Brother of Vessels (Page of Cups)
I feel that I am both the Master and the Brother right now. As a Master, I have learnt a great deal about emotions over these last challenging months. As a Brother, I still have a long journey ahead of me, and need to trust my path. As John Mathews wrote "we need to accept the lot we have been given and follow the path before us without question.". (p. 155)
I like this card, although something about it (perhaps combined with my own emotional state) makes me feel slightly melancholic. The Master knows that the lost innocence never returns...
The Grail Tarot @ Giovanni Caselli & Eddison Sadd Editions
William Blake--a Romantic-era poet, engraver, and mystic (and clandestine Gnostic, to boot)--believed that everyone has the potential to pass through three stages of enlightenment: Innocence (symbolized by the Lamb); Experience (symbolized by the dread Tyger, “burning bright/ In the forests of the night”); and Higher Innocence, where the seeker learns to love and trust the world with the same innocence he or she once did as a child. Of course, this sounds easy, but like all spiritual journeys, it is fraught with setbacks, despair, and fear, for the Tyger is real; and all those who have encountered this entity--those who have encountered suffering and grief--will attest to the Tyger’s power. By no means do I wish to diminish or disrespect what you have shared here; rather, I am simply speaking from personal experience. Innocence does not return, but Higher Innocence is always accessible.
ReplyDeleteBut, if I may be so bold, are not Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience also the Fool’s Journey, which is synonymous with Percival’s Quest for the Grail? We start in a stage of Innocence, and as we grow older we cannot help but enter the realm of Experience. Percival’s innocence and naïve confidence carried him through the early phases of his journey, but along the way he faces terrible trials. In fact, in Wolfram von Eschenbach version of the Grail myth, Percival (or Parsifal, if you will) renounces God for His silence in the face of human suffering. Wandering the world for five years, lost in a spiritual desert, Percival learns what the Divine truly is by forgetting what he thinks he knows; and, to paraphrase Joseph Campbell, this forgetting in order to learn is a necessary stage of spiritual growth.
I hope I have not offered advice where none was asked, nor have I affected wisdom that I do not possess. If I have, then I apologize. Even though the Grail quest is a deeply personal journey, no one achieves it without help; no hero truly goes it “alone.” The Grail, as spiritual metaphor, is real; rugged self-sufficiency is the myth.
Jay_PDX, your comment was much welcome. Never hesitate to share what you know, because my blog is not simply a place for me to parade my 'knowledge' (which is not that vast to being with), but to learn from others who happen to stumble upon it. And who leave some of their own wisdom behind.
DeleteI didn't know many of the things you said about the Grail, and also about William Blake's stages of enlightenment. Although I like the Grail Tarot, I confess I have never studied the myths behind it so well. I have some basic knowledge and have been working with that. I would like to dig deeper someday, but I think that my journey will lead me to this path if it's needed.
I love William Blake's poems! Surprisingly enough, I have always liked "The Tyger", even though I did not understand its meaning until you pointed to it. I think I'll re-read "Songs of Innocence and of Experience"...
Thank you very much for all you have shared with me. I am going through a very difficult moment, and it's great for me to nourish my mind with new things... instead of thinking about what is gone and lost...
Thank you!