The Grail Tarot

 

This description is related to my article: Nordic Shamanism and Forest Therapy, and, The Hallowquest Products, created by Caitlin and John Matthews.

Contents:

1) The Grail Tarot

2) The Complete Arthurian Tarot

3) The Byzantine Tarot 

1) The Grail Tarot

The Grail legend is one of the most famous mysteries the world has ever known. This 78-card Tarot deck with spectacular Renaissance-style art relates to the quest for this sacred Christian relic and connects it to our desire to understand the puzzles within our own lives. Characters drawn from Grail history, as well as the Knights Templar, guide the seeker on the path. The suits are represented by the four Grail Hallows: Stone, Sword, Lance, and Vessel. Discover the symbolism and stories of the Grail as a universal and potent representation of the search for truth, part of your own spiritual quest. The cards when laid edge to edge create a tableau in each suit and in the Major Arcana: a procession of the Grail indeed!

In my booklet, The Runes of Rold Forest, I explain the concept of ontological pluralism, which also is central in my ebook, Philosophical Counseling with Tolkien. It is necessary to create heart felt symbols (links), in which the lines are created where higher energy can travel. The deity needs a form (or many) to communicate. Manifestation is possible in a multitude of ways. I consider the energy aspect of the world to be a sea of images/stories, which are moving in cycles, and I believe that the gods express themselves in the symbols we give them. Basically, I believe that images/stories can become real vehicles of divine energy. Therefore you can, in my view, both use the Gundestrup Cauldron, from the area of Rold Forest in Denmark (see my page: Nordic Shamanism and Forest Therapy), and the Holy Grail, as such symbols. Even Plato talked about the Cauldron of the Gods in his dialogue Timaeus. 

John Matthews writes:

The quest that comes most readily to people´s minds is that of the Grail, which begins in the Celtic past, as a cauldron giving the food most desired, or healing, immortal life and wisdom. By the thirteenth century the Grail, which began life as a wonderworking Celtic cauldron, had become associated with the cup of the Last Supper - a relic that brought healing, divine gnosis and the heart´s desire.

The Gundestrup Cauldron is the most famous Celtic cauldron existing. But, as I suggested in the Nordic Shamanism and Forest Therapy article: The Gundrestrup Cauldron not only points back towards a British oriented Celtic past (which Matthews focuses on), but also towards a broad Indo-European past: an ontological pluralism. In that way, the Grail ripples backward, into an ever-widening hinterland of epic and deep myth (storytelling), and perhaps then, into the Platonic world of ideas (philosophy). This depicts very precisely how a spiritual path develops: the Wholeness is opening up from sleep, to dream, into awakeness; more and more layers, or shells, are opening. On the relation between storytelling and philosophy, see my article: Counseling in the Mythic Forest of Rold. On the opening of the shells: The Nine Gates of Middle-earth.

Other related texts: 

The Lost Book of the Grail: The Sevenfold Path of the Grail and the Restoration of the Faery, by Caitlin and John Matthews.

The Art of Pilgrimage (free booklet. This is a short version of the quest motive in my ebook, Philosophical Counseling with Tolkien)

The Spiritual Practice of Icons (this article is about my use of classical Byzantine Icons. I suggest you use the tarot images in the same way).

The Runes of Rold Forest (this booklet is a description of how to relate to spirits. In Rold Forest in Denmark, we relate to the Wildwood  spirits here, and the similarities between Ancient Celtic Religion and Scandinavian shamanism (Seidr shamanism). In the case of The Grail Tarot, these images point towards the highest spirits: universal images. We are here talking about Christian Mysticism, and the fulfillment of the circle of Mother Earth and Father Heaven).

Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth (a Shamanic Ritual) (this article describes how  the Greco-Roman schools of philosophy in fact were schools of enlightenment. Philosophy was a spiritual practice. It also shows how this was continued in Christianity, especially in the Greek monasteries, as for example those on Athos. On Athos today, you can probably get a sense of how the ancient philosophers lived their spiritual life.

Five Basic Exercises in Philosophy as a Spiritual Practice (in this article you can find some spiritual exercises from the Greco-Roman schools of philosophy, which the monks on Athos still are practising).

Two tarots, which I use as an iconographical supplement to The Grail Tarot, are The Complete Arthurian Tarot and The Byzantine Tarot.

2) The Complete Arthurian Tarot

The Complete Arthurian Tarot could be an interesting storytelling game on one of the pilgrimage routes in Britain. This special 25th Anniversary edition of the Arthurian Tarot includes the Arthurian Tarot Course, a little tightened up and updated, but still the same old course, so you can go off on quest for the hallows of the Sword, Spear, Grail and Stone all over again, or for the first time, if you were too young to do it before! The cards have their original black arches restored, repackaged in a sturdy slipcase with boxed cards, a paperback book with the meanings and readings.

With Miranda Gray’s magical cards to act as gateways to wisdom, the major arcana cards depict the main Arthurian characters and incidents, while the minor arcana cards depict the landscapes of Britain.

Each of the four suits of Swords, Spears, Grails and Stones represents one of the seasons and the weather is a primal part of each of their landscapes, giving the cards mood and atmosphere. All the landscapes of the minor arcana are real places in Britain. However, as the authors (Caitlin and John Matthews) write in their introduction:

Regardless of the geographical and historical context of the Arthurian legend, the wisdom of the cards in this deck works for all times and places.

3) The Byzantine Tarot:

 

Drawing upon the rich heritage of art, lore and the complex courtly world of the Byzantine Empire, this sparkling new tarot reflects the extraordinary, unique artistic style, often depicted in gleaming gold and intricate mosaic, which flourished under the rule of the Byzantine Emperors from the 4th to the 15th centuries. The presence of so many archetypal figures and roles within the imperial court suggests a link between the oldest forms of the tarot and the wisdom that flourished at the time within the confines of this part of the Classical world. This tarot desk point back towards the Byzantine roots in Greco-Roman philosophy.