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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-steel” (bk. 2, chap. 3). | 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” (bk. 2, chap. 3). | ||
Scholars believe the name Excalibur/Caliburnus is derived either from a Welsh word meaning “lightning sword,” or the Latin ''chalybs'', meaning “steel” or “sword,” and | 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.” | ||
The sword is also symbolic of the transcendent toughness of the all-conquering spirit. Folklore tells of a group of heroes who are considered swords personified: King Arthur is one of these sword-heroes. | The sword is also symbolic of the transcendent toughness of the all-conquering spirit. Folklore tells of a group of heroes who are considered swords personified: King Arthur is one of these sword-heroes. | ||