A Parzival Experience by Rev. Michaël Merle

reported by John-Peter Gernaat

The story of Parzival is not well known in the English-speaking world even though it is an Arthurian legend and a Grail legend. The story is, however, very modern and relevant as a medium to understand much of our lives today. In this workshop it forms that conduit for unravelling relationships.

An understanding of the historical setting of the story is very useful. The women who, historically, surround this tale are women who lived well ahead of their time. Eleanor of Aquitaine (Aliénor d'Aquitaine) was a woman who very much took control of her own life and even the political destiny of countries at a time when men were still very much in charge. She also took charge of the lives of her daughters from her first marriage, to ensure their safety, politically, after her marriage was annulled. And it was at the court of her daughter, Marie Countess of Champagne, that troubadours and poets created magnificent tales. One such was Chrétien de Troyes who wrote the first tale of Perceval, Story of the Grail. This unfinished tale was later expanded by Wolfram von Eschenbach as Parzival. This story has inspired two operas by Richard Wagner: Parsifal and Lohengrin.

The relationships that the reader encounters in Parzival run the full gambit of all modern relationships, from parental relationships to romantic relationships, unrequited and fulfilled, to filial friendships.

The workshop on relationships, using Parzival as a medium for the exploration of relationships, allows for an objective orientation towards one’s own relationships. This permits an intensive study without the discomfort of having to reveal one’s own tragedy and pain. The exercises that accompany the unravelling of each type of relationship are insightful.

The workshop does not aim at resolving the personal relationships of the participants. The aim is the understanding of relationships. The facilitator, as an experienced pedagogue and now priest, is not a registered counsellor nor life coach. Yet, in his professional capacity he is very capable at both and will work with anyone to more deeply unravel and find resolution to any personal relationship. But he is clear that this workshop is the beginning of a personal journey into one’s relationships and not the culmination.

Anyone who is already working with a life coach or a counsellor or a therapist will leave the workshop with a clarity on many areas of further work. This workshop is therefore also very useful for life coaches, counsellors and therapists as it will reveal useful tools, and also find value as a short, condensed programme for their clients that could fast-track or expand the work already in process with their clients.

The workshop goes by the title of A Parzival Experience, Considering Relationships in the Modern World (Towards ourselves, others and our destiny). 
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The presenter, Michaël Merle was involved in Waldorf Education as a high school teacher, teacher trainer and training coordinator for twenty-one years. Michaël’s relationship to the Parzival story and to biographical stories goes back nearly forty years. This area was significant in Michaël’s studies in philosophy, theology and comparative religion in developing an understanding of the individual story of each human being within the context of the universal tale of humanity.