THOUGHTS ON THE GRAIL
Posted by anthonynorth on October 8, 2007
Few religious relics have the cultural power of the Holy Grail. Why is this? Is it because it really exists, or could more social elements be involved in its apparent power? And if so, are these elements always for the good?
I recently commented on this question on the Daily Grail, coming to these conclusions. I’ve studied most Grail myths and ideas, and to me, I think we can condense the Grail into a single idea that transcends them all.
The Grail is aspiration, grounded in the power of the story.
It is the idea that we can better ourselves and become a more perfect being. Whether through iconography, or changes in consciousness, or as related through myth, the Grail is our self, plus the completion of our Quest to be more.
Through the Grail Quest, we don’t just enrich ourselves. We also enrich the world through our actions based on the thought of the Quest. We change society from the ‘wasteland’ that bred the frustration to begin the Quest, into something more pure and good.
But the Grail is also something else.
It is a tool of repression. It is so because once the Quest is complete, the person can be so fulfilled that he thinks he knows best. Hence, to have a thought that disagrees is to be abnormal or evil.
And it is also so because the Grail offers a society a symbol that is too perfect, beyond reach. And this is true from the Saint you aspire to be but cannot, so are always a sinner; to the impossibly thin supermodel, driving you to inadequacy, satisfied only by what you can buy.
So the Grail is, on the one hand, magnificent aspiration; and on the other, our worst nightmare, forever guaranteeing our inadequacy.
© Anthony North, October 2007
Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.
If you like fiction, click Fiction Page on Blogroll for my short stories.
Check out the pages. Find my Links on Eye On the World.
RubyShooZ said
Chasing the “Holy Grail” reminds me very much of addiction and I have much experience with that. It’s like chasing that first hit – that blast – that supposedly felt so good. People keep coming back and looking for it and can spend their whole lifetime(s) looking for it, chasing it, killing for it, hurting others in their “quest” – their “mission” if you will.
It’s elusive and it winds up not even being about the holy grail eventually. Another way of thinking of it is that adrenaline rush – which can also be addictive to some folks. Just the sheer force of their chase turns them on and then once you got/get it, you just want more.
Drugs, adrenaline, food, exercise, holy grails – I can view them all lumped in together. What say you?
~ RS ~
anthonynorth said
Hi Ruby,
Certainly the Quest can be seen as an addiction, either with drugs or over-ambition. It can become an obsession, which is always dangerous.
But the Quest can also be noble. For instance, if we take meditation and altered states of consciousness often associated with the Grail, many societies used drugs to achieve it. But is this drug abuse?
Evidence suggests not. The adept uses the mystical experience for a journey of knowledge about self and universe. What is experienced through the ‘trip’ is then taken into ordinary life, and with this they achieve balance.
The person who is damaged through drugs usually see the ‘trip’ as an escape from an intolerable life, and do not take the lessons with them to find balance. Hence, the need to escape again becomes greater.
Admittedly, few find balance. Many who claim they have actually find self-importance, which is where the latter part of my post comes into play. They think themselves too perfect, and ask too much of others.
renaissanceguy said
Nice piece, Anthony. Right on the money, I’d say.
anthonynorth said
Hi Renaissanceguy,
Thanks for that.
1poet4man said
“The Grail is aspiration, grounded in the power of the story.”
Anthony – that is a very nice sentence that has much weightiness for thinking.
Replace the following words for grail in your sentence and your sentence becomes a multi-dimensional tool for understanding almost all human motivations.
Politics, Religion, Belief, Worship, Money, Power, etc.
Poetman
anthonynorth said
Hi Poetman,
Many thanks for those kind words. Yes, I’m convinced that everything we are is based on the story of who we think we are at that time.
If you’re interested, I did a series of posts on this. Scroll down my History page, above, until you come to The Story of the Story.
Comments on the Grail « Grail_Questing said
[...] April 27, 2008 I found this post on a really interesting blog discussing some different ideas regarding the Grail: Click here [...]
Alex said
“the Grail is our self, plus the completion of our Quest to be more”
I loved this comment and to me it is the heart of the matter. I would say that the Grail represents not what we could be but what we already are in essence. Our separation from the earth, each other and our deepest essence is the boundary between us and completion. We are not unworthy reaching out for unattainable heights rather more unconscious and separate from the nature of our own being. The Grail is the journey of remembering who we are without separation. The myth and the essence and the quest are interwoven, keeping an idea alive, keeping the questions coming, allowing the mystery to still have its rightful place as a reminder that there is always more to learn.
anthonynorth said
Hi Alex,
Thanks for that. And I like the way you put it here.