\section{The Unripeness Problem}

\lettrine{P}{arsifal} fails the first time not from wickedness but from unripeness. He sees the Fisher King suffering, witnesses the Grail procession, and says nothing --- because good knights don't ask unnecessary questions. He follows the rule. The next morning the castle is gone and the land is still waste.

He is not yet capable of the compassionate question --- What ails thee? --- because he has not yet lived enough, suffered enough to know what it means.

This cuts against the romantic notion that one can simply decide to seek depth and pursue it as a discipline. The descent is not something one chooses in order to gain qualification.

The descent comes when it comes. It cannot be summoned. It cannot be studied for. What the darkness gives cannot be prepared for in advance. It can only be survived, and carried.
