Several years ago, when I quit the corporate culture in new York and went to the south of France to research a novel on Mary Magdalene, I found myself in the Languedoc.
Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of Provence and so I followed her stories from Nice westward to the Pyrenes. From the time I was a child I was fascinated by the Albigensian Crusade, or the crusade against the Cathars by The Catholic Church who decimated an entire culture to eradicate what, in their words, was a heresy.
In fact, it was a way to staunch the bleeding exit of the people in the Languedoc from a decadent and immoral Church to follow the Cathars, or the Pure Ones.
It was "Saint Dominic" who actually laid the foundation for the Inquisition that was set up to destroy the Cathars, an Inquisition that was perfected in its inhumane cruelty later on in Spain against the Moors and the Jews. And later perfected by the Nazis.
I researched this in my second novel, The Poet & The Angel.
As the culture of the Languedoc perished, so its teachings went underground, into the verses of the troubadours and the poets, into poetry and into children's verse.
In fact, many of the ancient "fairy tales" that we read now contain a political message as this was how the ancient traditions were preserved and passed along.
Although we are not living in a time where our society is in peril to the same extent, yet, we are seeing a rise of "fiction" that also bears the stamp of the troubadours, and I am gratified to see this emerging.
"Cancel culture" will never flourish as there are too many of us around the world who have the audacity to speak the truth about this time. The audacity to kick over the rocks to see what is hidden there, and then to bring this into the light of day.
Truth never dies.
Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of Provence and so I followed her stories from Nice westward to the Pyrenes. From the time I was a child I was fascinated by the Albigensian Crusade, or the crusade against the Cathars by The Catholic Church who decimated an entire culture to eradicate what, in their words, was a heresy.
In fact, it was a way to staunch the bleeding exit of the people in the Languedoc from a decadent and immoral Church to follow the Cathars, or the Pure Ones.
It was "Saint Dominic" who actually laid the foundation for the Inquisition that was set up to destroy the Cathars, an Inquisition that was perfected in its inhumane cruelty later on in Spain against the Moors and the Jews. And later perfected by the Nazis.
I researched this in my second novel, The Poet & The Angel.
As the culture of the Languedoc perished, so its teachings went underground, into the verses of the troubadours and the poets, into poetry and into children's verse.
In fact, many of the ancient "fairy tales" that we read now contain a political message as this was how the ancient traditions were preserved and passed along.
Although we are not living in a time where our society is in peril to the same extent, yet, we are seeing a rise of "fiction" that also bears the stamp of the troubadours, and I am gratified to see this emerging.
"Cancel culture" will never flourish as there are too many of us around the world who have the audacity to speak the truth about this time. The audacity to kick over the rocks to see what is hidden there, and then to bring this into the light of day.
Truth never dies.