Table ronde
Les romans du roi Arthur et de ses chevaliers de la Table ronde sont les récits des écoles mystiques de la Confrérie. Selon la légende celtique, la « Table ronde » de Camelot a été fabriquée par Merlin grâce à son alchimie et offerte à Uther, le père du roi Arthur.
La Table ronde commémorait la table de Jésus, autour de laquelle les apôtres s'étaient assis lors du dernier repas. On disait que cette table avait des pouvoirs spirituels et qu'elle pouvait s'agrandir à mesure que le nombre de chevaliers vertueux augmentait.
Légendes arthuriennes
Après être passée entre plusieurs mains, Arthur reçut la table en dot à l'occasion de son mariage avec sa reine, Dame Guinevere. Ainsi, la fondation de la matrice de chaque école du mystère vient de la main de la Mère du Monde.
À l'occasion du mariage, la table fut bénie par l'archevêque de Canterbury. Merlin demanda alors aux chevaliers de se lever et de rendre hommage à leur roi. Le rôle du roi est dévolu à celui qui détient la clé de l'incarnation de Dieu pour ce cycle et pour cette école du mystère.
After having given homage to the king, when they arose there appeared upon the table, in letters of gold, the name of each knight—save two. One of these places Merlin called le siège périlleux, “the seat perilous.” No one should occupy it but the most worshipful of knights, the one to achieve the Holy Grail. Anyone else attempting it would be destroyed. The siège périlleux was filled at last by Sir Galahad at the conclusion of the mission of this mystery school.
At the center of the round table there was carved a rose. The rose was the symbol of those troubadours and the bards who came in the middle ages; the symbol that they were of one brotherhood, of one quest, the quest for the mystery of the teachings of the Christ and the mystery of the flame of Christ. And so that mark has appeared again and again as the symbol of the unfoldment of the heart flame of Christ.
There were places for twenty-four knights arranged in twelve pairs and then the double throne for the king and the mysterious unknown knight who would be worthy to sit in the perilous seat.
The rites of the Round Table
The rites of the Round Table descended from the celebration of Pentecost by Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury, where he came following the ascension of Jesus. It was therefore ordained by King Arthur that his knights should renew their oaths each year at the high feast of Pentecost.
The knight initiates of the Brotherhood of the Quest performed special religious ceremonies, upheld the vision of the kingdom—that precious community of the Holy Spirit—and lived by a strict moral code, much like a religious order. The jousting and competition of the knights at tournaments was the measuring of the levels of the inner soul attainment on this initiatic ladder, and it was training for the mastery of the soul’s energies in the God control of the energies of the sacred centers of life.
The knights of the quest were dedicated to the defense of the feminine ray. Their ideal was the Cosmic Virgin, whom they would defend in every woman and every lady of the court. They upheld the sanctity of marriage as the Holy Family, commemorating the life of Christ, of Mary and Joseph. They stood for the preservation of truth, of justice throughout the realm. And they guarded the knowledge of the inner truths of the Brotherhood and of the community.
See also
Sources
Elizabeth Clare Prophet, December 31, 1976.