Lecture transcripts available online:

BLOODLINE OF THE HOLY GRAIL - read transcript

GENESIS OF THE GRAIL KINGS - read transcript

REALM OF THE RING LORDS - read transcript

The Jesus and Mary Bloodline Conspiracy (Revelations Beyond The Da Vinci Code)

Laurence Gardner's historical detective story on the suppressed archives of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and their hidden lineage first began in his 1996 worldwide bestseller Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Since then, these controversial themes have been taken up in the world of fiction with the bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code, triggering a new and heated debate about the mysterious life of Mary Magdalene.

From the Dark Ages, through medieval times and the Renaissance era, down to the present day, Mary Magdalene has been among the most painted and sculpted of all classical figures. In fact, the oldest of all Christian paintings outside the catacombs of Rome is not of Jesus or his mother, but of Mary Magdalene. Artists and chroniclers have adored her, and churches have been consecrated to her. But for all that, she has been constantly vilified by the Christian religious establishment.

Whereas the research for this book's predecessor, Bloodline of the Holy Grail, was New Testament based, Genesis of the Grail Kings concentrates on Old Testament times, particularly on the early stories from the books of Genesis and Exodus.As discovered in previous studies, the Gospel texts which have been in the public domain for centuries often bear little relation to the first-hand accounts of the era to which they relate.The New Testament, as we know it, was contrived by the 4th-century bishops to support the newly manipulated Christian faith and, in just the same way, the Old Testament scriptures were designed to uphold the emergent Hebrew faith, rather than to represent historical fact.

Clearly, one has to get back to the pre-biblical writings in order to find any anomalies, but the problem in scriptural terms is that the earliest Hebrew writings (which were restructured many centuries later) were themselves only written between the 6th and the 1st centuries BC, so they are not likely to be wholly authentic in their telling of accounts from thousands of years before. Indeed, it is plain that this is the case because, when these books were first written, their express purpose was to convey the history of a religion which did not actually emerge until well into the ancestral story.

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is one of the most enchanting and successful tales of all time. First issued in the 1950s, this famous trilogy could just as well have emanated from the Dark Ages or medieval times, for it has all the qualities and attributes of the most ancient Grail and Ring traditions. This was made possible by the fact that Tolkien (an Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon and English language) had the legendary wealth of ages at his fingertips and moulded his story accordingly.

In considering the history of the Ring Quest, its parallel association with the Quest for the Holy Grail becomes increasingly apparent, as do the origins of fairies, elves, pixies, sprites, gnomes and goblins. Ring lore is also deeply rooted in many of the best loved nursery tales, and provides the essential facts behind numerous time-honoured characters of popular legend.

Grail stories are generally associated with Arthurian knights roaming the Wasteland in search of the sacred relic. But the genre also embodies many other questing tales, incorporating such characters as Cinderella, Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Count Dracula. Each account holds its own separate mystery and fascination, but it is not generally understood that they all stem from a common historical base which is rooted in the ancient culture of the Ring Lords.