Introduction
Are You on the Quest for the Grail?
Every aspiring soul is seeking for union with the nourishment that only the spirit can provide, a sort of quest for the holy grail to transcend the physical and re-enter a paradisical state of consciousness. You may call it enlightenment, the golden moment of illumination, or the quest for the holy grail of your personal yearnings, among many other names.
This insatiable desire arises like a flaming sword that cuts through the barriers that separate the soul and its spiritual longings to find the garden of paradise again. Like a powerfully hurled spear of fire, the awakened consciousness of wisdom that is gleaned from wielding the flaming sword falls like lightning and pierces the heart to open it as a wound that blossoms into a flowing vessel of love. This vessel of consciousness then overflows with the descending rain of fire coming from the fiery thoughts that rush into the pierced, humble heart-grail of the aspirant of the spirit.
This process is the physical signature of the cosmic descent of the human spirit. It is an ongoing process and must always be "sought after" like the "quest" of the grail knights or the "Way" of the early Christians. It takes an open, seeking soul that has purified itself beforehand to witness and participate in this wondrous process of human spiritual evolution.
Throughout history, humanity has described this process in many different myths, legends, stories, and religious beliefs. The holy grail mysteries of the blood have been little understood as a process of spiritual evolution. Often, in Christian religious beliefs, the stories of human spiritual evolution are directly linked to the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus becomes the archetypal human being (the second Adam) to redeem the "Fall from Paradise" and open the "path" back to the Garden of Paradise Eden. The blood of Jesus Christ becomes the ransom payment for the fall of humanity into this earthly world. Truly the blood of God, through his only begotten Son, became the vehicle of redemption as it was spilled into the earth itself through the passion and crucifixion of Jesus.
This "blood of the gods" that the Greeks called "ichor", was occasionally shared with humanity by Zeus having children with humans. These half-human, half-god heroes/heroines often had to conquer great evil on the earth to attain immortality in the stars, just as BMHercules and Psyche did. The ichor in the blood veins of Hercules from his father Zeus made it possible for him to become immortal. That divine blood was given to Hercules as a sort of gift from Zeus, the gift of divine blood that causes immortality and pseudo-divinity in a human being.
Whether we examine the stories of the Hindu god Krishna, or the Norse god Odin, we find that the divine beings who "sustain" our world often sacrifice themselves for the good of humanity. There are numerous pre-Christian "solar heroes" that prefigure the deeds of Jesus Christ. These pagan mysteries were melded into the stories, myths, and legends that surround Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church, much like the Romans before them, often amalgamated the beliefs of those who they conquered into their own pantheon of gods and goddesses. Jesus Christ, for the Romans, became the ultimate solar hero who fulfilled all prophecies and had the same characteristics of prior divine solar heroes.
Jesus is the archetypal representative of humanity and each seeking soul can identify with the suffering of what is called, the twelve Stages of the Cross. These stages seem to replicate the steps of suffering that awaken consciousness. The Christian path of the holy grail ("The Way") is one of longsuffering love, compassion and wisdom that arises from devotion to the holy blood mysteries.
Until the time of Abraham, human or animal blood sacrifices were the propitiating offerings that communicated with "heaven" and sought favorable responses from the gods. The worship of blood as a vehicle of "communion" between the seen and unseen worlds was a central focus of ancient religions and cultures. Blood, offered up to the gods, was the only substance that humans believed the gods were interested in. Burnt offerings were also part of many devotional rituals, including burning the body after death as a means to cross over into the spiritual world. Blood was the key to religious and spiritual experience and was known as the vehicle of consciousness.
When the Son of God, Jesus, offered his own blood and body as a sacrifice for the prior "sin" of humanity that was incurred in paradise that caused the "fall", the turning point of human spiritual evolution tipped in favor of the spirit. Pre-Christian beliefs predicted the archetypal blood (and body) sacrifice of Jesus Christ who would plant his blood/body in the earth as a spiritual seed that would stop the fall of humanity into cold, dark matter. This spiritual seed enkindled the fire of spirit that descends from heaven to warm human hearts with the same love that God expressed in offering His Only Son as the "final blood sacrifice" in the history of human spiritual evolution. Christ brought to each person a "living drop" of blood of the Son of God (His ichor) to their heart. This living blood ("The Life") can receive the descent of the Pentecostal tongues of flames ("The Truth") and answer in like fashion with the fiery love and compassion that Jesus of Nazareth demonstrated as "The Way" to be part human and part divine. Receiving this "living blood" is the spiritual inheritance needed to ascend back to the Garden of Paradise, from whence we came.
When we use the flaming sword of wisdom (Sophia) to cut the ties of attachment to this world and seek the heavenly kingdom that Jesus said he came from, our thoughts become spiritual fire that pierces fear, doubt, and hatred burning away earthly dross. Wielding the sword of wisdom begins the process of ascending back to paradise. The blood of Christ is everlasting and was seeded into the earth and the hearts of every person, whether they believe in Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, or any other belief. All religions, mythologies, and effective spiritual paths point to the reality that the lower self can rise up into a higher form through virtuous thoughts, feelings, and actions. The goal is always the same metaphorically - it is the attainment of the holy grail that feeds us the exact spiritual nourishment that we need to take the next step in our personal evolution. This "Holy Grail" is connected directly to the "living blood" that is necessary to ascend to spiritual worlds through the higher self.
It is incumbent upon the aspirant of the spirit to accomplish the same twelve stages (Herculean labors) that Jesus of Nazareth underwent and conquered through His passion, death and resurrection. Each knight or lady of the grail must pass tests to be allowed to find the holy grail and learn to use it to turn their blood into a vehicle of spiritual consciousness that transcends the physical world. In the grail romances, the knights who attain the grail, must then become faithful guardians of the grail and protect it from unworthy eyes. Thus, the chivalrous knight must conquer his own inner demons and dragons before he comes to the Grail Castle to witness the procession of the keepers of the grail, the grail maidens, as they display the bleeding spear and the vessel that catches the blood. And even then, after beholding the grail procession, the worthy grail knight might not have developed enough higher consciousness to understand what he has seen and then ask the appropriate question, "Who does the grail serve?"
Might and valor serve the grail knight only in the beginning stages of the quest. Seeking for the grail ultimately brings you to your own personal "Dark Knight" that you must conquer with faithfulness, devotion and love, not war, fighting, and killing. These first stages are appropriate for grail seekers to tame the dragon, conquer the ills of the outside world, and turn from the physical sword and spear to the spiritual flaming sword of wisdom and the spear of love and mercy. The tools of war must become spiritual tools that conquer the knight's lower self. It is the unending desire to seek and find the higher self in the outer world that embodies the quest in the first stages. The dutiful knight (soldier) of the divine fights to control lower desires of selfishness and vice. Only virtue can battle with vice until the holy grail is "seen" and recognized as a true and valid cause for the sacrifices of the quest. It is a slow, and often difficult, pilgrimage path ("The Way") back to paradise.
The archetypal nature of Jesus Christ's blood-sacrifice starts with the divine Trinity deciding to send the only Son of God to earth to mitigate the effects of evil upon the human body, soul and spirit. Christ, the second being in the solar logos, makes the ultimate sacrifice and descends into a human body with all of its limitations and, as yet, unredeemed evil. This was the greatest pain and humiliation that a divine being could endure. To move so far back in spiritual evolution and unite with humanity's slow spiritual growth is the ultimate sacrifice of all times - the death of a god.
Christ offered his blood/body as the gift that keeps growing, like a grail overflowing with love and mercy. Each person who takes up this Christ (higher self) impulse and fans the flame of love for all beings in their heart/grail, becomes a living image of what Christ has done so perfectly. We simply follow the path ("The Way, The Truth, and The Life") that we have been shown by Jesus Christ's perfect example. We need only follow the "Way of Christ" to fulfill the mission of attaining the Blood Mysteries of the Holy Grail in our own heart.