Was the Holy Grail Christ's cup of the Last Supper, or was it a Celtic cauldron of rebirth? Did Joseph of Arimathea bring Christ's cup to the Isle of Avalon in Britain, or was the Grail a treasure of the heretical Cathars? Did the Grail cause the failure of King Arthur's Fellowship of the Round Table, or was it the inspiration for the Knights Templar of Jerusalem to create the tarot cards? Did the Grail carry the blood of Christ, or was Mary Magdalene the lover of Jesus who carried his blood in the form of their child? What place does the Holy Grail take in the organized church?;Exploring the enigma of the Holy Grail, the book retells nine versions of the legend, from such different sources as the pagan Celts, the courtly troubadors and the Cistercian monks. It also contains maps of the Arthurian world and the historical world of the 12th century.