William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff

William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby HMKGrey » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:29 am

I've been watching a lot of soccer this week. And it always shocks me how much the English, fuelled by a bit of booze, like to sing when football is involved. They'll quite happily sing all the way through a game. Amongst their various chants and wicked satires they'll often break in to a collective and emotionally charged rendition of 'Jerusalem', the Blake poem set to music by William Walton during the First World War. If you've ever witnessed this you will know what I mean when I say that it is quite an extraordinary thing. It's a sublimely beautiful lyric and the melody itself is both melancholy and yet filled with a powerful sense of strength and determination. Even the most addled and boisterous English football fan seems able to sing this with a fervour bounded only by an innate reverence. Many will tell you that "Jerusalem" is the true national anthem of England. <br><br>But what's really fascinating about this song is that it actually refers to Blake's belief that Jesus once visited England and, in particular, the town of Glastonbury in the south west. <br><br>The town is particularly notable for the myths and legends surrounding a nearby hill, rising up from the otherwise flat landscape of the Somerset Levels, which looks man-made (but isn't), Glastonbury Tor. These myths concern Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Grail, and also King Arthur. Glastonbury is also said to be the centre of several ley lines.<br><br>The Joseph of Arimathea legend relates to the idea that Glastonbury was the birthplace of Christianity in the British Isles, and that the first British church was built there at Joseph's behest to house the Holy Grail, 30 or so years after the death of Jesus. The legend also says that earlier Joseph had visited Glastonbury along with Jesus as a Child. William Blake believed in this legend and wrote the poem that became the words to the most patriotic of English songs, 'Jerusalem' (see And did those feet in ancient time).<br><br>Joseph is said to have arrived in Glastonbury by boat over the flooded Somerset Levels. On disembarking he stuck his staff into the ground, which flowered miraculously into the Glastonbury Thorn (or Holy Thorn). This is the explanation behind the existence of a hybrid hawthorn tree that only grows within a few miles of Glastonbury. This hawthorn flowers twice annually, once in spring and again around Christmas time (depending on the weather). Each year a sprig of thorn is cut by the local Church of England priest and sent to the Queen to feature on her Christmas table top.<br><br>The original Holy Thorn was a centre of pilgrimage in the middle ages but was chopped down during the English Civil War (in legend the roundhead soldier who did it was blinded by a flying splinter). A replacement thorn was planted in the 20th century on Wearyall hill (originally in 1951 to mark the Festival of Britain; but the thorn had to be replanted the following year as the first attempt did not take); but many other examples of the thorn grow throughout Glastonbury including those in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey and Chalice Well.<br><br>In some versions of the Arthurian myth, Glastonbury is conceived of as the legendary island of Avalon. An early Welsh story links Arthur to the Tor in an account of a face-off between Arthur and the Celtic king, Melwas, who had apparently kidnapped Arthur's wife Queen Guinevere. Geoffrey of Monmouth first identified Glastonbury with Avalon in 1133. In 1191, monks at the Abbey claimed to have found the graves of Arthur and Guinevere to the south of the Lady Chapel of the Abbey church, which was visited by a number of contemporary historians including Giraldus Cambrensis. The remains were later moved, and lost during the Reformation. Many scholars suspect that this discovery was a pious forgery to substantiate the antiquity of Glastonbury's foundation, and increase its renown.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Jerusalem<br></strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Written by William Blake<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>And did those feet in ancient time<br>Walk upon England's mountains green<br>And was the holy lamb of God<br>On England's pleasant pastures seen<br><br>And did the countenance divine<br>Shine forth upon our clouded hills<br>And was Jerusalem builded there<br>Among those dark Satanic mills<br><br>Bring me my bow (my bow) of burning gold<br>Bring me my arrows of desire<br>Bring me my spears o'clouds unfold<br>Bring me my chariot of fire<br><br>I will not cease from mental fight<br>Nor shall my (my) sword sleep in hand<br>'Til we have built Jerusalem<br>In England's green and pleasant land<br>'Til we have built Jerusalem<br>In England's green and pleasant land</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>============================<br><br>I've been meaning to bring the Blake/Glastonbury/Grail connection up for a while. I always think we should be talking about Blake more often than we do. Hope this launches some interesting searches... <p></p><i></i>
HMKGrey
 
Posts: 666
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:56 pm
Location: West Coast
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby dugoboy » Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:05 pm

Joe Hillshoist has been trying to post this in this thread but it won't work, so i thought i'd help him post it.<br><br>Joe Hillshoist:<br><br>re Bill blake soccer and the grail<br><br>This is shitting me. I have been trying to post this reply to HMKGrey 's thread for hours, I have been out and back, its 6 hours later and for some reason I cannot post on his thread. The others seem fine. Here goes<br><br><br>Personally I think football of any code is closer to the truth all religions are striving for, (if they really are), that point was really brought home to me this week. Australia made the world cup this week, first time since 74, second time ever. Had never scored a goal before.<br><br>Beat Japan 3 1, bring on Brazil. I really really get the world cup now, in my bones, always understood it, but now I guess I grok it. I also believe the English football hooligan movement was heavily influenced by the rave scene a long time ago. So it makes sense that an ecstacy of passion and alcohol could lead to singing hymns and a bit less violence. <br><br>Is there any relationship between English fans singing jerusalem and them being less violent that you have noticed?<br><br>I remember that film Chariots of Fire. That is where I first heard Jerusalem. It always sounded so beautiful, dripping with honey like meaning. Being raised Catholic and half Irish at that, I never heard it.<br><br>Lawrence Gardner, sorry Siiir lawrence Gardner reckons the grail is the bloodline and every royal house in post Roman Europe is descended from Jesus and Mary Magdeline. I had a friend who ended up involved with a particular Native South pacific parliament. he mentioned that there seemed this real drive for European and other "Royal" houses to want to marry and create blood ties, and that many Maori (oops) royalty were involved. That particular parliament is a wild affair apparantly.<br><br>Heres a link you may be interested inrat scabies and the holy grail<br><br>For some reason i thought it was genesis p orrige, not rat scabies but thats a link to the links page on a website. It would have been relevent if it was genesis given his tripped out attitude to making music, but its not.<br><br>I know hes not exactly William Blake, but he's a fun old clown.<br><br>And yeah, William Blake and the holey Grail is worth talking about. I never clicked that about Jerusalem being a true story. Always thought it a metaphor, and a most un Blakelike one. It makes more sense now. And so does this:<br><br>To the accuser who is God of this world<br><br>Truley my Satan thou are but a Dunce<br>And dost not know the garment from the man<br>Every Harlot was a Virgin once<br>Nor canst thou ever change Kate into Nan.<br><br>Tho thou art worship'd by the Names Divine<br>Of Jesus and Jehovah: thou art still<br>The Son of Morn in weary Nights decline<br>The lost Travellers Dream under the Hill. <p>___________________________________________<br>"BUSHCO aren't incompetent...they are COMPLICIT." -Me<br><br>"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act" -George Orwell</p><i></i>
dugoboy
 
Posts: 619
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:46 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby HMKGrey » Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:59 pm

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Is there any relationship between English fans singing jerusalem and them being less violent that you have noticed?<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Possibly. There was definitely a big movement away from violence in the late 80's/early 90's after Ecstacy became the drug of choice and Jerusalem would pop up then from time to time with people getting very emotional about it and it always being a real goose bump moment for all concerned. <br><br>For sure, I would say that English people identify with the song on some basic level. It has deep meaning regardless of knowledge of the story behind it. It's often used at weddings and is sung in schools regularly. When I was a kid it was the one hymn we all loved to sing - perhaps only 'Abide With Me' came close - and that's another big football song. <br><br>I agree with you about the World Cup. It has enormous significance to most of the planet but sadly virtually none to the US and to many, if not most, on this board. <br><br>Think of it as a gathering of tribes... There's a lot of ritual involved. It's probably the biggest single unifying event that our species can muster. Forget the Olympics. Not even close. This is a potentially magical time. Yeah, I know: It's sport and sport can be the opium of the masses but the World Cup is different somehow. It's so rich in celebration and diversity. Millions of people come together and there's almost no violence, no arrests. <br><br>As for the Holy bloodline etc... I'll post again on that later. It's a really fascinating area. <br><br> <p></p><i></i>
HMKGrey
 
Posts: 666
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:56 pm
Location: West Coast
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:54 pm

Hooligans aggro and E - Yeah I heard that about the early 90s, E and raves, but only on the grapevine here, its good to have some confirmation.<br><br>>>Think of it as a gathering of tribes... There's a lot of ritual involved. It's probably the biggest single unifying event that our species can muster. Forget the Olympics. Not even close. This is a potentially magical time.<<<br><br>Football of various codes has been played on earth for thousands of years on every continent. There are records of professionals in China 5 or 6 thousand years ago.<br><br>On that holy grail free energy thread I was talking about my mate who has the ancestors with the story. He said that the full on time was supposed to start soon afetr 6/6/o6.<br><br>Not the end of the world, but the beginning of the return of the King.<br><br>I personally feel this is a process that may be mirrored in the whole world, that it will happen inside people, not following some Christ like figure, but this world cup time seems appropriate. With the whole world focused on a competition for something that is a truly holy grail.<br><br>Those of you that know how to do good magic and manipulate the forces, now is the time to act.<br><br>You may enjoy this website, it talks about the conspiracy to control the world cup. How every result was forseen by Soccerus centuries ago and the results of every world cup ever to come were inscribed on three holy buckets.<br><br>You gotta love Paulie and the boys at Fat Pizza:<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www20.sbs.com.au/pizzadavincicup/index.php?pg=ep" target="top">The Da Vinci Cup</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
Joe Hillshoist
 
Posts: 10594
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:45 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:38 am

!0 network used this song, well bits od it, in their intro to telecasting games of Aussie Rules a few years ago.<br><br><br>Holy grail<br><br>Woke up this morning from the strangest dream<br>I was in the biggest army the world ahs ever seen<br>We were marching as one<br>On the road to the holy grail<br><br>Started out seeking fortune and glory<br>Its a short song but a hell of a story<br>When you spend lifetime trying to get your hands<br>On the holy grail<br><br>Well have you heard about the great crusade<br>We ran into millions, but nobody got paid<br>Yeah we raised four corners of the globe<br>For the holy grail<br><br>All the locals scattered, they were hiding in the snow<br>We were so far home, so how were we to know<br>There be nothing left to pluder<br>When we stumbled onto the holy grail<br><br>We were full of beans<br>But we were dying like flies<br>And those big black birds, they were circling in the sky<br>And you know what they say, yeah, nobody deserves to die<br><br>You know I, i been searching for an easy way<br>To escape the cold light of day<br>I been high and I been low<br>But I nowhere else to go<br><br>Theres nowhere else to go<br><br>And i followed orders<br>God knows where i been<br>But i woke up alone<br>All my wounds were clean<br>Im still here<br>Im still a fool for the holy grail<br><br>oh yeah im a fool for the holy grail <br><br>- Hunters & Collectors <p></p><i></i>
Joe Hillshoist
 
Posts: 10594
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:45 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby PeterofLoneTree » Fri Jun 16, 2006 3:57 pm

Favorite quote from William Blake:<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thru' narrow chinks of his cavern."</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <p></p><i></i>
PeterofLoneTree
 
Posts: 343
Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 12:10 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:02 am

Thanks very much for the excuse to reread Blake, HMK, cheers.<br><br>"Piping down the valleys wild.<br>Piping songs of pleasant glee,<br>On a cloud I saw a child'<br>And he laughing said to me:<br><br>Pipe a song about a Lamb:<br>So I piped with merry chear.<br>Piper, pipe that song again -<br>So I piped: he wept to hear.<br><br>drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe,<br>Sing thy songs of happy chear:<br>So I sung the same again<br>While he wept with joy to hear.<br><br>Piper, sit thee down and write<br>In a book that all may read -<br>So he vanish'd from my sight<br>And I plucked a hollow reed,<br><br>And I made a rural pen<br>And I stain'd the water clear<br>And I wrote my happy songs,<br>Every child may joy to hear.<br><br>Intro to songs of innocence<br><br>And this from "the Lamb"<br><br>Little Lamb who made thee,<br>Dost thou kow who made thee?<br>Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,<br>Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.<br><br>He is called by thy name<br>For he calls himself a Lamb.<br>he is meek, he is mild,<br>He became a little child:<br>I a child & thou a lamb,<br>We are clled by his name:<br><br>"Little Lamb God bless thee,<br>Little Lamb God bless thee!"<br><br><br>Interesting in light of your original post about "those feet in ancient time" and where they walked.<br><br>Reminds of a story the Bundjalung Nation, or some of its members tell. About the time the son of the creator walked around up in the mountains west of here. Supposedly left footprints in the rock and all... <p></p><i></i>
Joe Hillshoist
 
Posts: 10594
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:45 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: William Blake - Soccer - The Holy Grail

Postby HMKGrey » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:18 am

Cheers, Joe. Beautiful quotes. <br><br>I'm always shocked that Blake doesn't come up on this board more often. Such a profoundly interesting and influential man in so many ways. <br><br>BTW, David Axelrod made some lovely albums of <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Songs of Innocence</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> & <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Songs of Experience</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> - well worth trying to pick them up if you can. <br><br>Meanwhile, England stumble on... and I'll be cheering for your boys against Brazil on Tuesday! <p></p><i></i>
HMKGrey
 
Posts: 666
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:56 pm
Location: West Coast
Blog: View Blog (0)


Return to Other

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests