qos | Answers: Grail Path and Dragon Bloodline (Reply)

bodhinath asked: I am interested in your path as a Grail Priestess and learning more regarding the path you walk. 2nd, if allowed, does your path regard the Dragon Bloodline?

I appreciate the opportunity to write more about my Grail path, something I haven't done here very often.

I was ordained as a Grail Priestess under the auspices of the Ordo Arcanorum Gradalis, a Christo-Pagan fellowship of the Grail. The doctrines and rituals of the Order are described in The Crafted Cup, by Shadwynn. The Order has pretty much ceased to exist as an active organization anymore, and I believe I was the last to be ordained under the official training program.

The Crafted Cup had a profound influence on my spiritual development. I discovered it sometime in the 1990's (hard to say exactly when without looking up my journals) and was struck to the heart by the way Shadwynn found harmony between Paganism and Christianity in the Grail lore. It's so common to view the traditions as natural, inevitable enemies, but this book showed a way they could be blended in a meaningful way. I immediately wrote to the Order asking to be considered for priesthood training.

Despite the influence of the OAG's teachings, I have never maintained their liturgical practices. Shadwynn grew up Catholic, and the rituals reflect that. As I've written here before, I'm low church. I find a lot of beautiful concepts and poetry in the liturgies, but actually celebrating them as written seldom appealed to me.

What I took from my training was a deep appreciation of the Grail itself as a symbol for spiritual aspiration. To me, the Grail symbolizes two things: union with the Divine, and healing the Wasteland -- which may be the internal Wasteland of an individual's own soul as well as the external Wasteland of a planet being slowly destroyed by environmental injuries.

I don't celebrate the OAG's Grail Mass as written. I sometimes do my own version, taking only the central concepts of the Bread being the body of the Dying and Rising God and the Cup being the Cauldron of the Lady. More frequently, I use a practice I call "The Living Grail" in which I visualize myself as the Grail, receiving Light/Love/Healing from the Divine, channeling it through my own body and soul, and releasing it into the world.

The other aspect of the Grail path that I cherish is the fact that in the lore, the Grail is never found in the City or within the keeping of the Church. The Grail path is the path of the spiritual journeyer, the seeker who can't be satisfied by answers that are limited to the inside of any particular tradition. (Including the OAG!)

The drawback of this path is that it's a lonely one, and one which -- although it holds a tradition of spiritual chivalry -- does not actively promote contributions to the community. The contributions are there, but they are on a the spiritual plane. I think it could be more grounded in that regard -- but no path has everything.

As for a "dragon bloodline": no, my Grail path does not include any beliefs about special bloodlines of any kind.

Any other questions?