Chapter 9

Dr. Richardson invited Dr. von Eichenberg to stand and when they were both in front of the rest of the audience he added.

“Dieter will now explain the context of our mission to us. I still have to tell you the topic that has entrusted to us, and that everyone will probably be familiar with ... The Search for the Holy Grail.”

A murmur of amazement ran through the room. Eichenberg began exposing.

"As Dr. Richardson presumed, the mere mention of the Holy Grail evokes in many people vague memories of ancient narratives, but given the nature of the subject, it is difficult to pin down what it is, and even to determine the nature of that supposed sacred object...Is it an old metal vessel? Or a miracle stone? Or a bloodline that goes back to Our Lord Jesus Christ? Next we are going to try to reconcile the different versions that appeared in the story about the Grail, although let me warn you that we will not achieve a solid, coherent and scientifically acceptable narrative since the stories mix verifiable historical elements with a universe of myths and legends. My role will be to try to draw a common thread, and the speaker who will come later will immerse us in that fluid context with magical nuances, where a good part of the religious and mythical traditions of the West merge.

He took a sip of water and continued.

“Everyone knows the biblical reference to the chalice or cup used by Jesus Christ to drink wine during the Last Supper, represented by the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, in which it appears in the foreground. In establishing the tradition of the Lord's Supper, central to Christian ceremonies, he says. “Every time you eat this bread and drink this wine, you will be announcing the Lord's death until he returns” Corinthians 11-26.

“This reference is both the foundation of the myth of the Holy Grail, and is thus part of the New Testament.

“In his work Perceval, also called Le Conte du Graal, written between 1181 and 1191 and in which he refers to the Last Supper, the French poet Chretien de Troyes creates the first known reference to the Holy Grail, although he gives more importance to the host contained in it than to the very vessel that he does not call the Holy Grail but only the Grail. Later, Robert de Boron, in his work Joseph d'Arimathie and Estoire del San Graal, transforms the simple Grail of Chétien into the Holy Grail, and, based on previous legend, attributes it to having been the container that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect the blood shed by the wounds on Christ's side caused by the centurion's spear during Christ's crucifixion, thereby creating a first connection between the Holy Grail and the blood of Christ.

“According to Boron himself, Joseph of Arimatea is personally in charge of taking the Chalice to Europe, and to Britain in particular, although he does not specify the place where the relic would be jealously guarded.

“With the works of Chrétien, Boron and later Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Holy Grail is embedded in Christian mythological legends and traditions with repercussions that last until today.

"With this I conclude my dissertation, in which I have tried to give as consistent an introduction as possible to a set of isolated traditions that present numerous legendary, esoteric and even magical aspects, which will be developed by the next speaker."

At that moment the telephone line of the office next to the room rang and Dr. Richardson rose from his chair and answered briefly. He then he returned to the conference room and told everyone.

“The two missing assistants have just arrived, one of them comes from Europe and the other from Washington DC. The timing is perfect as Dieter von Eichenberg has just presented the previous part. Thanks Dieter and I ask you all to take a short break because since the security personnel have left I must go open the door of the building to those people. Please Lakshmi and Jerome offer coffee to the attendees until I return. "

After the round of coffee Watkins asked the attendees to return to their seats. Richardson took the floor and introduced the newcomers by saying. “Mr. Corrado Gherardi is a member of our Community in Europe, and he is our specialist in History of Religions and esotericism, both western and eastern. Corrado is a former Jesuit priest who retired from the Order to marry his Lebanese wife. Several of you already know him and know how his expertise has guided Bluthund's actions in the past to achieve the resolution of our cases. Corrado will continue with the exhibition started by Dr. von Eichenberg regarding the Chalice or Grail. Then I will introduce Admiral B.C. Donelly, advisor to the United States Department of State.”

"Corrado, please." The aforementioned, a tall, stocky and ruddy man, stood in front of the audience and began to speak in perfect English with a strong Italian accent. “I have known Dieter von Eichenberg for a long time and I know that he is the best scholar to organize the historical parts of the so-called Legend of the Holy Grail in a systematic and transmissible narrative. I am now to delve into the dark and still hidden aspects of it, which have played such an important role in religion, art and world politics.

“We are going to take up the thread of this narrative from the key character of Joseph of Arimathea.

“As far as the versions that reached us are reliable, Joseph was a wealthy Jewish merchant who some sources attribute to having organized the event known in the Christian tradition as the Last Supper. The chalice later called the Holy Grail would have belonged to his tableware.

“After the crucifixion of Christ, Joseph would have persuaded Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor based in Jerusalem, to give him the body of Jesus and the spear of the centurion Longinus who had wounded Christ, and buried them together with the chalice in a grave on his property.

“After his crucifixion Jesus would have appeared to Joseph ordering him to take the Grail out of Palestine to put it out of the reach of the Roman governor and his Jewish henchmen, who sought to end the legend of Christ as soon as possible. For this reason, in one of his business trips, Joseph took the chalice to the island called Britannia, today Great Britain, and established his house in Glastonbury, where according to this legend he had a chapel built, which would later have a relevant role. While he lived there, Joseph would have taken precautions to protect the safety of the relic, which is then lost in the night of time until, always according to this legend, a knight with a pure heart found it.

"In the so called Arthurian Cycle, referring to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which collects this legend, the pure knight that found the Grail was Sir Galahad. This knight was the illegitimate son of the famous champion Sir Lancelot and Elaine, but he was a young virgin and of pure heart.

“Regarding this version, it has the peculiarity that it associates Glastonbury Abbey with the residence of King Arthur and his court of knights in the mythical city of Avalon.

“You will not be surprised that there are versions that do not fit this myth. In one of them, particularly developed in the last two centuries, Jesus had an earthly son with Mary Magdalene, and after his death Joseph of Arimathea takes mother and son to Europe, presumably to France, where over time their descendants mix their blood with the Merovingian dynasty. In this case, the Holy Grail was actually the SangReal, and it was not an inanimate object like a vessel but living people who carried the blood of Jesus Christ.

" At that moment the phone rang again and this time it was Jerome Watkins who answered.

"The delivery order that we have made for lunch has arrived and being 12:30 pm I propose that we interrupt at this time of meeting to allow us not only to have lunch but also to stretch our legs and relax our minds."