The Cathars believed that there were two principal powers in the Universe. One, God, was entirely good and dwelt in a condition of pure Spirit and Light, while the other, Satan/Lucifer, "the prince of this world" was entirely evil and ruled over the world of Matter, hence their rejection of physical pleasures. This dualism they drew from a particular reading of the Gospels, for example "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit" (John 3:6). For the Cathars, Christ was an emissary of the Light sent into this world to lead humanity back to God. Each individual contained within them a shard of the Divine Light, the Angelic Soul which was trapped in a "garment" of flesh (the Body) by Lucifer. While confined in this "garment" of matter the Soul would forget its origin with God and instead find itself suffering the privations of this world. Cathars held to a doctrine of Reincarnation, believing that the Soul was doomed to incarnate into this world time and again until through a process of spiritual growth and purification it was able to return to God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. According to the records of the Inquisition, it was believed that this process of death and rebirth towards final Perfection took place over seven lives:
