SYMBOLISM OF THE GRAIL
THE Knights of the Round Table were briefly mentioned in the previous chapter. It is not inappropriate here to indicate the significance of the 'quest for the Grail', presented in Celtic legends as their chief function. A 'something' that becomes lost or hidden at some past time is mentioned by every tradition. It is, for instance, the Soma of the Hindus and the Persian Haoma, or 'drink of immortality'. In the same way the Grail is the sacred chalice containing the blood of Christ which is also the 'drink of Immortality'. Elsewhere the symbolism is different, as, for example, in the Jewish tradition where it is the pronouncing of the great Divine Name that has been lost. [1] The fundamental idea, however, always remains the same, and we will shortly see to what it exactly corresponds.
It is said that the Holy Grail is the chalice of the last Supper and that it was used by Joseph of Arimathea at the crucifixion to catch the blood and water flowing from the wound opened in Christ's side by the lance of the centurion Longinus. [2] As legend relates, the chalice was taken to Great Britain by Joseph of Arimathea himself and Nicodemus. [3] Here one can see the indication of a link established between Christianity and Celtic tradition. The chalice plays an important role in most ancient
traditions, and particularly so among the Celts. It is frequently associated with the lance - the two symbols are somewhat complementary, but that is taking us away from the point. [4]
The essential significance of the Grail is best understood through various descriptions of its origin. The chalice is said to have been fashioned by Angels from an emerald that dropped from Lucifer's forehead at the time of his fall. [5] This emerald strongly recalls the 'urna' or Hindu frontal jewel (subsequently adopted by Buddhists). It usually depicts the place of the third eye of Shiva, representing what can be called the 'sense of eternity', as explained elsewhere. [6] It is said too that the Grail had been entrusted to Adam in the Terrestrial Paradise, but that he lost it as he was unable to take it with him on his banishment from Eden. Thus Man, separated from his centre of origin, found himself trapped in a temporal realm from where he could no longer rejoin that unique place in which all things are contemplated from the standpoint of eternity. In other words, the possession of the 'sense of eternity' corresponds to what all the traditions call the 'primordial state', whose restoration constitutes the first stage of the true initiation, being the preliminary requirement for the effective conquest of the 'supra-human' states. [7] Furthermore, 'Terrestrial Paradise' stands for the 'Centre of the World', an expression that will be understood later on when the original meaning of Paradise is analysed.
Seth obtained permission to return to the Terrestrial Paradise and so was able to recover the precious chalice. Now the name
'Seth' denotes qualities of reliability and stability; consequently it also indicates to some extent the restoration of the primordial order destroyed by Man's fall. [8] It can be understood from this that both Seth and those who possessed the Grail after him were able, through that ownership, to establish a spiritual centre destined to replace their lost Paradise, and which was like an image of it. This possession of the Grail, then, represents the integral preservation of the primordial tradition in a spiritual centre. Legend does not record where or by whom the Grail was kept until the time of Christ, although its Celtic origin suggests the Druids had a part in it and should be counted amongst the regular guardians of the primordial tradition.
The loss of the Grail, or of one of its symbolic equivalents, signifies the loss of tradition with all that this conveys. It is truer, in fact, to say that the tradition is hidden rather than lost, or to say that it can be lost only to lesser spiritual centres that have ceased to maintain a direct contact with the supreme centre. This last always keeps the tradition intact, and remains untouched by any changes occurring in the exterior world. It was thus that, according to various Church Fathers, notably Saint Augustine, the Flood failed to reach Terrestrial Paradise, the 'dwelling place of Enoch and Land of Saints', [9] where its summit 'touches the lunar sphere'. This means that it is to be found beyond the domain of change - the sub-lunar world - at the point of communication between Earth and the Heavens. [10] In the same way that Terrestrial Paradise has become
inaccessible, the supreme centre, which is basically the same thing, can remain concealed during the course of certain periods without any external manifestation whatsoever. In this state it can be said that the tradition is lost to humanity as a whole, for it is conserved only in centres so emphatically closed that the majority of people have no means of participating consciously or effectively, in contrast to the original situation. [11] Such is the state of this present epoch, the beginning of which reaches back well beyond what is accessible to ordinary and 'profane' history. The loss of tradition can therefore be considered both in this general sense and also allied to the veiling of spiritual centres ruling, more or less invisibly, the destinies of particular peoples' civilizations. One must therefore examine each example of symbolism of this kind to see in which of these two senses it should be interpreted.
From what has been said it follows closely that the Grail represents two closely united entities. He who fully 'owns' the primordial tradition, who has reached the degree of effective knowledge implied by this 'possession', is, through this, effectively reintegrated in the fullness of the primordial state. Both the primordial state and the primordial tradition convey the double meaning inherent in the word Grail itself. Owing to one of those verbal assimilations which play quite a significant part in the field of symbolism, and which carry a more profound meaning than is at first obvious, the Grail is at once a 'vase' (grasale), signifying the primordial state, and a 'book' (gradale or graduale), signifying the tradition. [12]
It is not our intention to elaborate on any secondary details belonging to the legend of the Holy Grail, even though they all have a symbolic validity, nor to pursue the history of the 'Knights of the Round Table' and their exploits, except to point
out that the table was built by Arthur [13] to Merlin's designs and was intended to receive the Grail subsequent to its being recovered by one of the knights and brought back from Great Britain to Brittany. The table itself is one of those very ancient symbols always associated with the idea of spiritual centres, guardians of the tradition. The circular shape of the table is, moreover, formally linked to the Zodiacal Cycle by the presence around it of twelve principle persons, [14] a characteristic which, as already noted, recurs in the constitution of all such centres.
Another symbol connected to an aspect of the Grail legend, and which merits attention, is that of Montsalvat (literally, 'Mount of Salvation'), its peak situated 'at the far horizons where no mortal can approach'. It is depicted as being set in the midst of the sea in an inaccessible region behind which the sun rises. Montsalvat is both the 'sacred isle' and 'polar mountain', equivalent symbols that will be discussed in the course of this study. It is the 'Land of Immortality' equated naturally with the Terrestrial Paradise. [15]
To return to the Grail itself, it is easy to see that its primary significance is basically the same as that which the sacred vase has everywhere it is found; which, especially in the East, was the sacrificial vessel which originally contained the Vedic Soma or Mazdean Haoma, the 'draught of immortality', that bestows upon or restores to the drinker who receives it with the due rites his 'sense of eternity'.
A completely separate study would be required to cover fully the symbolism of the chalice and its contents, but what has been said leads on to other questions of great importance to the argument which follows.
ADDENDUM ON THE 'MASSENIE OF THE HOLY GRAIL'
From L'Esoterisme de Dante, pp. 35-6:
'A hero named Titurel founds a temple in order to deposit therein the holy Vaissel; and it is the prophet Merlin who directs the mysterious construction, initiated as he had been by Joseph of Arimathea in person into the plan of the pre-eminent Temple, the Temple of Solomon. [Here Henri Martin adds as a note: "Parsifal ends up by transferring the Grail and rebuilding the temple in India, and it is Prester John, the fantastic chief of an imaginary oriental Christendom, who inherits the guardianship of the holy Vaissel."]
'The Chivalry of the Grail becomes the Massenie, i.e. an ascetic Freemasonry whose members are called the Templistes; and one can perceive here the intention to connect to a common centre, figured by this ideal Temple, the Order of the Templars and the numerous confraternities of builders who then renovated the architecture of the Middle Ages. One can catch a glimpse of many openings on what one could call the underground history of those times, much more complex than is generally thought. What is odd, and what one can hardly doubt, is that modern Freemasonry goes back step-by-step as far as the Massenie of the Holy Grail'