Mysteries of Southern France

A website titled Mysteries of Southern France has pulled together information, artwork and photos of the Cathars, for instance:

The sacred caves of the Sabarthez cluster around the small resort town of Ussat-Les-Bains are known as 'doors to Catharism'. To reach Bethlehem, the most important of the Cave Churches of Ornolac, one must climb the steep Path of Initiation. The Cave of Bethlehem may well have been the spiritual center of the Cathar world. For it was here that the 'Pure' candidate underwent an initiation ceremony that culminated in The Consolamentum.

Four aspects of the Cave were utilized in the ceremony:

* A square niche in the wall in which stood the veiled Holy Grail
* A granite altar upon which the Gospel of John lay.
* A pentagram hewn into the wall.
* Telluric currents emanating from the rock walls and floor.