Jessie Weston, in her essay concerning the Grail and the Rites of Adonis, explores the possibility that the Grail stories were written surrounding the secret rituals of a life cult. This would explain the preservation of the secrecy and mystery of the Grail and the secret of the Grail. Her suggestion is persuasive, however humble this Ms. Weston appears. I would like to point out that nearly every spiritual ritual, belonging to one of the popular monotheistic religions or to an ancient cult such as the one Jessie Weston proposes, uses secrecy to enhance meaning in ritual. Even I used this strategy when I was on earth among mortal men. I spoke to the people in parables; the metaphor and secrecy surrounding the actual meaning of my words enhanced the meaning.
When (Jesus) was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" (NIV, Mark 4:10-12)
I think Ms. Weston, in her wisdom, understands the significance of secrecy in ritual and recognizes how the remnants of that ritual of a life cult could have persevered through translation and addition.
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The lance that struck me in my own castle appears again in Jessie Weston's retelling of the Bleheris Grail Story. This lance is a common part of grail text so it makes sense that it was part of the earliest known grail story. It seems at first that Weston is undecided on the way she feels about grail legend in general. It is not until after she retells the story that she begins to take a stand on what she believes such as when she states that this story in particular is "definitely non-christian" because the grail is looked at as rich, not holy.
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