Carl Jung and Josef Campbell have both called The Grail, the most important myth for the Modern World. It exists to reconcile all of the conflicts and oppositions within the world and us: Pagan and Christian, Natural and Personal Magick, Angelic and Diabolic, Masculine and Feminine, Human and Divine; even different layers within the Grail Herself.This uniting of opposites has always been understood as Magick, and the ongoing process of transforming ourselves is The Alchemy and Path of the Great Work.

The Grail and its Mythos, is but a singular Symbol of The Great Work, but one that has persisted from The Crusades to the present with little change. The very endurance of The Grail Myths shows that it speaks to several deep and spiritual human needs. From the Cauldrons of br /an the Blessed and Cerwidwen, to the belief in the Sacred Line of Christ, to the Grails of Parsival and Galad, to Harry Potter and Indiana Jones. One myth of The Grail speaks of it changing forms as the Ages and needs of humanity evolve, as we all must hope it shall long into the Aions to come.

Seeking the Wasteland

Today all of those Mysteries of The Grail, and its Ancient Lessons are more vital than they have been in decades. As the Piscean Age of Institutional Religion slowly collapses around us, many people are looking for something deeper, wiser and more substantial than Neo-Paganism or Monotheistic Religion. These Seekers drift from system to system, path to path, never feeling at home or fulfilled with either their Magick or Spirituality.

They are the Modern Squires of The Quest; these disenfranchised few that seek challenging and meaningful Spiritual Development. They see truth in every Faith, and see the Secret Unity of each God or Goddess. They know that The Great Work shall br /ing Light from their Inner Darkness, and will transform them into a purer more compassionate self. They are pilgrims- not joiners or believers that accept the wisdom of others on blind faith, but rather desire to learn how to be completely themselves and perfect.

As in Merlin's Age, only the Knights of the Round Table could begin this journey, and they were the best-trained and educated men in Europe. Of them, less than half accepted The Quest with all its risks and hazards, and only four;
completed The Quest for The Holy Grail- Two Christian: Bors and Galahad; Two with older pagan origins : Parsifal and Gawain. In our Age, the Knights are as few and the dangers are as great but in slightly different forms, but the Quest continues so long as our world is a Wasteland and a handful of br /ave souls wish to heal the Wounded Land.

Healing the Wounded Land

Today we have noticed that we are living in the Wasteland (but we did not when T.S. Eliot wrote his poem). This has created several attempts, not to rebuild The Camelot of Olde but to heal our World, now. This is the Work of Grail Knights and Masters, but it is also a necessary Work if Earth will be habitable for Future generations.

This is the Great Work of Our Lifetimes, not as Environmentalism or just Deep Ecology, but healing The Wounds in the Earth, in our Civilization, but foremost in Ourselves- so we may be Fully Human. The Conversation with the Inner Light, even Crossing the Abyss should always lead back to Humanity and The Earth or there was no point in the Quest or the Great Work. Again, this is not the only Great Work, Injustice, or Imbalance worth trying to change, these are just the ones that resonate with Grail Knights on both Personal and Natural layers, and is well-suited to our Grail Mythos. Each of us who begins this Quest will improve the Wasteland, even a little, but those who join the Order, and eventually become Knights and Masters, to serve the Grail in Healing the Wounded Land, in ways never seen nor imagined by the uninitiated.

Avalon

Avalon in Gaelic means "Isle of Apples", one of the countless Celtic Paradises in The Otherworld. The Otherworld is The Celtic conception akin to The Aboriginal Dreamtime, or our Modern idea of an Astral Plane, it contains The Gods, The Faey, and The Great Heroes of Old. Arthur, the Great King of br /itain, waits sleeping in Avalon, with Morgonna at his side. Legend says he shall return when the world needs him most.

Arthur is the Wounded or Fisher King, in The Wounded or Wasteland. His wounding makes him unfit to rule under Celtic Law but does not diminish the greatness of his rule or Camelot. While The King is wounded and dying, and the glory and wisdom of the world is being torn asunder by bandits, war lords and corrupt clergy a few of the best and br /avest of the Knights of the Round Table set out to find The Grail and heal the Wasteland.

Many depart the ruins of Camelot to seek The Grail and its Perilous Chapel of the dozen Knights of The Quest only three reach The Grail. Such are the dangers of Sacred Chivalry and The Great Work; most become lost and destroyed by The Goddess as a Temptress, or by Evil Magickians and Otherworldly Monsters. The Four Knights that complete The Grail Quest rather than being permitted to rest, must return to wounded land (other than Galahad), and rebuild the shattered Kingdom with their newfound blessings. This is one of the most important lessons in the Grail Mysteries: there is no retreat from the world, for it is the beginning and end of The Quest.

Goddess & Grail

The Grail begins as a Bronze Age Goddess Symbol, but in its initial Pagan and Natural Form, it has the guise of a Cauldron. The Cauldron must have been an inherently dual symbol of both The Womb of The Mother from its shape and that it was also used to eat the hunted game. This combination is the most primal opposite reconciled by both The Grail and it's Goddess.

The first gods and goddesses of any tribe are its land and landforms, thus the differences in far distant cultures. The Grail was in The Celtic mind, one of the symbols of The Land herself. She is Sovereignty, the Royal Rite of the King to rule, and in the Celtic Lands of Old, The King was formally and ritually married to The Land. The Celtic Holidays celebr /ated in Natural Magick all spring from the cycle of union between King and The Land from the Wedding at Beltane to his ritual sacrifice for the tribe at Lamas, and journey to and through The Otherworld during Samhain and Imbolc.

And so for ages the land was honoured through marriage to each tribal or clan lord, until The Romans, Vikings and Christians invaded The Celts. The result of each invasion was a slight alteration of values and the faith of the Celts, until by the Middle Ages they Ancient Myths had utter transformed into a myth that spread far beyond the Celtic World, but ultimately

The Secret Bride

The Grail's Connection to Christ has become well-known once again with the popularity of the Di vinci Code, the connection between Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail once again became the subject of public debate, and numerous hours of television, see the Links page of our site. This is not a new subject, it was argued 20 years ago when Holy Blood, Holy Grail was released, but it never enjoyed the attention given Dan br /own's book. Even before that, the very idea is the entire basis for Every Version of the Parsifal Myth, in the language of the Sangreal.

Today it is easy to see this story of Christ as a father, with Magdalene as his br /ide, with their daughter Sarah as a purely heretical view being spread by the Enemies of the Church. Much of this has to due with texts, beliefs and groups that the Church has suppressed since Nicea, and more so after Charlemagne. The very persistence of this sect in Southern France (be they called Cathars, Troubadours, The Troyes Fraternity, or The Priory of Scion) should call these doubts into question.

It is also as easy to lose the Personal Inner Grail Quest, searching for Merovingian Kings, or the relic of Christ's Cup. Today many are as distracted by this part of the Grail Quest, as many were in the Middle Ages by the Mont Slavat. We need to honour the Grail Quest Within as well, and never forget the goal of the Grail Quest is not just to restore The King but also to heal the Wounded Land.

The Poor Knights
Of course one cannot discuss Mary Magdalene without mentioning the Templars. In 1119 Hughes de Payns founded the Templars in Jerusalem, then Outré Mere ruled by King Baldwin II,with Eight other Knights in the location of the Stables of Solomon's Temple, the full name of their Order was The Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Soloman. They were a Knightly Order that was also Monastic, and their Rule was formalized by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1128.

Shortly thereafter they became the largest Monastic Order in the world, and after Outré Mere fell, all of that money and power was soon seen as a threat by European Monarchs until with the King of France, along with the Pope decided to have the Templars arrested on Friday the 13th, 1307. It is worth noting that as the Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques DeMolay was being burned as the stake, he cursed "Both my Accusers to Appear before Our Almighty Lord within the Year...", and it was so within a year both the King of France, and the Pope were dead.

During the infamous Trial of the Templars, they were accused of among other things, Sodomy, Heresy (likely the worship of a Goddess or Magdelen), and Blasphemy (the worship of a head?) that after Eliphas Levi they commonly become associated with the Figure of Baphomet. As Dan br /own reveals in his book Baphomet = Sophia, or the Diabolic looking figure, conceals the Sabbath br /ide; The Holy Spirit; Wisdom or The Magdelene- which is how they tie into The Grail Tradition.