Book Ix. Vi. The Graal Formula In The Light : VI THE GRAAL FORMULA IN THE LIGHT OF OTHER GLEANINGS FROM THE CATHOLIC SACRAMENTARY The Secret Orders illustrate the realised life of sanctity on the plane of symbolism, but if it were tolerable to suppose that the literature of alchemy was put forward by an instituted confraternity, then th...
Book Iii. Iii. The English Metrical Romance : III THE ENGLISH METRICAL ROMANCE OF SYR PERCYVELLE Among the extrinsic evidences that the Welsh non-Graal quest of Peredur contains the fibrous roots of a legend which was earlier than the Graal period of literature, there is the analogical story of "Syr Percyvelle", which belongs in its present...
Ix. The Welsh Quest Of Galahad : IX THE WELSH QUEST OF GALAHAD It is considered that this translation, which is referable to the early part of the fifteenth century, was made from another codex than that which was used by Malory for the "Morte d'Arthur", but it embodied material from the "Book of the Holy Graal", which may me...
Iv. The Conte Del Graal. Ss E. The Alternative : "E".--THE ALTERNATIVE SEQUEL OF GERBERT It will be seen that in his wonderful kingdom Perceval had entirely neglected Blanchefleur, who is no longer even mentioned: he went into his own, and his own seem to have received him with no interrogation of the past. Had his sins been scarlet...
Viii. The Analogies Of Masonry. Ss D. One : "D". ONE KEY TO THE SANCTUARY It should be understood that I am speaking at the present moment only of the craft degrees. I have every reason to know that the high grades do not deserve the unqualified condemnation with which they have been set aside by writers like Ragon and by certain expositors...
Book Vii. Argument : p. 428 p. 429 BOOK VII THE HOLY GRAAL IN THE LIGHT OF THE CELTIC CHURCH p. 430 p. 431 THE ARGUMENT I. STATEMENT OF A POSSIBLE IMPLICIT ACCOUNTING FOR ALL CLAIMS.--"The Celtic Church as an environment of the Graal literature--Its traces of Eastern influence--O f the spirit of the East in the Graal...
Vii. The Keepers Of The Hallows : p. 134 VII THE KEEPERS OF THE HALLOWS Such was the Abode of the Halloo, s; and those who dwelt therein, the succession of Graal Keepers, belong to that Order which we should expect in such precincts. It should be noted that in the poem of Chrtien the Keeper is called the Fisher King, but his other...
Book Vii. Iv. The Victory Of The Latin Rite : IV THE VICTORY OF THE LATIN RITE I have now put forward the hypothesis of the Celtic Church as it has never been expressed previously; I have diminished nothing, and any contrary inferences have been proposed so far temperately; but the issues are not entirely those of the Graal legend, and in view...
Book Iii. Argument : p. 166 p. 167 BOOK III THE EARLY EPOCHS OF THE QUEST p. 168 p. 169 THE ARGUMENT I. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE LEGEND IN FOLK-LORE.--"Old Celtic prototypes of the Graal literature--Some unconsidered specifics of this subject--A position by way of alternative--Elements of the whole argument...
V. The Lesser Hallows Of The Legend. Ss C : "C".--THE BROKEN SWORD The Graal Cup was not so much connected with the Passion as originated therefrom, because it is clear in history that, or ever Robert de Borron spoke of secret words, the meaning of Mass chalices, and the transit of the Great Hallow from East to West, the Precious Blood had...
Iv. The Conte Del Graal. Ss A. Preliminary : p. 198 IV THE CONTE DEL GRAAL. "A".--PRELIMINARY TO THE WHOLE SUBJECT The elements of Robert de Borron's poem are those of the apocryphal gospel rather than of the romance, as we now understand that term. I do not wish to be construed too expressly, as I am simply creating a comparis...
Book Viii. Vi. The Lost Book Of The Graal : p. 498 VI THE LOST BOOK OF THE GRAAL We have seen, in considering the claim of the Celtic Church to recognition as a possible guiding and shaping spirit of the Graal literature, that one speculation regarding it was the existence in concealment of a particular book, a liturgy of some kind...
Book Vii. I. Statement Of A Possible Implicit : p. 433 BOOK VII THE HOLY GRAAL IN THE LIGHT OF THE CELTIC CHURCH I STATEMENT OF A POSSIBLE IMPLICIT ACCOUNTING FOR ALL CLAIMS AMONG all external organisations there is one institution--and there is one only--which, on the principle that the best is the nearest, might be expected to offer some...
Book Viii. Iii. Concerning The Great Experiment : III CONCERNING THE GREAT EXPERIMENT If there be any who at this stage should say that the term of the Holy Graal is not the end of the mysteries--which is the Vision that is He--I would not ask him to define the distinction, but the term in either case, for that which must be said of the one is...
V. The Lesser Hallows Of The Legend. Ss : p. 114 V THE LESSER HALLOWS OF THE LEGEND "A".--THE SUMMARY OF THESE MATTERS The Hallows of the Graal legend are the beginning of its wonders and of its meanings only; but, as I have intimated already, the greater includes the lesser, and that which is of all the highest has assumed...
Book Ii. Iii. The Institution Of The Hallows : III THE INSTITUTION OF THE HALLOWS, AND, SECONDLY, THE VARIATIONS OF THE CUP LEGEND We have seen that the secret of the Graal, signifying the super-substantial nourishment of man, was communicated by Christ to His chosen disciple Joseph of Arimatha, who, by preserving the body of his Master after...
Book Ix. Ii. Some Alleged Secret Schools : p. 524 II SOME ALLEGED SECRET SCHOOLS OF THE MIDDLE AGES Perhaps no Christian sect has been the subject of more foolish misapprehension than the Albigenses, and this on all sides, but more especially on the part of writers who represent the borderland of mystic thought. Against the iniquity...
Appendix. Bibliography. Part Ii. Some Critical : PART II SOME CRITICAL WORKS It should be understood that the editors of the various texts mentioned in Part I. have prefixed or appended thereto introductory matter of a less or more elaborate kind, and that they are p. 701 therefore, within their measure, to be regarded as critical editions...
Book Iii. Ii. The Welsh Perceval : p. 181 II THE WELSH PERCEVAL This is one of the two texts which have been held to offer independent traces of a pre-Christian and pre-Graal period of the Quest, but in their present state they are among the latest documents of the literature. It is perhaps more difficult to speak of the "Mabinogi"...
Iv. Some Later Merlin Legends. Ss B : "B".--THE HUTH MERLIN I speak under correction in respect of all matters which are not in the kinship of near consanguinity with my proper subject, but there is one thing, I think, which may occur to many who make acquaintance with the Merlin sub-cycle in the original texts, and this is, th...
Untitled : p. 710 INDEX ABDIAS, 666 Adam de St. Victor, 663 Adonis and Tammuz, 488 "Aesh Mezareph", 537 Alain and Alain le Gros, 135, 247, 248, 254, 257, 267, 270, 273, 306, 310, 313, 334 Albigenses and connected sects, 524 "et seq". Alchemy; for interpretation and Graal analogies, 533-550; for m...
Book Iv. Iv. The Didot Perceval : p. 265 IV THE DIDOT PERCEVAL Without instituting in the present stage of the question more than a parallel, the Quest of the Graal is the adventurous mission of those who go forth out of earthly houses, who depart from tables of wonder, from the enchantments and illusions of magicians after...
Book Vi. Iii. Sidelights From The Spanish : III SIDELIGHTS FROM THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE QUESTS The German cycle of the Holy Graal owes nothing to the romances of Merlin, and it embodies no attempt to incorporate Arthurian history, except in so far as this is in close consanguinity with its own purpose. A few fragments make it evident th...
Book Viii. V. The Mystery Of Faith : V THE MYSTERY OF FAITH We have now reached a certain definite stage in the high debate and can institute a preliminary summary of the whole subject. It is known that the mystery of faith in Christianity is above all things the Eucharist, in virtue of which the Divine Master is ever present in his...
Book I. Ii. Epochs Of The Legend : II EPOCHS OF THE LEGEND A minute inquiry into the materials, and their sources, of a moving and stately legend is opposed to the purposes and interests of the general reader, though to him I speak accidentally, and apart from any sense of election I must in honesty commend him to abstain, resting...
Book Vii. Ii. The Formulae Of The Hypothesis : II THE FORMUL OF THE HYPOTHESIS SCHEDULED There are traces in the Anglo-Norman romances of a certain fluidic sense in which Britain and its immediate connections, according to the subsurface mind of their writers, stood typically for the world. They were familiar enough with the names of other...
Book Ii. I. A Preliminary Account Of Cert : p. 78 p. 79 BOOK II MYSTERIES OF THE HOLT GRAAL IN MANIFESTATION AND REMOVAL I A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN ROOT-SECRETS INCLUDED IN THE WHOLE SUBJECT IT is a very curious heaven which stands around the infancy of romance-literature, and more than one warrant is required to constitute a full...
Book I. Iv. The Literature Of The Cycle : IV THE LITERATURE OF THE CYCLE The cycle of the Holy Graal is put into our hands like counters which can be arranged after more than one manner, but that which will obtain reasonably for a specific purpose may not of necessity conform to the chronological order which by other considerations would...
Book V. The Argument : p. 275 BOOK V THE GREATER CHRONICLES OF THE HOLY GRAAL p. 276 p. 277 THE ARGUMENT I. THE BOOK OF THE HOLY GRAAL AND, IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE PROLOGUE THERETO BELONGING.--"The claims and defects of the Text regarded generally--The secret of this cycle--Its imputed authorship--Its hypothetical...
Preface : p. v PREFACE IF deeper pitfalls are laid by anything more than by the facts of coincidence, it is perhaps by the intimations and suggestions of writings which bear, or are held to bear, on their surface the seals of allegory and, still more, of dual allusion; as in the cases of coincidence, so...
Appendix. Bibliography. Part Iii. Phases : p. 708 PART III PHASES OF INTERPRETATION The few works which will be included in this section lie outside the ordinary range of scholarship, and for this reason--whatever their merits or defects--I have placed them under a sub-title which is designed to mark their particular distinction of motive...
Book I. I. Some Aspects Of The Graal Legend : p. 5 BOOK I THE ROOTS OF THE HOUSE OF MEANING I SOME ASPECTS OF THE GRAAL LEGEND THE study of a great literature should begin like the preparation for a royal banquet, not without some solicitude for right conduct in the King's palace--which is the consecration of motive--and not without...
Ix. The Enchantments Of Britain, The Times : IX THE ENCHANTMENTS OF BRITAIN, THE TIMES CALLED ADVENTUROUS AND THE WOUNDING OF THE KING The "Longer Prose Perceval" says that the great and secret sanctuary gives upon the Earthly Paradise, even as the visible world may be said to give upon the world unseen--a comparison which would signify...
Book Iv. Ii. The Lesser Holy Graal : II THE LESSER HOLY GRAAL The first and only editor of this text put it forward as the original prose romance from which the poem was produced subsequently by some unknown hand, not so much writing ostensibly under the name of Robert de Borron as reflecting in rhymes and measures the actual words...
Book Ix. Iv. The Kabalistic Academies : IV THE KABALISTIC ACADEMIES We have now dealt with the testimony of the chief witness to the perpetuity and perfection of the Great Experiment, and if it be necessary--as it is at times and seasons--to conceal or re-express things in an artificial and evasive language, I do not know of a more...
Title Page And Front Matter : THE HIDDEN CHURCH OF THE HOLY GRAAL ITS LEGENDS AND SYMBOLISM Considered In Their Affinity With Certain Mysteries Of Initiation And Other Traces Of A Secret Tradition In Christian Times BY ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE Vel Sanctum Invenit, Vel Sanctum Facit LONDON REBMAN LIMITED 129 SHAFTESBURY AVENUE, W.C...
Book Vi. V. The Titurel Of Albrecht Von Scharfenberg : p. 415 V THE TITUREL OF ALBRECHT VON SCHARFENBERG The secret doctrine of Guiot de Provence and the high tradition of the starry heavens not only failed to convince the minstrel world in Germany concerning the indefectible titles of Parsifal, with its root-matter written in the starry heavens--of...
Book Viii. Ii. The Position Of The Literature : II THE POSITION OF THE LITERATURE DEFINED The books of the Holy Graal are either purely of literary, antiquarian and mythological interest, or they are more. If literary, antiquarian and mythological only, they can and should be left to the antiquaries, the critics and the folk-lore societies. But...
Book X. Vii. The Conclusion Of This Holy Quest : VII THE CONCLUSION OF THIS HOLY QUEST And now, seeing that the end of all is upon the very threshold, that the keepers of the paths of quest have sounded the horns for our retirement, and that the hour has also struck when we must turn down the glass of vision, it remains as a last duty to gather...
Viii. The Analogies Of Masonry. Ss C. A Theory : "C". A THEORY OF HERMETIC INTERFERENCE Having given an example of the manner in which symbolical Masonry explains, as if almost on its own part, how the old craft guild was taken over and transformed, and--although it is by no means suggested that Mary's Chapel and Canongate Kilwinning should burn...
Book Ii. Iv. The Graal Vessel Considered : IV THE GRAAL VESSEL CONSIDERED AS A BOWL OF PLENTY The incidental allusions which have been made already to certain physical properties which are ascribed to the Holy Graal in several branches of the literature seem to call at this point for some further explanation, without anticipating what will...
Viii. The Analogies Of Masonry. Ss : VIII THE ANALOGIES OF MASONRY "A". THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BUILDING GUILD The interpretation of doctrine is good, but the thing which is essential is life, and thereafter those measures of experience which are proper to the degree of life. In like manner, there is the study of the symbolism which is...
Iv. The Conte Del Graal. Ss C. The Extensi : p. 209 "C".--THE EXTENSION OF GAUTIER It is certain that the poet who took up the thread of the story which was left by Chrtien had antecedent texts to go upon outside the work of his predecessor, and that one at least of these is not to be identified with purely folk-lore materials. It is...
Book Vi. I. The Parsifal Of Wolfram Von Eschenbach : p. 375 BOOK VI THE GERMAN CYCLE OF THE HOLY GRAAL I THE PARSIFAL OF WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH THOSE who in recent times have discussed the poem of Wolfram with titles to consideration on account of their equipment have been impressed not alone by the signal distinctions between this German poem...
Book I. The Argument : p. 1 p. 2 BOOK I THE ROOTS OF THE HOUSE OF MEANING p. 3 THE ARGUMENT "Heads of a General Summary of the whole subject, with the analysis ther, including:--"I. SOME ASPECTS OF THE GRAAL LEGEND".--The word which came forth out of Galilee--The sacramental vessel--Its history and the quests ther...
Book X. I. The Hermeneutics Of The Holy Graal : p. 615 BOOK X THE SECRET CHURCH I THE HERMENEUTICS OF THE HOLY GRAAL Two things follow from the considerations of the ninth book: ("a") That there are or there have been custodians of secret knowledge in Christian times, but I express only my personal view if I say that they remain to this day;...
Book X. The Argument : p. 609 BOOK X THE SECRET CHURCH p. 610 p. 611 THE ARGUMENT I. THE HERMENEUTICS OF THE HOLY GRAAL.--"A summary of previous considerations--The way of attainment in the Secret Schools--Of the Interior Mass--Other gleanings concerning the Epiclesis clause--That the Secret Tradition does not impeach...
Book Vii. Iii. In What Sense The Plea Must : III IN WHAT SENSE THE PLEA MUST BE HELD TO FAIL It is indubitable, and we have seen in the plenary sense, that folk-lore provided its elements as the crude matter of the scheme of the Holy Graal. It is true, and also indubitable, that many accidentals of the Celtic Church became accidentals...
Book Ix. I. Preliminary To The Whole Subject : p. 521 BOOK IX SECRET TRADITION IN CHRISTIAN TIMES I PRELIMINARY TO THE WHOLE SUBJECT THOUGHT in the Middle Ages moved, like external science, through a world of mystery, and the Christ-light moved through the mist-light filling the bounds of sense with the shapes and symbols of vision. It follows...
Appendix. Bibliography. Part I. The Texts : p. 688 p. 689 APPENDIX A BRIEF METHODISED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY GRAAL IN LITERATURE AND CRITICISM "Comprising a Key to the Study of the Texts and the Several Schools of Interpretation" PART I THE TEXTS IT is desirable in fairness to myself, but more especially out of justice to my readers, th...
Book Viii. Argument : p. 462 p. 463 BOOK VIII MYSTIC ASPECTS OF THE GRAAL LEGEND p. 464 p. 465 THE ARGUMENT I. THE INTRODUCTORY WORDS.--"The Quest of the Holy Graal considered as a religious experiment--Counsels of Perfection in the Quest--Of poverty, obedience and virginity--Of partial success in their...
Xi. The Healing Of The King : XI THE HEALING OF THE KING It came about, therefore, at the end of the Quest, that the Suppressed Word was at last spoken, that the question was asked and answered. There are certain texts in which the asking and the answering are all that was required by the hypothesis, and then it was well...
Book Ix. Iii. The Latin Literature Of Alchemy : III THE LATIN LITERATURE OF ALCHEMY AND THE HERMETIC SECRET IN THE LIGHT OF THE EUCHARISTIC MYSTERY It will be understood that the sects of Southern France, holding various offices of protestation, testified by act and word that the gates of hell had prevailed against the Latin Church and th...
Book X. Vi. The Tradition Of St. John : VI THE TRADITION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE AND OTHER TRACES OF A HIGHER MIND OF THE CHURCH I have set aside in succession every school of tradition in Christian times as an exclusive mouthpiece of the tradition in its root-matter; the most catholic of all is the literature of spiritual alchemy, and it...
Book Iv. Iii. The Early History Of Merlin : p. 258 III THE EARLY HISTORY OF MERLIN The Mystery of the Holy Graal was a mystery of grace behind Arthurian literature till the time came for it to be manifested at the period of the Quests, and among the texts in which it is exhibited as if working from afar and vaguely there is that which I...
Book Ix. The Argument : p. 514 p. 515 BOOK IX SECRET TRADITION IN CHRISTIAN TIMES p. 516 p. 517 THE ARGUMENT I. PRELIMINARY TO THE WHOLE SUBJECT.--"The atmosphere of the Middle Ages--After what manner the subsurface meanings in Graal books suggest the possibility of other concealments in literature about the same...
Book Vi. Vi. The Dutch Lancelot : VI THE DUTCH LANCELOT The quest undertaken in our work of high research is long enough, and it is also toilsome enough, to spare us from the consideration in full of any extraneous issues, though these are yet of our kinship; but I am speaking of a great literature to those who are unversed there...
Book Iii. I. The Antecedents Of The Legend : p. 171 BOOK III THE EARLY EPOCHS OF THE QUEST I THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE LEGEND IN FOLK-LORE THE beginnings of literature are like the beginnings of life--questions of antecedents which are past finding out, and perhaps they do not signify vitally on either side, because the keys of all mysteries...
Book Ii. The Argument : p. 73 BOOK II MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY GRAAL IN MANIFESTATION AND REMOVAL p. 74 p. 75 THE ARGUMENT I. A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN ROOT--SECRETS INCLUDED IN THE WHOLE SUBJECT.--"Further considerations concerning the several groups of the literature--Quest versions and versions of early...
Book X. V. The Secluded And Unknown Sanctuary : V THE SECLUDED AND UNKNOWN SANCTUARY It is obvious that the romances of the Graal are either legendary histories of religion on the external side, and as such are concerned with the quest of conversion--that is, Christianity colonising--or they are spiritual histories with a strong individual...
Iv. The Conte Del Graal. Ss B. The Poem : p. 202 "B".--THE POEM OF CHRTIEN DE TROYES By our previous considerations we have ascertained that after certain preliminary matters which are curious, but late in comparison and dubious, the "Conte del Graal" was opened in ample form by a master-singer of his period--that is to say, by Chrtien de...
Viii. The Pageants In The Quests : VIII THE PAGEANTS IN THE QUESTS The presence of the Holy Vessel signified the Divine Presence. The Life of Life had remained in the Precious Blood. The Voice of the Angel of Great Counsel, the Voice of the Son and the Voice of the Holy Spirit abode therein, or spoke as if from behind it...
Book Viii. I. The Introductory Words : p. 468 p. 469 BOOK VIII MYSTIC ASPECTS OF THE GRAAL LEGEND I THE INTRODUCTORY WORDS SEEING therefore that we have not found in the Celtic Church anything which suffices to explain the chief implicits of the literature and that the watchwords call us forward, there remains another method...
Book X. Iv. The Mystery Which Is Within : IV THE MYSTERY WHICH IS WITHIN On the historical side the Secret Church is then the shadow of an hypothesis at best; on the spiritual side of the intellect it is an implicit, but it is that irresistibly; mystically it is a truth which is not less than obvious, but it should be understood--and I...
Ix. The Hallows Of The Graal Mystery Rediscovered : p. 600 IX THE HALLOWS OF THE GRAAL MYSTERY REDISCOVERED IN THE TALISMANS OF THE TAROT To restate the fact that the canonical Hallows of the Graal legend are the Cup, the Lance, the Sword and the Dish will seem almost impertinent at this stage; the least versed of my readers will regard it...
V. The Great Prose Lancelot : V THE GREAT PROSE LANCELOT By many ways do all the antecedent texts of the Greater Chronicles lead up, in the hands of their editors, to the romance of Lancelot. Therefrom, or therein, all reflect, according to their respective measures, and itself is the great text which goes before the romance...
Iv. The Conte Del Graal. Ss D. The Conclusi : p. 219 "D".--THE CONCLUSION OF MANESSIER There is a disposition to think that the extension of Gautier broke off in the middle of a sentence, which was brought by the poet who followed him to its due point, and the narrative continues thereafter, in his hands remaining to the very end. This poet...
Book Ix. V. The Claim In Respect Of Templar : V THE CLAIM IN RESPECT OF TEMPLAR INFLUENCE I suppose that there is no one at this day, even on the outermost fringes of the wide world of books, who willed to be acquainted with the fact that the old chivalry p. 556 of the Temple was instituted as a protection to the Christian pilgrims who visited...
Viii. The Analogies Of Masonry. Ss B. Masonry : p. 584 "B". MASONRY AND MORAL SCIENCE I must put my first point somewhat roughly and crudely, with an apology for the frankness which it involves; decoration is here impossible, and on account of so much that will yet remain to say after, I believe that I shall be exonerated in the end...
Book V. Ii. New Consideration Concerning : p. 287 II NEW CONSIDERATION CONCERNING THE BRANCHES OF THE CHRONICLE Not the least difficulty in the "Book of the Holy Graal", regarded as a work of "truth in the art" of its particular mystery, is the divergence exhibited by the extant manuscripts. These differences meet us, perhaps chiefly...
Book Ix. Vii. The Lapis Exilis : VII THE LAPIS EXILIS According to Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Graal was the crown of desire understood on the material plane, but it would also respond to the title which was given by Heinrich to his independent version of the legend, for it was certainly the crown of adventure, and on more planes...
X. The Suppressed Word And The Mystic Question : X THE SUPPRESSED WORD AND THE MYSTIC QUESTION It is agreed that the essential and predominant characteristic of the Perceval literature is the asking and answering of a question which bears on its surface every aspect of triviality, but is yet the pivot on which the whole circle of these romances...
Book V. Iii. The Minor Branches Of The Book : p. 308 III THE MINOR BRANCHES OF THE BOOK OF THE HOLY GRAAL The things which remain over from the last section for consideration at the term of this inquest are chiefly derivatives from the metrical romance of De Borron, including those further adventures and histories which he promised to provide...
Book I. V. The Implicits Of The Mystery : V THE IMPLICITS OF THE MYSTERY There are several literatures which exhibit with various degrees of plainness the presence of that sub-surface meaning to which I have referred in respect of the Graal legend; but there, as here, so far as the outward sense is concerned, it is nearly always suggested...
Iv. The Conte Del Graal. Ss F. In Which Sir : "F".--IN WHICH SIR GAWAIN IS CONSIDERED BRIEFLY AS A COMPANION OF THE HOLY QUEST There are three that give testimony on earth concerning the Mystery of the Graal--Perceval, Bors and Galahad--and the greatest of these is Galahad. This notwithstanding, p. 236 as there are persons who, through...
Book X. Ii. The Good Husbandman : p. 620 II THE GOOD HUSBANDMAN At the risk of some repetition on a subject of all so vital, I will put the position thus from another standpoint. The value of the Graal legends resides in their suggestions and lights towards a concordat of Divine Alliance, while the Graal Castle is the House...
Book Ii. Ii. The Institution Of The Hallows : II THE INSTITUTION OF THE HALLOWS, AND IN THE FIRST PLACE GENERAL INTRODUCTION CONCERNING THEM Having thus indicated after what manner the Graal legend and its literature is tinged with mystery and symbolism " parte ante et parte post", the next matter of our inquiry is concerned with...
Book I. Iii. The Environment Of The Graal : III THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE GRAAL LITERATURE It is useless to approach the literature of the Holy Graal for any purpose of special consideration, in the absence of a working acquaintance with that which encompassed it externally in history, in church doctrine, in popular devoti...
Book Vi. Ii. Gleanings Concerning The Lost : p. 397 II GLEANINGS CONCERNING THE LOST QUEST OF GUIOT DE PROVENCE Astronomers have recognised in the past the influence of certain planets prior to their discovery, and subsequently this has verified their prescience. In like manner, the influence of that French poem which is ascribed...
Book Vi. Argument : p. 371 BOOK VI THE GERMAN CYCLE OF THE HOLY GRAAL p. 372 p. 373 THE ARGUMENT I. THE PARSIFAL OF WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH.--"Its valuation by recognised criticism--Alleged theological and ecclesiastical position--Evidence of the surface sense--Specific analogies with French romances of the Perceval...
V. The Lesser Hallows Of The Legend. Ss D : "D".--THE DISH The Sacred Dish being also, as we have seen, rather an unmeaning mystery, and as although it recurs frequently the descriptions are brief and the office which it holds is doubtful, it will be only desirable to distinguish those texts in which it is found. Subject to one possibility...
Vii. The Longer Prose Perceval : VII THE LONGER PROSE PERCEVAL Amidst much that is dubious and belonging to the seeming of enchantment, one thing is certain--that the Perceval Quests leave behind them the Graal Castle and that nothing is taken absolutely away, for even the "Conte del Graal" presents the removal of the Hallows...
Xii. The Removal Of The Hallows : XII THE REMOVAL OF THE HALLOWS We have now seen that the Rich Fisherman, King and Warden of the Graal, was healed as the consequence of the Quest, or that, this failing, a provision was made for his successor after some other manner. Now, this is the penultimate stage of the mystery regarded...
Book X. Iii. The Catholic Secret Of The Literature : III THE CATHOLIC SECRET OF THE LITERATURE But if there were custodians of a Secret Tradition at any time during the Christian centuries there arises the inevitable question: Who were these mysterious Wardens and also where were they? Can we learn anything about them? What was this strange power...
Vi. The Castle Of The Holy Graal : p. 128 VI THE CASTLE OF THE HOLY GRAAL The true legitimacies are for the most part in exile, or otherwise with their rights in abeyance. The real canons of literature can be uttered only behind doors or in the secrecy of taverns. The secrets of the great orthodoxies are very seldom communicated...
Book V. I. The Book Of The Holy Graal : p. 280 p. 281 BOOK V THE GREATER CHRONICLES OF THE HOLY GRAAL I THE BOOK OF THE HOLY GRAAL AND, IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE PROLOGUE THERETO BELONGING THE "Book of the Holy Graal" is the most conscious, most cumbersome, most artificial romance in the literature. It is that also which is beyond all...
Book Viii. Iv. The Mystery Of Initiation : p. 488 IV THE MYSTERY OF INITIATION The Mystic Aspects of the Graal legend having been developed up to this stage, the question arises whether they have points of correspondence with any scheme of the Instituted Mysteries, whether any element which is present in the romances can be regarded...
Book Vi. Iv. The Crown Of All Adventures : IV THE CROWN OF ALL ADVENTURES The implicit, I must suppose, of each succeeding quest was that the earlier singer of "le meilleur conte qui sot cont en cour royale" had told the wrong story, and that some far higher flight of pure romance must justify the material which came into the hands of each...
Book Iv. I. The Metrical Romance Of Joseph : p. 245 BOOK IV THE LESSER CHRONICLES OF THE HOLY GRAAL I THE METRICAL ROMANCE OF JOSEPH OF ARIMATHA ROBERT DE BORRON was imbued, and even deeply, with the religious spirit of his period. I think also that in him there was a spiritual tincture which must have been a little rare at that epoch among...
Book Viii. Vii. The Declared Mystery Of Quest : VII THE DECLARED MYSTERY OF QUEST There follow in this place certain exotics of the subject which are not put forward as an integral part ther, but are offered to those only who are concerned in the rumour of the Graal literature--as expressed in this book--so far as it incorporates that literature...
Iv. Some Later Merlin Legends. Ss : IV SOME LATER MERLIN LEGENDS "A".--THE VULGATE MERLIN There are many questions, and some of them may be insoluble, which are concerned with or arise out of the legend of Merlin, but there is perhaps one only which enters at all deeply into the collateral legend of the Graal; it is why the British...
V. The Lesser Hallows Of The Legend. Ss B : "B".--LEGENDS OF THE SACRED LANCE In the Gautier section of the "Conte del Graal", and in the description of Gawain's visit to the Graal Castle, he sees among the sacred objects a Lance, which bleeds into a silver cup, but it is not the Cup of the Graal. The Lance is the weapon which pierced...
Viii. The Quest Of The High Prince : VIII THE QUEST OF THE HIGH PRINCE Having passed through many initiations, I can say with the sincerity which comes of full knowledge that the Graal legend, ritually and ceremonially presented, is the greatest of all which lies beyond the known borders of the instituted mysteries. But it is exalted...
Vi. A Preface Or Introductory Portion Appertaining : VI A PREFACE OR INTRODUCTORY PORTION APPERTAINING TO ALL THE QUESTS There is a certain sense in which we can say that the knight of old was consecrated like the priest of old, and we can picture the whole ceremony as if it were included in some unwritten part of the "Pontificale Romanum"...
Book Iv. Argument : p. 241 BOOK IV THE LESSER CHRONICLES OF THE HOLT GRAAL p. 242 p. 243 THE ARGUMENT I. THE METRICAL ROMANCE OF JOSEPH OF ARIMATHA.--"The characteristics of Robert de Borron--The Metrical Romance presented in general synopsis--Specific considerations of the story--The source of the text--The Sacred...