Notes on

Originally written by Gary Osborn in 2003 for The Serpent Grail.

Note: Although some of this made its way into Chapter 2 which I had written, much of what follows is unpublished material with additional notes made in 2006.

Copyright © G Osborn. 2003. All Rights Reserved.

In July 2003, through the post I received Philip Gardiner's original manuscript of The Serpent Grail. In the weeks preceding this, I had agreed to his offer to work together on this book and possible future books. We had been corresponding close to a year before we finally made the decision to venture into a co-author partnership and there was much that we had already discussed and shared.

  Philip's initial insight was that to cure or heal others, the ancient shaman or tribal witchdoctor would mix snake's venom with snake's blood. The venom can kill, but the blood of the snake acts as an antidote to the poison and neutralises it, and so it was found that both mixed together would create a potent substance that when swallowed could cure most or all diseases. We find today that snake's venom can indeed cure many ills and actually boosts the human immune system. Scientists and imunologists had already been researching into the medicinal benefits of snake venom and other venoms for years. Powdered snake is common in Homeopathy and other alternative treatments, so this 'revelation' was nothing new in itself. However, Philip's angle was that the mixture of both the snake venom and blood was perhaps the original 'elixir of life' and this is what made his thesis refreshing and exciting. In his manuscript Philip stated that these two properties of the one snake were mixed in a 'human skull cap' - adding that this "bowl" was possibly the origin for the Holy Grail vessel. Philip also said that this snake 'elixir' could have given rise to the various snake or serpent cults that were worldwide in ancient times and even earlier as there was evidence to show that the high-protein venom could even act as an hallucinogen - initiating an altered state of consciousness and numerous psychedelic experiences.

  This is what interested me most and realising this the correspondences then came thick and fast. It was possible that the snake's venom and blood also facilitated the shamanic trance state which can lead to higher states of consciousness - even 'enlightenment' itself - hence the reason why 'wisdom' was applied to the snake or serpent.

  I was surprised that the enlightenment experience known in India as Kundalini ("serpent fire") wasn't mentioned at all in Philip's manuscript, because to me it was what the Grail legend was really all about. Also, I could see that the dual processes associated with Kundalini lent some correspondence to the two properties of the snake - not only for healing purposes, but also the 'immortality' and 'wisdom' element relating to the elixir and the Grail. The subject of 'duality' was not presented in the manuscript - not alone the 'mid-point' (the 'third'), which is the principle theme in mysticism and one of the most significant secrets in the schools of the esoteric and of course so-called secret societies. The (Law of three) and especially the 'third' neutral element - being the union and/or 'fusion' of the aforementioned opposites, is what grants us the answers to most mysteries associated with human consciousness and the nature of reality, and so a general understanding of this principle is indeed paramount when researching into these mystical subjects. Even though the concept is indeed simple, its amazing that only a few people will grasp it immediately. [1]

  Having researched into the nature of 'duality' - being the result of my own Kundalini ("serpent fire") experiences - I began to apply my own insights and knowledge to Gardiner's initial insights about the original 'elixir of life'. I understood that the Holy Grail is associated with the 'Holy Trinity' and further that the holy trinity - based on the esoteric Triad - is associated with the opposites as well as the 'neutral point' - the point of enlightenment where 'duality' is cancelled out. - a non-dual state in consciousness. The physical location of this enlightenment appears to take place within the centre of the head or brain - hence my own insight as to why these opposite ingredients of the one snake were 'symbolically' mixed inside a 'skull cap' (head) and why this macabre bowl and the shamanic ceremonies that took place around the partaking of this elixir - like the Christian Eucharist or Mass - was perhaps the original one on which the Holy Grail vessel was based.

  Looking at the reference made to the Holy Trinity in Matthew 28:19, and knowing what the ‘Holy Trinity’ really stood for, I felt it necessary to divide our perceptions of the Grail into three levels and these ‘three levels’ correspond with the principle Triad belonging to the various mystery schools of the esoteric and also the Holy Trinity as expressed in many of the world’s religions.

  As far as I know, no one – no Grail expert or researcher – had ever done this before. And as we will see, by adopting the esoteric principle of the Triad we are able to explain and answer a great deal about our history as well as ourselves in terms of human physiology, the body’s immune system, human consciousness and its processes - as well as the nature of reality.

In occult lore and esoteric thought (which we will also have to explore and understand deeply if we want to understand exactly what the Grail is on all its levels) the MATERIAL, physical world would be the ‘male domain’ and therefore the ‘masculine principle’ associated with the daylight of the sun.

  On the flipside, the MENTAL, psychical world would be the ‘female domain’ and therefore the ‘feminine principle’ associated with the reflected, half-light of the moon.

  There are many illustrations, which convey this principle of opposites via this same symbolism of the Sun and Moon and more besides, and we find these illustrations mostly in alchemical works – an example is given in Figure 1.

-death” in the “new-age” literature – have been interpreted as the heads of two snakes or serpents – making a reference to the two serpents of the Caduceus. Here I have placed the Tai Chi symbol on its side – i.e., horizontal, so as to express these same traits in regard to the western and eastern hemispheres of the earth. (This symbol also applies to the two hemispheres of the brain.)

The Practical First Level

The ‘First Level’ of the Grail is something tangible, physical and also ‘practical’ – what I would call the Grail’s ‘positive’ aspect – in that it is compatible with the materialist, or positivistic paradigm and is something that ‘physically’ exists and can be definitely examined, measured and tested. Therefore the ‘First Level’ would be associated with the ‘male principle.’

  It’s interesting and also ironic to note, that the real, deeper significance of the elementary ‘first level’ of the Grail has been completely overlooked – even though it remains a “hands on,” ‘objective’ truth – something Philip Gardiner revealed for the first time in his original manuscript and in the book.

  But to understand this practical meaning of the Grail, we must first understand how man came to the effectual knowledge surrounding it, and we will discover that this ‘external,’ application of the Grail actually reflects an internal process closely related to the mystery of human consciousness itself.

  People think they understand or can explain the objective ‘first level’ meaning of the Grail, as the Grail being a real ‘cup’ or ‘chalice’ and it having some mundane historical relevance only – again, possibly being associated with Jesus in some way. Although inadequate, many have satisfied themselves with this explanation and tend to look no further as if lacking the ‘energy’ to do so.

  We must ask ourselves, why the Church – the “authority” on the life of Jesus – has no answers for us as to what the Grail actually is. If the truth be known, many of its own ministers are as baffled as most people and fail to give us any satisfactory answers.

  This is just what we would come to expect – especially if the Grail is something more symbolic and esoteric in origin and goes right back to a time before Jesus. This is what we have found, and I would say that the Grail romances of the Middle Ages were really the result of the Crusades in the 11th and 12th centuries and the information and knowledge that the Templars had re-discovered while in the east. Whatever they had ‘recovered,’ they then cleverly encoded further so as to preserve their own interpretations of this knowledge, while at the same time protecting themselves from the Church – which, by then, had served its purpose. However the Templars remained ostensibly allied to the Church until their dramatic dissolution in 1307.

As conveyed in the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol (Figure 2 – also known as the Tai Chi symbol) – each of the male-positive-active and female-negative-passive opposites, contain the other opposite within it – in that the individuals of each gender are believed to possess both a male and female side.

  However because of ‘male dominance,’ tradition has it that the male is seen as predominantly “positive,” in that the male prefers all things to be perceived objectively and in what He considers to be the “true, cold light of day.” We can see that our so-called, rational sciences, mathematical logic and physics, really stem from the male view of the world.

The female on the other hand, is seen as predominantly “negative,” and by the male who considers that all things as seen from the perspective of the female, are perceived as if in the “half-light” of the moon. Therefore for a long time such things associated with the female have been seen as mere “tittle-tattle,” “all stuff and nonsense” – i.e., “vague,” “indistinct,” “subjective” and “illusory.”

  The above is mainly why the sun is associated with masculinity and why the moon is associated with the feminine. But again, each opposite will display both positive and negative traits and this should be emphasised.

  The two curved halves of the Tai Chi symbol – something which has been “done-to