Friday, May 25, 2018 Five of Interpretation: Pentacles This card shows two wounded pilgrims coming to sanctuary for healing. This is very much how I see the sacred town of Glastonbury with its ancient abbey and many chapels dedicated to different religions. Glastonbury is a place of spiritual healing.
Up early, pack up, have breakfast, and board the bus to one of the most magical towns in the world!
Glastonbury
This is my third visit to Glastonbury in Somerset. It is a place of such mystical intensity, that I am drawn back again and again. It has been called by many magical names through history, including Avalon, the Isle of Apples, and “the Holiest Earth in England”. Glastonbury Tor and the Chalice Well are connected to the “Michael and Mary” ley lines.
Glastonbury Tor
Glastonbury Tor is dedicated to Saint Michael (and also earlier Celtic deities such as Gwyn ap Nudd, Merlin the Magician, Lugh, and the Faerie King). The Chalice Well is often seen as the female counterpart to the Tor, dedicated to Morgan le Fay, Mary Magdalene, St. Margaret, and Saint Brigid, to name a few. It is one of the places where the Holy Grail is said to reside. There is an equally magical White Well across the lane from the Chalice Well, with its own special brand of magic. The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey are said to be where Arthur and Guinevere were buried. There is also a well dedicated to Saint Brigid, now located under a car park, but there is a movement to recover it.
To Christians, Wearyall Hill is the very place where Joseph of Arimathea planted his holy Levantine Hawthorn, brought with him from the Holy Land after the death of his nephew, Jesus. All the hawthorns in Glastonbury are scions of this original tree, which has been replanted many times over the centuries.
Glastonbury is an area that weaves both the male and female mysteries together with the energies of all the magic and mysticism that the British Isles can conjure and gather into one spot! Every inch of this extraordinary township is rich with folklore and history, so densely packed that it makes my head spin.
One of our tour guides, Jamie George, is the proprietor of Gothic Images, a book store in Glastonbury. He is an excellent and knowledgeable story teller and makes the old stories come alive with his enthusiastic renditions of the magic of the town that he know so well!
Jamie told us that the “Vale of Avalon” was nestled between three hills – Glastonbury Tor, Chalice Hill, and Wearyall Hill. Each of these hills has its own incredible legends and folklore connections.
We ascended the pathway up to Glastonbury Tor, which at one time was an island surrounded by semi-marshlands, depending on the season. It was a holy place in every epic of British history to the present time. It is topped with Saint Michael’s Tower, which was built over earlier ruins, sometime in the 14th Century.
One of the reliefs on this tower is a woman milking a cow. Many believe it is Saint Brigid, who has associations of her own in Glastonbury.
Another relief on the Tower. St. Michael??
And then we descended the sacred path down from the Tor, to
Linda Marson and Mary Greer
Chalice Well
At the bottom of the Tor, we find a lane, with two sacred wells, the Red Well and the White Well. Today, we visited the Red Well – more commonly known as the Chalice Well, just below Chalice Hill.
The Chalice Well is named for the Holy Grail, which local legends tell us, once resided, hidden in its wellhead.
The wonderful ironwork on the well’s inner lid was created by the late Hamish Miller, who was a dowser, author, ley hunter, and blacksmith. The original design of the outer well lid was gifted to the Chalice Well Gardens in the 1919 by esoteric archeologist, Frederick Bligh Bond.
We all laid our amulets and crystals on the rim of the well, asking for the blessing of this incredible well from folklore and legend.
Chalice Well is also called the Red Well, in reference to the reddened waters from the underground spring feeding the well.
The well, which has been used for well over 2000 years, gets its red coloring from the iron oxide in the layers of rock it flows through.
It has long been considered a healing well, and people still drink it, and collect the waters, which have never gone dry.
Taking the healing waters at Glastonbury has been noted since Medieval times, and probably long before.
It is rumored that Elizabeth I’s famous doctor John Dee came here for the waters.
There are beautiful gardens and altars hidden in arbors throughout the Chalice Well gardens.
Glastonbury is also reputed to be the ancient land of “Avalon”, the Isle of Apples. The region is famous for its apples to this day.
Susa, sitting under an apple tree in Avalon!
Then off to the town of Glastonbury for a little shopping and some tea!
Scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam, cucumber sandwich, greens, almond cake, with a pot of English Breakfast tea! Excellent!
Visiting a local church
St. John’s Church
The labyrinth on the St. John’s Church grounds
And on to the main street of town.
A Raven street mural to welcome me to town!
So many stores! So little time! Among my favorite was Gothic Images, owned by our own tour guide, Jamie George; and Shield Maiden – a shop for Heathens and modern day Vikings!
I love the colorful Bohemian clothing styles in Glastonbury!
Then back to the hotel with some new treasures from town
Resources
Glastonbury: https://www.glastonbury.co.uk/pages/ and http://www.ussher.org.uk/journal/00s/2009/06%20Mather%20Chalice%20Well%202009%20f ull.pdf The Holiest Earth in England: https://books.google.com/books?id=YAUkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP6&lpg=PP6&dq=HOliest+earth+in+England&sour ce=bl&ots=vtwFhxYKFU&sig=u3PvKs-SsibHuybxkAnT- mhYcRs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwizrLu4q8TbAhWFKHwKHfwTBJMQ6AEIVDAD#v=onepage&q=HOliest% 20earth%20in%20England&f=false Gothic Images Bookstore: https://www.gothicimage.co.uk/gi3/index.php/about-us Chalice Well Trust: http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/ Hamish Miller: http://www.parallelcommunity.com/rememberhamish.html Shield Maiden, Glastonbury: https://www.facebook.com/shieldmaidenglastonbury/