If, like me, you were raised on the legends of King Arthur, his knights and their mystery quests, you will simply fall in love with this book because it restores magic and challenge to our modern technological world.

The author, Andrew Collins, began with a premise, a “what if.” He simply asked himself what would happen if he were to be charged, just as King Arthur charged his knights, with the task of discovering the Holy Grail?

British author Andrew Collins is one of the most prolific alternative history writers. He has authored From the Ashes of Angels, Gateway to Atlantis and Tutankhamum and several other books. He is also the founder of Psychic Questing where he uses dreams and visions to discover hidden artefacts and uncover mysteries of the past and present.

Other books he has written using this system of research include The Black Alchemist and The Seventh Sword. He is also the organiser of the British annual Questing Conference which specialises in revealing alternative history, forbidden archaeology and psychic questing.

Just because we live in a fast-paced world does not mean that romance, mystery and psychic reverie does not exist, and Andrew Collins nobly steps forward to embrace this quest.

Andrew Collins is a historical writer but he gladly took up the challenge to seek out the Holy Grail, the cup of the Last Supper which was used to collect the blood of Jesus. The quest is most famously recounted in the story of Parcival, one of the Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table. This legend is one of the most profound and enduring mysteries of the past two thousand years. The quest to find the actual cup has captured the imagination of millions through hundreds of books and films.

Yet, Collins discovers that the Grail has a darker side than the one we know from medieval romance. It seems that across the centuries the grail has passed through many hands, including those of John the Evangelist, who was the gospel writer of the Book of Revelation, and the Knights Templar, who saw it as the “Emerald Cup of Lucifer.” Although it is important to remember that Lucifer is not the “devil” but rather a fallen angel.

Andrew Collins uncovers extraordinary new evidence about the vessel and the forbidden teachings that surround it, including the dual role played in the foundation of the Christian Church by Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist.

These figures had knowledge of a divine light received by Jesus through the baptism and conferred on others during the Paschal vigil. Collins believes this vigil, recounted in the New Testament, particularly the Gospel of St John, was in fact an occult rite that became the model for the Grail ceremony and which lie at the very heart of its mystery.

These teachings were suppressed by the Church of Rome, yet they survived as part of an underground stream of knowledge kept alive by the Cathar heretics of the French Languedoc, the Knights Templar, Renaissance painters, including Leonardo da Vinci and modern occultists such as Aleister Crowley.

Andrew Collins takes us into the shadowy world of arcane societies and esoteric knowledge. He deftly weaves a colourful and passionate story of strange Gnostic sects and the dark side of Catholic history. All the time, like a modern-day Parcival, he is determined on his quest and consults any expert he feels may be able to lead him to the truth.

The author reveals a series of baffling clues and walks us along many dark trails that lead through England’s stately homes and ancient churchyards. Finally, the author finds himself the custodian of a small green stone cup of first-century origin. Whether this is indeed the Grail I leave the reader to discover, but either way, the story revealed is intriguing and amazing.

Andrew Collins writes in the first-person which makes for a very intimate account of his quest. Many researchers may find his use of psychic evidence, dreams and intuition a little disconcerting, yet surely the 21st century is a time of returning to all avenues of investigation.

The author provides the reader with photographs, diagrams and maps, and most importantly some quite irrefutable evidence. In the end the quest reveals the inner secret, the return of the Goddess, or the primordial female energy.

This energy has been exalted by humanity since the goddess cults of Palaeolithic and Neolithic times. Once specially chosen women priestesses would sit at the centre of their realms on thrones and channel this divine light outwards. The divine mothers of India still bear some knowledge of channelling this light. Andrew Collins traces this wisdom back to the Order of Melchizedek, the Grail maidens, and many others.

As with so many other researchers, Andrew Collins discovers that the essence of the Grail is the wise Goddess of ancient times whose final expression was Mary Magdalene. However, it seems that the Magdalene did leave something concrete with which to remember her, and after due scientific research, it seems it is a tiny green alabaster cup.