Rex Mundi
Dayle in Limoux – Day #34
August 8, 2022Another 37 C day in Limoux! 98 Fahrenheit. The heat is cumulative and defeating. Makes it difficult for hiking and exploring…depleting. Some days it feels as though there just isn’t enough
Thoughts…
Bored male leaders massaging their EGO’s and need for greed contemplating annihilation for the win.
Euronews
‘UN Chief Antonio Guterres has called for the end of military operation around Europe’s largest nuclear plant, hit with a series of bombardments since last Friday, with both Russian and Ukrainian forces blaming one another for the attacks. “Any attack on nuclear power plants is a suicidal thing,” the UN’s secretary-general told reporters in Tokyo. “I hope that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] will be able to access the power plant.” Nuclear risks to humanity are only “a misunderstanindng” way from nuclear annihilation.’
History is an endless argument.
And.
Tipping points go both ways.
From Marianne Williamson,
‘May my eyes be open, that I might see more beauty; may my ears be open, that I might hear more truth; may my spirit be open that I might feel the tender touch of [Gaia].’
~
There are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on, and it makes me wonder.’
-Lez Zeppelin
The 7th Generation Principle is based on an ancient Iroquois philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.
‘Oxford philosopher William MacAskill offers one such outlook, zooming out on the timeline of human civilization to put this moment into context. The story of humanity, Oxford philosopher William MacAskill argues, is just beginning. In fact, if history were a novel, we’d still be in the prologue.
This is encouraging. It means that we have both the power and the responsibility to aim the trajectory of civilization in a positive direction, the idea that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time.’
-Cornelia Channing, Editorial Assistant, NYTimes Sunday Opinion
“Here in Japan, paper cranes symbolize the hope for a future without nuclear weapons. There is only one solution to the nuclear threat: not to have nuclear weapons at all.”
-António Guterres, Security-General of the U.N.
R
E
T
R
O
Let’s make more paper cranes, and use old telephones, and refrigerate without Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), compounds released into the atmosphere since the 1930s through air-conditioning, refrigeration, blowing agents in foams, insulations and packing materials, propellants in aerosol cans, and as solvents.
‘How to Relive the Pleasures of a Landline’
OUI!
Art work from Getty.
From The New Yorker’s Rachel Syme.
“If you call me and I am at home, chances are you are going to reach me on an actual, old-fashioned, dial-’em-up telephone. The one that currently sits on my desk is a putty-colored rotary model circa the nineteen-sixties, with a weighted handset and a long, sproingy, yellowing cord that scrunches pleasantly between the fingers like al dente fusilli. I purchased this particular phone last fall, on eBay, for $19.99. You can find far pricier vintage telephones on that site, of course—retro phones in Instagram-friendly colors such as avocado green and Barbie pink.”
Barbie.
“It makes me feel glamorous and put together to grab my vintage receiver, even if I am still in my pajamas.”
C’est possible!
Most of what we encounter is driven by emotions, and our emotions are always relative. When we’re shopping for a car or an avocado, we’re buying the way it makes us feel, not how it would make someone else feel. -Seth Godin
Emotion, perhaps why grace and forgiveness, although the Universe’s natural default, or so difficult for humans to feel, and choose.
Dualism…non-dualism. Reading and researching on the tenets of the Cathar philosophy, their way of living and belief, versus, the Nicene Council Christianity begat in the 4th century anno domini by then Roman Emperor Constantine.
Fr Richard Rohr, whom I adore, gets in the weeds, I think when he promotes non-dualism in religion.
“The body is rightly reasserting its goodness and importance. Can we somehow honor both body and spirit together? When Christianity is in any way anti-body, it is not authentic (?) Christianity. The incarnation tells us that body and spirit must fully operate and be respected as one.”
He then tries to forward his argument with behavioral psychology.
“Many Christians falsely assumed that if they could “die” to their body, their spirit would for some reason miraculously arise. Often the opposite was the case. After centuries of body rejection, and the lack of any positive body theology, the West is now trapped in substance addiction, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, plastic surgery, and an obsession with appearance and preserving these bodies. Our poor bodies, which Jesus affirmed, have become the receptacles of so much negativity and obsession.”
Juxtapose this with the Cathar belief, and the reason they were massacred, often burned at the stake, by the hundreds of thousands, most likely a million murdered. The writing offered by Nick Lambert, from the book, ‘The Cathar View.’
“The eternal battle of good and evil deities is at the centre of the Cathar worldview and although this belief came in a variety of forms, they were very similar to the dualistic faiths were specifically prohibited by orthodox Christianity (Constantine): the Gnostics, the Manichaeans, the Paulicians and the Bogomils of the Balkans. It is upon the issue of dualism that much of the excitement and controversy around the Cathars rests. Absolute dualism is the position adopted in the Book of Two Principles:
‘The good God is not the creator of the base and tangible elements of this world; another creator is responsible for them. God is alright but not in the sense that He can create evil; what He does not desire He cannot do. He is omnipotent over all good things, but there must be another creator form whom all evils flow, who in no way derives from the good God. The evil one is eternal, as are his works.’
The key word being ‘works.’ Works, in humanity, through the body, choices and behaviors, are from the material world, and the material world is the ‘body.’ Pretty sure when the body dies, the body and soul are separated. Otherwise, yikes. Christians, beginning in the 4th century, start dancing around this and never stop. For the Cathars, it wasn’t that confusing. And most were absolute.
More.
“The dualist explanation of good and evil gods was less equivocal than this compromise, and the spread of the Cathars show how compelling it for many people. It was silly more consistent, given the state of the world, to attribute equal powers to the contending gods. Another factor was the ‘jealous god’ of Moses and the Israelites, and the peaceful philosophy of Jesus and his Apostles. […] Strong echoes of this cosmology are found centuries later in William Blake’s radical interpretations of the Bible, (like the) Old Testament’s Jehovah, and Blake cast him as an implacable figure, conveying something of his antithetical and flawed creative powers as the Cathars one saw them.”
“Dualism, then, was the fulcrum about which the rest of Cathar beliefs turned, informing their eschatology (they did not, it seems, subscribe to an apocalyptic Day of Judgment because they did not believe in the resurrection of the body). This belief in reincarnation likely derived from Neo-platonism and the ancient Greek philosophy of metempsychosis. The transmigration of souls was specifically opposed in Christianity but became a central tenet of Catharsis, and the ascension that they aimed for was a liberation from the constant cycle of death and rebirth, rather similar to Buddhist beliefs. and Manichaeism.”
Dualism, the reason Bérenger Saunière included the ruler of earthly evil, Rex Mundi, in his church dedicated to Mary Magdalene after he made his parchment discoveries hidden away for centuries on the grounds of Rennes-les-Chateau.
[Rex Mundi now behind protective plexiglass because someone tried to destroy it once. If you don’t agree, then annihilate. Your thoughts, Pope (not so) Innocent III.]
When you V O T E in the U.S. midterms, remember these faces and names. These are the senators, men, who cow-tailed to their dark money lobbyists. This is who they show allegiance, not their constituents, who are in need and in diabetic health crisis.
‘The past is past; nothing can change it. But the future depends on the present; we still have the opportunity to shape it. This is not a matter of employing technology or spending more money, it’s a question of developing a sense of concern for others’ well-being.’
-Dalai Lama
8.8.22
Dayle in Limoux – Day #18
July 22, 2022
Mary Magdalene church at Rennes-le-Chateau near Couiza in the Languedoc/Occitanie region of France. Couiza is tucked in the foothills of the Pyrenees and is at the foot of the hill leading to Rennes-le-Chateau where The Church of Mary Magdalene is located. It was renovated by Father Berenger Sauniere, finished in 1897, the year of the dedication. Sauniere re-named it to honor Mary. It is believed an earlier construction was built in the 11th or 12 centuries. Above the door as you enter is a carving of Mary Magdalene and the inscription in Latin, “Terribilis est locus iste”–This is a place of awe.
Aujourd’hui
Saint Mary Magdalene
Feast Day
‘Mary Magdalene has been a victim of mistaken identity for almost 20 centuries.’
[Franciscanmedia.org]
It was a climb; five kilometers to the top.
It really felt like a pilgrimage, like being on the Camino, which I loved since it was Mary’s Feast Day. A pilgrimage to Mary. And it was H O T. Again. 99 degrees with double the humidity from last week. I hadn’t planned on trekking it, but when the bus dropped me in Couiza, I couldn’t find a taxi to the Chateau. I stopped into various shops to find some taxi numbers. I called three numbers, each did not have a driver. Tried to locate one on my phone, didn’t work. I thought I might just take the bus back in about an hour, so had a café au lait and a Perrier.
I really wanted to be there on Mary’s day, so I decided to go for it. Five kilometers is about 3 miles, so I plugged in the destination on my phone and headed up. Way up.
When the back of your hands perspire, you know it’s hot.
It was about then that my phone sent me a prompt to cool off my phone. Yikes. I had some water with me, though not enough. So rationed it. I rested in a couple of spots when I found shade, and I think it was in one of those spots where I lost my prayer amethyst. I think it fell out of my pocket. It’s loaded with prayers, so whoever finds it, I hope it has good energy for them. It’s so beautiful.
Because I chose ‘walkers’ directions, the little Map Genie took me on a path not frequently travelled and behind gates with markings that really looked like I probably should not have traversed. What the heck, Map Genie, seriously?
Lost and alone on some forgotten highway
Traveled by many, remembered by few. -John Denver
So, I kept climbing. Saw a ruin in the distance; not sure which one it is. Can’t wait to find out. Would love to explore…
Finally. Rennes-le-Chateau.
More refreshments needed!
Time to visit with Mary.
I want to learn more about this piece…
Rex Mundi. Cathars were dualists, the physical and spiritual deities. Rex Mundi was the false God – the chaotic god of material things, the Demiurge, and the embodiment of evil. Sadly, someone tried to attack the Rex Mundi in the church once, did some damage, too, so the caretakers put some protection around it.
For Mary.
There are so many discoveries and histories…theories…with this church. The Languedoc region is thick with Cathar history, the Templars, Inquisitions, and Mary. And if you’re really into Chateau history and all things Mary, you’re a ‘Rennie.’ :)
If you’d like to learn more, check out the late Sir Henry Lincoln’s videos on YouTube, Henry Speaks. Fascinating history and Henry explains the sacred geometry studies in the region, too, i.e., how it all connects.
There are many studies and writings on Mary. One of my favorites is The Meaning of Mary Magdaline by Cynthia Bourgeault. It’s subtitled, Discovering the Woman of the Heart of Christianity. I think I flagged every page.
More from Henry with his books, too, like Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the pre-cursor to The da Vinci Code. And The Holy Place/Sauniere and the Decoding of the Mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau.
There’s a little book store on the grounds.
Found some great books for my studies, including this one which the author only sells (the hardback) at this little shop.
Started reading when I got back. So good.
“We were both familiar with the colorful story about the small town of Rennes le Chateau and the priest Sauniere who in 1886 during a major repair work on the altar of the local church, had apparently found a number of documents containing information which from one day to the next transformed him from a port minister on the fringe of society to a rich man with unlimited funds and a fashionable circle of acquaintances.
Sauniere had spent part of his fortune on the restoration of the church. He further built a new house, ‘Bethanie,’ as well as the tower, ‘Tour Mandala.’
Sauniere died in 1917 leaving the secret with his housekeeper of many years, Marie Dernaud, who promised to disclose it on her deathbed.
Unfortunately, when that day came in 1953, she was paralyzed by a stroke and thus was unable to disclose anything at all. Apparently the secret of Sauniere was buried with her.
Since then, the mystery had been made the subject of many speculations, several of which had revitalized the legend of Mary Magdalene and her alleged escape from Palestine to the South of France after the death of Yeshua” [p. 273].
Adrian, who works at the shop, helped me secure a taxi to get back to Limoux. He had to phone four different taxi services to find a driver for me. I told my daughter, when you travel, there are always angels on your path.
The Tour. Great capture during Stage 19 today. Si jolie. (So pretty.) J’adore France.
Crazy sprint finish today with a surprise winner…not so much the team. Jumbo Visma. The whole Tour has been insane and crazy fast. So fun to watch. Only two more stages going into Paris on Sunday! 🥂
This one in reference to yesterday’s Wout Route…
Clever. And so true. :)
And this which sums up not only stage 18, but the entire Tour and how Jonas and Tedej respect each other and their sport. This connection occurred after Jonas clipped is pedal and wobbled and then when Tadej slid out misreading the line on the descent. Scary fast. And Jonas waited for him. Tadej reached for his hand as he caught up almost as if to say, “It’s yours.” He had attacked so much, trying to gain time, and then he handed the baton. And he didn’t attack again. Tender, and sweet moment to witness. 💛
Bonne nuit.
❁
Dayle in Limoux – Day #3
July 7, 2022La Gare day!
First, it was the bus from Limoux to Carcassonne.
It was a day of learning and confusion. 🙃
And angels on my path when I needed help the most, like Suni from Pakistan who gave me a full tutorial on train travel in France, helped me download some European train apps before he caught his train. He has lived in Germany, speaks fluent German, extremely fluid English, and is learning French. He is trying to secure a visa so he can work in France and attend school. He told me, “I can’t go back to Pakistan. There is no future for me there.” Meeting people from different cultures, speaking different languages, observing their behaviors and kindnesses truly fills and renews my spirit. Another person I spoke to along my different stops and exchanges said to me when I told him I was from the United States, “It’s very dangerous there.” The whole world is watching. A co-passenger on another train as I was making my way slowly to Grenoble explained one of the announcements over the intercom system for me that passengers were being warned about a pick-pocket on the train. I told him, “I wish we had more pick-pockets in our country, instead of guns. He paused and said, “It makes us very worried in Europe.” He’s from Italy and lives in France. His name is Claudio. He explained that we are citizens of the world and it doesn’t matter where we’re from, it effects all of us. My heart. Indeed. So beautifully expressed.
The train moving through Sète, Languedoc, France, on the Mediterranean coast. Established 1,000 years ago, it’s a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s on my list to visit.
12 hours later I made it to Grenoble. Trees line the downtown with a very hip, young vibe. Apparently it’s a university town with over 60,000 students here. The population is around 165,000. A very different feeling from my beloved Languedoc region. It’s about an hour east of Lyon. Beautiful area—mountain ranges and massive history. Can’t wait to explore. It was dark when I arrived. Photos tomorrow!
I’m reading another book on Cathar history. Can’t wait to share.
Reading on the trains today, I had to pause and reel in the reminded awareness how awful, awful…humans have treated each other over the centuries and continue still. In this instance, crusades and inquisitions, torture and burnings at the stake. This journey today on a micro level reminded me how kind and compassionate and caring the human species can be. We’re one of 8,000,000 species on the planet. And we’re destroying it…and each other. And it never stops. We just find different ways to mutilate and hate. For millennia.
Again, the question simmers: Are humans, by nature, good or evil? Or, does society corrupt? Rhetorical. Been thinking about it a lot lately, though. Perhaps it’s why the Cathar landed on duality, to help explain it, and understand.
Rex Mundi. More later on what was considered Cathar heresy.