The Holy Grail: Found in a lonely British mansion?

To set out in the quest of the true and mysterious Holy Grail---and dare to hope to find it---has been a fanciful aspiration of thousands who have been shred by the mystical romances of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. In the summer of 1959 two English Martinists set out to track down and behold a vessel which is believed to be the actual Chalice of the Last Supper, brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea and treasured by the monks of Glastonbury until the sacking of the monasteries 500 years ago. The search of this brother and sister led them to a remote mansion in central Wales. How they found it and what lay at the end of their search is set out by Bro William and Sis Marjorie in the following record. 
 
During a holiday in Glastonbury four years ago, we were seeking traces of a knowledge and practice of the Secret Tradition in Glastonbury, the ancient Avalon. Our visit fell, apparently by chance, on June 21st, a date the significance of which is of practical moment in those parts. We found that a group of about 200 followers of an Order bearing a well known name were gathering to hold a ceremony on Glastonbury Tot We saw the Chalice Well, where the Cup of the Last Supper, according to tradition was hidden and used. We visited the crypt of the Lady Chapel in the Abbey of Saint Mary, where the body of Mary, the mother of Jesus is said to lie buried, and where Saint Joseph celebrated the divine mysteries according to the earliest and purest rites of the primitive Church. The site where King Arthur and Queen Guinevere's remains were found---the skull still bearing the break inflicted by Sir Mordred, and strands of Guinevere's yellow hair in a log coffin for evidence to its finders---a11 these were noted and remembered. But the clue we were seeking came with a visit to Mr. Richards at his bookshop by the Abbey Gate. Here a copy of "King Arthur's Avalon", by Geoffrey Ashe was purchased. In it was a detailed record of the destruction of the Abbey, in which the "Treasure of Glastonbury" was said to have been saved from the State looters by the monks. This treasure was shown in the old records, now lost, to have been the Chalice, reputedly that was brought from Jerusalem by Saint Joseph when he founded the Abbey. 
 
Leaving the agents of dissolution to make off with the gold and silver, the monks took this cup into Wales, calling probably at Lanwit Major but eventually taking it to the abbey at Strata Florida, in central Wales. This edifice was not long spared by the sackers, and its monks were dispersed. Again they took with them the treasure of Glastonbury. A group of seven of the monks continued to live in the district until they died one by one. The last one took the "treasure" to the Powell family, on whose land the now ruined abbey stood, entrusting to them a small, rough wooden cup. He told them its history and gave them certain private instructions about it and added that the cup had strange and miraculous properties; and he associated it with the Holy Grail itself. The Powells have ever since been custodians of this cup, faithfully carrying out the trust placed upon them. 
 
What is the Grail?
Now it is necessary to clear up the identity of the Grail. Our inquiries convince us that there are two separate Grails. The original, pre-Christian one, was a cup or dish in which the fruits of the earth were offered by a virgin, representing Mother Earth, to the Sun which brought them forth, as is enacted to this day in the Gorsedd ceremonies of the Welsh National Eisteddfod (pronounced I-steth-vod). It is the second emblem of the Tarot; the Rod, Sword and Pentacle being the first, third and fourth; the cornucopia; and also that mysterious something which the early initiates brought back with them after they had entered Annwn, the higher world. It is the Mother principle, which recieves, gives form and produces growth and fertility, under the Solar influences; and those negative, feminine qualifies associated with the Third Point of the Triad in all the mystical systems. 
 
The second Grail is often called the Holy Grail, because it is the Chalice of the Last Supper, which became linked in the early days of Christianity in Britain with the naive concept of the older vessel, the San-Grail (San Graal or Sang-Real = true blood or blood royal). In this record we are dealing only with the Holy Grail. 
 
We wondered how we would trace the Powells, whether they still had the cup and whether it were possible to see it. Then we found a newspaper story saying that Nanteos Hall, ancestral ho of the Powell family, was to be opened to the public and that it WAS within reach of the seaside town of Aberystwyth. The newspaper added that in this Hall was the mysterious cup reputed to be the Holy Grail. We booked our next holiday at Aberystvvyth.
 
Following the Trail
Arriving there, we found that the family name had been changed to Minrlees, the last of the Powells having married a Major of that name, and that the cup was still there and was revered by the people living near Nanteos. We soon found the name, address and number in the telephone directory and, full of excitement we dialed the number. Was this the Grail? Were we to set eyes on the one and only true sacred vessel handled by Jesus Christ on the eve of His crucifixion? 
 
Miss Mirylees answered our call. No sooner had we announced our identity than she asked: "Is it about the cup"? Yes, we could see it. We could go there that afternoon. Some fantastic and mistaken stories had been circulated about it and the family would prefer us to get all our information from them. 
 
The present home of the Grail (if Grail it is) is a brick and stone mansion with the frontage supported by huge grey columns, looking forlornly across a stream to rolling parkland. Nanteos means "The stream of the Nightingale". 
 
Miss Mirylees joined us in a large room fitted with antique and oriental furnishings. Sister Marjorie's eyes through most of the interview were drawn to a Japanese cabinet in one corner. Then came our questions. Did not anyone try to get possession of the cup for the use of any church? Yes, repeatedly. Some claimed it was their rightful possession, others thought it should be retained by their particulr sect rather than remain in private hands.
 
But the family, although they are quite uncommitted as to the verity of the Grail, regard it as a solemn trust placed upon them. "We hold it available to any sincere inquirer regardless of their particular distinctions," they say. "Any other use would limit its freedom and perhaps lead to exploitation. People have come forward with schemes for its mass use, making money and festering the Advantage of one particular group." 
 
Large numbers of people came to see the cup, our hostess went on. The family never publicised it. Most visitors wished to drink out of it, believing it has miraculous properties and could cure diseases. 
 
"Does it cure them?" Well, the Powells had seen some very remarkable results following its use in this way but made it their practice not to discuss them, except with the people concerned. Miss Mirylees held an open mind as to whether the results came from the cup or from some other cause. Water is simply placed in the cup, left for a while and the visitor then drinks it. Sometimes, she went on, the water turns a peculiar yellow color, 'like wine', but this is not usual. Sometimes they left it with water in it for long periods, hoping to make the water go yellow, and it did not change color. At other times it would change color quickly. The color did not come out of the wood, according to the experts, and defied analysis. At limes the cup had been placed in a large bowl of water and the whole had turned pale yellow. People considered this water particularly efficacious. 
 
Miss Mirylees rose and walked over to the Japanese cabinet. She produced a rough wooden box in which was a small, unimpressive looking piece of carved wood shaped like a sugar bowl--about five inches in diameter about two and one half inches high. 
 
The wood was rough, unornamented and about one quarter inch thick, dark brown and standing upon a minute circular foot about the size and shape of a half-a-crown. 
 
But only about two-fifths of the cup remains. To hold any water it has to be laid on its side. Even this remnant is broken in two, the two halves being loosely riveted together by brass staples. The wood was damp and our hostess explained that a party of White Russians had used it for the benefit of a boy who was suffering from leukemia. He had drunk from it with prayers for his restoration. 
 
The Keeper of the Grail
Neither of us was inclined to handle the relic or to examine it too closely. We felt that if One so exalted had truly held this Chalice to the lips of the Apostles, —the Son of God in the person of Jesus--it would be inappropriate to say the least for two mere students to put their impious 'tourist' fingers upon it. But Miss Mirylees removed out diffidence. Asked where the rest of the cup was, she astonished us with the information that this cup has twice been placed in pawn as a pledge to borrow money, about 50 years ago. On at least on occasion, not all of it came back when the pledge was redeemed and the money repaid. 
 
A substantial portion was missing and was never returned. The Holy Grail in pawn! Christ's Chalice as security for a loan! 
 
The breath-taking story continued. Some of the visitors bite small pieces off the cup when they are drinking from it. They hide the pieces in the mouth and take them away secretly, as though possession of them would command miracles for the possessor. 
 
Our quest was at an end. Sister Marjorie took the cup from Miss Mirylees, examined it briefly and handed it to Brother William, her husband. There were no flashes of insight, visions or sparks up the arm. None were expected. We had not gone there with any request for a simple miracle. With an outward and inward expression of gratitude the cup was handed back to its custodian, who locked it away. 
 
As we walked down the steps of Nanteos Hall, bidding Miss Mirylees goodbye, we thought of this young lady and her mother, formerly Miss Powell and wondered if they were truly the modern Keepers of the Grail. 
 
What are our conclusions? Do we now think upon riper reflection and meditation that it is the original Chalice? We cannot say. Our thoughts are our own. There is outwardly only tradition to say that it is not. We hope it is. And we incline a little towards thinking it is. 
 
Anyone who desires to find this cup, the reputed Grail, may do so, and they will find their way to it if they are to see and touch it. But readers are earnestly entreated not to publicise it or 'push' it, but to mention it only in the most discreet way to persons likely to be sincerely interested or likely to benefit from its use. A large number of sick people are said to have recovered after drinking from it. But the Powell family hope for co-operation in their efforts to discharge their trust with appropriate decency and good taste. 
 
 
This article, written by SERENUS, appeared in the Martinist Review, Vol. IL No, I. Many thanks to the Britannic Grand Lodge (POWYS) of London for permission to reprint this article