Motifs
- The Tree / Wood motif (Tree of Life, the Cross, Alchemical Tree).
- The Grail / Vessel motif (Receptivity, the feminine principle, restoration).
- The Word / Logos motif (Hermes, revelation, the continuation through language and sacred science).
Main Symbols:
- The Temple & The Tabernacle
- Ark of the Covenent
- Holy Grail
- The Rose & Cross
- The Crown
- Tree of Life
- Tetragammatron
- The Philosophers’ Stone
- The Altar & The Holy of Holies
- Book of Scripture and Book of Nature
In the Beginning, Creation Creation of Eden Creation of Man Tree of Life & Tree of Knowledge Eternity in Paradise
Fall after eating from the Tree of Knowledge Fall of Sophia Plato’s Cave - The World
Adam nearing death sends Seth to seek the Oil of Mercy at Paradise Archangel Michael denies the oil, gives Seth three seeds from the Tree of Life Adam is buried at Golgotha; Seth places the seeds under Adam’s tongue. Three saplings spring from the grave: cedar, cypress, and pine
Early History of Man - Previous civilizations, the Deluge, Tower of Babel, etc. Destruction of Atlantis and the re-start of human civilization. The remnant of a remnant survive
Egyptian mysteries - Thoth, Isis, Osiris, Horus Sumerian religion Babylonians, Chaldeans - the Magi
Hermes Trismegistus Zoroaster
The Old Testament patriarchs and prophets Kabbalah, Merkavah, Enoch,
Abraham, Moses,…. The Melchizedek Order & the Priests of Zadok
The trees survive the Flood and are preserved for replanting Moses discovers the saplings at Hebron and fashions a single staff
The Covenant, The Ark The Tablets of the Law
Moses works the signs with the staff and later plants it at Mount Tabor before his death.
David retrieves and transplants the sacred trees near Jerusalem; healings occur Psalms composed
Solomon and the building of the temple Solomon selects wood for the Temple; the beam will not fit and is set aside as a bridge The Queen of Sheba recognizes the wood’s destiny and prophesies the Messiah Solomon buries the wood in the Pool of Bethesda where an angel stirs the waters
Pythagoras Socrates and Plato Plotinus, Proclus, Iamblichus
The Essene as mystical mystery community dedicated to fostering the birth of the messiah The Teacher of Righteousness Christ Mythos
On the eve of the Passion the wood rises from Bethesda A piece becomes the Last Supper table board; the greater part is taken for the Cross The Cross is made (upright from the Eden wood; crossbar from cypress; footrest from palm; titulus on olive, in this telling) The Passion Begins The Last Supper - the Eucharist & The Grail Cup first used by Christ Prayer in Gethsemane: “Let this cup pass…” Arrest and Trial Crucifixion The Holy Lance pierces Christ’s side - Blood and water flow from the wound - Joseph of Arimathea gathers the blood in the Grail Death and Burial of Jesus Resurrection of Jesus Ascension/Translation into Heaven Pentecost – Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples
Joseph of Arimathea receives the Grail as a sacred trust and carries the Cross and the Grail to Gaul and Avalon At Glastonbury a portion of the wood is used to found a first Gnostic sanctuary The Gnostic Church The Grail Lineage is established by Joseph of Arimathea and the Grail Kings line continues Persecution of the Romans & early Church against Gnostic-Essene-Druids The Grail is hidden/protected through centuries The merging of Celtic-Druidic traditions with the Essene-Christic Grail mythos The Rise of the Knights Templar and Chivalric Martial-Spiritual Orders as protectors of the Grail, The Ark of the Covenant,…
Medieval Grail Romances encode the mystery in myth and allegory The Grail appears in the Arthurian cycle as the ultimate spiritual quest & the holy object that can heal the King & the Land Esoteric Christianity preserves the Grail as a path to divine union Medieval Troubadours & the Mysteries of Courtly Love The Hidden Line continues—Grail Bloodline and Grail Consciousness continue in esoteric, occult and mystical societies, orders, etc.
The Arthurian Mythos
Arthur & Merlin The Holy Grail Quest (also the journey of the disciple-initiate and the apprentice wizard)
A fragment is kept by the Fisher King; the land awaits the pure knight
Templars excavate beneath the Temple and recover lost relics such as the Ark
A Templar vision reveals a red rose from the Cross; a cutting is planted at Glastonbury
The Divine Feminine Thread: Expand the "Fall of Sophia" (from Gnosticism) to parallel Eve's role, then link it to Isis (Egyptian mysteries), the Queen of Sheba, Mary Magdalene (as Grail bearer),
monastic preservation of Hermetic texts and the translation movement in Islamic Spain and Sicily.- ancient gnosis flows into Latin Europe.
The “Dark Ages” Occult knowledge of astrology, alchemy, etc. is preserved in Islamic world Sufism
The ancient mysteries, the Book of Thoth appears as the Tarot deck.
Agrippa and the Three Books of Occult Philosophy Solomonic Magic
Frater CRC and the opening of his tomb The Rosicrucian Enlightenment In the cathedral age alchemists and Frater CRC contemplate the wood, the Grail, and the Rose-Cross
The heyday of the medieval and reniassance Alchemists - The Royal Art
Alchemy as the ancient art and science of transformation and ascension clothed in symbolic language and reflected in laboratory processes.
John Dee & Enochian magic
Freemasonry
Golden Dawn and occult revival of late 19th and early 20th centuries Crowley
Gareth Knight, John Matthews, Dion Fortune, A.E. Waite and others revive interest in the mystical Grail Myth Holy Blood, Holy Grail - The Di Vinci Code, Indiana Jones - The Grail in pop culture and modern media
Solomon’s Ship is fashioned from the same sacred wood with bed and three spindles Galahad lies upon the bed, completes the enigma, and sails to Sarras In Sarras Galahad attains the Grail and plants a Tree of Life sapling before his ascent
The Book of Revelation & The Apocalypse Last Judgement The Second Coming of Christ The Real World: New Jerusalem- A New Heaven and New Earth Rapture - The Final Step Translation