Sabarthez – Berceau de l’Humanite

A historic event took place recently at St Felix en Lauragais near Toulouse. In this small town a congress was arranged in 1167, presided over by the Bogomil bishop from Constantinople, Nicetas. A number of people decided to hold a commemorative 850th anniversary bringing together mainly French and Bulgarians, but also some Dutch people including Joost Ritman, the founder of the Ritman Library of philosophy and esotericism in Amsterdam. This contains 30,000 volumes, and is a tremendous resource to scholars in the field. The library arranged an exhibition in Tarascon sur Ariege in 2012, and this book is the accompanying illustrated volume in French and Spanish. The reason for the title referring to the cradle of humanity is the existence of a number of prehistoric caves dating back to before 10,000 BC. It might have been more accurate to say a cradle of Europe, but the other association is with the Cathars, who retreated there after the fall of Montsegur in 1244. The most interesting caves are off the beaten track and were researched by a number of scholars, including Antonin Gadal (1877-1962).

The book contains many fascinating articles, some autobiographical, others on the history of the region and aspects of the more esoteric stream in Catharism. These include women in the spiritual tradition of Christianity, the Bogomils as a spiritual influence in Europe, the relationship of Cathars and Troubadours to other traditions and Cathars and the origins of Protestantism. There is an emphasis on gnosis and the idea of a church of love, which is still very much alive among some locals. Gadal also relates to the real story of Rosicrucianism as a triple alliance of light. The neo-Bogomil teaching of Peter Deunov also features, as does the history of druidism in the area. It is a richly illustrated and informative book for those who read either French or Spanish.