What is a Knight

     A Knight has a strong attraction to knighthood and chivalry. Both the title and the rite-of-passage it represents is a core need that today's society no longer meets, despite its technological wealth and myriad distractions..                                    

    What is that need?

    It focuses on self-identity. Generally speaking, young men and women inherently need to be recognized as people of value and accomplishment by their community. The title of knight provides just this kind of recognition. In most cultures, and throughout history, the passage from boy-to-man, girl-to-woman meant more than just a matter of age and physical development. It meant earning the status of being a "man or woman," someone who represents the very best values of one's community.

    While this suggests that morality is something bequeathed by one's culture, there is another way to perceive it. The ideals might very well be innate. If that is so, the culture's responsibility is to nourish and direct their development.

    If the ideals are innate, that would explain the subliminal connection we feel, even when the culture fails to recognize them, and our lives run in different directions.

    Basically, when we allow ourselves to feel it, we have individual and cultural needs to take our place as responsible, capable people.  Knighthood encapsulates this idea, offering both a code and an example of what it means. It honors and shapes our warrior spirit in positive directions, and provides a title that carries obligations of commitment. What else do we have that systematically performs this function?

    With all this in mind, today's knight should be someone who carries specific purpose and meaning in life, which extends itself to the well-being of others.

    Some of the variations of knighthood represent such people. Others do not. The question we face is what knighthood means to us.

    It is an updated code of chivalry designed to guide and nurture fundamental ideals that most of us have already. One of its most important concepts has to do with freedom. Today's knight must be a product of his own expectations, not someone else's. While he may serve the welfare of others, he is not their slave. He sees the world as it is, rather than catering to illusion. His beliefs are tried and true. He replaces stale thoughts with fresh thinking, and looks upon life as a serious quest for truth and goodness.