Review: The Ark, The Shroud And Mary

Title: The Ark, The Shroud And Mary
Author/Director: Philip Gardiner
Media: DVD
Publisher: Reality Films
Date: 2007

Philip Gardiner’s The Ark, The Shroud And Mary is an engrossing look into the possible roots of contemporary Gnosticism.

Based on the book by the same title, the story begins with the author/director’s journey to Winchester Cathedral, where he happens to notice a carving of the Ark of the Covenant.

Here he has a realization that compels him to travel around the world in search of a better understanding of the world of the mystic.

Gardiner suggests that much of religion and our current belief structures are premised on the insights of mystics. He picks up on a hotly debated thread, this being the question: Are prophets the same as mystics? along with the related concern: Are all mystics essentially the same?

For Gardiner the answer seems to be “yes” to both of the above. And he proposes a kind of Sufi-style definition of mysticism as a union of opposites.

Next, he embarks on a journey to several different countries to discover more about his recent realization. He meets up with esoteric believers and uncovers secret information that apparently links a wide variety of religious data to the all-pervasive symbol of the Ark.

His interpretation of this data is decidedly Gnostic. For instance, at one point Moses and Buddha are both described as “avatars,” a claim that would probably make many orthodox Jews and Christians, alike, shake their heads in indignation.

Gardiner also touches on the idea of Alchemy and offers an interesting explanation for the Shroud of Turin, rightly questioning the accuracy of Carbon 14 dating.

Virtually no stone is left unturned here. In fact, Gardiner uses special stones, meteors, to try to link Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

Additional mythico-religious data used for Gardiner’s synthesis derive from Greek and Egyptian mythology, Hinduism, Cistercian monasticism, the Knights Templar and the Essenes, to mention but a few.

Whether one agrees, disagrees or partly agrees with Gardiner’s overall thesis, the impressive audiovisual component of this DVD cannot be denied. The Ark, The Shroud And Mary presents a rich diversity of religious artifacts to the driving music of Soul Path, Freakhouse and others.

In fact, this DVD offers a panoply of sights, sounds and ideas that just might represent the future of educational video.

–MC