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Excalibur: Difference between revisions
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== History of Excalibur == | == History of Excalibur == | ||
Arthur uses the sword he pulls from the stone to fight six kings who challenge his right to be king. When Arthur unsheathes his sword at the crucial moment in the battle, it shines in the eyes of his enemies “like the light of thirty torches.” Later, this sword breaks during Arthur’s duel with King Pellinore. | Arthur uses the sword he pulls from the stone to fight six kings who challenge his right to be king. When Arthur unsheathes his sword at the crucial moment in the battle, it shines in the eyes of his enemies “like the light of thirty torches.”<ref>Malory, ''Le Morte D’Arthur'', vol. 1, p. 23.</ref> Later, this sword breaks during Arthur’s duel with King Pellinore. | ||
Merlin allays Arthur’s concern that he has no sword and leads him to a lake. In the midst of the lake is an arm coming up out of the water clothed in white silk fabric holding the sword Excalibur. A damsel, the Lady of the Lake, comes to Arthur and tells him he can take the sword. | Merlin allays Arthur’s concern that he has no sword and leads him to a lake. In the midst of the lake is an arm coming up out of the water clothed in white silk fabric holding the sword Excalibur. A damsel, the Lady of the Lake, comes to Arthur and tells him he can take the sword. | ||
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== Symbolism of the sword == | == Symbolism of the sword == | ||
The sword is the symbol of the raised Kundalini. Arthur receives Excalibur from the hand of the Divine Mother, represented by the Lady of the Lake. The arm coming out of the water (the water element itself is symbolic of the Mother) is clothed in white—another allusion to the white fire of the Mother raised up. | The sword is the symbol of the raised [[Kundalini]]. Arthur receives Excalibur from the hand of the Divine Mother, represented by the Lady of the Lake. The arm coming out of the water (the water element itself is symbolic of the Mother) is clothed in white—another allusion to the white fire of the Mother raised up. | ||
Geoffrey of Monmouth was the first to give Arthur’s sword a name. In his account of British history in about 1135 A.D., he named Arthur’s sword “Caliburnus.” In Sir Thomas Malory’s ''Le Morte d’Arthur'' (c. 1469), the Lady of the Lake tells King Arthur that the name of his sword is “Excalibur, that is as much to say as Cut- | Geoffrey of Monmouth was the first to give Arthur’s sword a name. In his account of British history in about 1135 A.D., he named Arthur’s sword “Caliburnus.” In Sir Thomas Malory’s ''Le Morte d’Arthur'' (c. 1469), the Lady of the Lake tells King Arthur that the name of his sword is “Excalibur, that is as much to say as Cut-steel.”<ref>Ibid., bk. 2, chap. 3.</ref> | ||
Scholars believe the name Excalibur/Caliburnus is derived either from a Welsh word meaning “lightning sword,” or from the Latin ''chalybs'', meaning “steel” or “sword,” and ''eburneus'' meaning “white as ivory.” Combining this etymology with the understanding of the [[Kundalini]], the meaning of Excalibur is revealed as “the sword out of the white light, or the steely white light, of the Mother.” | Scholars believe the name Excalibur/Caliburnus is derived either from a Welsh word meaning “lightning sword,” or from the Latin ''chalybs'', meaning “steel” or “sword,” and ''eburneus'' meaning “white as ivory.” Combining this etymology with the understanding of the [[Kundalini]], the meaning of Excalibur is revealed as “the sword out of the white light, or the steely white light, of the Mother.” | ||
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<blockquote>Therefore, beloved, seek the initiation of the sword. And understand that it is a rod of sacred fire fashioned by the Divine Mother out of your own sacred life-force rising from the [[base chakra]] to the [[third eye]]. Therefore, beloved, the sword that is taken from the stone of Matter is a spiritual fire. Legend would have it that it is a magic sword. Beloved, the spiritual fire does dissolve on contact all unlike itself.<ref>{{POWref|30|18}}</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>Therefore, beloved, seek the initiation of the sword. And understand that it is a rod of sacred fire fashioned by the Divine Mother out of your own sacred life-force rising from the [[base chakra]] to the [[third eye]]. Therefore, beloved, the sword that is taken from the stone of Matter is a spiritual fire. Legend would have it that it is a magic sword. Beloved, the spiritual fire does dissolve on contact all unlike itself.<ref>{{POWref|30|18}}</ref></blockquote> | ||
Lanello has said: | [[Lanello]] has said: | ||
<blockquote>In the beginning the test is to take the sword from the stone. This is symbolical of the activation and loosing of the [[Kundalini]] fire, the World Mother within oneself. Thus, when the beloved Arthur took the sword from the stone, it was the placing in his hand of the object and symbol of the mighty crystal cord, star-studded with seven chakras. The taking of the sword is the taking of the rod of the Woman whereby king and prince and knight do conquer even the illusions of these octaves.</blockquote> | <blockquote>In the beginning the test is to take the sword from the stone. This is symbolical of the activation and loosing of the [[Kundalini]] fire, the World Mother within oneself. Thus, when the beloved Arthur took the sword from the stone, it was the placing in his hand of the object and symbol of the mighty [[crystal cord]], star-studded with seven chakras. The taking of the sword is the taking of the rod of the Woman whereby king and prince and knight do conquer even the illusions of these octaves.</blockquote> | ||
<blockquote>In the life of King Arthur, you observe the grand nobility of the soul facing each and every challenge, every momentum of personal and world darkness assailing each new plane of God’s consciousness which is to be discovered as one mounts the altar of sacred fire up the spine to the crown of Life—always the crown of the [[World Mother]] which she places upon her blessed sons.</blockquote> | <blockquote>In the life of King Arthur, you observe the grand nobility of the soul facing each and every challenge, every momentum of personal and world darkness assailing each new plane of God’s consciousness which is to be discovered as one mounts the altar of sacred fire up the spine to the crown of Life—always the crown of the [[World Mother]] which she places upon her blessed sons.</blockquote> | ||