Literally, “blind God” in Hebrew. The Cathars believed that a lesser, imperfect being, empowered with creative abilities but not omniscience, created the world. This lesser God, the Cathars believed, was the God of the Old Testament, the God of Wrath. Their name for this entity was Samael. Jesus Christ, the Cathars believed, was in fact an emissary of a higher power, the God of Love (see Gnosticism).