In modern Grail literature, there is a tendency to seek or declare prior meanings and secret codes. This tendency is heir to the respectable Victorian and Edwardian academic discourse of which the work of Alfred Trubner Nutt, president of the Folklore Society is central to the tradition. Nutt argued that an original Grail myth existed in early Celtic culture and that medieval romance authors merely reworked the material in their attempts to make sense of an ancient myth, which they no longer understood. Thus the secrets contained therein were lost along the way. Much of the current crop of popular works accepts the idea that the Grail Story existed before the medieval romances. Many modern authors assert that the medieval authors of the romances were members of an elite that were privy to some cosmic insight. Moreover, these medieval authors rather than simply rewriting a story which they little understood, had used the romance genre to conceal secret information from the Church and secular authorities which would have otherwise suppress it. They wanted to transmit the information under the cruel gaze of the Inquisition without it being censored or them tortured. This knowledge was therefore coded by these canny authors as a romance story, whose secret escaped the notice of the antagonistic authorities until the code could be broken and the secret revealed in more equitable times. We will first examine the original academic criticism from which ideas prevalent in these popular works developed.
Various Victorian writers and antiquarians, other than Nutt, had suggested a connection between the Grail Story and Celtic food-producing vessels. For instance a neo-druid writer, Nash Williams, noted the similarity between the Grail and an object included among the Arthurian appurtenances in traditional Welsh lists. While Sabine Baring-Gould in 1878, placed the relationship between the Grail Story and Celtic tradition in a folklore context. Alfred Nutt published The Holy Grail with Especial Reference to its Celtic Origin in 1888 under the auspices of the Folklore Society expounding the argument for a Celtic origin of the Grail legend. Nutt examined material in Irish, Welsh and Scots Gaelic relating to 'Otherworld' vessels which had magic properties, such as wondrous food-producing vessels. He also examined vengeance tales and stories of heroes seeking supernatural objects and/or 'Otherworld' women. He combined the two varieties of myth and put them forward as the ultimate source for the Grail Story. He drew on contemporary scholarship, which emphasised the Celtic race as pre-eminent and plethoric in the British Isles before the Roman occupation. Nutt himself never learned any Celtic languages; translations were supplied by celebrated specialists such as the newly edited texts from Celtic scholars like Kuno Meyer, Julius Pokorny, John Rhys, and Eleanor Hull. Jessie Weston furnished continental material from medieval French, German and Dutch romances. A substantial amount of recently collected folk narrative from collectors such as Douglas Hyde, Campbell of Islay and Paul Sebillot and the full collection of Mabinogion tales from Charlotte Guest's translation. The purport of all these works was that somehow the Celtic tradition had survived since pagan times and that Christianity had provided a vehicle for upholding that tradition while infixing significant changes and modifications.
The recurring myth concerning the death and rebirth of a vegetation god made popular by the Scottish anthropologist, James George Frazer, in his book The Golden Bough (12 volumes, 1890–1915). This was a pioneer study of the origins of religion and sociology on a comparative basis, exerted considerable influence on subsequent anthropologists and writers, but by the standards of modern anthropology, many of its methods and findings are deemed unsound. Nutt accepted Frazer's theories and felt that such a myth was central to Celtic mythology. However, the development of this theory was left to Jessie Weston. Nutt believed that the real meaning of the Grail lay in the original Celtic myths, while the romances merely transmitted diluted versions of the ancient myths. Nutt used the then-current theories of folklore to substantiate his theory. For like so many of his contemporaries, he believed that the human intellect, while progressive, always retained atavistic traits or "distinct marks of the ruder simpler stage out of which [it] emerged." And in keeping with the spirit of the times, he believed that the Celts were the ideal avatar of this.
The Celtic culture was about to be reanimated by a variety of writers, especially the Irishman William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) leader of the Irish literary revival and nationalist. Yeats was not a political activist but saw nationalist aspirations as part of a wider spiritual revival, and felt that by finding a 'unity of being' in himself, he might help create a kind of cultural and intellectual unity among his compatriots. Throughout his career, Yeats's writings incorporated a wide spectrum of personal, mythological, and political concerns. His influence on both Irish literature and on poetry in English in general, and his stature as an imaginative artist, were very profound indeed. His advocacy of the "pagan" imagination and his romantic ideas about Celtic culture become very fashionable and helped shape the myth of the Celt.
The other theme that merged at this time was that the contact between the Celts and Christianity provided a vehicle for the transformation and distortion of the Grail myth. Thus, the inconsistencies between early Celtic tradition and themes in the medieval romances incorporating the Grail material are accounted for by this theory. Nutt's folklore analysis of the Grail Story was very influential, especially his contention that the original meaning of these romances lies in the distant pagan past outside the romances themselves. This is a basic assumption amongst contemporary popular writers.
Other writers followed Nutt on the subject, including: Dorothy Kempe's The Legend of the Grail (1905); A. C. L. Brown's The Origin of the Grail Legend (1943); Helaine Newstead's Bran the Blessed (1939); and, most influential of all, the work of R. S. Loomis ( 1935; 1949; 1956; 1959; 1963). And the German Celtic language specialist Julius Pokorny in his study Der Graal in Irland und die mythischen Grundlage de Graalsage (Pokorny 1918). Although Loomis continued the study of the myth into the 1960s, his linguistic assumptions began to be questioned. However, even now, there is still a trickle of books, which see medieval literature as a distortion of mythic material. Nutt called the Grail romances "the happy hunting ground of mystical enthusiasts" and especially the neo-druidic speculations of the eighteenth century, and attempted to redress this perceived error by his own rigorous studies.
Lewis Spence combined the idea of Celtic origin with a suggestion in Nutt's early work of a mythic food-producing vessel at the centre of a Celtic agricultural myth, of the type that Frazer had created. Spence looked back to a pagan past before Catholic Christianity had sullied it. He believed that Celtic shamanism and ancestor cults had merged with Christianity resulting in a Celtic Christian mystery religion, which centres on the Grail as a mystic experience. Spence also distinguished between the virtuousness occult arts and Devilish black magic, and interestingly, was an early proponent of the idea of a black magic conspiracy at the heart of the Nazism. Spence's conception of the Celtic religion was an eclectic mix of Scottish folklore, pieces of Celtic texts, fragments of Alfred Nutt's theories, soupcons of Nietzsche and curios of Native American lore. However, the proposed link between the Grail episode and early Celtic myth was not the only suggestion put forward to explain the Grail Story.
The Celtic Cauldrons
Celtic tales contain many references to wondrous cauldrons, which had very similar properties to the Grail as described in the Arthurian tales. A Welsh poem, The Preiddeu Annwn, describes Arthur and his men venturing into the Celtic underworld to steal the Cauldron of Annwn, which is blown on by nine maidens, and has the ability to restore life to dead warriors. Another cauldron, the Cauldron of Awen had a potion brewed in it which could bestow all knowledge. The goddess Ceridwen, obliged a youth, Gwion, to stir this magic potion, three drops spilled onto his fingers and put them into his mouth, and thereby gained all knowledge. In the Christian tradition, the Grail Cup is always carried or guarded by women and that it has life restoring capabilities, whilst the Grail in Arthurian legend could bestow knowledge. Thus, many authors have thus tried to show that the Celtic cauldrons are in some sense a precursor to the modern Grail image. The Celtic connection appears to be reaffirmed by certain Arthurian heroes, such as Kay and Bedivere, who are apparently evolved from Celtic ones, a theme explored in many texts. Although the Celtic derivations are popular in theory, they by no means explain all events and descriptions within the cycles, nor, do they explain the sudden interest in the Grail Story of Chrétien in the twelfth century.
Early Grail Scholarship: Alternative Origin Theories
In the fin de siècle, about the time that Nutt carrying out his scholarly researchers, and especially regarding the Celtic ramifications, others types of researcher began to look at the Grail Story differently. These purviewed the genesis of the Grail with different eyes, and saw it as a symbolic experience.
The Grail as Knowledge
Pre-eminent in the twentieth century revival of the Grail Legend was Rudolf Steiner who was the first to publicly suggest that the Grail Quest was actually a personal initiation experience coded into a narrative. His pupil Walter Stein took up Steiner's intuitions about the Grail as a symbol; Stein argued that "Grail experiences" arose in Carolingian court in the ninth century and then reappears in the twelfth. Stein also identified the Grail protagonists with historic personages circulating around the Carolingian court in the mid- to late-ninth century. Thus, according to Stein, the Grail material, especially in Wolfram's Parzival could be interpreted as real, although esoteric, history. Rudolf Steiner's grail interpretation has provided a very rich vein of wisdom. Steiner himself has been suggested as the avatar of the grail as part of an elaborate theory linked to the theft of the 'Lance of Longinus' from the Habsburg treasury in Vienna. This involved dark occultism and evil powers at the very heart of the Nazi hierarchy. This narrative has been told by Walter Stein's student, Trevor Ravenscroft in his books The Spear of Destiny, The Cup of Destiny and The Mark of the Beast. These books revolve around the legend of the spear which pierced the side of Christ on the Cross, as described in John's Gospel, wielded by a Roman centurion named as Gaius Cassius, or Longinus. Consequently, the spear was called the Lance of Longinus, or the Holy Spear, or because it was used at the most critical moment in humanity's history, the Spear of Destiny. Ravenscroft traces this spear through history and shows it to have been in the possession of some of the most influential people in history. He informs us that the spear was already an ancient talisman of power, previous owners having included Joshua, Saul, and Herod the Great, before its fateful use at Golgotha. Subsequent alleged owners included Constantine the Great, Theodosius I, Alaric, Theodoric, Justinian I, Charles Martel, Charlemagne and Otto the Great. Ravenscroft also tells us of Adolf Hitler's obsession with the spear after he first sighted the sacred relic in 1909. Ravenscroft in his book tells us that the Grail is the knowledge to use this spear in some supernatural way. Ravenscroft claims that there are two ways to achieve this spiritual knowledge: either using 'black arts', involving drugs and sex-magic, or by a much harder route of "learning the ABC's of magic." These are the very terms Wolfram von Eschenbach used in the introduction to his romance Parzival. Once this knowledge is obtained the innate power of the spear can be used for good or evil; the use is determined by the method that the user gained the knowledge of the Grail. If he used 'black arts' then he must wield the spear for evil, if not then he is free to chose.
Ravenscroft was evidently serious although this does not by itself merit uncritical acceptance of his theory. No evidence is presented and no cross-referencing of any of the other literature available. Ravenscroft simply states his case. Although it is an intriguing piece of story telling it is severely criticised for its historiographic shortcomings. The Spear of Destiny deals with history in a manner that confounds normal historical research, moreover, it reads so much like sensational historical fiction that its claims as non-fiction become precarious. The whole scenario is founded on the alleged clairvoyant powers of Steiner, Stein, and Ravenscroft, which are employed, say the critics, to cover a very serious problem for the potential credibility of the book. Namely, this method of clairvoyant historiography forgoes the necessity of corroborating evidence to support an assertion except the evidence of the three protagonist's psychic faculties. Psychic research is therefore a new and intriguing possibility for historical research, but say the critics, with endless potential for fraud.
The association between the grail and the Crusades has also been argued as a significant link. A lance-like knife used to cut the bread at the Eucharist service in Oriental Christian rites has been put forward as a possible source for the grail; although there is little resemblance these rites and the grail procession. An origin in the Persian tradition ultimately leading back to an unlikely Grail hero, Genghis Khan (1162–1227), in Iran was posited as early as 1909. The eastern connection was reworked into an implausible and contentious grail source, concerning a small group of Sarmatian mercenaries who settled in northern Britain in the second century. Obviously, such a small number would never dominate a larger culture, although it is coincidental that the Roman leader of this band was a man named Lucius Artorius Castor.
Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Grail
An English legend tells us that the Grail is the Cup of Christ, for it was the cup used at the Last Supper from which wine was drunk as a symbol of Jesus' blood. Moreover, it is also the cup that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect the actual blood of Jesus after his crucifixion while preparing the body for burial. Various versions of the legend exist but the most enduring is the assertion that Joseph and his sister and her husband left Jerusalem and sailed to France, where Joseph left his sister and his brother-in-law while he sailed on to England and established the first Christian church at Glastonbury. Some accounts tell us that Joseph left the cup in the care of his brother-in-law in France while others tell of him bringing the Cup to Glastonbury. In early Arthurian stories, something called the Graal is mentioned, which is a mysterious object that was not described in detail, that in later Christianised stories became the Cup of Christ.
The Blood Line of Christ
The word Grail is derived from the word graal, which first appeared in turn of the first millennium (AD) prose and poetry, but this has been changed subtly many times. One of these variants is sangreal, which has been split to mean Holy Grail (San Greal). However, some theories have been put forward a different splitting of the word: Sang Real (Royal blood), in support of the contention that Jesus Christ had a child (or children) by Mary Magdalene. This lineage of the Royal Blood, the Davidic bloodline, continued and in some theories exists to the present day. This very popular contemporary grail theory first appeared in the 1970s, favours the Knights Templars over the Celts, and centres on the town of Rennes-le-Chateau in southern France. The subsequent interest has spawned an entire industry, with many fanciful theories arising from the initial scenario. Declared links between the Holy Grail, the Knights Templars and the Cathars and then ultimately Gnosticism, are made, and even the medieval legend concerning Christ and Mary Magdalene as husband and wife is often added to the heady brew. Underpinning this theory is the Cathari heresy and its dualism that challenged the prevailing Catholic Christian view. The primary difference in this theory is that the 'grail' is a person rather than a thing, that is, a lost royal heir in whose veins course Davidic blood. This theory therefore owes much to Rudolf Steiner and his pupil Walter Stein who argued that 'grail experiences' arose in Carolingian court in the ninth century. For, Stein identified the grail protagonists with historic personages circulating around the Carolingian court in the mid- to late-ninth century.
This work forms the background to the Royal Blood theory and the assumptions made in most popular of the genre The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail (Baigent et al. 1984). The authors blasphemously argued that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and that Christ did not die on the cross. This is a modern retelling of a legend which was detailed in Jacobus de Voragine's The Golden Legend, who also linked it to the king Dagobert I the Great and the Merovingians, the first Frankish dynasty reigning from about 500 to 751 AD. The theory asserts that the Merovingian rulers, through king Dagobert, were the descendants of Christ and Mary Magdalene, and that certain families today are the heirs of Dagobert: one of whom was interviewed for the book. Plethoric historical evidence in support is offered, as well as the claim that several secret societies have guarded the secret of this bloodline down the ages to the present day. Historical characters and places are equated with those found in the earliest Medieval Grail texts and apparent instances of how the bloodline from Christ has been involved in world affairs are detailed by the authors. Another popular author mining this seam is Laurence Gardner who claims to have proven, by exhaustive genealogical researches, the royal heritage of the Christ in the West. In his book Bloodline of the Holy Grail, Gardner asserts that the Davidic bloodline, the Blood Royal, is a reality and is issue from the sons of Jesus and his brother James.
The tenor of this genre of popular historicity is gushing sensationalism underpinned by two suspect methods. The first is a detective story analysis of the material, in which similarities are taken as proof of influence and connection, and the second is an increasing tendency to refer to other popular works, of variable merit, on the subject rather than to original source material. The Holy Blood theory, based on the Davidic bloodline of which Jesus was part, has burst forth in recent years, and developed in surprising ways. Claims have been made that purport to have found occult geometrical patterns in certain classical paintings that have been applied to the landscape around Rennes-le-Chateau; the tomb of Christ has been found in France; the 'grail' discovered within a pillar in Roslyn Chapel in Scotland; and even buildings found in Nova Scotia constructed by 'Templars.' The theme introduced in Wolfram's Parzival, that of an explicit or an implicit group of grail guardians has been used as inspiration for overt fiction such as Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, Umberto Eco's satirical novel Foucault's Pendulum; but most notably Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
This genre of Grail Saga is not only blasphemous because of its attack on the Divinity of Christ, it is also well organised. Powerful forces are using this genre to infix into popular culture the idea that Jesus of Nazareth was merely human. In the shadowy world of the intelligence agencies who are masters of deception such a project, whereby mass public perception is manipulated by subtle means, are called Psi-ops: the continual and incessant leaking of the basics of the desired perception is called the 'back story.' Reader, do not be deceived by the seemingly well documented genealogies and lush scenarios that portray Christ as a gifted human but certainly no god. This is one part of the 'back story' that assails contemporary culture. This is part of the overall conspiracy against God orchestrated by the Dark Gods, Ahriman and Lucifer who desire to sow seeds of crises and chaos that would make their appearance on Earth so propitious. That is why the Dark Gods that are working, together with their human agents of Evil, to destroy humanity's belief in God and to ensnare them in their web of spiritual and moral corruption. That is why the terrible gods, Ahriman and Lucifer, are the two faces of Evil and are the true Overlords of Chaos working ceaselessly to tear down Creation and erect an alternative reality in their own image. .
The Urim and the Thummim
Lady Flavia Anderson presented a totally new theory about the Grail in her book The Ancient Secret, here the Grail is said to be a round ball of glass filled with water; held in a tree like stand. These, claims the authoress, are the Jewish sacred objects worn on the breastplate of a high priest in early times, the Thummim and the Urim. These objects, which were probably precious stones, could light fires from the rays of the sun. The author of this theory argues that man has long revered light in religion, and that fire made from direct sunlight, through a crystal or glass ball or the like, has long thought to be holy in some sense. For instance, virgins using such methods kept the eternal fires alight in Holy places. Similarly, many metaphors for light and rays of light (such as the spear and the sword) recur frequently in Arthurian legend. Moreover, women are often in charge of sacred fires created from such objects and it is women who are depicted as Grail guardians in the Arthurian Tradition. Furthermore, in the Grail Story, the Grail itself is often depicted as a stone, whilst there is constant reference to a Grail tree. The theory concludes that such sacred objects existed before the Jewish enslavement in Babylonian. Nevertheless, these objects were buried along with the Ark of the Covenant in a cave system somewhere in Jordan.
The Emerald of Lucifer
The War in Heaven, when Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and one third of the heavenly host provides yet another theory about the Grail. The myth of the rebellion of Lucifer informs us that he was cast down out of heaven, and as he plunged earthwards, a large emerald, the source of his power, fell from his crown. Wolfram von Eschenbach first described the Grail as a wondrous stone of the purest kind called the lapis exillis. It is this stone, fallen to earth, which has been suggested is the Grail.
The Philosophers Stone
Alchemy was long thought of as a faux science. Alchemy was medieval chemical science and philosophical doctrine aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold and the discovery of a universal cure for disease and a means of achieving immortality. The creation of a stone, called the Philosophers Stone, was the true measure of an Alchemist's success, for it would turn all base metals to gold. Dread of the Inquisition forced prudent researchers into the Alchemical mysteries to write in code and allegory for fear of persecution. Alchemy, so some researchers believe, was a secret code for spiritual teachings that were considered heretical by the Church. For instance, 'base metal' is what each man is before the process of alchemy, and the 'gold' in alchemy is presented as being 'enlightenment' or spiritual unity with God: and alchemy itself is a spiritual path to God. The Philosophers Stone has thus been associated with the Grail as it shares the same mystical property of bestowing oneness with God on those who possess it. The Philosophers Stone is not usually considered to be a real stone or physical artefact, but like the Grail it is a metaphor for the final stage of enlightenment. When it is, the theory is usually tied to the Emerald of Lucifer theory in suggesting that a real, very ancient stone may exist.
The Aquarian Grail
Inevitably, there is also a New Age Grail theory, or Aquarian Grail, which regards the Arthurian legends as somehow allegorical of spiritual paths to God. In this theory, the Grail is not a real object but union with God whilst still on Earth. This perfect state is achieved by a Grail seeker through study of the legends and personal search, and, if successful, to find the Grail internally. John Matthews is the notable writer in this popular genre.
The main tenet of the Aquarian Grail theory is that all religions have a fundamental core of common truth and that this is best represented by the symbol of the Grail. In this conception, which would have been considered heretical and dangerous if discovered by the medieval Church, the Grail is a mystical concept or level of achievement spiritually and not a physical object. The oriental influences coming west from the Crusades through such groups as the Knights Templar were becoming admixed with the north pagan and Latin heritage. Wolfram von Eschenbach in his Grail epic Parzival describes a group of knights who are the guardians of the Grail, which he refers to as Templars. Similarly, the French trouveres and troubadours of the time would undoubtedly have had contact with stories and legends from eastern religions for the first time, and used whatever caught their fancy. As was the case with alchemy, open expression of its message would have aroused the anger of the Inquisition, therefore the transmission of the heretical material, this union of religions, through story would be a natural and unhazardous outlet.
In addition, some religions have been based upon the Grail as representing perfection of the spiritual ideal. Although imbued with Christianity, they only take from it the ethical teachings of Christ, and appear to forgo the Christian idea of 'one true path'. An example of this is the Grail Foundation, an international charity with bases in Australia, Britain and America and elsewhere. A certain Abd-ru-shin, who lived in Germany and died in the 1940s, appears to be regarded as 'the Grail' by these people. He was born Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, in Bischofswerda, Saxony, on April 18, 1875. In 1919, he apparently became conscious of his task to open the way for a new Knowledge of Creation, and for this purpose, he chose the name Abd-ru-shin: a Persian-Arabian name, which translates as 'Son, Workman, or Servant of the Light.,' perceiving that this name corresponded with his intent. Bernhardt wanted:
"… to fill the gaps which have so far always remained unanswered in the souls of men, and which never leave any serious thinker in peace, if he honestly seeks for the Truth."
The Grail Message of Abd-ru-shin explains the cohesion of Creation and attempts a complete survey of all the activity in Creation. Consequently, the Grail Message according to Abd-ru-shin mediates the knowledge of the upbuilding of Creation. Moreover, it is directed solely to the individual human being, irrespective of creed, nationality, or race, because it is the individual alone who has to bear the responsibility for everything he thinks and does. Abd-ru-shin assures us that the Grail Message surely and unswervingly shows us the way we have to follow in order to find true happiness even here on earth, that is, inner peace and joyful activity. Abd-ru-shin follows Rudolph Steiner in his conspectus of man and his role in Creation: especially in his treatment of evil. The root of all evil, of present and past suffering, lies only with the individual human being. In Abd-ru-shin's Grail Message, detailed explanations are given of free will and Karma; of intellect and intuitive perception; of soul and spirit, and their function and relation to each other. He gives three great Laws of Creation: the Law of Reciprocal Action (the Law of Sowing and Reaping), the Law of the Attraction of Homogeneous Species, and the Law of Gravitation.
According to Abd-ru-shin that the Law of Sowing and Reaping, "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7), applies not only to the earthly seed, but also to man's actions and thoughts. These seeds of human activity ripen into fruits through the working of the incorruptible Laws of Creation, corresponding exactly to good or evil volition, of which man alone must taste. Thoughts, intuitive perceptions, and deeds are very effective forms or 'works'.
"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Rev. 14:13).
These thoughts and deeds, whatever their nature, remain connected with their author until he severs himself from them, and they also constitute a person's Fate. Abd-ru-shin reiterates frequently in his Grail Message of the importance to man of the knowledge of the Laws of Creation, for the very reason that his spirit possesses the power to recognise the Will of God in these Laws. Therefore, a true transfiguration of humanity is only possible if man bases his entire earth-life on the Laws of Creation, and thereby fulfilling the Will of God. Furthermore, these Laws are immutable and eternal, which have been woven into Creation by God- the Eternal One.
Abd-ru-shin incorporates other important questions of Creation such as, hereditary sin, the meaning and purpose of life, birth and death, the beyond, incarnation, the sexual problem, marriage. He also gives an account of the Mission of Christ and His death on the Cross, the Son of God and the Son of Man, the mystery of Lucifer, the Last judgement, the Cosmic Turning-Point, the Holy Grail, and the Grail Castle. The last item, the Grail Castle, Abd-ru-shin asserts really exists at the summit of the spiritual Creation. It is far above the Paradise of the human spirits, and is the point of power transmission of the emanations that come from the Divine Sphere above; and flooding the lower-lying parts of Creation with its Divine light. In fact, the Grail Castle is called 'the Temple of God' in the Revelation of John:
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail" (Rev. 11:19).
Possession of the Grail can therefore hint at this exalted condition; to purview the entire unbroken, comprehensive working of Creation: hence the name Grail Message. In addition, the Grail Message has another special significance because it appears at a time when mankind stands at an important landmark in Creation.
Abd-ru-shin's Grail Message stands absolutely on the ground of Christ's teaching. Although it purports to be thoroughly modern in its approach. For, the modern man has honed his intellectual thinking to such a degree that the childlike simple belief, which Jesus demanded at that time, no Longer suffices for him to be able to follow the way to God. Abd-ru-shin tells us of his idea of the Grail in the following words:
"Manifold are the interpretations of the legends which exist about the Holy Grail. The most serious scholars and investigators have occupied themselves with this mystery. Much of their work has high moral value, but it all shows one great fault - that they have only built from the earth upwards, while the essential thing, the ray of light from above, which alone could bring animation and enlightenment, is missing".
The followers Abd-ru-shin believe that he was the Grail, or rather the embodiment of it.
The Grail and Psychology
Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) studied myth, religion, and dream symbolism, and taught that the unconscious was a source of spiritual insight: was also fascinated by the Grail and alchemy. Although Jung did not write on the Grail himself, his wife and one of his close friends did. The Jungian approach to the Grail legend is to treat the story as a repository of the many symbols from the unconscious mind used to express the religious attitude of the people at the time. Merlin and Arthur, for instance, are thus archetypes of the collective unconscious whilst the Grail Hallows, that is, spear, sword, cup and stone, are merely potent symbols of religion arising from the collective unconscious.
Jung argued that Christianity as a world religion was flawed and that the poets and teachers realised this. Therefore, the Christianised versions of the Grail stories were the attempts to bolster the religious expression that was Christianity. The Grail, in the form of the Cup of Christ, was in this interpretation a psychological progression in the completion of the development of Christianity. Jung also saw parallels between the two contemporaries, alchemy and the Grail legends, which both had many symbols, colours, and spiritual teachings in common. Furthermore, many events in the Grail cycles have been closely analysed using the Jungian archetypal approach. Jungians argue that the Grail authors understood or at least unconsciously expressed many fundamental elements of their theory of psychology in the events they placed in the stories.
The Grail and Vegetation Theory
In 1906, Jessie Weston asserted that the Grail romances had concealed from the prudish prying eyes of the Church, "mystery rituals," or the sexual initiation of the grail knights. These were relics of the ancient mystery religions, which were concealed beneath layers of romantic tosh to escape the notice of Christianity.
These theories concern themselves with showing the etymology of the word 'Grail' in history. Most of these are unsuccessful and very unconvincing.
The Shroud of Turin
The Grail romances have a heavy Templar involvement, through the Parzival motif, and some theories suggest that they may have been guarded it. It has been suggested by uninformed sources that the Shroud is the Grail.
Lewis Spence has influenced modern researchers into the grail tradition, especially on modern Celticism, and particularly the idea of Celtic Christianity and its relation to the grail. Writers like John Matthews clearly owe a great deal to Spence. The other perennial theme, that of the quest as initiation into some kind of mystery is also very profitable to modern writers on the subject. The influence of the fin de siècle British occult interpretations such as those of A. E. Waite, G. R. S. Mead, and Jessie Weston is great. The new Celticism also incorporates the idea of quest as personal initiation.
Alchemical and Hermetic Lore
Alchemical and hermetic lore have also been discerned in some of the grail episodes in some of the romances. Jungian analysts also see this and associate the grail with alchemical and hermetic interpretations by which the Grail Quest is seen as an initiation or "integration" in Jungian theory of archetypes. Others arguing that contemporary events such as the Crusades were merely a backcloth for the grail romances, rather than a source for mysterious themes have also used the Jungian archetypal approach. The Knights Templars have also seen as the exemplar for the grail knight and his devotion to a higher chivalry.
Local Legends - 1001 Grails
The grail in most of the romances is a cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. There are several corporeal vessels that claim to be the Holy Grail, and the earliest is an 'emerald' vessel, called the sacro cratino associated with Genoa. It is called the 'Saint Grail' by a sixteenth-century chronicle that asserts it is connected with Christ or with King Arthur. It is obvious that the vessel is not the true grail and is part of the movement referring to the romances themselves rather than their sources. Napoleon we are told spirited the sacro cratino back to France, had it analysed, were it was found to be green glass. In the 1930s, two objects called confusingly the 'Antioch Cup' and the 'Cup of Antioch' were tendered as possible grail candidates. The 'Antioch Cup,' which is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is a splendid silver Eucharistic liturgy cup. The 'Cup of Antioch' is a glass krater (a large bowl), probably made from near-eastern glass, which was brought back from the Crusades. A leather case to protect it has been fitted to it some time during the Middle Ages. Russia also claims to have a grail, as does Spain: a stone chalice in Valencia cathedral.
In the beginning of the twentieth century their flurry of grail objects discovered throughout Europe. A mystic who was heavily involved in transforming Glastonbury into a focus for Arthurian/Grail/Christian activity called Tudor de la Pole, had an experience by which he 'discovered' a blue glass bowl that he said was the grail. The object is still at the Chalice Gardens in Glastonbury. The Powell family of Nanteos, near Aberystwyth in Wales, owned the site of Strata Florida Abbey, and a healing cup. In 1905 this cup, which had been used locally since the 1880s as a healing object, suddenly acquired the epithet 'Holy Grail.' However, this optimism was confounded when it was identified as a fourteenth-century mazer bowl. The Vernon family of Hawkstone manor possesses a Roman alabaster cup that is also posited as the true grail. A spurious trail also leads credulous researchers back to a medieval Welsh poem included in the story of Fulk le fitz Warin, a romance entitled La Folie de Perceval in a compendium of Anglo-Norman grail romance material. Then further back to a reference in the fifth-century by a Greek historian, Olympiadorus, to the grail being taken to Britain for safety. Unfortunately, for the adherents to this legend, there is no Welsh poem in the Anglo-Norman romance, which tells the story of the outlaw knight, Fulk. In fact, no such romance as La Folie de Perceval exists in this particular manuscript, neither is there a reference to the grail in the writings of Olympiadorus. What this work does contain, like so very many other Grail Legends are mysteries, secret codes, ciphers, correspondences and exciting 'discoveries' overlooked by orthodox historical researchers and academics.
Two initial questions have been briefly addressed: the first, whether a series of repeated motifs demonstrates a common tale and a prior source; and the second, whether the 'grail problem' is the consequence of the method used in grail criticism. Chrétien de Troyes wrote the first story in which the 'grail problem' appears in his romance, Le Conte del Graal. The question is, was this romance based on an earlier one, if so, what. If it was not then, what was its source and why has it been such a perennial favourite of poets.
Whereas the early medieval Irish culture had an awareness of its ancient heritage and to some extent of the transition between oral and written, it is unknown whether the writers of medieval romance working in the context of Norman culture had the same perception. Some of authors refer to earlier sources, such as Wolfram von Eschenbach's, Kiot, or the book given to Chrétien de Troyes by his patron. Such exotic sources are likely to be literary conceits of authors wishing to imbue their works with kudos and validation by an appeal to singular authority rather than by claims of uniqueness. Even if this was partially true, Chrétien and Wolfram always implied that their material as an inheritance of some kind. Even if the Grail Story was a unique literary invention by Chrétien and embellished by later authors such as Wolfram, many grail motifs resonate with earlier pagan material such as Celtic food-producing vessels. However, it is difficult to determine which, if any, pagan myths or important cult ritual, concerned this grail material in earlier Celtic cultures. There is no evidence to indicate that the Grail Story, or anything like it existed in pagan times, and consequently, to suggest otherwise goes beyond the evidence.
The structure of the romances is broadly similar to the structure of traditional material, the folktales, of the pagan tribes of Europe. That is, both focus on the actions of a character, the hero, who undergoes a series of adventures leading to an ultimate accomplishment or goal. Yet, this shared literary style does not perforce mean there lies within it a secret code. The variations in structure and theme of the many romances themselves suggest that the Grail Story cannot be reduced to a single set of events. Modern researchers into folklore reject the Victorian scholarly assumption that because something is present in the material, and affects antiquity, or is said by an author to be derived from ancient sources, that it must be age-old. Therefore, attempts to reconstruct a coherent narrative at an earlier stage involve the survivalist fallacies advocated by the Victorians, which modern folklore methodology has rejected.
Many popular books on the Holy Grail often use these discredited methods to argue their case, wherein, a perennial theme is that secret codes link the past with future hopes. Implicit in these arguments is that disturbing aspects of the present can be overcome by reinstating a past Utopia, or Golden Age. The interest in the Grail Story is still great, and such theories however fanciful are now elaborated in the arena of mass media, in publishing, newspaper, and television. This indicates that the Grail Story is still a real living tradition with its ability to attract new material and be continually re-forming in ever more intricate variations. Unfortunately, much of theorising associated with the Grail Legend is bunk, produced by opportunists for money, who ceaselessly present their trite theories to an eager gullible public. Fatuous and Pickwickian arguments are still fatuous and Pickwickian arguments no matter how dressed-up they are. This, as previously stated, is the tragedy in the modern treatment of the Holy Grail. Yet the "mystery" and 'problem' associated with Grail Legend derives ultimately from the wholesale ignorance of so-called experts on the subject. These dissolve away once the real nature of the Grail Story is revealed. It is for this reason of enlightenment that we will consider the Grail Legend offered by Wolfram von Eschenbach in his epic poem Parzival.