a sub-web of Spirit Mythos
a sub-web of Spirit Mythos
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Whom Does the Grail Serve?
May, 2001
I have been contemplating and asking for guidance as to the "next step" in the Rite of Avalon. In doing so, I have been given insight that our "Rite" is part of a larger dynamic of "authenticity" ongoing in the planetary spectrum in the 21st century. I have related to you in the ROA introduction something I wish to repeat here, as I find it so germane to our Rite:
"It is now clear to me that the portals such as what we are calling "Avalon" in this context, were closed to humanity in order to keep us from escaping THIS reality until we had integrated it into our being. Thus, our connection to an "Otherworld" state through the RITE OF AVALON is not intended as an attempt to open an "escape route." It is instead an exploration in actualizing a greater potential for experience and gnosis within THIS REALM in which we live our everyday lives. When we connect in deep feeling to the women of the "past" in this passage (see 'Streamings'), we are in truth, looking deeper into ourselves. What true place of being would we be called to had we lived the lives of these women in their world with the spiritual challenges they faced? They were stripped of all flights of fancy, called upon to meet very real choices and actions. Certainly they must have had their lesser moments when personal weakness overcame them. But, for the most part they truly met these challenges with a spirit and resilience that was pulse-beat-by pulse-beat, complete surrender to LIFE. All the while they upheld in the Light their undying dedication to Divinity. These women and men were no more than are each one of us. They had no greater light shining in them. Yet they CLAIMED that Light and acted upon it, where perhaps in our more comfortable world, we do not. There is always something else we can find to draw our attention away from what Spirit is calling us to in the immediate, the real moment of our lives. We need not berate ourselves for this. Do not waste such precious moments on judgment.
"The Christos came to call us forth into the Light of WHO WE TRULY ARE. This is not a knowledge that need be adorned. It is as plain and simple as the homespun robe Yeshua wore. Accept the summoning, as did Lazarus, and all else is revealed. In this manner, so the RITE OF AVALON holds a potential to allow us to unfold the cloth of our true raiment. Let us see where this leads us...and where it does not."
Recently, my husband, Simeon, purchased a book that opened a further door for me in understanding the quality of the Rite of Avalon, and our roles as Women of the Shield. This book is "The Cultural Creatives" by Paul H. Ray, PH. D., and Sherry Ruth Anderson, PH.D. After extensive research since the 1980's, the authors coined "Cultural Creatives" for one of the three major sub-cultures in America; the other two being "Moderns" and Traditionals." I quote some brief passages from their book:
"Cultural Creatives are the ones who invented the current interest in personal authenticity in America. Authenticity means that your actions are consistent with what you believe and what you say. The people in this new sub-culture prefer to learn new information and to get involved in ways that feel most authentic to them. Almost always, this preference involves direct personal experience in addition to intellectual ways of knowing."
It is my conviction that the Rite of Avalon, while held tenderly in the "Mists," is also meant to integrate with the real, the "authentic" in our lives. As "Wyse Women" of the Willow Path how can we view our roles, both individually and collectively in the Mists that water the earth? What is it that is meaningful to us in sustaining the Memory, the Purity and the Sovereignty of our Avalon-being in this, the 21st Century? Further, who DOES the Grail serve in our Avalon Quest? Individually, each of us must find our own inner response to these questions.
Maia Christianne