Travis Simpkins: Graal

Showing posts with label Graal. Show all posts

Sunday, November 28, 2021

The Sword and the Grail. Andrew Sinclair. Holy Grail. Knights Templar in America

I'm currently enjoying "The Sword and the Grail" by Andrew Sinclair. It is a well written text, focused on Prince Henry Sinclair and the Templars in America subject matter.

The discovery of a tombstone built by his ancestors set Andrew Sinclair on a trail that was to lead to major reassessments, not only of our understanding of the discovery of America, but also of the origins of the Freemasons and their role in world history.
Based on stunning new archaeological evidence, both in the US and in the UK, The Sword and the Grail details the part played by the Order of the Knights of the Templar-here proved to be the true antecedents of the Freemasons-in the discovery of America. As they fled the authorities who wished them destroyed, some of the outlawed Templars carried their treasure to St. Clair Castle, where the knights' relics are still buried. The tomb of their St. Clair Grand Master, with the grail carved on his stone, lies in Rosslyn, the core chapel of the Masonic movement. With the help of the sea skills and wealth of the Templars, the St. Clair Grand Master tried to found a new Jerusalem in the New World, landing with 300 colonists, first in what is now Nova Scotia and then in New England, more than 90 years before Columbus.

Monday, November 8, 2021

The Grail. From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol. Roger Sherman Loomis

I'm enjoying "The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol" by Roger Sherman Loomis...

The medieval legend of the Grail, a tale about the search for supreme mystical experience, has never ceased to intrigue writers and scholars by its wildly variegated forms: the settings have ranged from Britain to the Punjab to the Temple of Zeus at Dodona; the Grail itself has been described as the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper, a stone with miraculous youth-preserving virtues, a vessel containing a man's head swimming in blood; the Grail has been kept in a castle by a beautiful damsel, seen floating through the air in Arthur's palace, and used as a talisman in the East to distinguish the chaste from the unchaste. In his classic exploration of the obscurities and contradictions in the major versions of this legend, Roger Sherman Loomis shows how the Grail, once a Celtic vessel of plenty, evolved into the Christian Grail with miraculous powers. Loomis bases his argument on historical examples involving the major motifs and characters in the legends, beginning with the Arthurian legend recounted in the 1180 French poem by Chrtien de Troyes. The principal texts fall into two classes: those that relate the adventures of the knights in King Arthur's time and those that account for the Grail's removal from the Holy Land to Britain. Written with verve and wit, Loomis's book builds suspense as he proceeds from one puzzle to the next in revealing the meaning behind the Grail and its legends.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

The Knights Templar in the New World. How Henry Sinclair Brought the Grail to Acadia. William F. Mann

I picked up a copy of "The Knights Templar in the New World" by William Mann.
Fans of Scott Wolter and America Unearthed would enjoy it. Some similar themes.
William Mann is involved in the York Rite and serves as Grand Master of Knights Templar in Canada.

Uses the principles of sacred geometry, archaeological evidence, and Native American legend to discover the site of a secret Templar settlement in Nova Scotia

• Offers evidence that Scottish prince Henry Sinclair not only sailed to the New World 100 years before Columbus, but that he also established a refuge there for the Templars fleeing persecution

• Shows that the Grail, the holy bloodline connecting the House of David to the Merovingian dynasty through Jesus and Mary Magdalene, was hidden in the New World

In 1398, almost 100 years before Columbus arrived in the New World, the Scottish prince Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, sailed to what is today Nova Scotia, where his presence was recorded by Micmac Indian legends about Glooskap. This was the same Prince Henry Sinclair who offered refuge to the Knights Templar fleeing the persecution unleashed against the order by French king Philip the Fair at the beginning of the 14th century. With evidence from archaeological sites, indigenous legend, and sacred geometry handed down by the Templar order to the Freemasons, author William F. Mann has now rediscovered the site of the settlement established by Sinclair and his Templar followers in the New World. Here they found a safe refuge for the Grail--the holy bloodline connecting the House of David to the Merovingian Dynasty through the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene--until the British exiled all the Acadians in 1755.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

"Bloodline of the Holy Grail" by Laurence Gardner

Bloodline of the Holy Grail

The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed

by Laurence Gardner

Barnes & Noble Books, 1997

Notes by Travis Simpkins

In the opening pages of Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner, the author lays out a very specific premise, "During the course of this book, we shall study the compelling story of this sovereign lineage by unfolding a detailed genealogical account of the Messianic Blood Royal (the Sangreal) in direct descent from Jesus and his brother James." He then gets much more cryptic in saying, "these pages hold the key to the essential Grail Code- the key not only to a historical mystery but to a way of life." He goes on to discuss various aspects of the Grail Code: "In esoteric Grail lore, the chalice and vine support the ideal of service, whereas the blood and wine correspond to the eternal spirit of fulfillment. The spiritual Quest of the Grail is , therefore, a desire for fulfillment through giving and receiving service. That which is called the 'Grail Code' is itself a parable for the human condition, in that it is the quest of us all to serve and, by serving, to achieve." The remainder of the 350-page text explores all these ideas in depth and really should be experienced firsthand. Mary Magdalene is featured just as prominently within the text as Jesus. Suffice to say, some parts can seem a bit implausible or obtuse, and many sections are slow-going, but the open-minded reader will be rewarded with some valuable insights along the way.

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Lilith

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Astarte

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Jesus Washing Disciple's Feet

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Sacred Allegory. Jan Provost

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Merovingian Seal. King Childeric

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Merovingian King Clovis and Queen Clotilde

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Madonna of the Magnificat. Sandro Botticelli

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: The Birth of Venus. Botticelli

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Mary Magdalene Carried by the Angels. Giovanni Lanfranco

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Ruins of the Great Synagogue at Capernaum

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: The Sea Voyage. Lucas Moser

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Mary Magdalene. Sforza Book of Hours

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Pendragon Castle

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Carlisle Castle

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Sophia. Book of Wonders

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Black Madonna of Verviers

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Rosslyn Chapel

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: Jacobite Chalice, Merovingian Bees

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: The Jesus Maria Stone

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner

Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Laurence Gardner: The Achieving of the Sangreal. Aubrey Beardsley

Sunday, June 5, 2016

"Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach. A Medieval Knight's Quest for The Holy Grail.

Parzival

by Wolfram von Eschenbach

Penguin Classics

Brief Review by Travis Simpkins

"'Upon my word, you are Parzival!' said she of the red lips, 'Your name means 'Pierce-through-the-heart.'" With these words, the great hero of Wolfram von Eschenbach's early 13th Century romance makes his first appearance by name.

Full of chivalry, jousting, kings, queens, Templar Knights and the quest for the all-powerful "Gral", the text of Parzival is still enlivened and entertaining 800 years after it was composed. One of the early romances to feature King Arthur and the Holy Grail, the story is one of conquest, reverence and spiritual redemption. However, the key story elements pertaining to the "Gral" are what maintain the text's relevance and importance for Grail scholars.

The Holy Grail is one of the world's great mysteries, a source of eternal captivation, and the symbolic object is an ever-present undercurrent in the narrative. As stated in translator A.T. Hatto's foreword: "The Grail of medieval romance has the function of indicating a goal worth striving for or preserving, and in content at least a modicum of sanctity."

Descriptions of the Holy Grail, tended by virginal maidens, are luminous: "The Gral was the very fruit of bliss, a cornucopia of the sweets of this world and such that is scarcely fell short of what they tell us of the Heavenly Kingdom." Though desired by all, the Grail cannot be taken by force, for "no man can win the Gral other than one who is acknowledged in Heaven as destined for it." It is interesting to note that Wolfram's "Gral" in Parzival is never described as a chalice… but is a stone of bountiful power that is not destined for the worthy hero until he asks the compassionate question of it's long-suffering King: "What ails you?"

Being one of the great Classics of the medieval period Arthurian Romances, a storyline synopsis of Parzival would serve little purpose here… but for those interested in the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail, the epic poem is both a rich source and required reading.