The Book of the Holy Graal By Arthur Edward Waite |
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| XV. | XV
A Golden Veil of Doctrine |
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 | The Book of the Holy Graal |  |
145
XV
A Golden Veil of Doctrine
They are with their Master in the waking state:
He sits again betwixt them and—with hands
Uplifted—teaches in the vesper-time.
A humble country chapel's chancel steps
Are now the place of meeting. Whether he
Was priest therein they did not ask or know.
Far other speculation fill'd their minds,
While on his head the Sanctuary Lamp
Cast faint and peaceful light through ruby glass,
Weaving an aureole about his face
And wool-white hair. As they in life assumed
But in the sleep-state and its dreams laid flesh
Aside, yet were the same—one self in each
Amidst all variations in their mode
Of being and changes of environment—
So Christ, the Master, Whom they sought in soul
Perchance was he, no other, who without
Had come of his own will into their lives.
Shaped he their paths of vision who show'd forth
True ways of practice in the daily round?
When they should meet him in the hidden world
Would he be other than he seem'd and was
Betwixt them, seated in the twilight-tide?
And would the hallows of the Pyx and Cup
Shine at his presence with another light
Than earth's or soul's, a very light of God
Dwelling with man?
He sits again betwixt them and—with hands
Uplifted—teaches in the vesper-time.
A humble country chapel's chancel steps
Are now the place of meeting. Whether he
Was priest therein they did not ask or know.
Far other speculation fill'd their minds,
While on his head the Sanctuary Lamp
Cast faint and peaceful light through ruby glass,
Weaving an aureole about his face
And wool-white hair. As they in life assumed
But in the sleep-state and its dreams laid flesh
Aside, yet were the same—one self in each
Amidst all variations in their mode
Of being and changes of environment—
So Christ, the Master, Whom they sought in soul
Perchance was he, no other, who without
Had come of his own will into their lives.
146
True ways of practice in the daily round?
When they should meet him in the hidden world
Would he be other than he seem'd and was
Betwixt them, seated in the twilight-tide?
And would the hallows of the Pyx and Cup
Shine at his presence with another light
Than earth's or soul's, a very light of God
Dwelling with man?
Now from the Sacred Host
Within the tabernacle's silken veil
There fell upon them that which was not light
But influx—out of holy heaven sent down—
Or rather upon him it seem'd to fall
And from two centres, at his heart and head,
Was ray'd within them. Such a Presence fill'd
The Church of Nature when he sat before—
Green vistas round them. But even more than then
His words transfigured all things: so of old
At Cana, water from the springs of earth
Became a wine which never in the world
Gave forth the vintages of Galilee.
Light from the Graal about them, words of God
Exhibited His Mysteries in speech
Of man, nor ever any human speech
Was simpler. Like a blessed gospel-text
Which holds the high vibrations of the life
From the life-source outpour'd, it held the tones
And chants and breathings of the world within—
High sanctuary of hidden heart of things.
So therefore drew the music wrought in words
Into a single sense of harmony,
Even as the Spirit Divine draws human souls
And makes a oneness of eternal state
Which is the perfect poem of each soul
And its life-ode.
Within the tabernacle's silken veil
There fell upon them that which was not light
But influx—out of holy heaven sent down—
Or rather upon him it seem'd to fall
And from two centres, at his heart and head,
Was ray'd within them. Such a Presence fill'd
The Church of Nature when he sat before—
Green vistas round them. But even more than then
His words transfigured all things: so of old
At Cana, water from the springs of earth
Became a wine which never in the world
Gave forth the vintages of Galilee.
Light from the Graal about them, words of God
Exhibited His Mysteries in speech
Of man, nor ever any human speech
Was simpler. Like a blessed gospel-text
147
From the life-source outpour'd, it held the tones
And chants and breathings of the world within—
High sanctuary of hidden heart of things.
So therefore drew the music wrought in words
Into a single sense of harmony,
Even as the Spirit Divine draws human souls
And makes a oneness of eternal state
Which is the perfect poem of each soul
And its life-ode.
Of that most sacred House
Which seem'd their House of Vision and perchance
Was of its modes and aspects shown in part—
So mighty texts of old in modern tongues
Are put by moderns—again the Master spoke,
Of its high rumours moving down and up
The realms of thought and history. Betwixt
That side of things wherein the letter rules,
Nor ever of itself uplifts a veil—
Because the veil it is, which cannot pass
Beyond its nature—and that other mode
Lying behind, spirit and inward sense,
The Holy House is poised, as on a space
Which serves for borderland where the two worlds
Converge, itself an interlinking bond.
There type in antitype dissolves and there
The simple letter is itself a sign.
O central point and sacred meeting-place
Of all the sacraments, there falls the Bread,
Broken within the Wine-Cup, and from both
Issues one living Spirit of Life Divine.
Never was place or house more deeply hid
Within the souls of those who dwell therein.
No temple ever was a part of mind
As thou, mind-sphered in pure intelligence!
No secret palace is enshrined like thee
Within the heart, for thou art love thereof,
Lo, in this House of God, soul, mind and heart
Are found in oneness at the root of each—
One vesture of that Spirit which is God,
One eye which looks on God—but turn'd within—
One fire by God enkindled, evermore
Burning in Him, consumed, renew'd by Him,
But He the substance, He the flame and He
The kindling spark.
Which seem'd their House of Vision and perchance
Was of its modes and aspects shown in part—
So mighty texts of old in modern tongues
Are put by moderns—again the Master spoke,
Of its high rumours moving down and up
The realms of thought and history. Betwixt
That side of things wherein the letter rules,
Nor ever of itself uplifts a veil—
Because the veil it is, which cannot pass
Beyond its nature—and that other mode
Lying behind, spirit and inward sense,
The Holy House is poised, as on a space
Which serves for borderland where the two worlds
Converge, itself an interlinking bond.
There type in antitype dissolves and there
The simple letter is itself a sign.
148
Of all the sacraments, there falls the Bread,
Broken within the Wine-Cup, and from both
Issues one living Spirit of Life Divine.
Never was place or house more deeply hid
Within the souls of those who dwell therein.
No temple ever was a part of mind
As thou, mind-sphered in pure intelligence!
No secret palace is enshrined like thee
Within the heart, for thou art love thereof,
Lo, in this House of God, soul, mind and heart
Are found in oneness at the root of each—
One vesture of that Spirit which is God,
One eye which looks on God—but turn'd within—
One fire by God enkindled, evermore
Burning in Him, consumed, renew'd by Him,
But He the substance, He the flame and He
The kindling spark.
Hereof the Secret House
And its deep searching. So beneath the fields—
Yellow with harvests under a bright sun—
Lie hid the gold and jewels of the mine,
Crypts and great treasure of the under-world.
See then, till all the images dissolve—
Their order and their laws fulfill'd in God—
Here is the common ground of those who pass
Beyond the veils into the first great sense
Which lies behind. This is the Holy House
In sacramental things externalized
And sum as such of all the sacraments.
The signified is not without the sign
Therein. The inward and the outward make
A marriage, integrated more and more
In one another while the worlds endure,
Till that which now is the without for us
Becomes by sanctity's dissolving work
That which we call within. Then God's great end—
Which stands and knocks without the cosmic gates—
Shall find all gates are open and come in.
And its deep searching. So beneath the fields—
Yellow with harvests under a bright sun—
Lie hid the gold and jewels of the mine,
Crypts and great treasure of the under-world.
See then, till all the images dissolve—
Their order and their laws fulfill'd in God—
Here is the common ground of those who pass
Beyond the veils into the first great sense
149
In sacramental things externalized
And sum as such of all the sacraments.
The signified is not without the sign
Therein. The inward and the outward make
A marriage, integrated more and more
In one another while the worlds endure,
Till that which now is the without for us
Becomes by sanctity's dissolving work
That which we call within. Then God's great end—
Which stands and knocks without the cosmic gates—
Shall find all gates are open and come in.
The House is theirs who have attain'd in Christ,
By His own blood redeem'd, for blood is life,
Eternal life, and so is understood
In the deep symbols of this mystery.
He leads the sons thereof from state to state
Of that Divine Experience within
Forth shadow'd once in holy, holy veils—
The pageant of the Life in Palestine.
A Birth Divine, a hidden life in God,
And then the witness of an outward call;
The mystic passion, cross and death thereon;
The resurrection and ascent in God:
Herein stands forth the story of the soul,
From that first moment which is second birth
To that last stage ineffable when man
Goes back to God.
By His own blood redeem'd, for blood is life,
Eternal life, and so is understood
In the deep symbols of this mystery.
He leads the sons thereof from state to state
Of that Divine Experience within
Forth shadow'd once in holy, holy veils—
The pageant of the Life in Palestine.
A Birth Divine, a hidden life in God,
And then the witness of an outward call;
The mystic passion, cross and death thereon;
The resurrection and ascent in God:
Herein stands forth the story of the soul,
From that first moment which is second birth
150
Goes back to God.
The Many-Mansion'd House
Presents in type the state before the end,
The resurrection-life attain'd in Christ.
So is it Holy Zion in the Heights,
Palace of Peace and the Great Prince of Peace,
The Paradise and Highest Court of Heaven.
Those dwell therein who may have tasted death
In bodies of earth or may in fleshly bonds
Abide and wait upon deliverance;
But mystic death has made them free in Christ.
So is the end assured, and thus they dwell
In unity, knowing their part in Him,
The present which is He, the state to come
And consummation of their life in God.
Presents in type the state before the end,
The resurrection-life attain'd in Christ.
So is it Holy Zion in the Heights,
Palace of Peace and the Great Prince of Peace,
The Paradise and Highest Court of Heaven.
Those dwell therein who may have tasted death
In bodies of earth or may in fleshly bonds
Abide and wait upon deliverance;
But mystic death has made them free in Christ.
So is the end assured, and thus they dwell
In unity, knowing their part in Him,
The present which is He, the state to come
And consummation of their life in God.
Within the Sacred House there also dwell
That Company of Spiritual Chiefs
And Hierarchs, through the ages set to watch
And through continued ages guard and guide
The long succession of a royal race
Whose secret once was mask'd as David's line—
A priestly work which, when the days were full,
Brought Joseph forth, the heir in fine of all,
And from another dynasty, to earth
As earth unknown, in Blessed Mary found
For him a virgin mate, with mystic yoke
Of nuptials in the Holy Heart of things,
Not in the heart of flesh. So came in fine
That Incarnation which was Birth Divine,
An union of the Spirit and the Bride
In earthly house of man—or body of God—
Made manifest. So He Who is the Word
In flesh abode among us, and the types
Of this substantial union are in Church,
In wayside Chapel and in mighty Fane
Shown forth—a true analogy of things—
By Bread and Wine. The Secret Church above
Is antitype of all the speaking signs
And sacraments, the treasury of grace
And power which fills them, permeates, overflows
In the recipient's heart.
That Company of Spiritual Chiefs
And Hierarchs, through the ages set to watch
And through continued ages guard and guide
The long succession of a royal race
Whose secret once was mask'd as David's line—
A priestly work which, when the days were full,
Brought Joseph forth, the heir in fine of all,
And from another dynasty, to earth
As earth unknown, in Blessed Mary found
151
Of nuptials in the Holy Heart of things,
Not in the heart of flesh. So came in fine
That Incarnation which was Birth Divine,
An union of the Spirit and the Bride
In earthly house of man—or body of God—
Made manifest. So He Who is the Word
In flesh abode among us, and the types
Of this substantial union are in Church,
In wayside Chapel and in mighty Fane
Shown forth—a true analogy of things—
By Bread and Wine. The Secret Church above
Is antitype of all the speaking signs
And sacraments, the treasury of grace
And power which fills them, permeates, overflows
In the recipient's heart.
Because of grace,
Of sanctity, of thinking in the heart,
Of Eucharistic Life Divine, which some
Reach'd there and here, ascending from the world
Of symbols to the power and glory held
Within, a rumour went about the earth
And bare its witness to the Holy House
In many modes of doctrine and of thought,
In many miracles of Wine and Bread,
After the mode of legend told from one
To other. In most sacred openings
Of sacramental veils, whereat dissolved
The elements, exhibiting behind
Divine communions and the Word therein,
Some part was given of God's grace and truth
To hidden life of soul.
Of sanctity, of thinking in the heart,
Of Eucharistic Life Divine, which some
Reach'd there and here, ascending from the world
Of symbols to the power and glory held
Within, a rumour went about the earth
And bare its witness to the Holy House
In many modes of doctrine and of thought,
In many miracles of Wine and Bread,
After the mode of legend told from one
To other. In most sacred openings
152
The elements, exhibiting behind
Divine communions and the Word therein,
Some part was given of God's grace and truth
To hidden life of soul.
Hereby began
Great inquests up and down the Christian world.
High reason follow'd them in holy schools
Of doctrine, though the letter overlaid
That witness. There were also secret ways
Of league and fellowship—in open words
Some speaking, other some a hidden tongue
Of symbol. There was more than all that school
Of saintship lifted into sovereign realms
Of a Divine Experience reach'd within,
And this left glorious records, shining still—
Beacons to those who in this narrow path
Can follow and ascend the Mount of God.
Such was in fine the spirit in that past
Of single-hearted centuries, that the quest
Was follow'd also and the tidings came
Through great imagination's shaping modes,
And—out of expectation—fair romance
Became a vehicle and thus put forth
The Holy Graal. I think—the Master said—
Old stories now are preface to a new
Romance of soul, which shall be told henceforth
Of yesterday, to-day and evermore,
With all the Mystery disclosed therein.
Great inquests up and down the Christian world.
High reason follow'd them in holy schools
Of doctrine, though the letter overlaid
That witness. There were also secret ways
Of league and fellowship—in open words
Some speaking, other some a hidden tongue
Of symbol. There was more than all that school
Of saintship lifted into sovereign realms
Of a Divine Experience reach'd within,
And this left glorious records, shining still—
Beacons to those who in this narrow path
Can follow and ascend the Mount of God.
Such was in fine the spirit in that past
Of single-hearted centuries, that the quest
Was follow'd also and the tidings came
Through great imagination's shaping modes,
And—out of expectation—fair romance
Became a vehicle and thus put forth
The Holy Graal. I think—the Master said—
Old stories now are preface to a new
Romance of soul, which shall be told henceforth
153
With all the Mystery disclosed therein.
So fell the Master's teaching once again
To silence, and his hearers' hearts were fill'd
With that high worship which election brings.
But evermore they wonder'd—each with each,
Or inwardly, in humbleness of heart—
What power and mercy should have singled such
As they, two children of obscurity,
For so high ends. Now in the outward ways
Full often meeting—since the walls of things
Dissolved about them upon every side
And brought the pair together day by day—
They heard the Holy Masses of the Church,
And peace was with them. Many graces stood
Around them, enter'd through their open doors
And vivified. Yet of the secret things
Behind the Eucharist—the while endured
This further space of interlude between
The teaching of the Blessed Master's mouth
And that of vision—no great message came,
Fair intimations to the mind at work
Or held in stillness.
To silence, and his hearers' hearts were fill'd
With that high worship which election brings.
But evermore they wonder'd—each with each,
Or inwardly, in humbleness of heart—
What power and mercy should have singled such
As they, two children of obscurity,
For so high ends. Now in the outward ways
Full often meeting—since the walls of things
Dissolved about them upon every side
And brought the pair together day by day—
They heard the Holy Masses of the Church,
And peace was with them. Many graces stood
Around them, enter'd through their open doors
And vivified. Yet of the secret things
Behind the Eucharist—the while endured
This further space of interlude between
The teaching of the Blessed Master's mouth
And that of vision—no great message came,
Fair intimations to the mind at work
Or held in stillness.
Knowing as they did
That in their other, hidden side of life
They served an Altar, like the priest on earth,
But out of earthly things to those of soul
Raised up, and were enring'd on every side
With witness of the Presence; knowing too
How in the spiritual House they bare
The self-same elements of Bread and Wine;
What hidden bond subsisted at the root
Between the sacred work imposed on them
And that of ministers in outward ways
Ordain'd? No ordination save of work
Imposed by service had the active life
Of their strange sleep set as a seal on them.
No consecration had their lips or hands
Perform'd, though since the Many-Mansion'd House
Roll'd back its portals and receiv'd them in,
They knew what sacro-saintly life abode
Within the Bread and Wine they bare and gave
To crowds of worshippers who knelt without
And some who follow'd on the quest within.
That in their other, hidden side of life
They served an Altar, like the priest on earth,
154
Raised up, and were enring'd on every side
With witness of the Presence; knowing too
How in the spiritual House they bare
The self-same elements of Bread and Wine;
What hidden bond subsisted at the root
Between the sacred work imposed on them
And that of ministers in outward ways
Ordain'd? No ordination save of work
Imposed by service had the active life
Of their strange sleep set as a seal on them.
No consecration had their lips or hands
Perform'd, though since the Many-Mansion'd House
Roll'd back its portals and receiv'd them in,
They knew what sacro-saintly life abode
Within the Bread and Wine they bare and gave
To crowds of worshippers who knelt without
And some who follow'd on the quest within.
Now, both were conscious—in distinctive ways—
Of inward trouble, dwelling on the place
And pageant of their vision life, and all
Its purpose, in comparison with that
Which earthly paths had in these later days
Assumed. How also did the House within
Stand in relation to the visible Church
Of God? And seeing that in deeper states
Within they found the well of images
Reduce its wealth of parabolic modes,
While on the threshold of a time they seem'd
To stand when all the pageants and the forms
Should cease, and knowledge of the noumenal
Be reach'd in being-state—pure, simple, free
And undiversified, the old mental sight,
The tactions and auditions set aside
Once and for all—perchance at end of things
The speaking drama of the world of dream
Would into teaching parable resolve
And so discharge its purpose. Who should say?
But only when the waking world dissolved,
The words which spoke within them still convey'd
That counsel, Patience, and that caution, No:
Not yet.
Of inward trouble, dwelling on the place
And pageant of their vision life, and all
Its purpose, in comparison with that
Which earthly paths had in these later days
Assumed. How also did the House within
Stand in relation to the visible Church
Of God? And seeing that in deeper states
155
Reduce its wealth of parabolic modes,
While on the threshold of a time they seem'd
To stand when all the pageants and the forms
Should cease, and knowledge of the noumenal
Be reach'd in being-state—pure, simple, free
And undiversified, the old mental sight,
The tactions and auditions set aside
Once and for all—perchance at end of things
The speaking drama of the world of dream
Would into teaching parable resolve
And so discharge its purpose. Who should say?
But only when the waking world dissolved,
The words which spoke within them still convey'd
That counsel, Patience, and that caution, No:
Not yet.
Now, whether in the part of flesh
I know not, or in that half-seeming state—
Say, after lips had sever'd, holy hands
Still interlock'd—when the white ivory gates
Began to open, while all thoughts and things
Strangely converged and mix'd, it matters not:
I do not know; but in each other's arms,
After a pure and spiritual mode,
They fell asleep into a world unknown,
And reach'd, apart from any sense of place,
Another state of vision, soul to soul
Reveal'd, and each as an unspotted glass
Wherein they look'd together and beheld
Not deeps of one another, but their own.
By such a perfect interchange of love,
Out of the House of Life and House of Sleep,
They knew the oneness, waking one with dream,
One soul in twain, and at the root conjoin'd
With one Christ-Spirit of the Word and God,
Looking in Him to reach all end of quest.
For QUÆSTOR DEI and BEATA may
I know not, or in that half-seeming state—
Say, after lips had sever'd, holy hands
Still interlock'd—when the white ivory gates
Began to open, while all thoughts and things
Strangely converged and mix'd, it matters not:
I do not know; but in each other's arms,
After a pure and spiritual mode,
They fell asleep into a world unknown,
And reach'd, apart from any sense of place,
Another state of vision, soul to soul
156
Wherein they look'd together and beheld
Not deeps of one another, but their own.
By such a perfect interchange of love,
Out of the House of Life and House of Sleep,
They knew the oneness, waking one with dream,
One soul in twain, and at the root conjoin'd
With one Christ-Spirit of the Word and God,
Looking in Him to reach all end of quest.
The veils lift further. May their sleep indeed
Be fill'd with vision. May they find within
One Spouse of both, and so for evermore
Be and continue one in each and Him:
Not QUÆSTOR DEI and BEATA now—
In that great, timeless, everlasting now—
Not Christ and they, or Christ and one from them
Begotten by the motherhood of love,
But union, unity and oneness, Christ
As they in Him, and He in them, yet God
In all ineffably, and all in God.
157
Due acts of faith in loyalty and laid
Their freight upon me, till a Voice arose
And said: All blessing on the man who knows
The matter of the one true faith and thence
Draws sacred doctrine of experience.
Now, since my hope was in one Source and End,
I held that Voice a Comforter and Friend.
So, having put aside all yokes, I sought
In sacred licence of untramell'd thought
On mountain-heights of mind to reach my Goal.
And past all peaks of thought I saw the soul,
And in her hidden world I strove to find
That which exceeds all altitudes of mind.
Ah, but the soul that Presence may confess
Through intimations which their seals impress,
As light on earth impinged from furthest star.
Hence from the soul herself the Goal was far,
Till in her heart of love a certain door
I open'd, with a permit to explore;
And there the Goal my efforts could not win—
O Master-Goal—reach'd out and took me in.
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