Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Avalon


Not last weekend but the weekend before I went to Glastonbury. It was wonderful to spend some time in that magical place; to attach to the legends of Avalon.

I did some real shopping. I am not one for shopping usually. I tend to buy all that I can on the Internet and only go round actual shops when I have to. Glastonbury is different, the energy of the place is different, the shops are not high street clones but real shops. The sort of shops there used to be; the kind that you almost expect to 'up and fly' to somewhere else while you are browsing round the shelves, or to have a secret portal in the changing room. I had a whale of a time. I bought a new dress, lot of books and bits! In fact I am going to return before Yule to do some more shopping, this time for friends.

I just love StarChild. I love the smell - it is jam packed with resins and incense, candles and the most exquisite goddess figurines. They have tree essences and herbal smokes, big bell jars full of potions, remedies and proper old fashioned herbs in wooden drawers. It is a delight.

I also tried the Speaking Tree - which came highly recommended by Exmoor Jane. Well! Heaven or what! The place groans under the weight of esoteric and spiritual books,stacked as high as the ceiling, all reasonably priced and offering a galaxy of undiscovered worlds.

Green Man and Goddess was up to its usual standard as was the Magick Box and I was a very happy wierdy woman by the end of the trip. Glastonbury is the place to be a woman. There were women everywhere and it felt good. Now as you know, dear readers, I like my men - but there was something amazing about being in Avalon, a place where Goddess is revered and very much alive.

I went to the Goddess Temple, it sounds very grand - in reality it is a small upper storey room, modestly furnished but it is a place of very real femininity and in that is real power. The walls are adorned with art that represents female beauty - real women, not stick thin poor wasting waifs adapting to the expectations of the fashion industry, but big women with bellies and breasts. Young women, old women, all shapes and sizes and colours. It is a truly wonderful place to be. At the one end there is the altar to the Goddess and those that choose to spend time in that place do so in silence, with respect.

It is tranquil - serene - liberating. No men to tell us what we should be doing or thinking, no great male God telling us our bodies are sinful and we are the devil incarnate, no one interpreting or reframing anything! It is a place to be; without any external trappings. I went in twice. Both times, once I had sat down in that space, I needed to cry. I could feel the deep primal wounding rising uncontrollably - the wounding of constraint and control - but here it had no power and in that space I wanted to sob and sob until all the tears were shed. Then to be at peace, in that female place. No sin, no judgement, no pressure. It was beautiful and peaceful.

I mused on how I wished the old stories of Avalon were true. I wanted to know it was all real, historical, scientific fact; The mystic isle that was the centre of Goddess worship, that slipped out of synch with reality when the Christians came and disappeared into the mists. I so wanted it to be fact, to know that the priestesses had once wound their way up the Tor in ritual, or that the Lady of the Lake did indeed part the mists with the ancient incantations. Then it struck me, if the historical facts did not bear this out then the collective attachment to the legend of all those that passed through this beloved place made it real - in the imagination, on the astral plane - call it what you will. The legend, the place - was an archetype for the reality, the symbolic representation of a Goddess place, a place where women were not enslaved. I breathed a deep sigh and fell still - content.

Every woman needs to visit - and celebrate!


PS: I am really pushed for time, with my exam coming up - I am so appreciating all your comments, and I will be reading and commenting on all your blogs soon. Hugs.

14 comments:

Vi said...

I sooo wanna check Glastonbury out now! Good luck with the exam!

XXYXX said...

And it's an excellent place to buy pressies for your loyal man-chums ... or so I hear.

PS: If you're reading this, you're not swotting. Bad Queenie!

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

I love Glastonbury, particularly in late summer.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Oh and good luck on your exam!

Fire Byrd said...

Remember the HERMIT!!!
pxx

Anonymous said...

I've been there once, briefly, with KitchenWitch. It was lovely. But it was, to be honest, all a bit much for me on the shopping front. It's a classic case of wanting everything! But StarChild do the most lovely candles and I think I spent more money there than anywhere else. :)

Reading this has practically ensured that I will be paying it a return visit as soon as I can. (I'm leaving my credit card behind though! ;D)

Queen Vixen said...

Vi: Thanks - you wont be disappointed.

Bobo: I purchased you a couple of gifts as you know, just need to package and post. I have been swotting all day so this 5 minutes is a luxury.

Wake up: Exam is next Saturday - I am almost ready.

Pix: I am being a Hermit, cant you tell? Me and hermithood dont really match but I am all locked up in a darkened room.

l-q-s: Star child is just wonderful. I spent nearly £200 indulging myself. I have never ever spent that much on myself. eeek! But there is sooo much to buy in Glastonbury and I had been saving up.

Exmoorjane said...

As you know I have mixed feelings about Glastonbury.. But....LOVE Starchild (forgot to mention that).....Love Potion Number Nine has been a fixture in my bedroom cabinet for ....oooh, decades. Although nowadays I prefer their Tantra oil for a frisky frisson (it is SO outrageously sexy).

Good luck with the studying.....think i'm off to do a bit of gardening (me and the ground elder have a serious argument going on).
btw, thank you for the Gorgonzola credit - much more me than Cheshire (nice cheese though it be!).

Queen Vixen said...

I can understand the mixed feelings - I have a friend who has been visiting for years and she says that it feels strangely depleted. Lots of people take! However I have only been there twice and both times it was just such a healing place to be.

Your Star Child recommendations have hot footed it onto my Yule list - its about time I attended to personal fragrance and a little something to boost the natural Vixen potency is always welcome.

Go get the Ground Elder! Strength to your arm.

Exmoorjane said...

So far it's Jane 4 - ground elder 54 (this is not a fair contest)...

Geoff, sadly, has a waiting list as long as the roots of my ground elder....I'm not best happy as she needs something NOW. Yeah, I set myself up for it, didn't I - he will probably turn out to be a pin-stripe suit wearing accountant geek type - or a gay biker on acid. Bring it on!

Now then, what are you doing hanging around blogs? GET BACK TO WORK!!! Says she, hollow laugh, who has achieved NOTHING today. jxxx

Unknown said...

I love Glastonbury but dare not go there - last time it cost me £100 for an athame for Witchypoo! As for the Tor - I've tried to get up it twice and both times have been turned around by horrible weather. Some things are not meant - persumably there'll be a right time! By the way, take a look at Mark Chadbourne's wiki entry if you'd like the legends to be real.

DJ Kirkby said...

Glast is such a beautiful place, I love it so. Good luck with your exam hon!

Queen Vixen said...

Aww Jane, the ground elder sounds fiendish and even attempting to uproot it should count as doing something. Cant wait to hear all about Geoff!

I have a mock exam tomorrow and have revised like a good girl all evening.

Did you read Liz Jones today. Mr Vix is contemplating emailing her. He will do it, I know he will. He feels so sorry for her. I feel a teensy weensy bit sorry for her, but what the hell was she doing letting the yoga monster take her out for her birthday. She will have to see Geoff when she moves to Exmoor!

Hedge: I had a dream about you last night, how strange is that. Some tale of pumpkins and garden slurry. Cant remember all the details but I think it involved you and witchypoo running an organic b&b however things were not ok in the composting department and the whole thing went up in a fireball. As a therapist I am not even going to start analysing that one.

As for the Tor - aww, maybe you had not been spending enough in the shops and the tor goddess was displeased. I am of course well impressed by the purchase of the athame for the lovely witchy poo. I was rather tempted by the crowns but at £80 it seemed a bit steep. Should have taken a leaf out of your book, I could have been wearing it proudly by now :o)

Now I have to show my ignorance - is that a wikipedia entry you are referring too. Oh how slow I am - but thanks ever so for the reference. I do like my legends to be real, oh yes!

DJ: Cheers me dear. I have a mock tomorrow and will be getting very very drunk on Saturday night - hopefully celebrating a nice shiny pass.

Unknown said...

Oh. For. Gods. Sake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Chadbourn

Typical. A strange woman dreams about me, and the word "slurry" comes into it. ;-)