Arcana of the Grail Angel
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[edit] Arcana Of The Grail Angel: The Spiritual Science Of The Holy Blood & Of The Holy Grail
[edit] Author(s)
[edit] Publication details
ISBN 0967150302 640 pages
[edit] date of publication
December 31, 1999
[edit] publisher
Verticordia Press
[edit] Description
Though the book does not contain images from any tarot deck, the description from each chapter makes it clear that the deck referred to is a Waite-Smith tarot - both the numbering of the trumps and trump-image description bear this out. The main part of the book and its broad ranging speculations are arranged in chapters according to Trump order of the Waite-Smith tarot.
The author uses numerous quotes from the works of Rudolf Steiner, and at times the reader may be lead to believe that Steiner has make particular claims he has in fact not made. For example, on plate XXI, the twelve senses are related to the Zodiac, with the description that:
- "Rudolf Steiner's indications regarding: the relationship of the Zodiac to the 12 philosophical viewpoints and the 12 senses as given in Human & Cosmic Thought [...]
Steiner's Human and Cosmic Thought does not indicate specific correlations between the twelve senses posited in Anthroposophy, and, where Steiner does make such correlations in other places, they are different to the ones indicated by Barnwell.
Though the numerous quotes by Steiner may lead one into further investigations of this important 20th century figure, other mis-representations of Steiner appear within the work. For example, on p78, Barnwell conflates the four elements and Steiner's use of the four ethers.
The book is presented as though a study of the underground streams of esoteric Christianity that flowed from the Brotherhood of the Holy Grail, through the Order of the Knights Templars and the 'true' Rosicrucian Order. The book traces the persistence of Neoplatonic beliefs and posits the history of a hypothetical "secret school of esoteric Christian Initiates" which passed on knowledge about the Holy Grail and the means of accessing the Holy Guardian Angel.
[edit] Author's comments
The author, John Barnwell , November 1, 1999
The Spiritual Science of the Holy Blood & of the Holy Grail
The Arcana of the Grail Angel is meant to be an exploration into the Spiritual Scientific investigations of Rudolf Steiner concerning the mysteries which surround that legendary object referred to as the Holy Grail. While many works have been written on this subject, few people realize that the image of the Holy Grail - in addition to being a general spiritual archetype - represents a secret school of esoteric Christian Initiates that formed an actual historical "Brotherhood of the Holy Grail"; which was founded by Charibert von Laon, the maternal grandfather of Charlemagne,in the 8th century. From its sub-rosa origins, the Brotherhood of the Holy Grail continued its arcane traditions, on into the Middle Ages, through certain noble houses of Europe. Eventually certain aspects of this esoteric teaching came to be presented, to the world at large, through the images that are to be found within the original Grail stories about "Percival", or "Parzival", that were written down at the end of the 12th century by Chrestien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and others. The Brotherhood of the Holy Grail was a continuation of traditions derived from previous Christian Initiates; which includes, among others, the esoteric school founded by Dionysius the Areopagite - the legendary pupil of St. Paul in Athens; and also, Ormus - a Serapian priest in Egypt, who became a student of St. Mark, and founded an esoteric Christian school in 46 A.D. which used the Rose Cross as its symbol. In the Middle Ages, these esoteric Christian principles formed the inner-teachings of the Order of Knights Templars; and later, after the demise of the Templars,were continued on within the Rosicrucian Order. These esoteric Christian teachings, included a Magian Star Wisdom concerning the relationship between the Macrocosm("great world", or Cosmos, and the Microcosm ("little world", or human being); and also, the principles of initiation into the supersensible realms. The continuation of these esoteric Christian teachings is to be found within the Anthroposophy of Dr. Rudolf Steiner - metamorphosed into a form which is ideally suited for the cultivating the spiritual development of modern-day humanity. To accomplish my task, I have used the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot as a tool to organize the manifold facets of this far-reaching subject, and have also included 26 full-page cosmological diagrams to elucidate the Star Wisdom; in addition to this, there is an extensive bibliography (43 pages) to aid in the researches of other students of the Holy Grail. Thank You, John Barnwell "Then will the King come forth without a blemish, clean, He will stand before you. He can decorate you with His blood and renovate you." The First Key of Basilius Valentinius; Daniel Stolcius Viridarium Chymicum, 1624
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