The Parzival Path: Occult Symbols and Spiritual Transformation

GA 266I — 27 August 1909, Munich

Esoteric Lesson

Record A

Today we want to look at the occult symbols that students learn during their development and through which the masters of wisdom and harmony of feelings convey to us the wisdom that has been passed down to us from the time of Atlantis.

After the demise of Atlantis, great initiates guided two main streams of people from the West to the East, one through Africa and the other through Europe. Those who came to Asia via Africa developed, in the course of incarnations and evolutions, the individuality that was able to receive the Christ light. In the northern stream, initiates drew upon a strong, powerful people who were not only able to defy external enemies, but were also psychically capable of withstanding demonic influences. There were mystery centers in various places in Europe, whose existence is reported to us in many ancient legends. For example, the legend of King Arthur and his Round Table conceals the story of such a secret school. King Arthur was a high initiate who proclaimed mystery wisdom to his disciples.

Now it is an occult law that when a particularly high initiate unfolds his activity on the physical plane, certain high initiates withdraw into the spiritual worlds and do not continue to work down to the physical plane. Thus it happened that while the Christ light shone in the East, another high initiate withdrew, for whom the peoples of northern Europe had been prepared as a later sphere of activity. He incarnated at a certain point in time in order to infuse the truth of the Christ event in its full meaning into humanity. And this incarnation of the high initiate is told in the legend of the Holy Grail, which was carried from the East to the West by angels and kept there, hovering above the earth. And the guardian of the Grail, King Titurel, was the reincarnation of the high initiate who was to prepare a certain period in history. There is an old French legend, the legend of Flore and Blanscheflur, who were inspired by Titurel and who, in the course of incarnations, had to bring forth and inspire a personality who was to play a great role in world history and development. This personality was Charlemagne. One can have historical and moral views about a historical figure that often differ greatly from the views that the seer has gained through his experiences. In any case, Charlemagne was destined to advance development in a certain way.

Titurel now attracted disciples. In a certain sense, these disciples were all called Parzival. A Parzival had to free himself from all the negative influences of the world through appropriate exercises. He had to be a Cathar. In the form of a story, not an abstract explanation, I will tell you what such a Parzival then had to experience, because it is important to grasp something like this with one's emotional life.

When Parzival, who at this stage could call himself “pious” or “pure,” now stood before his master Titurel, the latter allowed him to use the powers he had developed within himself through catharsis for intense concentration. Before his eyes, the earth disappeared with everything on it and gradually transformed into the image of a plant tree that grew larger and larger, and from which a wonderful lily sprouted as a flower. And while Parzival was absorbed in looking at it, he heard a voice behind him, which was the voice of Blanscheflur, symbolized, so to speak, in the lily, saying: “That is you!” The lily gave off a strong scent that was repulsive to Parzival, and it became clear to him that this scent symbolized everything he had cast out of himself through catharsis, and that it now surrounded him like an atmosphere. With this realization, he saw the tree wither, and in its place appeared the black cross from which the red roses sprouted. And again he heard a voice behind him, the voice of Flore, whose symbol was the red rose strengthened within itself: “Become that!” Parzival was now led by Titurel into the solitude of the mountains so that he could meditate on the powerful images that had been conjured up in his soul. And on a lonely height, he fixed his gaze on the infinite sky above him, lowered it into the infinite depths below him, looked forward and backward, to the right and left into the infinite distances, and an indescribable feeling of awe and devotion to the deity who revealed himself to him in everything overwhelmed him. And he addressed his prayer to her: “You great Encompasser, you whom I feel above, below, and beside me, who are everywhere, whether I look forward or backward, I want to give myself to you, to merge with you.” At the same time, however, he felt another divine power that did not overwhelm him so much, but seemed to lead him into himself and give him a center. And he felt a third power like a messenger of the great enveloping one, which seemed to lead him in circles around this center. He felt his left hand grasped by a power that penetrated through his hand to his heart like warmth, while another divine power penetrated through his right hand, manifesting itself through a feeling of coldness. If we want to record these forces, we must draw the first three as follows:

The other two, which permeated him like a feeling that made him aware of his connection with all of humanity, as wings:

Then the sky darkened, its outer light disappeared, and suddenly the room was illuminated from within. He had the feeling that his head was opening like a chalice to the divine light, and in this light he saw the messengers of the All-Encompassing One coming down from above, and through the radiant light that stood above him like a star and sent its glow deep into him, he heard their voice saying to him: “This is the light of the Father from whom you were born.”

And he realized that in order to be worthy of this birth, he must transform the green lily tree within himself into the dry wood of the cross, as Christ had done when he passed through death, and that only then would the hope of rising in the Holy Spirit blossom within him:

Ex Deo nascimur
In Christo morimur Per
Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus.

Record B

In the Atlantic lands, the ancient mysterious sites of the solar oracles were active, whose wisdom was transplanted into the post-Atlantean cultures. Two streams of people left Atlantis. One went via Africa, preparing the later Egyptian culture, to Asia, India, and the Orient in general, preparing the coming of the Christ light. The other stream of people went via Europe to Asia, and parts of this stream settled in Central Europe. These people were guided from the mystery centers, and the task of these centers was to prepare the West to receive the Christ Light that would later come to it. A strong race of people with strong physical powers was to be raised up: Their goal was to achieve fortitude, bravery, and the development of the powers of the heart. Great spiritual leaders guided humanity and its mystery centers invisibly from the spiritual heights. One of these was the so-called Round Table of King Arthur, the others were the Druid sites, the Trotten mysteries, and the mystery centers of the Ingäwons. A great spiritual individuality worked especially during this time of preparation from the spiritual worlds upon Europe and its mystery centers. He is called Titurel. Titurel used the spiritual or worldly leaders of humanity as his tools, and their work can only be understood in this light. These facts are hinted at in legends and myths. The legend of the Holy Grail says that the cup containing the blood collected at Golgotha was brought to Europe by angels. Titurel receives this cup. He receives it floating above the European lands, and only after centuries did Titurel descend with it from spiritual heights to the earth and found the mystery site of the Holy Grail on the Mountain of Salvation (Montsalvatsch). He could only do this after some people were ready to receive the secret of the Grail. Everyone who was ready for this initiation was called a Parzival.

Charlemagne, who came from the Orient—he was the reincarnation of a high Indian adept—was an instrument of the spiritual individuality symbolized by the name Titurel. Flore and Blanscheflur, called Rose and Lily, are referred to in a spiritual sense as the parents of Charlemagne. They stood behind this mystery, exerting their influence.

Through long meditation and concentration, a “Parzival” had purified his soul of all earthly desires and self-seeking. He was a Cathar and came as such to King Titurel. By exerting all the powers he had acquired through long exercises, he succeeded in bringing forth his higher self. He stood face to face with himself. He first had to make the sacrifice of his intellect; then he experienced what is recorded in the following occult writing.p>

He saw his physical being as if in a symbol. The entire physical world also disappeared from his sight. In its place he saw a large sprouting plant structure, as large as the entire earth. And above it he saw a large white lily growing up from the tree of life. And a voice behind him, the voice of Blanscheflur, said, “That is you.” And he saw his soul purified of passions and desires. The lily was beautiful and pure in form, but it was surrounded by an atmosphere of odor that hurt Parzival. He learns that this aroma is everything he has cast off during his catharsis, everything he has removed from himself. It now surrounds him. He learns that he must take it all back into himself and transform this painful smell of the lily. He must transform it into the pure, holy scent of the rose. Then the symbol disappeared. It grew dark. And after some time, a second symbol appeared to Parzival in the darkness: a black cross entwined with red roses. The tree of life had been transformed into the black wood of the cross, and the sprouting, fragrant roses had sprung up on it through the absolute devotion of the white lily to this tree. And the voice of Flore spoke behind him: “So shall you become.” The scent of the lily had disappeared. The red roses had absorbed it. But Parzival saw that this purification alone was not enough, that he must nail his lower self to the black cross and live the life of Christ, take it into himself, so that the red roses might bloom.

Then Parzival went into solitude and let these symbols work within him day and night. The symbols gradually faded, but the effect of their powers remained and worked within him, like the power that drives a seed to sprout. In the deep solitude in which he stood, he looked around him. He looked forward, backward, upward, downward, to the right, and to the left. And he felt the great unity in everything. He felt the enveloping, the all-embracing. And he felt how the all-embracing sent its powers to him from all sides, and he experienced himself as a point, as the center of these powers.

The enveloping, all-encompassing force behind which he senses unity.

He felt that this point within him was part of the great enveloping force. And then he felt a stream flowing through him from one side, urging him to dissolve completely into the deity, into these forces of the enveloping force. But from the other side came a force that wanted to lead him to the preservation of the self. And a third force joined them, uniting the two streams and causing the two paths that led apart to come together in a circle.

I is a force that reaches into us, from which we must learn to surrender ourselves completely, a force that we also use, but unconsciously, when we concentrate on an object. We must find this force in contemplation.

II is the force that drives us to be completely ourselves, to preserve our self, which we also need in order to have enthusiasm and initiative for our life in the outside world.

III is actually a circular line, a force from below, the force of the encircler. This force drives us to see all the joyful and sad experiences of life as surrounding us, not within us. In it we recognize the force that acts in the cosmos in such a way that it also drives the stars around us, which also act on us from outside the cosmos. This circle is usually drawn as a third straight line. Once we become familiar with this force, we can look with serenity at what life brings us in joy and sorrow. We know that everything arises from necessity; that is the driving law of karma.

Parzival had attained these three forces. He surrendered himself to them. Then, from the left and right, something like warm and cold wings came to him, as if to support him under his arms. He felt a supporting force under his left arm, flowing into his left side, generating warmth and spiritual fire, and from the right a force that was cool and cold. Then he experienced currents from both sides in the area of his larynx. These came from the angels of light who carry the spiritual light of wisdom to human beings. He drew this spiritual light into himself. Then, with spiritual ears, he heard sounds from the world of spherical harmony that made clear to him the purpose and destiny of human beings and the becoming of the world.

He waited again for a while. Then something entered his head from above, and a sum of forces flowed through him, pouring down into him. He experienced the power pouring into his whole being, the power that allows us to experience the Creator as a father, so that we feel ourselves to be the creatures of this Creator. And as the impression of this experience continued, Parzival's own being grew out of the whole in the form of a pentagram. He felt himself to be the son of this father. He experienced the truth of the Rosicrucian saying:

E.D.N. - L.C.M. - PS.S.R.

Parzival had all these experiences when he stood alone before Titurel.

The lamentation of one's own weaknesses and mistakes as well as those of other people. The law of necessity that revolves in circles. To view all suffering and all joy objectively. To transcend them. Thereby integrating oneself into the creative, active cosmos.

The whole, big picture is the tree of life. The human being.

Record C

It is necessary to give a historical overview of the esoteric effects that have been brought about over the centuries by the great leaders we call “the masters of wisdom and harmony of feelings.”¹

Today we will consider the great migrations of peoples, when part of the population moved from ancient Atlantis through Africa to Asia, while another part settled in Europe. In one area of Europe, in the west, a group of these migrating peoples remained under a leader of whom we find a faint echo in history: King Arthur and his Round Table. This was the first mystery school in Europe. Then came the age of Christ Jesus in the East. At that time, Europe still had to be fully prepared for its later development, and special individuals were chosen to organize the peoples so that they would be suitable for this later development. What ordinary history has to say about the moral and intellectual significance of these people is, for the most part, completely incorrect in relation to the esoteric facts.

For such leader personalities, there are, as it were, inspirers in the spiritual world. Among these are two spiritual beings whose names are still faintly preserved in history as “Flos” and “Blancflos” (Blanscheflur or lily blossom, while the former is called Rosenblüt, or rose blossom). These inspire, among others, Charlemagne.

During the time of the Mystery of Golgotha, a high individuality withdrew into the higher worlds to wait there for the time when his special work would be ripe. He remained away for centuries, and finally returned as King Titurel, to whom the Holy Grail had been entrusted, the cup that had been brought to the West by angels from Golgotha. - Every disciple of Titurel can bear the name Parzival, for it is a collective name. The story of one such Parzival is to be told.

Through long meditation and concentration, a Parzival had purified his soul of all earthly desires and self-seeking. He was a Cathar and stood pious and pure before his master Titurel. His master told him that all the powers Parzival had acquired through his many years of meditation and concentration should now be used to feel himself. He first had to make the sacrifice of his intellect. As Parzival prepared to do this and exerted all the powers he had acquired through his long exercises, he succeeded in bringing forth his higher self. He stood facing himself. Then he experienced what is recorded in the following occult writing: Parzival saw his being as if in a symbol. Before his eyes, his physical surroundings disappeared and transformed into the image of a plant tree as large as the earth. It was full of ascending sap, and at the top sprouted a wonderful lily. While Parzival was absorbed in looking at it, he heard a voice behind him, which was the voice of Blanscheflur, symbolized in the lily, saying, “That is you.”

The lily was beautiful and pure in form, but it gave off a strong scent that was repulsive to Parzival. And it was clear to him that this scent symbolized everything he had cast out of himself through catharsis, and that it now surrounded him like an atmosphere. He understood from this that the base nature he had cast off was not destroyed, but was in the vicinity of the lily.

He learned that he must take all this back into himself in order to transform the scent of the lily. With this realization, he saw the tree wither, the symbol disappeared, and everything became dark.

After some time, a second symbol emerged from the darkness before Parzival: a black cross entwined with red roses. The tree had been transformed into the black wood of the cross, and the fragrant roses had been created through the sacrifice of the white lily's life. And behind Parzival spoke the voice of Flore, whose symbol was the red roses, strengthened within themselves: “Become this.” The smell had disappeared; the roses had absorbed it. Parzival saw that the purification was not enough. He saw that he had to strike his lower self against the black cross so that the roses would bloom.

Parzival was sent into solitude by Titurel so that he could meditate on the powerful images that had been conjured up in his soul. Day and night he let the symbols work within him. Gradually, the images faded, but the effect of the forces remained and worked within him like a force driving a seed upward. 1 = a force that reaches into us, to which we surrender ourselves completely, which also fills us when we concentrate on an object.

In the deep mountain solitude where he stood, Parzival fixed his gaze on the infinite sky above him, lowered it into the infinite depths below him, looked forward and backward, to the right and left into the infinite distances, and an indescribable feeling of awe and devotion to the deity that revealed itself in everything overwhelmed him. He felt the great unity in everything. And he addressed the prayer to her: “You great enveloper, you whom I feel above, below, beside me, who are everywhere, whether I look forward or backward, I want to give myself to you, to merge with you.”

At the same time, however, he felt a second divine force that did not overwhelm him so much, but seemed to lead him into himself, to give him a center. He felt that this point within him was part of the great enveloping force, the all-encompassing, behind which he sensed unity. This second force had a tendency to take him by the hand from that center he felt within himself—but which he suspected was below him and which he could not bring to consciousness as a unity—and lead him toward the periphery. He thus felt, on the one hand, a stream flowing through him and urging him to dissolve completely into the deity, into these forces of the enveloping whole, but on the other hand, a force came that wanted to lead him to the unfolding of his own self.

And while these two forces were acting upon him, he felt a third force which united the two preceding ones and led him to the circle of the enveloping force. Parsifal perceived this third force as a messenger of the great enveloping force, which seemed to lead him in a circle around this center. It united the two streams and caused the two paths that led apart to converge in a circle, to come together in a circle (the fatherless and motherless path).

If we want to record these forces (see first drawing):

1) is a force that reaches into us, to which we must learn to surrender ourselves completely, a force that we also use, but subconsciously, when we concentrate on an object. We must find this force in contemplation.

2) is the force that drives us to be completely ourselves, to preserve our self, which we also need in order to have enthusiasm and initiative for our life in the outside world.

3) is actually the circular line, a force from below, the force of the circle. This force drives us to see all the joyful and sad experiences of life as surrounding us, not within us. In it we recognize the force that works in the cosmos, that also drives the stars around us, which also act on us from outside the cosmos. This circle is usually drawn as a third straight line. Once we get to know this force, we can look calmly at what life brings, whether it's sadness or suffering. We know that everything comes from necessity, which is the driving force of karma.

Parzival had attained these three forces and surrendered himself to them. Then, from the left and right, something like warm and cold wings came to him, as if to support him under his arms. He felt a supporting force under his left arm, flowing into his left side, generating warmth and spiritual fire. And on the right, a force that was cool and cold. He felt his left half grasped by a force that penetrated like warmth through his hand to his heart, while through his right side another divine force penetrated, manifesting itself through a feeling of coldness. If we want to record these forces that permeated him like a feeling that made him aware of his connection with all of humanity, we must draw it like this (see second drawing, p. 505).

Then the sky darkened and lost its external light. Suddenly, the room was illuminated from within. The light shone as if from his heart. He experienced currents on both sides of his throat, coming from the angels of light who carry the spiritual light of wisdom to human beings. He drew this spiritual light into himself. He had the feeling as if his head were opening like a chalice to the divine light, and in this light he saw the messengers of the All-Encompassing One coming toward him from above. He felt a radiation from the distance of space, which converged at a point, branched out from there, and flowed through him as light, transforming wisdom into living power. This revealed itself to him as if two small wings were growing out of him (see third drawing, p. 505).

Then Parzival heard, in complete silence, which he would never have dared to break with a thought or a sound, sounds rising from the silence: the harmony of the spheres. With spiritual ears, he heard sounds that made clear to him the purpose and destiny of man and of the becoming of the world. Then he experienced, pouring into his whole being, the power that allows us to experience the Creator as a father, so that we feel ourselves to be the creatures of the Creator. And he heard a voice saying to him: “This is the light of the Father, from whom you were born.” And he realized that in order to become worthy of this birth, he must transform the green lily tree within himself into the black cross from which roses sprout, that he must attach himself to the world cross, just as Christ had passed through it through death, and that through this the hope would blossom for him to rise again in the Holy Grail. He experienced the truth of the Rosicrucian motto: E.D.N. - I.C.M. - P.S.S.R. He felt himself to be the son of the Father. And under the lasting impression of this experience, Parzival's own being grew out of the whole, in the form of the pentagram.

Record D

This and the next E.S. lesson can only be understood in context.

Those who came to Atlantis were the leading spirits of the mysteries of all ages. From Atlantis, some people migrated to Africa, others to Europe and Asia. And along the way, mystery schools were founded. A high spiritual individuality was at work in the European mysteries, which then refrained from all activity for a long time. The Round Table of King Arthur is to be understood as such a mystery school. A higher personality who lived in India incarnated in Europe in order to work there. This was a high personality, whatever one may think of his work. He had to be brought over from India in order to work here in Europe. That was Charlemagne.

At a very specific time, that high spiritual being, who had refrained from all activity for a time, was able to work again. He incarnated in the form that the legend calls Titurel. The Grail, in which the blood of Christ had been collected, was brought to Europe by angels and held there by angels floating above Europe. One of Titurel's disciples, Parzival, had made himself completely pure and pious through exercises of all kinds. Every disciple of Titurel is a Parzival. Everyone who strives for this ideal must develop a pure and pious personality. One must give oneself, but one can only give something if one has something. There is talk of sacrificing the intellect. Those who do not yet have intellect cannot sacrifice it. First we must develop the intellect, develop it to the highest possible level, and only then can we sacrifice it.

There were two beings who worked from the divine into the earthly, Flore and Blancheflur, the white lily and the red rose. And when Parzival had prepared himself in this way, he experienced within himself that he was, so to speak, divided, so that he saw himself standing opposite himself; and his higher self was like a sprouting, budding tree from which life flowed. From this tree grew a lily. And a voice, the voice of Blancheflur, the white lily, said: That is you!

Now the vision transformed into the Rosicrucian cross. The sprouting, budding tree had turned into the dead wood of the cross, from which the roses now shone. Through absolute devotion, the tree had become dead wood and the white lily had become a red rose, which now radiated spiritual life. And the voice of Flore, the red rose, said: “Become this!”

Through his devotion, through becoming completely pure, Parzival was able to read the occult script.

If one wants to express occultly what the sprouting, budding tree with the white lily and the dead black cross with the red roses mean, one must draw it as follows:

With the tree and the lily, Parzival feels as if he is at the center of the earth, of all earthly events, while with the Rosicrucians he embraces everything, which is indicated by the circle.

Record E

Two streams of people emanated from Atlantis, one through Africa to Asia, the other through Europe to Asia. In Europe, initiation centers were established whose task was to develop a strong human race with strong physical powers. One such leader, who had come over from Atlantis, kept invisible watch over the spiritual forces emanating from the mystery centers, one of which was called the Round Table of King Arthur, according to legend. At the same time, Christ came to Earth.

A legend tells how the bowl containing the blood collected at Golgotha was brought to Europe by angels and kept there, floating above the earth. The high leader, King Titurel, received it, the Holy Grail. Only after centuries, when a few people were ready for it, did he settle on earth and found a place of initiation. Everyone who was ready for initiation became a Parzival.

According to legend, two spiritual beings, Flore or Flos and Blancheflur, called the lily and the rose, spiritually related to Charlemagne, stood behind this mystery.

Through long meditation and concentration, a Parzival had purified his soul of all earthly desires and selfishness. He was a Cathar and came to King Titurel. By exerting all the powers he had acquired through long practice, he succeeded in bringing forth his higher self, and he stood facing himself and saw himself in a symbol. The entire physical world disappeared and in its place he saw a large sprouting plant dream structure, as large as the earth, and above it bloomed a large white lily. The voice of Blanchflure said behind him: That is you! And he saw his purified soul. But the lily was surrounded by an atmosphere of odor that emanated from it, which Parzival did not like. These were the desires, cravings, etc. that had been stripped away during the purification. The symbol disappeared, it became dark, and in the darkness the second symbol appeared: a black cross entwined with red roses. And the voice of Flore spoke behind him: “So shall you become!” The smell had disappeared, the flower had absorbed it and had become a red rose. And Parzival saw that the purification was not enough, that he must nail his lower self to the black cross and live the life of Christ so that the red roses could bloom.

Thereupon Parzival went into solitude and let the symbols work within him day and night. The symbols gradually faded, but a seed had sprouted from them. In solitude, he looked around him, he looked forward and backward, upward and downward, to the right and to the left—and he felt the great unity, the great veil, and felt the strong currents flowing into him from all sides and felt them working together with a point within him and that this point was part of the great veil. He felt a stream flowing through him from one side, urging him to dissolve completely into the divinity. From the other side came a force that wanted to lead him to the preservation of the self. A third force, which united the two, caused the two paths that led apart to come together in a circle. From the left, he felt a supporting force under his arm flowing into his left side, generating warmth, the spiritual fire; from the right, a similar force, a cooling one, which created harmony. Then he experienced the spiritual light, which he drew into himself. Then he heard the harmonies of the spheres, and finally something entered his head and flowed through him with a sum of forces that united in a center and flowed down. And the truth dawned on him: We are born of God. In Christ we must die, and in the Holy Spirit we have the hope of rising again.

Record F

(Other notes that also report on the content of the next lesson on August 30, 1909 A Parzival, through instruction from Titurel, a high initiate, had the experience of a white lily growing out of the sprouting earth: “That is you” — and of a Rosicrucian: “That is what you shall become.” In the solitude that followed, the above vision came to him.

2 = another force that drives us to be completely ourselves.

3 = actually a circle that drives us to see all the joyful and sad experiences around us, not within us, the force that also drives the stars around us, which then act on us from outside. This circular line is usually drawn as a third straight line; and the triangle is, so to speak, the driving necessity. If we surrender to it, then warm and cold wings 4 and 5 come to us, as it were, on the left and right as supports under our arms, the enthusiasm that carries us.

Then, in the throat region, currents come from the angels of light, bringing us wisdom, 6 and 7. Then we hear, as it were, with our spiritual ears, the purpose and destiny of our actions and of the whole. If one wanted to draw it, one would draw round lines like 8 and 9. And finally, something penetrates us from above that allows us to see and experience the Creator, so that we feel and see ourselves as creatures, not just know it. With the continuing impression of this experience, a pentagram grows within us over the whole.

The double drawing, which also applies to the next esoteric lesson on August 30, 1909:

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