Chapel perilous

The term chapel perilous first appeared in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (1485)^[1] as the setting for an adventure in which sorceress Hellawes unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Sir Lancelot. T. S. Eliot used it symbolically in "The Waste Land" (1922). Dorothy Hewett took The Chapel Perilous as the title for her autobiographical play, in which she uses "the framework of the Arthurian legend, Sir Lancelot, to create a theatrical quest of romantic and epic proportions".^[2]

As used in literature

The term as used in literature is explicated in detail by Jessie L. Weston in her book From Ritual to Romance (1920).^[3] It is defined by Thomas C. Foster as "the dangerous enclosure that is known in the study of traditional quest romances."^[4] He cites the plot of the book Crying of Lot 49 (1966) as an example.

As used in psychology

"Chapel perilous" is also a term referring to a psychological state in which an individual cannot be certain whether they have been aided or hindered by some force outside the realm of the natural world, or whether what appeared to be supernatural interference was a product of their own imagination. It was used by the late writer and philosopher Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) in his book Cosmic Trigger (1977). According to Wilson, being in this state leads the subject to become either paranoid or an agnostic. In his opinion there is no third way.

The term "chapel perilous" was used by Antero Alli, in his 1986 book, Angel Tech: A Modern Shaman's Guide to Reality Selection which is based on Timothy Leary's eight-circuit model of consciousness. In Alli's book chapel perilous is a rite of passage, when moving between the four lower circuits of consciousness to the higher circuits.

Cultural references

• Chapel Perilous is a 2013 comedy fantasy short film, directed by Matthew Lessner.

References