ur uest for the oly rail

King Arthur and Celtic Christianity

Spirituality at the Church with the Red Doors

Join in searching for the Holy Grail:

King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Grail

We will explore the legends of King Arthur and how they provide insight into Celtic Christianity and our own relationships with each other and with God. These often-told legends arise from the conflict of paganism and Christianity. The Roundtable, the Grail Quest, Modred, Lancelot and Guinivere all are expressions of this conflict and provide fertile ground for understanding Celtic spirituality and our own spirituality.

Discovering your Quest

In the second half of the session, we will explore how the Grail Quest continues in our own lives. Each of us is on a quest. The motif of the Grail provides rich and enlightening insight into our search.

at First Congregational Church of Closter
corner of Harrington Ave. and West St. at 7:30 PM Wednesday September 6, 2000

For more information call either (201) 768-7285 or e-mail at fcclostr@cwn.com.

Class Notes

Opening questions:
1. What do you like especially about Arthur?
2. What does Questing mean to you?
3. Consider your own quest

Arthur, Celtic Spirituality, and Conflict

Modern Celtic: Irish, Scots Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Breton, Cornish

Common Celtic
Q-Celtic				P-Celtic
Goidelic			Celtiberian	Lepontic	Brittonic				Gaulish
Irish	Manx	Scottish			Welsh	Cumbrian	Cornish	Breton	Transalpine	Galatian	Cisalpine

Modern Celtic People
- Gaelic
  - Eire/Ireland
  - Alba/Scotland
  - Mannin/Isle of Man
  - Nova Scotia
- Brittonic
  - Cymru/Wales
  - Breizh/Brittany
  - Kernow/Cornwall
  - Y Wladfa/Welsh colony in Patagonia (s. 1865; anx by Argentina 1869)
- Celtic Diaspora/Celtic Exiles: Canada, USA, London
Review of Celtic Otherworld
- Otherworld: from which the spirit comes and where it returns after death
- Immrama: journeys to the Otherworld
- Light and vital
- Gateway to another kind of life: not the ending of life
- Much like our earthly life, but transformed by the beauty and everlasting quality of its nature.
- Otherworld:
  - infinite possibilities
  - beautiful
  - marvelous beings
- Various beings:
  - gods
  - spirits
  - mythic creatures
- This world familiar to the ancient Celts, yet better, more beautiful
- Time is not and no one grows any older
- Hero enters Otherworld often via a fairy mound or sidhe
- Sometimes via wells or lakes
- The ancient gods retire to 'hollow hills' after their conquest by succeeding tribes
- Hence, heroes went to visit ancestors, keepers of past lore; recalled to tell of past events and give advice
- ancestor worship prevalent
- ancient grave sites had guardian spirits, partly for consultation
- Later, Christian imagery conflated in stories:
- Two - way traffic back and forth between Otherworld and this world
Arthurian Parallels

Immrama The Quest

The Otherworld Camelot

The Otherworld Avalon

Heroes Knights of the Round Table

Fairies Lady of the Lake; Nimue

Druids Merlin; Morgana
Arthurian (Celtic) Stories
- Sword in the Stone and the Coming of Arthur
- Excalibar and the Lady of the Lake
- Knights of the Round Table
- Tristam and Isolde
- Lancelot and Guinivere
- Modred
- Merlin
- King Arthur and Emperor Lucius
- Quest for the Holy Grail
Druids
- from (Celtic Bards, Celtic Druids; R. J. Stewart and robin Williamson; Blandford ©1996)
  - sacred island of Anglesey: major training center for priests and priestesses
  - strictly oral
  - Merlin: generic figure in Wales and Lowland Scotland
    1. young noble
    2. mad prophet
    3. wise elder
  - Mabinogion, Welsh celtic stories
  - Romans proscribed druids as well as Christians
  - not a sect or single religion, but a philosophy
  - concerned with knowledge: history, genealogy, healing, astronomy/astrology, geography, geometry, (sacred) architecture, magic, metaphysics
  - prophecy, judgment, rectitude
  - ceased to exist 3rd - 4th century
- Merlin the Wizard
  1. A druid
  2. A poet and prophet
  3. Seer
  4. bewitched by Nimue
  5. from the First Prophecy of Merlin (Celtic Bards, Celtic Druids)
    - mother a nun
    - father a spirit
    - before Arthur, as a boy, to be sacrificed by Vostigern.
    - But saved himself by exposing the wizards.
    - Prophesies the ascent of the Saxons
- Morgan le Fey
  1. witch
  2. magic for evil
  3. Arthur's half-sister
  4. seeks to destroy Arthur
  5. Mother of Modred (Arthur's son)
  6. flies
  7. shape changer
Christian motifs
1. Christian knights
2. chivalry
3. Chastity (purity)
4. Saintly Galahad
5. The bible
6. Guinivere to a nunnery

The Quest for the Holy Grail
- Questing: The Palace of Crystal (Celtic Bards, Celtic Druids)
  - no systematic or consistent idea of the Otherworld
  - connection of spiritual life and outer life
  - often three realms
    1. living nature: nature as actively involved in our lives
    2. inner powers behind living nature: where all things are reversed
      (The Palace of Crystal) = Afterlife
    3. ancient mysteries of the underworld: færie; overcoming fear; rebirth and regeneration
  - druidic elements
    - nature powers
    - 3 realms
    - importance of imagination
    - overcoming fear
    - polarity reversals
    - obedience to inner laws
    - spiritual regeneration
- The Legend
  1. Starts with great marvels
    - A sword in a stone that only Galahad can withdraw
    - Vision of the grail
  2. Knights commit themselves to find Castle Carbonek wherein is the grail (gate to the 3rd realm)
  3. The knights have many adventures on their quest
  4. The knights one by one return from their quest
  5. They return, failed in their search.
  6. But each one had to confront who he was and how he related to God. (the 2nd realm)
  7. Especially Lancelot
  8. Lancelot -- almost pure -- glimpses it, but is denied its presence, because of his sin
  9. Sir Bors returns, transfigured
  10. He found Carbonek with Galahad and Percival -- and found the Grail
  11. Grail: pure light, sweetness, blooming flowers of Eden, perfect love, peace, harmony, perfect happiness.
  12. God carried the Grail and led them to another distant Realm (the 3rd realm)
  13. Galahad and Percival transformed by its light and ascend to heaven (rebirth/regeneration)
  14. The grail is guarded by the Fisher King (Christ?) and would not let it be brought to Britain, since Britain is unworthy
- Our Quest
  s. for example, Joyous Labor
  1. Was there an event that you remember that called you to seek fulfillment?
  2. Were you alone or with others on this journey?
  3. Where have you confronted yourself? God?
  4. Have you glimpsed the grail?
  5. What would bring satisfaction and fulfillment?

If you have any questions or we can be of help, please call the church at 201 768 7285, or send us e-mail at fcclostr@cwn.com.

Immrama	The Quest
The Otherworld	Camelot
The Otherworld	Avalon
Heroes	Knights of the Round Table
Fairies	Lady of the Lake; Nimue
Druids	Merlin; Morgana