Once when "clothing" a woman I was proxy for during an Iniatory ordinance in the Preston, England Temple, the woman said to me, from the other side of the Veil, "Oh, my shining garment"! AND -- she said it with complete awe! The garment, according this this angelic receiver of it, is definitely a garment of light!
Patrick D. DegnFebruary 15, 2026
To all who have shared such kind and encouraging reflections, my sincere thanks; it is a joy to see the core of this message resonate so clearly. To Gregg, however, I’d like to offer a brief word of clarification, as he has—with the best intentions—misread the way I am using the phrase "Chapel Perilous."
You are quite right that in modern psychological and occult circles—especially following Robert Anton Wilson—the phrase has come to suggest a crisis of sanity or the collapse of a “reality tunnel.” If my article were claiming that the House of the Lord is a place of instability or spiritual paranoia, your concern would be more than fair.
My use of the image, however, comes from its older literary and medieval background rather than its twentieth-century psychological afterlife. In Arthurian tradition (including Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, which I cited), the Chapel Perilous is a liminal place where the sacred presses into the “waste land”—a haunted frontier where grace insists on drawing near to ruin. The accent there is not on madness but on encounter: the danger lies in the soul’s unpreparedness for holiness, not in God’s unreliability.
So I am not suggesting that the temple is a house of terror. I am suggesting that it is a traveling holiness that comes to find us when we will not move. That is what I meant in the line: “The temple moves precisely because the disciple refuses to.” The image of the Chapel Perilous, in this context, is meant to describe portable sanctity: the way the garment allows the disciple to carry the atmosphere of the temple into the “lone and dreary world,” much as a coal taken from the altar continues to burn even when it has left the altar.
Your warning against any paranoid or occult reading of the temple experience is a needed caution, and I share it. My use of the word “perilous” is a poetic attempt to name the gravity of consecration, not a diagnosis of psychological peril. Here the “peril” is the peril of standing, as C. S. Lewis might say, under the “weight of glory”—the awe and seriousness that always attends the presence of the Divine in a fallen world.
On this, I think we are very much agreed: the temple is the House of the Lord, a place of peace, order, and instruction. My article simply argues that, through covenant and garment, that peace is not meant to remain shut up in a single building. We are invited to carry it with us—into wastes and wildernesses where, left to ourselves, we would never dare go at all.
GreggFebruary 14, 2026
"Chapel Perilous" is a term with roots in Arthurian legend that has evolved into a metaphor for a profound psychological or spiritual crisis, popularized largely by author Robert Anton Wilson. It represents a "dangerous enclosure"—a testing ground where an individual must confront their own fears, illusions, and sanity to move from one state of consciousness to another.
Here is a breakdown of its origins and meanings:
1. Arthurian Legend Origins
In medieval romance (specifically Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur), the Chapel Perilous is a haunted, cursed, or enchanted chapel that serves as a trial for knights.
The Lancelot Adventure: Sir Lancelot enters a chapel filled with black-clothed, grinning knights and a corpse, which is actually a trap set by the sorceress Hellawes.
Significance: It is a, liminal space—a threshold between the mortal and spiritual worlds. It tests a knight's bravery, faith, and chastity, often featuring a "perilous cemetery".
Symbolism: It tests whether a hero is worthy of the Holy Grail, emphasizing that inner purity is as necessary as physical prowess.
2. The Psychological/Modern Meaning
Robert Anton Wilson popularized the term in his 1977 book Cosmic Trigger to describe a specific, intense psychological state.
Definition: It is a state where an individual is uncertain whether an experience was caused by a supernatural/external force or was merely a product of their own imagination.
The Result: Wilson argued that one passes through Chapel Perilous by either becoming a hard-core, paranoid believer or a, skeptical agnostic; there is no middle ground.
Initiation: It is often described as a, rite of passage in, consciousness, where one is forced to question their, reality tunnels.
If any of these definations are the way you view LDS TEMPLES you need to speak with your Bishop, and request that you be able to attend a "Temple Prep Class".
Spolier alert: LDS temples are considered the most sacred places of worship on earth, serving as the "House of the Lord" where faithful members enter to make sacred covenants with God, participate in saving ordinances (such as marriage and proxy baptism for the dead), and receive spiritual instruction to strengthen them for life's challenges.
Not a place where atendeees are challenged or tested.
Bruno AraujoFebruary 13, 2026
Estou no Brasil, escrevendo em português para agradecer ao autor por esse belo artigo. Foi o conhecimento mais profundo que aprendi sobre o amor do Senhor ao nos vestir. Muito obrigado por suas palavras tão assertivas e reflexivas.
Lisa ReisingFebruary 12, 2026
These insights made me weep, what a beautiful account of our Father who brings to us everything He can to help us remember who we are. Thank you Brother Degn, once again.
TRobFebruary 11, 2026
Silly me - I thought I was beginning to understand the sacred gift and privilege of the holy garment. You have added depth, beauty and poignant physical connection to my understanding.
Mark W MinerFebruary 10, 2026
So insightful, beautiful, and well-written. Thank you, brother.
Lori DriggsFebruary 9, 2026
Your articles have been the highlight of my study this year! Please keep them coming and write a book!
Coreen BousfieldFebruary 9, 2026
Wow, amazing and so beautiful! Thank you so much for blessing those of us who are fortunate enough to read your powerful, meaningful and touching words.
Judy PerryFebruary 9, 2026
On second reading--this OUGHT to be a s
discussion in ALL Temple preparation classes..
And by the way-- I.M.H.O. I believe any couple planning a Temple marriage ought to be required to take PRE-marriage couples counseling prior to marriage as our Catholic brothers and sisters are required in order to be married in their church buildings.
Judy PerryFebruary 9, 2026
WOW!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
MaryFebruary 9, 2026
Such an incredible reading! Absolutely beautiful, profound writing. Thank you!
Rhoda AndersonFebruary 9, 2026
Wow! What a poetic way of bringing this idea to light! Well written. I'm saving this one in my files to review often.
Tammy TaylorFebruary 9, 2026
Wow! Thank you for sharing the “enchantment”! Such beautiful thoughts that take our every day mundane life into a kingdom of light that we can carry with us. Thank you for sharing a bit of royalty that we can keep in our hearts.
D. Jynn JohnsonFebruary 9, 2026
Stunning insights! Beautifully delivered! This is a total game-changer for me after wearing this skin of holiness for nearly 70 years. Thank you!
Corey D.February 9, 2026
A really wonderful, insightful and thought provoking commentary. New insights to think about in regards to Heavenly Father, the temple and the garment, thank you.
Steve DoneganFebruary 9, 2026
As I sit in my quiet house this morning and contemplate the words you’ve written, I realize my life will never be the same. Thank you for being “one of the best books” we’re told in the Doctrine and Covenants to read.
Comments | Return to Story
Alece ReynoldsFebruary 20, 2026
Once when "clothing" a woman I was proxy for during an Iniatory ordinance in the Preston, England Temple, the woman said to me, from the other side of the Veil, "Oh, my shining garment"! AND -- she said it with complete awe! The garment, according this this angelic receiver of it, is definitely a garment of light!
Patrick D. DegnFebruary 15, 2026
To all who have shared such kind and encouraging reflections, my sincere thanks; it is a joy to see the core of this message resonate so clearly. To Gregg, however, I’d like to offer a brief word of clarification, as he has—with the best intentions—misread the way I am using the phrase "Chapel Perilous." You are quite right that in modern psychological and occult circles—especially following Robert Anton Wilson—the phrase has come to suggest a crisis of sanity or the collapse of a “reality tunnel.” If my article were claiming that the House of the Lord is a place of instability or spiritual paranoia, your concern would be more than fair. My use of the image, however, comes from its older literary and medieval background rather than its twentieth-century psychological afterlife. In Arthurian tradition (including Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, which I cited), the Chapel Perilous is a liminal place where the sacred presses into the “waste land”—a haunted frontier where grace insists on drawing near to ruin. The accent there is not on madness but on encounter: the danger lies in the soul’s unpreparedness for holiness, not in God’s unreliability. So I am not suggesting that the temple is a house of terror. I am suggesting that it is a traveling holiness that comes to find us when we will not move. That is what I meant in the line: “The temple moves precisely because the disciple refuses to.” The image of the Chapel Perilous, in this context, is meant to describe portable sanctity: the way the garment allows the disciple to carry the atmosphere of the temple into the “lone and dreary world,” much as a coal taken from the altar continues to burn even when it has left the altar. Your warning against any paranoid or occult reading of the temple experience is a needed caution, and I share it. My use of the word “perilous” is a poetic attempt to name the gravity of consecration, not a diagnosis of psychological peril. Here the “peril” is the peril of standing, as C. S. Lewis might say, under the “weight of glory”—the awe and seriousness that always attends the presence of the Divine in a fallen world. On this, I think we are very much agreed: the temple is the House of the Lord, a place of peace, order, and instruction. My article simply argues that, through covenant and garment, that peace is not meant to remain shut up in a single building. We are invited to carry it with us—into wastes and wildernesses where, left to ourselves, we would never dare go at all.
GreggFebruary 14, 2026
"Chapel Perilous" is a term with roots in Arthurian legend that has evolved into a metaphor for a profound psychological or spiritual crisis, popularized largely by author Robert Anton Wilson. It represents a "dangerous enclosure"—a testing ground where an individual must confront their own fears, illusions, and sanity to move from one state of consciousness to another. Here is a breakdown of its origins and meanings: 1. Arthurian Legend Origins In medieval romance (specifically Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur), the Chapel Perilous is a haunted, cursed, or enchanted chapel that serves as a trial for knights. The Lancelot Adventure: Sir Lancelot enters a chapel filled with black-clothed, grinning knights and a corpse, which is actually a trap set by the sorceress Hellawes. Significance: It is a, liminal space—a threshold between the mortal and spiritual worlds. It tests a knight's bravery, faith, and chastity, often featuring a "perilous cemetery". Symbolism: It tests whether a hero is worthy of the Holy Grail, emphasizing that inner purity is as necessary as physical prowess. 2. The Psychological/Modern Meaning Robert Anton Wilson popularized the term in his 1977 book Cosmic Trigger to describe a specific, intense psychological state. Definition: It is a state where an individual is uncertain whether an experience was caused by a supernatural/external force or was merely a product of their own imagination. The Result: Wilson argued that one passes through Chapel Perilous by either becoming a hard-core, paranoid believer or a, skeptical agnostic; there is no middle ground. Initiation: It is often described as a, rite of passage in, consciousness, where one is forced to question their, reality tunnels. If any of these definations are the way you view LDS TEMPLES you need to speak with your Bishop, and request that you be able to attend a "Temple Prep Class". Spolier alert: LDS temples are considered the most sacred places of worship on earth, serving as the "House of the Lord" where faithful members enter to make sacred covenants with God, participate in saving ordinances (such as marriage and proxy baptism for the dead), and receive spiritual instruction to strengthen them for life's challenges. Not a place where atendeees are challenged or tested.
Bruno AraujoFebruary 13, 2026
Estou no Brasil, escrevendo em português para agradecer ao autor por esse belo artigo. Foi o conhecimento mais profundo que aprendi sobre o amor do Senhor ao nos vestir. Muito obrigado por suas palavras tão assertivas e reflexivas.
Lisa ReisingFebruary 12, 2026
These insights made me weep, what a beautiful account of our Father who brings to us everything He can to help us remember who we are. Thank you Brother Degn, once again.
TRobFebruary 11, 2026
Silly me - I thought I was beginning to understand the sacred gift and privilege of the holy garment. You have added depth, beauty and poignant physical connection to my understanding.
Mark W MinerFebruary 10, 2026
So insightful, beautiful, and well-written. Thank you, brother.
Lori DriggsFebruary 9, 2026
Your articles have been the highlight of my study this year! Please keep them coming and write a book!
Coreen BousfieldFebruary 9, 2026
Wow, amazing and so beautiful! Thank you so much for blessing those of us who are fortunate enough to read your powerful, meaningful and touching words.
Judy PerryFebruary 9, 2026
On second reading--this OUGHT to be a s discussion in ALL Temple preparation classes.. And by the way-- I.M.H.O. I believe any couple planning a Temple marriage ought to be required to take PRE-marriage couples counseling prior to marriage as our Catholic brothers and sisters are required in order to be married in their church buildings.
Judy PerryFebruary 9, 2026
WOW!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
MaryFebruary 9, 2026
Such an incredible reading! Absolutely beautiful, profound writing. Thank you!
Rhoda AndersonFebruary 9, 2026
Wow! What a poetic way of bringing this idea to light! Well written. I'm saving this one in my files to review often.
Tammy TaylorFebruary 9, 2026
Wow! Thank you for sharing the “enchantment”! Such beautiful thoughts that take our every day mundane life into a kingdom of light that we can carry with us. Thank you for sharing a bit of royalty that we can keep in our hearts.
D. Jynn JohnsonFebruary 9, 2026
Stunning insights! Beautifully delivered! This is a total game-changer for me after wearing this skin of holiness for nearly 70 years. Thank you!
Corey D.February 9, 2026
A really wonderful, insightful and thought provoking commentary. New insights to think about in regards to Heavenly Father, the temple and the garment, thank you.
Steve DoneganFebruary 9, 2026
As I sit in my quiet house this morning and contemplate the words you’ve written, I realize my life will never be the same. Thank you for being “one of the best books” we’re told in the Doctrine and Covenants to read.
Gary StrobleFebruary 8, 2026
Last two paragraphs repeat.
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