Lecture Five: Perceval
Perceval, a knight introduced by Chretien de Troyes in his Conte de Graal (written about 1180), was the first hero of the Grail stories and under various names (Peredur, Parzifal, Parsifal, Perchevael) he remained at the center of the stories which followed and, for long, captured the imagination of Europe. Nonetheless he was an unlikely hero. As a boy, the story begins, Perceval is sheltered by his mother from all knowledge of the world of knightly chivalry, for or she fears that knighthood would bring his death as it had his father's. However, one day Perceval sees a party of knights and, enchanted by the romance of knighthood and with no thought of his mother's grief, he leaves for King Arthur's court.
After various adventures, the young, and still very naive, knight comes to the castle of the Grail and, at dinner, witnesses a procession bearing the Grail and its related hallows (holy things). He remains in awed silence only to discover later that if he had instead asked a question the Fisher King might have been healed and the lands of the Grail renewed. It is only after many further adventures that Perceval again, and finally, achieves the Grail Quest, which for him involves the asking of a question, and becomes himself the Guardian of the Grail.
This in brief is the story of Perceval's Quest (We shall consider in the following lecture the stories which center on Galahad) and, even reduced to this minimum, the material is very complex. Let us separate it into four headings which I shall call: the Divine Fool, the question, the alchemical Perceval, and "why Perceval?"
I. The Divine Fool
As in the Tarot the Fool (who, whether designated 'aleph, as beginning, or 'shin' in connection with the mystery of love, is the point around which the dance of the arcana turns) signifies that foolishness of God which, as St. Paul said, is wiser than the wisdom of men, so Perceval is one of those characters who reflects the mystery of wise folly. This is most explicit in Wagner's Parsifal where, for example, the Fisher King is told;” By pity enlightened, the guileless Fool—— Wait for him! My chosen tool.” And this is implicit in the character of Perceval from the beginning.
Now esotericists like to identify correspondences in a neat and exact way, but before identifying Perceval with the Fool of the Tarot, there is a distinction that needs to be made. The Fool, while he may appear balanced over a precipice, never loses his perfect equilibrium. Perceval however, albeit in naive innocence, performs many rash acts with unfortunate and even tragic consequences. His impulsive departure leaves his mother to die shortly afterwards of grief, and his unasked question leaves the king and his lands in their suffering.
We may say the same of Don Quixote, that other figure so close to archetypal Fool, that in misunderstanding so many things he causes sorrow and constantly loses his equilibrium if in the end for the reader--he brings liberation and understanding. Under our final heading we will pursue the significance of Perceval's folly a bit further, but for now let us say first that Perceval is not identical to the Fool, but, secondly, that he stands--like Don Quixote--in a 'profound relation' to the Fool.
II. The Question
What is the question that Perceval needs to ask so that the Fisher King may be healed? In Chretien it is as to the meaning of the Grail procession, and similarly in the Peredur. On the other hand in the Perlesvaus it is, " whom does the Grail serve?". In the Parzival the healing question is: "what aileth thee', my uncle?"
Now considered, as it were, exoterically, we may say that the essential idea was that a question was needed and each author felt free to provide
his own specific one. Various esoteric interpretations may, no doubt be offered, but when we consider that--as we shall develop later--no question was necessary at the highest level of the Quest, that of Galahad, it is not so much in relation to the Grail that a question is necessary but rather is necessary for Perceval himself to question--in one way or another--the meaning of the visible reality, to get beyond the surfaces through which, as a 'naïf' he naturally experienced the world, The question is for the sake of the quester, not for the sake of the Grail.
On a philosophic level, Simone Weil has remarked that there is a," profound insight in Von Eschenbach's insistence, in the Parzival, that the nature of the illness be asked, Each of us, she said, awaits that question of profound compassion in relation to our own experience, in effect "how does it feel to be you?” which will free us from the burden of our solitude. Or, as Von Eschenbach said, "When unconsoled the Fisher sat, so sorrowful and full of grief, why would you not give him relief?"
III. The Alchemical Perceval
Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival also contains a great deal of complex symbolism, much of it apparently alchemical. First of all the Grail itself is described as "...a stone of purest kind called lapsit exilis." Which parallels--"This insignificant stone (lapis exilis) is despised by fools, the more cherished by the wise." Rosarium Philosophorum, Arnold of Villanova.
In addition the alchemical triad black, white, and red is reflected in many places and, indeed, Parzival is reconciled at the end to a half brother, Feirefiz, who is piebald - colored black and white. There is a wealth of other symbolism, which will interest, and more or less reward, the esotericist. Perhaps particularly seeking it in von Eschenbach's poem, "The Hound Gardevias”. A hound's collar written with starry script and a leash twelve meters long of inter woven strands of yellow, green, red and brown.
Parzival is the central text, we might add, for the Grail meditations of Rudolf Steiner and also for Walter Stein and Trevor Ravenscroft, whose books are the most available expression of this school in English. Characteristic of this school is a very complex and detailed conception of the relation of the Grail, and the Blood of Christ, to the "inner history" of Europe. In general one senses an attempt to concretize and make graspable and definable something, "inner history" which is too subtle for such treatment, and also a certain blurred sense of reality, of what is fact and what is fancy, which is by no means to deny the value of their work. Ravenscroft's Cup in particular, we recommend as a valuable companion to the reading of the Parzival, which in turn we recommend for its wealth of symbols.
IV. Why Perceval?
Finally, moving from a literary to a spiritual point of view we must ask ourselves why the first image of a Grail hero is that of a sort of innocent, who reminds us of the Fool, who must learn to question reality. Perhaps the answer is related to the necessity, in the spiritual life, to return to simplicity as a starting point. Jesus taught that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven one must first become as a little child. Zen Buddhists are given, for contemplation, the question, "What was your face before you were born?"
The problem is that as time goes on we become not so much one simple person, but a crowd of people who daily take the stage in turn. Somehow we cannot be all of ourselves at once. No writer, perhaps, understood this problem more clearly then Marcel Proust whose great novel Remembrance of Things Past grows out of certain moments, which he called "Resurrections", of transparent unity of being..."And at the moment when, recovering my balance, I put my foot on a stone which was slightly lower than it neighbors, all my discouragement vanished and in its place was that same happiness which at various epochs of my life had been given to me...a profound azure intoxicated my eyes, impressions of coolness, of dazzling light..." This, that is, from a sudden breaking free from the present and recovery of the integrity of self beyond the fragmentation caused by passing time. Now what may be given by an apparently accidental experience may also be achieved--at least to a considerable extent... by a spiritual effort.
The effort called for is that of seeing things with the original simplicity of an ideal child, without adding any interpretations, without any fear. One can see easily, in others perhaps more easily than in oneself, the outline of the child remaining within the most sophisticated or even the most unpleasant, and so on, person. The introduction of Perceval as the first Grail hero indicates that the first condition of the Grail Quest is to return to that simplicity, and then from that standpoint to question the reality around ourselves. This is one form, and stage, of the Quest; we shall consider, next, another that is represented by the person of Galahad.
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