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Holy Grail: Difference between revisions
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It is not clear from the mass of conflicting legends what exactly the Grail was or is. It was variously described as a chalice or cup, a stone, a serving dish, or even Christ himself. Most probable is that the mystical Grail presence takes on different forms in the minds of those who see it, or desire to, according to their capacity for understanding. | It is not clear from the mass of conflicting legends what exactly the Grail was or is. It was variously described as a chalice or cup, a stone, a serving dish, or even Christ himself. Most probable is that the mystical Grail presence takes on different forms in the minds of those who see it, or desire to, according to their capacity for understanding. | ||
Other cultures also have heroes who quest grail-like objects. China, India, Tibet, Egypt, Wales, and Ireland are among the nations which preserve legends paralleling the search for the Holy Cup.<ref>For example, the Mahabharatha speaks about the ''Akshaya Pathram'', a vessel or bowl capable of creating food.</ref> The coincidences between sets of legends are striking. These outcroppings of the Grail theme are hard to explain merely as versions of the same story transferred by migration. Rather, they seem to take root, flourish and enthrall civilizations around the world because they are an essential element in man’s nature. | Other cultures also have heroes who quest grail-like objects. China, India, [[Tibet]], Egypt, Wales, and Ireland are among the nations which preserve legends paralleling the search for the Holy Cup.<ref>For example, the Mahabharatha speaks about the ''Akshaya Pathram'', a vessel or bowl capable of creating food.</ref> The coincidences between sets of legends are striking. These outcroppings of the Grail theme are hard to explain merely as versions of the same story transferred by migration. Rather, they seem to take root, flourish and enthrall civilizations around the world because they are an essential element in man’s nature. | ||
Emma Jung, psychologist and wife of Carl Jung, explains in her book ''The Grail Legend'' that this phenomenon results from the universal archetypal basis of the theme. She explains that “the fascination and vitality of myths and fairy-tales lie precisely in the fact that they depict basic forms of human experience. For this very reason the same motifs are found the world over, not only as the result of migration but also because the human psyche which produces them is everywhere the same.”<ref>Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz, ''The Grail Legend'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998), p. 37.</ref> | Emma Jung, psychologist and wife of Carl Jung, explains in her book ''The Grail Legend'' that this phenomenon results from the universal archetypal basis of the theme. She explains that “the fascination and vitality of myths and fairy-tales lie precisely in the fact that they depict basic forms of human experience. For this very reason the same motifs are found the world over, not only as the result of migration but also because the human psyche which produces them is everywhere the same.”<ref>Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz, ''The Grail Legend'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998), p. 37.</ref> | ||
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== The significance of the Grail today == | == The significance of the Grail today == | ||
El Morya speaks of the mystical significance of the Holy Grail today: | ]]El Morya]] speaks of the mystical significance of the Holy Grail today: | ||
<blockquote>Oh, there is a Holy Grail indeed! and long ago it was placed at Glastonbury. But, precious ones, today it has been spiritually amplified until replicas of that Holy Grail are placed as a filigree radiance of light around each human heart who aspires to become a chalice of Christed opportunity. And so tonight I tell you that the Holy Grail is within your own heart, and you are knights to guard that Grail against impure thoughts, impure motives, impure desires, impure ideas of every type and kind.<ref>{{MR1}}, p. 185.</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>Oh, there is a Holy Grail indeed! and long ago it was placed at Glastonbury. But, precious ones, today it has been spiritually amplified until replicas of that Holy Grail are placed as a filigree radiance of light around each human heart who aspires to become a chalice of Christed opportunity. And so tonight I tell you that the Holy Grail is within your own heart, and you are knights to guard that Grail against impure thoughts, impure motives, impure desires, impure ideas of every type and kind.<ref>{{MR1}}, p. 185.</ref></blockquote> | ||