APOSTOLIC MISSION TO THE WEST

A most supportive colleague of Mary Magdalene in Provence was her husband Jesus' great friend Simon Zelotes who, no longer the Father (the "Abraham"), assumed the style given to him by Jesus at his "raising", that of Abraham's steward Eliezer (or Lazarus). Under this name, he became the first Bishop of Marseilles, and his statue is at St. Victor's church. A doorway from the nave of the church leads to a subterranean chapel built by Cassianite monks in the 4th century, an old crypt that was deliberately located on the site of Lazarus' residence, and was fiercely guarded by the monks in the early days. It was Lazarus, also known as the Great One, or Maximus, who buried Mary Magdalene in her original alabaster sepulchre at St. Maximin in AD 63. Prior to this he had been in Jerusalem and Antioch for a time, and after Mary's death, he went again to Jerusalem and Jordan, before returning to join Joseph of Arimathea.

In Britain, Lazarus remained better known by his Apostolic name, Simon Zelotes. Nicephorus (758-829), Patriarch of Constantinople and Byzantine historian, wrote that:

"St. Simon, surnamed Zelotes�travelled through Egypt and Africa, then through Mauretania and all Libya, preaching the Gospel. And the same doctrine he taught to all the peoples of the Occidental Sea and the islands called Britannia."

Nearly five centuries earlier, Bishop Dorotheus of Tyre wrote in his "Synopsis de Apostole" in 303 that "Simon Zelotes preached Christ through all Mauritania, and Afric the less. At length he was crucified in Britannia, slain, and buried." The 1601 Annales Ecclesiasticae of Cardinal Baronius confirm Simon's martyrdom in Britain. He was crucified by the Romans under Catus Decianus at Caistor, Lincolnshire. By the saint's own request, however, his mortal remains were later placed with those of the Magdalene in Provence.

Also associated with Joseph of Arimathea in Britain was Herod-Agrippa's uncle Aristobulus, who had been Mary Magdalene's particular ally when she was afforded protection by the Herodian establishment at Vienne, outside Lyon. Some commentators have suggested that a younger Aristobulus (the second husband of the deadly dancer Salome) was Mary's confederate, but he was acting as regent for the king in Lesser Armenia at the time. The correct Aristobulus is described in the writings that name him in Britain; they duly refer to him as Arwystli Hen (Aristobulus the Old) and the town of Arwystli in Powys was named after him. He was the brother of Herod-Agrippa I, Herod of Chalcis, and Herodias (the mother of Salome).

The writings of the Roman churchman Hippolytus (born about AD 160) list Aristobulus as a Bishop of the Britons. Cressy maintains that he was a bishop in Britain ordained by St. Paul himself. The Greek Church Martyrology claims that Aristobulus was martyred in Britain "after he had built churches and ordained deacons and priests for the island." This is further confirmed by St. Ado (800-874), Archbishop of Vienne, in the Adonis Martyrologia. Earlier (AD 303), St. Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre, wrote that Aristobulus was in Britain when St. Paul sent greetings to his household in Rome: "Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household" (Romans 16:10). And the Jesuit "Regia Fides" additionally states, "It is perfectly certain that before St. Paul reached Rome, Aristobulus was away in Britain." He was in fact executed by the Romans at Verulamium (modern St. Albans) in AD 59.

In addition to being known as "Joseph of Arimathea," St. James the Just was called Ilid by the chroniclers of Wales. He was the patron of Llan Ilid in Gwent, having founded a mission at Cor-Eurgain. The "Cwydd to St. Mary Magdalene" in the "Gestyn Ceriog" refers to Joseph as Ilid, as does the manuscript of "The Sayings of the Wise." The name "Ilid" is thought to be a variant of the Hebrew "Eli" (meaning "my God" or "raised up"). The "Achan Sant Prydain" (Genealogy of the Saints of Britain) states that "there came with Bran the Blessed from Rome to Britain Arwystli Hen, Ilid, Cyndaf (meaning an elder), men of Israel, and Maw or Mawan, son of Cyndaf." The Iolo Manuscripts recount that Ilid was summoned to Britain by Eurgain, the wife of King Caractacus of Camulod, and states, "This same Ilid was called Joseph in the lections of his life."

The Silurian Archdruid Bran the Blessed (Bendigeidfran) was married to Joseph of Arimathea's daughter Anna (Enygeus), who is sometimes loosely referred to as a "consabrina of the Blessed Mary" (that is Jesus Christ's mother Mary). Because Joseph has sometimes wrongly been portrayed as Mary's uncle, the word "consabrina" has been taken to denote a "cousin," and is often given as such. In practice, the definition, "consabrina," was very obscure, and denoted no more than a junior kinswoman of inferior status. It was the perfect word to use when a genealogical relationship was unspecific - or when it was deemed necessary for it to remain unspecified, as was precisely the case here.

In AD 51, Bran was taken hostage to Rome along with Caractacus the Pendragon. (Pendragons were overlords of Celtic Britain.) Resident in Rome, Gladys, the younger daughter of Caractacus, married the Roman senator Rufus Pudens, and thus became Claudia Rufina Britannica (as confirmed by the Roman poet Martial in about AD 68). Caractacus' other daughter was St. Eurgen of Llan Ilid (the wife of Salog, Lord of Salisbury). His famed son Prince Linus became the first appointed Bishop of Rome. In 2 Timothy 4:21 (New Testament), Paul writes, "Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren." Eubulus (eu-boulos "well advised, prudent") was a variation of Aristobulus (aristo-boulos, "best advised, noblest in counsel).

While in Britain, Joseph of Arimathea's enterprise was maintained by a close circle of twelve celibate anchorites. Whenever one died, so he was replaced by another. In Grail lore these anchorites were referred to as "the brethren of Alain (Galains)," who was one of their number, and as such they were symbolic sons of Bran, the Elias patriarch of Hebron (the Father in the old order, as against the newly styled Bishop of Rome). This is why, in some literature, Alain is defined as the son of Bran (Bron). After Joseph's death in AD 82, the group disintegrated, mainly because Roman control had altered the character of England.

We have already seen that an amount of confusion reigned because of the various names attributed to Joseph (Joseph of Arimathea, St. James the Just, Ilid, and so forth), but it is clear that certain works of popular folklore have done much to further confuse the issue of descendant lines after his time. These works include the Bruts, the Triads, the Mabinogion, and Cycles of the Kings. Historically, they are all important because they are not entirely fictional. Most traditions are, by their very nature, based on ancient facts. But the tales are purposefully romantic in construction and, as a result, many sceptical historians have attacked them mercilessly. Equally regrettable is the fact that other writers have been guided rather too willfully by these semi-fanciful works. Consequently, a good deal of genealogically impossible information is contained in books that appear to stem from unimpeachably authoritative sources.

Unfortunately too, romantic literature pays little heed to correct chronology, and the players concerned are scattered willy-nilly in the adventurous texts. The High History of the Holy Grail (of around 1220) provides a good example in claiming that Perceval (a 6th century adherent of King Arthur) was the grandnephew of the 1st century Joseph of Arimathea: "Good knight was he of right, for he was of the lineage of Joseph of Arimathea, and this Joseph was his mother's uncle." The basis of this lineage is correct , but the relationship as given is impossible.

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So after all of that, what was the Joseph's role in the Crucifixion story for real? And who really was James as a person?

Robert Eisenman has dedicated a wonderful book to this subject, called "James, the Brother of Jesus." He takes it from a Jewish and Biblical point of view. Gardner will always look at things from a Celtic standpoint. Somewhere in the middle is always the truth.

Let us finish up with Gardner, and then move onto Eisenman.

Joseph of Arimathea doesn't enter the scriptural crucifixion story until Jesus is taken down from the cross. In the Gospels, Joseph (James) is described as an "honorable counsellor (a member of the Sanhedrin) which also waited for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43). He was also "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews" (John 19:38). But although Joseph's allegiance to Jesus was a secret from the Jewish elders, it came as no surprise to Pontius Pilate, who accepted the man's involvement in Jesus's affairs without question. That same involvement was no surprise either to Jesus's mother Mary, or to Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleophas, or Salome. They all went happily along with Joseph's arrangements, accepting his authority without comment or demur.

Sometimes presumed to relate to the village of Arimeh on the plain of Gennesareth, "Arimathea" was in fact a descriptive title like so many others in the New Testament. It represented a particularly high status. Just as Matthew Annas (the brother of Jonathan) held that priestly distinction "Levi Alphaeus" (Levi of the Succession), so Joseph was "of Arimathea." However (as with the style, Levi), Joseph was not his true baptismal name, and "of Arimathea" was yet another descriptive term. "Arimathea" is derived (like Alphaeus) from a combination of Hebrew and Greek elements, in this case, Hebrew "ram" or "Rama" (height, top), and Greek, "theo," (of God), together meaning "highest of God", and as a distinction, "Divine Highness."

Meanwhile, we know that Jesus was heir to the throne of David. The patriarchal title of Joseph was applied to the next in succession to the heir of the Davidic kingly line. In this respect, with Jesus regarded as the David, then his eldest brother James would be the designated Joseph, being his recognized successor at the time. Put another way, if Jesus was the King-God (the Divine Majesty, the Messiah), in accordance with the familiar representative Greco-Roman style "Ichthys: Jesus the Christ God"), then James was the Crown Prince (the Divine Highness, the Joseph Rama-Theo, or Joseph of Arimathea). Joseph of Arimathea emerges, then, as none other than Jesus's own brother James.

It therefore comes as no surprise that Jesus was entombed in a sepulchre that belonged to his own royal family. Neither is it surprising that Pilate should allow Jesus' own brother Joseph (James) to take charge; nor that the women of Jesus's family should accept the arrangements made by "Joseph" without question. The reason that "Joseph" kept his personal support for Jesus a secret from the Sanhedrin is self evident, for he had his own separate following amid all ranks of the Hebrew community.