Holy Grail

There are many interpretations and varieties of Holy Grail in existence, but for this small piece we shall take the main examples. It is said to be the cup that caught the blood of Christ as he hung on the cross or the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. It is even possibly both. It is therefore a cup of power, a cup which holds the immortal blood of Christ - the God-Man - and is therefore also the Elixir, as our ancestors saw the life-force existing within the blood itself and more-so in the blood of the slain, sacrificed or deity. Two texts to look out for are Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and Tennyson's Holy Grail.
Useful sites: www.philipgardiner.net www.serpentgrail.com

Sub paragraph 1 Where is it now?

If I had the answer to this one I would be very rich indeed and probably very famous, for it would be the most famous discovery of all-time. Many claims are made to the Grail such as Chalice of Valencia in Spain and others too that it is buried beneath the stones of the infamous Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh. Modern day legend has created all-manner of tales. These include the tale that the Cathar heretics spirited the Grail away from Montsegur following their failed attempt to keep the crusading Catholics at bay. The story goes that the Grail is now either hidden within a cave in the area or that it fell into the possession of the Knights Templar or the fabled Priory of Sion. All of this is mere speculation and there remains little evidence for any of it.

Sub Paragraph 2 What is it if not the cup of Christ

In The Serpent Grail I set about showing the evidence I had uncovered that the Grail was in fact based upon, not just the Celtic cauldron of ancient myth, but also a ritual device wherein the elements of the dragon-serpent, the real snake, were mixed to create an Elixir. This became known as the Cup of the Agathodaemon in Gnostic circles and eventually the Eucharist. The whole process, I found, including the esoteric internal enlightenment process, could be shown to have historical and religious backing. Christ, as the very symbol of true enlightenment, which is access directly to the divine, of course is therefore the one who should fill the cup.

Sub Paragraph 3 Journey

Many see the Grail journey as more important than the actual discovery - for in travelling in our own mind into the possibilities of the Grail and the meanings of them we are changed and grow. The process of self-improvement or our journey towards enlightenment was a process within the mind and it appears that from very early on the skull of individuals who possessed great mental powers were highly prized. In some cultures, such as the Scythian culture, brought to England by the Romans at the supposed time of the King Arthur, these skulls were even turned upside down and used as sacred drinking vessels. In fact, Christ spilled his blood into the very skull at "Golgotha", which means place of the skull.