agent of Satan and was to be
avoided.
The Roman Catholic Church initially attempted to reconvert the Albigenses through subtle
means. When every attempt failed, Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade (circa
1209-29) that annihilated the Albigenses and desolated much of southern France. Small groups
of Albigenses survived in isolated areas but were pursued by the Inquisition.
One of the central Cathari rituals was that of the Consolamentum, a special form of adult baptism
which could be administered only once. It was reserved only for those special Cathars who
had attained the level of the " Perfected Ones ". It is believed the rite was preceded by a fast,
various ritual forms of preparation and given by the laying on of hands.
This rite was taken so seriously that anyone who profaned it by returning to a " material life "
was expelled from the community. The Believers, or Credentes were those of the Terrestrial
Path and followed a similar path to that of the Perfected Ones, however perfection was not required
of them. The Cathari form a major link in the lineage of the Modern Mysteries and sustained
the Esoteric teachings while under persecution from the apostate Church and transmitted
them, via small sects and cults, to today's Gnostics.