" Caer  Sidi,  The Island of Crystal (R)"

Caer Sidi, The Fortress of the Fairies is mentioned in the Book of  Taliesin (Lewis Spence).

That Caer Sidi (Camelot) was the Seat of rituals and initiations for Healing and Divination of an extraordinary vitality and importance to the Celtic psyche is no new thesis . But that it can be re-awakened today,  simply through a comparative experiential study of  Grail Lore and Himalayan Tantric Shamanism is a testimony we want here to share  with you.

One of the Island of Crystal, or Caer Sidi, is the Celtic, Cathares, and Knights Templar sacred archaeological Mandala situated at the entry of the Gorges du Verdon, some 150 km northwest of Nice, South-of-France.

It was the seat of rituals and initiations for healing and divination practices, which originated from the Black Sea (Wisigoths and Scythes Central Europe) and the Asian Steppes (Kelts and Huns), and continued into early Celtic-Roman times and later Holy Grail Mary Magdalene Lore.

The word Sidhe (also spelled Sidi, Sidh, Sid, Sith ...) may be regarded as the standard term for "fairy" in the Gaelic tongue of Scotland , Wales and Ireland. While some reliable authorities further stress that Sithide or Sithde is the genitive of Sithd, a female fairy, Gaelic records Sidhe as also implying "hill" or "mound". Mounds and hills often are both graves and  abodes of the elves.

  " The Ways of the Ngakpas... "

While the great spiritual traditions of Tibet have now become widely known from the extraordinary development of monastic institutions in the West, there still resides, side by side, another equally existent, vital and important path, though less known, that being the Ways of the Ngakpas —the yogi or yogini, man or woman, who lives fully in both the material world and the world of spirit.

For a thousand years these brave spiritual warriors strode directly into life, either as solitary wanderers or integrating their spiritual wisdom with the activity of the community.

Today, the Diaspora from Tibet has created strong and wealthy monastic communities in Nepal and India, often with the direct and contuous generous help of Western donors...

Yet, quite bizarre if one pays any attention to the Western psyche, the less known Ngakpas tradition is somehow more compatible for opening the gates of the joint Shamanic Roots Spirituality linking East and West, since the early times of our Keltic Indo-European Yogic traditions originating from Central Asia, and now only to be found in the symbolic Allegory and  Lore of the Grail Quest...

Today, dwelling on the fringe of Tibetan institutionalized religion and rigid political hierarchies, there is a pool of Healers, Artists, Yogis and Amchis more suited for the integration of Dharma into our modern Western world, while preserving and testing its unique spiritual identity.

The Ngakpa path reflects the deepest aspirations of Vajrayana Buddhism: to relieve the suffering of all beings and bring them towards enlightenment through a variety of skillful means including regular practice and performance of ceremonies and prayers on behalf of supporters and all beings.

Caer Sidi, The Keltic Fortress of the Fairies is mentioned in the  Book of  Taliesin (Lewis Spence).

That Caer Sidi (Camelot) was the Seat of rituals, initiations for Healing and Divination of an extraordinary vitality and importance to the Celtic psyche is no new thesis . But that it can be re-awakened today,  simply through a comparative experiential study of  the Grail Lore and Himalayan Tantric Shamanism is a testimony we want here to share , as a research,  with you.

The roots of myths and rituals go down to the subsoil of grave-cult and fear of death.  The word Sidhe (also spelled Sidi, Sidh, Sid, Sith ...) may be regarded as the standard term for "fairy" in the Gaelic tongue of Scotland , Wales and Ireland. While some reliable authorities further stress that Sithide or Sithde is the genitive of Sithd, a female fairy, Gaelic records Sidhe as also implying "hill" or "mound". Mounds and hills often are both graves and  abodes of the elves.

Mythology is social psychology, as much as it is archetypes, history, cosmology or biography. Myth is a picture language, which has to be studied and embodied to be read. And Mythology today is still very much alive ...
 

The following commentary is not intended to be the last word or definitive presentation on a rather recent, controversial and evolving subject. Rather, as the title implies, it is intended to provide a basis for some further debate, reflections and synthesis , towards an attempt in nourishing or re-awakening the Celtic archetypes with the present energy and practices of the Himalayan Shamanic Roots or Tibetan Tradition, in those selective Keltic Powerplaces, as Tibetans do ...

The contemporary and somehow successful migration of  Tibetan Gompas rituals into some historical Celtic, Cathares and Knights Templars sites in UK and South of France, such as the strategic Gompas bought in the early 1970-80s in Haute Provence (Verdon) and  Septimania (Aude/Ariège) in the South of France, or Holy Island in Scotland UK, bear testimony that these sacred abodes of earlier Celtic Lore Saints and Fairies have proven to be  useful resources for the Tibetans' own rituals and retreats. 

While, the biography of these Tibetan settlements have not been without their share of controversy, it has become undeniable ( after more than 25 years monitoring these sites ) that in some of them spiritual awareness had been reached, while in some others the hidden political , magical and alchemic impacts are still to be assessed. 

All in all, while quite different results had been reached by the Tibetan theocracy in using Celtic and Templar powerplaces, the question is nowadays if it could not also serve the purpose of preservation and reawakening of the Celtic and Grail Heritage itself, after it had used for the Tibetan agenda. In short, if it worked one way, it could also probably work as well the other way round  ... 

And if not, why not ?

Valcros Fortress 

Myths, as they have settled in history and popular tales are the purveyors of a wisdom that was born with the race of Man. The content is metaphysics . The equation between the Celtic Grail Lore  (Healing and Divination practices), the Tibetan Tantric and the  Indo-European Rig-Vedas mythology may as much be approached from a comparative experiential study of the archetypes and rituals, than being discussed from the available references existing in both the holy scriptures of early Christendom and those of the Tibetan Vajrayana and Dharma.

The literature references include the narration of  the first century (AD) exile of  several apostles closed to Jesus the Christ, namely: St. Philip, Simon Zelotes, Mary Magdalene, Joseph of Arimathea (James) and others first  to Septimania (South of France), then to Brittany and Wales. They are sacred Keys in the Grail Lore to pursue...

Testimony  itself  shows the birth of the Arthurian Grail Quest and Celtic legends of Saints and Warriors coming from the historical recollections of  the successive migrations from Central Asia of the Arianists, Scythes, Wisigoths, Huns, Germans, Franks shamanic faith tribes, which led to the end of the Roman Empire (West) and  consolidation of the (Long Hair Sorcerers) Merovingien kings in the previous Septimania , then named the Razes around Rennes le Chateau and Limoux (Aude) .  Originating  from the Black See (Central Europe) and Asian steppes, the Shaman practices of  early Christendom was blended in an intricate mythological  background, where Runes , Animal Spirits , War Protectors , Fairies, Angels or Saints were part of a practical Gnostic Gospel . It is enlightening to find today how much  these early Shamanic concepts and practices have remained comparable, at the symbolic archetypes and rituals level,  to the current Hindu and Buddhist Tantras (ie: protectors, Dakinis,  skulls,  vases, Samsara or Maya , reincarnation or karma, etc) . The early Christendom literature shows that these were beliefs being alive in the practices of Cathares and Knights Templars .

We could consider the references in the Rig Veda of  human interactions (or relations) with the Gandhavaras (Spirits of the Air and of the Waters) and  Apsaras (water nymphs) ,  in charge of the magic Soma and who were skilled in medecine and music. These entities  bear resemblance with the roles played by Celtic Fairies (spirits) or the Grail Lore Ladies of the Lake (Waters, or del Acqs), who as Vivianne del Acqs and Morgane Le Fay , are the Guardians of the Isle of Avallon (Avallach), the invisible Gates to Caer Siddi (Annwn) and to the Grail's vase divination and healing powers.

Morgane le Fay    

As in the Rig- Vedas and the Vajrayana, the earlier version of the  Arthurian Quest and the later Troubadors Lore promote a sophisticated mythology , with archetypal roles perceived in distinct classes of inspirations, being those of Morgane, Perceval, Arthur, Morded,  Merlin,  Fairies , Maids or Celtic Nymphes, conduced in tales known as  Elopments , Wooings  or Arthurian Quest.

The discovery of  hidden truths, embedded in mythology is as much part of an initiation process,  belonging  to the realm of personal catharsis or drama ,  than to  rationality.

Caer Sidi (Annwn) , the Celtic and Grail Lore Abode, which entry gives access to Healing and Divination Powers, requests that one be motivated , as Arthur, Galahad and  Perceval , by a drive for relevant services and compassion for  the community.

The Cathars lived in Septimania (Languedoc, Aude, Ariege regions in South of  France) , between the 10th and 14th century, and were  the holders of the  Tradition of the Holy Grail brought to France by Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalena during the first century AD. 
 

The Aude region also was the recipients of  Gnostic Dualisme (Manicheens) inherited from the Wisigoths, who had settled their kingdom in Toulouse and Rennes le Chateau (4th century AD),  and from the Celto-Iberes and Arianiste Huns, who both had long migrated from Central Asia to Europe.
The long-haired Merovingians kings had ruled the same rehgion of early "France" from 500 AD to 752 AD. Their dynasty suggested links with the lost Tribe of Benjamin, as traced via the Gaul-Celtic migrations from Syria to Acadia, thence to the Pyrenees, after going through the Rhine region.
 

In 1200 AD, the Cathars "Parfaits" (Bonhommes) had been perceived by the powers in Rome as a direct  threat.  They lived , as Saddhus and Nagpas, in poverty and chastity, and had only one sacrament, the Consolament(um). This was an initiatic rite (Bapteme of  Light), provided only to adults, whether as the ordination prior to becoming a Parfait (Bonhommes), or before going to battle (Feudis) or while in the process of dying.  The Holy Grail reflected the spiritual Quest of both the Cathares and the Celtic people. 

The Arthurian Quest led to a Mystical Communion.  As Arthur, the Holy Grail belong to the Land : " He IS the Land ... "

Montsegur Pog 

It is the path of the Spiritual Warrior (Shambala) and Shaman. In its hermeneutic (hidden knowledge), the symbol of the Holy Grail Chalice support the ideal of Service, whereas the Blood of Christ therein corresponds  to active Compassion (Boddhicitta), ie: giving and receiving service in the community.

The Holy Grail Lore and Legends are parables on the potential attainment of magical powers described in the Celtic Tradition, being:  Healing, Divination and contacts with Fairies.

As such, both the Holy Grail Lore and the Himalayan Shamans traditions are based on the traditional beliefs on yogas and spiritual practices to contact with the spirits of the Outer World (Annwn or Shambala) and for seeking remedials or powers.
 

Alike Tibetan Vajrayana , the Holy Grail Quest is a enlightened path to awareness, harmony and applied compassion, which  acknowledges the needs and structures of the community and which as such , is in its very  roots, deeply democratic and linked with "real life" ...

Bard Taliesin said :

With regard to the Grail, Taliesin (Keltic Bard) , in poem xxx, mentions that :
""  the Cauldron of the Head of Hades (The Grail) had a rim set with pearls adorning it, the fire beneath it came from the breath of nine maidens, it would not boil for a coward. The poem mentions the Cauldon being at CAER SIDI , the Grail Chapel of King Peleur in Camelot . In the Arthurian Quest, the Cauldron is found by Arthur and his knights on their descent to Annwn, the Astral Plane. The prize of the Grail is that it heals the sick and wounded, feed those at the Round Table with whatever they wish, and protects them from plague and old age. Above all, it is the Cauldron of Prophecy, which renews the soul. When Arthur is slain at the battle of Camelon by Modred, he is carried of to the Isles of Avallach or Avallon, where he remains , neither alive nor dead, until fate will require again his Sword  (Excalibur). Caer Sidi (Zodiac), in the land of Fairies, is the door to Annwn... ""
   

It remains our humble hypothesis that the early settlement in the 1970s of a few Tibetan Yogis in the Verdon Keltic Powerplace of S-France has been duly facilitated, through the use of Tibetan geomancy divination tools and/or from still existing secret Nyingma lineage scriptures being physical traces of the Crusade 12th century Alliance between the Mongol Ghazan Khan and the last Master of the Templars in Jerusalem, Jacques de Molay... 

Many attempts were made towards forming a Franco-Mongol alliance between the mid-13th and early 14th centuries, starting around the time of the Seventh Crusade.

Historians note that in hindsight an alliance between the Mongols and the "Franks" (European Crusaders) often appears a logical choice.

The Mongols were already very sympathetic to Christianity as many Mongols were Nestorian Christians.

The Europeans were open to the idea of assistance coming from the East, due to the long-running legend of a mythical Prester John, an Eastern king in a magical kingdom who many believed would arrive someday to help with the fight in the Holy Land. The Mongols and the Franks also shared a common enemy in the Muslims.

There were numerous exchanges of letters, gifts and emissaries between the Mongols and the Europeans as well as offers for varying types of cooperation. However, despite many attempts, there was never any long-term successful military collaboration. Modern historians also debate whether or not such an alliance, if it had been successful, would have been effective in shifting the balance of power in the region, and/or whether it would have been a wise choice on the part of the Europeans.

Traditionally, the Mongols tended to see outside parties as either subjects, or enemies, with little room in the middle for something such as an ally.

The closest thing to actual Frankish cooperation with Mongol military actions was the overlord-subject relationship between the Mongols and the Frankish Principality of Antioch. Other Christian vassal states included Georgia, and Cilician Armenia. Once these countries had submitted, they were required to provide military forces to fight under the Mongol banner, and these forces often showed great enthusiasm in attacking Muslim targets.

Mongol ruler Ghazan Khan (1271 – 1304), was the seventh ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division in Iran from 1295 to 1304. The Mongol Empire, literally meaning Greater Mongol Nation was the largest contiguous land empire in history, covering over 33 million km² (12 million square miles) at its peak, with an estimated population of over 100 million...

Khanates of Mongolian Empire comprized four divisions within the Mongol Empire : the Il-Khanate, the Chagatai Khanate, the Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty), and the Golden Horde.

When Mongol leader Ghazan Khan finally converted to Islam, his decision brought the end a line of Mongol Tantric Buddhist leaders.

As the son of Arghun Khan and of a Christian Nestorian mother, Ghazan had been baptized and raised a Christian Nestorian,as well as his brother Oljeitu. During his youth, he also followed Buddhism, which was one of the dominant religions in the Mongol empire at that time.

His principal wife during his lifetime was Kökechin, who had been brought from China by Marco Polo. In 1291 Kubilai khan had entrusted Marco with his last duty, to escort the Mongol princess Koekecin (Cocacin in Il Milione) to her betrothed, the Ilkhan Arghun. The party traveled by sea, departing from the southern port city of Quanzhou and sailing to Sumatra, and then to Persia, via Sri Lanka and India (where his visits included Mylapore, Madurai and Alleppey, which he nicknamed Venice of the East). In 1293 or 1294 the Polos reached the Ilkhanate, ruled by Gaykhatu after the death of Arghun, and left Koekecin with the new Ilkhan. She married Ghazan when he acceded to the throne.

Ghazan was a man of high culture who spoke numerous languages, including Chinese, Arabic and "Frank" (probably Latin) as well as his own native language Mongolian.

Numerous Europeans are known to have worked for Ghazan, often in high positions, such as Isol the Pisan or Buscarello de Ghizolfi. Hundreds such Western adventurers entered into the service of Mongol rulers.

He was the khan who had numerous hobbies including linguistics, agro-techniques, painting chemistry and dispension.

After annexing power from Baydu in 1295, Ghazan mercilessly destroyed Buddhist temples and chased Buddhists out of his dominion or converted them to Islam. The Christians were also severely affected. Yet despite his conversion, due to his cultural roots, Ghazan encouraged the original archaic Mongol culture to flourish. Ghazan died in 1304 and was succeeded by his brother Oljeitu, who continued the adoption of Islam, and later by his nephew Abu Sa'id and niece Sati Beg. His principal wife during his lifetime was Kökechin...

  Caer Sidi  : " the  Itinerary... "

Caer Sidi is usually of a 14 days duration, on the traces of the Healing tradition of Mary Magdalene, Wolfram Von Eschenbach Grail Lore and Tibetan Vajrayana in the sacred sites of Verdon and Pyrennees, including pilgrimages to Montsegur, Puivert, Alet, Limoux, St Maximum, Ste Baume, St Victor, les Stes Maries (Ratis) and other Sacred Black Madonna altars.

At the introduction level (First Tryptic), we will visit and scan together the Verdon Mandala target-sites and will focus upon the historical heritage for the envisioned synthesis of the Tsa-rLung, Yogas and Keltic Archetypal Healing practices.

It will include numerous references to the Grail and Keltic Christendom Lore Mythology giving Keys for the practices (Wolfram Von Eschenbach) in relation with the current Tibetan Tsa-rLung Five Elements (Body of Light) teachings from  Khyentse Rimpoche, Dudjom Rimpoche, Tarab Tulku Rimpoche, Tenzin Namdak, Namkhai Norbu, Tenzin Wangyal Rimpoche and John M. Reynolds, amongst others, this always bearing in mind the hermeneutics needed for a synthesis of Roots Shamanic Healing practices.

We will drive in mini-bus and then trek to several megalithic artefacts, ruins, fortress, altars or chapels, following the ancient pilgrimage traces for a renewed Grail Quest.

This will include further discovery and study of the Mary Magdalene Grail Lore history, its relations with the early Pagan and Keltic Christendom altars, as well as with later Irish Culdean monks migration into the Benedictins, Cistercians and Templars, as they are found situated in several South of France regions, such as the Aude, Ariege, Provence and Verdon. We will drive or trek to some of the higher ranges Templars chapels, Keltic and Roman strongholds, as well as sites not reviewed during our previous Verdon Tours&Study (2007-08).

More study and experientials related to the Grail Lore and to Mary Magdalene will include renewed pilgrimages to St- Trophime, Valcros Solar Fortress, as well as possibly a Music Sacred Arts & Rituals retreat at Chateau de Valcros itself.

We will undertake some further meditation and prayers at St- Thyrs, Ste Anne, Ste Maries de la Mer, Ste Baume and at the St Jean Black Madonna, as well as visit the St- Victor Monastery Black Madonna, St- Maximin and St- Remy (Nostradamus).