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Last Updated: Saturday, July 03, 1999
An Introduction to Current Theories about
The Holy Grail.
Chris Thornborrow.
Table Of Contents
This article is a collection of theories concerning the Holy
Grail and what it could be. The confusion arises because the
word Grail is derived from the word graal which first
appeared in turn of the first millenium (A.D.) prose and poetry.
There is no confusion over the meaning of the word Graal,
which was a dish or platter brought to the table at various
stages during a meal. However, the things that the graal or
grail has come to represent has changed from story to story
throughout the words history.
The first story in which the word appears was written
by Chretien de Troyes - ``Le Conte del Graal''. Chretiens story
was almost certainly based on an earlier one, but it is unknown
what his actual source was or his meaning of the word Graal.
Chretien did not finish his story and continuations and
rewrites of the story are then free to embellish and invent as
much as the authors saw fit.
Now the Grail represents many different things to many different
people. No one meaning seems to explain all the strange events
in the Grail stories.
The reader will not find a definitive answer. Nor will he read
all theories as some are obscure and not yet encountered in
detail by the author.
It is fair to say that to most people in the western world the
Holy Grail is a cup or goblet associated in some way with Jesus Christ.
This image was popularised by such writers as Sir Thomas Malory in his
``Morte D'Arthur''. It is however not the only object that has been linked
to the Grail. Indeed, it has been claimed that the Grail is not a physical
object of any type but is a blood line or even a spiritual ideal presented
in metaphor. One thing is certain, despite (or perhaps because of) its
elusive qualities, the Grail has held and continues to hold a great
fascination. The Grail promises mystery, secrecy, adventure and the obtaining
of a prize or knowledge available to all but found only by a few
When Indiana Jones III: The Last Crusade opened to packed houses,
it was apparent that the legend of the Grail was not dead. The film on the
surface perpetuates the Grail in the Cup of Christ image.If we
examine the script a little closer some evidence of the Grail
as knowledge or a path to God can be seen. Note in particular
Professor Jones reply to the question ``What did you find ?'' ---
``Enlightenment'' and Professor Brodies line ``The search for the
Cup of Christ is the search for the Divine in all of us
.Nontheless, the film is a good example of how most people see the Grail
as the Cup of Christ.
The Cup was the cup used at the last supper from which wine was
drunk as a symbol of Jesus' blood. It is also the cup which Joseph of
Arimathea used to collect the actual blood of Jesus after his crucifixion
while preparing the body for burial. The legend then follows many
differing stories about Joseph and the Cup. The most well known is that
Joseph and his sister and her husband left Jerusalem and sailed to France.
Here Joseph left his sister and his brother-in-law and sailed to England
where he set up the first Christian church at Glastonbury. Some legends
claim that he left the cup in the care of his brother-in-law in France
while most stories tell of him bringing the Cup to Glastonbury which to
this day is still associated with the Grail legends.
The Arthurian stories now include stories of the Cup of Christ.
It was not always so. Something called the Graal was in early
Arthurian stories but it wasn't until later that this was Christianised
and became the Cup of Christ. The Graal was a mysterious object which was
not described in detail. The earliest story, to mention the Grail in
some form, by Chretien de Troyes was left incomplete, enabling many writers
since to place their own interpretation on the story.
It ought to be pointed out that these legends are considered by
historians to be, at best pseudo-history, and at worst complete romantic
fabrications.
The cup has certain powers associated with it. These are :
Lady Flavia Anderson presented a totally new theory about the
Grail in her book `The Ancient Secret'. In this book she claims that
the Grail is a round ball of glass filled with water. This is held in
a tree like stand. These she claims are the Jewish objects the Thummim
and the Urim. These objects were made to light fires from the light
of the sun.
Her book shows how man has revered light in religion and fire
made from direct sunlight, through a crystal or glass ball or the like,
has long thought to be holy in some sense. Often perpetual fires were
kept alight in Holy places by virgins using such methods.
She also demonstrates how many metaphors for light and rays of light
(such as the spear and the sword) appear time and again in Arthurian
legend. Not only this but the Grail is often depicted as a stone and
there is constant reference to a Grail tree. Further it was often women
who were in charge of fires created from objects such as these and it
is women who are depicted as Grail guardians in Arthurian legend.
Undoubtedly such objects existed and it is likely that the Jews
at the time of Solomon used such objects. The theory goes on to state that
these objects were buried along with the Ark of the Covenant in a cave
system somewhere in Jordan. Interestingly, the final sequences
of Indiana Jones III are filmed in the ancient ruined city of Petra in Jordan and not in Egypt as
is claimed in the film itself.
The word used for the Grail changed subtley many times. One of
these words is sangreal. The word sangreal has been split to mean Holy
Grail (San Greal). However, some theories have been put forward which
support a different splitting of the word : Sang Real (Royal blood). The
reasoning behind this theory is that Jesus Christ had a child (or children)
by Mary Magdalene. The lineage of the Royal Blood was thus continued and in
some theories exists to the present day. Most notable recently, this Royal
Blood theory has been presented in a book called `Holy Blood - Holy Grail'.
In this book it is claimed that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene
and that Christ did not die on the cross. The authors present much historical
evidence to support their claim and try to show how several secret societies
have guarded the secret of this blood line down the ages to the present day.
They associate historical characters and places with those found in the
earliest Medieval Grail texts and demonstrate how the blood line from
Christ has been involved in world affairs.
Another notable Grail seeker, Walter Stein, also investigated this
theory for some time. His theories were discredited because of his one time
association with the Nazis. He was, however not a Nazi himself and indeed
was Sir Winston Churchills advisor on Nazi occult activity for a time.
Many notable writers have shown the similarity between the
Celtic folklore tales and the stories of King Arthur. There were many
cauldrons in Celtic tales and some had very similar properties to the
Grail as described in the Arthurian tales.
A famous welsh poem, The Preiddeu Annwn, describes Arthur and
his men venturing into the Celtic underworld to steal the Cauldron of
Annwn which had pearls and is blown on by nine maidens. It has the
ability to restore life to dead warriors. Note that in the Christian
tradition, the Cup is always carried or guarded by women and that it
has life restoring capabilities.
Another cauldron, the Cauldron of Awen had a potion brewed in it
which could bestow all knowledge. A youth, Gwion, was set to stir this
by the goddess Ceridwen. He spilled three drops onto his fingers and put
them into his mouth. He gained all knowledge. Note too that the Grail in
Arthurian legend could bestow knowledge.
Many authors have thus tried to show that the celtic cauldrons
are in some sense a forerunner to the modern Grail image. This, together,
with the derivation of some Arthurian heros, such as Kay and Bedivere,
from celtic ones has been explored in many texts. The author wishes to
point out that although the celtic derivations
are popular in theory, they by no means explain all events and
descriptions within the cycles. Nor, do they explain the sudden
interest at the time of Chretien in the Grail. Although the celtic
cauldron derivation theory has good grounds it is by no means a
complete explanation for the Grail cycles. The author states this
in order to warn against the plethora of purely celtic origin
based texts.
The story of the angels fighting in heaven gives us yet another
theory about the Grail. The story tells how Lucifer (although this name
is commonly used to represent the Devil now, at one time it had no
such association and meant simply `The Light Bringer') lead one third of the
heavenly host in a revolt against God but that he was defeated. As Lucifer
was cast down out of heaven, a large emerald fell from his crown. This emerald
is said to have been the source of his power. It is interesting to note that
the Grail has been depicted as a stone in the early Arthurian legends. It is
this stone, fallen to earth, which has been suggested is the Grail.
Alchemy was long thought of as false science. The basis of
alchemy was to create a stone which would turn all base metals to gold.
It is now often said that alchemy was a code for spiritual teachings
that were considered heretical. Due to the Witch Hunts it was necessary
to write in code of some form.
The `gold' in alchemy is presented as being `enlightenment'
or spiritual oneness with God. The base metal is what each man is before
the process of alchemy, and that alchemy is a spiritual path to God.
The philosophers stone has thus been associated with the Grail as it
has the same property of imbuing oneness with God. It should be stressed
that the philosophers stone is not considered to be a real stone of any
sort but that the Grail in this case is a metaphor for the final stage
of enlightenment.
Sometimes this theory is tied to the Emerald of Lucifer theory
in suggesting that a real stone may exist.
In his book `The Spear of Destiny', Trevor Ravenscroft tells
the history of the Lance of Longinus, the spear that pierced the side
of Christ as he hung on the cross. He traces this spear through history
and shows it to have been in the possession of some of the most
influencial people in history. His teacher was Walter Stein (see above)
and so much of the book concentrates on Hitler and his obsession with
this object.
In this book the Grail is presented as the knowledge to use this
spear in some supernatural way. No evidence is presented and no cross
referencing of any of the other literature available. It is simply
stated. Ravenscroft claims that there are two ways to achieve this
knowledge. Either through the use of ``black arts'' or by a much harder
route of ``learning the abcs of magic''. These particular quotes are from
the introduction to Wolfram Von Eschenbachs `Parzival'.
Once this knowledge is obtained some power that is present in
the spear can be used for good or evil. The use is determined by the method
that the user gained the knowledge of the Grail. If he used ``black arts''
then he must wield the spear for evil, if not then he is free to chose.
One growing source of publications about the Grail is the New Age
theory (or Aquarian Grail). This sees the Arthurian legends as somehow
allegorical of spiritual paths to God. The belief is that the Grail is not
a real object but union with God whilst still on Earth. Thus a grail seeker
attempts through study of the legends and personal search, to find the
Grail internally. Many books have been written about this, one notable
writer being John Matthews. The Aquarian Grail theory says that all religions
have a fundamental core of common truth and that this is best represented by
the symbol of the Grail.
It is part of the theories of the Grail as a mystical concept or
level of achievement spiritually and not a real object at all. It should
be remembered that the stories of Arthur which include the Grail (after
Chretien de Troyes) were written in a time when many of the hidden ideas
that this theory presents would have been considered heretical and
dangerous.
At the time the first mix in cultures of the far east and the west
was happening through such groups as the Knights Templar.Infact,
Wolfram Von Eschenbach in his Grail epic `Parzival' describes
a group of knights who are the guardians of the grail. The reader is
left in no doubt that he is alluding to the Templars. The trouveres
and troubadors (story tellers) of the time would undoubtedly have had contact
with stories and legends from eastern religions aswell as western ones for the
first time. Similarly to alchemy, it would have been heresy to combine these
openly but expression of this union of religions through story would be a
natural and acceptable outlet.
Nearly everywhere in the world, but especially in the West there
are local legends of Grails. Nearly all these legends take the Christian Cup
principle as a basis. This is not surprising as people now associate the
Grail with this Cup and thus might claim legends relating to cups to be
Grail legends. Here are four Grail legends.
1. Roslin Chapel, Lothian Scotland.
The famous Grail Seeker Trevor Ravenscroft claimed in 1962 that
he had finished a twenty year quest in search of the Grail at Roslin
chapel. There appears to be a contradiction
in that Ravenscroft claims the
Grail to be a form of knowledge and also to be a real object (Christs
Cup). This is simply explained by the fact that many people now use
Grail to refer to the Cup of Christ while he himself may have felt this
to not be the case. He would still have called this cup the Grail in
order to communicate what he meant. There are quite a few people looking
for the Grail who do not know what it actually is. They thus follow up
many different theories. Ravenscroft may have believed in more than one
theory. His claim was that the Grail was inside the Prentice Pillar
(as it is known) in this chapel. The chapel is often visited now by
Grail Seekers and many references to the Grail can be found in its stone
work and windows. Metal detectors have been used on the pillar and an
object of the appropriate size is indeed buried in the middle. Lord
Roslin adamantly refuses to have the pillar x-rayed.
2. The Grail in Wales.
It is said that there was a community in Wales who existed to
guard a terracota cup which was inside a gold chalice. It was able to
heal and was a powerful tool for good in the right hands. In 1880 a
group of individuals was set up with the declared intention of studying
esoteric things such as the Qabalah and Tarot divination. Their real
intention was to find and destroy the Holy Grail. Over the next ten years
the Grail was moved and hidden, finally finding a safe place. However,
one of the guardians betrayed the others and the Grail was taken. A
black mass was said over the Grail to detroy its power and then it was
smashed into pieces and the pieces scattered.
Most legends of Grails have many inconsequential details added to
them in order to give a false authenticity. Names, dates, places and
even historical figures are scattered in the legends. This is not true
in this case and makes the legend unique and interesting because of this.
2. The Narta Monga , Russia.
In the Caucasus Mountains in Russia is a small group of people
who have stories of a magical cauldron called the Amonga. This chalice
has properties in common with the Grail of early Arthurian stories of
serving food, giving knowledge and being able to chose those worthy to
serve it. The Narts were the heroic race of these Osettes. The stories
of them bare a striking resemblance to Arthurian legend.
4. The Chalice Well at Glastonbury, England.
Joseph of Arimathea, so legend tells us, came to England, to
Glastonbury, after the death of Jesus. With him he brought the Cup
of Christ. Local legend now says that the Cup is buried somewhere
under a hill called The Tor at Glastonbury. The Tor is an ancient site
of ritual and religion and is still a place of pilgrimage today,
standing high out of the Somerset countryside. A well, which is now a
quiet place of sanctuary with surrounding gardens, flows with water from
deep under The Tor. The rocks covered by the spring water are reddy
in colour, representing the Blood of Christ, and the water itself leaves
an aftertaste in the mouth much like blood. The Tor may have a network
of underground tunnels, long ago sealed, and the Grail is supposed to
be buried in one of these.
Some religions have built up around the Grail considered as a
spiritual ideal. The author has encountered two of these in some detail.
These religions seem to draw heavily on Christianity as a basis for moral
and historical teaching, however they do not hold to the Christian idea
of `one true path'.
An international charity with bases in Australia, Britain and America
amongst others. The followers have books written by a man they hold in very
high regard, Abd Ru Shin. He lived in Germany and died in the 1950s. They
believe that he was the Grail but the author was unable to exact any reasoning
for this claim. They wear a special symbol, half covered by the mens lapels in
order to signify that men are less able to reach a spiritually high level than
are women. The women wear the symbol openly. They hold public lectures and
their books can be bought in most major bookstores.
A small group of people who gather regularly in Edinburgh claim that
the stories of Arthur and his knights are about a people who tapped into
energies around us all but that only a few find. Each energy has a colour
and the colour of the Grail energy is silver. The `silver chalice' as they refer
to it is the set of blood vessels in the neck and the base of the skull which
feed the brain. The silver energy can be used to increase the usefulness of
the brain thus giving people able to tap into this energy almost super-human
power. They claim to have documented proof of strange silver deposits on the
insides of human skulls but the author was not shown these.
C.G. Jung was fascinated by the Grail and alchemy. Although he
did not write on the Grail himself, his wife and one of his close friends
did. Jung approaches the Grail legend as a story with many symbols from
the unconcious mind used to express the religious attitude of the people
at the time. He treats the main characters such as Merlin and Arthur as
archetypes of the collective unconcious and the Grail Hallows (that is :
spear, sword, cup and stone) as very potent symbols of religion from
the collective unconcious. Jung believed that something fundamental was
missing from Christianity as a world religion and that the Christianised
versions of the Grail stories filled this gap. To him the Grail in the
form of the Cup of Christ was a psychological progression in the
completion of the development of Christianity. He also shows that alchemy
and the Grail legends which developed around the same time had many
symbols, colours , and spiritual teachings in common.
Further to this, many events in the Grail cycles have been closely
analysed in terms of Jungian psychology. Jung showed that the writers
understood or at least unconciously expressed many fundamental elements
of his psychology in the events they placed in the stories.
And so on ...
There are many more theories. Some of these are presented in short
here :
The vegetation theory was put forward in 1906 by J.L. Weston. She
showed similarities between eastern vegetation rituals and
stories in Arthurian legend.
Onomastic theories are concerned with showing the derivation of the
word Grail in history. Most of these are unsuccessful and very
unconvincing.
The Shroud of Turin may have been guarded by the Templars. They are also
associated by implication with the Grail through `Parzival'. It has been
suggested that the Shroud is the Grail.
The tree of life is a Qabbalists way of depicting the spiritual universe.
On this tree are ten spheres which have certain values or traits associated
with them. A few authors have attempted to place Arthurian places and people
onto this tree, most notably, Gareth Knight in his book `The Secret Tradition
in Arthurian Legend'.
A few people such as Mary Caine and Katherine Maltwood have used zodiacal
theories about the Grail. They place Arthurian characters and places on the
Zodiac and have even placed characters from the zodiac and legend on
ordinance survey maps of the south of Britain, particularly around Glastonbury.
Jessie Weston showed the Grail Hallows (these are sword, spear, stone and
cauldron or cup) to be similar to the suits in Tarot cards. Today a few decks
exist such as The Arthurian Tarot and the Merlin Tarot which associate Tarot
directly with the Grail legends.
There can be little doubt that the Grail is an elusive idea. It
has taken, and will continue to take, many different forms in peoples minds.
No one theory as yet has been able to explain all the details in the
Grail mystery. Now, when we say ``Grail'', we need to clarify what we mean
in detail to avoid the question ``But which Grail do you mean ?''. It
seems that each idea has merits and problems. Perhaps all are true in some
sense. There is no reason why the Aquarian Grail and The Urim and Thummim
theories are incompatible. The use of the word ``Grail'' to describe these
very different concepts does not invalidate the concepts themselves.
"above all (the Grail) is a symbol of symbolism itself. It
represents the very potency by which a symbol symbolizes."
P.L. Wilson : "Angels"
Perhaps though we should ask what Chretien de Troyes meant
by the ``Graal''. Unfortunately this question appears unanswerable as
we only have one document, and that unfinished, to study. It would
be foolish to hope that an ending be found. Documents from that time
were often destroyed. What of Chretiens source ? Many writers have
claimed a source for their stories on the Grail. None have been produced.
Again the same fate may have befallen such documents or perhaps the
writers of ancient literature knew the value of a mystery source as
much as todays journalists.
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