Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Faery Gates of Avalon re-opened!


Just reissued by Skylight Press.

This is a mind blowing re-take on the function of the ladies of the knights of King Arthur’s Round Table.
The knights of King Arthur's Round Table - Erec, Lancelot, Yvain, Perceval and Gawain - first appeared in the works of Chretien de Troyes, who cast into Old French stories told by Welsh and Breton story tellers which had their origin in Celtic myth and legend.
Chretien wrote at a time when faery lore was still taken seriously - some leading families even claimed descent from faery ancestors! So we do well to look again at these early stories, for they were written not so much in terms of mystical quests or examples of military chivalry but as records of initiation into Otherworld dynamics.
And those who initiated the knight heroes were faery women, in the role of guides, guardians or lovers. In this respect a study of the ladies of Arthurian legend can prove to be more instructive than the adventures of the knights, whom they lured onto quests that were in reality initiations into Faeryland.
What is more, by going to the well spring of Arthurian tradition to unveil these original principles, they can be regenerated today. Opening the faery gates can have its reward not only in terms of personal satisfaction and spiritual growth but as part of a much needed realignment of our spiritual responsibilities as human beings on planet Earth.
"The fusion of the natural with the supernatural was so complete amongst the Celts that the two worlds are found in constant juxtaposition" [Anne Ross - "Pagan Celtic Britain"]
"...the passage between the worlds can only be made in love and respect, not idle curiosity" Wendy Berg - "Red Tree, White Tree"}
 
For further details go to www.skylightpress.co.uk



 


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you for the post, Gareth. But you didn't mention Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach whose work predated Crietien de troyes and who wrote about Parsifal's great quest for the grail with a Teutonic and Celtic spirit.