Blue Fox Shaman

What do you want to do today?

I dunno. I’m kinda fed up with the “usual”. I’m thinking we should try to find the Grail.

Sure, and what shall we do after that?

Whaddya mean “after that”?! Won’t that take practically forever?

Nah, I put it away because I know you’re always forgetting where you left it.

You put… wait! What?!

You always forget these things. I bet you even forgot my Birthday.

No, I always remember- 137 days before me. You remind me of that constantly.

Yes, I’m your senior. And more beautiful.

I won’t argue with that!

So, we’ll go get the Grail and you think about what you want to do after.

I’m ready. I’ve got to see how you find this thing.

Of course! Your presence is requested and required. And we could make you some lists and summaries so you won’t forget next time…

You know the way to my heart–lists and summaries it is.

And then we’ll do something really fun after…?!

Immediately after!

Okay, take these, you’re going to need them.

What the heck are these?

That’s your blast shield and goggles.

And we need these why?

Um, we have to set off a small nuclear device, nothing big.

Nothing big!? How will you not also hurt the Grail?

Oh, it will be fine, trust me. It has been through much rougher treatment. It’s you I’m worried about.

Okay. “Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, MacDuff, and damn’d be him that first cries ‘Hold, enough!’”

That reminds me, I need to let the dog out first… Out, damn’d Spot! … Okay, here we go!

The End of the Quest of the Grail

Given that all this is known territory, let’s start at the end.

TL;DR – “Whom does the Grail serve?” This is the Question of the Grail.

Yeah, but why would asking a question heal the wounded Fisher King and his Land?

The actual referent of the myth of the Grail is the healing of the Psyche by the path of the Feminine Initiatrix and Guide. So, this first asking of the question by the initiate is the beginning of a process of transformation that will lead to that healing.

In the myth, the mundane answer to the Question, as given in the narrative, was the Rich Fisher King’s father (and Perceval’s uncle). To use a relative of Perceval’s is the usual Medieval sub-plot, but we intend to let it lead the mind to the notion that a relative is a “you” that is “not you”. Maybe, at this point, a helpful, friendly old Mystic will whisper in your ear “you must find within what you most desire, and what you most fear”. Get it? Got it. Good!

So, the Question of the Grail may be paraphrased as two questions–

“To which desire, or fear, am I bound in servitude?” and woe betide one who does not also ask “And how shall I overcome this?”

…which eventually becomes…

“To which good thing do I aspire?” and woe betide one who does not also ask “Does this good thing truly serve the Great Mystery?”

Why is the Grail so important? Because it is the container of our highest aspirations. To see that as Holy in the conventional sense of “free from sin” is to miss the point, however. Because…

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is that darkness! (Mt. 6:22-23)

In truth, it is the container of our passions and fears as well. And it must be made Holy, in the sense of that word’s root in the Proto-Germanic: *hailag, meaning “whole” or “healthy”. Then its light will shine so that all other lights were as candles to the Sun.

Later, we’ll give a synopsis of the original Story of the Grail according to Chetrien de Troyes. Meanwhile, let’s continue in the middle of things.

Perceval’s Relationship to the Feminine

The Widowed Lady of the Desolate Forest (Mother)

• ΑΜΦΟΡΕΥΣ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΓΑΙΑ (I Ching 45. Gathered Together)
• Gospel of John: the Word made Flesh; Jesus is baptized and recognized by John
• Further Considerations:
  • ΘΕΜΙΣ = ΟΡΟΣ :: ΓΑΙΑ (I Ching 23. Peeling / Splitting Apart) To nurture a new enterprise is a good thing, but it will only truly succeed if we give due consideration to those who have nurtured us thus far.
  • `ΕΣΤΙΑ = ΓΑΙΑ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 19. The Forest / Approach) Finding the Grail and discovering its meaning is not about a return to innocence or the recovery of a lost happiness or blessedness. One who has seen the Grail will find they can never truly go home again. The only way out is through.

The Innocent Maiden

• ΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΣ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΑΣΤΡΑΠΗ (I Ching 49. Revolution) Only those who realize that the World does not revolve around them can truly start a Revolution.
• Gospel of John: the Wedding at Cana; calling the first disciples; cleansing the temple; Born Again of the Spirit
• Further Considerations:
  • `ΡΥΘΜΟΣ = ΟΡΟΣ :: ΑΣΤΡΑΠΗ (I Ching 22. Elegance / Grace) We should act responsibly and with self-restraint instead of justifying our desires.
  • ΓΟΡΓΩ = ΑΣΤΡΑΠΗ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 38. Double Vision / Opposition) Our guilt lies not in disobeying rules, but in failing to recognize the needs of others.

The Laughing Lady

• ΣΘΕΝΩ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΒΡΟΝΤΗ (I Ching 17. Following) “If a man would rule he must first learn to serve, for only in this way does he secure from those below him the joyous assent that is necessary if they are to follow him.”
• Gospel of John: The Woman of Samaria recognizes Jesus as the Prophet
• Further Considerations:
  • `ΡΑΒΔΟΣ = ΟΡΟΣ :: ΒΡΟΝΤΗ (I Ching 27. Jaws / The Corners of the Mouth) Honor and authority should only be given to those whose actions merit them.
  • ΒΡΙΑΡΕΩΣ = ΒΡΟΝΤΗ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 54. Coming Home / The Marrying Maiden) “Understand the transitory in the light of the eternity of the end.”

Lady Blancheflor (White Flower)

• ΑΝΑΓΚΗ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 58. Joy) “Truth and strength must dwell in the heart, while gentleness reveals itself in social intercourse. In this way one assumes the right attitude toward God and man and achieves something.”
• Gospel of John: feeding the five thousand; walking on water
• Further Considerations:
  • ΘΥΜΟΝ = ΟΡΟΣ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 41. Decrease) We should constantly evaluate whether our good is the highest good, of and for all. In other words, “Whom does the Grail serve?”

The Grail Maiden

• `ΙΣΤΟΣ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΟΥΡΑΝΟΣ (I Ching 43. Resolute / Break-through) We must confront the fact that our evil passions may harm others even if not acted upon. Sometimes it is the lack of action that causes harm.
• Further Considerations:
  • ΔΟΡΥ = ΟΥΡΑΝΟΣ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 10. Stepping / Treading (Conduct)) The other question to be asked is “Why does the Lance bleed?” From where do pleasure and pain arise, and who experiences them?
• Recap: The Grail Procession-
  • Lance = Lake/Mountain; our experience of the world and our worldview. It bleeds of itself because our experiences and worldview are internally generated constructs from what is actually “out there”
  • Candelabras = Fire/Water; our senses and rationality which should illumine all our comings and goings. Although invaluable, and even when firing on all cylinders (to mix metaphors) they pale in comparison to…
  • The Grail = Wind/Thunder; our desires and motivations (as well as our fears and aversions). Without these, the Soul has no nourishment and no Life.
  • Platter = Earth/Heaven; our bodies and relationships. The basic requirements for experiencing the contents of the Grail.

The Lady of the Headless Knight

• `ΙΜΑΣ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: `ΥΕΤΟΣ (I Ching 47. Exhaustion / Oppression) “Stake your life on following your will. Sacrifice your life if only this will achieve your goals.”
• The Gospel of John: The Woman Caught in Adultery
• Further Considerations:
  • ΖΥΓΟΝ = `ΥΕΤΟΣ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 60. Limitation / Limitation) “Create number and measure, and examine the nature of virtue and correct conduct.” Death (Tarot) = endings, beginnings, change, metamorphosis, transformation, transition

The Black Hag

• ΑΣΦΟΔΕΛΟΣ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΑΥΡΑ (I Ching: 011:110 28. Greatly Surpassing / The Preponderance of the Great) “When you stand alone, be unconcerned, if you must renounce the world, be undaunted.”
• Gospel of John: Mary Anoints Jesus in anticipation of his death
• Further Considerations:
  • ΗΛΕΚΤΡΟΝ = ΑΥΡΑ :: ΛΙΜΝΗ (I Ching 61. Sincere to the Core / Inner Truth)
  • ΘΥΙΑ = ΟΡΟΣ :: ΑΥΡΑ (I Ching 18. Branching Out / Work On What Has Been Spoiled (Decay))

The True Bride

• ΙΡΙΣ = ΛΙΜΝΗ :: ΟΡΟΣ (I Ching 31. Respect / Influence (Wooing)) The Star (Tarot) – hope, faith, purpose, renewal, rejuvenation
• Gospel of John: Mary Meets the Risen One
• Further Considerations:
  • ΠΥΛΑΙ = ΟΡΟΣ :: ΟΡΟΣ (I Ching 52. Stillness) “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep… For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father.”

A General Outline of the Grail Story

(as first told by Chetrien de Troyes)

1. The Fool’s Journey Begins – The Widowed Lady of the Desolate Forest
   • The son of the Widowed Lady of the remote Desolate Forest went to check on his mother’s plowmen. He saw Knights and wondered if they were devils, angels, or God Himself. He asks them about their weapons and armor and what they are used for: lance, shield, and hauberk. He also asks if they were born this way, and since they were not, who could make a person a Knight, and where that King resides who could make him one. The Knights want to ask the about five men and three women who passed by and whether he had seen them, but it takes quite a bit of questioning to get an answer out of the young man and he tells them his name is “darling son” and “darling little lord”. (He does not yet have his own identity, apart from his relationship with his mother.)
   • Upon returning home, the son asks his mother about Knights. After recovering from her shock (she had intended for him to never encounter Knights or any of their dealings) she tells him he is the son and brother of Knights who had suffered great misfortune and had died. His own father had been wounded “between the legs” and lost his wealth and status, and both his older brothers had been killed immediately after being knighted. So, she has tried to protect him from a fate like theirs. Nonetheless, the son says he will, and must, go see the King and become a Knight.
   • Since she cannot sway him from his resolve, the mother outfits him like a bumpkin in rugged clothing, instructs him regarding how to treat Ladies, and admonishes him to attend church regularly. When he goes, the son sees her collapse unconscious (dead?) from grief, but he keeps going in spite of this.
2. The Fool Wounds the Feminine – The Innocent Maiden
   • The Fool meets up with a maiden and, misunderstanding his mother’s teachings, steals her emerald ring, forcibly kisses her, and eats the food that has been prepared for another. When the maiden’s lover returns he
     blames her for what has happened out of jealousy (victim shaming). He curses her to not have her horse cared for, or her clothes or shoes changed. If the horse dies she must go on foot, and if her clothes or shoes wear out, she must go naked and barefoot. (And so, like the Fool, we all mistake our desires for the Good. Or we take what we want, and justify doing so by referring to the rules we were given, never stopping to ask if this is the Good for all involved.)
3. Shortcuts to Knighthood – The Laughing Lady
   • On his way he meets the the Vermilion Knight of the Forest of Quinqueroi and wants his equipment for himself; in fact, he will ask the King for them shortly. The King is distracted and doesn’t hear the Fool’s requests because he is thinking about the Vermilion Knight who has stolen his cup and challenged him for his land. The Fool accidentally knocks the King’s cap off, which at least gets him to speak. But the Fool is too eager and wants to go off without undertaking the formalities necessary to become a Knight. A lady of the court predicts the Fool will be the world’s finest knight. She laughs for the first time in six years (which the court jester had predicted would happen when she saw the world’s finest knight), and is knocked down by Sir
     Kay who has a generally bad temper about most things.
   • The Fool returns to the Vermilion Knight and demands his belongings. The Knight strikes him with his lance and, in revenge, the Fool kills him with a javelin through the eye and brains. However, the Fool can’t even figure out how to remove the Vermilion Knight’s helmet or unbuckle his sword. He is helped by Yonet, but the Fool won’t take the comfortable under-clothes of the Vermilion knight.
   • So, the Fool now has the trappings of a Knight, but inwardly is still a Fool. The King gets his cup back, but is sad that no one will train the Fool in Knighthood now. (Early “success” in getting what we want (our imagined Good) can be a problem in itself. Some of us might do better with a bit of Impostor Syndrome at certain points in our life.)
   • The Fool gets directions to the King Arthur’s castle from a charcoal maker, who says the King is happy because he has had success in battle, but sad because his companions went back to their own castles.

3.1. Mundane Knighthood – Gornemant of Gohort

• The Fool comes to a castle owned by Lord Gornemant of Gohort, who teaches him how to use his equipment. He convinces him to take new clothes instead of the ones his mother gave him. He makes him a “Knight” in customs, manners and clothing, and begs him to stay, but the Fool wishes to return to his mother to see if she is okay. Gornemant advises him not to be too talkative or inquisitive, and not to say your mother instructed you. (Maybe what we thought we always wanted, our Good, turns out to be not quite enough when we actually attain it.)

4. The Outer Attainment – Lady Blancheflor
   • Blancheflor is the niece of Gornemant. She uses her womanly wiles to get the Fool to challenge the enemy Knight who has killed most of her Knights and reduced her and her people to poverty through a siege. The Fool succeeds against the enemy Knight and his duplicitous king in combat, and so wins the love of Blancheflor. Everyone begs him to stay and become ruler of the land but the Fool still longs to return and see what has happened to his mother. The Fool promises to return with his mother and then settle into the Frank Capra version of “mundane” Knighthood. (Well, it is a beautiful life, no doubt.)
5. The Castle of the Fisher King – The Grail Maiden
   • The Fool sees a man fishing in a boat and asks him about places to cross the river. The man replies there are none but he will find a castle up above. The Fool enters the castle which is splendidly appointed. When he is lead into the main hall the Fool is greeted by a rich Lord who has been wounded and can only stand with difficulty. At that moment, a Squire approaches and gives this Lord a very fine sword which was sent from his niece, the beautiful blonde maiden, and which is one of only 3 the smith has made or will ever make. The sword cannot be broken except “by a singular peril known only to the man who forged it”. The Lord gives the sword to the Fool.
   • Then comes a procession led first by a young attendant holding a lance from whose tip a single drop of blood appears and runs down the lance to the attendant’s hand. This is carried into another room. Next come attendants carrying candelabras, each with at least 10 candles burning. With them was a beautiful lady carrying a golden bowl (the Grail) decorated with gems from the sea and land and whose shining outdoes all the candelabras. Lastly, another lady carrying a
     silver cutting platter ends the procession. All these objects are carried to the adjacent room. The golden bowl is carried back and forth again at each course of the fine dinner they partake in.
   • Through all of this, the Fool doesn’t ask any questions, since he was taught by the one who made him a Knight not to appear foolish by doing so, or talking too much.
6. The Path to True Identity – The Lady of the Headless Knight
   • In the morning, the Fool wakes up early, intending to now ask about the things he saw the previous night. But no one is around. His horse was prepared for him and so he rides away, but as he passes the end of the drawbridge it is raised up and his horse must leap to avoid going into the moat (bum’s rush). On entering the forest, the Fool sees fresh horse tracks and follows them. He comes upon a woman weeping for a headless
     Knight. She figures out the Fool has spent the night at the castle of the Fisher King. So she explains that the Fisher King got his wound by a javelin in the buttocks. (Okay, we got it,
     hopefully, by now–most of the Soul wounding we suffer is related to, or rooted in, our sexuality.) She asks the Fool if he saw the Lance and Grail, and asked about them. He replies that he saw them but didn’t ask.
   • She then asks his name and, in a sudden inspiration, he answers that it is Perceval the Welshman. She replies it will be Perceval the Wretched. If he had asked about the things he saw, he would have cured the wounded king and made him capable of ruling his lands. She also tells him of the death of his mother. P
   • Perceval tells the weeping woman he will find the man who killed her knight and lover, but she refuses, wanting to bury her lover instead. (Neither yet realizes the Headless Knight’s death was caused by the Proud Knight of the Forest, whose Lady Perceval had wronged in his first encounter. The ramifications have
     been spreading!) She also warns Perceval that the sword he has been given will fail him in battle, and if it is broken it can only be repaired by Trabuchet, the smith who made it.

6.1. Perceval Begins to Recover Right Relationship with the Feminine

• Perceval now meets up with the Maiden from whom he took kisses and a ring. He defeats the Proud Knight of the Forest in battle and makes him promise he will set things right with her and will go with her to surrender himself to King Arthur.
• Perceval himself now approaches the encampment of Arthur, but is lost in contemplation of 3 drops of blood on the snow from a goose felled, but not killed, by a falcon. These remind him of the face of his beloved and he is transfixed in thought. (Maybe he had been reading the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tantra Probably not, but damn!)
• First Sir Sagremor tries to bring him to Arthur and grows angry when he ignores him, but he is beaten by Perceval. Then comes Sir Kay in the same way and, according to the jester’s prophecy, Perceval breaks his right arm and dislocates his collar bone. Finally, Sir Gawain comes to Perceval, but the spell of the 3 drops of blood is broken and Perceval joins Gawain and goes to meet King Arthur.

7. The Black Hag
   • The loathsome Black Hag wanders by and recounts Perceval’s misdeeds and their effects on others. She speaks again of his failure to ask why the Lance bleeds and whom the Grail serves. Perceval promises to never rest until he has found out the meanings of the bleeding lance and the Grail. (At this point the story follows Gawain for while. A long while.)
8. Five Years Later
   • In the middle of all the really important stuff about Gawain, Chetrien takes a little time to finish up this pesky Perceval story. Perceval had continued to pursue adventures at an alarming rate (50k victories in 5 years, that’s at least 27 per day, every day), but has forgotten (gasp!) to enter a church in all that time. On Good Friday, he meets 5 knights escorting as many as 10 ladies. They reproach him for bearing arms on this Holy Day and direct Perceval to a Hermit nearby to whom they already have, and he should, confess their sins and gain pardon.
   • The Hermit (conveniently) is the brother of the Fisher King’s father and Perceval’s Uncle. The Hermit says he failed to ask the questions about the Lance and the Bowl because of the
     wrongs he did his mother, who died of grief when he left. He assigns him daily penitence. Then its back to Gawain’s story and that’s
     all we hear about the Grail.
   • Okay, so Chetrien (or someone) is desperately trying to finish this Perceval story and get back to what really sells books. So he just
     throws up his hands, adopts the party line of the Church, and dismisses all this nonsense. The Grail is just a bowl his Uncle eats out of, what really counts is that it contains the “Host”, a little, sanctified bread wafer from the Mass–that’s where any “Holiness” comes from (in case you were wondering). And that was interesting about the Lance and all, but it’s time to go to confession-that will make everything, and everyone, magically better. It’s all just about “original sin”, and Perceval, as expected, just messed everything up from the very beginning. And he’s still messing up. You can’t possibly even try to be a better person. Who does he think he is? Everything down here on Earth is just the pits, so just think about Heaven, stop asking questions, shut up and obey.
   • We’re not buying it. But it is easy to see why Chetrien would not dare take us through the last step– it is the secret of the Christian Mystics, and will get you burned at the stake quicker than you can say “Gnostic Heresy”– we must fully identify ourselves with our Christ Nature, working out our own Death, Burial, and Resurrection. We must become Christs. Yes, Grace is involved (can’t do anything without Her), but so is our own effort. These are the two wings of the Phoenix, otherwise it’s just badly burnt Coq au Vin.

That wraps up our report. It’s back to you, Ted. Did we hear Gawain was just nominated for the Heisman Trophy?…