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WHILE speaking of the symbolism of the cornerstone, we had occasion to mention incidentally the _lapsit exillis_ of Wolfram von Eschenbach. It might be interesting to give more specific attention to this question because of the many parallels which it suggests. Under its strange form,^[1] this enigmatic expression may comprise more than one meaning. It is certainly, before all else, a kind of phonetic contraction of _lapis lapsus ex cœlis_, 'the stone fallen from the sky'. Moreover, this stone, precisely by reason of its origin, is as it were 'in exile' in its earthly sojourn, whence moreover it must finally reascend to the heavens.^[2] As regards the symbolism of the Grail, it is to be noted that even though it is most commonly described as a vase and though this is its most widely known form it is also sometimes described as a stone, as in fact it is by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Furthermore, it can be both simultaneously, for the vase is said to have been cut from a previous stone which, having fallen from the forehead of Lucifer at the time of his fall, had likewise 'fallen from heaven'.^[4]

On the other hand, what seems to increase even more the complexity of this symbolism, but which can in reality provide the 'key' to certain connections, is this: as we have already explained elsewhere, if the Grail is a vase (_grasale_), it is also a book (_gradale_ or _graduale_); and in certain versions of the legend, there is mention in this respect not exactly of a book in the ordinary sense but of an inscription traced on the cup by an angel or by Christ himself. Inscriptions of similarly 'non-human' origin also appeared in certain circumstances on the _lapsit exillis_,^[5] which was thus a 'talking stone', or, we might say, an 'oracular stone'; for if a stone can 'speak' by emitting sounds, it can do so quite as well (like the shell of the tortoise in the Far Eastern Tradition) by means of characters or figures appearing on its surface. Now, what is also very remarkable from this point of view, is that the Biblical tradition mentions an 'oracular cup', that of Joseph, ^[6] which in this respect at least could be regarded as one of the forms of the Grail itself; and curiously enough it is another Joseph, Joseph of Arimathea, who is said to have become the possessor or guardian of the Grail and to have brought it from the East to Britain. It is surprising that no notice seems ever to have been taken of these 'coincidences' which, nevertheless, are not insignificant.^[7]

To return to _lapsit exillis_, a connection has been made between it and the _Lia Fail_ or 'stone of destiny', which was also, in fact, a 'talking stone', and which may have been, in a certain sense, a 'stone from heaven', for according to the Irish legend, the _Tuatha de Danann_ had brought it with them from their first abode, which is said to have been 'celestial' or at least 'paradisal'. This _Lia Fail_ is known to have been the anointing stone of the ancient kings of Ireland, and it subsequently became that of the kings of England, having been brought by Edward I to Westminster Abbey, according to the most widely held opinion; but strange though it may seem, this same stone is, on the other hand, identified with the one which Jacob consecrated at Bethel.^[8] Nor is that all: according to the Hebrew tradition it would also seem to have been the stone which followed the Israelites in the desert and from which flowed the water they drank of,^[9] and which according to St Paul's interpretation was none other than Christ himself.^[10] It is then supposed to have become the _shethiyah_ or 'foundation stone', placed in the Temple of Jerusalem beneath the Ark of the Covenant,^[11] and thus marking symbolically the 'centre of the world', likewise represented in another traditional form by the _Omphalos_ of Delphi;^[12] and since these identifications are obviously symbolic, it can assuredly be said that in all this it is indeed always one and the same stone that is in question.

It must be clearly understood, nevertheless, as regards the symbolism of building, that the foundation stone just mentioned must in no way be confused with the 'cornerstone', which is the crown of the edifice, while the other is at the centre of its base; ^[13] and inasmuch as it is central, it likewise differs from the 'foundation stone' in the ordinary sense, which is at one of the angles of the same base. We have already said that the foundation stones of the four angles reflect, as it were, the true 'cornerstone' or 'summit stone', and participate in it; again, in the present context, a reflection can also be spoken of, but this time the relationship is more direct than in the previous case, for the 'summit stone' and the 'foundation stone' are on the same vertical line so that the 'foundation stone' is as the horizontal projection of the 'summit stone' on to the level of the foundation.^[14] It could be said that the 'foundation stone' synthesizes in itself, even while remaining on the same level, the partial aspects represented by the stones of the four angles (this partial character being expressed by the obliquity of the lines which join them to the summit of the edifice). In fact, the central 'foundation stone' and the 'cornerstone' are respectively the base and the summit of the axial pillar, whether this pillar is represented visibly or whether it has only an 'ideal' existence. In this last case, the 'foundation stone' can be a hearthstone or an altar stone (which, moreover, is the same in principle) and which in any case corresponds in a way to the very 'heart' of the edifice.

We have said, as regards the cornerstone, that it represents the 'stone come down from heaven'; and we have now seen that the _lapsit exillis_ is more precisely the 'stone fallen from heaven', which might suggest a certain relationship with the 'stone which the builders had rejected', if from the cosmic perspective these 'builders' are considered as the Angels or _Devas_; ^[15] but since every descent is not necessarily a fall, ^[16] there is scope for a certain differentiation between the two expressions. In any case, the idea of a 'fall' could no longer apply in any sense once the cornerstone occupies its

Footnotes

[1]A. E. Waite, in his work on _The Holy Grail_, gives the variants _lapis exilis_ and _lapis exilix_, for it seems that the spelling differs according to the manuscript. He also points out that, according to the _Rosarium Philosophorum_ (citing Arnold of Villeneuve), _lapis exilis_ was among the alchemists one of the designations of the 'philosophers' stone', which naturally must be linked with the considerations we have indicated at the end of the same study.

[2]_Lapis exili_ or _lapis exsulis_, according to the interpretations suggested by Waite as possible in this regard.

[3]We do not think there are grounds for taking much account of the Latin word _exilis_, taken in its literal sense of 'thin' or 'tenuous', unless perhaps one should intend to associate with it a certain idea of 'subtlety'.

[4]On the symbolism of the Grail, see _The Lord of the World_, ch. 5. Also to be mentioned in this connection is the symbol of the _Estoile Internelle_, in which the cup and the precious stone are united even while being in this case distinct from one another.

[5]As on the 'black stone' of Ourga, which had to be, like all the 'black stones' playing a part in different traditions, a meteorite, that is, yet again, a 'stone fallen from heaven' (see _The Lord of the World_, ch. 1).

[6]Genesis 44: 5.

[7]The 'oracular cup' is in a way the prototype of 'magic mirrors', and there is an important point to be made in this connection: a purely magical interpretation, which reduces symbols to a merely divinatory or 'talismanic' level as the case may be, marks a certain stage in the degeneration of these symbols, or rather of the understanding of them, a stage less advanced, however, than the completely profane deviation that attributes to them a merely 'aesthetic' value, for it does at least refer to a traditional science. On the subject of the 'divinatory cup', it is to be noted also that the vision of all things as present, if this is understood in its true sense (the only sense to which can be attached the 'infallibility' explicitly in question in the case of Joseph), is clearly related to the symbolism of the 'third eye', and thus also of the stone fallen from Lucifer's forehead where it had occupied the place of the 'third eye'. It is moreover by his fall that man himself lost the 'third eye', that is, the 'sense of eternity', which the Grail restores to whoever succeeds in winning it.

[8]The Lord of the World, ch. 9.

[9]Exodus 17: 5. The drink given by this stone should be compared with the food provided by the Grail, considered as the 'vase of abundance'.

[10]I Corinthians 10: 4. Let us note the relationship between the anointing of the stone by Jacob, that of kings at their crowning, and the person of Christ or of the Messiah who is literally the Anointed _par excellence_.

[11]In the symbolism of the _Sephiroth_, this 'foundation' is related to _Iesod_. The 'cornerstone', to which we are going to return shortly, is related to _Kether_.

[12]Again, cf., The Lord of the World, ch. 9. The _Omphalos_, moreover, was a _baetyl_, a designation identical to _Beth-el_, or 'house of God'.

[13]Not being angular, that is, not being placed at one of the angles, the central 'foundation stone' cannot, in this respect at least, be confused with the 'cornerstone', in connection with which we therefore did not need to speak of it.

[14]This corresponds to what we have already pointed out on the subject of the horizontal projection of the pyramid, the summit of which is projected onto the meeting point of the diagonals of the base square, that is, at the very centre of this square. In operative Masonry, the positioning of a building was determined—before construction began—by what is called the 'method of the five points', which consisted of fixing first the four angles where the first four stones were to be placed, then the centre, that is, the meeting point of the diagonals of the base which is normally square or rectangular. The pegs that marked these five points were called _landmarks_, which is doubtless the primary and original sense of this Masonic term.

[15]Who must be regarded as working under the direction of Vishvakarma who is, as we have already explained on other occasions, the same as the 'Grand Architect of the Universe' (cf., especially _The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times_, ch. 3).

[16]It goes without saying that this remark applies above all to the descent of the _Avatāra_, even though his presence in the terrestrial world can also be like an 'exile', but only according to outward appearances.

46 § 'Lapsit exillis'

Footnotes