Book: Chalice Of Ecstasy by Frater Achad
I came to this book as part of my continuing quest to better Understand the Grail legend, and in particular Wagner's great music-drama "Parsifal," which this book is primarily about. As an interpretive essay I found it quite interesting, delving deeply into the meanings of the various mystical symbols in the drama, although I couldn't help but feel that there is more there than Achad was presenting. Granted, given the length of the text, that would be impossible, and Achad makes a good stab at it. My other problem with it is that he focuses almost exclusively on the libretto, and does not touch on the music at all, which is just as important to the drama's meaning. Lastly, a prospective reader should know that Achad was a follower of the doctrines of Blavatsky (Theosophy) and aleister crowley (Thelema), as well as various Eastern mystics as seen through the lens of these thinkers, and Achad makes frequent reference to such works and interpretations. As such the book is not so much an objective Exploration of "Parsifal"'s symbols as it is an attempt to link the drama to these systems. If one is not open to these types of ideas, one will not likely find the book to be of much interest. I must admit that the book's last chapter, in which Achad attempts to link "Parsifal" to the numerology of the Kabbalah, did not hold my attention, being very technical in its approach. But overall I thought the book to be a worthwhile work on the subject, if not by any means the definitive work, and it was heartening to see that somebody else has felt the alchemical processes which are at work deep within Wagner's drama, and taken note of them.Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):
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Frater Achad - Chalice Of Ecstasy
