[sunbug]

It is hard to let this one go! Especially with the subject of the Grail myth/legend/quests being prominent this month on this site!
And it almost feels as though there is something resonating in the collective psyche here!
Especially with two excellent essays drawn to Parzeval and The Grail/Fisher king!
Fascinating!! Have felt it outside of this forum as well. Guess something about the “wounded land,” calls or bites on a deeper level.
One thought I’m struck by again and again, when pondering the Parzeval story is how our perception of the word “individual,” has and continues to fluctuate over time.

From a Campbell take on myth,  (grin) looking at Parzeval, when he was true to his individual nature and self, he was tuning-in to something greater than himself, something eternal and universal. And that could be considered a Call to Service as well!

Yet today trying to extricate the word ego from the word individual is as tricky as facing Medusa without your mirror shield!!

There seems to be a sense they both go hand in hand. (Wry smile)

It is understandable (joyful sorrows of the world and a few too many “bad apples.”) But it is also a little sad…or perhaps that is my own quirk…since Joe Campbell inspired, informed and opened my eyes as well as peaked my curiosity.
Joe Campbell by no means was perfect (human after all) but I miss his grounding (mixed in with the transcendent.)

Sometimes feels like we need a dose of Campbell today. (Smile)

Could one suppose when Parzeval was worried about “What others will think of me?” That was coming from “ego?”
And when he “let that be,” he could hear the Inner Call to something greater: the NEED for the Question which healed the land?
Reasonable? Maybe? In touch with self but capital  Self (universal consciousness?)

Though with a skim how easy this might be missed…especially today.

Perception has great power…

   When Parzeval tunes in to his own nature and higher Self (knowing that he makes an individual decision away from the team or group, a decision based on an internal radar) what might be the initial reception today?
Considering the word individual in the past decade is perceived with a “darker mark?” Even “toxic!” Aye tis those bad apples spoiled the whole lot!
In a Different atmosphere, Parzival’s heart decision becomes “selfish,” because he did not involve or work with others. His calling “is to be part of the Team.” Not go against the Team Code.
Yet he champions on his own in greater Service and Need and helps the Team! And helps the Land by being humble enough to listen to that inner call!
Not an easy lesson alas!
The question is if with patience (for those who believe Parzeval is being selfish to go against Code…) with patience can the end of the story be heard? May take a few bumps in the road but perhaps.

And  can the Larger View be seen?

It would seem so!! Especially since the Grail quest is resonating in many psyches…or the Universal one.

And that is hopeful!

 

 

 

 

[sunbug]

Another muse: Parzeval moments…

There is a strong drawing to The Grail/Fisher King story and something beautiful and profound with a simple question being the answer.

One quick aside to those versed in this history. I’ve heard the question posed two ways: one “what ails thee Knight?”

and two: “whom does the grail serve?”

guess that depends on translation and writers. Just curious.

but moving on…we all love the beauty and mystery of this. The simple question being the answer. And when we receive and experience the story as is…we feel it resonate inside.

Yet when we pull back from the story grounded back in the Real…some part of us sighs inside…because “a simple question or answer,” does not work in “the real world.”

do our hearts not long for Parzeval moments? While the Spock mind argues reasonably against the unpracticality of such dreams?

Complexity drives us…sometimes it is necessary… and other times just frustrating.

but can we be so certain those simple moments do not occur?

What of Alexander Fleming who discovered Penicillin by accident?!!

Speaking of Parzeval moments!

Well yes he was a scientist knowledgeable in his field and was a good observer.
But his “messy” lab (GASP! Horror!) produced a “Happy Accident!” (as the PBS painter Bob Ross might have said)

And what a “Happy Accident it was!”

So ok Fleming himself was not fully aware of what he discovered except for a wonderful topical use.
And credit must be given to the dedicated scientists who followed Fleming who carefully studied the data from Fleming’s discovery and voila!
Fleming’s discovery was even more profound! (Round the world!)

Fleming simply opened a door or window just by observing the results of an “unintended” “accident.”

It is still mind blowing. That one revelation not even by experiment (at least not until later) but by accident!
Feels a bit Parzeval…hmm?
We are all thankful for the careful studying, which followed…but what a window to open!!

So here’s a question if Fleming had not discovered that…and a potential window was left available to others later… to find the treasure…wonder how it would go?
“Oh no a messy lab! Mold growing here and there! What to do…

“Wait a moment!” (she/he) squints the eyes…takes a sample, a microscope runs some tests to make certain and lo and behold! Eureka!!
(but still makes sure to clean the lab)

OR “this is a mess! Fungus Mold! Someone needs to be fired! Time to clean this mess! (And makes sure to clean the lab)

Penicillin? Guess then would have to wait a few more years to make its debut.

So seems like everything in balance

(disclaimer: of course the lab has to be cleaned as a matter of health and hygiene NOT suggesting otherwise but how Lucky Parzeval Fleming observed what he did first before unknowingly wiping away a “simple answer.”
It took Fleming’s open observation as well as dedicated study and data collection by others in years following.
Mind blowing what “the unexpected can reveal!”

So yes I am still digging those Parzeval moments in touch with something greater and beyond general ken. Yet at times profoundly simple.

 

[Stephen Gerringer]

Sunbug writes

Could one suppose when Parzeval was worried about ‘What others will think of me?’ That was coming from ‘ego’?
And when he ‘let that be,’ he could hear the Inner Call to something greater: the NEED for the Question which healed the land?”

I believe you have articulated the heart of the matter, Sunbug (not that Wolfram von Eschenbach or the other Grail authors knew what the ego is in terms of the vocabulary of depth psychology, but that indeed seems the dynamic at work here).

Ego, essentially, is “I,” “me,” my perception of myself. What I believe others may think of me is definitely an ego concern. But compassion (Latin com – “with,” plus passion – “suffering”: “suffering with”), exemplified in the question “What ails thee?”, steps outside ego concerns.

[Shaahayda Rizvi]

Thank you Stephen and Sunbug.

Sunbug for posing that insightful question, “And when he ‘let that be,’ he could hear the Inner Call to something greater: the NEED for the Question which healed the land?” And thank you Steve for pulling Sunbug’s words from her lengthy post and validating them, “I believe you have articulated the heart of the matter, Sunbug. “

[sunbug]

Oh alas! I have tilted at a windmill and have become stuck wheeling around the simple point in the middle! ‘Tis true alas ‘tis true! Ha ha!
I am drawn to everything that is NOT a wasteland! In spite of the sorrows…I cry in joy for the beauties!
Speaking of which, Shaahayda, I have ordered the book “The Spell of the Sensuous” and am looking forward to reading it!!!
Perhaps I’m winding around and around because of refusing the wasteland!
Oh, The need for myth, a call to something more, a balancing of heart and intuition with mind and that something else transcendent!
It is a longing!

And It is obvious I need the quiet of the forest to replenish and soar on different wings!
I Thank the Universe for passion and inspiration, beauty and kindness which still exist!

There are enough journeyers out there, who are inspired by and hear that call…of discovery and seeking, learning or experiencing even if just the journey of a walk reconnecting with nature to replenish the soul! And that is hopeful!
Frustrations come and go. As human things as they must…like clouds passing overhead…storms and rain.
It was a cloud-shadow-moment.
Not All have given up on seeing the Simple Beauty in the Parcival moment!
Why else would so many be drawn here? Or to the myths, stories and dreams, which continue to inform our lives…and personal adventures?

So I’ll fly off this “windmill.” Heh heh.

 

 

 

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