The Holy Grail Legend

I am writing this, not for my peers in esoteric studies, but for the general populace. There has been a serious influx of interest in occult and esoteric literature due to Dan Brown's The Davinci Code becoming first, a national best seller, and second a major motion picture. As they say, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

There has been much discussion and media coverage concerning the Holy Grail as of lately, especially in connection with Mary Magdalene and the grail. I would like to inform those who are new to this arena of knowledge that there are other "legends" concerning the nature of said grail. Not just the one you have been exposed to by reason of the public's apparent adoration of Mr. Brown's fictional story, and sensationalized description of events. One such legend has been passed down thus:

Prior to being cast out of heaven, Satan was the most glorious of all the angels: He wore a crown or diadem in which was fixed a green stone which is now called the lapis exilis (stone of exile). During the battle which took place between the host of heaven, and "rebellious Angels" who followed Satan, Michael the arch-angel struck the stone out of Satan's crown with his flaming sword. The stone then fell through the various celestial worlds into the abyss.

Out of this stone was made the Sangreal, or Holy Grail from which it is said that Christ drank at the Passover, or Last Supper. Joseph of Arimathea supposedly brought this chalice to the crucifixion and caught in it the blood issuing from Christ's wounds. Later, Joseph had become the keeper of the sacred relics which included the grail, and the spear of the Roman soldier Longinus ( the lance used to pierce Christ's side). He supposedly carried the artifacts off to a distant country. one version says his descendants placed them in Glastenbury Abbey in England; another says in a castle in Mount Salvat in Spain, built by Angels in a single night, and yet another says that the last of the Grail Kings, one Prester John Parsifal carried it into India and disappeared forever.

This legend however, was quite real in the mind of Adolph Hitler, he sent troops to a museum in which the lance was reported to be, and had it stolen (or so the story goes). As the legend said, "He who possesses the spear, controls the destiny of the world." It is reported, on 12th March 1938, the day Hitler annexed Austria, he arrived in Vienna a conquering hero. He first stop was to the Hofmuseum where he took possession of the Spear which he immediately sent to Nuremberg, which was the spiritual capital of Nazi Germany.