The Grail: magic or religious object?

Corrado Gnerre

The writer is a mother of a fifteen-year-old boy. My son has been reading books about the Grail for some time. Leafing through them, however, I realized that they are texts impregnated with magic, esotericism, occultism and other things that are not at all “serene”. But is not the Grail, the chalice that Jesus used in the Last Supper? And if so, then what does it have to do with magic? Clarify my ideas, so I can also warn my son.

Dear …, many know what the Grail is, but only a few know its true meaning. By Grail, we mean the chalice that Jesus used in the Last Supper, that is, when he instituted the Eucharist and transformed the wine into his Blood.

But why has this Grail become the subject of numerous legends? The answer is twofold. First: Because the Grail was seen as the “magical” object par excellence. Second: Because it was also seen as the “religious” object par excellence. Obviously, these are two totally different beliefs. When we talk about “magic” we mean a sort of attitude of “power” with which man pretends to put himself above the divine; rather, to divinize himself. When, however, we speak of “religion” we mean the opposite, an attitude of “service” with which man, recognizing himself as a creature, submits himself to the divine.

In the esoteric tradition (the truth would be hidden and only known to a few) as well as occult (the truth would be the fruit of the power of the mind) the Grail has been seen as the object par excellence so that man could take possession of omniscience and immortality; in short, the tool to realize the desire of desires: one’s divinization. In these traditions (esoteric and occult) the figure of Jesus has often been seen in a gnostic key. Jesus would be the model to imitate, yes, but not in the sense of God-made-man but of man-who-becomes-God. The Word would be that divine good that would be present as a spark in every man. By incarnating in human flesh, this Word would have taught man how to free himself from the “imprisonment” of the body and therefore how to shed the weight of individuality (the apparent creaturality) to reunite with the original divine. In this perspective, the Grail is a kind of materialization of this conviction and this aspiration.

But, dear …, we have said that the Grail can also be considered in a totally different way, as the sign that leads back to the true meaning of life, that is, of belonging to the divine. In the Grail, the wine was transformed into the Blood of Christ, that Blood which is a sign of Love par excellence, of God’s offering to man for the salvation of man. The Grail, therefore, is the sign of the need for God, of how much man has had and still needs God. What would the life of each of us be without the Blood of Christ? In this perspective, the Grail is life; and the search for him is the true meaning of life. In Breton sagas, in order to occupy the “Seat of Danger”, an indispensable condition is needed: to be pure in heart. That is, to fully realize the fundamental vocation (the search for the Grail, which is the search for God) it is not necessary to possess intellectual abilities as much as to open one’s heart and practice the exercise of virtue. The fundamental vocation is the task on which man really plays everything, it is no coincidence that the seat is called the “Seat of danger”.

Dear …, the fact that your son is passionate about everything that speaks of the Grail is not worrying, but quite the contrary. Rather, it is an interest that must be correctly oriented. Try to tell him what I’m going to tell you now. It is not known where the Grail is, but it is known that he is always present. Catholic theology affirms that in the Eucharistic Sacrifice the priest acts in persona Christi, which means that whenever the priest consecrates, his hands are no longer his hands but the hands of Christ themselves. This is also true for the objects that are used in this sacrifice: the chalice is no longer that chalice that was bought in a particular shop, but becomes, in that precise moment, truly the Grail. Every man should place himself before his own existence according to the model of the stupendous figure of Parsifal. It is of little interest to know of his historical existence; rather, it is interesting to keep in mind that his life is true, as a life offered in search of what truly represents the Whole of human existence. Parsifal is certainly an anti-modern hero. He is because he knows that life must be spent not only in the horizontal dimension (helping others) which is also important, but above all in the vertical one. Parsifal knows well that man, more than material food, needs what can truly fill his existence: the total answer for all his anxieties.

Dear …, make it clear to your son that in our every affair, in our every concern, in our every ambition, we must meet Parsifal’s gaze and admire his heart … to decide that his research also becomes our research.