Rather than embrace the litany of definitions for what the grail might be (there is a huge collected mythos of an object "fantastique") it might be better to analyze the effects it has had on those who have known it. We come by this information via various pagan and religious stories. One thing to be clear about is this-the word graal or grail comes from an old French word for a type of platter. When this word is first mentioned, in Chretien de Troyes’ work "Perceval", the platter is actually carrying a numinous being-ness, so the grail is not even the thing itself! The "thing" is what is served, hence the platter from which is issues forth. This episode is also an example of the attention given to the penultimate grail question(s), that is, "What or whom is being served by this."

For some reason this "being-ness" is not something readily available, yet it is freely dispensed to all. How can this be? "Freely dispensed" seems to allow for any and everyone to receive it. Perhaps anyone CAN attain it, but it remains obscure, hidden, until one attains an individual enlightenment. Yet in some stories, such as the one of Galahad (knight of King Arthur’s Round Table) the very reception of the energy garners him an ecstatic death! In other, older stories, it is something that sustains life by putting forth all good things to eat, and even preventing death from overcoming those who gaze upon it! Quite a spread of possibilities! For clarity and ease of understanding we will stay with grail, for now, as the term for this energy.

Another tradition holds that there is an actual family of people on Earth that are its’ guardians. Tradition holds that the guardians are visited, by the grail itself, when they are children. The name of the visited child is written upon the grail, the name disappearing from view once the child reads his or her name. (See "Parzival" by Wolfram Eschenbach) If this is true there must be some confused people out there wondering what in the world was it that came to visit them when they were young! Or does the grail kind of explain the "visit" giving them an inner knowing, regardless if they know this Medieval tradition, or not? These same children, perhaps, are those who become "Templar Knights", guardians of the tradition, if not the grail itself.

The realm of mystic history regarding grail lore has some very interesting patterns, once we compare traditional stories. To do this we must see the context those stories were set in and see if there were actual historical figures involved that might disclose the truth of those stories.

A significant pattern emerges from the period of the first Crusades about 1090 to 1200 AD. Supposedly, the European interests in Jerusalem were "inaugurated" by a visit from a contingent of traveling monks (via Jerusalem) to some prominent French nobles. A few of those nobles promptly left for Palestine, housing themselves there at or near Solomon’s stables, below the old Temple Mount. When the first group of nobles returned to France amazing developments began to occur. For in that time there emerged an esoteric spiritual tradition with the real personages of St. Bernard, the Knight’s Templar, and even the enigmatic nun by the name of Hildegard of Bingen.

IT is possible that what those first Knights Templar found there has had a significant effect upon the archetypes of our spiritual heritage, our European roots, to this very day. Amazingly enough, what they may have found led to an enduring effect on something as mundane as our banking system, too! For they were the principal creators of our modern banking system.

Perhaps, depending on your station in life, money is not a mundane matter.
And neither are our spiritual issues. It is almost a certainty that what they found were scrolls, rather than fantasized items such as the "Ark of the Covenant". These scrolls may have been hidden history, spiritual values, eventually at odds with the Holy Roman Church. These scrolls may have contained details concerning matter and spirit, details at the heart of what was carried on that grail plate. For now, we are left with an object that seems to come and go, awash in the sea of our dreams, a drop of the smallest material essence, spiritually obscure, then engulfing the entire Universe of our being.

The Grail Matrix-A Blueprint

The Yellow Dog book comes to a head with the revelation of a "blueprint". In the ensuing years since this revelation, many of its diverse aspects have come forth from many varied sources (one of the "prophecies" stated that this would happen). However, there is not a complete body of work blending all of these details. These details will emerge in another book that I call, for now, "The Grail Matrix".
This blueprint reveals intriguing aspects of the plight and gift, of our human bodies. Humans are still locked in the physical world of a bicameral brain, the result of diversifying and then re-melding the two sexes we are, male and female. These are the material manifestations of archetypal feminine/masculine energies. A grand thing, diversifying, (it helps in successfully managing crisis on a species wide scale) but higher consciousness is meant to evolve through, and out of, our "split"
personality.

The meaning of life for evolved creatures such as we are is to reach, and maintain, a shift to convergent and concordant harmony. Consciousness changes, then the evolution of our material world follows suit. In this respect, science may have it backward! Humans are not unique in this regard, but we are capable of consciously transforming ourselves via shifts in awareness. The convergence of our two main reciprocals, the masculine and the feminine archetypes, creates the possibility for experiencing the grail, directly. There is a portal opened, though rarely acknowledged, the blueprint calls "Reception". The moment of purification cleanses the reflection of one’s energy body. The grail is drawn to this reflection as bees are to the sweetest flower. It may be a rare event, yet the blueprint reveals it IS available to anyone, at any given moment.

Next - See "The Knights Templar"