Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

HOLY GRAIL

The Holy Grail, a symbolic Talisman around which numerous medieval legends and poems revolve, probably originated in Celtic pagan tradition as the cup of plenty and regeneration, symbol of the Great Mother.

In the Christian era, the Grail became associated with the cup used at the Last Supper in which Joseph of Arimathea collected blood from Christ's wounds. Joseph was said to have brought the grail to Glastonbury. The Grail was sought by the knights of King Arthur in several medieval romances, the earliest of which was the late 12th century Perceval by Chretien de Troyes. The quest for the Grail, which can be found only by a hero free from sin, is treated at length in the Morte d'Arthur (c.1469) of Sir Thomas Malory and in Wolfram von Eschenbach's epic, Parzifal (c. 1210), which inspired the German composer Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal (1877-82).

The other objects associated with the Holy Grail are the Sword, the Dish and the Spear of Destiny, also known as the Holy Lance.

Much Grail material has been dragged into the Germanic-Nordic mythology and Nazi-Mysticism created by the National Socialist (Nazi) movement in Germany, allegedly by way of the Teutonic Knights.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc

A God-honouring, Biblically-based, and theologically-sound Christian Search Engine - Results in a highly accurate and well-organized format.

OUR FRIENDS...