QuestCon04 - Programme

 


SATURDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2004 - Doors open 09.15 am for 10 o'clock start.


At ten o'clock sharp, organiser Andrew Collins will greet delegates, guests and speakers and look forward to the day's events, which include some of the finest presentations in the eighteen year history of the Questing Conference, which from next year will be known only as QuestCon. With potential speakers already queuing up to take part in future events, there is no question that QuestCon has become Britain's premier conference on ancient and more modern mysteries of our time.


10.10 am - Andrew Collins - The True Grail Found


Three years ago Andrew Collins was charged with a psychic quest to find the Holy Grail. As mad as such a venture might have seemed, it was followed by a series of dreams, visions and revelations which led him, and those around him, ever nearer new answers concerning the true origins of the Grail, the ultimate mystical quest. Gradually, it became apparent that the true gnosis of Christianity kept alive by the Gnostics of the first centuries of the Christian era, and later adopted by their medieval counterparts, concerned the intervention into human affairs of the divine, the light of God. This was expressed through the nocturnal rite of baptism and a secret communion meal, the cup of which became the symbol not only of Jesus’s Agony in the Garden in Gethsemane, but also for the blood which he, and through him every saint and martyr, shed in the name of Christianity.


It was a mystical doctrine embraced wholly by the followers of John the Evangelist, arguably Christianity’s first priest and the bearer of the original Grail cup, before a schism forced one half of the community to merge with the orthodox Church of Rome, leaving the rest to become outright Gnostics. These same individuals revered Mary Magdalene as Jesus’s successor and an apostle in her own right. Yet very gradually her role in the foundation of Christianity was not only suppressed, but altered into that of her shadow, her male counterpart John the Evangelist. The two individuals became one androgynous figure, which merged with the memory of the Beloved Disciple of John’s Gospel. His dual nature was preserved within the underground stream of occult activity known to the Cathars, the Knights Templar and the renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, who portrayed the Beloved Disciple as distinctly feminine in his famous fresco of the Last Supper. These discoveries were, however, merely the beginning of an amazing Grail quest across the British countryside, which brought with it revelation after revelation as Andrew was led ever closer towards his goal. Eventually, he was to take possession of a small green stone cup, the so-called Marian Chalice, which becomes arguably the most authentic physical Grail in Britain today. It is the story told in his new book TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY GRAIL, signed copies of which are on sale here today.


11.10 am - Alan Alford - Secret Chambers of the Great Pyramid


Ten years ago Dr Robert Schoch, a geologist of Boston University, announced that the water erosion on the Great Sphinx and its surrounding enclosure walls meant that the carved monument must be thousands of years older than had previously been imagined by Egyptologists. It started a revolution in alternative and speculative history whereby the origins of the Giza monuments were brought under the spotlight. Who built the Great Pyramid, and when? What was its true purpose, and did the orientation of its internal air-shafts point towards the conclusion that its architects saw the starry sky as in some way reflecting a distant epoch in which elder gods ruled Egypt? There were a great many books written on this subject - some good, others terrible - and then the band-wagon, driven by high-profile writers Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval - virtually came to a stand-still as a backlash of criticism brought into question the claims of their bestselling books. Supposedly, there was never any good evidence that the ageing of the Sphinx denoted its much earlier construction, and so the whole matter of ancient Egypt’s greater antiquity was quietly put on the back-burner. Yet one writer of alternative history who refused to give up was Alan Alford. He continued to put forward new ideas concerning the origins of the Great Pyramid, and even openly criticized his earlier books on the subject. Through this cathartic process he has become more knowledgeable on the purpose and design of this sacred monument than almost all of his contemporaries. Moreover, major reviews of his most recent book PYRAMID OF SECRETS (2003) have hailed it a masterpiece, and this has come purely through Alan’s own determination to get to the truth. In his first ever presentation at QuestCon, Alan reinterprets the Pyramid’s architecture in the light of the Egyptian creation myth. For him, there is overwhelming evidence to indicate that the body of the king remains buried beneath the Pyramid, and that the sarcophagus in the King’s Chamber enshrined the material of creation (meteoritic iron). Additional, he will take the audience on an audio-visual tour of the Pyramid’s known chambers, while at the same time revealing fresh clues as to the whereabouts of previously unknown chambers, including the intact burial place of Cheops himself.


Alan Alford's published books comprise GODS OF THE NEW MILLENIUM (1996), THE PHOENIX SOLUTION (1998), and WHEN THE GODS CAME DOWN (2000). Since then, he has published his own books: THE ATLANTIS SECRET (2001), PYRAMID OF SECRETS (2003), and THE MIDNIGHT SUN (2004). Alford's recent work has featured in THE DAILY MAIL and on British TV’s ‘The Richard and Judy Show’. His aim is to lay the groundwork for an eventual unification of all the world's religions by demonstrating that they all reflect the same esoteric myth, and that God is but a personification of that myth.


12.10 pm - Paul Broadhurst - Exploring Europe’s Sacred Axis

Imagine a straight corridor of sacred places - all linked with the archangel Michael and dedicated to his name - crossing Europe from Ireland to Italy. Moreover, a line that is targeted on key oracle and temple sites in Greece, and terminates at Megiddo, ancient Armageddon, the place of the final confrontation between good and evil in Revelations. Sounds fantastic, I know, but such an incredible concept of sacred geography forming the backbone of Europe was quite literally dreamed of in the 1950s by Frenchman Jean Richer, and later investigated by his brother Lucien (author of THE ST MICHAEL-APOLLO AXIS, English trans., Gatekeeper Trust, 1994). In 1998, earth mysteries writer Paul Broadhurst and dowser Hamish Miller, the co-authors of the ever popular book THE SUN AND THE SERPENT, about Britain’s own St Michael-Mayday sunrise line, decided to investigate the St Michael-Apollo axis. They travelled its entire course, beginning at Skellig Michael in southern Ireland and taking in St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall; Mont St Michel in Brittany, Bourges in central France; Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont, Italy, before going on to explore the sites linked to it in Greece and the Holy Land. For the two earth mysteries researchers, it was a gargantuan challenge which resulted in many breath-taking revelations outlined in their invaluable book THE DANCE OF THE DRAGON (Pendragon Press, 2000), described by visionary and modern antiquarian John Michell as ‘A tremendously exciting book… surely the most remarkable antiquarian or questing journey that has ever been undertaken’. Their discoveries take us back to the roots of religion, embedded in the landscape and encoded in legend and myth, and show that in antiquity a highly developed natural science determined the siting and character of sacred sites. During a spectacular audio-visual presentation, Paul will take QuestCon delegates on a sacred journey 2,500 miles in length, which will demonstrate once and for all the hidden reality of Europe’s sacred geography and its importance to the evolution of human consciousness.


Paul Broadhurst is an author, photographer and researcher into mythology and sacred landscapes. He is best known for his work on the British and European St Michael Lines - long-distance alignments of sacred sites dedicated to the archangel Michael. He has also written SECRET SHRINES, an exploration of the power of Holy Wells, and TINTAGEL AND THE ARTHURIAN MYTHOS, a quest for the roots of the legend of the birth of King Arthur. He is currently working on a book that will bring new light to the mystery of St George. After a childhood in Tipperary, Ireland, he lived briefly in London before becoming enchanted by the magical atmosphere of North Cornwall, where he still lives and runs a publishing business in a picturesque harbour village. Pendragon Press, a cottage publishing house of which he is proprietor, is known for producing highly original and beautifully-produced works, as well the recently formed Mythos Press. Paul lectures internationally, and has featured on radio and TV. He also plays a 1960s Gibson SG guitar in a local rock band.


13.10 - Lunch - Light meals and alcoholic beverages will be on sale in the cafe downstairs.


14.30 - Robert Feather - Uncovering the Spear of Destiny

Robert is a trained metallurgist and technical engineering writer of 25 years standing. His work on Jewish and Middle Eastern history and the Dead Sea Scrolls resulted in his book THE COPPER SCROLL DECODED (1999), which showed the undeniable link between the Dead Sea community responsible for the scrolls and the religion of dynastic Egypt. Yet some years ago he embarked on new research into the true history of one of the world’s most enigmatic religious artefacts - the Spear of Destiny, or Spear of Christ, housed in the Hofsburg Museum, Vienna. Coveted by emperors and kings, this relic has the strongest claim to be the authentic weapon that pierced the side of Jesus at his crucifixion. Legend has it that the spear passed from the Roman Centurion Longinus into the hands of St Maurice, then Emperor Constantine, Charlemagne and Charles IV of Bohemia. Moreover, it was this single, immensely potent artefact that Adolf Hitler seized following the Nazis’ successful invasion of Austria in 1938. In a manner unprecedented before this time, Robert Feather has been able to gain permission not merely to examine this priceless treasure in a laboratory environment, but also to take apart the delicate bands that hold it together. Using this invaluable information alongside the spear’s known provenance, Robert will present an unmissable audio-visual presentation in which he reconstructs the relic’s fascinating history, which goes back at least 1,500 years.


Robert Feather studied at St. Marylebone Grammar School and Sir John Cass College, London University, subsequently becoming a Member of the Institution of Metallurgists and a Chartered Engineer. Working initially in research for BICC, on precious metals casting, and the British Iron & Steel Federation, he joined STEEL TIMES as assistant editor and has spent the last 25 years working in journalism and technical publishing. He has written for a wide cross section of technical magazines and was founder editor of the METALLURGIST & MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIST, editor of PURCHASING & SUPPLY, WEIGHING & MEASURING and a number of other technical journals. Having set up his own publishing company he acquired a share in Chess & Bridge Ltd, an ex- Robert Maxwell company in 1992. He has spent many years studying comparative religions and the Middle East and is a member of the Egypt Exploration Society, Historical Metallurgy Society and is the author of a number of books on the subject of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including THE COPPER SCROLL DECODED. (1999), subsequently translated into a number of languages and republished in the US as THE MYSTERY OF THE COPPER SCROLL OF QUMRAN (2003). A BBC TV documentary entitled ‘The Pharaoh’s Holy Treasure’, based on the book, was screened on 31 March 2002, and a BBC/Discovery documentary on the Spear of Christ was first shown in June 2003.


15.45 - Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince - The Priory of Sion: the Whole Truth


Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince’s classic work THE TEMPLAR REVELATION (1997), was unquestionably the inspiration for Dan Brown’s world super-seller THE DA VINCI CODE. It utilises their entire thesis on the hidden symbolism found in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, their concept of the importance of female sexuality and the sacred feminine in early Christianity, along with their findings regarding the mysterious organisation known as the Priory of Sion. Lynn and Clive were the true pioneers of this genre of esoterica, and in an exclusive presentation for QuestCon04 they reveal the real history of the Priory, culled from research they have been conducting ahead of a book being put together at this time. They will outline da Vinci’s true role in the modern evolution of the Priory, and reveal the sequence of events that led to the organisation’s modern-day emergence in 1950s. In the light of this new information, the two authors will review their own theories on John the Baptist as the true identity of Christ, and the role played in this mystery by Rennes-le-Château.


Lynn Picknett is a writer and lecturer on heresy and the occult and has been consultant for major exhibitions at both the Royal Photographic Society and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television.

Clive Prince is a journalist and the co-author with Lynn of several books including of TURIN SHROUD: IN WHOSE IMAGE? (1994), THE TEMPLAR REVELATION (1995) and THE STARGATE CONSPIRACY (2001), DOUBLE STANDARDS: THE RUDOLF HESS COVER-UP (2002) and WAR OF THE WINDSORS (2003). Lynn is also the author of MARY MAGDALENE: CHRISTIANITY’S HIDDEN GODDESS (2003).


17.10 - John Reid - Sonic Technology of the Pyramid Builders


It is no secret that the builders of the Great Pyramid incorporated into its design profound acoustic qualities, which have never been suitably explained or understood by the scholarly community. Moreover, in the late 1990s American researcher Chris Dunn, in a series of detailed articles and in a book on the technology of the Pyramid builders, concluded that they must have used ultrasonic drills to penetrate hard rock such as basalt, granite and diorite. These were bold claims, which have since been severely criticised and are generally dismissed by other researchers working in the field. However, quite independent to this research, British acoustics engineer John Reid initiated his own search to understand the sonic technology of the ancient Egyptians. Although his work began with the monuments of the Giza pyramid field, it ultimately led him south to Amarna and Beni Hassan where he was able to study the acoustics of the rock cut tombs, including what is believed to be the royal tomb of Akenhaten. In his first appearance at QuestCon, John provides firm evidence for the existence of sonic technology in ancient Egypt, yet shows that this is just the tip of an iceberg which reveals the advanced capabilities of the ancient Egyptians. More importantly, his findings - like those of Alan Alford - do not rely on the ageing of the Sphinx or the existence of some kind of prehistoric advanced race inhabiting the Nile Valley before the rise of the Pharaohs. Not to be missed by anyone.


John Reid is an acoustics engineer who has studied the acoustics of public buildings, churches and cathedrals for 30 years in his role as a consultant with a private company. He retired from business in 1999 in order to follow a career in specialist acoustics research and he is the inventor of CymaScope, a machine with worldwide patents which exhibits the complex structure of sound in a visual medium. The CymaGlyph patterns, which appear on a membrane, are then analysed mathematically. This Cymatics research led him to use the technique to study the acoustics of the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid, where he stretched a membrane over the sarcophagus and sat back to watch the harmonic structure of the 4-ton granite box for the first time in history. John has a booklet EGYPTIAN SONICS which gives a detailed account of his sonics research in Egypt (and is available here today).


18.10 - A Break of Approximately One Hour.


19.10 - 25th Anniversary Green Stone Presentation with Andrew Collins and Graham Phillips

Twenty five years ago Andrew Collins and his colleague Graham Phillips became embroiled in a quest to discover a green stone jewel named MEONIA, hidden at the time of the Gunpowder Plot somewhere in the Worcestershire countryside. It led to the discovery of a nineteenth-century short sword bearing the inscription Meonia fore Marye and eventually the retrieval from a location calls the Swan's Neck, on the River Avon, of a brass casket containing a curious green agate cabochon. These events, whatever their significance to the outside world, led to the modern day revival in psychic questing, a concept which has since grown into an active movement worldwide. Ever since that time both Andrew and Graham have continued to utilise psychic questing to uncover landscape mysteries, solve historical enigmas and retrieve hidden artefacts. What is more, many others now use the same techniques for very similar reasons.

Andrew reviews some of his most recent questing exploits, reviews the past twenty-five years and shows for the first time publicly filmclips of psychic questing, including the discovery at a church in Essex of a strange brass letter opener with a handle showing a Pan-like entity charming a bird.

Graham Phillips has agreed to join Andrew for the 25th Green Stone Presentation, and will talk about the events of 1979 and relate how they not only changed his life but also provided him with a new way of thinking which has resulted in several key historical books that change the way we think about the past. Yet more importantly, Graham has continued to psychic quest, and has returned to write about this subject in his new book THE TEMPLARS AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT (Bear & Co/Inner Traditions, 2004). He will describe the sequence of strange events which led to the uncovering in the English countryside of a strange inscribed stone linked with the biblical story of Moses and the Tablets of the Law.

Finish - 21.30 pm approximately.

 

SUNDAY, 7 NOVEMBER - British Museum Walkabout

In the time-honoured manner, Day Two of QuestCon is dedicated to exploring the mysteries of London, and this year organiser Andrew Collins will take delegates on a tour around the British Museum, looking at exhibits relevant to some of the topics under discussion this year. This will include exhibits in the Egyptian Room, the Assyrian Room, and those which feature the ancient Near East and prehistoric Britain. He shall also take a look at the Franks Casket, which may well bear the oldest known representation of the Holy Grail. Details of where and when to meet will be given on the Saturday of the event. The tour should end around 5 pm.

 

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