The Serpent Grail

“I am the Lizard King.” (Jim Morrison)

(Conspiracy Nation, 01/16/08) – The Quest for the Grail contains a perilous side-path: the ink blot. There is some mystery behind the various stories of the Holy Grail. Many brave Knights unfortunately are deceived by the ink blot and begin to see whatever their imaginations dictate.

Whether or not authors Philip Gardiner and Gary Osborn ("The Serpent Grail". London: Watkins Publishing, 2005) have been deceived by the ink blot is put to one side, for the moment. Their account contains useful, incidental information for Knights on the Quest. Caveat lector: If you are easily upset, then read no further.

Gardiner and Osborn have discovered "mounting evidence" supporting their theory that the Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Holy Grail not only were more than stories but "worked in precisely the way described in ancient myths and legends." But Masters of the Craft used metaphors to hide the true facts about the Grail.

Serpent cults appear to have once been worldwide. For example the serpent mound in Ohio bears witness to a long-ago snake worship. The island of Rhodes, said to have once "swarmed with snakes," in fact once swarmed with snake followers. Quetzalcoatl was the plumed serpent god of Central America. Ailing like King Arthur, he sailed away on a barge but promised to return as the "once and future king." Serpent worship was once common in Ireland until Christianity’s dominance systematically wiped it out. (See also, "The Kingdom Of The Ark" by Lorraine Evans which reportedly links Ireland with Egypt.) According to Philip Gardiner, the signs of this ancient wisdom lore can still be found today throughout the world.

Thousands of years ago there was a worldwide cult of the serpent. "Eve" in Genesis, is from the Hebrew havvah, among whose meanings is "serpent." In Exodus 4: 3-4, Moses casts down a rod and it becomes a snake. In Exodus 7: 10-12, the Rod of Aaron also turns into a snake.

When Jesus promised "eternal life" He may have meant more than an after-life in the Beyond. What secrets did He learn from Egypt during His years there? The Bible is notably silent on those years. Jesus may have been a "snake handler," similar to how some Appalachian religions also involve snake handling. Various saviours have offered "eternal life." This may have a medicinal meaning besides a spiritual one. Aesculapius, said to have been a man-god, knew how to revive the dying (and even the dead) by using the blood or venom of a snake. The Rod of Aesculapius features one twining snake. The Caduceus, emblem of modern medicine, includes two twining snakes.

The Naasenes, a sect which flourished ca. 110-140 AD, were the Nazar, the Guardians, associated with the serpent. "Nazar" also links with the Nazarenes. There was no city of Nazareth, and Jesus of Nazareth translates as Guardian of the Serpent. (In Ireland, a place called "Naase" in Kildare is claimed to have been the source of the stones at Stonehenge.) Trained by the Therapeutae in Egypt, Jesus was known as the "Son of the Serpent." The "wine and gall" offered to Jesus at the crucifixion was blood and snake venom, meant to strengthen the Lord. Nicodemus applied aloes and myrrh to the body of Jesus in the tomb to expel the surplus poison. Jesus left behind his shroud in the tomb, like a snake shedding its skin, when He "rose from the dead." The Turin Shroud symbolizes the "sloughed skin" of the Lizard (Wizard) King.

Whatever happened to the Holy Ghost? The Grail is associated with the Holy Ghost. It occupies a crucial mid-point between positive and negative cycles, called the zero point. Consider a sine wave. It undulates like a snake, going above and below an arbitrary line. At the point where the wave crosses the line, opposites are momentarily united or canceled out. Since the point has no dimension, it both does and does not exist. The zero point represents eternity, sexual fusion, and annihilation of mundane consciousness. At that point where opposites are in balance, a portal opens between Heaven and Earth and the Holy Ghost is seen. The Grail Castle represents that portal. Stonehenge, the "Revolving Castle," may have hosted Grail mixing bowl ceremonies. Avebury, near Stonehenge, is believed to have been a "Serpent Temple." Avelon, to which destination Arthur, the Wounded King, finally went, seems to have been Avebury.

Merlin, the "Wizard," is really the Lizard, signifying the snake and the sine wave undulations.

The Grail, according to Wolfram von Eschenbach's account (Parzifal), is a stone brought from Heaven to Earth by the Neutral Angels. Those angels did not take sides in the battle between God and Lucifer. The Neutral Angels may also be "The Watchers" a.k.a. the "Nephilim." In Ireland they were called the Tuatha de Danaan, "Shining Ones" and early inhabitants of Eire. St. Patrick did not chase the snakes out of Ireland, he chased the Tuatha de Danaan from the land. Knightly battles with dragons also echo the theme. The Tuatha de Danaan brought four items with them into Ireland: the Sword of Lugh; a magic spear; the round Stone of Destiny; and the cauldron of their god Dagda. (Swords, Wands, Disks, Cups, of the Tarot deck; a.k.a. Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Hearts, of the playing card deck.)

Eschenbach had visited the Knights Templar in the Holy Land. This additionally connects the Grail legends with the persecuted Order. One Helinand, a medieval writer on Grail subjects, had as his mentor Bernard of Clairvaux, who helped found the Templars.

The Old French graal is from the Latin cratella, in turn derived from the Greek krater, meaning a "mixing bowl." The mixing together of opposites creates momentary fusion. The Grail was the bowl in which the opposites were mixed. This allusion is personified in the alchemical Quest. The witches cauldron was a mixing bowl, with toads and snakes as ingredients.

The Elixir of Life is mixed in the Grail. Snake venom and snake blood are said to be the two ingredients. The blood, besides making the venom harmless, yielded a powerful medicine, it is said. That medicine, if the authors' theory is correct, cured diseases and even extended life.

The Phoenix which rises from the ashes is paralleled by the Dove (Holy Ghost) which visited the Grail Castle once a year, on Good Friday. This day is in other words the Vernal Equinox, a zero point on the sine wave (snake wave) and having potency as opening a portal between Heaven and Earth. Extremes of the sine wave occur at the Winter and Summer Solstices. This editor has observed how bizarre events seem to take place during the Winter Solstice extreme. (See, e.g., “Sensitive Tiger Taunted Into Torment,” http://www.shout.net/~bigred/TigerTorment.html)

In the 19th century, "snake oil" was peddled. Mostly, no actual snake oil was contained. Real snake oil was praised and said to be beneficial to health. It is known that American Indians used snake oil for various health problems.

Modern medicine has been cautiously examining health products derived from snakes. A mass mailing for a new magazine, "Science Illustrated," includes the following: "Snake Venom: It's a tremendously deadly weapon, refined over the course of more than 100 million years. It kills tens of thousands of people every year. And thanks to new research, it may soon be the basis for cures that save the lives of many more."

Various dilutions of snake venom are now being tried for pain relief, hypertension, and as an anti-coagulant. Products of snake venom may even dramatically boost the immune system. For the ancient, vanished people of the Grail, dilution of snake venom with the snake's own blood, which apparently contains an anti-venom, may have been an effective cure-all. (No medical advice or claims are necessarily advocated by this report.)

Conspiracy Nation

http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html