Verified by 
In the Grail myth, Parsifal, the Hero, comes upon the Grail Castle and, entering, doesn't get it. He casts about a bit then goes on his way, leaving the tools and context of his transformation behind. The Grail Castle appears to all of us when we are ready, but we are not always ready to ask the right question.
Parsifal was lucky; he got it right the second time. Most of us need to return to the place of our transformation several times before we get it, before we are ready and able to ask the questions that need to be asked. For him that place is the Grail Castle. For us the Grail Castle is that place where we recognize that what we are doing is not working, activating our willingness to change.
This dynamic mirrors what happens in almost all transformational processes. Whether within the context of psychotherapy, meditation, spiritual practice or employing interpretative devices of intention like Tarot cards, Runes, pendulums and the like, what needs to be addressed comes up again and again. This is because our subconscious mind leads us back to that which we are overlooking in our inner landscape and, thus, within the course of our inner development.
Myths are universal templates of experience and understanding. What the Grail Myth describes, in part, is how Parsifal, who represents the Wise Fool in each of us, finds his way to the castle where the Holy Grail, or symbol of Self-realization, is kept, but does not recognize where he is. Instead, he only sees the barren desolation caused by the wound of the Fisher King, or the rift between our temporal selves and our divine or realized Selves. He leaves this castle and its barren lands, travel about for a time, then returns, prepared to impose himself upon the situation by asking the right question (Whom does the Grail serve?), thus healing the Fisher King and bringing prosperity and abundance to the land, which represents our interior landscape. He heals himself.
All in all this is a tale of paying attention and acting accordingly. In the Buddhist lexicon these are the ideas of presence, mindfulness and right action. For the Vedic, these are the Karma and Bhakti Yogas. For the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is the Golden Rule. With regards to post-modern psychotherapy, it is self-care.
Bottom line - pay attention to those repeated patterns, deconstruct them, and, when you are ready, ask the questions that need to be asked. Heal yourself and, in doing so, you transform everything around you, your relationship to it and its relationship to you.
© 2009 Michael J. Formica, All Rights Reserved
© 2009 Michael J. Formica, All Rights Reserved
Michael's Mailing List | Michael's eMail | Follow Michael on Twitter
Michael on Facebook | The Integral Life Institute on Facebook
