There are four maidens in the pack relating of course
to both the elements and the Hallows. This
card depicts the castle of maidens, often represented
in the grail legends as being places of enchantment.
I
don't know how it translates into women's lib theology, although
I have had it mentioned to me that women are often seen in a
negative light in the grail legends. It is certainly no surprise
that the feminine element in the dynamics of the cycles of Divinity
have been lost, misaligned or else overlaid with a Patriarchal
emphasis. One way around this is to use a template and there
is a very good restorative one in "Raising the Queen of Heaven” by Glen Knape. Based on the early Theosophical
models of the Seven Planes of the Cosmos and also the Qabalistic
Tree of Life - here the poles of Divinity are seen in relation
to a magnetic field between Heaven (All Father) and Earth (Divine
Mother). In between, if we consider a bar magnet analogy, the
magnetic field flows outwards from North to South and then internally
from South to North. In this way the magnetic field of consciousness
can be seen as both the Divine Son as out-breath, (carries energy
from Father to Mother), and in-breath as Daughter carries energy
from Mother to Father.
In the grail legends then, we have the symbolic return
of the Divine Daughter as Maiden, who's role should be to rescue
the Son from the confines of matter (Mother) and return him
to the source that is the Father. Traditionally though it has
been turned around in such a way that the Knights always seem
to "rescue" the Maidens.
What complicates things further when using this symbolic
framework is that there are really Seven Planes of the etheric
or magnetic field and the Mother aspect is again the Third one
down (Atma). The fourth plane (Buddhic) symbolises the Heart
for instance (since the seven planes are representative, although
not exactly aligned with the chakras) while the three planes
either side are triads consisting of the three Spiritual worlds
above and three material worlds (physical, astral, mental) below
respectively. If the grail knight represents the Divine Son,
arising from the Spiritual and descending into matter, then
the Divine Daughter IS the way shower to the Grail, that is
in effect of the third etheric plane (the transcendent
Mother in Heaven). The third etheric plane, for example, could
be represented by the Qabalistic third Sephiroph - Binah, or,
by the Empress card (Arthurian Tarot - Guinevere) in the Major
Arcana.
In the grail legends, wherever Maidens occur they
are likely to be aspects of the Earth Mother as Divine Daughter.
In Qabalah, the magical image for the tenth Sephiroph - Malkuth
(earth) is a young woman crowned and throned. The Sepher Yetzirah
gives : "The Tenth Path is the Resplendent Intelligence,
because it is exalted above every head, and sits on the throne
of BINAH”
Here again, Binah is the Mother who sorrows for the
absent Persephone (the etheric-life force) who spends half of
the year in Hades (ninth Sephiroph - Yesod), while winter occurs
on earth. Again, according to Glen Knape, these were also patriarchal
distortions that do throw a spanner in the works of the true
cycle. This is since the Divine Son as Hades has now (fallen
from grace) become trapped in the Underworld and is portrayed
as a ruler there. He has also abducted the Divine Daughter,
who cannot re-ascend back to Heaven (The Father). As half measure
she is trapped in the shadow worlds between Malkuth and Yesod,
in a sort of half cycle of death and rebirth.
Regarding the grail legends, however, and particularly
the Arthurian Tarot; the suits of spear, grail, stone and sword
are indeed of Malkuth (earth), which is Qabalistically the Sphere
of the Elements. It is also why there are ten cards per suit.
They relate also geographically to the four cardinal directions
of which these elemental correspondences can be drawn. Spear,
South; Sword, Air; Grail, West and Stone, North. In this way
the Divine Daughter or queen of earth now has four aspects or
“dresses“ and these correspond also to the seasons.
In this way various dramas can be played out, whereas in Qabalah,
the Divine Daughter ascended would come to represent the unveiled
Isis of the seventh Sephiroph- Netzach. The negative polarity
of this could then be reflected in the card grail seven,
whereby the unveiling of Isis is rather more of a glamour, as
used in most modern advertising. The four suits, remember, are
still being played out in Malkuth, which is supposed to be veiled.
It is perhaps one reason why Muslim women use veils to represent
this idea.
The sword maiden, in one of her Malkuth
aspects, appears as an ugly maiden, who admonishes Perceval
for his failure at the court of the Fisher King, to ask the
grail question. She points out to him, with logical accuracy,
the exact repercussions that his unconscious incompetence has
had upon the land, albeit turning to waste. Furthermore, she
goes on to announce to the rest of the Knights at Arthur's court,
opportunities to win honour, have adventure and encounter chivalrous
deeds. One of these adventures involves rescuing a besieged
maiden from the peak of Montesclaire, thus winning the greatest
honour and the ability to safely gird on 'the Sword with the
Strange Straps.'
The spear maiden is associated with
the element of fire; being also the Manasic fire - born of the
Buddhic earth of primal darkness. In this respect we find her
roots in the myth of Ariadne, who gave to the hero Theseus,
the intuitive thread that would guide him through the labyrinth.
In the grail legends we meet her again in the form of a mysterious
girl who at first snubs Perceval and when he tries to follow
her, he looses her in the pitch black darkness of the night.
He then sees a vision of a supernatural light, which burns like
five lit candles, lighting up the forest. When it is daybreak
Perceval catches up with the maiden, who has now changed in
favour towards him and gives to Perceval a ring and a white
mule, that she says, will lead him to the grail. The ring is
of course, another aspect of the spear Hallow.
The stone maiden is said to represent
Dindrane, the sister of Perceval, who sacrifices her blood to
heal a leper, so that the knights could continue on their quest
to the grail:
"The travellers boarded the ship, intent to
complete the task of finding the Holy Grail. After leaving the
ship, they encounter a castle with a mistress. Dindrane decides
to give her own blood to the lady in order to heal the lady's
leprosy, and dies in doing so. She left directions that her
body was to be set adrift in a boat (without a crew) to float
to the holy city of. Lancelot finds the ship that carried her
corpse and Dindrane is buried in Palais Esperitel. Galahad,
along with Bors, later find the vessel containing her body when
they land on the port of Sarras (after which they proceed to
find the Grail)" (from Wikipedia)
The grail maiden is likely to occur
in many places, for instance as an echo of the once Hyperborean
tradition of oracular prophecy at sacred wells and springs.
In Perceval she is the maiden who hasn't laughed for seven years
until the fool Perceval arrives at court and she suddenly bursts
into laughter and prophesies that he will be the finest of knights
and achieve the grail.
Finally, regarding the maidens' who carry the grail into and
through the court of the Fisher King; it is really another patriarchal
overlay, for the wounded Fisher King is really the Earth Mother.
(Tarot
card images copyright Hallowquest http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/
)
