The Discoveries

The Damsels of the Wells

Throughout the Fellowship's existence a trend can be detected that was neither suspected, anticipated, or even desired at the start.

That trend has been an increasing emphasis upon the recognition and acceptance of, and the need to 'tune in to' or manifest, the quality that we, maybe mistakenly, call Love.
Furthermore, by equating Love with what some would call the 'Life Force' enables one to see how the results of the Fellowship's work aligns with the imperative that underpins all of Creation.
Moreover, acknowledgement of the pre-eminent role of Love bestows a clearer understanding of many of the allegories of the Arthurian Mythos, which has figured so prominently in the Fellowship's activities.

In focussing upon this quality, so much of what ails society is thrown into sharp relief; which, in turn, suggests a possible 'shape of things to come'.

Extrapolating from society's present state, a future state can be envisaged that will inevitably be accompanied by 'terror, suffering, and destruction'.
Or, given a fuller understanding of the role of Love, we can postulate the direction in which any change must occur for there to be dramatic improvements. That is to say, we can envisage the shape of a 'New Age'.

We live in times when the evidence for the existence of genuine love is in extremely short supply. This lack may have been an escalating process, perhaps attributable to changes in accepted values.
The consensus opinion of Spiritual, Religious, and Occult communities of the last few generations is that we are living in an age that possesses an increasingly materialistic and ego-centred world-view. The Fellowship holds that these two things are connected. The decline of even simple 'good-naturedness' is an effect of the growth of materialistic egocentrism.

The encroachment of such a materialistic outlook could perhaps be traced back to the Industrial Revolution which, in turn, grew out of the so-called 'Age of Enlightenment'.
We can see in that process a sorry record of idealistic notions becoming increasingly diluted, distorted, and misapplied. What started as a shared vision of an ideal world has ended with us all screwing one another for our own selfish ends!
So, did the dawning of that Age hide the presence of a maggot, which ate away at the idealism and the truly spiritual aspirations, leaving us with only the utterly materialistic husk?

Yet, no matter how far we may have become distanced from it, Love, being the archetypal creative force, must inevitably colour our activities. We need look no further for an example than the notion of a 'Welfare State'. However diluted that notion may become, the impulse to care for others, and to provide for the less fortunate, has, as its source, Love.
This simple fact is often forgotten because the impulse can become enmeshed in politicisation, institutionalised and bureaucratic dross, and distorted by the necessity of having to be filtered through thousands of egos. But the original idealism and vision can have been inspired by nothing other than Love.

The same is true of all the other 'high ideals' of society; justice, human rights, democracy, universal suffrage; all catchwords used to disguise a host of disreputable motives, but all, initially, concepts motivated and driven by Love.

Even those who deny Love, who deny the experience of Love in themselves and refuse to extend it to others, nevertheless expect, as of right, to receive the fruits of that Love.
How bitter do we become if others do not show us consideration, or caring; accede to our desires; or deny us our 'rights'? Such persons take for granted, and demand 'as of right', all those things that are in fact a physical manifestation of the very consideration that they refuse to extend to others. How fearful would such a person be if confronted with the reality of having all Love-inspired gifts removed?

Yet how many people, when confronting the requirements of Love, become panic-stricken, and back off? Is it because they're afraid of losing something of themselves (as they see it)? Yet, they could not be further from the truth.
But they can never experience that truth, nor understand, unless they 'take the plunge' and jump in feet first without reservation, completely 'letting go'. To be sure, they do lose something, that loss being a substantial diminishment of, or sacrifice of, the ego.
But this is a necessary prerequisite to the experience of Love. Such diminishment cannot touch the real Self, which is then allowed to shine forth as a Light hitherto hidden behind a dirt-laden glass. The fear and backing-off is nothing more than an ego reaction.

The Profanation of Love

What constitutes the profanation of Love? Is it not when the experience of it is abused by creatures that deliberately choose the indulgence of unacceptable behaviour; who seize the fruits of Love, then trample them underfoot, by making them subservient to ego? Reflect upon the Arthurian tale of the 'Damsels of the Wells', there being perhaps no better commentary than that of John Matthews', in his book 'Healing the Wounded King':

'In the beginning there are the Damsels of the Wells, who are in some way connected to the Court of the Rich Fisher, but who are under the protection of King Amangons. Their sole task is to offer hospitality and food to weary travellers who, we are told, go out of their way to experience this. Then Amangons, having lusted after one of the damsels, casually rapes her and steals her golden cup, which he then displays daily as a trophy of his action. His followers follow suit until all the damsels are raped and their golden cups stolen. This, we are told, is the reason for the Waste Land, where "no tree is leafy" and where "the meadows and flowers are dried up". Also, in some way, the Court of the Rich Fisherman is no longer accessible, and with its withdrawal go the richness and plenty which once marked out the kingdom of Logres as the finest in the land. For, "they lost the voices of the wells and the damsels that were therein..." '

The parallels are clear. When the experience of this wonderful Divine Force becomes subjected to the demands of ego, then its creative power seems to degenerate into lust, into domination, into possessiveness, into jealousy, into restriction. Although the Force itself remains unchanged, its effects on those who 'channel' it are modified by their inner states of being, so that it seems a curse rather than a blessing. Their inner state seems to transform the working of the Force into its exact opposite: Love into Hate, Creation into Destruction.

This implies the requirement for a particular state of being on the part of the seeker after Love.
It also becomes necessary to differentiate between one who is loved, and one who consciously experiences Love within themselves. Of the two, the jewel of great price, the thing that becomes the transforming influence in our lives, if we so allow it, is the latter. And it is the latter that is abused and profaned by an inner state of being unwilling to express that Love purely.

The Fellowship suggests that the conscious experience of true or pure Love within oneself is of a sacred nature. The ramifications of this upset certain popular conceptions, for the implied idea is that the conscious experience of Love is not something that is freely available to all; it is special, it has to be earned, and it has to be deserved.

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