The Red Grail

"'Seek the Cup in the birthing-bed', the Pine-Knight is told. The Midwife at the birthing-bed, to his amazement, is the Mountain-Mother. In a fit of awe, he both gelds and flays himself. The Vigilant Storm burst joyfully from the remains."

- "Robert Fludd", The Orchid Transfigurations, Vol 2

The Red Grail, also called The Great Mother, The Mother of Mountains, and The Source, is one of the Hours, associated with hour XV, or 3:00pm. Her Aspect is Grail, and she governs blood, birth and the drowning waters. By most accounts, The Red Grail was the very first God-from-Blood; in some, however, The Moth was the first. The Red Grail drained The Tide, one of the Gods-from-Stone, and condemned it to Nowhere. She was responsible for the ascension of the Twins. Later, she "grew jealous of their power", and arranged the ascension and destruction of the Thunderskin. Other accounts say she destroyed the Thunderskin as restitution to The Horned-Axe for the destruction of the other Gods-from-Stone. She may have played a role in the Division of the Sun, but she did not enact it herself.

She is heavily associated with Cybele, a Phrygian mother goddess associated with castration, whose worship spread throughout the Roman Empire.

Books

 * The Orchid Transfigurations, Vol 1: a Feast
 * The Orchid Transfigurations, Vol 2: a Birth
 * The Orchid Transfigurations, Vol 3: Noon

Le Graal Rouge