"When you were in the court of the Lame King and
saw the youth bearing the streaming spear from which drops of blood flowed in streams...... you did not ask their meaning nor their cause."
____ Peredur, from The Mabinogian (trans. CM)
These words are addressed to Peredur (Perr-ED'yr) by the Grail messenger, an ugly maiden who come to berate him for not having asked the "Grail question." She publicly rebukes Peredur for his lack of resolve. The Grail procession passes through the hall, but Peredur, who has been warned about curious questions, keeps silent and so loses a wonderful opportunity to transform the stalemate suffering of the Wounded King and the wasteland.
The function of the Grail messenger is to remind putative Grail winners of their responsibilities. Within our own lives, we need such figures to goad or shame us into behaving ethically and appropriately. Strong advice is not always forthcoming from our friends, who may love us too well to speak out for our own good. Only our very close friends have this license, and it is a privilege they do not often exercise. Our spiritual allies may also bring to our attention important things we have neglected or the effect of actions that have set things awry; but unless we are in close relationship with them, we do not always choose to heed their words.
The one Grail messenger whom none of us can avoid is the voice of the soul - that thing which many people call conscience. The word conscience literally means 'with knowledge'. Our unwitting actions do not go unregarded by the soul, which reminds us where we have contravened its codes of behavior. Its voice can be an ugly reminder of things that have to be put right.
"Consider the things that blemish your soul. Change or put right the consequences of your actions wherever you can."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]
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