• Home

                                   THE
                           CHALICE OF ECSTASY

                                  BEING

                        A MAGICAL AND QABALISTIC
                            INTERPRETATION OF
                              THE DRAMA OF

                                PARZIVAL


                                   BY

                      A COMPANION OF THE HOLY GRAIL

                            SOMETIMES CALLED


                              FRATER ACHAD
                        (Charles Stansfield Jones)

                     Dedicated to my Beloved Friend
                              and Companion
                             FRATER AD ALTA
                      Who passed from our view into
                         THE GREAT HERE AND NOW
                           November 29th, 1918
                       exactly four years prior to
                      the completion of this essay.


                              INTRODUCTION

The collective tradition of mankind is endowed with a relative infallibil-
ity,  and when rightly interpreted,  must represent the largest truth, the 
most perfect beauty and the purest goodness known on earth. This transcen-
dental truth and goodness  and  beauty represents the divine substratum of 
human nature,  the  ideal humanity which lies above and behind the aberra-
tions of individuals,  races and periods.  It is not subjected, as are the 
latter,  to  Time  and  Circumstance  or to the limitations from which the 
appearance of error, evil and deformity seem to spring.

The Legend of Parzival is not subject  to Time or Circumstance;  it repre-
sents a glimpse of the Eternal Reality,  the Everpresent Here and Now. The 
circumstances of its  enactment  and  the  place  wherein  the festival is 
beheld,  need  not  be  sought outside the Human Heart that has learned to 
beat in time and tune with the Soul of  the  World.  All  who  are born of 
"Heart's Affliction"  must  eventually  find  their way to that spot where 
they "Scarcely move,  yet  swiftly seem to run" and having become one with 
"The Way, The Truth and The Life"  they  will  discover  that the shifting 
scenes of the world they had thought to be so real, will pass by them as a 
pageant until the Vision of the  Grail  Itself  is presented to their pure 
Understanding.

It is in the hope of awakening  some spark of the smouldering fire of this 
inner consciousness in the hearts of those  who  may read these lines--not 
having previously  understood  the  Legend--and from that spark enkindling 
a great fire that will burn up the veils which hide man from Himself--from 
God--that  I  have dared to add these fragments to the great mass of Grail 
Literature already given to the world.

And to those  who  are  slumbering  contentedly,  wrapped  round  with the 
delusion and dreams of this illusory like, I cry with Gurnemanz:

                Hey! Ho! Wood-keepers twain!
                Sleep-keepers I deem ye!
               At least be moving with the morning!
                Hear ye the call? Now thank the Lord
               That ye are called in time to hear it.



                                Point I.

                         THE COMING OF PARZIVAL

                          "By pity 'lightened
                           The guileless Fool--
                           Wait for him,
                           My chosen tool."


It is not my intention to set  forth  the  complete  Argument of the Great 
Musical-Drama of "Parsifal" derived from the ancient legend of Parzival by 
Richard Wagner, to whom be all praise and honour.

Those who have not had the privilege of witnessing  this festival-play, or 
even  of  reading  a  good translation of the Libretto, should avail them-
selves  of  the  help  that  a  study  of the latter will give them before 
expecting  to  gain  a  thorough  grasp  of  the interpretation herein set 
forth. [1]

I shall also suppose that  the  student  has  some slight knowledge of The 
Mystic Path and of The Holy Qabalah,[2]  although I shall endeavor to make 
the points  dealt  with  as  comprehensive  as possible to the uninitiated 
enquirer who is prepared to "wake and hearken to the Call".

The Music of Wagner I cannot give you,  nor shall I even attempt an inter-
pretation of that which, in the Opera, helps so much toward the opening of 
those channels of consciousness  whereby  we  may  eventually receive some 
comprehensive of the Music of the Spheres.

Fortunately this is not entirely necessary,  for  the true Path leads to a 
point when each individual  may feel himself to be a highly-strung musical 
instrument  whose  Will  runs  over  the strings causing complete and har-
monious vibrations in his own being, which will then seem to give forth an 
un-formulated but delightful melody.

What is the Key-note of Parzival?

                                ECSTASY!

And what is Ecstasy?  It  has  been  well  described by one known to us as 
Frater Perdurabo, and I shall quote his own words:

                ``There is a land of pure delight,
                   Where saints immortal reign.''

"So used  some  of us  to  sing  in childhood,  and we used  to  think  of 
that land as far away,  farther  even than death that in those days seemed 
so far.

"But I know this now:  that  land  is  not  so  far as my flesh is from my 
bones! it is Here and Now.

"If there is one cloud in this tranquil azure,  it  is  this thought: that 
conscious  beings  exist  who  are  not  thus infinitely happy, masters of 
ecstasy.

"What is the path to this  immortal  land?  To  the  Oriental,  meditation 
offers  the  best  path.  To  the  Western,  there  is no road better than 
ceremonial.  For ecstasy is caused by the sudden combination of two ideas, 
just as oxygen and hydrogen unite explosively.

"But this religious  ecstasy  takes  place  in  the highest centres of the 
human organism;  it is the soul itself that is united to its God;  and for 
this reason  the rapture is more overpowering,  the joy more lasting,  and 
the resultant energy more pure and splendid than in aught earthly.

"In ritual therefore,  we  seek continually to unite the mind to some pure 
idea by an act of will. This we do again and again, more and more passion-
ately,  with  more and more determination,  until at last the mind accepts 
the  domination  of  the  will,  and  rushes  of its own accord toward the 
desired object.  This  surrender  of  the  mind to its Lord gives the holy 
ecstasy we seek."

Here we have  one  of the most important keys to the interpretation of the 
Drama  of  Parzival,  and  also  an  indication of the result which Wagner 
desired to produce upon the minds of his audience.

Unless the Play is properly staged, and the parts taken by those who them-
selves understand at least something of the "Way of Holiness", this effect 
is not made upon the consciousness of the onlookers. This is doubtless one 
the reasons why Wagner made  arrangements  that  this  Work should only be 
produced at Bayreuth in a proper setting and  under  right conditions, for 
it represents the summit of his Magical Mountain of which the base was the 
Ring.  He called it a  Stage-Consecrating Festival,  and its  effects were 
intended to exert their influence upon the Drama of Life itself.

We will pass over the  early  part of the opening Scene with its introduc-
tion of Gurnemanz,  Kundry, and Amfortas, and concentrate our attention on 
the entry of Parzival;  heralded  by the falling of a Swan brought down by 
his own weapon.

What is this Swan?

                                Ecstasy!

How do I know?  Never mind,  let me quote  once  again from one who is the 
Master thereof:

                                THE SWAN

               ``There  is  a Swan  whose  name is Ecstasy;
                   it  wingeth  from  the  deserts  of  the
                   North;  it  wingeth through the blue; it
                   wingeth over the fields of rice;  at its
                   coming they push forth the green.
                 In all the  Universe  this  Swan  alone in 
                   motionless; it seems to move, as the Sun
                   seems to move;  such  is the weakness of
                   our sight.
                 O fool! criest thou?
                 Amen.    Motion  is  relative:   there  is
                   Nothing that is still.
                 Against  this  Swan  I  shot an arrow; the
                   white breast  poured  forth  blood.  Men
                   smote  me;  then perceiving that I was a
                   Pure Fool, they let me pass.
                 Thus  and  not  otherwise  I  came  to the
                   Temple of the Grail.''


Thus did Parzival bring down Ecstasy to Earth, although the King-Amfortas-
and his Knights had "esteemed it a happy token,  when  o'er  the  lake  it 
circled aloft".

What is this lake?  When  calm and unruffled,  brooded over by the Swan of 
Ecstasy,  it  is  the  human  mind  trained by the proper methods to Right 
Contemplation.  For  only  when  the mind is still may the Sun of the true 
Self be seen reflected in its depths.  From that it is but one step to the 
attainment of  Right  Ecstasy  when  the Sun  plunges  into  the depths of 
the Mind and the whole  being  is  aflame with the Sacred Fire of the Holy 
Spirit.

Parzival had aimed high;  he  had  hit the mark of his Aspiration,  little 
though his action was at first understood.  Yet his Folly saved him, as he 
in turn saved others.

When  questioned  as  to  his  action he answered "I knew not 'twas wrong" 
although he flung away weapon, having no further use for it in that form.

What was his weapon?  The Bow of Promise and the Arrow of Pure Aspiration. 
But he had aspired,  he  had  hit  the  mark and the promise had been to a 
certain extent fulfilled.

The Qabalist will at once recognise the "Path of Samech or Sagittarius the 
Archer on the `Tree of Life.'"  This is the Path of the Arrow that cleaves 
the Rainbow, leading directly from Yesod--The Foundation--to Tiphareth the 
Sphere of the Sun,  Beauty and Harmony,  or  the  Human  Heart wherein the 
Mysteries of  the  Rosy  Cross and of the Holy Grail are first--if dimly--
perceived.

To what other use had  Parzival--son of Herat's Affliction--previously put 
his weapon?  He had shot at all that flies.  He had shot at the Eagle, the 
bird that fears not to gaze upon the very Sun itself.

What does this eagle mean and what does it foreshadow?

                                ECSTASY!

For it is written:  "The  Eagle  is that Might of Love which is the Key of 
Magick, uplifting the Body and its appurtenance unto High Ecstasy upon his 
Wings."

This Eagle is known to Occultists  as  one of the Four Cherubic Beasts and 
he represents one of the Four Powers of the Sphinx.  Likewise he is attri-
buted by Eliphas Levi to Azoth,  the  formula of the Alpha and Omega,  the 
First and Last.

It was by the  right  use  of  this  Might of Love that Parzival succeeded 
where others had failed. For again it is written in Liber Aleph: "Consider 
Love.  Here  is  a  force destructive and corrupting whereby have many men 
been lost: witness all History. Yet without love man were not man.

"We see  Amfortas,  who  yielded  himself  to a seduction,  wounded beyond 
healing;  Klingsor,  who withdrew himself from a  like  danger , cast  out 
forever from the Mountain of Salvation, and Parzival who yielded not, able 
to exercise the true  Power  of  Love and therby to perform the Miracle of 
Redemption."

But  though we are now nearing that realm wherein "Time and Space are One" 
we must not allow ourselves to be rushed forward too rapidly.

There were  many things that Parzival did not know,  or which he professed 
not to know when questioned. He did now as yet know he True Name--the Word 
of His Being--though he had in the past been called by  many  names.  Some 
things he knew and remembered clearly;  there  was one thing he desired to 
know and to understand.

What is the Grail!

To which Gurnemanz very properly replies: 

                        I may not say:
                But if to serve it thou be bidden,
                Knowledge of it will not be hidden.-
                        And lo!-
                Methinks I know thee now indeed;
                No earthly road to it doth lead,
                By no one can it be detected
                Who by itself is not elected.

To which Parzival, without further questioning, replies:

                        I scarcely move,
                   Yet I swiftly seem to run.

And Gurnemanz:

                        My son, thou seest
                   Here SPACE and TIME are ONE.

Now, in truth, have we come to the beginning of the True Path which in the 
clear Light is one with the end thereof.

What says Blavatsky in "The Voice of the Silence"?   "Bestride the Bird of 
Life if thou wouldst know!"

And this Bird--this Swan--so seeming dead until its Powers be known?  Some 
have  compared  it  to  the  Sacred Word,  the  Great Word AUM.  For it is 
written:  "AUM is the hieroglyph of the Eternal.  A the beginning sound, U 
its middle and M its end,  together  forming  a  single  Word  or Trinity, 
indicating that the  Real  must  be regarded as of this three-fold nature.  
Birth, Life and Death, not successive, but one."

The Illusory nature of Time and Space,  which  are but modes of our finite 
mind,  has  been  made  very  clear  by Sidney Klein in his excellent book 
"Science and the Infinite,"  but  this  is no new idea.  The attainment of 
Ecstasy has proved  to  Initiates  of  every land that there is a state of 
consciousness  wherein  both  time  and  space  are  blotted out--at least 
temporarily--and at the same moment  the limitations of the "personal ego" 
no longer appress us.  In  that  Holy Book known as Liber LXV--Chapter II, 
Verses 17-25, we read:

        ``17. Also the Holy One came upon me, and I beheld a white swan
        floating in the blue.
          18. Between its wings I sate, and the aeons fled away.
          19. Then the swan flew and dived and soared, yet no
        whither we went.
          20. A little crazy boy that rode with me spake unto
        the swan and said:
          21. Who art thou that doth float and fly and dive and
        soar in the inane? Behold, these many aeons have passed;
        whence camest thou? Whither wilt thou go?
          22. And laughing I chid him saying: No whence! No
        wither!
          23. The swan being silent, he answered: Then if with
        no goal, why this eternal journey?
          24. And I laid my head against the Head of the Swan,
        and laughed, saying: Is there not joy ineffable in this
        aimless winging? Is there not weariness and impatience
        for who would attain to some goal?
          25. And the swan was ever silent. Ah, but we floated
        in the infinite Abyss. Joy! Joy!
          White swan bear thou ever me up between thy wings.''

But there was much that Parzival must do before taking his  ease  thus: he 
had a mission to accomplish, on earth, though as yet he knew not.

By the  use  of  these  examples,  we may begin to comprehend what happens 
next.  A  new  "movement  without  motion"  on  the  part  of Parzival and 
Gurnemanz is now symbolized by the SCENERY in the Drama shifting, at first 
almost imperceptibly,  from Left to Right.  The forest--in which the First 
Scene had taken place--disappears;  a  door  opens in the rocky cliffs and 
conceals the two;  they are then seen again in sloping passages which they 
appear to ascend. At last they arrive at a mighty hall, which loses itself 
overhead in a high vaulted dome,  down  from  which  the light streams in. 
From the heights above the dome comes the increasing sound of chimes.

Again we may find a very direct correspondence in the Eastern Teachings as 
propounded by  Madame Blatvatsky in  "The Voice of Silence."  She  writes: 
"Thou canst travel on that Path until thou hast become the Path itself."

Further in Liber CCCXXXIII by Frater Perdurabo we read:

      ``O thou that settest out upon the Path, false is the Phantom
         that thou seekest. When thou hast it thou shalt know all 
         bitterness, thy teeth fixed in the Sodom-Apple.
        Thus hast thou been lured along That Path, whose terror else
         had driven thee far away.
        O thou that stridest upon the middle of The Path, no phantoms
         mock thee. For the stride's sake thou stridest.
        Thus art thou lured along That Path whose fascination else
         had driven thee far away.
      ``O thou that drawest toward the End of The Path, effort is no
         more. Faster and faster dost thou fall; thy weariness is
         changed into Ineffable Rest.
        For there is no Thou upon that Path: thou hast become The Way.''

And each must learn to  travel  this  Path,  each  must  overcome  his own 
obstacles,  unmask his own illusions.  Yet there is always the possibility 
that others may  help  us  do this and,  as in the case of Parzival led by 
Gurnemanz who travelled that Way before, we may be guided in the true Path 
and taught to avoid the many false byways  that may tempt us in our search 
for the Temple of the Holy Grail.  In fact, if our training has been right 
and our aspiration remains pure,  we  must inevitably arrive at the end of 
that Road; often we may seem to do so in the twinkling of an eye, and when 
we least expect it.

We should remember that every point of this Drama is highly symbolic.  The 
student may place his own interpretation on that passage which  opens into 
the  Temple  of  the  Grail.  On  arrival therein we cannot do better than 
listen to the advice of Gurnemanz to Parzival, who meanwhile stands spell-
bound with Wonder at what he beholds:

                Now give good head, and let me see,
                 If thou'rt a Fool and pure,
                What wisdom thou presently canst secure.

And this WISDOM Parzival  does  in due course secure, but not until he has 
undergone many trials.  For  WISDOM is the HOLY SPEAR itself, long lost to 
the Knights of the Grail but eventually recovered by The Pure Fool.

Meanwhile, during the Feast of the Grail, Parzival stands still and spell-
bound  like  a  rude  clod.  He  sees  the  CUP of the Grail uncovered, he 
witnesses the ceremony of  the  Companions  of the Grail, and he attains a 
certain interior UNDERSTANDING which transcends knowledge.  For the CUP is 
the UNDERSTANDING,  though  in this instance it was divorced from the WILL 
or WISDOM,  the  Holy  Spear  which  alone  is  capable of enlightening it 
perfectly.

A word may now be said regarding the nature of  "The Pure Fool"; and since 
this Ritual is one for all time, we shall go back before the Christian Era 
(to which the Grail Mystery is  usually  particularly attributed)  back to 
Ancient China  where  the  testimony of that Holy Sage Lao Tze gives us no 
uncertain clue.  The  Way  of  the  Tao--Wu Wei--the accomplishment of all 
things by doing Nothing,  is  precisely similar to the "Path" we have been 
describing. Lao Tze says:

        ``The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased as if 
        enjoying a full banquet,  as  if  mounted on a tower in
        spring.  I  alone  seem listless and still,  my desires
        having as yet given no  indication  of  their presence.
        I am like an infant which has  not  yet smiled.  I look
        dejected and forlorn,  as I I had no home to go to. The
        multitude of men all have enough and to spare.  I alone
        seem to have  lost  everything.  My  mind  is that of a
        stupid man; I am in a state of chaos.
          Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I
        alone seem to be benighted. They look full of discrim-
        ination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem to
        becarried about as on a sea, drifting as if I had
        nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action,
        while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude
        borderer.
          Thus I ALONE AM DIFFERENT from other men, but I value
        the Nursing-Mother (The Great Tao).''

So we see this Fool is  not  the  ordinary  sort  of  foolish and besotted 
person to  which  the form is usually applied.  In his Foolishness we find 
his difference from his fellows;  for in sooth it is the Divine Madness of 
Ecstasy which redeems from all pain.  It is "That which remains" after the 
sorrows and  shadows  that  pass  and are done,  have left our being. Then 
Existence is  recognized to be Pure Joy.  But Understanding without Wisdom 
is Pure Darkness,  and  in this state is Parzival discovered by Guernemanz 
at the end of the Ceremony.  This  is a darkness even Guernemanz is unable 
to comprehend, for he says:

                Why standest thou there?
                Wist thou what thou sawest?

And Parzival, shaking his head slightly, he continues:

                Thou art then nothing but a Fool!

And pushing Parzival through a small door he cries angrily:

                Come away, on thy road the gone
                  And put my rede to use:
                Leave all our swans for the future alone
                  And seek thyself a gander, a goose.

And so it came about that Parzival set out alone upon his Holy Quest.


                                  -oOo-

                                Point II

                        THE TEMPTING OF PARZIVAL


                ``For  pure  will,  unassuaged of purpose,
               delivered from the lust of result, is every 
               way  perfect.''  Liber  Al.  vel.  Legis


The last Scene of the First Act of this Drama will have  enabled us to see 
something of the nature of the "Heart"  or  Temple  of  the Knights of the 
Grail.  We  are next transported to the "Keep" of Klingsor's Castle, there 
to obtain a glimpse of the Heart of a Black Magician.  Klingsor represents 
one who has  "shut  himsel f up",  who desires to keep his personality and 
while retaining possession of the  SPEAR or Divine Will to make use of it, 
if possible for his own personal ends.

Man is given a  certain  freedom  of  will  in  order  that he may thereby 
develop the sense of Freedom and so willingly ally himself with the Divine 
Will  or  True  Purpose  of  his  Being.  Should  he  make  the mistake of 
attempting to reverse  the  process,  turning  the  Divine  Will to merely 
personal ends,  he must inevitably fall.  He thereby cuts himself off from 
the Universal Current and is  slowly  but surely disintegrated until he is 
finally lost in the Abyss.

For a time,  however,  as in the case of Klingsor, he may seem to exercise 
an illusionary power by taking  advantage  of the delusions of others. For 
he plays upon their emotional natures, which tend if uncontrolled to befog 
the mind  thus  preventing  the  True Sun of Being from illuminating their 
Path.

Self-damned, the one desire of such a being is to cause the utter ruin and 
downfall  of  others  in  order  that the terrible loneliness which he--if 
dimly--realizes  to  be  his fate,  may be assuaged by the presence of his 
victims.

Klingsor,  however,  still hopes to capture the Holy CUP itself--which has 
remained in the  possession  of  the Knights of the Grail--for this is the 
Cup of  UNDERSTANDING  whereby  he may discover a way to reverse this fate 
and to make use of its contents,  the Divine Substance which is capable of 
infinite transformation when united with the Spear or WILL.

Even without this perfect means of transmutation,  he has still obtained a 
certain power over Astral Matter,  which being of a very plastic nature is 
capable of transformation into  images  alluring  or terrible according to 
the effect to be produced upon his victims.

The Aspirant has been warned of the illusory nature of the Astral Plane in 
"The Voice of Silence"  which  contains instructions for those ignorant of 
the dangers of the lower Iddhi  (magical powers).  We shall refer to these 
instructions again in the proper place.

Meanwhile, as the Act opens,  we discover Klingsor seated before his magic 
mirror in the Keep of his Castle. He is surrounded with the instruments of 
his art, which are as complex as the true weapons are simple.

He is  evidently  aware of the coming of Parzival--the Guileless Fool--and 
he  realizes that here is a menace to his power,  since that power depends 
upon beguilement.  The  question before him is whether this Fool is really 
too Pure to be tempted by the subtle blandishments of his magic art.

Kundry--Woman--capable alike of raising man to the heights or dragging him 
to the very depths,  is  the best instrument to his hand.  She--the Animal 
Soul of  the  World--while directed  by  the  lower will or intellect--has 
within her not alone the possibilities of redemption,  but  of  taking her 
rightful place upon the Throne of  the  Mother if brought to Understanding 
the Higher Will and Wisdom of the Father of All.

On the other hand if under the  influence of the lower will she is allowed 
to seduce man from his aspiration,  do  that he fails to discover his True 
Will  (which  is  one with Destiny and the Will of God and which alone can 
direct him in his proper course)  she ruins him and at the same time loses 
her own chance  of  redemption.  He  is  then doomed to wander in paths of 
illusion having no comprehension of the true Purpose of his Being or hers.

Klingsor exercises  a mighty power over Kundry whenever she allows herself 
to fall asleep,  though much of her time during waking hours is devoted to 
the service of the Knights of the  Grail.  Many  of  these she has injured 
while under the spell of Klingsor.  She  often  desires to make amends but 
her heart is torn between this form of activity and desire for case.

Whenever she sinks back into the sloth of  Ignorance,  or  what the Hindus 
term the Tamas Guna,  she  is subject to the art of Klingsor for he is the 
maker of  Illusion  through  Learning  or  the  Powers  of  the  mind, the 
principle known as Rajas.  By  means  of this mental power many false uses 
may be devised for the  Love  nature,  which  when  wrongly  used  becomes 
destructive instead of Creative and constructive.

Parzival--The Pure Fool--is in  that  condition  mentioned by Lao Tze "His 
desires having as yet given no indication of their presence."  The crucial 
test is whether when they are aroused for  the first time he will use them 
rightly or wrongly.  Therein both Amfortas and Klingsor had failed, though 
in different ways. Now comes a third candidate in the form of Parzival and 
Klingsor fears greatly for the continuance of his own power.

He knows that even Kundry will be  redeemed should Parzival,  by rejecting 
her advances,  and refusing to accept aught but the highest,  cause her at 
last to Understand and so become released from Klingsor's illusory powers.

Klingsor  first  lights  incense,  which in true magick is a symbol of the 
aspiration of the lower towards the higher. But there is no Lamp above the 
altar,  and the Lamp symbolizes the Higher Aspiration to draw up and unite 
the  lower  with itself.  The incense alone produces nothing but the smoky 
clouds which represent the Astral Plane, and this plane being particularly 
attributed to the Desires  and Emotions is the one most suited to the work 
Klingsor wishes Kundry to perform. It is her Astral body over which he has 
the most influence.

His call to her is worthy of notice:

                Arise! Draw near me!
                The Master calls thee, nameless woman:
                She-Lucifer! Rose of Hades!
                Herodias wert thou. And what else?
                Gundryggia there, Kundry here!
                Approach! Approach then, Kundry!
                Unto thy Master appear!

And in the incense  smoke  now  appears  the  figure of Kundry--her Astral 
form--half-obedient, half rebellious to the will of Klingsor.

The term  "Rose  of  Hades" should be noticed here, for in a certain sense 
Kundry is that same Rose which is to be found in connection with the Cross 
in the Rosy Cross Ceremonies. The Cross of Suffering may be looked upon as 
represented  by Amfortas--as can be shown Qabalistically--and the wound at 
his breast is caused by the Rose,  Kundry.  The  Spear  and Cup convey the 
same Symbolism but on a Higher Plane.

Meanwhile Kundry gradually comes under the spell of  Klingsor,  who orders 
her  to  use  all  her  wiles  to  ensnare  the approaching and victorious 
Parzival; "Whom sheerest Folly shields."

Klingsor,  while admitting that he cannot hold Kundry,  claims that he can 
force her to his will:

                        ``Because against me
                        Thine own power cannot move''

Kundry, laughing harshly, makes this strange reply:

                        Ha Ha! Art thou chaste!

This remark causes Klingsor to sink into gloomy brooding.  He  recalls how 
he,  too,  had  once  sought the holier life and the service of the Grail. 
But, unlike Amfortas who had succumbed to seduction, he, thinking to avoid 
a like fate had used his will to attempt something against Nature and God; 
the total suppression of his Love nature. This had resulted in an enforced 
chastity,  giving  him  power  to avoid seduction--'tis true--but likewise 
cutting him off from the possibility of redemption. For hear his words:

                        Awfulest strait!
                Irrepressible yearning woe!
                Terrible lust in me once rife,
                Which I had quenched with devilish strife;
                Mocks and laughs it at me,
                Thou devil's bride, through thee?
                        Have a care!

In spite of further threats,  we find Kundry still affirming that she will 
not conform to Klingsor's demands,  yet,  such is woman-kind,  she quietly 
disappears to make ready for the reception and  tempting  of Parzival; who 
is at least a live and vigorous human being.

Klingsor has  been  watching  Parzival's  approach  to  his  magic castle, 
armed--'tis said--with the Sword of  Innocence and protected by the Shield 
of Folly.  Rather  I  should  interpret this Sword as that of Reason,  for 
Parzival has  learned  in  his Folly to disarm and defeat the defenders of 
Klingsor's Castle with their own weapons.

There is no deeper  wound  that  that  inflicted by our own weapons turned 
against us; as Amfortas had found to his lasting pain and anguish.

The opportunities we have missed  but had the power to take and might have 
taken, rankle more deeply than all the vain regrets for those things which 
were impossible of attainment.

But the mere possession  of  the  most  sacred  weapon--as  in the case of
Klingsor and the Holy Spear--without further possibility of its right use, 
is bitterest of all.

And so we find,  when  Kundry has `gone to work',  Klingsor's Tower slowly 
sinks and disappears from sight.  At  the same time his "Garden of Desire" 
rises and his beautiful but illusory creations "The Flower Maidens" appear 
before our astonished eyes.

Parzival, whose desires have as yet given no indication of their presence, 
has by this time arrived at the wall of the garden. What he beholds is but 
subsidiary to his main Purpose to retrieve the Holy Spear,  yet  he,  too, 
stands amazed.

This may be deemed as Parzival's introduction to "The Hall of Learning" as 
it is called by Madame  Blavatsky  in  "The Voice  of the Silence." Let us 
turn aside  for  a  moment  in order to obtain a clearer idea of just what 
that term implies. We read in Chapter I, Verses 22-29 as follows:

          22. Three Halls,  O weary Pilgrim,  lead to the end of toils.
        Three halls,  O  conqueror of Mara,  will  bring  thee  through
        three states into the fourth, and thence into the Seven Worlds,
        the Worlds of Rest Eternal.
          23. If thou would'st learn  their  names,  then  hearken, and 
        remember.  The name of the  first hall is IGNORANCE--Avidya. It 
        is the Hall  in  which  thou  saw'st  the light,  in which thou 
        livest and shalt die.

Ignorance corresponds to Malkuth and Nepesh (the animal soul), Learning to 
Tiphareth and Ruach  (the Mind),  and  Wisdom  to  Binah and Neshamah (the 
aspiration or Divine Mind).--Fra. O.M.

          24. The name of Hall the second is the Hall of  LEARNING.  In 
        it thy soul will find the blossoms  of  life,  but  under every 
        flower is a serpent coiled.
          25. The name  of  the  third  Hall  is  WISDOM,  beyond which 
        stretch the shoreless waters  of  AKSHARA,  the  indestructible
        Fount of Omniscence.

(Akshara is the same as the Great Sea of the Qabalah.  It  is also the CUP 
of the GRAIL, as WISDOM is the SPEAR.)

          26. If thou wouldst cross the first Hall safely,  let not thy
        mind mistake the fires of lust that  burn  therein for the sun-
        light of life.
          27. If thou would'st cross the  second  safely,  stop not the
        fragrance of its stupefying blossoms inhale. * * *
          28. The WISE ONES  tarry  not  in the pleasure grounds of the
        senses.
          29. The  WISE ONES  heed  not  the  sweet-tongued  voices  of
        illusion.

Enough has been quoted to show the extraordinary  correspondences  between 
the  "Garden  Scene"  of  the  Drama  of  Parzival  with  both the Eastern 
Teachings and those of the Holy Qabalah.  But this Drama is not subject to 
Time or Circumstance.

We left  Parzival in a state of wonder upon the wall of Klingsor's Garden. 
We  next  find  the  "Flower  Maidens"  bemoaning the loss of their lovers
--their pleasures--slain by Parzival upon  his  approach to the Castle and 
entry to the Garden.

Thye Flower Maidens are easily solaced,  however, by the hope that here is 
a freash pleasure,  stronger and more potent than  those lost to them. One 
that will more than take the place of all the others.

In this  hope  they  are  deceived for--as in real life--pleasures in time 
lose their  hold  (especially if abused) and though we may seek a stronger 
and more intense  form of amusement,  our power to enjoy may become dulled 
and lost to us.

The case in point is somewhat different,  however,  for the Flower Maidens 
find that the power  to  enjoy  does not lie with them, for Parzival--with 
his One  Purpose--is  not  to  be  turned  aside  for  the  sake of lesser 
pleasures.

Why should he,  when  by waiting he may gain All instead of a mere partial 
rapture?  Has  he  not already experienced the Higher form of Ecstasy? The 
question now arises  whether he had realised that this Higher Ecstasy with 
its Purity and STILLNESS is more to be esteemed than the APPARENT ACTIVITY 
of the lesser order.

In the Higher forms of Ecstasy characterized by this quality of STILLNESS, 
the ACTIVITY is in reality SO INTENSE that  it  appears to CEASE.  But the 
resultant  Rapture  is  in  that  case  more refined and consequently more 
Powerful than in the Peace which  passeth all understanding. Kundry may be 
said to have so far sought Rest below the Vibration of the RED RAY,  while 
Parzival has found it beyond that of the ULTRA-VIOLET.

And so,  when later,  Kundry uses all her charms  to  tempt  Parzival, she 
fails.  Her embrace awakens the  vibration of the  RED RAY in the heart of 
Parzival and  in  this  he  recognizes,  sympathetically, the cause of the 
wound of Amfortas and wherein the latter had failed. For Amfortas had been 
content to accept LESS than was his DUE, a vibration lower than the one to 
which his being was capable of responding.

Once the string of the Instrument or of the  Bow  has  been slackened, its 
power is reduced;  once the WILL has become the `will'  it needs re-tuning 
to the Divine or Higher Vibration,  but it cannot thus re-tune itself once 
self-will has usurped the place of SELF-WILL.

In that case the  Holy  Spear  of Will and Wisdom has been replaced by the 
Sword of Reason.  This  Sword  is  both useful and necessary until man has 
obtained  possession  of  the  Holy  Spear or become conscious of his true 
Purpose,  (Just  as  Reason  is  necessary  until  we attain to Wisdom and 
Understanding  whereby  the  Truth  is  directly  perceived   without  the 
necessity of inference and deduction)  but  once the higher faculties have 
been acquired and the Higher Will  recognized as the true guiding Power of 
our lives, our Purpose must be kept pure and unsullied.

This Mystery is made clear in Liber Al vel Legis:

                     ``Let it be  that  state  of  manyhood
                    bound  and  loathing.  So with thy all;
                    though hast no right but to do thy will.
                       Do that,  and no other shall say nay.
                       For pure will, unassuaged of purpose,
                    delivered from the lust  of  result,  is
                    every way perfect.
                       The Perfect and  the  Perfect are one
                    Perfect and not two; nay, are none!''

So we come to understand how the  Perfect  Cup and the Perfect Spear--Pure 
Understanding and Wisdom--are one; nay,  are none since all `knowledge' is 
cancelled out in Perfect Ecstasy.

Parzival yields not the the glamour of time  and circumstance for he seeks 
the Eternal Reality,  the everpresent Here and Now.  The chance of a brief 
reflection of ecstasy on the physical  plane does  not  deter him from his 
Quest  for  that  which  is CONTINUOUS as the Body of Our Lady Nuit or the 
Stars of Heaven.  But, meanwhile,  since  he  has  left behind him--in the 
Temple of the Grail--the true Chalice of Ecstasy,  his  first  duty  is to 
seek  the  Holy  Spear,  the  means  whereby  alone it may be vivified and 
enlightened.

Under  the  influence  of Kundry he obtains a glimpse of his true purpose, 
the  mission  of  Redeemer.  Having realized  the  cause  of  the wound of 
Amfortas he  determines  to  seek  and  obtain the means whereby it may be 
cured.  Nor is he to be turned  aside  from this deed of compassion for in 
vain does Kundry question:

                    And was it my kiss
                    This great knowledge conveyed thee?
                    If in my arms I might take thee,
                    'T would then a god surely make thee.
                    Redeem the world then, if 'tis thy aim:
                    Stand as a god revealed;
                    For this hour let me perish in flame,
                    Leave aye the wound unhealed.

But  Parzival  is determined that he will first heal the wound of Amfortas
--King of the Grail--and he  offers  Kundry redemption at the price of her 
showing him the way back to the Castle of the Grail.

This would perhaps have seemed the reasonable course for Kundry to persue. 
But the Task of Parzival, by the proper performance of which he may become 
MASTER OF THE TEMPLE, is not thus easy of accomplishment.

He must,  in fact, on his return to the Temple bring with him the NEOPHYTE 
in his hand.  He  must  have proved his power to raise the Fallen Duaghter
--or Animal  Soul--to  the  Throne of the Mother--Understanding. It is his 
task to lead Kundry to the Mountain of Salvation, not hers to show him the 
way.

Besides,  he  has  not  yet  obtained  the  means  of  curing the wound of 
Amfortas.  Mere  compassion  for  his  anguish,  mere  realization  of the 
cause of the trouble is not enough.  Had  he returned at this juncture his 
mission would have been a failure.

But Kundy--womanlike--does  not  pursue  the reasonable course, and in the 
end her intuition produces the finer flowering. Yet she  is  not conscious 
of  this for the intuition is clouded in her mind by her emotional nature. 
She  is  aware  that she has been flouted,  that her charms have failed to 
seduce Parzival from the sacred mysteries,  as  she  has seduced Amfortas. 
For Parzival has told her:

                             Eternally
                     Should I be damned with thee,
                             If for one hour
                     I forget my holy mission,
                     Within thine arm's embracing!

And this is no pleasant pill for any pretty woman to swallow.

Nor  could  her  appeal  to  his  pity  (though  in  truth  washe "By Pity 
'lightened") turn him aside from his larger purpose; even when this appeal 
was coupled with  the  promise  that he should straightway see the Path to 
the Grail if he lingered but an hour.

Desperate, Kundy cries:

                      ``Begone, detestable wretch''

and calling upon  Klingsor  (the only Master Will she knows) to avenge her 
wrong,  she  at the same time curses Parzival and all the Paths wherein he 
might travel, should they lead away from her.

And  here  the  intuition  that  she is really necessary to his Attainment 
actually  brings  about the next step towards that end,  by strange means. 
Parzival needs  above  all  to  realize  the Nature of his True Will.  And 
Klingsor has at this  moment  appeared  upon  the Castle wall; the Damsels 
rushing out of the Castle hasten towards Kundry, while Klingsor--poising a 
lance--cries:

                  Halt there! I'll ban thee with befitting
                    gear:
                  The Fool shall perish  by  his  Master's
                    spear!

All else having failed,  Klingsor  make use of the Sacred Spear Itself. He 
hurls his WILL at Parzival,  who,  being perfectly receptive to the Higher 
Power  (no  matter  what  the agency used to bring it to him) receives the 
Spear,  not  in  his  heart,  but in his hand.  For--as in the case of the 
Higher WILL at the time of  the  opening  of  the 1001 petalled Lotus, the 
Real Flower of the Garden--it  is  seen  gently  floating  above his head, 
within his reach and power to grasp.

And so Parzival grasps his  True  Purpose  and  brandishing the Holy Spear 
with  a  gesture  of  exhalted  rapture,  he  makes  the Sign of the Cross 
therewith.  Now the Sign of the Cross is  symbolical of that "Cross of the 
Elements"  from which the Creative Word issued at the birth of the dawning 
Universe.

A New Word is, as  it  were,  uttered  by Parzival and once again the Holy 
Spirit may be said to brood upon the Waters of Chaos.  For at this moment, 
as with an  earthquake,  the  Castle  falls  to  ruins;  the  false Garden 
withers, and the damsels lie like shrivelled  flowers strewn around on the 
ground. Kundry sinks down with a cry, and to her turns once more--from the 
summit of the ruined wall--the departing Parzival:

                             Thou knowst--
                     Where only we shall meet again.

And, having uttered these prophetic words, he disappears among the shadows.


                                Point III

                          THE REDEMPTION OF THE

                                REDEEMER

                        ``H”chsten Heiles Wunder!
                           Erl”sung dem Erl”ser!''


Before passing on to the final scenes of this Drama,  it is necessary that 
we  should  know  something  of  the Great Ceremony of Initiation into the 
Grade of  Master  of  the  Temple  which  Parzival  was  undergoing.  This 
knowledge may best be  obtained  from the Records of the Great Brotherhood 
itself,  and  from  the  actual  examples  of those Who have undergone the 
Ordeals leading thereto.

The serious Student  will  be  greatly interested in observing how closely 
some  of  the  passages  we have already quoted, and those we are about to 
quote, parallel the events in the Drama as compiled by Richard Wagner. But 
it must be  remembered  that  Wagner  himself received Instructions in the 
great Principles  of  the Holy Order from certain of the Secret Chiefs and 
this accounts for the  great  harmony  between  his Work and that of other 
members of the Great Brotherhood.

We find in Liver IV these words: "The Master of the Temple has crossed the 
Abyss, has entered the Palace of the King's Daughter; he has only to utter 
one  word,  and all is dissolved. But, instead of that, he is found hidden 
in the earth,  tending a garden.  This  mystery  is  all too complex to be 
elucidated in these fragments of impure thought;  it is a suitable subject 
for meditation."

Parzival enters the Abyss when, casting aside every personal consideration 
and  actuated  by Pure Will delivered from the lust of result, he destroys 
Klingsor's Garden and Keep.

All that structure,  built  upon  Reason,  is shattered, and nothing but a 
rubbish-heap remains.  For  Parzival  had discovered the Power of the Word 
whereby the Universe vanishes in Fire  and  Flame.  This  may therefore be 
looked upon as the supreme Banishing Ritual.

But the  process of Creation,  Preservation and Destruction is continuous; 
things must be destroyed on order that they may be renewed. It is from the 
rubbish-heap of Chronozon (Klingsor)  that one selects the materials for a 
god,  or  for  a  New  Aeon.  Understanding  is  the  structuralization of 
knowledge, and implies coordination.

But,  in the meanwhile Parzival must tend a Garden of his own, for, having 
looked upon the  "Face  of  the Father" he has become NEMO--No-man. (It is 
interesting to note that Klingsor termed Kundry "Nameless woman", for she, 
too, must attain to Understanding in the end.)

A study of Liber CCCXVIII,  13th Aethyr,  will give us a fuller comprehen-
sion of this Mystery. Therein we read:

            ``No man hath beheld the  face of my Father. Therefore he
            that hath beheld it is  called  NEMO.  And know thou that
            every man that is  called  NEMO  hath  a  garden  that he 
            tendeth.  And  every garden that is and  flourisheth hath
            hath been prepared from the desert by NEMO,  watered with
            the waters that were called death.
              And I say unto him: To what end is the garden prepared?
              And he saith: First for the beauty and delight thereof;
            and next because it is written "And Tetragrammaton Elohim
            planted a garden eastward in Eden."  And lastly,  because
            though every flower bringeth forth a maiden, yet there is
            one flower that shall bring forth a  man-child.  And  his
            name shall be called NEMO,  when he beholdeth the face of
            my Father.  And he that tendeth the garden seeketh not to
            single out the flower that shall be NEMO. He doeth naught
            but tend the garden.
              And I said: Pleasant indeed is the garden, and light is 
            the toil of tending it, and great is the reward.
              And he said:  Bethink thee  that  NEMO  hath beheld the 
            face of my Father. In his is only Peace.
              And I said: Are all gardens like unto this garden?
              And he waved his hand,  and  in  the  Aire  across  the 
            valley appeared an island  of  coral,  rosy,  with  green 
            palms and fruit trees,  in the midst of the bluest of the
            seas.
              And he waved his  hand  again,  and  there  appeared  a 
            valley shut in by mighty snow  mountains,  and in it were
            pleasant streams of water,  rushing  through,  and  broad 
            rivers, and lakes covered with lillies.
              And he waved his hand again, and there was a vision, as
            it were an oasis in the desert.
              And again he  waved  his  hand,  and  there  was  a dim 
            country with grey rocks,  and  heather,  and  gorse,  and
            bracken. * * *
              And  he  seems  to  read my thought,  which is,  that I 
            should love to stay in this garden forever: for he sayeth
            to me: Come with me,  and behold  how  NEMO  tendeth  his
            garden.
              So we enter the earth, and there is a veiled figure, in
            absolute darkness. Yet it is perfectly possible to see in
            it, so that the minutest details do not  escape  us.  And
            upon the root of one flower  he  pours  acid so that root 
            writhes as if in a torture.  And another he cuts, and the
            shriek is like the shriek of a  mandrake,  torn up by the
            roots. And another he chars with fire, and yet another he
            annoints with oil.
              And I said:  Heavy  is  the  labour,  but  great is the 
            reward.
              And the young  man  answered  me:  He shall not see the
            reward; he tendeth the garden.
              And I said: What shall come unto him?
              And he said:  This  thou  canst  not  know,  nor  is it 
            revealed by the letters that are the totems of the stars, 
            but only by the stars.''

We find in the above an exact parallel to the case  of  Parzival,  for  he 
finds that "The Beatific Vision is no more, and the glory of the Most High 
is no more.  There is no more knowledge. There is no more beauty. For this 
is the Palace of Understanding; and he is one with the Primeval things."

He must  wander  about  in  the  earth,  tending the ROOTS of the flowers; 
unconscious of the results of his labours,  until  the  time  is  ripe for 
another to take his place.

The Third Act opens in the Grail's Domain.  We  perceive a pleasant spring 
landscape and flowery meadows towards the back.  In  the  foreground  is a 
wood  which  extends  away towards the right, and a spring of clear water. 
Opposite, and higher up, is a narrow hermitage built against a rock. It is 
Daybreak.

All this brilliant spring  scenery symbolises some of the work of Parzival 
who  has  laboured  in  darkness  for  many years. But the Night is nearly 
passed.

Gurnemanz,  now  old  and  in  the  garment  of a simple hermit, yet still 
protected by the Mantle of the Grail,  is  now discovered.  He hears a low 
moaning which he  recognizes  as  that of Kundry,  who--half dead, but now 
faithful in service--has  found  found  her  way  back  to the Mountain of 
Salvation.  Intuitively  she  had been led to keep her tryst with Parzival 
whose last words to he had been:  Thou  knowest,  where only we shall meet 
again. She is discovered by Gurnemanz  concealed  in  a small thicket near 
the stream. How long she has waited there,  who can tell,  but the thicket 
is now overgrown with thorns.

Upon spying her, Gurnemanz cries:

                    Up!--Kundry--Up!
                    The winter's fled, and Spring is here!
                    Awake, awake to the Spring!

The results of the  unseen  work of Parzival upon the "roots" of her being 
soon become apparaent to Gurnemanz.  Her first cry,  on being aroused from 
her deadly stupor, is: Service!

But Gurnemanz--shaking his head--replies:

                     Now will thy work be light!
                    We send no errands out long since:
                     Simples and herbs
                    Must ev'ry one find for himself:
                     'Tis learnt in the woods from the beasts.

But Kundry,  having  in  the  meanwhile  looked  about  her, perceives the 
hermit's hut,  and goes in.  Gurnemanz, in surprise, remarks how different 
is her step, and thanks Heaven that he has been the means of reviving this 
"flower" that had formerly seemed so poisonous.

Kundry quitely returns with a water-pot which she takes to the spring, and 
while waiting  for  it to fill,  she looks toward the wood and perceives a 
strange Knight approaching in the distance.  She  turns  to Gurnemanz, who 
seeing the same figure, remarks:

                    Who comes toward the sanctified stream?
                     In gloomy war apparel.
                     None of our brethren is he.

For in  his  shroud  of darkness Parzival--for it is he--is not recognized 
even  by  Gurnemanz,  a Companion of the Grail.  It is not surprising that 
during  his  wanderings  those  less  enlightened  should  have  failed to 
perceive his identity.

He slowly enters,  clad  from head to foot in pure black armour; carrying, 
upright, the Sacred Spear, equipped with sword and shield. He seems dreamy 
and vacillating, but seats himself on the little knoll beside the stream.

Gurnemanz,  after  observing  him  for  some  time,  finding  him  silent, 
approaches somewhat, and remarks:

                     Greet thee, my friend!
                    Art thou astray, and shall I direct thee?

In reply to  which  Parzival  gently shakes his head,  but remains silent. 
Further questioning only elicits from him the same silent response, for is 
it not written that UNDERSTANDING is pure Silence and Pure Darkness.

But the  end  of  this  period of silence and darkness is approaching. The 
NEMO stage of the "City of the Pyramids" soon gives place to another.

Parzival  rises  and  thrusts his Spear upright in the ground, thus, as it 
were,  linking  Heaven  and  Earth.  He then slowly divests himself of the 
black armour.  First  he  lays  down his Sword (The power of Reason and of 
analysis),  and  his  Shield (The heavy Karma of the World--his Pantacle). 
Opening his Helmet  (which, being but a symbol of the Cup, has kept him in 
a darkness) he removes it;  thus  allowing the Wine of Sunlight to descend 
upon his head.

He then kneels in silent prayer before the  Spear,  seeking  conscious and 
enlightened union with the Will  of  the  Universe.  Hitherto  he has been 
guided  by  that  Will,  but  has  remained  the  while unconscious of Its 
direction, he now seeks to participate more fully in the Great Purpose.

While thus engaged  in holy meditation, he is recognised by both Gurnemanz 
and Kundry.  They  also  realize  that  he  has obtained possession of the 
Sacred Spear,  so long lost to the Knights of the Grail. Kundry turns away 
her face, while Gurnemanz, in great emotion, cries:

                    Oh!--holiest day.
                    To which my happy soul awakes!

Then,  having  arisen,  Parzival recognises them in turn and greetings are 
exchanged.  He  can hardly believe that at last his path through error and 
suffering has led him once again to that holy spot. For all seems changed.

His one desire  is to find Armfortas,  whose wound had so long aroused his 
Compassion and Pity, and which he feels it to be his mission to heal. This 
may  be  accomplished  by  one  means alone, the Sacred Spear by which the 
wound was made.

And all that while that Parzival--even with this high purpose in view--had 
consciously  sought  to  return  to  The  Mountain  of Salvation, the path 
thereto had been denied him and he had wandered at random, as if:

                    Driven ever by a curse:
                          Countless distresses
                          Battles and conflicts
                    Drove me far from the pathway;
                    Well though I knew it, methought.

For the  Road to Ecstasy is one above thought, and when Ecstasy returns it 
is as a Grace rather than as the result  of  our conscious efforts. Yet it 
is the  reward  of  our  "wanderings"  if  our  Aspiration  has  been kept 
perfectly pure meanwhile.

The Sacred Spear--The  True  Will--must  not  be used save for the highest 
ends;  and  those  ends do not become apparent to the conscious mind, till 
many a day after it has first been grasped and wielded to destroy illusion.

                               Parzival

                   Then hopeless despair overtook me,
                   To hold the holy Thing safely.
                   In its behalf, in its safe warding
                   I won from ev'ry weapon a wound;
                   For 'twas forbidden
                   That in battle I bore it:  Undefiled
                   E'er at my side I wore it,
                   And now I home restore it.
                   'Tis this that gleaming hails thee here,--
                   The Grail's most holy spear.

And then  Parzival  learns from Gurnemanz that he at last nears the end of 
his Quest, for he is already within the Grail's Domain. He learns, too, of 
the anguish that has been suffered by Amfortas during his absence, and how 
the  Knights had been disbanded because Amfortas no longer dared to unveil 
the Holy Cup.  How Titurel,  Father and Founder of the Order, had died--as 
other men--when he no longer received the Grail's enlivening beams.

So Parzival, in intense grief, bemoans his foolish wanderings that seem to 
have caused  such  disastrous  results  through  his delay in returning to 
Monsalvat on his mission of mercy.

But things could have not been otherwise.  We  should  remember  how  NEMO 
tended  his  garden and how some of the roots writhed in anguish under the 
acid or the knife, while others flourished by means of the oil.

Had his  Understanding  not  been  Pure Darkness, his conscious mind would 
never  have  allowed  him to complete his Work. But such is the Mystery of 
Redemption  that these things must be in  order that the final outcome may 
be perfect.

Sorrow  and  suffering  are  great  teachers,  and  the Masters, having no 
personal ends to accomplish,  are  often the Instruments whereby our Karma 
comes upon us. As pointed out in Liber IV.:

                ``The contemplation of the Universe  must be at 
                first almost pure  anguish.  It  is  this  fact 
                which is  responsible  for most of the specula-
                tion of philosophy.
                  Mediaeval philosophers went hopelessly astray 
                because of  their  theology  neccessitated  the 
                reference  of  all things  to  the  standard of 
                man's welfare. * * *
                  The Ego-Idea  must  be  ruthlessly rooted out 
                before Understanding can be attained.
                  There is an  apparent  contradiction  between 
                this attitude and  that  of  the  Master of the
                Temple. What can possibly be more selfish  than
                this interpretation  of everything as a dealing
                of God with the soul?
                  But it is God who is all  and  not  any part;
                and every "dealing"  must  thus be an expansion
                of the soul, a destruction of its seperateness.
                  Every ray of the sun expands the flower.
                  The surface of the water in the Magick Cup is
                infinite;  there is no point different from any
                other point.
                  Thus, ultimately,  as the wand (spear)  is  a
                binding and a limitation,  so is the Cup an ex-
                pansion--into the Infinite.
                  And this is the danger of the  Cup;  it  must
                necessarily be open to all, and yet if anything
                is put into it which is out of proportion,  un-
                balanced, or impure, it takes hurt.''
                  But--``Ultimately the Magical Will so identi-
                fies itself with the man's whole being  that it
                becomes unconscious, and is as constant a force
                as gravitation.''

Thus had the Spear--The Magical Will--led Parzival back to the Grail.

But, after his long Quest, Parzival is weak and fainting,  and  this final 
temptation--the idea that after all he has FAILED in the Quest--causes him 
to sink down helplessly upon the grassy knoll.

Kundry  has  brought a basin of Water with which to sprinkle Parzival, but 
Gurnemanz, waving her off, says:

                                Not so!
                        The holy fount itself
                        Befitteth more our pilgrim's bath.

And so,  by  the  side  of  the  Holy  Spring (The Waters of the Great Sea
--AKSHARA)  they  remove  the  greaves  from  his legs (giving him further 
freedom of action) and bathe his feet (Symbol of Understanding). They then 
remove his corslet  (thus disclosing his Heart)  and sprinkle him with the 
holy water.

For there are Three that bear witness  on  Earth--The Water, the Blood and 
the  Holy  Ghost  (the Dove)  and  he that overcometh shall partake of the 
Waters of Life freely.

Upon the  contemplation  of Kundry's self-imposed task of bathing the feet 
of Parzival,  he asks gently but wearily: "Shall I straight be guided unto 
Amfortas?"  To  which question Gurnemanz, whilst busying himself, replies:

                          Most surely; there the Court our
                        coming waits.

He explains  further  that  even  he  has  been summoned to this Reception 
since,  upon  the  death  of  Titurel,  the  long  neglected office of the 
uncovering of the  Grail  is,  by  the  will  of Amfortas, once more to be 
performed.

We should notice how, apparently by chance--for so seems the Design of the 
Universal Initiation of Humanity--all  things  have  been prepared and are 
seen to lead up to the Crowning point of the Ceremony.

Meanwhile,  Parzival sits wondering at the marked change in Kundry, at her 
now  humble  attitude,  so  different  from  her  former perversity; while 
Gurnemanz  performs  a  further  office in the ceremony of Purification by 
sprinkling the head of Parzival with the water from the Holy Spring.

Purification being complete,  is followed by Consecration, the second step 
towards Initiation.  Kundry  is seen to take a golden flask from her bosom 
and to pour some of its  contents  upon Parzival's feet.  Taking the flask 
from her,  Parzival  then  invites  Gurnemanz to annoint his head with the 
same Holy Oil; his now clear vision causing him to remark:

                        ``For I to-day as king shall be
                            appointed.''

He makes this statement,  which is no less than a prophesy of his complete 
attainment, as simply and naturally as a child.

A few remarks should now  be  made  on  the nature of this Holy Oil and in 
regard to the source from whence it came.  Liber  IV will again supply the 
key, for therein we read: "The Holy Oil is the Aspiration of the Magician, 
it is that  which  consecrates  him  to the performance of the Great Work. 
* * * It is not the will of the magician, the desire of the lower to reach 
the higher; but is  that  spark of the higher in the Magician which wishes 
to unite the lower with itself."

The Oil,  in  this  instance performs a double purpose,  for it represents 
both  the  awakening  of  the  True  Self  of  Kundry,  and the desire for 
redemption.  This  Higher  Self  is  represented by Parzival, and Kundry's 
Consecration of Parzival  is  the  act which makes her redemption, by him, 
possible.

Again: "This oil is compounded of four substances. The basis of all is the 
oil  of  the olive,  The Olive is, traditionally, the gift of Minerva, the 
wisdom of God,  the Logos.  It  is  dissolved  in three other oils; oil of 
myrrh, oil of cinnamon, oil of galangal. The Myrrh is attributed to Binah, 
the Great Mother,  who  is both the understanding of the Magician and that 
sorrow and compassion that results from the contemplation of the Universe. 
The Cinnamon represents  Tiphareth,  the Sun--the Son,  in  whom Glory and 
Suffering are identical.  The Galangal represents both Kether and Malkuth, 
the First and the Last,  the One  and the Many, since in this Oil they are 
One." "These oils taken together represent the whole Tree of Life. The ten 
Sephiroth are blended into the  perfect  gold."  This  will become clearer 
when the whole Drama has been treated from the Qabalistic viewpoint in the 
next Chapter. Again:  "This  perfect  Oil  is most penetrating and subtle. 
Gradually it will spread itself, a glistening film,  over  every object in 
the Temple."

In regard to this latter  point  we should observe what actually happens a 
little further on in the Drama,  but  first  notice  one further quotation 
which has a very direct bearing on the subject in  hand.  "The phial which 
contains  the  Oil  should  be  of  clear  rock  crystal  (Rock Crystal is 
attributed to Malkuth--the Fallen Daughter,  but in this case the flask is 
of Gold which represents the Breast, Sun or Tiphareth Sphere of the Son or 
Higher Self whose influence has been felt by Kundry)  and  some  magicians 
have fashioned it in the shape of the female breast,  for that is the true 
nourishment of all that lives.  For  this  reason also it has been made of 
mother-of-pearl and stoppered with a ruby."  In  this connection we should 
note that Kundry  produced  the  golden  flask  from her bosom,  for every 
detail of this Drama is symbolical.

Next,  Parzival  very  quitely  scoops  up some of the Holy Water from the 
Spring  and  sprinkles  it upon Kundry's head while she kneels at his feet
--saying:

                        I first fulfil my duty thus:--
                          Be thou baptized,
                        And trust in the Redeemer!

At which Kundry bows her head and appears to weep bitterly.

This is the first time that  Kundry  has been truly willing to receive the 
higher help.  She has done much,  according to her own notions of service, 
but now she is about to be led to Understand how  best  she may Serve; for 
true Mastery implies true Service.

We should notice,  too,  the effects of the Holy Oil on Parzival. He turns 
round  and  gazes  with  gentle  rapture  on the woods and meadows;  which 
represent his Garden,  as we explained before.  Gradually, he realizes the 
results of the Work he had carried on in silence and darkness.  His memory 
awakens and he murmurs:

                How fair the fields and meadows seem today!
                Many a magic flower I've seen,
                Which sought to clasp me in its baneful twinings;
                But none I've seen so sweet as here,
                These tendrils bursting with blossom,
                Whose scent recalls my childhood's days,
                And soeaks of loving trust to me.

Gurnemanz attempts to explain this,  saying: "That is Good-Friday's spell, 
my lord!"  Whereas  Parzival,  reminded  of  the  darkness  of  his  self-
crucifixion and hardly yet realizing its full significance, replies:

                     ``Alas, that day of agony!
                     Now surely everything that thrives,
                     That breathes and lives and lives again
                     Should only mourn and sorrow?''

But Gurnemanz continues:

                     ``Thou seest it is not so.

For:  "The  sad  repentant  tears  of  sinners  have  here  with holy rain 
besprinkled field and plain,  and  made them glow with beauty. All earthly 
creatures  in  delight  at  the  Redeemer's trace so bright,  uplift their 
prayers of duty.  To see Him on the Cross they have no power;  and so they 
smile upon redeemed man,  who,  feeling freed,  with  dread  no  more doth 
cower,  through  God's  love-sacrifice made clean and pure.  And  now each 
meadow flower and blade perceives  that  mortal  foot  to-day  it need not 
dread; for as the Lord in pity man did  spare,  and  in  His mercy for him 
bled,  all  men  will  keep  with  pious  care,  to-day a tender tread. So 
Tresspass-pardoned Nature wakes now to her day of Innocence."

During this speech,  Kundry has been watching Parzival with moist eyes and 
a look of beseeching,  and he, now fully realizing the results of his work 
(for it is High Noon) remarks:

                     I saw my scornful mockers wither:
                     Now look they for forgiveness hither?
                     Like blessed sweet dew a tear from thee
                       too floweth?
                     Thou weepest--see! the landscape 
                       gloweth.

And he kisses her softly upon the brow. Here the "dew of pure love" begins 
its wondrous action which brings all to perfection.  Of this it is written 
in Liber IV.  "There is,  however,  a universal  solvent and harmonizer, a 
certain dew which is so pure that a single  drop of it cast into the water 
of the Cup will for the time being bring all perfection.

"This dew is  called  Love.  Even  in  the  case  of human love, the whole 
Universe appears perfect  to  the man who is under  its control, so it is, 
and much more, with the Divine Love of which it is now spoken.

"For human love is an excitement, and not a stilling of the  mind;  and as 
it is bound to the individual, only leads to greater trouble in the end.

"This  Divine  Love,  on the contrary, is attached to no sumbol. It abhors 
limitation, either in its intensity or in its scope."

Here we obtain  the  key  to  the  errors  of  both Klingsor and Amfortas; 
together with the true solution of the problem,  as  obtained by Parzival. 
For this Love leads on to ECSTASY, as the drama itself now shows us.

It is MIDDAY,  and  just as the Sun is then at its height and full beauty, 
so we find that Parzival's travels  have led him to complete the circle of 
his wanderings,  and in another moment,  The Mountain of Salvation, like a 
great  Ruby  Jewel  set  in a Golden Ring, will shine out once more. Mean-
while,  Gurnemanz and Kundry are seen to cover Parzival with the Mantle of 
the Grail, and he, solemnly grasping the Holy Spear and with Kundry at his 
side, prepares to follow Gurnemanz.

Now,  as if to prove out theory that Parzival had completed the Circle, we 
find the scenery once  again  automatically  changing,  but this time from 
right to left.  It will be remembered that on the  previous occasion, when 
for the first time Parzival entered the Temple of  the Grail,  this charge 
took place in the opposite direction. The passages through which they pass 
are similar,  but  as  if reversed.  And this time all three traverse them 
together as if to symbolise the Sacred Triad,  the  completion of which is 
about to take place.

As before,  there  are chimes of bells.  (The aspirant will notice similar 
sounds when entering the Higher Consciousness.  They  are sometimes called 
"The Voice of the Nada.")

Once more Time and Space are One,  and the Tableau of the Everpresent Here 
and Now appears.

Here we find Birth, Death, Life, Sorrow, Age and Youth mingled together in 
Harmony,  Joy and Beauty. The vast Temple of the Holy Ghost--the length of 
which is  from  North  to  South,  its breadth from East to West,  and its 
height from Abyss to Abyss,  yet which is also the BODY OF MAN--is open to 
our view.

There  is  but  a faint light at first.  The doors open on either side and 
Knights bring Titurel's corpse in a Coffin and Amfortas' wounded body on a 
litter.  The  bier  is erected in the middle of the Hall, and behind it is 
the throne with canopy, where Amfortas is set down.

Then  comes  a  train  of  Knights  bearing  the  Holy  Grail  towards the 
sheltering Shrine, where it is placed as before.

Unaware of  the  approach  of  the  Victorious Parzival,  the  Knights now 
murmur at the death of Titurel the honoured founder of the Order. For this 
death,  Amfortas  appears  to  have  been  at least partially responsible, 
having failed for so long  a  time  in his office to unveil the Grail. Yet 
he, having lost the Sacred Spear--the Higher Will--entrusted to him by his 
Father, and having  found  the  human will quite unable to take Its place, 
has in the  meanwhile  suffered  awful  tortures  through  this failure to 
fulfil his true Purpose.

The Knights,  in despair,  press towards Amfortas and demand that he--this 
once--unveil the shrine and do his office. Whereat, Amfortas in an ECSTASY 
OF FEAR,  springs up and throws himself among the Knights--who draw back--
while he cries:

                        No!--No more!--Ha!
                Already is death glooming round me,
                And shall I yet again return to life?
                        Insanity!
                What one in life can yet stay me?
                Rather I bid ye slay me!

For such is the Ecstasy of the Touch of Death the Twin of Love.

                    (He tears open his dress.)

                Behold me!--the open wound behold!
                Here is my poison--my streaming blood.
                Take up your weapons! Bury your
                  sword-blades
                Deep--deep in me, to the hilts! Ye
                  heroes, up!
                Kill both the sinner and all his pain:
                The Grail's delight will ye then regain!

But there is no DEATH in the Hall of Ecstasy. Birth, Life,  Death  are not 
successive but One, for Time and Space are One.

And so, at the moment of Amfortas' greatest agony Parzival,  the Redeeming 
Power, enters unperceived and unexpected.

There is much truth in the old saying,  "The unexpected is sure to happen" 
and this is more and more clearly realized as we tread the true Path. True 
Ecstasy  comes  at  the  moment  when  all seems lost, for the partial and 
transient must disappear and become lost,  e'er  the Real appears. "For to 
each individual thing, attainment means first and foremost the destruction 
of the individuality."

"Each of  our  ideas  must  be made to give up the self to the Beloved, so 
that we  may  eventually  give  up  the  Self to the Beloved in our turn."
--Liber IV.

Suddenly the voise of Parzival is heard:

                One weapon only serves:
                  The one that struck
                Can staunch thy wounded side.

The countenance of Amfortas,  upon  his  hearing these words, now displays 
HOLY RAPTURE. He totters in ecstasy, while Gurnemanz supports him tenderly.

                           Parzival

                Be whole, unsullied and absolved!
                For now I govern in thy place.

The True Will unhesitatingly takes its rightful place, and since that Will 
is one with THE WILL OF THE UNIVERSE,  Amfortas without hesitation accepts 
it.

                           Parzival

                  Oh blessed be thy sorrows,
                For Pity's potent might
                And Knowledge' purest Power
                They taught a timid Fool.
                  The Holy Spear
                Once more behold in this.

And  as  all  gaze  in  rapture  on  the  Spear held aloft by Parzival, he 
continues, in inspiration, as he gazes at its Point:

                O mighty miracle of bliss!
                This that through me thy wound restoreth.
                With holy blood behold it poureth,
                Which yearns to to join the fountain glowing,
                Whose pure tide in the Grail is flowing!
                Hid be no more that shape divine;
                Uncover the Grail! Open the Shrine!

Thus,  and  not  otherwise,  came Parzival into his own. The Temple of the 
Chalice of Ecstasy is now, for him, The Palace of the King's Daughter. For 
thus is it written:  "When these shall have destroyed  the  Universe, then 
mayest thou enter the Palace of the Queen,  my Daughter."  Then only shall 
we understand the nature of The Bride's Reception.  For:

                ``The Spirit and the bride say, Come.
                And let him that heareth say, Come.
                And let him that is athirst come.
                And whosoever will, let him take of the
                  water of life freely.''

Thus,  and  thus alone;  amid Radiant Light, the Glowing of the Chalice of
Ecstasy,  the  Rising  of  Titurel  from  the Tomb,  the Death struggle of 
Kundry,  the  Homage  of  the  Redeemed,  the Praise of the Knights of the 
Grail,  and  above  all the Benediction of the Dove of the Holy Spirit; is 
the final Work accomplished--

                     THE REDEMPTION OF THE REDEEMER.




                          QABALISTIC CONCLUSION


Nothing now remains but  for  the  scribe  to  bear witness to the strange 
Qabalistic "coincidences" connected with this Drama.

Was Wagner a great Qabalist?  Were those from whom he obtained the sources 
of his information such? Who can tell?

Rather I would suggest that, being inspired,  this Drama must of necessity 
conform to all truth,  on  all  planes.  For  there  are certain Numerical 
Emanations, called the Ten Sephiroth,  and there are certain Vibrations of 
a numerical nature connected with Words.

It is not my intention to write a treatise on the Holy  Qabalah (those who 
wish to study this interesting subject may do so in "Q.B.L. or The Bride's 
Reception"),  nor to describe fully the "Tree of Life", nor the methods of 
drawing numerical meanings from words.  The  accompanying  plate shows the 
structure of "The Tree of Life",  and  the  Frontispiece indicates how the 
"Chalice of Ecstasy" may be drawn therefrom.

The Qabalistic teaching is that Malkuth--The Kingdom--The Animal Soul--THE 
FALLEN DAUGHTER must be RAISED through the  Office  of  the SON--Tiphereth
--The Sun--Harmony and Beauty,  to the Throne of the MOTHER--Binah--Under-
standing--THE CUP, when she is again united to the FATHER--Chokmah--Wisdom
--Will--THE SPEAR,  thus  absorbing  all  into THE CROWN--Kether--The Pure 
Light of the DOVE which descends upon their Union.

Thsi is the Mystery  of  Redemption and  of the Great Work, the Uniting of 
the Microcosm and the Macrocosm--Man with God.

The  main  Formula  of  the  Great  Work,  that  of the Rose and Cross, is 
symbolised in the Great Order as 5ø=6ø.  This  refers to the Microcosm and 
the Macrocosm as the  Pentagram  or  Fivefold Star on Unconquered Will and 
the Hexagram or Six-fold Star.  The Work is to discover their equivalence, 
and to unite them.

The first stage of this Union occurs in TIPHERETH, and is accompanied with 
the  feeling  of  Ecstasy.  This  Sephira  is  that  of  the  SUN,  and is 
necessarily connected with the Solar Numbers of which  6,  66, and 666 are 
the Scale.  This  is the Sphere of the Crowned King--The Son who unites in 
himself both Glory and Suffering.

But since there has  been,  what  we  may term,  a change of Office in the 
Great Hierarchy in this New Aeon, we find that the Number 418 which is the 
numeration  of  "ABRAHADABRA" the  Word  of the  Aeon is also particularly 
attributed to this Sphere,  since  it  represents perfectly the formula of 
5ø=6ø. (See Sepher Sephiroth, Equinox Vol. I. Number VIII.)

Again 777 is a number representing alike "The Flaming Sword" and the Unity 
of  all  things  including  the  World  of  Shells.  In  Greek  Qabalah it 
corresponds to the word STAUROS--The Cross.

It is worthy of  notice,  and  most careful consideration, therefore, that 
with slight  adjustment of spelling, the Names of the principle characters 
in the Drama have an extraordinary significance.


TITUREL, Founder of the Grail Order, adds to 666.

MONSALVAT, the Mountain of Salvation, adds to 666.

GAMURET, the Father of Parzival, adds to 666.

AMFORTAS, with his Cross of Suffering, adds to 777.

KLINGSOR, who represents Choronozon (333) adds to 333.

GURNEMANZ, Conductor of the New King, adds to 418.

PARZIVAL, The Pure Fool, adds to 418.

KUNDRY and GUNDRYGGIA, alike add to 290.

In the  above the Hebrew equivalents of the letters and the old  spellings 
of the names are used.  With small study of the  Qabalistic System and the 
Grades  of  the  Order  based on the Tree of Life, the significance of the 
above will  become  more  and  more  apparent  to the Student. An extended 
treatise might be written on the subject,  but  that  is not the intention 
of the author at this time.

Now,  there  are  several  spellings  of the name Parzival; the one I have 
adopted being that of Wolfram von Eschenbach, from whom Wagner derived the 
Drama.  The usual spelling--Parsifal--is interesting since it adds to 388, 
which, with the addition of 500  (Final Mem. The Water of the Great Sea of 
Understanding),  becomes  888.  By  Greek  Numeration 888 is the number of 
Jesus the Christ.

But there is another spelling,  much  more  significant,  and probably the 
oldest of them all. PARCHVAL, the numeration of which adds to 326.

It will have been noticed that  the most important Points of the Drama are 
connected with THE CUP--Understanding--Binah  the THIRD Sephira; The SPEAR
--Will--Wisdom--Chokamh the SECOND Sephira,  and  THE HEART--The Castle of 
the Grail--Tiphereth the SIXTH Sephira. If we examine these Spheres on the 
Tree of Life we find they form a Descending Triad representing the Bowl of 
The Chalice of Ecstasy, the points of which are 326.

Now 326 is the Numeration of IHShVH--The Hebrew Jeheshuah--Jesus--The God-
Man  or  Redeemer.  This  Word  also  symbolises the descent of "Shin" the 
letter of the  Holy  Spirit into the Four Lettered Word IHVH--Jehovah--The 
Ineffable Name and  the  Formula  of  the  Four  Elements.  Thus  PARChVAL 
symbolises the whole process perfectly;  the Descent of Spirit into Matter 
and also of the Redemption.

It  also  shows  the  transition to the New Aeon, there being a connection 
between this old spelling and that of Parzival  the formula of the present 
time. For the central letter of the word PARChVAL is "Ch" in Hebrew Cheth, 
which spelt in full is 418 the numeration of Parzival,  and of the Word of 
the Aeon, his Magick Formula.

I need only add that The DOVE--Kether--The  Crown--when  shown  above  the 
bowl of the CHALICE (in its natural position on The Tree of Life) together 
with Yesod--the Foundation and Malkuth--The Kingdom,  as the stem and base 
of the Cup;  completes  the  Qabalistic  Design.  This arrangement clearly 
shows how the Chalice is one with the  Tree of Life and filled by the Holy 
Spirit.

The numerical proof is not, however, quite complete--indeed it could never 
be completed--but let me draw your attention to  the  word Grail.  The old 
spelling  is  GRAL  and here we find G--the letter of The Moon--and R--the 
letter of the Sun, coupled with AL, the Great Name of God.

Turning once more to our Qabalistic Design of the Cup drawn on the Tree of 
Life,  let  us  examine  the  Numbers  of the Sephiroth involved. We shall 
indeed discover the "Chalice of Ecstasy" for we obtain 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 + 9 +
10 = 31,  which  is  the numeration of both AL and LA--God and Not--Key to 
the Mysteries  both  of  the  Old  Aeon  and  the  New  and  when properly 
understood the

                            Final Formula of

                                 ECSTASY.


                                  -oOo-