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Merlin and the Grail Tradition
Few figures from myth and legend have impressed the imagination like that of Merlin, Archmage of the land of Logres, whose shadowy, compelling presence plays a key part in the tales of Arthurian legend and the Quest of the Holy Grail.
Merlin and the Grail Tradition was first published at the turn of the millennium by Sun Chalice Books, originally as a collection of ten essays, talks and magical workings grouped loosely around the locus of Merlin and the grail. Gareth Knight is exceptionally well qualified to cover the esoteric aspects of the Arthurian mysteries, having been trained extensively in this tradition as a young initiate of Dion Fortune's school and later developing them at the now legendary series of Hawkwood workshops during the 1980s. In his autobiography I Called it Magic he describes a hair-raising spontaneous magical working in which he sounded three long blasts on a hunting horn to call the sleeping King Arthur. The result was a vision, which burst in upon those present, of the entire fellowship of the Round Table assembling within the lodge. Another ritual from that same event, The Catechism of the Grail, is included in this book. The longer term result of this work was Gareth Knight's well-known book The Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend. His deep insights into the Arthurian mysteries have been further enriched by his exchange of ideas and close working relationships with other important authorities on the Merlin/Grail traditions, such as Caitlín and John Matthews, R.J. Stewart and Wendy Berg.
The articles gathered together in this collection include transcripts of talks given at various conferences, chapters written for inclusion in other books, and short pieces selected from Gareth Knight's own magazine, Quadriga, which was circulated to his students.
Since the original edition of this book was published a number of further articles have been written which add new insights, particularly with regard to the faery tradition within the grail legends, which has taken on an increasing importance in recent years. This new edition therefore includes The Faery Tradition in Arthurian Legend and a new analysis of Chrétien de Troyes: The First Arthurian Romancer. Additionally, an old manuscript has come to light on Sir Gareth: the Quest of a Round Table Knight, resurrected from a private lecture given in Paris in 1987. This new expanded collection of thirteen pieces therefore represents Gareth Knight's eclectic pursuit of the Merlin and Grail mysteries over a period of more than thirty years.
Merlin and the Grail Tradition was first published at the turn of the millennium by Sun Chalice Books, originally as a collection of ten essays, talks and magical workings grouped loosely around the locus of Merlin and the grail. Gareth Knight is exceptionally well qualified to cover the esoteric aspects of the Arthurian mysteries, having been trained extensively in this tradition as a young initiate of Dion Fortune's school and later developing them at the now legendary series of Hawkwood workshops during the 1980s. In his autobiography I Called it Magic he describes a hair-raising spontaneous magical working in which he sounded three long blasts on a hunting horn to call the sleeping King Arthur. The result was a vision, which burst in upon those present, of the entire fellowship of the Round Table assembling within the lodge. Another ritual from that same event, The Catechism of the Grail, is included in this book. The longer term result of this work was Gareth Knight's well-known book The Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend. His deep insights into the Arthurian mysteries have been further enriched by his exchange of ideas and close working relationships with other important authorities on the Merlin/Grail traditions, such as Caitlín and John Matthews, R.J. Stewart and Wendy Berg.
The articles gathered together in this collection include transcripts of talks given at various conferences, chapters written for inclusion in other books, and short pieces selected from Gareth Knight's own magazine, Quadriga, which was circulated to his students.
Since the original edition of this book was published a number of further articles have been written which add new insights, particularly with regard to the faery tradition within the grail legends, which has taken on an increasing importance in recent years. This new edition therefore includes The Faery Tradition in Arthurian Legend and a new analysis of Chrétien de Troyes: The First Arthurian Romancer. Additionally, an old manuscript has come to light on Sir Gareth: the Quest of a Round Table Knight, resurrected from a private lecture given in Paris in 1987. This new expanded collection of thirteen pieces therefore represents Gareth Knight's eclectic pursuit of the Merlin and Grail mysteries over a period of more than thirty years.
- GenresOccult
124 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Gareth Knight
151 books91 followersGareth Knight is one of the world's foremost authorities on ritual magic, the Western Mystery Tradition and Qabalistic symbolism. He trained in Dion Fortune's Society of the Inner Light, and has spent a lifetime rediscovering and teaching the principles of magic as a spiritual discipline and method of self-realisation.
He has written around forty books covering topics as diverse as Qabalah, history of magic, Arthurian legend, Rosicrucianism, Tarot, the Inklings (Tolkien, C.S.Lewis et al) and the Feminine Mysteries, as well as several practical books on ritual magic. He has lectured worldwide and is a regular contributor to Inner Light, the journal of the Society of the Inner Light.
The group founded by Gareth Knight in 1973 is now run by Wendy Berg and known as the Avalon Group.
See: http://garethknight.blogspot.com/
He has written around forty books covering topics as diverse as Qabalah, history of magic, Arthurian legend, Rosicrucianism, Tarot, the Inklings (Tolkien, C.S.Lewis et al) and the Feminine Mysteries, as well as several practical books on ritual magic. He has lectured worldwide and is a regular contributor to Inner Light, the journal of the Society of the Inner Light.
The group founded by Gareth Knight in 1973 is now run by Wendy Berg and known as the Avalon Group.
See: http://garethknight.blogspot.com/
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 27, 2014
Merlyn is the archetypical wizard, who much like Gandalf is of another worldly character who has the job of preparing mankind for its ultimate enlightenment and evolution. Once he does his job he then fades away to the background. Merlyn like the rest of Arthurian legend is surrounded in mystery with many layers to peel back.
His origins are almost unknown. What is gleaned is that his mother was a nun and that his father was an elf or angelic being depending on which source you read. Merlyn in fact may also be of royal blood. Vortigern a usurping king was trying to build his tower but it kept on collapsing. Merlyn was supposed to be a sacrifice to bless the land. When the land was cursed it was said a sacrifice of royal b lood would get rid of the problem. He informed Vortigern about the dragon fighting underneath. Later on Merlyn would help the Pendragon’s regain the throne and he would raise Arthur.
Where did all this stuff come from ? Many would posit the land of Wales. After all the famous work “Mabinogian” came from their and it mentions King Arthur and versions of other characters in Arthurian legend. In fact Troyes DeChetain and Thomas Mallory may have used a common source coming from Wales. In the land of Wales there is a ring of stones much like Stonehenge. The stones themselves have a source that is far away and no one knows just how they got there.
Merlyn had a job and he carried it out in a variety of way. We all know about raising Arthur but there is more. It supposed that Merlyn may have had faery blood and atlantean blood flowing threw his veins. His job was to help craft and ultimate king or a superior bloodline. Ygraine who Pendragon deduced with Merlyn’s help may have had Atlantean blood, uther was Celtic royalty. Once Arthur was born the next step was to bring in the faery blood and Gwenifar may have been faery.
The book does not deal with archaeology but rather using Arthurian legend as a tool for spiritual growth. In the stories that are examined it is women who act as a civilizing force for mankind. They are the intiatior of knight and seekers into the forest realm of mystery. At the books end there is a ritual that one can do as well a guided meditation.
The teaching of Gareth Knight are based on those of his mentor Dion Fortune and Dion Fortune herself based them off of Blavatskies Theopsophy. According this paradigm Arhturian legend did not migrate from the Eastern regions as is currently thought but rather they came from the west. To the West of Britain was the island of Atlantis that submerged in the ocean. It was Atlanteans who brought the spiritual teachings forward.
Dion Fortune differs from Blavatski in that she also subscribes to Christian mysticism as a layer of Arthurian myustery. She had three rays. The first bein green pertained to nature and the paganism, the second wheel dealt with Hermetic philosophy and the creation of mental maps. The third dealt with Christian mystery.
One wizard who was also discussed was John Dee. Mystic, sorcerer, spy and scholar. It was ohn Dee working behind the scenes who caused massive change in Britian and world wide.
His origins are almost unknown. What is gleaned is that his mother was a nun and that his father was an elf or angelic being depending on which source you read. Merlyn in fact may also be of royal blood. Vortigern a usurping king was trying to build his tower but it kept on collapsing. Merlyn was supposed to be a sacrifice to bless the land. When the land was cursed it was said a sacrifice of royal b lood would get rid of the problem. He informed Vortigern about the dragon fighting underneath. Later on Merlyn would help the Pendragon’s regain the throne and he would raise Arthur.
Where did all this stuff come from ? Many would posit the land of Wales. After all the famous work “Mabinogian” came from their and it mentions King Arthur and versions of other characters in Arthurian legend. In fact Troyes DeChetain and Thomas Mallory may have used a common source coming from Wales. In the land of Wales there is a ring of stones much like Stonehenge. The stones themselves have a source that is far away and no one knows just how they got there.
Merlyn had a job and he carried it out in a variety of way. We all know about raising Arthur but there is more. It supposed that Merlyn may have had faery blood and atlantean blood flowing threw his veins. His job was to help craft and ultimate king or a superior bloodline. Ygraine who Pendragon deduced with Merlyn’s help may have had Atlantean blood, uther was Celtic royalty. Once Arthur was born the next step was to bring in the faery blood and Gwenifar may have been faery.
The book does not deal with archaeology but rather using Arthurian legend as a tool for spiritual growth. In the stories that are examined it is women who act as a civilizing force for mankind. They are the intiatior of knight and seekers into the forest realm of mystery. At the books end there is a ritual that one can do as well a guided meditation.
The teaching of Gareth Knight are based on those of his mentor Dion Fortune and Dion Fortune herself based them off of Blavatskies Theopsophy. According this paradigm Arhturian legend did not migrate from the Eastern regions as is currently thought but rather they came from the west. To the West of Britain was the island of Atlantis that submerged in the ocean. It was Atlanteans who brought the spiritual teachings forward.
Dion Fortune differs from Blavatski in that she also subscribes to Christian mysticism as a layer of Arthurian myustery. She had three rays. The first bein green pertained to nature and the paganism, the second wheel dealt with Hermetic philosophy and the creation of mental maps. The third dealt with Christian mystery.
One wizard who was also discussed was John Dee. Mystic, sorcerer, spy and scholar. It was ohn Dee working behind the scenes who caused massive change in Britian and world wide.
July 6, 2012
I'm a fan of Gareth Knight having read several of his books. This is one author that 'gets it' with regard to the inner workings of man, myth and mysticism.
I've always enjoyed stories surrounding Arthurian legend and Merlin fascinated me the most. In this book, Knight goes beyond the myth of Merlin and presents a tangible archetype of the Merlin / sage inside all of us. My copy is literally falling apart having read it so many times. It's a great read for any serious seeker of the Holy Graal within.
I've always enjoyed stories surrounding Arthurian legend and Merlin fascinated me the most. In this book, Knight goes beyond the myth of Merlin and presents a tangible archetype of the Merlin / sage inside all of us. My copy is literally falling apart having read it so many times. It's a great read for any serious seeker of the Holy Graal within.
April 9, 2007
This small book not only provides historical information on Merlin but also reveals the archetype of merlin as Wizard.
It is not your "Harry Potter" magician although those elements are present. Rather, this mage takes us deep within and shows us the "true magic" that is available to all seekers.
It is not your "Harry Potter" magician although those elements are present. Rather, this mage takes us deep within and shows us the "true magic" that is available to all seekers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews