The Art of Questing

Each of us is on a quest in life seeking or searching for something we want. It may be a change in our circumstances – or it could be something we want to add to our life. Our quest from time to time can be for something material or it can be that intangible or essence we sense is missing within. There is also the quest seeking our spiritual self. The following is what I have learned and experienced. We are each different and to compare our successes, our lives, or our accomplishments to another is an obstacle to finding out what we are and the reason for our quest.

Shakespeare, in his play As You Like It, wrote All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; and one man (woman) in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.

The stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are about one or more knights going on a quest for the Holy Grail. These are of legend, and what was the Holy Grail they were seeking?

In 1937, Hal Foster at the request of Randolph Hearst created Prince Valiant, a syndicated adventure strip. This is set in the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and this adventure strip is still in existence today with the good having virtues and the bad having flaws.

There is also the story of Don Quixote, a supposedly comedy/satire by Miguel Cervantes. It speaks to many people—each with her or his own interpretation and sadly, there are those who think Don Quixote was mentally ill or insane. However, most of society thinks that when one thinks or behaves in a different way than what is socially accepted or not acceptable to family members that they are weird.

We also have a method of the American Indians called the Vision Quest where the quester goes out into the wilderness and contemplates for days until a vision is received and the quester is seeking spiritual empowerment and a guardian spirit in most cases.

A quest can be for a myriad of things. For many the first stages are to seek a satisfying relationship with a member of the opposite sex and in some cases, it is with one of the same sex. This relationship may be exactly what the quester has been seeking and for those who finds that their relationship has soured, they continue with their quest to seek another who will fulfill his or her needs. On the other hand, one can remain in an unhappy relationship that becomes bitter and play the role of the victim.

Others seek material things and think that all they need is a new house, a new car, a new wardrobe, a facelift or a nose job and perhaps a new job. There may come a time when the house is old or too small and there must be a new house. The same goes for an automobile and the wardrobe. The facelift or nose job may make the individual feel better about her or his looks, but it does not satisfy that unnamed need within and dissatisfaction sets in. The new job may be just great in the beginning and again it may not be. This is not to say that these are bad things. These could all be steps in questing. Nicholas Roerich, a famous artist and writer in the early part of the last century – 1924-1925, went to India, Tibet and the Himalayas and had this to say in his book Altai Mountain, Himalaya - Every obstacle must be the birth of possibilities.

There is the side effect and that is one can become anesthetized with television, entertainment, sports and other sidelines and the handicap is that one forgets to quest unless it is for material things.

There is another form of questing and this is alchemy, which comes from the Arabian phrase al-kima and its origin from the Egyptian Coptic kehm. There are many forms of alchemy, one being turning base metals into gold. There is also the alchemy of Nature that changes a seed into a plant or a tree. The alchemy I am writing about is the alchemy of the human mind. Physically we change over the years as we physically grow. Our maturation is nourished by our thoughts, our beliefs, our words and our actions.

In the alchemy of changing base lead into gold, there are stages. Books and stories are about this and there have been seekers over the hundreds of years who have strived to interpret the alchemical texts to change lead into gold – a metal. There are supposedly seven stages such as lead, iron, tin, mercury as well as sulfur, copper, silver and finally gold.

However, there is also another form of alchemy and this is what I am writing about. I can only share my experiences and my knowledge. Everything is according to interpretation and what I am writing about is personal transformation or personal evolution.

Most of us do not know what we are questing for. We only know there is a dissatisfaction or a longing for something unseen and unknown. For me it began with a prickle--a sense that there had to be more to life than what I was experiencing. It was very subtle in one sense. When I was forty a thought flitted through my mind, by the time you are fifty your life will be changed. Frankly, I did not know what that meant and let it go. Off and on for the next ten years, the thought would return and I still did not know what it meant.

My mother died in 1976 and when I reflected on her life, I came to my realization that her life appeared to be unfulfilled and I did not want my life to be that way. My children were of the age where they were leaving home and some would say I was experiencing the ‘empty nest’ syndrome. Perhaps, however there was a yearning within me to have more satisfaction with life. I was married and had a well-paying job, lived in a beautiful house and drove a late model automobile. My relationship with my husband was one of superficiality because there was no depth. There had never been any real communication on a deep personal level.

I began searching for some meaning to my life. A friend loaned me a book that talked about the intimacy of a relationship and it moved me tremendously. It was a Friday evening and I attempted to share with my husband the yearning I had for intimacy that we had never shared. He looked at me and asked, “Do you want a divorce?” I immediately said, “Yes” and that was the end of that marriage. This was my unexpected propulsion. When we parted, I never looked back.

The prickle followed by the propulsion was the beginning of my Quest for personal transformation although I did not call it at that time. I only knew that I felt propelled to seek something more in my life. I was seeking and questioning.

My childhood had been one being at the mercy of a verbally and psychological abusive father and a mother who also was the subject of his abuse. In retrospect, I learned something very important and that was to pretend. Pretend can be two sides of a coin. On the one side, we put forth a face that everything is just peaches and cream when beneath the veneer the foundation is of another sort.

The other side of pretend is what some people call a dream. This can lead to some wonderful changes in our lives. As a small little girl I played the make-believe game with others, which was actually pretending to be someone other than who I was. The idea of traveling the world began a dream. I began pouring over travel brochures while dreaming I was traveling. I call this practice. The next step utilized patience. I did not begin thinking that it would never happen and soon the dream slipped into a subconscious state and germinated. When I was age 23, a chance reading of a small article in a newspaper stating there were recruiters for the U.S. State Department interviewing for clerical help in the Foreign Service. Those selected would work in embassies and consulates around the world. This was an opportunity and I grabbed it. I went to work in the Foreign Service branch of the U.S. State Department and my first posting was the embassy in Paris followed by the embassy in Tokyo.

This was a major change for me and I accepted it wholeheartedly. Being born in Texas and growing up there during the time of segregation, I experienced that along with the bigotry and prejudice of my father. When I left Texas, I was what one might call a greenhorn and very naïve. Paris was my uncommon education and gave me the beginnings of my quest.

Shakespeare wrote that the world is a stage and we are the players on it. In our questing, we have choices. We can never change, or we can quest to seek something unknown. We may play many different roles. I have been a college student, a code clerk, a wife, mother, government worker, holistic center program director, minister and now a writer-author. From each of these roles, I gained experience and wisdom.

What I have learned about the art of questing is first there must be a propulsion—an urge or a dream to have or to experience something. The second stage is to pretend—plan--some call this 'make-believe.' The third stage is to live life with passion and not to let go of one's plan or dream. It may sit in the back of the closet of our mind and that is okay because it is incubating. The fourth stage is to persist in doing what you enjoy and the fifth stage is to participate in whatever brings you happiness. The sixth stage is to never give up. It is to have patience. The seventh stage is the manifestation of the dream and gives praise or gratitude. What happens after we have moved through the seven stages of questing? Begin another quest. It is a never-ending journey.

THE HOLY GRAIL MYSTERY

Bettye Johnson ©

Mystery. It appears that all the world loves a mystery and one of the most intriguing is the mystery of the Holy Grail. According to some records, the earliest writing came from a French poet named Robert de Boron who lived in the 12^th – 13^th centuries and his poem Joseph d”Armathie tells of Joseph bringing the Holy Grail from Palestine after the crucifixion of Jesus. The Holy Grail has been depicted as a magic cauldron; a silver chalice, a dish, bowl, plate or the cup used by Mary Magdalene or Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood of Jesus after a Roman soldier supposedly named Longinus pierced his side with a spear. It has also said that it was the cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Many have portrayed Mary Magdalene carrying the Holy Grail to Europe in the form of her children after the crucifixion.

In the 12^th century, the wonderful tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table emerged and the search for the Holy Grail became their mission. From these stories came the age of the romance stories passed around by bards and troubadours.

There are some writers who say that the myth of the Holy Grail originated from a Celtic myth of Bran the Blessed, which tells the tale of Bran an archetypal British Celtic hero. It is possible that Bran became the basis of the character known as the Arthurian romance Fisher King. Within all myths and legends there is a seed of truth with many of the facts becoming distorted. If you have ever played the ‘Telephone’ or ‘Whisper’ game, then you will understand my meaning.

When one looks at the etymology of the word Grail, it is an adaptation of the Old French word graal meaning cup or flat dish; or it could be from the M.Latin gradalis meaning a dish brought to the table in different courses of a meal. Meandering from this definition, we can go to the Greek word krater whose meaning is mixing wine with water.

The word graal or grail evolved into saint graal or sang real meaning Holy Grail. This, in turn evolved into sang rial meaning royal blood. From this we have a proliferation of books and stories regarding the Merovingian lineage as being the royal blood of Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

I am going to digress for a moment and bring in King David from the Old Testament. It is written that he had 300 wives. If each wife had only one child, then David would have 300 plus children and if each of them had two children, then picture a huge pyramid of a dynasty. There would be deaths, wars, and inter-marriage and considering some did not live to be an adult, it brings the lineage to an extravagant number of descendents. Mary Magdalene and Jesus had two children and if each of these children had children and they inter-married, think of how many descendents they would have and not all would be only the royalty of Europe. The myth of the Holy Grail is found only in the Western world and spawned by Christianity.

What are the attributes of the Holy Grail? It has been written that it is a goal that is distant and an almost impossible or unobtainable goal to achieve. We have only to read the stories of the Knights of the Round Table to get the picture. When I was a little girl, there was a comic strip titled Prince Valiant. It was created in 1937 and this Nordic Arthurian prince traveled the world over and is still in print telling of his heroic deeds and the perils he surmounted. In the beginning he was searching for the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail stories have always portrayed the male as the seeker and usually there is a fair maiden that he rescues from time to time. As with most his-stories, the female is relegated to a lesser role. However, lets examine other attributes. The hero must prove himself worthy and must grow spiritually and mentally. It is said that it is a symbol of God’s grace and available to all and only fully realized by those who seek and prepare themselves spiritually. This includes the females. Now, we are getting to the crux of the issue.

It is time to take the wrappers off of the symbol of the Holy Grail and reveal its true meaning. The wise ones, both female and male, who have gone before us, prepared the way by leaving a trail of symbols whose meanings have become meaningless or distorted on one level. However, there is a code within our brain that resonates with certain symbols and we know they have a deeper meaning. The Holy Grail is one such symbol.

The greatest deterrent to one’s Journey is religion. Religion and spirituality are not the same. Religion has become a form of control and it doesn’t matter which sect one is affiliated with, the message is the same that one must conform to their set of beliefs and rules. One must believe that a god outside of self is the only way to salvation and redemption and usually this includes a belief in the devil or Satan. Anything else is labeled the anti-christ.

The true seeker may dabble in a religion for a time, but becomes dissatisfied and seeks something that will bring inner peace and knowing. There is a longing to know more and this is part of the Journey. Over the ages, women and men have been kept in a proletarian state of mind – or a captive mind. The seeker is seeking to break out of her or his captivity.

Each society has its own set of morals and values and it is up to the individual to examine hers or his and discard those that do not serve Self. Self is the higher aspect of self and it is the seat of our spirituality. We have been taught conformity and there comes a moment when we know we must break away from our past programming. This is all part of the Journey – the Quest.

Buddha has been quoted as saying that it is better to conquer yourself than to fight a battle and Ramtha the Enlightened one has said, go and conquer yourself. There have been many messages left to us such as the inscription of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, Greece from 6 B.C.: Know thyself. Even Plato said know thyself. Shakespeare wrote in his play Hamlet: This above all: to thine own self be true. Sir Francis Bacon left a profound message: Knowledge is power.

The Holy Grail represents the Quest or the Journey that each of us has undertaken when we left the house of our Creator. We hold within us the tools to carry us through life or lifetimes, but the perils we have to battle are those of our fears, emotions and beliefs. We become ensnared in our own fears, judgments, biases, prejudices, and the emotions of jealousy, resentment, anger, and in the hopes of redemption we think there is something or someone outside of our self while not realizing that we must conquer our self in order to know Self.

I can only share knowledge and wisdom I have gained during my own Journey, which has been one of many twists and turns. Sometimes it appeared I was butting up against a stone wall, but by perseverance I went through the wall. Each twist and turn has a gift in the form of wisdom and it is up to each of us to discover the wisdom in our own experiences. The Great Labyrinth in the Cathedral at Chartres, France is a lasting symbol left there by the Knights Templar and it represents the Journey of each individual. This is why so many visitors to the Cathedral resonate to it whether they are Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim. It is a universal symbol.

My quest began at the age of forty when a thought came into my head, by the time you are fifty, your life will be different. At that time I was becoming a disillusioned a WASP Republican housewife. For those of you who do not know what WASP is, it stands for “white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant. “ At age fifty I had a ‘coming-out’ party celebrating my new status of being a divorcee and on my Journey of discovery. I was like a sponge soaking up all the knowledge and experience I could get. I studied Religious Science, Divine Science, Unity, metaphysics, meditation, a multitude modalities of healing, the tarot, astrology, crystals and perhaps other modalities that I do not remember. A well-known and often repeated statement is, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

It was the last week in December of 1982 when my new husband and I attended a weeklong spiritual workshop at Asilomar, California with Dr. Brugh Joy and David Spangler. On the 30^th of December, the evening program was three people who would channel their entities and talk about peace. I was not into channeling and I lay back on the floor thinking how boring. The first two people did their thing and then the third was a petite blond from Tacoma, Washington who left her body and the moment her entity took over and said “Indeed!” I shot up into a sitting position and was mesmerized. I knew that I knew him and that I had heard him before. I also knew he was a Master Teacher. I had never heard of Ramtha the Enlightened One, but I knew this teacher. Later I knew I recognized him from a soul memory.

I did not fully understand this encounter and still caught up in my new relationship and becoming a minister of Divine Science, I now realize I was completing unfinished business and did not reconnect with Ramtha until 1985 when I was invited to see a video of him. I have been a student of Ramtha ever since and my husband and I moved to Washington state in 1986.

Each of us is to connect with a teacher at some point in either in this life or a lifetime to come. Ramtha is not necessarily the teacher for everyone. He so happens to mine. The Ramtha School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Washington is an academy of the mind and also of Gnostic teachings. We are each one a facet of the Creator and it is an individual journey so that the Creator may know itself.

Ramtha has taught that we are here to make known the unknown and that is the quest for the Holy Grail. There is no one path for all because we are each a facet of the Creator and we are each individuals with our own destiny. The Holy Grail is the unique facet of the Creator in you. You are the Mystery.