Grail does not exist - official
Labour supporter and ex-teacher Tony Robinson was on UK tv last night debunking The Da Vinci Code in a two hour special.
From the point of view of 'facts ', there is little proof of the existence of the Grail, but of course the Grail is about ideas and spiritual development. I would love to see him spend as much time dissing Christianity which has just about as much legitimacy. At least we got to see Rosslyn chapel, and the Cathars got a mention, so all is not lost. On the Chariot of the Thoth card,
The central and most important feature of the card is its centre - the Holy Grail. It is of pure amethyst, of the colour of Jupiter, but it shape suggests the full moon and the Great Sea of Binah. In the centre is radiant blood; the spiritual life is inferred; light in the darkness. These rays, moreover, revolve, emphasizing the Jupiterian element in the symbol.
Crowley clearly sees the grail as representing blood, but not necessarily a bloodline. Of perhaps greater importance is the notes at the bottom of the page regarding 418, the number of the Hebrew letter Chet:
This is one of the most important of the key-numbers of Liber AL. It is the number of the word of the Aeon, ABRAHADABRA, the cypher of the Great Work.
Abrahadabra is worked into the frieze of the Chariot. So, the Grail relates to the Holy Guardian Angel (the Great Work). Crowley mentions that the only function of the Charioteer is to bear the Holy Grail. We may also mention St John Baptist's Day in this context. The Fool also has Grail connotations, particularly as Crowley spends some time discussing the Stranger and the Tetragrammaton. Later in the essay, Percivale (Parsifal) is also mentioned, along with Monsalvat.
