I often spend a quiet evening reading through a stack of books, and the works of Jungian psychologist Robert Johnson have been a welcome addition to my reading list. Johnson’s works were recommended to me by a fellow Frater of the OHM, and I can certainly see why! They are short, accessible, and also are extremely meaningful – and an insight I had when reading his He: Understanding Masculine Psychology was worth expanding upon and sharing in this forum.

Ever since childhood, I have been a fan of chivalry as well as the culture and history of the Middle Ages. The Arthurian legends probably reinforced my liking of this time period, and I have enjoyed seeing them expressed in works ranging from the Mabinogion to the operas of Richard Wagner. As I grew into the study of the Western Esoteric Tradition, I often come across more esoteric meanings – some more refined than others – of the Arthurian legends and the concept of the quest, specifically the quest for the Grail. In He, Johnson recounts the story of Parsifal in a new way to me, a way with deep psychological meaning that is certainly important to note for those of us who are students on the Path.

Parsifal did not start out as a powerful knight. In fact, he grew up poor and far removed from the seat of power. He was not familiar with the nuances of chivalry but was always impressed by knights, so when he grew up – and over the strenuous objections of his mother – he went to King Arthur’s court to see if he too could become a knight. He embarks on all the tasks of a knight in training and eventually is able to participate in combat.

He is asked to confront and defeat the Red Knight, a powerful adversary no other knight has been able to defeat. The Red Knight feels invulnerable and acts with impunity, even taking the Chalice and insulting the Queen (Johnson 21).

Parsifal engages the Red Knight and ends up defeating – and killing – him, the only time in his adventures where Parsifal actually killed his adversary (Johnson 22). In all the other battles of his career, Parsifal always spared his adversary and sent them to King Arthur – interpreted by Johnson as our harnessing a quality within ourselves that we might not have otherwise tamed and now applying it to a greater good. Johnson sees the defeat and death of the Red Knight as representing a break between adolescence and manhood as well as a shift of energy from the Ego to the Self (22).

Reflecting on the story of Parsifal and the Red Knight, I am reminded of a couple of related concepts. First is the meaning of the color red, which is very appropriate to Parsifal’s adversary. The Red Knight is operating unchecked with unbridled passion – and red is indeed a very intense color! Whether we think of the archangel Michael and elemental fire or the phrase of “seeing red” when one is particularly upset and cannot easily reason or calm down, the color red certainly is one that “enflames!” I also recalled a Masonic phrase, that I came to Masonry to “learn to subdue my passions and improve myself.” This key battle Parsifal fights is to subdue passions – to defeat and kill the Red Knight.

I also recalled two Keys of the Tarot – Key 13 (Death) and Key 16 (The Tower). The latter, which also uses red and is associated with Mars (a “red knight” of sorts) symbolizes a necessary breakdown or disassembly, however sudden and jarring. The former shows death not as an end, but as part of a process – even a beginning if we look at the B.O.T.A. deck’s rising sun in the East.

A lesson from the story of Parsifal and the Red Knight along with Johnson’s interpretation is how we approach a break from our pasts. We are truly “killing” something within ourselves as we grow, or as we start along the Path. Even though this death occurs, there is something remaining. In the story, Parsifal keeps the Red Knight’s armor, which he says he wants – we too might have pieces of that thing we defeated and killed that we want, and that we can apply to our future development. The bricks of Key 16’s tower are still very usable, after all – once we break them down from their original form.

As we walk along the Path, let us ask ourselves – what are our Red Knights? Which internal adversaries can only be defeated by us? Which Red Knights do we need to vanquish in order to achieve the next step of growth? How do we plan to confront them, regardless of our fear? Which pieces of their armor do we want to take for better uses?