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Book Description
The Serpent Grail
Using a combination of the latest historical and scientific research The Serpent Grail brings to light the truth behind Grail – a truth that is far removed from both received Christian beliefs and alternative interpretations made popular by the Da Vinci Code.
This book will tap in to the current obsession with the Grail. Yet it will blow the bloodline theory of Dan Brown’s best-seller out of the water and prove that the origin of the modern grail legend has its root centuries before Christ’s passion.
The Serpent Grail traces the origins of the grail back to Sumerian times and connects it with a powerful serpent worshipping cult that spread from Sumer to the West. This cult both worshipped the serpent as a symbol of wisdom and held a secret knowledge of the life-giving properties of snake venom:
Using a "sacred" chalice initiates drank a mixture of venom and blood from the same snake in ceremonial worship of the serpent deity.
By taking this elixir the cult’s initiates were cured of disease and, it is claimed, their lives were prolonged. Indeed, Gardiner and Osborn believe that this is the root source of the Elixir of Life legend.
This book uncovers archaeological evidence to trace the spread of the serpent cult through prehistory from Mesopotamia to Egypt and Greece to the West. It demonstrates how the legends borne out of their serpent worship were inculcated into Christianity, Judaism and Islam at the birth of these religions.
This book also demonstrates parallels between European and American serpent worship. It uses archaeological evidence to demonstrate that the knowledge regarding the benefits of imbibing serpent venom was inculcated into ancient symbolism on both sides of the Atlantic. One important site that features in the book is the ancient city of Yaxchilan in Mexico where Gardiner discovered images with amazing ceremonial similarities to the Christian Eucharist:

"On what is known as Structure 23 in the ancient city of Yaxchilan there are remarkable images of a bloodletting ritual… (that) depicts the preparations for a ‘holy war’ and unfolds in a number of scenes across several lintels. Shield Jaguar, the blood-lord of the city, stands holding a flaming staff. Below him is the female-element of Lady Xoc (meaning ‘shark’) who is performing a unique and disturbing sacrifice. She is kneeling, dressed in sky-ornamented clothing with a headdress showing the god, Tlaloc, the ‘rain god’ of Teotihuacan, thus indicating her lineage and blood to be of the gods with life-giving powers.
"She is pulling a rope or vine strung with thorns through her tongue, and the blood is dripping down it into a bowl/basket decorated with serpents at her knees. The design on the bowl/basket, known as the ‘step-fret’, represents water, waves, wind, sun, light and, most importantly, life. It is a known symbol of the serpent and a magical talisman against death. Her blood is also splattering upon white paper placed in the bowl/basket to collect and somehow enhance the power of the sacred offering, so that the vessel only becomes a life-giving symbol after the paper has collected the blood. Like the Grail, the vessel is a receptacle for blood. Furthermore, the alchemical colours red and white that are mixed in this sacrificial scene are the same as those the bread and wine of the Christian Eucharist: the paper and bread wafer are white; the blood and wine, red. The vessel then changes into an unadorned ceramic, the serpent image having now come to life following the offering of!
blood."
The Serpent Grail pp 188-9
The Serpent Grail also offers a unifying theory regarding snake imagery and symbolism that is present throughout the religions of the world. It demonstrates an alternative reading of myths and fables such as St Patrick driving the serpents from Ireland and show how the shadow of the serpent cult can still be seen in both Christian architecture and ceremonies. As Philip Gardiner himself said after a recent research trip to Rome: "Rome and especially the Vatican is littered with serpent imagery. Inside the Vatican statues and sculptures link the serpent to both the grail and the Ark of the Covenant. Even the name Vatican bears the etymological imprint of the serpent: Vati = place; can = serpent."
Finally The Serpent Grail looks at modern scientific research to provide the proof for the historical theories. Today scientists from all over the world are discovering healing and life-extending properties in the complex proteins that make up snake venom – from treatment for tumours and cancers to relief from high blood pressure.
"In the United Kingdom, the Cancer Research Campaign has welcomed research into Contortrostatin (CN), a protein found in the venom of the Copperhead Viper, which has proved effective in combating metastasis (the spread of a malignant tumour from its original site). In experiments on mice, CN reduced the spread of tumours by 90 per cent."

The Serpent Grail p 281
The book also examines recent scientific research into why snakes are immune to their own venom which explains why the mixing of snake venom with the blood was so important in the ancient serpent worshipping ritual:
"It may be that the dilution of the venom with blood – especially the blood of the same snake, which itself acts as an antidote by protecting the snake from its own venom – produced a virtual cure-all for the ancients. This would explain why the blood element in all the mythical stories we looked at was so important, especially in those myths involving the snake or serpent. For now, however, we have to welcome the fact that there are some Western scientists who are willing to look at the individual elements of snake venom in their search for new medicines."

The Serpent Grail p 280
In The Serpent Grail we examine the work of Dr. Zoltan Takacs, a herpetologist at Yale University, who has discovered exactly why snakes are not susceptible to their own venom through research into the Egyptian Cobra. Takacs has discovered that an amino acid present in the cobra’s blood molecules prevents the venom from latching on to its target. Indeed, this is evident in the blood of most venomous snakes to prevent them poisoning themselves as they eat their prey. Could this explain why the mixing of serpent blood and venom was so important in venom drinking ceremony?
Will modern science finally unravel the true meaning of the Holy Grail?
Much more information on the book and authors can be found at philipgardiner.net, serpentgrail.com and gardinerosborn.com

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