The Fire and the Light
Page 57
for a treasure.
- Rumi
Additional Reading
Most of the primary and secondary sources on the Albigensian Crusade have been written in French, led by Michel Roquebert’s multi-volume study, l’epopee cathare. The best history translated into English remains Zoe Oldenbourg’s Massacre at Montsegur. A 13th-century account, La Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise, was translated by Janet Shirley in The Song of the Cathar Wars. I am also indebted to the late Norma Lorre Goodrich for leading me to the tragic story of the Esclarmondes.
For Cathar beliefs and rituals, Rene Nelli’s works in French and Steven Runciman’s The Medieval Manichee offer the best overviews. For more mystical interpretations, see Arthur Guirdham’s Te Great Heresy and We Are One Another. Maurice Magre argues that the Cathars were western equivalents of Buddhists in his Magicians, Seers, and Mystics. A moving personal testimony can be found in poet Yves Roquette’s paean of loss, Cathars.
Fernand Niel, Antoine Gadal, and Deodat Roche have paved the way to the Holy Grail. In English, see Malcolm Godwin’s The Holy Grail and Ean and Deike Begg’s In Search of the Holy Grail and the Precious Blood. For Montsegur as a reliquary for the Mandylion shroud, see Noel Currer Briggs’s The Holy Grail and the Shroud of Christ. Connections with the Tarot are explored by Runciman and Starbird, whose The Woman with the Alabaster Jar and The Tarot Trumps and the Holy Grail are invaluable. The Nazi quest at Montsegur is recalled in The Occult and the Third Reich by Jean-Midral Augebert.
For the role of the troubadours, see De Rougement’s Love in the Western World, A. J. Denomy’s The Heresy of Courtly Love, and Linda Paterson’s The World of the Troubadours. Gershom Scholem sifts the contacts with Jewish kabbalists in his many works, including The Origins of the Kabbalah. Robert Eisenman argues for the suppressed role of Christ’s brother in James, the Brother of Jesus. The best source for the non-canonical scriptures is The Other Bible, edited by Willis Barnstone. For their interpretation, see Elaine Pagel’s works, particularly The Gnostic Gospels.
Sources
Many of the songs and verses sung in this novel by Guilhelm Montanhagol and Folques de Marseille were created by this author. Others, in Chapters One and Thirty, for example, are authentic chansons translated by Jack Lindsay in The Troubadours and Their World of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries and by Anthony Bonner in Songs of the Troubadours. The troubadour poetry in Chapter Twenty-Six is from translations by Lindsay, Bonner, and Ida Farnell in her Lives of the Troubadours.
The Tarot images introducing the chapters are from the Royal Fez Moroccan deck by permission from U.S. Games Systems. I am grateful to U.S. Games for its generous agreement for their use. Border enhancements were integrated by Greg Spalenka using art drawn by Edwardian artist Evelyn Paul and licensed from Fontcraft Scriptorium.
Where not apparent, sources for the chapter quotes include: Jewels of Remembrance, with the sayings of Rumi translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski; The Other Bible, edited by Willis Barnstone; The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels; The Secret Teachings of Jesus, translated by Marvin Meyer; Jessie Weston’s translation of Eschenbach’s Parsifal; Janet Shirley’s translation of William Tudela’s The Song of the Cathar Wars, by permission of Ashgate Publishing; John Matthew, The Elements of the Grail Tradition; The Dead Sea Scrolls, translated by Michael Wise, Martin Abegg, Jr., and Edward Cook; Zoe Oldenbourg, Massacre at Montsegur; and The Hymn of the Pearl, translated by William Wright.
The opening quote from Arthur Guirdham’s The Great Heresy is included with the permission of Random House Group Ltd.
Acknowledgments
Among the many people who helped bring this book to life, a few deserve special mention. My parents, Glen and Betty Craney, never wavered in their support and encouragement. I also thank Natalie Bates and Dorothy Lumley for their editing suggestions; Michelle Millar and Stewart Matthew for their valued friendship and assistance; Margaret Starbird for her generosity in offering comments on the novel; Veraine for her translations of French documents; Celeste Brock for her editing suggestions and tireless support; John Rechy, a marvelous instructor whose encouragement chased my doubts; Harry Essex for his mentoring and friendship, all too short; my brother James Craney for his patient computer instruction; Greg Spalenka, Jeff Burne, and Ivan Lapper for their expert assistance in bringing to life the crucial artistic elements of this story. Also, thanks to the Muessel family, Beth Nissen, David and Ginny Martin, John Jeter, Jonathan Banks, Fred Miller, Laura Miller, Jon Miller, Steve Miller, Elyse LaVine, Kerry Neal, Veronica Schneider, Henrietta Bernstein, Victoria Ransom, Roxana Villa, Darlene Johnson, Claire Carmichael; the members of the Rechy Writers’ Workshop; and the waiters at Coogies who kept my glass filled while I slaved away in the corner booth.
Please visit Glen Craney’s website at www.glencraney.com for the latest news on his books and additional information, including:
A virtual tour of the historical sites in the novel as they appear today.
Interviews, media events, newsletter, and book-signing schedules.
Book-group study guides and supplemental bibliographies.
Updates on upcoming books and media projects.
Discussions and correspondence with the author.
Links to related sites.
Readers are also invited to join Glen in an ongoing discussion about the writer’s craft of recreating the past in novels and movies at his weblog, History Into Fiction (www.historyintofiction.com).
Also by Glen Craney
THE SPIDER AND THE STONE
A NOVEL OF SCOTLAND’S BLACK DOUGLAS
The epic saga of war and the forbidden love that saved Scotland and shaped America’s destiny.
As the 14th century dawns, Scotland’s survival hangs by a spider’s thread. While the clans fight among themselves for their empty throne, Edward Longshanks of England schemes to annex that ancient kingdom to his realm.
But one Scot lad stands in the brutal monarch’s path.
James Douglas is cherished by his fellow countrymen as the Good Sir James. Yet his daring raids across the border wreak such havoc that the English brand him the Black Douglas and nearly bankrupt their treasury to capture him. As a boy, James falls in love with the ravishing Isabelle MacDuff, whose clan for centuries has inaugurated Scottish kings on the hallowed Stone of Destiny. Their bliss, however, is short-lived when James befriends Robert Bruce, a bitter enemy of the MacDuffs. Forced to choose between love and clan loyalty, James and Isabelle will make a decision that leads the armies to the bloody field of Bannockburn.
Isabelle will crown a king. James will carry a king’s heart. Both will pay an unthinkable price for Scotland.
Here is the little-known but true story of Scotland’s War of Independence and the remarkable events following the execution of William Wallace, whose legend was portrayed in the movie Braveheart. At last, James Douglas takes his rightful place with Wallace and Bruce in the pantheon of Scottish heroes. This thrilling epic leads us to the miraculous Stone of Destiny, to the famous Spider in the Cave, to the excommunicated Knights Templar and Freemasons, to the suppressed Culdee Church, to the initiation of Christ in Britain, and to the unprecedented Declaration of Arbroath, which inspired the American Declaration of Independence four hundred years later.
The Spider and the Stone is the unforgettable saga of the star-crossed love, spiritual intrigue, and heroic sacrifice that saved Scotland and set in motion the future founding of the United States.
Available in bookstores and at www.glencraney.com.
Notice: This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are drawn from history and used factitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons currently living or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published by Brigid’s Fire Press, Los Angeles, CA (www.brigidsfirepress.com)
Copyright 2008 by Glen Craney (Smashwords Edition). All rights reserved under all
copyright conventions.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
Contact information for all distributors is available at www.brigidsfirepress.com.
Art by Greg Spalenka–Spalenka.com; Print edition design by Jeff Burne Montsegur Painting by Ivan Lapper (Enhanced by Greg Spalenka) Map by Jeffrey Ward (Enhanced by Greg Spalenka)
Illustrations from the Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright ©1975 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproductions prohibited.
Inside title page illustration: Quest for the Holy Grail, tapestry from design by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, woven by Morris & Co., Birmingham City Museums & Art Gallery, by permission of Bridgeman/Art Resource, New York.
Library of Congress Catalogue Number: 2008903998
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data (prepared by Cassidy Cataloguing Services)
Craney, Glen
The fire and the light : a novel of the Cathars and the lost teachings of Christ /Glen Craney. -- 1st ed. -- Los Angeles, CA : Brigid’s Fire Press, c2008.
p. ; cm.
Ebook Edition c2011
ISBN: 978-0-9816484-9-1
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Esclarmonde de Foix, 1155-1240--Fiction. 2. Women priests--Fiction. 3. Albigenses--France--Fiction. 4. France--Church history--987-1515--Fiction. 5. Christianity--Origin--Fiction. 6. Inquisition--France, Southern--Fiction. I. Title.
PS3603.R3859 F57 2008
813.6--dc22 0809
11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Ebook Edition 2011