The Holy Grail and Its Use
Exploring the Grail Legend from a Psychological Perspective
There is no single Grail legend, rather a tapestry of many interwoven stories that make up the story that has filtered through to us in contemporary culture. Medieval authors borrowed from earlier stories, blending in material from their own cultural experiences. The Grail is an evolving story and perhaps will continue to evolve in our own time.
The Grail is the treasure hard to obtain, a prize of the highest value, tantalisingly out of reach for all except the worthiest, and even those individuals must give their upmost and find the best in themselves.
The Grail is a containing vessel. It contains Christ’s blood. If one takes the view that blood is life, the Grail symbolises the highest and best enacted in life. That leaves open the question as to what constitutes ‘highest and best’, but these are questions the Grail legend attempts to answer.
Grail Legend Story Arc
The hero knight, usually Perceval, is of royal blood but is unaware of his heritage, living a humble life on a farm with his mother. He has been placed there to keep him away from the hazards of the life of a knight, but one day he encounters a group of knights who appear almost angelic to him. Perceval is entranced and leaves home with the goal of becoming a knight, leaving behind his mother who dies of grief at his sudden departure, an act that will come back to haunt Perceval later.
Perceval begins his journey as a rough and uncouth youth, forcing himself on the first woman he encounters and robbing her of her ring. He conducts himself with rude manners on arriving at King Arthur’s court, being interested only in gaining his knighthood. Through the teachings of a knightly mentor, Perceval becomes more refined, learning the laws of chivalry, such as the protection of women and accepting the submission of an opponent who surrenders rather than dealing the death blow.
Without understanding quite how he got there, Perceval stumbles across the castle of the Fisher King, in which resides the Holy Grail. The Fisher King is old and ailing, injured in the groin. The surrounding country is a wasteland, devoid of fertility, like the Fisher King himself. The land and Fisher King are connected and in need of healing, something that can only be brought about by a hero of good character who asks the correct questions during the procession of the Grail artefacts.
Having witnessed the Grail procession, Perceval should have asked questions about the meaning of what he saw. Having failed to ask any questions about the Grail procession, the castle and all its inhabitants vanish and Perceval must begin his quest again.
Further adventures follow, resulting in continued personal growth, culminating in an encounter with a priest or hermit in which Perceval learns of and understands his sins, such as carelessly abandoning his mother at the beginning of the quest, confesses them and is given penance. This provides a platform for Perceval to reconnect with the Fisher King, experience the Grail procession a second time, and ask the necessary questions to complete the quest. The Fisher King is healed, and Perceval becomes the new guardian of the Grail.
The whole tale, while retaining the Christian connection through the blood of Christ, seems to demand more, calling the reader into a more complex and mystical religious experience; a dangerous but worthy quest for the individual that partially draws them into an otherworldly realm.
Individuation Themes of the Grail Legend
Considered psychologically, the Grail legend could be regarded as a call to live life or pursue individuation in the right spirit, against a background of challenge, failure, and conflict. The Grail legend conveys this message through the growing maturity of its central character, Perceval, who begins his journey as a deeply flawed individual, prone to unrestrained violence and low regard for women.
The chivalric code is one of the key themes of the Grail texts, encouraging a disciplined use of violence and greater respect of women. In an overlap with the courtly love culture that was emerging at this time, women are portrayed as people to be served by the knight, albeit with the tacit understanding that physical acts of bravery would be rewarded with love as a prize. In this acceptance of character failings and a willingness to improve, we can see an overlap with Jung’s concept of shadow integration.
The knights of the round table provide individuation material worthy of consideration. Only the superior man may take a place at the round table with the king, but the qualities prized are perhaps a bit one sided for our tastes today, proven courage in battle and feudal loyalty feature strongly.
The table was made round so that no one could sit at its head, a medieval concept of equality amongst noble peers, if not democracy in the wider sense. Merlin made the table to be round to symbolise the roundness of the world. In Jungian psychology a circle is one of the symbols of wholeness, a symbol of the Self. In some of the Grail legends Arthur leads twelve knights, a Christian parallel to the twelve disciples of Christ, and so we might say the symbolism is intended to portray a muscular warrior Christianity as wholeness or fullness.
Today we might argue this symbol lacks wholeness because of the absence of the feminine. Women are present in the Grail legend, but as peripheral figures, used to help fulfil the knight’s quest. The knights of the round table are probably best viewed as an aspirational model of wholeness for medieval elites, an encouragement to follow the code of chivalry, controlling their aggression and using it to protect the Holy Church and women.
Commentary of the deeds of the knights of the round table focuses on a few core characters. Perceval usually features as the central character and Gawain always has a prominent role. Gawain, a crack jouster and elite warrior, never falls as far as Perceval in his character failing but also does not rise as high, never being the one who is able to complete the quest. Could it be that the deeper the sin, the worse the failing, the more worthy the potential redemption, because one must work harder to attain it, and seek an unusually high goal to do so?
In Mallory’s Grail version Perceval is pushed into a more peripheral role while Sir Galahad finds the Grail and completes the quest. Unlike the flawed character of Perceval, Sir Galahad is presented as an almost Christ-like figure, saintly in his lack of sin, excepting of course killing an opponent in battle. The Perceval of the 12th and 13th century was an accessible character, what knight after all had not made serious mistakes in their life, creating a role model that could realistically be aimed for in the adventure of their own life. Mallory’s Sir Galahad of the 15th century is portrayed as a saint, of a seemingly natural perfection that few if any of us could realistically pursue as a role model.
The same Perceval – Galahad contrast may hold true today. By the time most people have considered individuation, personal growth, and maturity in their own lives, they are likely already too steeped in sin to consider Galahad as a model they could realistically aspire to. Perceval by contrast follows a more classic individuation model. There is a life of sin and error sufficient to block him from achieving the highest goal of his life, resolving the Grail mystery. Perceval must contend with multiple cases of extreme failure against the high standards he begins to set for himself as he grows through the story. He could blame others or give up on his goals, but he shoulders the blame and strives for the highest standards of himself. That strikes me as a positive approach to love and life.
Through continued life experience and contrition, comparable with Jungian shadow integration, Perceval begins to resolve his problems. Anima-like female figures in the dream world landscape of forests and castles, challenge and tempt him to grow further.
Perceval then has an encounter with a hermit or priest, the archetype of the wise old man in Jungian psychology, that deeply shakes him, resulting in a profound and deep repentance and willingness to change. With this fundamental change of character in place Perceval can approach the deepest mysteries of the transcendent objects and characters that presented themselves.
Even this is not sufficient to bring a resolution because Perceval at first only observes the transcendent experience. He approaches it passively and fails to ask any questions about what he has seen. The final resolution only occurs once Perceval questions the experience, and this is exactly what Jung encourages in the process of dream interpretation or active imagination, a potentially dangerous and hazardous dialogue with the unconscious rather than passively observing dreams.
The Grail’s religious symbolism may also have value for individuation. The ‘Fisher King’ is a curious title. The connection between fishing and kingship does not seem immediately obvious but the Fisher King is so named because he was guided by the Holy Spirit to catch a fish, breaking the famine that had afflicted the people. The connection between Christianity and the fish symbol is well established. Christ arrived at the beginning of the astrological aeon of Pisces, the Fish. Many of Christ’s disciples were fishermen by trade and Christ urged his disciples to become ‘fishers of men’.
Since the Fisher King is typically depicted as being old and ailing, having been wounded in the groin, suggesting a loss of fertility, a potential reading of the Grail symbolism is that Christianity is ailing, in need of healing and rejuvenation. How is this healing to be brought about? If we apply the Grail narrative to Christianity, the wrong approach is to ask no questions. Failure to ask any questions about the relics of the Passion in the Grail procession fails to heal the Fisher King. The approach that proves effective is to ask questions about what the relics mean or who they serve.
One interpretation of this would be that taking an active interest and asking meaningful questions about Christian symbols provides the healing renewal that Christianity needs. The Fisher King is arguably ‘fishing’ for a redeemer to revive his vitality with a new approach to Christianity that takes account of its symbolism.
How Should the Grail be Used?
Emma Jung, wife of Carl Jung, jointly completed a psychological analysis of the Grail legend with Marie-Louise von Franz. In their book The Grail Legend they argue the Grail procession is the stage at which the reader should realise they need to become the Grail themselves, the containing vessel that can attain the necessary insight and understanding and hold the necessary psychological experiences in love and life to evolve the symbol of the Self, the fullest symbol of wholeness.
If Christ as a symbol of the Self is to be changed or renewed what form should this take and what will the new symbol be? If we look to the Grail legend for answers, it is the individual, Perceval, who has undertaken sufficient personal growth, the hero’s journey, who takes the place of the Fisher King. The tapestry of his life is the answer, both successes and failure, but it has yet to find expression in a symbol; the story is incomplete.
This incompleteness may be why the Grail does not disappear or change form, rather Perceval becomes the new guardian of an unchanged symbol. Having won the Grail and become its guardian, the individual must then contend with what to do with their prize. It is hard to imagine an active knight like Perceval taking pleasure in standing watch over a static object for the rest of his days.
In the view of Jung and von Franz, the victorious hero, rather than passively remaining in the castle to guard the Grail, should have brought it from its secluded castle setting to the round table in order to bring the Spirit they discovered into the world, to enact it in love and life and share that experience with others. One could argue that is what Jung did with the Red Book, which is certainly not lacking in new symbols. These are Jung’s symbols, and should not be copied, we need to write our own story.
In my own case, the Grail I found was the foundation for a new age of Christian love. I have shared it with the world. The subject has been raised on various forums, online and offline, but it’s not connecting.
That raises an interesting question though. What should one do if the Grail is offered to the world and it is unwanted? Perhaps the time is not ripe. Put the Grail back on the alter and go do something else. See what the future brings...
Publications
Non-fiction
A Theatre of Meaning: A Beginner's Guide to Jung and the Journey of Individuation
A Song of Love and Life: Exploring Individuation Through the Medieval Spirit
Fiction
Bibliography
Bryant, R. (2001) Merlin and the Grail: The Trilogy of Arthurian Romances Attributed to Robert de Boron. D.S. Brewster.
Bryant, N. (2015). The Complete Story of the Grail: Chretien de Troyes’ Perceval and its Continuations. D.S. Brewer.
Hatto, A. T. (1980) Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Penguin.
Jung, C. G. (2009). The Red Book. Norton.
Jung, E. & von Franz, M. (1971). The Grail Legend. Hodder & Stoughton.
Shepherd, S. H. A. (2004) Le Morte D’arthur. W. W. Norton & Company Inc.