The Holy Grail as an inner search

The origin of the legend of the Holy Grail dates back to the Middle Ages, as evident in the writings of Godfrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach, among others. These wrote about a mystical and powerful object that was supposed to contain the blood of Christ collected during the crucifixion.

The Christian symbolism of the Holy Grail is incontestable. However, there are Celtic precedents for the legend. This town called Graal to a special dish in which fish was normally served. Again, the symbolism of the fish and Christianity are linked.

However, From the gnostic and alchemical point of view, the Holy Grail is found within us. For example, for the Gnostics, we all carry within us that divine spark that is the fruit of creation. The alchemists, for their part, were not so interested in obtaining gold, as in the process of inner transformation to which the initiate undergoes these practices of occult knowledge.

For Jungians, for example, Finding the Holy Grail is nothing more than recovering the state of completeness (Von Franz, 1999). Well, from this perspective, the disease is understood as a state of incompletenesswhile health is understood as the totality, individuation or state of completeness.

In the case at hand, We will see it from this last point of view: the integration of opposites, of the shadow and the advance towards the process of individuation. That is, we are not going to approach it as completeness total, but rather as a significant advance towards it.

The Holy Grail as an inner search

Why is the Holy Grail an inner quest? Because in the search for the material object, a series of unconscious transformations occur in the person searching.

The Holy Grail as a feminine element of the male psyche

In what for some was the repressive Middle Ages, in reality, The emergence of Chivalry and courtly love made women a superior, pure and immaculate being.. He radically cut himself off from the idea of Pater Familias Roman, with traditional patriarchy, and a new era was entered in which women were put on a pedestal and began to enjoy social rights (although insufficient, of course).

Women now aroused much more than mere sexual and reproductive interest. They were considered to have quasi-divine qualities.. Beings who had to be protected and with whom every chivalrous man aspired to fill his spirit and be nourished by the nectar of courtly love, pure and spiritual love, transcendent love that would survive even death itself.

On the other hand, women of the time saw men as gentlemen, virile, determined, brave and pure of heart and spirit. To some extent, neither men nor women could live up to such high expectations. Not all women were pure or superior, nor were all men heroes. It was clear that this was an archetypal projection.

This projection was nothing more than an unconscious attempt of the psyche to try to integrate the opposites man-woman, anima-animus and for trying to complete his spirit. A spirit that was always incomplete, since Western Christian civilization came from a patriarchal culture that had previously surpassed the matriarchal culture of pre-classical peoples.

Nevertheless, At no time in history had there been what is called Fatriarchy.. That is, a culture that would overcome both matriarchal and patriarchal hemiplegia, integrating both aspects of the human psyche, recognizing the intrinsic value of the human being and proposing a free society of complementarity and positive exchange between the sexes. It should be noted that, at the present time, we are immersed in a new era of matriarchal claim.

The man who will come

The legend of the Grail (see The Tale of the Grail, by Chrétien de Troyes) tells us about a man pure in spirit and heart -Perceval- who will help a King wounded by Longinus’ spear, which represents an outdated and decadent masculinity, to compensate for its wound and promote the well-being and progress of its people. However, this man who seeks the Holy Grail must go through a series of tests that will entail a process of personal transformation.

To begin with, it is not enough to be pure in your intentions, You must integrate those aspects that you dislike about yourself (your shadow) and you must learn to value true love. and the meaning of femininity. Note that he was a rude man without manners at first, therefore very far from these conceptions.

Meaning of the Holy Grail for the person

In the Grail Tale, Perceval has had the Holy Grail in front of him, but he has not known how to see it or use its power. He was not prepared. However, Over time he realizes his serious mistake and begins a process of inner transformation.. A process that makes him a better person, a better gentleman and more courageous, if possible.

The search for the Grail is the search for the divine in one’s own interiority. For a man, a gentleman, the closest thing to the divine is the woman. And through respect and love towards women he realizes that her spirit was empty.

Indeed, in this sense it is the woman who helps him fill it, giving it a meaning to live, fight and work. It is the integration of the opposite, completeness, the acceptance of the feminine part in the male psyche.

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