The Mystery of the Holy Grail

The Mystery of the Holy Grail: A Modern Path of Initiation

“In 1947, shortly after I had met Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy, friends in Brussels invited me to a performance of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal at the Royal Opera. The music drama not only made an indelible impression on me; it also stirred many disturbing questions. Thus my search began, and in a rather short time I had read whatever I could find by Steiner on the subject of the Holy Grail….

Years later I began, tentatively at first, to lecture on the subject of the quest for the Holy Grail…. The Mystery of the Holy Grail: A Modern Path of Initiation contains in essence the contents of lectures developed over the years, particularly in Europe and North America. Though they have been revised for publication, the oral flavor of the lectures has been consciously retained….

For teachers of 11th grade literature and students of the grail theme. Gradually it dawned on me how important this theme is for the development of youngsters around seventeen years old-when they begin to feel poignantly the questions of life and death. Working with boys and girls of this age in different parts of the world helped me to understand the universal relevance of these tales, for they carry a prophetic dimension which makes them as valid now as when they were first composed.” (from the author’s introduction)

Contents:

• The Significance of the Holy Grail for Our Time
• The Three Spiritual Streams in Ninth Century Christianity
• The Quest for the Holy Grail as Depicted by Richard Wagner
• From Joseph of Arimathea to the Arthurian Round
• Images of Initiation-The Macrocosmic Symbolism of Wolfram von Eschenbach
• The Eternal Feminine from Kundry to Sigune
• The Mystery of the Holy Grail-The Earth as a Living Organism

About the Author

Rene Querido (1926-2004) was multi-national. He taught, lectured, and wrote on Waldorf education and various anthroposophical themes in French, German, Dutch, and English. He founded and advised several Waldorf schools and served as director of Rudolf Steiner College in California for fourteen years.