From Malory to Monty Python, the eternal chalice – said to be the very cup from which Jesus drank at the last supper – has become enshrined as one of popular culture’s most spiritual icons.

But while Scotland has been given the credit for being the Grail’s final resting place – thanks largely to Dan Brown’s hugely-successful novel The Da Vinci Code – a new book by a Welsh academic says Wales’ claim to the relic is stronger.

Since The Da Vinci Code was published in 2003 it has sold more than 60 million copies and been made into a blockbuster movie.

But Grail expert Dr Juliette Wood of Cardiff University, a New York-born Welsh convert, said theories linking the Grail to Scotland were relatively new. She said:

Wales’ associations with the Grail stretch back to the 14th century.

Dr Wood, who specialises in Welsh folklore and Celtic literature, dismisses Brown’s assertion that the Grail was discovered by the Knights Templar who buried it beneath one of the pillars of Rosslyn Chapel. Dr Wood, who is also secretary of the Folklore Society in London said:

Stories in the past century have tended to romanticise the Knights Templar as some kind of special forces of Christianity but in reality they were simple soldiers, admittedly brave, but ultimately they followed orders.

Other theories which link the Grail to Wales include an ancient Celtic myth surrounding the Nanteos Cup, a sacred life-giving cauldron, thought to have been the basis for many Grail stories.

More recently a theory was put forward by former Western Mail journalist and bard, Owen Morgan, who claimed the Grail was not an object but the beautiful landscape of Wales.

Many further meanings have been devised for the Grail, which has been linked to the Celts and King Arthur, the eucharistic rites of Eastern Christianity, ancient mystery religions, Jungian archetypes, dualist heresies, Templar treasures and even the alleged descendants of Christ and Mary Magdalene.

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One of South Iceland’s museum highlights is, most visitors agree, the popular Skogar folk Museum, which has flourished under imaginative management, and by being set in beautiful countryside near the iconic Skogarfoss waterfall.

Other notable South Iceland museums include the exciting ‘Ghost Centre’ and the Hvolsvollur Saga Centre. Visitors with children may be interested in a visit to the Slakki Farm Zoo and the Icelandic Wonders Museum.

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The Mayo News reports on the 13th annual Bard Summer School.

Bard school co-founder, Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop and American, Robert Hamold, evoke the spirit of the late author and mystic, John Moriarty – who was a regular bard since the school’s inception in 1995. Reading from the introduction to his work, Invoking Ireland, they play out a conversation – based on the Battle of Moytura which was between the Formorians and the Tuatha de Danann – in which a contemporary battle for the soul of Ireland is fought.
This spiritual battle, explained Moriarty in his introduction, is a safari where one side seeks to turn the country into ‘a human convenience’ and the other finds ‘fulfilment in being of one  mind with the wind and the rain’.

The 13th Bard Summer School, Clare Island, was held from Wednesday, July 2 -Sunday, July 6 last. It explored the ‘Myths of Treasure – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ based on the Irish myths of the magical Battle of Moytura. Each year, the Bard Summer School takes one of the great Irish myths and goes on a unique journey of discovery. Some of these stories have lasted thousands of years, and have been handed down through Ireland’s oral tradition. The stories are part of the landscape.

For further information write to bardsummerschool@iol.ie or visit www.bard.ie.

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Excavations are continuing in Enderby after what are thought to be four skeletons from the Iron Age - dating from before 43AD - were discovered.

The team from the University of Leicester said there were probably more bodies buried at the site.

A further four-week excavation in now under way.

Peter Liddle, keeper of archaeology at Leicestershire County Council, said:

We seem to have a track way that runs across the landscape and buried next to that track way are a series of bodies. It’s nice as Iron Age roads and tracks are not that common. Iron Age burial is elusive - you don’t see a lot of dead Iron Age people, you can’t generally find them.

Read the full story here.

The Sons of Mil finally break through the magic of the Children of Danu and land on the shores of Erin. They demand recompense for the death of their kin and negotiations take place. Now it is up to the Tuatha De Danaan - will they fight, flee or come up with another plan? And yet, the great Bard Amergin also has a trick or two up his sleeve!

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The authority’s new logo has been criticised by people who say it does not fully represent Cornwall, with some likening the design to the hairstyles of singer Amy Winehouse and American boxing promoter Don King.

Vanessa Beeman wrote a letter to council leader David Whalley expressing her fears that some people felt they were being stripped of their identity and has called for the interim executive to reconsider its decision.

Mrs Beeman wrote:

It is important that any marque adopted by the new council describes and evokes the essence of Cornwall because it is an international symbol which signifies a place and a culture which has a strong and growing international dimension.

As Grand Bard, I sense that I am speaking on behalf of both the College of Bards and a wide cross-section of Cornish society in asking that the interim executive reconsider its decision and commission a new modern rendition of the traditional crest, including the fisherman and miner and the Cornish language, and with the addition of an evocation of the symbol of St Piran.

The Gorsedd of Bards, which upholds Celtic traditions in Cornwall, promotes Cornish language, literature, music and history. While the not-for-profit group recognised the proposed logo was well-designed and, “in a benign way”, sympathetic to Cornish culture and its Celtic roots, it felt it was insufficient in portraying the depth or range of Cornish identity and heritage.

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Pic: Ammanford Website Ammanford will be stepping back in time this weekend as the local history society teams up with Dyfed Archaeological Trust to celebrate National Archaeology Week. The Castle and Conquest in Wales will be a free admission, all-day event on Saturday, July 12, between 10.30am and 4.30pm at the remains of Ammanford castle in Tirydail.

Richard Jones, heritage management archaeologist for Dyfed Archaeology Trust, said:

The open day at Ammanford castle will be our major event for National Archaeology Week. We have other events taking place at Llandeilo and Carmarthen, but Ammanford will have a huge range of activities and demonstrations.

Members of the Heritage Group, who are attending the day in medieval dress, will provide a tour of the remains of the eleventh century motte and bailey castle and give details of its’ history and construction.

Other demonstrations planned for the Castle and Conquest in Wales will be; a computerised historic environment record showing sites of archaeological importance throughout South Wales, a metal detectorist, a geologist from Brecon Beacons Park, a geophysics demonstration and Gwerin y Gwyr re-enactment group who will be talking about life in Wales before the Norman Conquest with displays of battle skills and axe throwing.

For children there will be motte and bailey samples for them to build their own castle, pottery and a fancy dress competition with prizes going to the best dressed medieval knight or lady.

Dyfed Archaeological Trust’s staff will be also be on hand to discuss aspects of local archaeology, and will even help identify any local archaeological find. Also planned for July 12 is an open day at Dinefwr Park, Llandeilo where a team of archaeologists are excavating a Roman building. For more information about National Archaeology Week and Dyfed Archaeology Trust visit the website at, www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk

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Ammanford Website

Dyfed Archaeological Trust

Seriously, thank you to our keen listener. The copy of Episode 3, Bres the Beautiful,  on the server has somehow become corrupted and only the first half played. We have now replaced it with a brand new, shiny Episode 3 and want to apologise to all of our very confused listeners wondering what happened between this point and Episode 4!

Please accept our sincere apologies for this. We recommend that you re-download the episode from our Episodes page and overwrite your locally stored version. Alternatively, right click this episode 3 link and choose Save Link As.. to save to your machine.

Thank you for your patience,

Gary & Ruth

A concert of Robin & Bina’s original and traditional pieces from Celtic, Indian, Old Timey and English roots - on harp, bowed-psaltery and other instruments - and featuring the East West harmonies of Robin and Bina’s voices.

After the Incredible String Band, and all the other projects they have been involved in as a duo and individually over the past years, Robin and Bina have put together something completely new..

Performing and recording since the 1990s, their songs and music feature the evocative East-West harmonies of their voices with harp, percussion and other instruments in a style described recently as Indo-Celtic-Delta.

Their concerts are seasonal celebrations of the turning year embracing legend - original, traditional, visionary and spiritual material, and folk music from many roots. This is real music, magical, simple funky and true. It makes people feel good - people of all cultures and all ages. It’s full of soul - and highly entertaining.

Box Office (01225) 463362.

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Avalonia tells us that:

The raw, ancient and primordial force symbolised by horns has long had associations with mystery, magick and power. Our ancestors often envisaged their gods as anthropomorphic beings who encapsulated this wild essence. Today the gods of the bull, the ram, goat and stag still hold tremendous power and are invoked at rituals by a new priesthood who continue to seek the wildness of nature and the inspiration that it holds. These deities transcend the safe and known boundaries of human structure, sometimes even luring us across the threshold of the known into the unknown worlds.

This unique anthology brings together the work of more than twenty dedicated scholarswith that of modern day mystics. Through their written and artistic contributions they illustrate just some of the many manifestations of the Horned God.

A true cornucopia of both insightful and well researched essays takes us from the well known Celtic Cernunnos and the legend of Herne the Hunter, to the goat-footed Greek Pan, the lesser known Slavic Veles and Egyptian Khnum. Horned serpents, unicorns, the tale of the Battle of the Bulls in the Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge, the Welsh Gwyn Ap Nudd and the faery Puck are all also considered.

Then a wild hunt as we journey with the mystics who share their own experiences of the gods of the wildwood and untamed beasts. Each story is as different as the person who experienced it - and each illustrating in its own unique way a Horned God who is wild, unpredictable, loving - and at heart a trickster. For those who wish to dare a bit more than others, visionary meditation journeys to explore the mysteries of Cernunnos and Gwyn Ap Nudd are included.

Horns of power would of course be nothing without the horns of beauty of the feminine divine, and in the final section of this anthology the reader is presented with essays exploring horned goddesses.

Whether through the mysteries of their existence, the vast scope of their influence or the endurance of their survival through to the modern day, each contributor provides a window into the wonders and magick of the enduring Horned God.

Table of Contents

CORNUCOPIA: HISTORY & MYTH
The Witch God Cernunnos By Sorita d’Este
Herne: The Royal Hunter By Hortus St Michael
Hero Lord of Annwfn By Gareth Gerrard
Pan: The Hidden All By David Rankine
Veles in Slavic Myth By Kim Huggens
Romano-Celtic Horns By Zachary Yardley
The Horned Serpent By Frater Nechesh
Battle of the Bulls By Dafydd ap Bran
Puck: Forgotten Devil God? By Beth Raven
The Potter from the Nile By Sorita d’Este
Horns From Egypt By Phil Lightwood-Jones
Horn of the Unicorn By Janet Nancy James
Stag & Unicorn (From the Book of Lambspring)

WILD HUNT: RITES & EXPERIENCES
Horn at Dawn By Rhys Chisnall
The Song of Amergin (Irish Poem)
Light in the Earth By John Canard
The Horned One Rises By Peter J. Jaynes
My Bearded Man By Thea Faye
A Small Mouse By Magin
Encounters In the Woods By Harry Barron
A Quest For Horns By Stephen Blake
Dancing with Bulls By Zagreus
Journey With Gwynn ap Nudd By Gareth Gerrard
Hymn to Amen-Ra (Ancient Egyptian Hymn)
Journey to the Mound By Guilia Liani
The Fire Horns By Lupus

HORNS OF BEAUTY: HORNED GODDESSES
Luna’s Shining Horns By Gulia Laini
Ode to the Horned Goddess By Nina Falaise
Goddess Horns in the PGM (Greek Magical Papyri) By Sorita d’Este
In Pursuit of Elen By Jenny Sumaya

Publishing Details

Horns of Power
Manifestations of the Horned God
Edited by Sorita d’Este
(Numerous Contributors)

PB, 204pp, ISBN 978-1905297177
Publication date:31st July 2008

RRP UK£12.99 (With free P&P worldwide)

This book will soon be available for pre-order through this website.