Theories of the Holy Grail

There are some incredibly controversial theories out there on the market speculating on what exactly the grail is, in the bookstores these days.  It's a topic that has enjoyed quite a revival in the market place.     Some of these theories are so convincing that should they prove to have any grain of truth to them at all, they could turn mainstream religion as we know it on its head.

THE CUP OF CHRIST

The first and most commonly held belief for many centuries is that the Holy Grail is the cup of Christ.  It was a chalice ( a drinking glass basically)  which was referenced to have been present at the Last Supper just before the Crucifixion of Jesus. 

At the crucifixion the chalice was present at the base of the cross to catch the blood of Christ within it after a Roman Centurion speared Jesus to his death. 

Shortly after the Crucifixion it is said that Joseph of Arimathea takes the grail with him in secret and brings it to Glastonbury England where he builds a monastic Abbey that is dedicated to Mary. 

From this point onward the Grail becomes an enigmatic symbol within the Arthurian mythology of the British Isles.

It possessed omnipotent powers and delivered promises of eternal life and regeneration in most cases.  Endowed with such supernatural and God like powers legends of immortality dazzled all would be seekers of this eternal fountain of youth.  Strict considerations to the nature of the one who was worthy enough to find such a relic were expounded upon and as a result many moral and religious codes of ethics in later days after the onset of Christianity were developed and attached their meaning to the symbol of the grail as well.  If you were pure, you could find immortality.  If you were tainted the least bit the grail would either be forever out of your grasp or it might kill anyone who dared drink of it.  It had magical healing and restorative powers, could cure any ills and would give abundance never ending to its deserving drinkers.  The Arthurian legends revolve around this central symbol and its meaning. 

Lets take a look at the incongruity between the legend and the actual historical timelines of the periods just mentioned which posit some interesting questions as to the authenticity of the existence of the grail or its alleged migration.   

THE PRE-CHRISTIAN GRAIL

It is important to understand that most primitive pagan or tribal cultures had some version of the grail symbolism incorporated into their religious symbolism which means the symbol has been around a lot longer then Jesus.

Usually the chalice was always associated with the feminine face of god (i.e. the Goddess).  It was also always associated with some underground earth realm or underworld either in the form of a cave or within the hollow hill of a mountain, or the womb of the female herself.   The pre-Christian grail at any rate was very closely associated to the sexual nature of women and the phases of the moon and the menstrual cycles and women's mysteries in general. 

Only later did Christianity bring to it an impossible to obtain theme of purity based on its fundamental code of ethics.  Most modern Christian Institutions today wash their hands entirely of any grail symbolism as much as possible considering the doctrine of the grail myth to be either heretical or irrelevant as a meaningless superstition. 

Only very subtle traces of its existence can be seen in  Catholicism whereof the postulant drinks of the blood of Jesus and takes the host at Mass.  Beyond that very little credit is given to the symbolism any farther. 

One of the most well known Pre-Christian legends of the grail is found in the Welsh Mabinogian Chronicles.  Here we find Cerridwen an underworld Goddess worshipped by Celtic tribes, living within the Hollow Hill (many believe of Glastonbury Tor) with her famous Cauldron of regeneration.  This is a much more primitive symbol of the grail replete with much of its pagan underworld associations. 

Both in the myth of Cerridwen and her Cauldron and Joseph of Arimathea however, we find the grail's location in Glastonbury.  How can this be so?  If Cerridwens Cauldron had been around longer then Jesus in the timeline of things, already existing in the British Isles, its hardly realistic that Joseph of Arimathea would BRING it to the British Isles.  Secondly, Joseph of Arimathea would have been dead by the time of the founding of the monastery at Glastonbury.  The founding of the Abbey historically is at a time which would have put Joseph well past a hundred years of age.  Laurence Gardener in his book Bloodline of the Holy Grail brings an interesting solution to at least one of these incongruities.

THE BLOODLINE THEORY OF THE GRAIL

In 1982 three men by the name of Baigentt, Leigh and Lincoln wrote a startlingly controversial book entitled Holy Blood Holy Grail positing the theory that the grail is not an artifact but that it is a sacred royal bloodline.  Specifically the Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene his wife. 

After investigating the Gospel texts of the new testament very thoroughly they came to the following conclusions that Jesus was a Jew,  that he fathered children with Mary Magdalene, that Mary Magdalene was possibly a Priestess from a royal bloodline herself (the House of Dan).  She may have been a Priestess of Isis initiated in Egypt, or she may have been a Hindu Priestess in possession of tantric secrets.  OR she may have been a Priestess of the cult of the Golden calf so hated by Moses.  Jesus being of the Royal bloodline of the Davidic Succession of King Solomon, was the inheritor of the throne of Jerusalem and was destined to rule the Jewish people.  

The Roman invasion of Jerusalem however created complications and a great deal of political turmoil for Jerusalem.  In a desperate act of defense the Jewish people even sided with the nomadic Islamic tribes who were not often friendly allies to the Jews, in an effort to keep Roman rule out of the middle east during the time of Jesus.  The Islamic tribes had no great love for the Jews, but they hated the Romans more so they made a compromise.  They stood with the Hebrew people that one time.   It was a miserable failure. Rome conquered in the end by sheer awesome military organization and might over the bands of renegade tribesman and Jewish terrorist warrior factions known as "Zealots". It is thought that some of Jesus' disciples may have been zealots themselves with obvious reference to Simon. 

The result was that Jesus was arrested after the Last Supper and crucified.  The three authors mentioned above  also went further to speculate on the possibility that Jesus did not die on the cross but suggested it may have been a very elaborate cover up. This would give some practical sensibility to the story of the Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb three days afterward.  They claim the whole charade was staged. 

After the Crucifixion Mary Magdalene runs for her life without her husband, under the protection of Joseph of Aramathea to the South of France carrying the child of Jesus. (the womb which catches the bloodline of Christ)  where she begins to continue to teach and where many shrines are constructed in honor of her.  There in the south of France is the beginning of the hotbed of history revolving around the Knights Templars.   The Cult of the Black Madonna believed to be connected to the Mary Magdalene herself enjoys a very devoted following in that area. 

Their arguments were extremely convincing and well thought out. 

Assuming this had some grain of truth to it, We have another incongruity.  The grail flees to France with Joseph of Arimathea, not to Glastonbury, England directly after the crucifixion..

Since then a score of books on the subject of the grail as a bloodline has come out onto the shelves, each with their own unique takes on the theories.

The Templar Revelation continues to focus on Mary Magdalene and the Cult of the Black Madonna and posits even more interesting theories in regards to her. 

Laurence Gardener in his Bloodline of the Holy Grail  spends a great deal of time splitting hairs over the Hebrew customs and Hebrew language of the Jewish people with special attention to the Essenes which he believed Jesus to belong.  He gives some enlightening perspective on how the biblical texts may have been misinterpreted by modern scholars from the standpoint of understanding the history of language. 

Of importance concerning our incongruities on this timeline is Gardeners following argument.

Joseph of Arimathea he posits is NOT the name of an individual.  Its a titular name assigned to a religious office within the Judaic customs.  Arimathea is a geographical location and the name Joseph is a religious title not a personal name signifying personal identity.  Therefore, there very likely would have been more then one Joseph of Arimathea for generations afterward.  His real name could have been Tom, Dick or Harry, but in his religious capacity he was known as a "Joseph".  something not unlike a bishop or a cardinal.   

The original "Joseph of Arimathea" within the Essene community, very likely would have fled with Mary Magdalene to France. There the knights of the Temple would become the guardians of a very great secret and the guardians of the grail (whatever that was exactly), in this case a bloodline that had to flee and live "underground".  And here again we have an interesting allegory to an "underworld" association with the grail. 

If the bloodline theory is true, Rome would have sought to assassinate any living heirs of Jesus to ensure no one would come back to challenge Rome for the throne of Jerusalem after it had been conquered and put under Roman rule.  Mary needed a bodyguard.  The Knights of The Temple (The poor fellows soldiers of Jesus Christ or "Warriors for Christ")  may have become those bodyguards. Among their secret documents would have been family trees recording the genealogical bloodlines of the family history which would have given authentication to the reclamation of the throne when it ever became possible again in the future for the royal family to come back and recapture what had been taken from them during the Roman conquest of their city.  

She would have born her child/children there in France and they would have grown eventually to travel on their own way.  Another "Joseph of Arimathea" having been vested with his new title another generation down would have taken the next heir of the grail bloodline to Glastonbury some years later and establish the Church of the Nazarene in England.  This accounts for the gap in the age of Joseph of Arimathea which seemed previously impossible to fathom. 

The Abbey it has often been believed is dedicated to the Virgin Mary (the mother of Jesus who is the center of the famous "immaculate conception" myth of which Laurence Gardener sheds a great deal of light on that as well).  Current theory speculates however that it is dedicated to the Mary Magdalene by her son Jesus (named after his father the Crucified Jesus).  Seen from this perspective the congruity of the legend makes a great deal more historical sense. 

So if these speculations are true why is it the bible doesn't make any clear mention of these new more coherent "histories" ?  Its pretty simple when you look at it closely.  The Roman Catholic Church being Roman would have rewritten the bible as a propaganda machine to ensure the power of Jerusalem as their own.  They would have erased any knowledge of the royal bloodline and its Kingship or heir to the throne of Jerusalem as that would threaten the power the Pope and the Roman Emperor had over their empire which now extended well into the Middle East. 

The Old Testament documents are a product of the Judaic religion.  That is they are Jewish in origin.  The New Testament was written by the now officials of the New Christianity.  It is in the New Testament we find the Gospels which have been very well edited, parts obviously deleted or re-translated and laundered from their original translations. Some gospels which are the historical accounts of the life of Jesus are left out entirely.  Of those Gospels that are left out it is fairly commonly believed, make up the greater portion of the "Dead Sea Scrolls" which are considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. Also included in the missing links of biblical history are the texts found at the Nag Hamaddi library.

The most significant of the missing Gospels is considered to be the Gospel of St. Thomas. The movie "Stigmata" which is very good by the way even if its special effects are a bit far fetched is about the mysterious existence of this once very secret and dangerous document. Something in the movie rings true and really "does something to you" that stirs you under the surface when you watch it.  I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't. Even if your not religious.    There are some very impressively accurate suggestions in the symbolism of the movie with regards to Mary Magdalene and the bloodline theory as well which are not extensively elaborated on. Those suggestions would be far more obvious to those who have taken the time to read the Templar Revelation before seeing the movie. 

In another section of the archives I've includes the topic of the Stigmata in connection to psychic initiation as well since I believe it has very significant relevance to the secret  mystery traditions. 

There has also been published a translation of the "Gospel of  Mary Magdalene"  which is readily available in the bookstores these days.  Its a very interesting read with an impressively mystical and metaphysical bent to it. 

When again the grail legend surfaces in Glastonbury England and the British Isles in general we are faced with the Arthurian Legends as well as another new and significant connection to the Goddess Brigid and in particular St. Brigid of Kildaire of the Celtic Church. 

Lets talk about Arthur first however.  In the legends of Arthur we are faced with a very similar underground family lineage theme.  Arthur is an illegitimate heir who is to supposed to lay claim to his Kingship in a very war torn and divided land of warring  tribes during the Saxon invasions of the British Isles. 

It should be noted that Laurence Gardener argues in favor that Jesus is also an "illegitimate" heir to the Judaic throne due to a complicated variety of reasons involving the breaking of religious customs and marriage traditions in the Essene community by Joseph and Mary (Jesus' parents).  Because of this Gardener claims the story of the immaculate conception had to be invented by the religious authorities to prevent the Mother Mary from being exiled from the community.    The argument has it that Jesus' brother James in fact is the real legitimate heir to the throne because he was born in accordance with the dates of the Judaic marriage customs.  The Hebrew people of the Royal line in the Essene community had very strict laws about when a married couple were allowed to have sexual relations at only a certain time of the year.  Mary and Joseph had sexual relations during the wrong time of the year and she therefore conceived Jesus at the wrong time of the year which was considered an "out of wedlock" sexual relation in a sense. 

Arthur was born of his mother Igraine who was a sister of the Holy Isle of Avalon, (the fairy bloodline).  Avalon is said to be one and same place as Glastonbury Tor where the grail was said to have been hidden and kept by the Lady of the Lake in Avalon.   At the manipulation of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, Igraine was tricked into having sexual relations with Uther Pendragon instead of her own husband the Duke Gorlois whom Uther killed shortly after so that he could claim Igraine for his own wife.  Uther Pendragon became High King.  The result is that Arthur is born of a high King in Uther Pendragon and of a Priestess of the Royal magical line of Avalon on Igraines side. 

Arthur is whisked away into the woods by Merlin and lives a hidden life where he is trained in the ways of druid lore and magic before his rite of passage where he is coronated as King in Uther's stead. His first rite of passage is according to the old Celtic pagan rites of the great hunt and his sexual union with a Priestess of the Goddess.  His second rite of passage is his King making and the bestowing of Excaliber the famous magical sword to his keeping.   This is to ensure that Arthur when he is king will protect the pagan people against the invading Christian armies as well as the Saxon Barbarians.  Christianity is again beginning to have a hold on the British Isles and the Druid Celts are in danger of being stamped out, along with the Cult of the Goddess and the Celtic Church as well.    

Arthur becomes King, a boy out of nowhere that no one at first recognizes as a legitimate King.  He has to prove himself and find a way to make the people believe in him and follow him.  Excalibur helps him to this.  Arthur becomes King, establishes Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table.  (A continuing tradition of the Templar knights?  Some believe there is a very close association here).  The whole of the rest of the legends revolves around his attempt to keep Paganism and Christianity at peace together in the same land side by side.   The Problem occurs however when he is married to a Christian woman, Gwenevere (in some recounts of the tale).  Gwenevere never has a child and never gives Arthur a heir to the throne.  Morgan Le Fey however his sister, whom he consummated his pagan sexual rite with, has a son by Arthur and that is Mordred.  The product of this incestuous relationship results int he corruption of the knights of the Round table as well as Lancelot and Gweneveres deceits in matters of love. 

In other accounts of the grail legends Arthur becomes associated with the Fisher King of the grail castle.  The Fisher King it should be noted is also the same title of the original Jesus and it is connected to John the Baptist and the rites of baptism which gave Jesus the spiritual authority to ascend to the throne of Jerusalem centuries before.  So we have a recreation of another Jesus like figure who continues on the same basic theme but on a slightly different level many many centuries later.  

One might suspect that if there was an actual man by the name of Arthur which there was in history, that he may very well have been a member of the underground bloodline that had lived in secret for so many centuries before and that possibly his ancestors were that of the Mary Magdalene and Jesus themselves.   It is one speculation among many.  The legend still baffles most historians. 

Laurence Gardener who is also a genealogist as well as a linguist makes a case for the existence of one Vivian of Avalloch.  Avalloch which was a family name had its being in Glastonbury England.  This would be very similar to the mythical Vivian, of Avalon or Lady of the Lake.  The meaning of the name Avalloch has symbolic associations with water. 

This would have been a family of some import who lived underground in the area of the time perhaps in some secret society, to avoid notice from the church officials because possibly they were the keepers of some great secret themselves which then became "veiled in the mists" of Avalon to hide in secret. 

The grail myth sort of disappears after this period of time and doesn't really resurface again until the Nazi period.  The grail then becomes very enmeshed in the Nazi doctrines of the day and Hitler and the SS spend a great deal of time researching its importance so as to incorporate it into anti-Masonic and Satanic secret society interests. 

One prominent Satanist, Michael Aquino of the Temple of Set writes a very far out fictional account of the grail and has it arriving at a California Mission via Sir Francis Drake under mysterious circumstances on order of the Queen of England.  What is interesting about this very far out fictional account is that the California Mission in question is the only one that is not sanctioned by the church believe it or not.  It is also the only Mission in the California chain of Missions that is dedicated to "Mary the most pure".  "La Purissima Mission" located in Lompoc, California.  It is also the only Mission of all the Missions in California that has a very distinctly different floor plan then the rest of them.  There he claims in his far out fantastical story, the grail was hidden in an "underground chamber" somewhere near the river bed or under the river bed itself.  The rest of the story revolves around a great deal of cloak and dagger, thugs and alien extra-terrestrials, the Great Pyramid, lots of heads being lopped off and vampires as well as references to Adolph Hitler.   

The original Mission was destroyed by an earthquake and has been rebuilt a few miles away from its original location.  It has definitely suffered a very tumultuous history as Missions go.    

THE SHROUD OF TURIN

Another theory presented in the book The Shroud and the Grail insists that the Holy Grail is the Shroud of Turin.  The rag essentially that was wrapped around Jesus for his burial that has his bloodstains on it.  This book, a very disappointing and unromantic take on the subject insists that the fall of Constantinople during the crusades was all about the Knights Templar ransacking the city to find a bloodstained rag. 

My personal opinion which no one asked for is that I'd have to loose a great deal of faith in  the human race if this was true.  An entire city falls, art and artifacts beyond belief destroyed from many ancient pagan cultures, thousands of people dead... all because someone wants to enshrine a dirty bloodstained torn  piece of rag on the wall in a church that came off a dead man  to show off their ego.    I believe I threw the book across the room when I finished with it.  I could hardly bring myself to get through it. 

There was however one very interesting little crumb to be had in the text which made reference to a "grid" pattern which was seen in many of the etchings and drawings of relevance.  I was led to believe that their might be some cabbalistic or mathematical significance to this "grid" which may shed some light on some of the more occult mysteries concerning the grail in general. 

The speculations and the lore available are endless and I've supplied many links for your browsing pleasure if you wish to pursue this quest. 

I will cover other connections in other articles as they relate to these basic theories.  The subject is so broad and so encompassing it has to be studied in bite sized morsels at first and making distinctive delineations is difficult with a topic like this. 

Please continue to check back to see any newly posted articles on this or other subjects. 

PersephoneRC