The Knights Templar: The History and Myths of the Legendary Military Order

( This book is an essential exploration into the history ...)

This book is an essential exploration into the history of a legendary group of Crusaders, which are prominently featured in Dan Brown's recent best seller, The Da Vinci Code. The Knights Templar rose from humble beginnings to become the most powerful military religious order of the Middle Ages. Formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, they participated in the Crusades and rapidly gained wealth, lands, and influence. Seemingly untouchable for nearly two centuries, they fell from grace spectacularly after the loss of the Holy Land. In the ensuing centuries the Templars have exerted a unique influence over European history; orthodox historians see them as nothing more than soldier-monks whose arrogance was their ultimate undoing, while others see them as occultists of the first order. With clarity and ease, Martin navigates between the orthodox and the speculative, the historical and the myth, to bring alive the story of the Templars. Like those other legends of the Middle Ages—the characters of the Arthurian tales—The Knights Templar holds captive the imagination of all those intrigued by conspiracy and how history and myth intertwine to become the stuff of legend.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560256451/?tag=2022091-20

The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics (Pocket Essential series) by Sean Martin (2010-08-01)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZSLKX3/?tag=2022091-20

The Cathars - Their History and Myths Revealed

(Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ag...)

Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Believing themselves to be the true heirs to the true Christian heritage, the Cathars completely rejected the Catholic Church, and held their services in barns, fields, and people s homes. Practitioners of vegetarianism, nonviolence and tolerance notably their liberal attitude towards women they gained support from the French nobility and popularity from the peasants and artisans. Their presence moved the Church to start the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade the first to be directed against fellow Christians -- which erased any traces of the Cathars. It was the first instance of European genocide. This beautifully illustrated volume by the leading author on the subject unveils the mysteries surrounding the Cathars, their links with the Knights Templar, the Troubadors, and the search for the Holy Grail -- and draws stunning parallels with the present-day persecution of minorities around the world.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1435147812/?tag=2022091-20

Cathars: Their History and Myths Revealed by Sean Martin (2013-10-25)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9101GS/?tag=2022091-20

Alchemy & Alchemists

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Alchemy & Alchemists

( This book explores the history of the so-called Royal A...)

This book explores the history of the so-called Royal Art, from its mysterious beginnings in Egypt and China, through the Hellenistic world and the early years of Islam and into medieval Europe.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785822313/?tag=2022091-20

The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics (Pocket Essential series)

( Gnosticism is the name given to various religious schoo...)

Gnosticism is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ, nearly becoming the dominant form of Christianity, but was eventually branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. The long and diverse history of Gnosticism is recounted here, as well as reasons for its continued relevance today. Although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity, others examined here include that the world is imperfect because it was created by an evil god who was constantly at war with the true, good God; that Christ and Satan were brothers; that reincarnation exists; and that women are the equal of men. Also covered is the influence Gnostics had on the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, psychologist Carl Jung, the Existentialists, the New Age movement, and writers as diverse as William Blake, W. B. Yeats, Albert Camus, and Philip K. Dick.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1842433393/?tag=2022091-20

The Cathars: The Most Successful Heresy of the Middle Ages by Sean Martin (2014-10-01)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N3QJMBD/?tag=2022091-20

Andrei Tarkovsky

( A concise study of the work of the most celebrated Russ...)

A concise study of the work of the most celebrated Russian filmmaker since Eisenstein, and one of the most important directors to have emerged during the 1960s and 1970s Considering the whole of Tarkovsky's oeuvre, this book covers everything from the classic student film The Steamroller and the Violin, across the full-length films, to the later stage works and Tarkovsky's writings, paintings, and photographs. This study seeks to demystify Tarkovsky as a "difficult" director, while also celebrating his radical aesthetic of long takes and tracking shots, which Tarkovsky was to dub "imprinted" or "sculpted" time, and to make a case for his position not just as an important filmmaker, but also as an artist who speaks directly about the most important spiritual issues of our time. Although he made only seven features, each one was a major landmark in cinema. Since his death in Paris in 1986, his reputation continues to grow.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1842433660/?tag=2022091-20

Andrei Tarkovsky Paperback – August 1, 2011

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010EWEJA0/?tag=2022091-20

The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics (Pocket Essential series) Paperback August 1, 2010

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010EWEEDW/?tag=2022091-20