The Serpent Grail: The Truth Behind the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life

very pleased with the price of the book as well as the contents. i have to admit i haven’t finished the book yet, but after only 3 chapters ill say i got my monies worth

Throughout recorded history, human males have had trouble using their sexuality to benefit themselves and others. Sexual energy and territorial rights have continually been the basis for most wars and human problems, individually and collectively. This book deals with the societies that have learned special ways to sublimate sexual energy. Little boys always have to learn how, what and when to deal with their penis when sexual energy begins to arise and throughout life this is a problem and has always been a problem with all human males--and consequently females. This book is easy to read with few technical terms and the terms are explained. Well written, plain and simple with explanations of events following in logical order. Both writers are personally interested in the topic from a layman's approach. I suspect that both authors at some point in their research, perhaps before then, and joined some branch of one of the secret societies. The authors do not deal with the dark side of secret societies nor do they hint of this anywhere in the book. The Shining Ones refers to those that have gone through an initiation process in which they have learned how to deal with their sexual energies: how to sublimate these energies for social purposes--usually. If the methods are successful, the initiate then becomes an "enlightened or illuminated one"--a Shining One. The Shining One refers mostly to the initiate's inner feeling of energy and enlightenment--a new way of life that was spoken of by Christ and others. The initiate then feels illuminated with new energy; Shining inside, often referred to as the inner light or illumination. Both writers collaborated also on another book, The Shining Ones, which is about some of the members of these secret societies. This book is about how humans have dealt with their sexual energies: how they have sublimated these energies via special, secret methods. The serpent or snake became a model for the human penis and how special methods allowed these initiates to use their sexual energies to help themselves and others. Both of these books are well written and present the concepts that are the origins of all secret societies: how humans, particularly men, learn to harness their sexual energy for social purposes (usually social).

THE SERPENT GRAIL is akin to the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. In the latter case the Bible in the West had only been copied in Latin, a language the common person could not understand. Its seventeenth century translation fueled the Protestant Revolution. THE SERPENT GRAIL makes the deepest levels of occult lore accessible to people today who possess a sincere desire to delve into their innermost Self & ancestral roots. Together Gardiner and Osborn have created their own unique individual and collective version of THE GREAT WORK. Paganism: An Introduction to Earth- Centered Religions History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1) Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events, and Symbols of the Order of the Temple

Regardless of the previous reviewers feminine angle I found this book to be amazingly concise and covering all the aspects, indeed even those supposedly left out. I have also just read Gardiner's new book Secrets of the Serpent, which goes into much more depth. The Serpent Grail is about the Grail and it's links to the serpent worshippers of the past. It reveals the elixir of life and therefore is not a mythological encyclopedia as desired by the previous reviewer. Secrets of the Serpent reveals much more than any other mythological book of the serpent and even comes up against the Da Vinci Code. The Serpent Grail is an amazing new angle on the Grail lore and one that many scholars have reviewed glowingly, so it has to be worth a look.

I loved it! Mr. Gardiner has done a great job of of explaining complex concepts in a very managable way. I highly recommend it.