England Pilgrimage Will Seek The Holy Grail
Did the uncle of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, bring the goblet used in The Last Supper when he visited England? A May 8-18, 2016, Vancouver-based Sacred Earth Journeys sacred sites tour will examine not only the Grail legend, but also places associated with King Arthur, Lady Guinevere and Merlin.
The “King Arthur’s Avalon” tour will be led by Phil Cousineau host of the “i television series Global Spirit and author of the bestseller, The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred.
Highlights of the itinerary include excursions to Glastonbury, where a thorn tree is said to have grown from Joseph’s walking stick, and Cadbury Castle, associated with King Arthur’s Camelot. Joining the group will be scholar Geoffrey Ashe, whose book King Arthur’s Avalon: The Story of Glastonbury is considered the definitive work on the historical origins of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
There will be visits to West Camel, where King Arthur fought his last battle, Tintagel Castle, where legends say Arthur was born, the Great Hall in Winchester, with Arthur’s Round Table, and Marlborough College, site of Merlin’s Grave.
Also included will be excursions to Stonehenge, Bath, Dartmoor, Salisbury Cathedral, St. Michael’s Mount, Westminster Abbey, the British Museum and Ye Olde Cheshire Inn, where Dr. Johnson and Charles Dickens dined.
There are optional tours of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and Oxford, with lunch at the 330-year-old Eagle and Child Pub, once the weekly meeting place for a group of writers, including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
Sacred Earth Journeys president, Helen Tomei, commented, “This quest for the Holy Grail, as it was for the Knights of the Round Table, will be an inner journey as well as a physical excursion. Participants will literally walk along the same pathways as King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Merlin, Joseph of Arimathea and the ancient Druids.”
