h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It appears from your comments on the 'another da vinci code.....' that we are researching the same sort of thing. There IS a load of crap written about the early christian church, British myth, but in trying to worm out the truth,you get sucked in trying franticlly to find where to stop. A healthy dose of cynicism helps, but so far my area spans everthing from the Arthur legends to the Masons in the City now.

Wanna share stuff??

Hmmm, well, dunno I would say that I research, I read stuff for interest more than anything. And often I read it as fiction, which a lot of it is, especially things like the Renes Le Chateau stories! Very interesting detective stories with a bit of conspiracy thrown in for good measure.
There was, obviously, an actual holy grail, being as it was defined as the cup used at the last supper. p[roviding you belief that certain, if not all, New Testament stories are true then there was, at somepoint, an actual physical cup from which Jesus drank. And the chances of finding it are as good as any other 1st century cup. Chances of identifying it are nil.
As for weirder stuff, well, I have an open mind, indeed my natural inclination is to be a bit too credulous so I tend to over compensate.
As for all the paranormal stuff, yes, well. There are a couple of incidents in my life that have shaped my opinions.
One is my mother, a very traditional Christian and housewife who has had an out of body experience whilst awake and conscious.
However, it is know that such can be triggered by affecting the part of the brain which seems to locate our POV in the world. So could be something, could be nothing.
My take is that there's a lot of stuff out there. And a lot of stuff in our heads. We understand neither fully yet, therefore to categorically say X or Y demands a lot of proof.
For example, you will never get me near a ouija board or a seance or anything like that. Not that I believe there are evil spirits out there waiting to get us (there may be!) but because I know that people can be affected by it mentally. They wind themselves up into a state of terror and convince themselves that stuff is happening or going to happen. (again, this is only some but there ya go). The brain is a very subtle and complex thing, and who knows really how these things affect us. What is certain is that use of/attendance of certain activities can negatively affect the individual, be that through self delusion, group hysteria or external supernatural forces.

As far as the bible and early texts go, I would love to be handed a key to the Vatican archives (and a heebrew/greek/latin/whatever translator!). Fascinating stuff int here I am sure!
But, sorry to say, there are no holy,divine or magically enhanced treasures out there. No spear of david, no holy grail or any of the other things.

Sorry this is so short, but off for 24h or so in france. continue when back

OK, don't forget to bring some Templar treasure back!