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“No Longer Separated by Oceans and Centuries”
The Beginning of a Quest
(Authoress [King Authur, Lord of the Grail] Statement--17 June 05)
Over 12 years ago, educator and career specialist Kaye Hennig made the decision
to change her own career path.
A 20-year
educator with a master’s degree, Kaye had been an administrator responsible for
developing and administering federal, state and college level programs, for
writing and editing curriculum materials and for conducting training for
teachers, counselors and administrators in the fields of Career Education and
Guidance. It was this interdisciplinary approach to integrating specific
concepts into all the subjects of the curriculum that led her to the unique,
eclectic approach she used to research one of the most legendary figures of
ancient history and to explore the elusive subjects that have produced one of
the largest bodies of literature on earth.
Then, carrying several cameras and a notepad, she and her husband embarked on a
quest, one that would culminate in an archeological discovery that will make a
major contribution to the knowledge of a nearly lost period of history of
ancient Britain and that appears to have located physical evidence of a gre! at
king and leader called Arthur and his legendary kingdom.
Prompted by a very personal conviction that she would find the historical
reality of the legendary Arthurian individuals, Kaye decided to look for
evidence of a real individual called King Arthur ... but not just through the
literature. She would attempt to find him using her background as a generalist,
looking for clues that might have been incorporated into literature, music, art,
drama and architecture.
When she decided to look for physical evidence that these ancients might have
left behind, Kaye enlisted the help of her husband, with whom she worked as a
designer, whose lifelong avocation was that of a professional photographer.
Together they would begin to search for clues and evidence left at the ancient
sites Kaye had come to believe had serious potential for historical connections
to this lost legendary king and his glorious kingdom.
When Kaye and Terry first boarded an airplane to begin their quest, they were
seeking the truths behind the legends and the facts behind the traditions. They
hoped to find new evidence of a “real” Arthur and his kingdom, and a further
connection with something called the Holy Grail. They would look through the
lens of their cameras for clues that might lead to the discovery and the
understanding of this ancient kingdom, its noble king, his magical Merlin and
those renowned warriors known as the Knights of the Round Table.
These knights, unlike most historical peoples, seemed to have left no physical
evidence behind. Kaye and Terry knew that real facts about these ancients had
also all been altered, distorted by translators and embellished by storytellers.
The 1,500-year-old evidence of these individuals had all but disappeared into
the mists of an ancient past, along with the location of their kingdom and that
of their elusive, mystical Isle of Avalon.
PARTING THE MISTS
It would be years, however, before the questing couple would be able to part the
thick curtain behind which their evidence was concealed. Finally, after over a
decade of searching, in the fall of 2004, they were able to do so.
When the fog that obscured the records of their past finally lifted, the Hennigs
found that they were staring at gigantic sculptures, symbols and painted
portraits that appeared to be those of the long lost royal and noble Arthurian
individuals.
Over the past eight months, the couple returned to the ancient sites they had
discovered and painstakingly located, photographed and analyzed the ancient
images that they believe reveal not only King Arthur’s person, in a giant
sculpted portrait in stone, but also show evidence in portraits and sculptures
of other legendary Arthurian personages. Their photo documentation revealed that
within one large, carefully hidden site there once may have existed hundreds of
beautifully-carved sculptures and colorfully painted images of King Arthur; his
beloved! High Priest, Merlin; the beautiful Queen Gwenhyfar; Merlin’s beloved
Lady of the Lake , Niniane; and many of the valiant knights of King Arthur’s
“Round Table.”
Even more astounding than the locating of this one beautiful site was the fact
that it was not their only discovery. Their clues did not lead them to just one
location. Over the past three years, they found and produced documentary
photographs of ancient evidence left on several sites in northern Britain ,
southern Scotland and other locations. Their photographs, they believe, will
help prove that many of these locations were once the actual important sacred
sites, chief seats and fortresses of a very real historical kingdom, whose
legendary king was a royal individual in his own right, named Arthur.
These eclectic, tenacious and thorough researchers also believe that more than
photographic analysis was responsible for their astounding discoveries. They
feel that some of these ancient sites still contain some kind of special energy
! that was somehow left behind and that a real sense of the presence of these
ancients and their information remained there, available to those individuals
who were open to receiving it. Kaye describes this energy as just “a small echo”
of the sounds of an ancient past.
On some of the sites, the Hennigs say, thousands of people, most of whom were
not looking or listening for such an Arthurian echo, have walked by for
centuries without being able to discern anything, unable to see the monumental
sculptures or notice the clues left behind. These physical monuments clearly
indicate that the ancients intended to leave records of their existence.
“In order to find real truths," Kaye maintains, “one must be willing to look
beyond what is clearly visible and to trust one’s own senses and convictions.
Discovery and real personal enlightenment usually does not happen by observing
what is obvious to all, but by carefully! considering things with an open mind,
while listening with one’ s heart.”
This philosophy, she now believes as result of her study of the carved and
painted symbols on the sites, must have been an integral part of the early
beliefs that made up the early Christian religion of this long lost Arthurian
kingdom and whose sacred secrets, she says, included the symbols of the heart.
The legendary status of King Arthur and the stories of the Holy Grail might have
been achieved because both legends and the new evidence show that Arthurian
religious beliefs included recognition of each individual’s right to a personal
quest for spiritual perfection and the goal of achieving personal perfection on
earth. King Arthur and his knights had a legendary passion for chivalric ideals,
a belief in both spiritual and personal equality and a dedication to live by
their codes of honor. They were known to revere those who achieved wisdom and to
honor those who performed courageous and noble deeds.
The evidence ne! wly discovered on several sites supports the idea that more
than military accomplishments made this king and his kingdom legendary. Kaye and
her husband also believe that it was the ancients’ enlightened spiritual
approach to a world filled with chaos, violence and impending doom that caused
their stories to survive. The world did want to forget that there had once been
such a great king and an illustrious kingdom.
“Perhaps King Arthur was found and finally revealed to our world at this time,”
Kaye says, “because we need, now more than ever, to know that there truly once
was a leader with honesty, integrity, courage and compassion who worked more for
the good of all of his people than for himself and, in doing so, he and those
who followed him, strove for godliness. It appears even in this dark, ancient,
savage world, that for a time, a real king called Arthur and his loyal followers
prevailed over the invaders and their barbarianism, destructiveness and greed.
The physical evidence of their existence and identities survived, presented in
beautiful portraits and sculptures as did the symbols of their sacred beliefs.
Those responsible royal individuals carefully concealed their information that
it might survive the destruction they knew was inevitable. Some records were
left safely hidden from the eyes of the invaders. Other images were visible but
unrecognizable to those who did not have the knowledge needed to realize their
significance, and are still visible today. Because similar images still exist on
many other sites, it is obvious to the Hennigs that the purpose of placing
images at multiple sites was to insure discovery at some future date by people
looking for just such clues and able recognize the images.
The couple state that clearly King Arthur and Merlin did not intend to vanish
completely and or to have the records of their existence expunged from history,
nor did they intend to have all evidence of their kingdom and their beliefs disa!
ppear. So, just as these noble individuals took personal responsibility for
their own spiritual quests and for the protection of all in their kingdom, they
just as responsibly left records of themselves and their sacred knowledge. It
appears that the hope of the leaders of this kingdom, when their physical
records were discovered, was that their own personal identities would be
recognized and their important sacred symbols and secrets would be understood.
These ancients knew that there would be those in the future who would want to
know about their truths. They could not have known then that over 1,500 years
would pass before the world would again see the evidence of their existence.
The couple believes that the 21st century is a particularly significant time to
have found evidence of a King Arthur and to discover the facts behind the
stories of the illustrious kingdom called Camelot. They hope that all might
discover truths of their own when looking at the facts ! of this Arthurian
kingdom. The Hennigs hope that, as a result of their discovery, all might learn
from the messages of these ancients and find ways to make personal and societal
changes that could ultimately create a better world for us all. They feel that
if we all could now remember and emulate some of the principles of Arthur’s
great kingdom, honoring wisdom and noble deeds rather than wealth and
materialism, and worshiping God and revering nature rather than continuing to
exploit each other and the resources of our fragile earth, we might help insure
that our own world will not ultimately fall victim to the values of the those
ancient invaders, suffering the same fate as Arthur’s great kingdom and vanish
without a trace.
THE END OF THE QUEST
Kaye and Terrance’s own quest to find King Arthur and the Holy Grail resulted in
their amazing discovery of several sites they believe are recognizable as
belonging to an Arthurian era and that these sites may ultimately be proven to
contain the first irrefutable physical evidence of King Arthur’s historical
authenticity.
But for now, what they are certain that they have found are ancient sculptures
and paintings that will give our world a first look at the faces and figures of
ancient individuals who they believe were created in sculpture and paintings to
represent the lost King Arthur himself and the royal and noble individuals who
once led and inhabited his kingdom.
Using clues from all disciplines over the past decade, these adventurers visited
sites from castles in the mountains of Bavaria and remote fortresses in the
Pyrenees to ancient hill-fort mounds in the British Isles . They collected
thousands of photographs from which they gleaned clues. They corroborated
evidence and documented their finds. And when they finally found the legendary
lost king and his kingdom, they discovered him in Merlin’s own legendary site
called by some his “Esplumier," the great Merlin’s final r! etreat from this
world. The Hennigs found King Arthur and his marvelous Merlin in a once
beautifully sculpted and colorfully painted burial cave, created inside a remote
mountain in southern Scotland .
They believe that the images they found were created during Arthur’s reign,
hidden there at a time when his ancient kingdom was about to fall to the
invaders. They also believe that this particular site might also once have been
one of the legendary Grail Castles. According to their evidence, this incredible
mountain, filled with beautiful art, was most likely created under the direction
of none other than the famous Merlin himself. Legends say that Merlin built just
such a beautiful burial cave as his final resting place, at the request of his
beloved lady, Niniane. Inside the mountain, it does appear that hundreds of
images of all sizes once existed. Although most of the sculptures are now
extremely weathered and broken, many of these heavily damaged faces, with the
help of lighting and cameras, can still be seen, carved into ! the stones and
painted onto walls that were once protected from the weather and safely enclosed
inside a dark mountain.
Although the mountain has suffered at least two severe cave-ins, leaving much of
the art open to the weather for over 300 years and some for less than 50 years,
there are still recognizable images in the once-detailed colored paintings of
royal, noble and priestly individuals, whose faces and figures precisely fit the
missing notables of King Arthur’s long lost kingdom. It would be hard to believe
that there was another such group of individuals among the ancients whose
descriptions in manuscripts and legends would be so clearly remembered
recognizable in their roles and with their associates that could match the
evidence on this site.
The Hennigs also have photographic images and evidence from this site,
corroborated by information and images from other sites, that it may someday
help prove that this was not just the burial place of Merlin and his Niniane,
but quite likely of several more of those missing royal Arthurian individuals.
The couple contend that because this location is near other sites that have been
recently linked by several researchers to King Arthur and Merlin, that because
of accounts in legends and literature with details about Merlin’s sculpted cave
and Arthur’s Grail Castle of stone, and that because of their own discovery of
the portraits and ancient sculptures that match descriptions of those long lost
royal individuals, the evidence supports the proposal that these discoveries
will be some of the greatest Arthurian archeological finds of the millennium.
Kaye claims also to have found powerful corroborative evidence, carefully and
cleverly left by others in later times, hidden within other art forms as well as
in literature. She believes that this evidence confirms the location and the
existence and the importance of this apparently sacred hall and that it also
discloses information about its creation, its history and the identities of the
original occupants and perhaps even the nature of its original contents. The
details of this evidence will be discussed in the Hennigs’ forthcoming book.
“However”, she says, “it will be up to the archeologists, geologists, and art
history experts to argue the issues of the age of the images, the meanings of
the symbols, the identities of the many faces and to establish firmly the dates
of the Arthurian era and confirm the sites’ connections.”
“We can clearly see on these sites unusual forms of sculpture and painting,
unlike anything typically identified with other known art forms found near this
area, that date from ancient times. The images we see are truly unique and
utterly beautiful,” states the author.
Their analysis of their finds, as disclosed in their book, reflects their own
opinions about the identity of these royal and priestly individuals, and
explains why they believe the images were found on these specific sites and what
the ancient sacred symbols left there might have meant to the people of this
legendary kingdom.
A CONTINUING ADVENTURE STORY
The couple recently returned from their third journey to Britain in the last
eight months, where they worked to complete their photo documentation, met with
authorities and presented their evidence in an effort to help secure the site
protection that they feel will be needed as a result of their discovery and
disclosure of these ancient and fragile sites.
While in the U.K. , they also sought help in facilitating the formation of a
research team to deal with further in-depth investigation of their finds. They
realize this will only be the beginning of a long process of uncovering and
revealing all the information these finds may have to offer, but they find the
prospect of being involved in further research exciting. They hope to continue
their efforts and their study of the evidence they have found and to work toward
helping further expand the body of knowledge about this lost era and to perhaps
even make more discoveries in the future.
However, they freely admit that there will probably be nothing that will ever
compete with the thrill of first discovering and then documenting what they
believe to be the world’s first physical record of a historical King Arthur and
the members of his long-lost kingdom.
PROTECTING THE SITES
Because of their concern about the safety of the sites, the Hennigs decided to
withhold the submission of their book to publishers until now and delayed
publicly disclosing any news of their find. Over the past eight months they
spent considerable time and personal resources attempting to get the evidence of
their finds to responsible agencies in Britain who could take protective action
to protect the sites from increased traffic that could result in damage. They
knew that many of these ancient sites were already! at risk from the elements
and from neglect.
However after several attempts, by telephone and in person during their recent
trips to Britain , to gain access to and assistance from the proper authorities,
the couple began to realize that few of the experts with whom they had spoken
seemed to be open to the possibility of real Arthurian finds. They were told by
most that any such finds, if revealed, would be treated with the utmost
skepticism.
The idea of finding real physical evidence of historical Arthurian personages
the Hennigs soon found was met with responses ranging from indifference to
derision, and in some cases with outright hostility. During their years of
research, they had already encountered the same kind of resistance from some
archeologists, guides, writers and historians. Others, however, were extremely
interested and helpful.
Chief among those who the Hennigs have realized will be likely to attempt
dismiss out-of-hand or to refute any evidence of a historical Arthur, are those
who have maintained ! steadfastly that King Arthur and Merlin were never
historical figures in their own right, or that they are merely composites of
other known individuals. Other experts believe and have written that the
Arthurian personages are purely fictional, simply taken from other mythology and
different legends.
The couple recently learned that their efforts to obtain assistance may not have
been in vain. They received news that an agency, one who is charged with
protecting and scheduling access to many of Scotland’s sites and monuments, has
been asked to immediately take responsibility for securing, protecting and
investigating the discoveries at the first of these sites.
The Hennigs have offered them their photographic documentation and the
accompanying research and offered to work closely with a team of carefully
selected experts who will conduct a thorough investigation. They expect that the
studies of these multiple sites will continue for quite some time! while
specialists attempt to authenticate the finds in terms of Arthurian and other
possible ancient connections.
In the meantime, as the discoverers, the Hennigs find joy in the fact that
through their research they have found evidence of King Arthur and his kingdom
and feel privileged that they are able to reintroduce him to the world.
“We decided to see if we could find some legendary individuals who had been
lost. We knew that not only were they lost, but that they had eventually
suffered the loss of everything; their kingdom, their religion, their lives,
their reputations and ultimately even their own identities. We finally found
them and perhaps now some small part of their history can be restored. We do
believe that the evidence of this history belongs to the world.”
The Hennigs know that they now have the task of reintroducing King Arthur to a
world which for hundreds of years has reduced him to legend. They feel that it
should not just the discoverers, the experts or the historians who ! should
control the conclusions about these finds ... that it is also up to each
individual to consider the evidence, to follow their own quest and to decide for
themselves whether to grant this great king and his illustrious companions their
own historical identities.
“Our personal belief is that King Arthur did exist, that we have finally met him
and those notables of his kingdom and that they were all once very, very real."
KING ARTHUR, LORD OF THE GRAIL
The first release of their book, a numbered limited-edition hardbound book, with
a specially embossed cover portrait of King Arthur, will be available this
summer, and each will contain extra color photographs of the sites.
This “Collector’s Copy”, larger in format than the standard hardbound edition,
will be signed by the author and will include a separate signed archival quality
photograph of the sculpted image of King Arthur. (Available only direct, by
pre-order at
book@kingarthurlordofthegrail.com or by mail: Design Magic, 685 Spring St.
#2090, Friday Harbor , WA , 98250 .) All inquiries and other correspondence are
directed to the Web site.
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