The Holy Grail

The popular Arthurian stories of the Middle Ages depict the Holy Grail as the cup of the Last Supper, which was used to collect Christ's blood after the Crucifixion. There was also though a far older legend which suggests that the Grail was originally a sacred vessel that belonged to Mary Magdalene. Mary is said to have used this vessel to collect Christ's blood after he appeared to her in the tomb. However, it was not a chalice that was used, the cup of the last supper, but rather an oil or ointment jar.

The Bible tells of an event which occurred shortly before Jesus' betrayal and arrest which has long aroused interest as to its meaning. This is the tale documented in two different Gospels of the anointing of Jesus with spikenard contained within an alabaster jar.

It is widely believed that Mary of Bethany, the instigator of this anointing, and Mary Magdalene are one and the same, since the Gospel of Luke describes the former as a sinner, and Mary is still regarded, even today as a fallen prostitute. It is this same vessel, which was used for the anointing, that was later used to collect the blood.

Mary's sacred vessel has been depicted by artists as a variety of different receptacles. such as spice pots, perfume jars, and ointment cups. The word used in the English translation of the Bible for Mary's unguent vessel is 'box', although the earlier Latin Bible uses the word alabastrum, the Roman name for a container for perfumes or scented oils, so called because they were usually made from alabaster. Such receptacles were fashioned in a variety of shapes and sizes; not only boxes, but also flasks, pots, and jars.

The Marian Chalice as it came to be known is believed to have remained sealed inside the tomb for 400 years, until its discovery by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. The cup was then taken to Rome, where it was believed to possess miraculous healing powers. The chalice remained in Rome until the city was sacked by the barbarians in AD 410. Along with other treasures, it was then taken to the last outpost of Roman civilisation in Western Europe - Britain, where it promptly disappeared.

Both the Holy Grail and the Marian Chalice were vessels that were said to have held the blood of Christ and were also believed to have been hidden in Britain. This suggests that the two stories must have common origins. Both vessels were also linked with King Arthur and his knights. In the Arthurian tales, the Grail is kept in a secret chapel in the White Castle, within the White Town. A 13th century English knight named Fulk Fitz Warine claimed to possess the Marian Chalice. His castle, built from light coloured stone, was known as the White Castle, and the town where it still stands is called Whittington - the old English for 'White Town'. It was here in the early 1990s that writer Graham Phillips began his search for the lost Marian Chalice.

The relic which was said to be the chalice re-appeared in the mid 19th century, when Fulk's descendent, a Shropshire writer named Thomas Wright claimed that he had inherited the cup via his ancestors. It was described as a small stone cup made from green alabaster, or onyx. With no heirs to hand it to, Wright hid the cup leaving an elaborate series of clues to its whereabouts, hidden within his poem entitled Sir Gawain and the Red Knight.

The search took Graham to the ruins of an old chapel in the grounds of Hawkstone Park, near the village of Hodnet, erected by Knight in the 1850's. The chapel once housed a series of four statues, symbols for the four Gospel writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The window depicting John showed what looked like a female figure holding a chalice, leading Graham to conclude that the chalice must have been hidden somewhere in the statue that symbolised John.

The statue had once stood on a pedestal, where theoretically the chalice could have been hidden. Unfortunately the pedestal was destroyed by Walter Langham when he bought the land in the 1920's and decided to erect the statue in his garden. Graham then discovered something very exciting, an old guide book which claimed that when broken apart the pedestal contained a small green cup made from stone.

Graham then traced and contacted Langham's descendants and was delighted to find that the cup was still in their possession. It turned out to be a small stone vessel made from green alabaster, about the size and shape of an eggcup. It has since been analysed by the British Museum and identified as a Roman ointment or scent jar dating from the first century AD. Since it is also made from alabaster, it seems highly likely that this could be the original Marian Chalice. This is not however the same as the Holy Grail, which Graham has never claimed to have found.

Despite this fact, when Graham's book was published in 1995, it created an uproar which led many groups to come out from the woodwork claiming that they had the original Grail. The Vatican were inundated with calls from 'interested parties' asking for their position in all of this. Finally the Pope, John Paul II made a statement that none of these Grails were in fact the real one as the true one was in their possession. This was the first time the Vatican had voiced its opinion on the Grail, let alone admitting to its possession.

The search for the grail can in many ways be likened to the search for God, the search for the purity and the truth that lies at the very heart of mankind. The answer then lies within, as indeed does God. The way to the Grail is therefore through our own hearts and minds, contacting the silence within and listening to our feelings and intuition. To coin a phrase from Conversations with God: 'If we do not go within we go without.'