Click here to listen to Life is an Adventure: Perceval’s Grail Quest in the season 1 archives on buzzsprout
“You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path […] If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential.” ― Joseph Campbell
Some people seem to know the purpose for which they were born very early in life. Others of us stumble along searching for a long time. The Arthurian legend of Perceval and the Story of Grail can tell us something about how the quest for self-fulfillment begins.
Mythologist Joseph Campbell loved these stories and found a touchstone or two in them that shaped his life. Maybe you will too.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Helen Keller
The Campbell quote above is from “The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work.”
Transcript of Life is An Adventure: Perceval’s Grail Quest podcast
Hello everyone, and welcome to Myth Matters, a bi-weekly podcast of storytelling and conversation about mythology, and why it’s important to our lives today. I’m your host and personal mythologist, Catherine Svehla. Thank you for joining me. Wherever you may be in this wide beautiful crazy world of ours you are part of this story circle.
Last weekend I offered a workshop for women called Psyche’s Quest. The heart of this workshop is the ancient Greek myth of Eros and Psyche, that is “Love” and “Soul,” and the process through which they find each other and are united. This story is a wonderful vehicle for reflection on one’s life journey and personal quest for this self-realization, and we had a rich and meaningful experience. Although I create and facilitate the workshop, I learn something new from the story and the process every time. This time, I’m reflecting on the common difficulty posed by the quest for one’s purpose.
The idea that each person is born to bring something unique and necessary into the world, is common to all cultures. But how does this come about? In traditional cultures, an elder or family member, perhaps the grandmother or mother, might have a dream or receive a sign that conveys the special destiny of the child. This might be carried in the name that is given, or a special song. Malidoma Somé, a West African elder and writer who teaches extensively here in the United States, talks about the role the community plays in indigenous societies, in recognizing a young person’s gifts and initiating them to the path of their fulfillment.
In modern Western culture, these practices are largely forgotten and there is little collective agreement about their significance, and yet the quest for life purpose, for the discovery of one’s unique gift, is of primary importance. Many people carry the feeling of destiny or long for self-fulfillment. This is central to our concept of individuality, and it is seen as an individual undertaking. In Western culture, you alone hear the call and decide to answer it. You alone take up the search, and forge your own path while searching. This doesn’t mean that we don’t get help or that others aren’t involved, but it’s your own endeavor.
Some people seem to know what they were born for, very early in life. Others of us stumble along searching for a long time. In the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche, Psyche’s family is instructed to leave her on a mountaintop to face her “doom.” Or so they think. In the end, Soul is united with its Love, with its deepest desire, but there are many trials and desperate moments along the way.
The story that I want to share with you today is about a young man named Perceval and the beginning of his quest for self-fulfillment. This is the beginning of a longer story titled “Perceval and the Story of the Grail,” that I’ve worked with many times. One of the wonderful things about working with the old stories is that you really can’t exhaust the meanings and insights that they offer. I return again and again to myths and stories that hold special appeal for me, and there is always something new that speaks to my present moment.
I recorded the longer story of Perceval in a series of three podcasts several years ago, when this podcast was called “Myth in the Mojave.” I have some new thoughts to share with you about Perceval but I’m going to drop that older recording of the story into this podcast. It still appeals to me, which is gratifying as a storyteller, and prompts me to tell you about my previous podcast, Myth in the Mojave. If you like this story and want to hear the rest of it, you can find those podcast episodes under the name “Myth in the Mojave” on which ever platform you’re using to listen to Myth Matters, or you can go to mythinthemojave.com for links and an index of episodes.
There are 100 plus episodes available under the name Myth in the Mojave, so whether you are new to Myth Matters or a longtime listener, I encourage you to make use of all of this material. In the case of Perceval, there is information in the earlier podcast that I won’t be repeating here.
Now back to Perceval and the story of the Grail.
Perceval’s story is part of the very rich and rambling legend of King Arthur and the Knights of The Roundtable. Written versions of these stories date back to the 11thand 12thcenturies and are commonly attributed to several monks or knights. The roots of these stories which seem to be a blend of Celtic and Persian themes, are much older. A French poet namedChrétien de Troyes first created the adventure of Perceval in the 12th century. De Troyes was well known for his work on Arthurian subjects and is credited with the creation of the character of Lancelot.
The stories of the many adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are still popular, and the image of the “grail,” often referred to as “the holy Grail,” remains a potent symbol of the mystery. Technically, a “grail” is a vessel of some sort, a cup, chalice, or shallow dish, the grail is a vessel for transformation, for the alchemy that unites the individual personality with the transpersonal, that is self-realization.
Now I invite you to relax and enjoy the story. As always, note the moment or detail that catches your attention as this will guide you, if you reflect upon it, into the meaning this story holds for you right now. I’ll share one of my observations after I tell the story.
Perceval and the Story of the Grail
There once was a handsome, sturdy young man, really not much more than a boy, who lived with his mother deep in a forest in a distant part of Wales. One day this young man went out alone into the forest to hunt. He sat very easily on his pony. The day was beautiful, the sun was shining. Everything around him pleased him. But suddenly he heard a loud clanking sound, a sound unlike anything that he had ever heard before.
Now it was five knights who were dressed in full armor, who were moving towards him through the forest. But this young man couldn’t see them and his first thought was, “Oh my God, they must be devils. My mother told me that there was such a thing and that there wasn’t anything that was quite as fearsome. So, I’m going to take one of my big sticks that I brought out here to hunt, and I’m going to, I’m going to scare him away.”
He got ready with his stick, but then he saw them. The five knights came into a clearing in the woods and their banners were flying in the breeze and the sunlight was glittering on their armor, and he thought that he had never seen anything quite so beautiful. They were so glorious. “Wow,” he thought to himself, “these are not devils. These must be angels. My mother told me that there was such a thing.” So when the knights rode up to him, he fell down on his knees in front of them. “Are you angels?” he asked the knights. The leader of the knights motioned for him to stand up and said “No young man, we’re not angels. We’re knights. Now tell me, have you seen five knights and three young girls go by here?”
Well, the young man had other things on his mind. He pointed at the knight’s shield and he asked, “What is that, that you’re carrying?” The knight was a little bit taken aback by such an obvious question and he said, “Well, this is a shield young man.” “Well, what’s it for?” the boy asked. “Well, to protect me from swords and spears,” said the lead knight. “Now tell me, have you seen five knights and three girls go by?”
But the young man kept with his questions. He asked about the spear. He asked about the chain mail shirt. He goes on and on and the other knights are all sitting there waiting. Finally, they look at their leader and one man says, “Excuse me, you know, this boy must be some kind of a fool. I mean frankly, we know none of the Welsh are too bright and this guy is dumb as an ox. I think we should just go on.” But the leader said, “No, no, I think that he can help us.” He turned back to the young boy and said, “Once again now, have you seen five knights and three girls go by?” and Perceval replies, “All of this stuff that you have, the shield and the armor and the shirt. Were you born with that?”
The knight said “No, I wasn’t born with that for heaven sake. King Arthur made me a knight and he gave me all of my armor and my weapons. Now for the love of God, tell me, have you seen the five knights and the three girls?” “Well,” says the young man, “there’s only one way through here. See if you look up there, you see there’s a pass there through the mountains. If you go up there, then my mother’s plow men are up there. And they’ve probably seen the people that you’re talking about, if they’ve gone by here.”
Now the knights get ready to go, but before they leave, the leader turns to the young man. He asks “What’s your name, boy?” “Well, I am called ‘darling young son,’” he replied. “Okaaaay,” said the knight. “Is there any other name that you go by?” And the young man said “Well, I’m also called ‘dear brother’. Now please tell me before you go—King Arthur, where would I find King Arthur?” And the knight said, “The last time that I saw him, he was with his court at Carlyle.” And then the five knights rode on.
Now Perceval was so excited about having seen these five knights that he went straight home. His mother was very worried because he’d been gone for a while, and so as soon as she saw him, she rushed out the door and hugged him and said, “Oh, darling, young son, you’re back. Where have you been?” And he said, “Well, mother, I have seen the most amazing sight. Five knights riding through the forest. They were so handsome and so glorious. I am going to King Arthur and I’m going to become a knight too.”
His mother was not happy to hear this because her husband, Perceval’s father, was dead because he had been a knight and was killed. And so had her brother, Perceval’s uncle. She said, “My son, I really don’t want you to do this. See, you don’t know this, but your uncle and your father, as well as a lot of your relatives were knights, and they were the best that could be and they got killed. All of these years we have been living here together, alone in the forest, so that I can keep you safe from all of that. You’re all, you’re all I have left. I, I really want you to stay.” But Perceval could not be dissuaded. “I’ve got to go, mom. I’ve got to go and find the king who makes knights.”
Well, his mother managed to hold onto him for a few more days because she made him a new set of clothes with her own hands. But when they were done, he would not stay any longer. And she helped him pack up and he got onto his pony and she looked up at him and she said, “My son, my darling young son, I know that the king is going to give you all the weapons that you need and he’s going to make you a knight. But you, you don’t know how to use any of those things and how could you? I mean, you’re poorly prepared for the world. So let me give you some advice. Honor the girls and the ladies and always come to their aid. If you court a woman, now don’t harass her. Take only a kiss or a ring for a token. Always learn the names of your companions, for a name tells you the man. And above all, when you see a church that is God’s house, so I want you to go inside and pray for honor and joy.”
“I’ll take your advice Mother,” Perceval said, “and now I can’t wait any longer.” He took up one of his sharp sticks and urged his pony off down the road, and when he’d crossed the bridge, he turned around to look just one last time. He saw that his mother had collapsed in the doorway, but he was very impatient to find King Arthur and he spurred his horse on into the forest because you know, he didn’t plan to be gone very long.
Perceval rode all day without stopping, and the following day he came to a clearing with a beautiful scarlet and gold tent set up in the center. It was beautifully made and Perceval had never seen anything like this before. “This is so beautiful,” he thought, “it must be, it must be a church. Now, it would be wrong of me not to stop and pray as my mother advised me to do, and maybe I can get something to eat too.”
So he went to the tent and it was open. When he stepped inside, there was a beautiful girl asleep all alone. Well, his horse stumbled and snorted and this woke the girl up and she was astonished to see a strange young man standing in her tent. Before she could do anything, Perceval said, “My mother said that I should say hello to you.” The young woman said, “Okay fellow, you best be gone before my friends finds you here.”
And Perceval said, “Oh no, but my mother said that first, I must kiss you,” and he grabbed her. He kisses the unwilling girl on the lips although she struggled, and when he let her go, he saw that she had a large ring on her finger. “Oh, my mother told me that you’d be wearing a ring,” he said, “and so you have to give it to me.” The frightened girl was so confused that she didn’t know what to do. Perceval grabs her hand, grabs the ring off of her finger and puts it on his own, and now she started to weep. “Oh, you’re going to get me in terrible trouble,” she said, “you have no idea what you’re doing, and this is going to be really bad for both of us.”
But Perceval didn’t understand what she was talking about. When he turned around, he saw a table set with a beautiful feast, sumptuous food, venison pies, oh, lovely stuff. He was so hungry. So he gulped down one of the venison pies and poured a little wine into a silver cup. “These are really good,” he said, “Yes, you should sit down and have one with me.” But the girl just cried and cried and cried.
Finally, Perceval got up to leave. “Now God be with you,” he said, “and don’t be angry with me because I took your ring. I’ll pay you back before I die.” “Oh, you’ve ruined my life, you fool,” she said, “and I could never accept any help from you.” Well, Perceval shrugs and gets back on his horse, and he rode off into the woods. “Life is good,” he thought to himself, “just like my mother said.”
But that young lady in the tent was consumed by some very different thoughts. She was there alone in the tent because she was waiting for her knight and he was not going to be very happy when he came back, and saw the eaten food, and discovered that the ring had been stolen, and saw her tear stained face. In fact, when he came back and she tried to tell him what happened, he didn’t believe her and swore that she was going to suffer some very terrible punishment for betraying him.
Meanwhile, the boy happily galloped along. He came to a man with a donkey on the road and stopped and said, “Excuse me, but can you tell me where to go? Which way it is to Carlyle?” The man pointed off down the road and Perceval galloped off in that direction.
At last, he saw a fine gray stone castle off in the distance. He also saw another knight, a big man in a full suit of fine red armor who was riding toward him. “I want some red armor, just like that armor,” Perceval thought. “I’m going to ask the king to give me some like that and then I will never want another thing.” Now, he was very anxious to get to the castle, but when he met up with the Red Knight, the man stopped him. “Where are you hurrying off to?” he asked. “Well, I’m going to King Arthur to be made into a knight,” Perceval said.
The other knight laughed and laughed. “Well, hurry away then,” he said “but you know, when you get there, hey give them a message. Give that king a message for me. Tell him that he better give his lands to me or send his bravest knight out to challenge me.Tell him that the message came from this knight, who just stole that golden cup right out of his hand. And you better watch out boy. They’re really not very happy back there because I did just steal this cup, and I spilled a little wine on the queen too, and now you know, she was kind of upset.”
Well, Perceval didn’t really pay much attention to any of this. He turned his pony around and took off toward the castle. When he got there, he saw that the gates were open and the drawbridge was down, so he just rode his pony right on in and went into the big hall. It was full of knights. He wasn’t really sure, because he’d never been in a castle before you know, which one was the king. Somebody saw him on his horse and pointed to a man over there and said, “Hey, if you’re looking for King Arthur, that’s King Arthur.”
Well Perceval rode up to the king and he said, “Greetings my friend.” But Arthur didn’t hear him because he was deep in thought, thinking about the Red Knight and the stolen cup and the wine. The queen was very upset. “Greetings,” Perceval repeated. And again there was no reply. “Wow,” Perceval thought to himself, “how can a king make knights if he doesn’t even say anything?” He turned to go, but then he knocked the king’s crown right off of his head.
Now the king looked up and saw the young man standing there. He said “Oh, I’m, I’m terribly sorry. I’m a little bit preoccupied cause we have some pretty big problems here in the kingdom.” Perceval said, “So excuse me, but your King Arthur, right? And you can make knights?” “Ah, yes, I’m king Arthur,” said the king.
“Well, I want to be a knight and I’m in a little bit of a hurry,” Perceval said, “so if we could get on with whatever it is that we need to do and, um, I would like to have some red armor too, like that knight that I saw riding away from here, the one with the gold cup in his hand.” “You want the red armor!” exclaimed the king. Now there was another knight standing nearby who overheard this and he thought the boy was very rude, so he jokingly said, “Well, yeah, sure. Go out kid and claim that armor for yourself.” He was going to go on and make some more fun of Perceval but Arthur quieted him down, because he could see that this boy was rather foolish and unschooled.
Well, at this point Perceval turned to leave. But there was a girl sitting nearby and he stopped to say hello to her. She looked at him there on his pony and started to laugh. “If you live long enough,” she said, “I think that you’ll be the greatest knight that ever lived.” Now, this young woman of the court had not smiled or laughed for more than six years, and it was said that she would not laugh again until she was in the presence of the greatest knight in the world.
The greatest knight in the world. Imagine that. That’s the end of the story for today.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve worked with this story before and thought about Perceval’s extreme naivete and his blundering errors. The rash kiss that he bestows on that young woman, and the theft of her ring, will have serious consequences for her. Unwittingly, he does her harm. Perceval also does some pretty stupid things throughout the longer story. In short, he goes through a process of discovery and maturity over time, as many of us must.
If you know the whole story, or listen to the other podcasts that I mention, you know that Perceval’s long quest to fulfill his purpose only begins with the discovery of his calling: to be a knight of the Roundtable. He also must learn the mechanics of knighthood. Then he slowly starts to grasp the meaning of being a knight, and his own role or purpose.
The part of the story that we just shared involves the discovery, and although it is the very beginning of the story and merely the first step, this discovery process can take a person years and years. I know this from personal experience and perhaps you do too. What a strange twist, don’t you think; the hidden nature of personal uniqueness, something that it seems one would know, could know, intuitively and with little effort and yet so many of us struggle to unearth it.
This is the conundrum that surfaced when I sat with this story, and what I noticed about Perceval this time is that he had no idea about knights and knighthood until that fateful day in the woods. None. Didn’t even know that there was such a thing. I realize this is an obvious part of the story. I’m not saying that I didn’t hear it before. But sit with that for a moment. At least, I’m sitting with that for a moment.
Actually, he didn’t have a thought about being anything in particular or being on a particular track or pursuing specific goal. He was out “hunting.” This activity in stories often points to a need or desire that’s emerging from the unconscious, and that send the protagonist out into the woods in search of something; something that usually presents itself as fated. In this case, it was Perceval’s calling.
When Perceval saw the knights, he was struck. He was filled with feeling, knowing, inspiration. With a deep sense of calling. And he followed it. His mother tried to discourage him. She told him, truthfully, of the dangers. Perceval went anyway. He didn’t try to plan his purpose. He didn’t try to choose a purpose that would be sufficiently profitable or bring him acceptance or acclaim. He didn’t consider whether or not he would be good at knighthood. He didn’t think about whether or not he would want to be a knight his whole life or how it might lead to being a baron or an earl. He simply answered the call, with his enthusiasm, his ignorance, his all.
Yes, Perceval’s world is a fairy tale version of our own and yet, how often do we let our schemes and our fears, our desire for approval, unacknowledged ambition, self-doubt, and concerns for security stop us from answering the call? How often do we hesitate, expecting guarantees and certainty, when our hearts and minds tug us toward a beckoning interest or possibility?
The mythologist Joseph Campbell loved the Arthurian legends and stories of the grail quest, and he often told them. Stories like Perceval, Campbell said, remind us that life is an adventure. Life is an adventure. One that can’t be mapped or plotted, that will always bring us perils as well as pearls. We will make mistakes, we will suffer. We will become as scarred and gnarled as old trees as we grow into the pattern and promise that is seeded in us.
This is what Campbell meant when he said “Follow your bliss.” To respond to what makes you fully alive and trust in its lasting value. To step out on the pathless path and begin the quest with beginner’s mind.
Since I mentioned Campbell, I want to end this program by sharing the moment in the story that seemed to resonate the most deeply with Campbell. He wrote about this moment over, and over, and over again. Here’s one version:
“One day, the knights of King Arthur’s court were gathered in the great banquet hall waiting for dinner to be served. It was a custom of that court that no meal should be served until an adventure had come to past. Adventures came to pass frequently in those days so there was no great concern for hunger, and on this occasion the Grail appeared, covered with a cloth. It hung in the air for a moment and disappeared. Everyone was exalted and Sir Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, stood up and proposed a vow. “I propose that we should all go forth in quest to behold the Grail unveiled.” Everyone agreed. Further, they decided that each should go on this quest alone and enter the forest at the point of his own choosing, where it was darkest, because it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group.”
To go on this quest alone, enter the forest at the point of his own choosing, where it was darkest. This is the part of the story that spoke to Campbell, and this was his notion of adventure. What’s yours?
And that’s it for me, Catherine Svehla and Myth Matters. Thank you for sharing this podcast with others and spreading the word about what we’re doing here at Myth Matters. If you’re finding value in these programs then I hope that you’ll find Myth Matters on patreon, check out the offerings, and consider becoming a patron of the podcast. My patrons and bandcamp community members make this podcast possible for all of us, so thank you, thank you, thank you! I want to give a special shout out to longtime community members Kurt Sautter and Amy Kelley Hoitsma. Thank you Kurt and Amy for your support of this podcast and the Myth Matters mission.
Thank you so much for listening. Please tune in next time, and until then, happy myth making and keep the mystery in your life alive.
Some links to useful resources:
Use this link to listen to the Myth in the Mojave podcasts on Perceval and the Grail Quest: https://drcatherinesvehla.bandcamp.com/album/mitm-myths-stories-volume-6
Use this link to find an index to all of the Myth in the Mojave podcasts: http://www.mythinthemojave.com/program-index/
Use this link to find Campbell’s audio lectures on the Grail Legend: https://www.jcf.org/works/downloads/lecture-i-6-4-the-grail-legend/
Use this link to learn about Joseph Campbell and the Joseph Campbell Foundation: https://www.jcf.org
