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Bloodline of the Holy Grail : The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed AUTH. Laurence Gardner PUB. Element ISBN 1852308702 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: Review: I hesitate to classify this book as "non-fiction," but technically, that's how it's shelved. This book is a long, trying yarn about the bloodline of Jesus, where it came from and where it supposedly is today. At the end of the book, we discover that the rightful monarch and descendant of Christ is none other than the Stewart pretender who sponsors Gardner's research. If this conflict of interest isn't enough for you, then the lack of reliable scholarship should be. I found the author's pretenses at historical accuracy to be downright offensive. Not only do you need an "open mind and a questing spirit" to appreciate this book, but you need to be completely unversed in the subjects on which he writes because his mistakes, intentional misleadings and screwy speculations are legion. Holy Blood, Holy Grail AUTH. Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, Richard Leigh PUB. Dell Pub Co ISBN 0440136482 CAT. Unknown MISC: Review: The book that started it all! If you're looking for a controversy, here's a really good one! The authors of this book assert that they have proof that the holy grail of legend is actually the bloodline of Christ, carried into France by none other than Mary Magdalene. I have mixed emotions about the book. At the very worst, most people I know who have read it feel that the scholarship is questionable. At the very best, I believe that there *is* evidence of something not quite explicable in the local lore of the Provence region in France. A must read if you enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code!" Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-Le-Chateau AUTH. Henry Lincoln PUB. St. Martin's Press ISBN 0312214847 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: From Booklist: Since 1972, Lincoln has made a career out of exposing the secret of a small village in the Pyrenees. The secret seems to have changed since Lincoln, a television writer, first began his investigation. Originally, it was about a lost treasure. In the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982), the secret was that Jesus survived the Crucifixion and escaped with Mary Magdalene to France, where they had children. Now the secret has something to do with what Lincoln calls "structured landscapes": equidistant geographical points that, when plotted on paper, form pentacles. Although he's not exactly sure what this means, he proposes that it proves the ancients had much more sophisticated measurement abilities than previously thought. If this were the whole book, readers, especially those not schooled in geometry, would lose interest fast. Fortunately, most of Lincoln's story is about how he came to uncover the mysteries of Rennes-le-Chateau and some of the adventures and misadventures he's had along the way. Fans of the popular Holy Blood, Holy Grail will probably devour this, but others may think the real mystery is, How does Lincoln keep twisting the topic into new books? Ilene Cooper Magdalene's Lost Legacy: Symbolic Numbers and the Sacred Union in Christianity AUTH. Margaret Starbird PUB. Inner Traditions ISBN 1591430127 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: The author of "The Woman With the Alabaster Jar" and "The Goddess In The Gospels" returns with her fourth full-length book about the secret that Christianity has been hiding for two millennia: that Mary Magdalene was the Bride of Christ. Read a full review! Parzival: With Titurel and the Love Lyrics AUTH. Wolfram von Eschenbach (Cyril Edwards, Translator) PUB. Ds Brewer ISBN 1843840057 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: From the book description: Vast in its scope, incomparably dense in its imagery, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival ranks alongside Dante's Divine Comedy as one of the foremost narrative works to emerge from medieval Europe. This book is a new translation of Parzival, together with the fragments of the Titurel, an elegiac offshoot of Parzival, and the nine love-songs attributed to Wolfram. Parzival is the greatest of the medieval Grail romances. In its depth and complexity of characterisation this work of the early thirteenth century anticipates the modern novel. It encompasses deeds of chivalry, tournaments and sieges, courtly love, and other erotic undertakings, but also sin and penance, and a deeply moving study in depression. Centre stage are the Grail Castle and Arthur's Round Table, but the pagan world of the Orient also is also reflected. Parzival has inspired and influenced works as diverse as Wagner's Parsifal and Lohengrin, Franz Kafka's The Castle, Terry Jones's film The Fisher King, and Umberto Eco's Baudolino. The Church of Mary Magdalene: The Sacred Feminine and the Treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau AUTH. Jean Markale PUB. Inner Traditions ISBN 0892811994 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: (Not yet available. Coming in June, 2004.) From the book description: The small church of Rennes-le-Chateau, in a remote village in southern France, may well hold the key to the proof of Mary Magdalene's marriage to Jesus and the bloodline they founded. In 1885 the village of Rennes-le-Chateau welcomed a new priest, Abbe Sauniere, for its church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. Abbe Sauniere ordered very strange restoration work for the church, and it is thought that he discovered something during this renovation that brought him to the attention of the power brokers of that time and made him a very rich man. Possible identifications of his discovery range from the gold pillaged from Delphi in Roman times; the treasure brought out of Jerusalem by the Templars, who had a strong presence in this area; and the missing Cathar treasure, spirited out of Montsegur mere days before the fall of that fortress. The Goddess in the Gospels : Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine AUTH. Margaret Starbird PUB. Bear & Co ISBN 187918155X CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: Review: This book is mostly autobiographical in nature, in that it devotes most of its pages to explaining the hows and whys behind Margaret Starbird's plunge into the legends of Mary Magdalene. While it may be considered a "light read," the subject matter is far from trivial. She also talks about the gematria involved in the original Greek words in the gospels that indicate some uncanny coincidences that can't quite be explained away. Read more... The Holy Place: Discovering the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World AUTH. Henry Lincoln PUB. Arcade Publications ISBN 1559701234 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: If you liked Holy Blood, Holy Grail, you'll love this book. The author uses the same research methods to ascertain the 'sacred geometry' of Rennes-le-Chateau... Read more... The Magdalene Gospel: Meeting the Women Who Followed Jesus AUTH. Mary Ellen Ashcroft PUB. Doubleday ISBN 0806643587 CAT. Fiction MISC: Based on the author's collection of writings she has used for retreats, The Magdalene Gospel presents a fictionalized account of the hidden disciples, the women in Jesus' life, viewed his teachings... Read more... The Messianic Legacy AUTH. Michael Baigent PUB. Dell (Reissue edition) ISBN 0440203198 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: From Library Journal: This sequel to Holy Blood, Holy Grail ( LJ 1/15/82) continues the authors' investigation of the French Cabal, the Prieure de Sion. It is divided into three sections: (1) the concept of Messiahship in the thought of Jesus and his contemporaries, (2) the relevance of the concept today, and (3) the current activities of the Prieure. The three sections are related briefly in the epilogue: the Prierue, it is claimed, can provide a leader (Messiah) of the kind the world wants and needs. As with the previous volume, this one suffers from unsound generalizations, unfounded assumptions, and questionable handling of scholarly research. However, since some who read Holy Blood will be interested in the sequel, it is recommended, with reservations, for larger public libraries. Craig W. Beard, Harding Univ. Lib., Searcy, Ark. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ AUTH. Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince PUB. Touchstone Books ISBN 0684848910 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: Book description: In a remarkable achievement of historical detective work that is destined to become a classic, authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince delve into the mysterious world of the Freemasons, the Cathars, the Knights Templar, and the occult to discover the truth behind an underground religion with roots in the first century that survives even today. Chronicling their fascinating quest for truth through time and space, the authors reveal an astonishing new view of the real motives and character of the founder of Christianity, as well as the actual historical -- and revelatory -- roles of John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. Painstakingly researched and thoroughly documented, The Templar Revelation presents a secret history, preserved through the centuries but encoded in works of art and even in the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, whose final chapter could shatter the foundation of the Christian Church. The Woman With the Alabaster Jar : Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail AUTH. Margaret Starbird PUB. Bear & Co ISBN 1879181037 CAT. Non-Fiction MISC: Review: I would recommend reading this and her second book together, because the second book serves well to illustrate how intrinsically tied the first book is with her personal quest for the Divine Feminine. "The Woman With the Alabaster Jar" poses questions that I believe are far from being answered to the satisfaction of everyone, but they are still intriguing questions. Was Mary Magdalene married to Jesus? Did she carry his child into France? The real value in this book is not the speculation about their literal marriage, but whether or not the medieval Cathars believed they were, and an introduction to sacred union symbolism.