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``For pure will, unassuaged of purpose,
delivered from the lust of result, is every
way perfect.'' Liber Al. vel. Legis
The last Scene of
the First Act of this Drama will have enabled us to see something of the
nature of the “Heart” or Temple of the Knights of the Grail. We are next
transported to the “Keep” of Klingsor's Castle, there to obtain a glimpse
of the Heart of a Black Magician. Klingsor represents one who has “shut
himsel f up", who desires to keep his personality and while retaining
possession of the SPEAR or Divine Will to make use of it, if possible for
his own personal ends.
Man is given a
certain freedom of will in order that he may thereby develop the sense of
Freedom and so willingly ally himself with the Divine Will or True Purpose
of his Being. Should he make the mistake of attempting to reverse the
process, turning the Divine Will to merely personal ends, he must
inevitably fall. He thereby cuts himself off from the Universal Current
and is slowly but surely disintegrated until he is finally lost in the
Abyss.
For a time,
however, as in the case of Klingsor, he may seem to exercise an
illusionary power by taking advantage of the delusions of others. For he
plays upon their emotional natures, which tend if uncontrolled to befog
the mind thus preventing the True Sun of Being from illuminating their
Path.
Self-damned, the
one desire of such a being is to cause the utter ruin and downfall of
others in order that the terrible loneliness which he—if dimly—realizes to
be his fate, may be assuaged by the presence of his victims.
Klingsor,
however, still hopes to capture the Holy CUP itself—which has remained in
the possession of the Knights of the Grail—for this is the Cup of
UNDERSTANDING whereby he may discover a way to reverse this fate and to
make use of its contents, the Divine Substance which is capable of
infinite transformation when united with the Spear or WILL.
Even without this
perfect means of transmutation, he has still obtained a certain power over
Astral Matter, which being of a very plastic nature is capable of
transformation into images alluring or terrible according to the effect to
be produced upon his victims.
The Aspirant has
been warned of the illusory nature of the Astral Plane in “The Voice of
Silence” which contains instructions for those ignorant of the dangers of
the lower Iddhi (magical powers). We shall refer to these instructions
again in the proper place.
Meanwhile, as the
Act opens, we discover Klingsor seated before his magic mirror in the Keep
of his Castle. He is surrounded with the instruments of his art, which are
as complex as the true weapons are simple.
He is evidently
aware of the coming of Parzival—the Guileless Fool—and he realizes that
here is a menace to his power, since that power depends upon beguilement.
The question before him is whether this Fool is really too Pure to be
tempted by the subtle blandishments of his magic art.
Kundry—Woman—capable alike of raising man to the heights or dragging him
to the very depths, is the best instrument to his hand. She—the Animal
Soul of the World—while directed by the lower will or intellect—has within
her not alone the possibilities of redemption, but of taking her rightful
place upon the Throne of the Mother if brought to Understanding the Higher
Will and Wisdom of the Father of All.
On the other hand
if under the influence of the lower will she is allowed to seduce man from
his aspiration, do that he fails to discover his True Will (which is one
with Destiny and the Will of God and which alone can direct him in his
proper course) she ruins him and at the same time loses her own chance of
redemption. He is then doomed to wander in paths of illusion having no
comprehension of the true Purpose of his Being or hers.
Klingsor
exercises a mighty power over Kundry whenever she allows herself to fall
asleep, though much of her time during waking hours is devoted to the
service of the Knights of the Grail. Many of these she has injured while
under the spell of Klingsor. She often desires to make amends but her
heart is torn between this form of activity and desire for case.
Whenever she
sinks back into the sloth of Ignorance, or what the Hindus term the Tamas
Guna, she is subject to the art of Klingsor for he is the maker of
Illusion through Learning or the Powers of the mind, the principle known
as Rajas. By means of this mental power many false uses may be devised for
the Love nature, which when wrongly used becomes destructive instead of
Creative and constructive.
Parzival—The Pure
Fool—is in that condition mentioned by Lao Tze “His desires having as yet
given no indication of their presence.” The crucial test is whether when
they are aroused for the first time he will use them rightly or wrongly.
Therein both Amfortas and Klingsor had failed, though in different ways.
Now comes a third candidate in the form of Parzival and Klingsor fears
greatly for the continuance of his own power.
He knows that
even Kundry will be redeemed should Parzival, by rejecting her advances,
and refusing to accept aught but the highest, cause her at last to
Understand and so become released from Klingsor's illusory powers.
Klingsor first
lights incense, which in true magick is a symbol of the aspiration of the
lower towards the higher. But there is no Lamp above the altar, and the
Lamp symbolizes the Higher Aspiration to draw up and unite the lower with
itself. The incense alone produces nothing but the smoky clouds which
represent the Astral Plane, and this plane being particularly attributed
to the Desires and Emotions is the one most suited to the work Klingsor
wishes Kundry to perform. It is her Astral body over which he has the most
influence.
His call to her
is worthy of notice:
Arise! Draw near me!
The Master calls thee, nameless woman:
She-Lucifer! Rose of Hades!
Herodias wert thou. And what else?
Gundryggia there, Kundry here!
Approach! Approach then, Kundry!
Unto thy Master appear!
And in the
incense smoke now appears the figure of Kundry—her Astral
form—half-obedient, half rebellious to the will of Klingsor.
The term “Rose of
Hades” should be noticed here, for in a certain sense Kundry is that same
Rose which is to be found in connection with the Cross in the Rosy Cross
Ceremonies. The Cross of Suffering may be looked upon as represented by
Amfortas—as can be shown Qabalistically—and the wound at his breast is
caused by the Rose, Kundry. The Spear and Cup convey the same Symbolism
but on a Higher Plane.
Meanwhile Kundry
gradually comes under the spell of Klingsor, who orders her to use all her
wiles to ensnare the approaching and victorious Parzival; “Whom sheerest
Folly shields.”
Klingsor, while
admitting that he cannot hold Kundry, claims that he can force her to his
will:
``Because against me
Thine own power cannot move''
Kundry, laughing
harshly, makes this strange reply:
Ha Ha! Art thou chaste!
This remark
causes Klingsor to sink into gloomy brooding. He recalls how he, too, had
once sought the holier life and the service of the Grail. But, unlike
Amfortas who had succumbed to seduction, he, thinking to avoid a like fate
had used his will to attempt something against Nature and God; the total
suppression of his Love nature. This had resulted in an enforced chastity,
giving him power to avoid seduction—'tis true—but likewise cutting him off
from the possibility of redemption. For hear his words:
Awfulest strait!
Irrepressible yearning woe!
Terrible lust in me once rife,
Which I had quenched with devilish strife;
Mocks and laughs it at me,
Thou devil's bride, through thee?
Have a care!
In spite of
further threats, we find Kundry still affirming that she will not conform
to Klingsor's demands, yet, such is woman-kind, she quietly disappears to
make ready for the reception and tempting of Parzival; who is at least a
live and vigorous human being.
Klingsor has been
watching Parzival's approach to his magic castle, armed—'tis said—with the
Sword of Innocence and protected by the Shield of Folly. Rather I should
interpret this Sword as that of Reason, for Parzival has learned in his
Folly to disarm and defeat the defenders of Klingsor's Castle with their
own weapons.
There is no
deeper wound that that inflicted by our own weapons turned against us; as
Amfortas had found to his lasting pain and anguish.
The opportunities
we have missed but had the power to take and might have taken, rankle more
deeply than all the vain regrets for those things which were impossible of
attainment.
But the mere
possession of the most sacred weapon—as in the case of Klingsor and the
Holy Spear—without further possibility of its right use, is bitterest of
all.
And so we find,
when Kundry has `gone to work', Klingsor's Tower slowly sinks and
disappears from sight. At the same time his “Garden of Desire” rises and
his beautiful but illusory creations “The Flower Maidens” appear before
our astonished eyes.
Parzival, whose
desires have as yet given no indication of their presence, has by this
time arrived at the wall of the garden. What he beholds is but subsidiary
to his main Purpose to retrieve the Holy Spear, yet he, too, stands
amazed.
This may be
deemed as Parzival's introduction to “The Hall of Learning” as it is
called by Madame Blavatsky in “The Voice of the Silence.” Let us turn
aside for a moment in order to obtain a clearer idea of just what that
term implies. We read in Chapter I, Verses 22-29 as follows:
22. Three
Halls, O weary Pilgrim, lead to the end of toils.
Three halls, O conqueror of Mara, will bring thee through
three states into the fourth, and thence into the Seven Worlds,
the Worlds of Rest Eternal.
23. If thou would'st learn their names, then hearken, and
remember. The name of the first hall is IGNORANCE—Avidya. It
is the Hall in which thou saw'st the light, in which thou
livest and shalt die.
Ignorance
corresponds to Malkuth and Nepesh (the animal soul), Learning to Tiphareth
and Ruach (the Mind), and Wisdom to Binah and Neshamah (the aspiration or
Divine Mind).—Fra. O.M.
24. The
name of Hall the second is the Hall of LEARNING. In
it thy soul will find the blossoms of life, but under every
flower is a serpent coiled.
25. The name of the third Hall is WISDOM, beyond which
stretch the shoreless waters of AKSHARA, the indestructible
Fount of Omniscence.
(Akshara is the
same as the Great Sea of the Qabalah. It is also the CUP of the GRAIL, as
WISDOM is the SPEAR.)
26. If
thou wouldst cross the first Hall safely, let not thy
mind mistake the fires of lust that burn therein for the sun-
light of life.
27. If thou would'st cross the second safely, stop not the
fragrance of its stupefying blossoms inhale. * * *
28. The WISE ONES tarry not in the pleasure grounds of the
senses.
29. The WISE ONES heed not the sweet-tongued voices of
illusion.
Enough has been
quoted to show the extraordinary correspondences between the “Garden
Scene” of the Drama of Parzival with both the Eastern Teachings and those
of the Holy Qabalah. But this Drama is not subject to Time or
Circumstance.
We left Parzival
in a state of wonder upon the wall of Klingsor's Garden. We next find the
“Flower Maidens” bemoaning the loss of their lovers —their pleasures—slain
by Parzival upon his approach to the Castle and entry to the Garden.
Thye Flower
Maidens are easily solaced, however, by the hope that here is a freash
pleasure, stronger and more potent than those lost to them. One that will
more than take the place of all the others.
In this hope they
are deceived for—as in real life—pleasures in time lose their hold
(especially if abused) and though we may seek a stronger and more intense
form of amusement, our power to enjoy may become dulled and lost to us.
The case in point
is somewhat different, however, for the Flower Maidens find that the power
to enjoy does not lie with them, for Parzival—with his One Purpose—is not
to be turned aside for the sake of lesser pleasures.
Why should he,
when by waiting he may gain All instead of a mere partial rapture? Has he
not already experienced the Higher form of Ecstasy? The question now
arises whether he had realised that this Higher Ecstasy with its Purity
and STILLNESS is more to be esteemed than the APPARENT ACTIVITY of the
lesser order.
In the Higher
forms of Ecstasy characterized by this quality of STILLNESS, the ACTIVITY
is in reality SO INTENSE that it appears to CEASE. But the resultant
Rapture is in that case more refined and consequently more Powerful than
in the Peace which passeth all understanding. Kundry may be said to have
so far sought Rest below the Vibration of the RED RAY, while Parzival has
found it beyond that of the ULTRA-VIOLET.
And so, when
later, Kundry uses all her charms to tempt Parzival, she fails. Her
embrace awakens the vibration of the RED RAY in the heart of Parzival and
in this he recognizes, sympathetically, the cause of the wound of Amfortas
and wherein the latter had failed. For Amfortas had been content to accept
LESS than was his DUE, a vibration lower than the one to which his being
was capable of responding.
Once the string
of the Instrument or of the Bow has been slackened, its power is reduced;
once the WILL has become the `will' it needs re-tuning to the Divine or
Higher Vibration, but it cannot thus re-tune itself once self-will has
usurped the place of SELF-WILL.
In that case the
Holy Spear of Will and Wisdom has been replaced by the Sword of Reason.
This Sword is both useful and necessary until man has obtained possession
of the Holy Spear or become conscious of his true Purpose, (Just as Reason
is necessary until we attain to Wisdom and Understanding whereby the Truth
is directly perceived without the necessity of inference and deduction)
but once the higher faculties have been acquired and the Higher Will
recognized as the true guiding Power of our lives, our Purpose must be
kept pure and unsullied.
This Mystery is
made clear in Liber Al vel Legis:
``Let it be that state of manyhood
bound and loathing. So with thy all;
though hast no right but to do thy will.
Do that, and no other shall say nay.
For pure will, unassuaged of purpose,
delivered from the lust of result, is
every way perfect.
The Perfect and the Perfect are one
Perfect and not two; nay, are none!''
So we come to
understand how the Perfect Cup and the Perfect Spear—Pure Understanding
and Wisdom—are one; nay, are none since all `knowledge' is cancelled out
in Perfect Ecstasy.
Parzival yields
not the the glamour of time and circumstance for he seeks the Eternal
Reality, the everpresent Here and Now. The chance of a brief reflection of
ecstasy on the physical plane does not deter him from his Quest for that
which is CONTINUOUS as the Body of Our Lady Nuit or the Stars of Heaven.
But, meanwhile, since he has left behind him—in the
Temple
of the Grail—the true Chalice of Ecstasy, his first duty is to seek the
Holy Spear, the means whereby alone it may be vivified and enlightened.
Under the
influence of Kundry he obtains a glimpse of his true purpose, the mission
of Redeemer. Having realized the cause of the wound of Amfortas he
determines to seek and obtain the means whereby it may be cured. Nor is he
to be turned aside from this deed of compassion for in vain does Kundry
question:
And was it my kiss
This great knowledge conveyed thee?
If in my arms I might take thee,
'T would then a god surely make thee.
Redeem the world then, if 'tis thy aim:
Stand as a god revealed;
For this hour let me perish in flame,
Leave aye the wound unhealed.
But Parzival is
determined that he will first heal the wound of Amfortas —King of the
Grail—and he offers Kundry redemption at the price of her showing him the
way back to the Castle of the Grail.
This would
perhaps have seemed the reasonable course for Kundry to persue. But the
Task of Parzival, by the proper performance of which he may become MASTER
OF THE TEMPLE, is not thus easy of accomplishment.
He must, in fact,
on his return to the Temple bring with him the NEOPHYTE in his hand. He
must have proved his power to raise the Fallen Duaghter —or Animal Soul—to
the Throne of the Mother—Understanding. It is his task to lead Kundry to
the Mountain of Salvation, not hers to show him the way.
Besides, he has
not yet obtained the means of curing the wound of Amfortas. Mere
compassion for his anguish, mere realization of the cause of the trouble
is not enough. Had he returned at this juncture his mission would have
been a failure.
But
Kundy—womanlike—does not pursue the reasonable course, and in the end her
intuition produces the finer flowering. Yet she is not conscious of this
for the intuition is clouded in her mind by her emotional nature. She is
aware that she has been flouted, that her charms have failed to seduce
Parzival from the sacred mysteries, as she has seduced Amfortas. For
Parzival has told her:
Eternally
Should I be damned with thee,
If for one hour
I forget my holy mission,
Within thine arm's embracing!
And this is no
pleasant pill for any pretty woman to swallow.
Nor could her
appeal to his pity (though in truth washe “By Pity 'lightened") turn him
aside from his larger purpose; even when this appeal was coupled with the
promise that he should straightway see the Path to the Grail if he
lingered but an hour.
Desperate, Kundy
cries:
``Begone, detestable wretch''
and calling upon
Klingsor (the only Master Will she knows) to avenge her wrong, she at the
same time curses Parzival and all the Paths wherein he might travel,
should they lead away from her.
And here the
intuition that she is really necessary to his Attainment actually brings
about the next step towards that end, by strange means. Parzival needs
above all to realize the Nature of his True Will. And Klingsor has at this
moment appeared upon the Castle wall; the Damsels rushing out of the
Castle hasten towards Kundry, while Klingsor—poising a lance—cries:
Halt there! I'll ban thee with befitting
gear:
The Fool shall perish by his Master's
spear!
All else having
failed, Klingsor make use of the Sacred Spear Itself. He hurls his WILL at
Parzival, who, being perfectly receptive to the Higher Power (no matter
what the agency used to bring it to him) receives the Spear, not in his
heart, but in his hand. For—as in the case of the Higher WILL at the time
of the opening of the 1001 petalled Lotus, the Real Flower of the
Garden—it is seen gently floating above his head, within his reach and
power to grasp.
And so Parzival
grasps his True Purpose and brandishing the Holy Spear with a gesture of
exhalted rapture, he makes the Sign of the Cross therewith. Now the Sign
of the Cross is symbolical of that “Cross of the Elements” from which the
Creative Word issued at the birth of the dawning Universe.
A New Word is, as
it were, uttered by Parzival and once again the Holy Spirit may be said to
brood upon the Waters of Chaos. For at this moment, as with an earthquake,
the Castle falls to ruins; the false Garden withers, and the damsels lie
like shrivelled flowers strewn around on the ground. Kundry sinks down
with a cry, and to her turns once more—from the summit of the ruined
wall—the departing Parzival:
Thou knowst—
Where only we shall meet again.
And, having
uttered these prophetic words, he disappears among the shadows.
Point
III. THE REDEMPTION OF THE
REDEEMER |
