Joseph of Arimathea and 

Register for Blueprinting your Life in Light or  The Crossing Classes. If you can't join us physically join the ONLINE CLASSES.

ABSENT EVIDENCE

Of Jesus' visits to England, scattered evidence abounds. Here's a short scenario from C.C. Dobson:

"As a boy He was brought merely for a visit by Joseph of Arimathea on one of his voyages. Later as a young man He returned and settled at Glastonbury for the purpose of quiet study, prayer, and meditation. Here He erected for Himself a small house of mud and wattles. " Dobson goes on to present historical evidence.

In a letter to Pope Gregory, St.Augustine states that there was a church "constructed by no human art, but divinely contructed (or by the hands of Christ Himself), for the salvation of His people."
The historian, Gildas, says Jesus' "Light and precepts" were "afforded...to this island during the ...last year of the reign of Tiberius. Tiberius retired to Caprae in A.D. 27.
William of Malmesbury includes in his writings the contents of a letter given by King Ina to Glastonbury, 700 AD."To the ancient church, situate in the place called Glastonbury (which Church the Great High Priest and Chiefest Minister formerly through His own ministry, and that of angels....." This confirms Gildas' statement that Jesus had a ministry at Glastonbury.
The historical records called the Domesday Surveys, also bear witness to Jesus' presence in Glastonbury. These surveys state that Glastonbury contained 12 hides (160 acre parcels) of land that "have never paid tax." This was because the King Arviragus gave these parcels to Joseph of Arimathea when he arrived in England in 37 AD.

TRADITIONS

Four of the many traditions of Jesus coming to England are discussed in Capt's book.
Ancient carvings on the stone arch of Place Manor Church has an insignia of an anchor, a lamb and cross. The accompanying pictographs tell the story of Jesus and His uncle coming to Place for tin.
Another traditional story is that of Jesus teaching the miners of Cornwall how to smelt tin from ore.
Old Cornwall mining Ordinance maps show two interesting names. "Corpus Christi" (Body of Christ), and "Wheel of Jesus" (wheel is a Cornish name for mine). Also found in abundance in Cornwall's mining area are "Tunic Crosses." These crosses picture a Christian cross on one side and the image of a young lad dressed in a short tunic; obviously not a picture of a crucified or risen Christ.
This quote from Capt relates the Mendips mining area to Joseph and Jesus. "Traditions among the hill folk of Somerset relate that Joseph, after first seeking tin from the Scillies (islands) and Cornwall, came to the Mendips and was accompanied on several occassions by the boy Jesus. At the parish Church of Priddy, high on top of the Mendips, they have an old saying: 'As sure as our Lord was at Priddy.' And a carol sung by the children of Priddy begins: "Joseph was a tin merchant, a tin merchant, a tin merchant, and goes on to describe him arriving from the sea in a boat."

Much has been written about the Lost Years of Jesus. Many accounts place him in India. One South American tradition sounds very much like Jesus visiting that continent. In fact, many say that the complete and speedy success of the Spanish invaders was due to this tradition; that the Visitor prophsied that He would return.
Consider. If Joseph had a fleet of ships, that gave Jesus access to worldwide travel. Do not doubt for even a second that world travel to ALL lands was possible. There is abundant evidence to prove the fact.

The traditions of Glastonbury and Cornwall form the following scenario:
Joseph of Arimathea was an uncle of the Virgin Mary, being a younger brother of her father. He gained his wealth as an importer in the tin trade, which existed between Cornwall and Phoenicia. On one of his voyages he took Our Lord with him when a boy. Our Lord either remained in Britain or returned later as a young man, and stayed in quiet retirement at Glastonbury. Here he erected for himself a small house of mud and wattle. Later Joseph of Arimathea, fleeing from Palestine, settled in the same place and erected a mud and wattle church there.

You may find The Traditions of Glastonbury and a very nice video tape showing the locations around Cornwall at Mr. Capt's website.
The titles used for the Britain pages may be found in the Bibliogrphy.

 Joseph of Arimathea, Tin Merchant

According to the Talmud, Joseph of Arimathea was said to have been an uncle of the Virgin Mary, being a younger brother of her father. He gained his wealth as an importer in the tin trade, which existed between Cornwall and Phoenicia.

Joseph along with St. John buried Jesus after the crucifixion. Joseph, in the tin trade, made a lot of trips to Britain, where being a rich merchant made close contact with royalty; namely Kings Beli, Lud, Llyr and Arviragus, who gave Joseph and his companions some 2000 acres of land, tax free. Arviragus would become God's "Protectorate" for the Cradle of Christianity, Glastonbury. Caradoc, Pendragon of 'Britain', would become God's "Protectorate" of the fledgling British Church.

Joseph of Arimathea was a man of refinement, well educated, and one who possessed many talents, had extraordinary political and business ability. He has been called one of the richest men in the world. He learned about that tin trade from the Phoenicians, which then was akin in importance to that of steel today. They had been bringing ore from Britain for centuries. Joseph was well educated, a member of the ruling political body of the whole country. In St. Jerome's translation, Joseph's official title is given as 'Nobilis Decurio', a minister of mines for the Roman empire, with direct access to Pilate himself. He was no slouch. How better to protect Jesus, after Joseph the carpenter died, and insure the seeding and growth of the Gospel in Britain.

The basic story of Joseph's trip to Britain varies in some details from account to account. But the bare facts are that Joseph, with many disciples traveled from the holy land by Phoenician boat and landed at Marseilles (a Phoenician trading post), in the Vienoise province of the Gauls (France). From there he went on to Britain established seminaries and sent out missionaries. In his "Ecclesiastical Annals", Cardinal Baronius, Curator of the Vatican library, gives this account. "In that year the party mentioned was exposed to the sea in a vessel without sails or oars. The vessel drifted finally to Marseilles and they were saved. From Marseilles Joseph and his company passed into Britain and after preaching the Gospel there..."

How many of the disciples were with Joseph of Arimathea during his short stay in Gaul, before going on to Britain, is hard to say. Various existing records agree in part with the Cardinal Baronius record, naming among the occupants of the castaway boat Mary Magdalene, Martha, the hand-maiden Marcella, Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, and Maximin the man whose sight Jesus restored. Other records state that Philip and James accompanied Joseph. Others report that Mary, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were also in the boat.

More on Joseph of Arimathea & Phoenicia,  http://phoenicia.org/britmines.html

"From royal and suppressed archives comes proof of the descending heritage of Jesus in the West. In Bloodline of the Holy Grail Laurence Gardner casts penetrating new light upon the Grail Code of Service and the venerated feminine element, abandoned by the Church in order to forge a male dominated society. This unique work offers revelatory insight concerning the descendant heirs of Jesus and his brother James while, in documenting a hidden legacy of the Messiah, it unveils hitherto guarded facts about characters such as Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea. Featuring all the charm and adventure of Arthurian romance, this worldwide bestseller has a cutting edge of political intrigue, which removes the contrived blanket of established dogma to reveal one of the greatest historical conspiracies ever told." http://graal.co.uk/bloodline.html

Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail

Margaret Starbird, a Roman Catholic scholar, in her classic book The Woman with the Alabastar Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, writes: 

"I believe that it was the spread of the heresy of the Holy Grail that caused this surprising transformation of Mary Magdalen from prostitute to Sister-Bride in artistic representations during the twelfth century. The Mary depicted in many of these medieval paintings was not a 'repentant sinner' or a 'reformed prostitute', nor was she merely a friend of Jesus. She was his beloved." It may be of interest to note that Mary Magdalen is revered in Provence, France (ancient Gaul) as "the Saint Apostle of Provence" thus elevating her to an apostolic status. In this same work, Margaret Starbird states that Provence: "….had been the centre of a cult of Mary Magdalen for centuries, as witness the numerous chapels, fountains, springs, and other geographical landmarks in the region that bear her name. She was the patron saint of gardens and vineyards throughout the region….It was not accidental that the cult of the Rose (an anagram of Eros) flourished and bloomed in the garden of Provence." She further remarks: "The idiom 'under the sign of the rose' actually meant something specific for the initiated. For them….the secret is the rose - the red rose of the other Mary, the Mary who represents Eros, the passionate bridal aspect of the feminine, which was denied by the established church."

The Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland

It's interesting to note that some believe Jesus visited Scotland and that he sent St. Andrew the apostle to teach in Scotland. St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland. 

The first stop on the Heartlink Tour of Scotland is the Rosslyn Chapel which is located along the "Rose Line" (ley line) just three miles south of Edinburgh. Created by a Knight Templar, Sir William St. Clair, the Rosslyn Chapel is a Masonic Temple.  The Sinclair (originally St. Clair) family alleged are descended from what has been referred to as the Jesus Holy Bloodline, a Rose line or lineage, the 'true vine'. The rose is everywhere in the chapel. 

The Rosslyn Chapel has been described as the "Church of the Holy Grail".  It certainly inspired my consciousness.  

According to Walter Johannes Stein (a friend and pupil of the Hungarian mystic Rudolf Steiner): 

"There are two spiritual traditions which found each other and united in Rosslyn Chapel. These two traditions appear also in the history of the Holy Grail. Both of them deal with the secrets of Christianity; but one deals with the subject from the macrocosmic point of view, the other from the microcosmic aspect….That these two traditions have united in Rosslyn Chapel can be seen in the symbols there used, which indicate both paths: how man can strive to become Divine, and how the Divine became flesh. Christ as the corner stone of cosmic and human evolution is shown in the Chapel.

Statues in this chapel are situated in such a way that those portraying certain events of the Old Testament are placed opposite to statues portraying events in the New Testament. These statues are connected by garlands. If we take the Bible and read through it in the way the garland leads from one quotation to the next, we shall see that the Old Testament shows how the cosmic force, the Logos, came down to earth, step by step. Reading in the same way through the New Testament, we can see how man is taken back to heaven, again, step by step. The corresponding stages of the way down and the way up are placed opposite to each other in this building. The master who built the Chapel has conveyed many secrets of evolution to those who study, not only what is portrayed, but also how it is portrayed." (The British: Their Psychology and Destiny, 1958). 

Join Cariel for the next Heartlink Pilgrimage.

SHIFT  2012  SHINING ONES  HOPE

Register for Blueprinting your Life in Light or  The Crossing Classes. If you can't join us physically join the ONLINE CLASSES.