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The Holy Grail, which had disappeared from the outer world before the corning of Arthur, reappeared in a vision to a nun, the sister of Sir Percival:
Hearing, even in her cloistered cell, of the evils which were rife in Arthur's Court, this holy nun gave herself over to the continual prayer and fasting, until she was as transparent as a wraith, and it seemed that the sun shone and the wind blew through her, and her eyes were like brilliant lamps in the pure palor of her face. To her, in her cell, the Grail came, descending in a beam of light, "rose-red with beatings in it," attended by angelic music; and the walls of her white cell were shimmering in its crimson glow, until at last it was wafted away from her sight, and the celestial music went with it.
After this came a year of miracle, in which Galahad came to Arthur's Court and was knighted, and the Grail appeared in the hall, but under a veil, so that none but Galahad saw it clear.
Then inflamed by the vision, impetuous Sir Gawain rose to his feet and pledged himself to go in search of the Grail for twelve months and a day and not to return until he had seen it uncovered, and the other knights followed suit. But Arthur protested, knowing that most of these men were not fitted for the Quest and that their defection from their duties as governors and protectors of the realm must inevitably lead to the downfall of his kingdom. Yet all took the pledge to return one year and a day later to Arthur's hall.
Sir Gawain was known throughout King Arthur's realm as the light of love. His fancy roamed from one fair maid to another, as the butterfly in the garden flits from flower to flower. Filled with high enthusiasm he started along the shining Path which would lead to the Grail when his attention was distracted by the sight of a group of beautiful maidens dancing in a pavilion, and he tarried to sport with them; but suddenly they dissolved into nothingness, and he was left alone. Disconsolately he turned to resume his journey, only to find that the Path also had vanished, and a Voice said in his heart, "The Quest is not for you."
Events in the life of Gawain typify obstacles which all too often impede the progress of the aspiring. Although idealistic in temperament, with high concepts of devotion and duty, he was yet lacking in the perseverence and continuity of purpose necessary to bring his idealism to fruitage.
Sir Bors was another who set out on the Quest of the Holy Grail. After he had travelled some way along the shining Path, he came upon a great tree laden with golden fruit. He, like Gawain, left the Path, thinking to enjoy the tempting fruit, but when he laid his hands upon it, it turned into ashes. Chagrined and humiliated he returned whence he had come, but the Path was no longer there. He, too, heard the Voice say, "The Quest is not for you."
Yet Sir Bors, together with Percival, ultimately achieved the rare privilege of traveling on Solomon's Ship to the Spiritual City of Sarras, accompanying Galahad when he sailed thither with the Holy Cup. Tennyson says of Sir Bors (it is Sir Percival speaking):
and we are reminded that Sir Bors, when questing for the Grail, came upon a dead tree in a forest, in which was perched a pelican who was tearing her breast with her bill to feed her starving young ones. The pelican is a well known Rosicrucian symbol, and here wc have a hint of the role which Sir Bors plays in the epic of the Holy Grail.
That is, these were star and sun worshippers — Druids who were called "Culdees" — who did not accept the Christ, and they threw Sir Bors in prison; yet was he not without comfort, for a stone fell away from the roof of his dungeon:
Afterward Sir Bors was released from the dungeon by a maid who was secretly of the Christian faith; and later met with Galahad and Percival aboard the "Ship of Faith" which would take the Grail to Sarras. Sir Bors returned from Sarras, for his work lay in the world, not in the far "Spiritual City." Percival, however, who on the Quest found life to be nought but disillusionment, retired to a monastery, renouncing forever the woman whom he had loved from childhood.
The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil; yet we understand by this not that money in itself is evil but only the excessive love of money, or its misuse, is evil. To be the steward of great wealth, and to use it for the betterment of mankind is sometimes the rare privilege given to an advanced soul. However, like most men, Sir Bors at first experienced the lure of gold and power, and this threatened for a time to outweigh the Quest of Holiness. The lesson of discrimination having been learned, Sir Bors continued on his Quest. Here we may find a hint of the alchemical Quest of the Rosicrucian, which transmutes the base metals into gold.
Sir Lancelot, in all good faith, had long been following the Shining Way. His spirit's ardor flamed high, and sometimes he would hear the chanting of the angels who guarded the Grail, and sometimes he sensed the celestial incense which floated about it.
It befell upon a certain midnight when the moon shone clear that Lancelot, driven mad by grief and longing, and the conflict in his soul, sailing in his ship, came to a certain place where he saw, high upon a rocky shore, a fair castle of which the pastern gate stood open against the sea, and it was guarded by two lions; and he heard a Voice which spoke in his ear, saying, "Leave now thy ship and go within the castle and thou shalt see a part of thy desire."
Then he armed himself and went up to the lion-guarded gate and there drew out his sword and made as if to slay the lions, but a dwarf came out and fiercely attacked him, smiting him so sorely upon the arm that he let fall his sword; and then once again he heard the Voice: "Oh man of evil faith and poor belief, wherefore trusteth thou thine arms before thy Maker?" At these words Lancelot put up his sword and signed himself upon the forehead; and when the two lions beheld that sign. they held back, and he passed safely into the great empty hall. Then hearing the high sweet sound of a voice singing, he followed the sound through the castle until he came to the easternmost tower, and he climbed as it seemed a thousand steps to the top of that tower, and there he found a chamber with the door close shut, and with all his strength he was not able to open it. Yet through the door he saw gleaming lights and heard the voice singing sweetly, as if it were an angel, "Joy and honor to the Father of Heaven and to the Holy Vessel of the Grail!" And he knelt reverently at the door's threshold, for well he understood what was within.
Yet though he could not force the door, it opened of a sudden, not as with hands but of its own accord, and thereout came a great splendor of light, "as if all the torches of the world had been alight together." But when he would have stepped over the threshold, the Voice forbade, and he drew back his foot and stood gazing in through the open door. He saw there a table of silver and upon it the holy vessel covered with red samite, and there were choirs of angels round about holding burning candles in their hands, and he saw a cross, and all the ornaments of the altar.
Then a priest before the altar offered up Mass, and taking the covered Cup he would have raised it up, but it seemed heavy, and he seemed to sink under its weight. Seeing which, Sir Lancelot cried, "O Father, take it not for sin that I go in to help the priest, who hath much need thereof." So saying he went in, but as he approached the table there came toward him a breath of fire which smote him to the ground, and he lay in a deep swoon, yet felt hands take him up and lay him down outside the chapel door where he continued to lie throughout the night, and was there found senseless on the morrow. Unconscious he was borne to an inner chamber to rest, and he slept, living, but without movement, for twenty-four days and nights, and on the twenty-fifth day he opened his eyes, and said to those standing near, "Why have ye waked me? for I have seen wonders that no tongue can tell, and more than any heart can think." Then he asked where he was, and they said, "In the castle of Carbonek," and he commanded them to tell their lord King Pelles, that he was Sir Lancelot, which they did.
King Pelles was overjoyed to have this great and honorable knight in his house and urged him to abide for as long as he needed until he was wholly well, but Sir Lancelot said: "I know well that I have now seen as much as mine eyes may behold of the Holy Grail; wherefore I will return to my own country."
Forever afterward, so long as he lived, Lancelot thought of these wonders in an agony of longing, falling upon his knees and weeping bitter tears of contrition for the sins which had caused him to see the Grail through a veil only; yet lesser knights fared worse and saw less, though he, of tender conscience and noble spirit, wept his spirit's loss.
For the dust of earth had blinded his eyes. In deep grief Lancelot and those other knights who had failed in the Quest turned away, remembering the sad words of the King when he had sought to dissuade them from the adventure of the Grail: "You are following wandering fires. The Quest is not for you."
It was the failure of his knights to live steadfastly true to their vows that brought about the final wars in which King Arthur suffered a fatal wound. All great World Teachers have met with a similar reception. They come unto their own, but their own receive them not.
When the twelve months were gone, then on the next day after the knights assembled once again in Arthur's hall, only a remnant of the glorious company which had set out with high hopes on the Quest.
Tennyson's words, spoken by the sad-faced King, are memorable:
— Corinne Heline
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