There are many legends and myths that relate to a magical chalice. But alas chalice is just a name that some use. There are many stories identifying this same talisman as a bowl or possibly a ring. But then again, it is as well referred to as a cauldron of magic—a magic that would extend life and provide for no want. This mystical talisman seemed to be ever elusive in its shape-shifting identity.

Even though many tales abounded, there seem to be few seekers for this great amulet of power. Usually the legends of this magic were whispered in the pitch-dark of the night and many believed them to be works of a fantasy-filled imagination. So, was this then, the reason for the lack of seekers for this magic of old?

Sherry and I, on the other hand, were ever seeking the mysteries of heaven and earth. And this mystery of immortality was the primary one that clawed at the edge of our consciousness—a fascination of the Otherworld that ever lingered. 

It was true to form in our seeking of the mysteries that in the summer of 1981 Sherry and I did a foolish thing. We traveled to the Celtic lands of England, Wales and Scotland on a quest of magic and spirit. We wanted to experience the land that embraced the sacred myths of Arthur and his knights on their quest for the Holy Grail.

We were fools as represented by the Fool card of the Tarot—referred to as Philosophical Medicine. The Fool card begins the Major Arcane before the Magician’s card number 1 and appears again as card number 21 before card number 22, the World —most modern decks will number the World card as 21.

The Major Arcane, arcane meaning secret or mysterious knowledge, may be viewed as a visual and symbolic guide to a spiritual journey. We begin the spiritual journey through our own innocence and naiveté as a fool in other people’s eyes, but after the twists and turns of life and our various experiences, we eventually arrive through perseverance at the World Card. This card represents the Oneness of self and life.

But our journey is not complete as we continue being the fool but in a different way. We now have an awakening of reality and the oneness of life. This spurs us on to further adventures and awakening. And once again, we are the foolish one or the fool in other people’s eyes as we strive on for the spiritual and not the material aspects of life ever seeking Divinehood. 

While our peers were vacationing in the Caribbean, we were on a holiday (‘holy-day’) to England. A journey I might add that we really couldn’t afford. Our home needed work but instead off we went. In society’s eyes, we were not doing a responsible thing but a foolish thing. While others were saving for retirement, we were spending money questing for knowledge and spirit. Most assuredly, this was a foolish thing. We were not conforming to the norms of society or being responsible adults. We were abandoning society’s imposed ego-self to acquire the mantles of archetypical hero’s. Would this not be foolish?

I viewed this pilgrimage to a foreign land as the actual beginning of a quest that had its roots many years in the past with my enrollment in the martial arts as a freshman in college. Even though I had attained a Black Belt, it was not enough. The art I studied focused more on the physical and little on the mystical or spiritual, which were the real reasons behind my desire to enter into the martial arts.

My need for martial power—warriorship—had sprung full blown as a young 16 year-old. It was a visual tale that literally changed my life—a vision and soul rite of passage, so to speak. It vibrated a deep soul memory within the core of my being that never left and only grew stronger. It opened the gate for a birthing of a personal mythology of the heroic warrior and the sacrifice of heart that would eventually take me across the world seeking and searching for knowledge and power.

The visual tale was called The 300 Spartans. The ancient Spartans were the saviors of Western Civilization as a result of their heroic action and sacrifice at the Pass of Thermopylae known as the Hot Gates. In the spring of 480 BCE, King Xerxes of Persia set forth to conquer the Greek city-states with a titanic army of over 200,000 men as well as a massive fleet rumored to be close to 1,300 vessels. His final goal was the conquest of the whole of Europe.

The independent Greek states rallied to the invasion, and as always, looked to the heroic warriors of the Greek city-states—the Spartans. Even though there was little love-loss between the Athenians, the naval power, and the Spartans, this was a time for unity not bitterness over past woundings and rivalries.

The Spartans were not only the greatest and bravest warriors that the world had ever seen, but they were also very spiritual as well as religious. Sparta was a city-state of spiritual warriors, not merchants, where the women held equality with the men, such an uncommon practice elsewhere in Greece at that time. Committed to honoring their deities throughout the year, the Spartan army was forbidden to fight during one of their religious festivals.

However, the king and his personal bodyguard of 300 were not honor-bound by the religious laws of Sparta. These laws kept the rest of the Spartan army from marching to battle, but not King Leonidas and his personal bodyguard. Aware of the Delphic Oracle’s prophetic message that Sparta would be sacked or Sparta would mourn the death of a king from the house of Hercules (where Spartan kings claimed lineage), the Lion, as he was known, still went forth with his 300 to secure the pass at Thermopylae. True to their honor and loyalty to their king, the Spartans’ sacrifice down to the last warrior at these ‘pillars of fire’ echoed throughout history as one of the foremost examples of bravery, courage and valor.

Leonidas and his courageous sacrifice and loyalty sparked a soul memory deep within my heart. And from those soul moving qualities of this one movie, I began to remember my incarnations, and from that day forward, commenced a quest of spirit that would take me far and wide.

Part 2 Isle of Avalon