Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #539792 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Synopsis
The popular Arthurian stories of the Middle Ages depict the Holy Grail as Christ's cup from the last supper, which was believed to have been endowed with miraculous healing powers and the ability to give eternal life to whomever drank from it. A much earlier tradition, however, claimed the Grail was the vessel used by Mary Magdalene to collect Christ's blood when he appeared to her after rising from the tomb. While many vessels were claimed to have been the true Grail, there was only one thought to have been the chalice used by Mary. The mother of the recently converted Emperor Constantine took this Marian Chalice from Jesus' empty tomb to Rome where it remained for almost 400 years. It was then smuggled from Rome in 410 C.E., according to the fifth century historian Olympiodorus, to save it from the barbarians who sacked the city. Well into the Middle Ages legend persisted that it had been taken to safety in Britain, the last outpost of Roman civilisation in Western Europe. This journey to England and what happened to the Chalice then is the focus of historical detective and author Graham Philips.

Customer Reviews

Enlightening and original research
This is an enlightening and well-researched examination of the Grail legend and an original investigation into its associations with Christ's follower Mary Magdalene. Graham Phillips proposes that rather than originating with the cup of the Last Supper, the Grail tradition began with the alabaster jar used by Mary Magdalene to contain Jesus' blood. Interestingly, the author also suggests that the Grail story held a secret message concerning the existence of an alternative apostolic succession involving Mary's descendants. This book has been in publication for some years and the author's ideas are similar to those later taken up by Dan Brown in his Da Vinci Code.This is an enlightening and well-researched examination of the Grail legend and an original investigation into its associations with Christ's follower Mary Magdalene. Graham Phillips proposes that rather than originating with the cup of the Last Supper, the Grail tradition began with the alabaster jar used by Mary Magdalene to contain Jesus' blood. Interestingly, the author also suggests that the Grail story held a secret message concerning the existence of an alternative apostolic succession involving Mary's descendants. This book has been in publication for some years and the author's ideas are similar to those later taken up by Dan Brown in his Da Vinci Code.

Informative and adventurous
This book is both a great guide to the King Arthur and Grail legends as a whole and a fascinating journey of discovery. The author examines a number of various possible origins of the story of the Holy Grail and ultimately proposes that the legend originated with a cup that belonged to Mary Magdalene rather than the chalice of the Last Supper. It should really excite anyone interested in lost relics and cryptic code solving. Whether or not you accept that the cup Mr Phillips found is really the Holy Grail, this book is an intriguing and thrilling piece of historical detective work, well worth the read.

Flawed brilliance
Graham Phillips' book is a fascinating, compelling read - but flawed by his historical gaffes about Dark Age Britain, as I discovered much to my surprise when I began researching the background to the book on-line. Yet the few mistakes he made don't destroy his main thesis - that King Arthur was guardian of the Grail items (one being the Gospel of Thomas!) And that Arthur represented an alternate line of Church leadership, which helped keep resistance to dictatorial Catholicism alive in Britain and Europe. His analysis of the tarot is vital to understanding the alternate Church of the Albigensians, obscured in the Grail legends, but there for all true Seekers to find. And the Magdalene Chalice might yet be the Grail...