Sir Galahad as conceived by George Frederick Watts.

Now saith this story whanne Galahad had rescowed Percyual from the twenty knyghtes / he yede tho in to a waste foreste / wherin he rode many Iourneyes / and he fonde many aduentures / the whiche he brought to an ende / wherof the story maketh here no mencyon / Thenne he toke his waye to the see on a daye / & hit befelle as he passed by a Castel where was a wonder turnement / but they withoute had done soo moche/ that they within were putte to the werse / yet were they wythin good knyghtes ynouȝ / whanne Galahad sawe that tho within were at soo grete a meschyef that men slewe hem att the entre of the Castel / thenne he thoughte to helpe hem / and putte a spere forth / and smote the fyrste that he slay to the erthe / and the spere brak to pyeces / thanne he drewe his suerd / and smote there as they were thyckest / and so he dyd wonderful dedes of armes / that alle they merueylled / thenne hit happed that Gawayne and sir Ector de marys were with the knyghtes withoute / But whanne they aspyed the whyte shelde with the reed Crosse / the one sayd to the other yonder is the good knyght sir Galahad the haute prynce / Now he shold be a grete foole / whiche shold mete with hym to fyghte...... http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cme;idno=MaloryWks2;rgn=div1;view=text;cc=cme;node=MaloryWks2%3A19

So begins the tale by Caxton concerning Sir Galahad the Haute Prince, son of Sir Lancelot.  Some call this modern English, believe it or not. But after going through Chaucer so many times, the writings of Malory are not much different really, even though Galahad is written a hundred years later. But that is for another discussion. I just would point out that reading Shakespeare is not romp in the park either.  Anyway with Chaucer and Malory as you read, think the pirate and pronounce the e that ends words like foole. It is fun and adds to the tempo of the tome.

What does Le Morte d'Arthur have to do with Christmas and the Christmas spirit?

Well, the bastard of the union between Lancelot and Elaine reaches the grand old age of fifteen; the same age Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and leads the Roman Celts against the barbarian hordes of the Saxons.  Galahad is pure of heart, pure of mind, pure of soul and pure of body. And basically he has touched of the fruit of the forbidden not. And he arrives at Camelot and rests upon the Seat Perilous as predicted by the prophets of the day to lead the quest for the Holy Grail.

And you will notice that one of the knights he unhorses at the grand tournament is Gawain, the third greatest of all knights according to Malory.

And these are just a few of the grand adventures of the purest knight, a mere teen; a boy who would be put into some group therapy in this day and age being brought up in a fatherless abode and prone to adventures that should be open only to seasoned men.

And the adventures just multiply with sacred and magic ships, wondrous metamorphoses, and many other mystical goings on.  He even cures King Pelles of the dolorous stroke rendered unto him by the great knight Sir Balin in one of the earliest chapters of the epic. This Dolorous Stroke involved a score of years where the great King laid sick, sore and disabled and the kingdom became the great Wasteland referred to by Eliot and hundreds of other great poets and writers of prose.

I just underline these great feats accomplished by the teen to demonstrate that Galahad's quest for the San Grail was not some quick run to a 7/11 for a super-duper iced drink.

Now I must interject here that there are three knights who 'achieved' the Quest for the Holy Grail:

Sir Galahad who was the purest of heart, soul, mind and body is the main hero in the Quest stories.

Sir Percival, who was kind of pure but had the misfortune to enter a woman in a knowing manner once, is more like the young monk in Eco's Name of the Rose.

Sir Bors who kind of had a few experiments with his magic wizard, all without the aid of Viagra, also was allowed to 'experience' the Grail.

It must also be acknowledged that Galahad was seven generations removed from our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ through Lancelot. You see the parallels with Mathew here as I discussed in a previous chapter. Galahad is a bastard but claims the greatest bloodline of all.

This part of the account discusses Joseph of Aramethea who came to Britain/Brittany with Mary Magdeline more than four centuries prior. What Malory and Caxton omit is any talk of the'package' that the duo brought to the Island. And that was the daughter of our Lord and Savior--and even a son to go along with that in some accounts.  Great men were born of the sacred relic that Mary and Joseph brought from the sacred land of the Jews. And great movies also.

Percival and Bors also claim a sacred blood line to the Messiah. Bors related through Sir Bors the Elder and his uncle Sir Ban the father of Lancelot.  The entire quest is kind of a family affair really.  Lancelot does get to 'see' but not 'experience' the mysteries of the grail due to encounters with the opposite sex that would shame Tiger Woods. But old Lance's biggest crime was adultery with Gwenivere.

knyghtes merueyls that entryd in to the Cyte / Thenne anon after the thre knyghtes wente to the water / and broughte vp in to the paleys Percyuals syster / and buryed her as rychely as a kynges doughter oughte to be / And whan the kynge of the Cyte whiche was cleped Estorause sawe the felaushyp / he asked hem of whens they were / and what thyng it was that they had broughte vpon the table of syluer / & they told hym the trouthe of the Sancgreal and the power whiche that god had sette there / Thenne the kynge was a Tyraunt / and was come of the lyne of paynyms / and toke hem / and putte hem in pryson in a depe hole

Capitulum xxij

BVt as soone as they were there oure lord sente hem the Sancgreal / thorow whoos grace they were al waye fulfylled whyle that they were in pryson / Soo at the yeres ende hit befelle that this kynge Estourause lay seke and felte that he shold dye / Thenne he sente for the thre knyghtes & they came afore hym / and he cryed hem mercy of that he had done to them / and they forgaf hit hym goodely and he dyed anone / Whanne the kynge was dede / alle the cyte was desmayed and wyst not who myghte be her kynge /

¶ Ryght soo as they were in counceille there came a voyce amonge them / and badde hem chese the yongest knyght of them thre to be her kynge for he shalle wel mayntene yow and all yours / Soo they made Galahad kynge by alle the assente of the hole Cyte / & els they wold haue slayne hym / And whanne he was come to beholde the land / he lete make aboue the table of syluer a cheste of gold and of precyous stones that hylled the holy vessel / And euery day erly the thre felawes wold come afore hit / & make their prayers / Now at the yeres ende the self daye after Galahad had borne the croune of gold / he arose vp erly and his felawes / and came to the palais / and sawe to fore hem the holy vessel / and a man knelynge on his knees in lykenes of a Bisshop that had aboute hym a grete felaushyp of Angels as it had ben Ihesu Cryst hym self / & thenne he arose

 

[leaf 362r] and beganne a masse of oure lady / And whan he cam to the sacrament of the masse / and had done / anone he called Galahad and sayd to hym come forthe the seruaunt of Ihesu cryst and thou shalt see that thou hast moche desyred to see / & thenne he beganne to tremble ryght hard / whan the dedely flesshe beganne to beholde the spyrytuel thynges / Thenne he helde vp his handes toward heuen / and sayd lord I thanke the / for now I see that that hath ben my desyre many a daye /

¶ Now blessyd lord wold I not lenger lyue yf it myghte please the lord / & there with the good man tooke oure lordes body betwixe hys handes / and proferd it to Galahad / and he receyued hit ryghte gladly and mekely /

¶ Now wotest thow what I am sayd the good man / Nay said Galahad / I am Ioseph of Armathye the whiche oure lord hath sente here to the to bere the felaushyp / and wotest thou wherfor that he hath sente me more than ony other / For thou hast resemblyd in to thynges in that thou hast sene the merueyles of the Sancgreal in that thou hast ben a clene mayden as I haue ben and am / And whanne he had said these wordes Galahad went to Percyual and kyssed hym & commaunded hym to god / and soo he wente to sire Bors / & kyssed hym / and commaunded hym to god / and sayd Fayre lord salewe me to my lord syr launcelot my fader / And as soone as ye see hym / byd hym remembre of this vnstable world And there with he kneled doune tofore the table / and made his prayers / and thenne sodenly his soule departed to Ihesu Crist and a grete multitude of Angels bare his soule vp to heuen / that the two felawes myghte wel behold hit / Also the two felawes sawe come from heuen an hand / but they sawe not the body / And thenne hit cam ryght to the vessel / and took it and the spere / and soo bare hit vp to heuen / Sythen was there neuer man soo hardy to saye that he had sene the Sancgreal /  http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cme;idno=MaloryWks2;rgn=div1;view=text;cc=cme;node=MaloryWks2%3A19

Finally

WHanne Percyual & Bors sawe Galahad dede / they made as moche sorowe as euer dyd two men / And yf they had not ben good men / they myght lyghtly haue fallen in despair / & the peple of the countrey & of the cyte were ryȝt heuy

 

This all took place after the experience of the Grail and the purest of heart, soul, mind and body went right to heaven.  Galahad was no longer of this mortal world.

Galahad experiences the Grail; unlike his father who merely 'witnessed' or 'saw' the Grail.

This tirade was brought on by Wendy who noted a gem from Alan Watts. Alan speaks of the Tao often and notes that if he were to be so lucky as to be one with the Tao or the Way, he would no longer wish to 'be alive'.  You see, there would be no reason to live anymore as an individual when you understand fully that you are at one with the Universe.

Jesus, like Galahad was born of a sacred line worshipped in the Old Testament. Jesus like Galahad cured the sick, sore and disabled. And Jesus had his own 'vision quests' like Galahad.

Mark 9

 1And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

 2And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

 3And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

 4And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

 5And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

 6For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

 7And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

 8And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

 9And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

The vision quest here takes place on a mountain top. But there are witnesses. And Jesus converses with dead prophets. And Jesus tells his companions later to not speak of what they saw until Jesus is arisen.

The other vision quest is fearsome and can be found in Luke-4

1And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

 2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

 3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

 5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

 6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

 7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

 8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

 9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

 10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

 11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

 12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

 13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

 This meeting with the devil takes place following the baptism by John the Baptist when the Holy Sprit appeared and a voice from heaven rang out:

This is my son in whom I am well proud.

For this vision quest, Jesus is most pure; having just been baptized and acknowledge by God the Father. But Jesus is alone on this vision quest. And he is in the wasteland.

Now there are many curious aspects to these fifteen some verses. I mean Jesus is one with God the Father, Jesus is God, Jesus has always been God and always will be God.

But do not forget that God is tempted by Satan in the Book of Job. Alan Watts has Satan in the role of prosecutor with God being the Judge in that sacred of all sacred books. But prosecutors tempt the judge all the time. Satan is attempted to sway the Lord into understanding that Job is a mere mortal, that Job has received everything the earth and the  heavens can provide to a mere mortal. Job has a wonderful wife and beautiful and healthy sons and daughters. Job has many slaves and a grand plantation and home. Job has many friends; just and true friends.

If this were not so, Job would be as the lowest of the mortals; angry and disobedient and resentful and sinful.

In this vision quest however, Satan is not seeking to sway Jesus' judgment per se. Satan is offering Jesus the material world. He is offering to make Jesus King and Lord over the material world.

This is so fanciful to me because Jesus is God. What could the devil ever give him? And why would Jesus want of anything? Again, if Jesus is God, Has been God and always will be God, where is the passion? Where is the goddamn risk? Even more than Job, Jesus as God would face no risk, no uncertainty.

But if we see Jesus as man as Galahad is man, it is much more interesting a read. Galahad in his vision quests is tempted by pretty damsels which represent quite a temptation when one is fifteen. Galahad is tempted and lured and cajoled by the material world. Although Galahad takes part in the material world, battling and wounding and even killing his fellow man; and Jesus partook of none of these feats.

You see, if Alan Watts is correct and Jesus is just a Son of God and that we all may become Sons and Daughters of God, then the New Testament becomes a much better read.

That way the crown of thorns hurts. That way the nails hurt. That way Jesus can become thirsty and hungry in the wasteland. That way Jesus, like Galahad can truly be tempted.

Alan Watts surmises that the Church, the material governors on earth, knew a good thing when they saw it. Jesus is a Son of God, yes. But we, as peers in this new Church, must make sure that there are no more Sons of God. Alan wonders how, in a Republic like America, we must worship a monarchal heaven where only one rules over all. No democracy in heaven; just a pure dictatorship.

So as we experience Christmas, let us at least marvel at the Christ and his birth. But let us also reason and we can also be the Sons and the Daughters of God; that we might experience our own vision quests however temporary.

Alan Watts says that we can touch the Tao, become part of the whole once again. As when we were first out of the womb and knew not the difference between our individual bodies and the outside world. That is because there was no outside world. There were no nouns. There was one universe and we were part of that universe. We knew no better than that.

 Alan teaches that we must take responsibility for the universe at it is. We must escape that feeling that we are not part of the universe. That we must blame others for that universe. We will end up blaming our parents who can blame their parents and so forth for our situation in that universe. We can blame the Inhofes and the Limbaughs for that universe and its current state.

Bullshit, Alan preaches. We must take responsibility for we are sons and daughters of God.

I only see that the vision quest involves going somewhere else in the material world as a metaphor for other things. Jesus must go on the mountaintop and into the wasteland. Galahad must surely go into the wasteland.

Acamus points out that in  Dinner with Andre, on of the dynamic duo portrayed there had to go to a Tibetan Monestary in his vision quest. TheraP has written of her vision quest to the monastery. TheraP even heard the sound of one hand clapping; or in her case the bell ringing when the bell had no ringer.

Some of us must travel elsewhere. The walls of our homes are imprinted upon our  brain. The streets and edifices are permanently etched in our consciousness.  So we go elsewhere for our vision quest.

Unlike Jesus and Galahad you might say that we are lacking. We cannot heal the sick and raise the dead to life. We are not miraculous. But Alan also suggests that we touch the Tao when we are in love and sense a feeling that an eastern monk only feels after decades of chanting, contemplation and prayer.

I know that when I read something written by someone else, and it rings true in my mind's eye that there is magic.  It is as if the writer has touch something inside of me. The writer might have been dead for two thousand years and yet, the writing is alive inside of me.

We only have the now. The now is the eternal.  There is plenty of time for us to reach the eternal Tao. But we may glimpse it from time to time.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all here at Café.