Otto Rahn and the Cathars
Posted by Sane Spirit on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Under: Articles of Interest
For those that have heard my TOTO episodes on Pic de Bugarach, the
Cathars were mentioned in regards to Daniel Bettex (the Bettex Affair - see: pt 2 show notes, the Philip Coppens article referenced gives awesome info),,,so my
interest was piqued,,,
,,,few individuals were more colourful than a dark-haired, green-eyed young man named Otto Wilhelm Rahn. His gaunt figure, swathed in characteristic black coat and fedora, casts a long shadow out of those twilight years, a ‘great silhouette’ around which the most extravagant myths accrued,,,To this day, it is widely believed that this enigmatic young man knew the whereabouts of one of the most sacred relics in all Christendom – the Most High Holy Grail. But the truth
is stranger still.
[,,,]
The only certainty was that he was born on 18 February 1904 in the small town of Michelstadt in Hesse, southern Germany. His childhood appears to have been far from normal. Rejected by his mother and bereaved by the death of his older brother Rudolph, Otto grew into a solitary, introverted boy who assimilated the bare bones of German Romanticism through his avid childhood reading, which included Greek, Roman and Nordic mythology. It must have been hard for him to fit in at school, as his father, Karl, was a magistrate who was often transferred from town to town, making it difficult for Otto to form lasting friendships. His niece, the psychiatrist Ingheborg Rhoemer-Rahn, told me that Otto had inherited ‘second sight’ from his father who, after going blind in later life, grew increasingly convinced that he could “see heaven” or “talk to angels”.
[,,,]
While attending the University of Giessen he was encouraged by his professor, Freiherr Von Gall, to focus his studies on the history of the Cathars, the events of the Albigensian crusade and the massacre that occurred at Montségur in 1244, effectively putting an end to the Gnostic tradition in southern Europe. Rahn is quoted as saying that “My ancestors are witches and I am a heretic… It was a subject that completely captivated me”.
[,,,]
Otto believed that the Cathars had been in possession of a sacred relic, described variously as a cup, a bowl, a plate, a book, or a hard, dark stone possessed of an extraordinary magical virtue. According to Wolfram’s text, whoever possessed the Grail or came into contact with the relic “would have eternal life and would be healed”. Otto was convinced that the secret of the Grail had been lost when the last of the Cathar parfaits had died on the orders of the Pope and the King of France. He sought to establish a direct link between Montsalvache, the Grail castle of Parzival, and the Cathar fortress of Montségur, scene of one of the Albigensian crusade’s most protracted sieges.
Raiders of the Lost Grail: Otto Rahn and the Nazi quest for the secret of the Cathars
I was going to continue to post excerpts but damn that is a long piece and well worth the time to read,,,many parallels with the Bettex Affair and shed some interesting light on the occult practices/beliefs of the hierarchy of the Nazi party,,,a fascinating read!!
,,,few individuals were more colourful than a dark-haired, green-eyed young man named Otto Wilhelm Rahn. His gaunt figure, swathed in characteristic black coat and fedora, casts a long shadow out of those twilight years, a ‘great silhouette’ around which the most extravagant myths accrued,,,To this day, it is widely believed that this enigmatic young man knew the whereabouts of one of the most sacred relics in all Christendom – the Most High Holy Grail. But the truth
is stranger still.
[,,,]
The only certainty was that he was born on 18 February 1904 in the small town of Michelstadt in Hesse, southern Germany. His childhood appears to have been far from normal. Rejected by his mother and bereaved by the death of his older brother Rudolph, Otto grew into a solitary, introverted boy who assimilated the bare bones of German Romanticism through his avid childhood reading, which included Greek, Roman and Nordic mythology. It must have been hard for him to fit in at school, as his father, Karl, was a magistrate who was often transferred from town to town, making it difficult for Otto to form lasting friendships. His niece, the psychiatrist Ingheborg Rhoemer-Rahn, told me that Otto had inherited ‘second sight’ from his father who, after going blind in later life, grew increasingly convinced that he could “see heaven” or “talk to angels”.
[,,,]
While attending the University of Giessen he was encouraged by his professor, Freiherr Von Gall, to focus his studies on the history of the Cathars, the events of the Albigensian crusade and the massacre that occurred at Montségur in 1244, effectively putting an end to the Gnostic tradition in southern Europe. Rahn is quoted as saying that “My ancestors are witches and I am a heretic… It was a subject that completely captivated me”.
[,,,]
Otto believed that the Cathars had been in possession of a sacred relic, described variously as a cup, a bowl, a plate, a book, or a hard, dark stone possessed of an extraordinary magical virtue. According to Wolfram’s text, whoever possessed the Grail or came into contact with the relic “would have eternal life and would be healed”. Otto was convinced that the secret of the Grail had been lost when the last of the Cathar parfaits had died on the orders of the Pope and the King of France. He sought to establish a direct link between Montsalvache, the Grail castle of Parzival, and the Cathar fortress of Montségur, scene of one of the Albigensian crusade’s most protracted sieges.
Raiders of the Lost Grail: Otto Rahn and the Nazi quest for the secret of the Cathars
I was going to continue to post excerpts but damn that is a long piece and well worth the time to read,,,many parallels with the Bettex Affair and shed some interesting light on the occult practices/beliefs of the hierarchy of the Nazi party,,,a fascinating read!!
In : Articles of Interest