The Wales (and England) Adventure – Glastonbury and the Isle of Avalon

Today I am grateful for coming home – to our home away from home…

The day dawned soft and silver and wet, and we packed up our cute little Bath apartment and headed to Lacock Abbey…

But really we were just filling in time until we could head to Glastonbury… And the closer we got, the more the rain eased off, and the grey clouds started to clear, until it was all blue skies and sunshine, and gorgeous white-gold clouds and pre-sunset colours. It was almost dark by the time we’d dropped off our bags in our little apartment, but we had the usual sense of urgency to climb the tor, so off we went. It was *freezing*, but awesome. Such a powerful place, and so beautiful and strong and magical. And the sky was *amazing*, with the beautiful golden warmth of the waxing crescent moon peeking through the clouds.

By the time we’d made it home and made some dinner (and watched a couple of NCIS episodes, oops!), I was super sleepy, but I managed to crank out just over 600 words for NaNoWriMo…

Beltane blessings to my friends in the southern hemisphere – and a magical Samhain to those in the north. This year I’m on the other side of the world, feeling all upside down and back to front, and celebrating the energies of both sabbats… May you welcome in new growth or release what no longer serves you, depending on where you are, and see the magic in the precious everyday moments that are so easy to overlook, yet so perfectly full of potential and promise xx

Today I am grateful for friends and pots of tea and talking all things life, death, babies and Star Wars… We got up in the dark and jumped on the bus to London, to spend the afternoon with some sweet friends, which was fun. It sucks being so far away from people, but it makes the time together precious.

I struggled to write on the bus there (so hard to stay awake!), but got a bit more done on the way home, in between watching the beautiful golden crescent moon sailing across the sky, and the colourful fireworks going off as far as the eye could see for Guy Fawkes Night…

Today I am grateful for the time and space to breathe…

Finally it was a peaceful, unrushed, cruisy morning – kinda blissful after having stuff to do every day we’ve been here. Which has all been wonderful, but it was so nice to just stay home and chill out. I got some writing done, and drank lots of tea, and just hung out with Juz. I was about to go climb the tor in the afternoon, but it started raining, so I very happily stayed in our cute little apartment and continued to chill out, watching Doctor Strange (the old one, in preparation for the new), and sneaking in a few more NaNo words, before we drove over to Wells to see the new Doctor Strange 🙂

Today I am grateful for sunshine and blue skies and exploration…

The morning dawned super-chilly but beautifully sunny – the perfect early winter day – so after a Jillian workout, we set out on a mission to the cemetery, to find Dion Fortune’s grave. Which was much harder than we expected, but it was really lovely just wandering through the place, crunching through the late autumn leaves, being moved by some of the inscriptions, and happy to have found the resting places of Helene Wilhelmina van Woelderen Koppejan and her husband Willem Ary Koppejan, Dutch authors, astrologers and mystics, who purchased several buildings in town, which they used to set up the Glastonbury Experience, a complex of alternative shops and studios, while she founded the Glastonbury Trust, which promoted ecological awareness and sustainable development, plus Maude Coote’s. After a quick trek home to double check something, we finally found Dion’s grave, as well as her partner Charles Thomas Loveday’s nearby. It was very touching, to see the candles and crystals and wishes people have left there, and the flowers and plants growing on her grave, and the rosemary bush (rosemary for remembrance) with ribbons tied into it as prayers.

Then we set out to explore Bride’s Mound, and see how much it has changed since the last time we were here – loads! It was harder to find, yet so much more accessible, and it’s wonderful that it’s being restored… Then we climbed Wearyall Hill (Wirral Hill), to see the sadly butchered sacred hawthorn tree. It was really moving to see all the ribbons and crystals surrounding it, and magical to see the alignment with the tor, and the beautiful countryside spreading out and surrounding this sacred place… Plus there were tiny, fuzzy calves 🙂

Today I am grateful for sacred springs and candle-lit temples…

I woke up with a nightmare migraine, which was depressing, but I tried hard not to let it ruin the day. I pushed myself to write in the morning, and although it took longer than it might have, I was amused that after I added up the words I’d written across three different files, it was exactly 1667, the daily amount required to hit 50,000 words for the 30 days…

So then we headed out to climb the tor again, but got to the bottom just after a group led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was taking local Christians on a “reflective walk” to the top – with much made in the news about him climbing the 300 steps to the summit. It was all a bit crowded for us, so we headed home for lunch, before visiting the temple at the White Spring, which was so beautiful, and really moving.

It’s all dark and candlelit within, with the sound of flowing water adding such a sense of peace and tranquillity, and small streams crossing the floor, lit up by candle flames, and damp and dank in a lovely way. It reminded me of the first time I visited Glastonbury (almost twenty years ago!), when this building was a cafe, with streams of water running under the tables, and a little store selling wands and crystals… Its new incarnation as a temple is wonderful, and inspiring, and it’s really beautiful inside.

The two pools filled with water from the white spring are perfect (although it was a bit of a surprise when the guy who went in before us took off all his clothes and wandered around before submerging himself in the deeper pool…), and the three shrines, to Bridie/Brigid, the Lady of Avalon and the King of the Fae, are gorgeous too, although it was the pools themselves, and the candlelight mirrored within them that I especially loved… They ask that you don’t take photos, so I didn’t, although I wanted to. But I sat in there for a long time, eyes closed as I dreamed, then open wide as I gazed around me, taking in every detail, then wrote for ages…

[From their website: The White Spring is home to a shrine in honour of Brigid, Celtic Fire Goddess and guardian of sacred springs, within it, The Brigid Flame perpetually burns. A shrine in honour Our Lady of Avalon can be found beside the healing pools. The shrine in honour of the King of the World of Faerie is at the portal to the otherworld, as legend has it. The ley-line known as the Michael line runs right through the building and Michael, forever associated with Glastonbury Tor, is also honoured here…]

Then we headed up the tor again, under dark heavy skies, loving it in all its moods and chilliness. The sky got blacker the further we climbed, but we figured it didn’t matter if we got wet. We were climbing down the back of the tor, the steep side that Rhiannon got to walk up as part of her coven dedication with Carlie, giggling at the sweet rabbits, when big fat drops started to fall on us. So we headed back up, thinking we could take shelter in the tower on top – forgetting for a moment that it has no roof, ha ha! So we figured what the hell, and wandered back down the front of the tor, and slowly made our way home through the soft misty rain…

Today I am grateful for life and love and memories…

But not to write here – I was too busy trying to catch up on my NaNo words I guess. But we spent the day at the Chalice Well Gardens, which are so peaceful, and dreamy, and restorative, then we climbed the tor again, reminiscing about our honeymoon, and the times we’ve returned since then…

Today I am so grateful that we are here – although we’re starting to feel a bit sad about the almost-end of our holiday. We kept reminding ourselves and each other not to let the sadness ruin our time, and for the most part we succeeded, but there was a certain melancholy to our day.

Our climb up the tor was fun – the wind was insanely strong, and there were a few moments that I really did think I might be pushed off the mountain 🙂 But the skies were blue and the sun was out – just another totally different mood of the tor…

Today I am grateful for our time here, but so sad to be leaving…

I got up in the dark (which isn’t especially early here, ha ha), and wandered around the town, bespelled by the mists that were all pink in the soon-to-rise sun, and enchanted all over again by the town, which was totally deserted and magical. And then we sadly packed up our stuff and hit the road, stopping a few times to marvel at the mists rolling across the green fields.

We stopped for brekkie in a weird highway cafe, then made our way to Winchester to explore for the afternoon. It was pretty, and historic, and as we walked I pictured Janna from the Janna Chronicles as she entered the town through the Westgate, and wandered along the river. Unfortunately Wolvesey Castle was closed, but the abbey was impressive, and the houses were romantically old, and we wandered past the home Jane Austen lived in just before she died…

And then it was time to drive back to London, gazing up at the Star Wars-looking waxing moon, getting stuck in hideous traffic and cursing the early dark as we tried desperately to find the car return place…

And then, back on the plane for the horrible yet magical long-haul flight home, filled with tomato-soaked dinners, a couple of films (X-Men Apocalypse, Million Dollar Baby, and lots of tears) some writing – 2000 words, despite kinda losing a day – and very little sleep… But it was all worth it! xx