In these legends, no matter how free of religious overtones, we find again the connection of the Grail, conceived as a heavenly stone, with a mysterious legacy and power associated with a primordial state that was somehow preserved during a period of exile. The reference to Lucifer, beyond a Christian and theistic context, may be seen as a variation on the theme of an aborted or deviated attempt at a heroic reattainment of this state. The theme of the host of angels descending from heaven with the Grail resembles the theme of the race of the Tuatha de Danaan, which was believed to be composed of diving beings. This race came to Ireland from heaven, carrying a supernatural stone (the stone of the legitimate kings) and other objects that, as we have noted, correspond exactly to those of the cycle of the Grail: a sword, a lance, a bowl that feeds people wihtout ever being depleted. At the same time, the homeland of the Tuatha was that Avalon which, according to a noted tradition, is also the seat of the books of the Grail and which has often been confused, owing to obscure associations, with the place in which the Grail was eminently revealed.
There is more. In some Celtic legends, the fallen angels are identified with the Tuatha de Danaan; in other legends mention is made of spirits who, as a punishment for their neutrality, were forced to descend on earth. They are described as the inhabitants of a Western-Atlantic region, which was visited by Saint Brendan. This region is a facsimile of Avalon, just as the journey is a Christianized image of the journey undertaken by various Celtic heroes to reach the "Island," the original homeland and inviolable center of the Tuatha. Thus we have a curious interference of motifs that finds an expression, for instance, in the Leabhar na h-uidhre, in that it is written that the Tuatha are "gods who begat wise men. It is likely that they arrived in Ireland from heaven, which explains the superiority of their science and of their knowledge."
A careful separation of themes may here differentiate that which refers to authentically Luciferian elements (to which we may correctly apply the idea of a "fall" and of life on earth as a punishment) from that which (through a tendentiously deformed representation) refers to earthly custodians of the power from above and of the tradition symbolized by the Grail as a persistent, unaltered, secret presence of that which was proper to the primordial and divine state. The neutrality of the Grail's angels (mentioned in Wolfram) is reminiscent of a state ideally prior to that differentiation of spirituality which the Luciferian theme characterizes. And if Wolfram later on presents a different version, making Trevrizent say that the neutral angels did not return to heaven(unlike the Tuatha, who returned to Avalon) but were responsible for their eternal downfall and that "those who want to be rewarded by God should not become an enemy of these fallen angels," we must remember how Christianity deformed prior traditions, substituting their original meaning with totally different interpretations.
Generally speaking, owing to its prevalently "lunar" view of the sacred, Christianity has often stigmatized as Luciferian and diabolical not only that which is truly such, but also any attempt at heroic reintegration and any spirituality that does not foster a relationship of devotion and of creaturely dependence on the divine, theistically conceived. Thus we often come across mixtures of motifs analogous to that of the Tuatha de Danaan in certain Syriac-Hebrew literature, in which the fallen angels eventually become one and the same with "those who are awake". Tertullian did not hesitate to attribute to the fallen angels the body of magico-hermetic doctrines, namely, those doctrines that helped Flegetanis penetrate the original texts of the Grail and that Le Morte de Arthur attributed to Solomon, conceived as a forefather of the heroes of the Grail, in the same terms as Tertullian's: "This Solomon was wise and knew all the virtues of stones and trees, and so he knew the course of the stars and many other diverse things." When Innocent III accused the Knights Templar of "following doctrines of demons", he no doubt had in mind the anti-Christolatric mysteries of the Knights Templar; this pope instinctively proceeded to the same assimilation, through which the primordial "divine race" was represented as the guilty or Luciferian race of the fallen angels.
I believe I have already supplied sufficiently precise reference points to help the readers orient themselves before similar distortions and establish both the limit that separates the Luciferian spirit from that which is not and the Christian perspective from the point of view of a higher spirituality. Thus, it will be easy to distinguish the individual elements that we encounter in the Grail cycle, which were mixed with many interpolations and deformations. Having showed that the titanic element is indeed the prime matter out of which the hero is made, it is understandable that Wolfram bestows upon Percival some Luciferian traits, though he makes him successfully complete his adventure, so much so that in the end Percival assumes the luminous form of a restorator and of a king of the Grail. In fact, Percival accuses God of having betrayed him, of not being faithful to him, and of having failed to assist him in the conquest of the Grail. He rebels and in his anger he says:
"I used to serve a being called God before I was ridiculed and covered with shame...I was his humble servant because I believed He would grant me His favor: but from now on I will refuse to serve him. If He persecutes me with his hatred, I will resign myself to that too. Friend [he says to Gawain], when the time for you to fight has come, may the thought of a woman [rather than God] protect you."
Animated by such indignation and pride, Percival, after failing in his first visit to the castle, fulfills his adventures. And thus, being separated from God, avoiding churches and performing "wild" knightly deeds he eventually triumphs, achieving the glory of the king of the Grail. Trevrizent will tell him, "Rarely was a greater miracle seen: by showing your anger you have received from God what you desired most." Also in Wolfram, Percival appears as the one who reaches the castle of the Grail in an exceptional way, without having been designated or called like others before him. His election occurs later on; in a way, it is the very adventures of Percival that bring his election about and almost bestow it upon him. Trevrizent says, "It never happened before that the Grail could be achieved by fighting." This trait too helps us recognize the heroic type, the one who, not by nature (as in the case of the Olympian type, to whom the legitimate king of the Grail may correspond, prior to his getting old, wounded, or falling asleep), but because of the reawakening of a deeper vocation and thatnks to his action, successfully participates in what the Grail symbolizes. This character reaches such heights as to become a knight of the Grail and finally achieves the supreme dignity of the Order of the Grail.
-Julius Evola, The Mystery of the Grail, Chapter 15
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