What is your concept of the nature of the Divine? How would you describe your relationship with the Goddess? What helps you to connect with Her and receive Her guidance? To which archetypal aspect or energy of the Goddess are you most drawn? Why do you think this is? What lessons does She have to teach you? How comfortable are you with the idea that the self and the Goddess are one? What can you do to become fully conscious of your connection with Her?
What is the nature of service to the Divine? How do you serve the Goddess today—right now? How would you like to serve Her in the future? If you were a priestess of ancient Avalon, what would have been your service to the island? What does it mean to be a priestess in today’s world? How can you initiate the journey down the path to reclaiming the priestess within?
In Arthurian legend, the story of Sir Gawaine and the Loathly Lady teaches that our very lives are transfigured when we reclaim and obtain our personal Sovereignty. What changes will result from the acknowledgement of your authority over your life and your vision of self? How can you empower your Sovereign nature? How can you use your Sovereignty to midwife the birth and emergence of the priestess within?
The Avalonian Landscape: The Island of Avalon
alternative names: Ynys Afallon, Ynys Witrin
cycle of healing: Station of Integration
cauldron transformation: Gwion/Taliesin
elemental alignment: Spirit
energy center: Third Eye
Ynys Afallon. Ynys Witrin. Ynys Glas. The Isle of Apples. The Island of the Blessed. The Island of Glass. The Western Isle. The Summerland. The Gateway to Annwn. Avalon.
Known by many names through many times, the site of the present-day town of Glastonbury holds a deep resonance with the energies of ancient Avalon. Some of the most evocative descriptions of the Otherworld found in the Welsh poem The Spoils of Annwn are suggestive of some of the unique features in the Glastonbury landscape. Caer Siddi, the Spiral Castle or Fortress of the Fair Folk, could refer to the spiraled terraces of the Tor and its entrance into the Otherworld. Caer Wydr, the Glass Fort, could be connected with the British name for Glastonbury—Ynis Witrin—the Island of Glass.
It is tempting to connect the name Glastonbury itself to the glassy imagery, but etymology suggests that the word glaston refers to the woad plant and the Welsh word glas means “blue.” A sacred plant to the Celtic Britons, woad was used to dye textiles and can be used medicinally to treat infection, inflammation, and cancer. While a popular theory holds that woad was used to decorate the bodies of British warriors entering into battle, the plant’s use in dyeing and healing certainly holds Avalonian significance and may provide a clue to Glastonbury’s sanctity.
Yet, beyond the veil of lore and word paintings composed of poetic imagery, the physical elements of the Glastonbury landscape certainly lend themselves to support a tradition of enchantment. Rising from a mist-ringed marshland, the enigmatic figure of the Tor punctuated the landscape of southwest Britain and could be observed from as far as twenty-five miles away. Perhaps first drawn by this awe-inspiring sight, settlers in the area (known as the Somerset Levels) found the region blessed by water’s embrace—they could find food in abundance, rich soil, and means of transportation and communication—and perhaps a sacred precinct of great power and mystery.
It is no surprise that what would become modern-day Glastonbury was once a place of deep reverence for the ancient Britons. Almost entirely surrounded by water, the peninsula was set apart from the mundane world, imparting a liminal quality upon the land. Wrapped in ethereal mists, guarded by a strangely formed hill that may have been further altered to create its labyrinthine terracing, and supplied with fresh water from bountiful springs, the area must have indeed appeared magical.
Not an island proper, Glastonbury was once surrounded by water on three sides. Before the area was tamed by sea walls, flood banks, drainage, and modern-day water channels, the Somerset Levels were prone to flooding. Seawater egressed from the west and heavy rainfall caused the swollen rivers to abandon the confines of their banks. In periods of flood, Glastonbury could be accessed by boat or through rivers and waterways leading to the peninsula.
The marshy and oft-flooded Somerset Levels evolved through many stages of settlement and development. From the timber trackways crisscrossing the landscape of the Neolithic period (4000–2000 bce) to the rise of the Iron Age Glastonbury Lake Village (circa 300 bce), people gathered to live along the water and in the shadow of the strange, spiraled hill. The villages were a wonder of adaptation, comprised of distinctive roundhouses with central hearths, constructed on large platforms over and next to the marshes.
Amidst all this water, the sole means of reaching Glastonbury on foot was by a strip of land enhanced by a feature known today as Pointer’s Ball. This earthwork bank and ditch resembles the type used for defense or to mark sacred space, as used in the nearby megalithic complexes of Avebury and Stonehenge. While there is still debate as to the period in which the earthwork was constructed, it bears similarity to structures known to date to the Iron and Dark Ages. Either as a boundary marker enclosing a religious site or a defensive structure associated with a hillfort said to be located in Glastonbury, Pointer’s Ball suggests the peninsula of Glastonbury held special significance to the peoples of the Somerset Levels through time.
Archaeological analysis provides for additional intriguing possibilities. There is evidence that the Lake Villages contained areas of specialized activity and included buildings that were exclusively occupied and used by women. No burial places were ever found for these lake dwellers, contributing to the notion that Avalon’s first association with the Otherworld—the land to which the dead traveled—is tied to its use by the inhabitants of the Lake Villages as a sacred precinct where the dead were buried. This is not a unique occurrence in Celtic lands. The archaeological record of the Scilly Islands off the western tip of Cornwall, shows the number of found burial chambers far exceeds that of the island’s population, supporting the idea that bodies were taken from the mainland to be buried on one of the holy islands of the dead.
Other evocative features lent their aura of mystery to the power of the island. During times of flood, the hills of Glastonbury became an association of small islands. The rounded belly of Modron’s Mound (present-day Chalice Hill) is an unusual feature; it has been suggested that a prehistoric observatory once stood on her crest. The fish-shaped body of Wearyall Hill at the southeastern part of the Sacred Isle connects with the vesica piscis symbolism—as it relates to both the yonic form of the Divine Feminine as well as the symbol of the fish, iconographic of the early Christian Church. This connection is especially significant as the story of Joseph of Arimathea is directly connected with Wearyall Hill.
Joseph of Arimathea was a tin trader and Jesus’ uncle. Legend teaches that Joseph brought Jesus with him on one of his trips to the British Isles, where it is said the youth studied with Druids. The famous English hymn “Jerusalem,” written by William Blake, commemorates this journey, asking:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?
During their pilgrimage to the Island of Avalon, tradition holds that the pair built a small wattle-and-daub church—the first in the British Isles—marking it as the holiest earth in England. It can be no coincidence that this famed church, at Avalon’s heart, was dedicated to Christ’s mother. Christian sacred sites often claimed those venerated during preceding Pagan periods, and just as we see the remains of the church of St. Michael the Dragon Slayer in the tower on the Tor with its two Dragon Lines, so we ob
serve the symmetry of a church to the Blessed Mother marking a place of deep veneration to the Goddess.
As Christianity spread, Glastonbury Abbey arose around this wattle building until the old church was destroyed by fire in 1184, and replaced by a chapel to St. Mary known today as the Lady Chapel. As further indication of the holy nature of this site, analysis of the plan of the Lady Chapel reveals patterns of sacred geometry that appear to also have been used at Stonehenge and other holy sites. A place of deep reverence to this day, Lady Chapel is said to be the burial place both of King Arthur and Joseph of Arimathea.
According to tradition, Joseph returned to Glastonbury after Jesus’ crucifixion. Near the end of their journey, Joseph and his twelve followers stopped to rest on the crest of Wearyall Hill. There, Joseph drove his staff into the ground where it miraculously took root.
The famed hawthorn tree found at the top of Wearyall Hill today (and in several locations in Glastonbury including the Abbey grounds and Chalice Well Gardens) is a descendant of that tree, a species native to Palestine. Unlike other local varieties, the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury blooms every year at Christmastide, and by tradition, a branch is brought to the reigning British monarch as part of the holiday celebration.
Tradition states that Joseph founded the first Christian community in the British Isles and that he brought from the Holy Land either the Cup of the Last Supper or two crystal cruets holding the blood and sweat of Christ—surely a symbolic echo of the red and white alchemical energies of Avalon. Before his death, Joseph is said to have hidden the relics at the foot of the Tor, thereby coloring the Red Spring, a reflection of the blood of Christ. According to another legend, Joseph buried the grail in the mound of Chalice Hill, which today still bears the name of the sacred object.
The small hill of Beckery, located near Wearyall Hill on the banks of the River Brue, also became an island during times of inundation. Legend recalls that it was a place of vigil where all visitors would have to spend the night in prayer before they could enter the Holy Island of Avalon. It was there that King Arthur is said to have received a vision of the Holy Mother and the Grail. Beckery means “Beekeeper’s Island,” undoubtedly reflecting both the island’s honey production and the symbolism of bees as a potent goddess totem. A small Irish community dwelt in the area and an alternate etymology posits that Beckery means “Little Ireland” from the Gaelic Beag Erie.
Legend holds that St. Brigid of Ireland came to Beckery in the fifth century ce, to visit a shrine dedicated to Mary Magdalene. It later became known as Bride’s Mound in honor of this goddess-saint, and a well associated with the mound was named for her. Until modern times, local women came to dress the well and hang prayer ribbons over its waters. Bride’s Well is where the famed Blue Bowl of Glastonbury was discovered in the early 1900s and is a place of deep reverence.
Wellesley Tudor Pole, the founder of the Chalice Well Trust, received a vision that led him to seek an object at Bride’s Well which could only be uncovered by a pure maiden. After searching the waters of the well at Tudor Pole’s direction, three young women happened upon a blue glass bowl, featuring the renowned Venetian millefiori motif. This vessel had been deposited in the well years before by a local doctor who had found the bowl in Italy, and was later led by some inner impulse to place it in Bride’s Well. The discovery of the bowl caused quite a stir at the time; some believed it to be the Holy Grail, while others acknowledged that its resonance with that holy vessel was more symbolic than actual. Ultimately, the bowl was revealed to be of nineteenth-century origin and is today in the keeping of the Chalice Well Trust, always watched over by the Well’s female guardian.
Joseph of Arimathea and his followers were granted a large piece of land known as the Twelve Hides of Glastonbury, a 1,440-acre area that included seven sacred islands. These islands are believed to have held ritual significance during an earlier Pagan age and were later sites of Christian hermitages and chapels—among them, the Island of Avalon and Beckery. In his book New Light on the Ancient Mysteries of Glastonbury, British author and mystic John Michell plots the positions of these seven islands on a map of the region, and reveals that together they directly correspond to the form of the Big Dipper constellation, an important part of the larger constellation known as Ursa Major (the “Great Bear”). King Arthur is related totemically to the bear (Artos), and Michell suggests the stories of Arthur’s exploits were based on tribal memories of a chieftain called Arth Fawr—the Great Bear. Perhaps only an intriguing coincidence, this is yet another reiteration of the connection between Avalon and Arthur.
This formation of the seven sacred islands is one of several striking connections between celestial representations of Arthurian mythos and the landscape of ancient Avalon. The axis star of the Big Dipper is the one around which the constellation appears to rotate though the cycle of the seasons. This star, on the upper lip of the star-drawn vessel, points to Polaris, the Pole Star. Interestingly enough, the island that corresponds to the axis position terrestrially is Glastonbury. There is a sense, then, that Glastonbury exists at the center of a grand, rotating cycle of cosmic proportions, perhaps suggested by a description of the Otherworld from The Spoils of Annwn—the Revolving Fortress, Caer Pedryvan.
An apparent manifestation of this cycle can be found in the mysterious Glastonbury Zodiac. This Temple of the Stars, so named by Katherine Maltwood, who discovered these figures in the landscape surrounding Glastonbury in 1929, are gigantic effigies created by natural and man-made boundaries across the Somerset countryside. These images correspond to the constellations of the western zodiac in the correct astrological order, yet are represented in an Arthurian context. Maltwood considered this landscape zodiac to be the original Round Table, and found that the images held great resonance with characters and events in the stories of King Arthur.
The Glastonbury Zodiac is ten miles in diameter and some of the figures are five miles long. Drawn on the canvas of the landscape by streams, hills, and valleys, these images were further developed by human hands as evidenced by field boundaries that contribute to the outline of the figures. Interestingly, some of the geographical locations that fall within these giant figures bear names that reflect a degree of consciousness of the effigies, citing body parts or related words. The figure that encompasses the Tor is, appropriately enough, the Phoenix—representing the sign of Aquarius. It is symbolically apt that this powerful symbol of death and rebirth overlays the entrance to the Otherworld where the Cauldron of Rebirth can be found, marking Glastonbury Tor as a place of pilgrimage for the Aquarian Age. In contrast, Wearyall Hill falls within the figure representing Pisces, symbol of Christianity and the era that began with the return of Joseph of Arimathea to the Holy Isle.
The overall essence of Avalon lies in its function to unify dualities. Star patterns from above take shape in its landscape. For a time, two different faiths are able to peaceably coexist on its shores and evolve to share a common symbol set. Legend and history both have powerful footholds in the countryside. Past and present intermingle as the ancient traditions of the island are reclaimed, while mystics forge ahead, gaining new wisdoms from this sacred site. Land and water ebb and flow, turning hills into islands and drowned Roman villas into underwater palaces. Cauldrons become grails, springs become wells, goddesses become revered saints. Layer upon layer of metaphor and allegory form the foundation of this unique place, becoming mirrored in its geography and taking root in the spirit of all who spend time in its embrace. Above all, Ynis Witrin, the Island of Glass, holds up a mirror to all who will embark upon the quest—asking that we take that which is within and manifest it without.
Immram to the Sacred Center of Avalon
The whole of the Island of Apples is related to the Station of Integration in the Avalonian Cycle of Healing. Stepping through the portal of this Station, we allow ourselves to experience the truth of our innate beauty, perfection, and oneness with the Goddess. Use the H
oly Isle to assist you in seeing the big picture and overall pattern of your personal process. Take the time to see yourself as the whole and sacred being that you are, blessing your shadow for the gifts it brings while owning your priestess self and all the ways you have already reclaimed her. Accept that where you are on your journey is exactly where you need to be, without judgment or expectation. Never forget that you are already whole … already One … already a cherished and vital part of the body of the Mother. You need only release and remember.
Perform the Immram to the Island of Avalon as described on p. 55. After arriving on the shore, proceed with the rest of this working.
The Journey
Stepping out of the Barge that transported you across the glassy lake to the Holy Isle, you meet your guide waiting for you on the shores of Avalon. Greet your guide and share your reason for undertaking this journey and your desire to visit the very core of Avalon; ask to be guided to the center of the island.
Everything about the isle seems different; it is completely still and calm, yet tinted with a hue of expectancy. As you move through the orchard, you are greeted by the curious sight of trees with limbs blossoming, bearing fruit, and bare—all at the same time. The apples that do grow seem to glow silver with their own luminescence, small and rounded moons reflecting an inner light onto the meandering pathway through the trees, tinkling softly in your wake as you pass.
Leaving the orchard, your guide turns down a path you have not yet taken, though it feels both strange and familiar to you. Take note of what you see as you follow your guide, passing low, darkened buildings and silent, tidied workshops … carefully tended gardens and mist-ringed circles … tree-lined processionals and venerated sacred precincts … There is so much yet to learn and explore here on Avalon, but now is not the time. You are brought instead to a shining meadow—a place set apart, yet at the very center of the web of energy that crisscrosses the whole of the island.
Avalon Within Page 17
