Opening Ceremony Goddess Conference

Today was the opening of the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury honouring Mother Earth. We entered the Town Hall to a wonderfully decorated goddess space and had an opening with the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor present to welcome us all to Glastonbury.

We all added our offering to this goddess formed with softened twigs

The Welcoming with the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor

After lunch we walked the landscape and honoured the elements air, fire, water & earth. At the end we collated the earth we had brought from around the world into one pouch for our group which we chose earlier in the morning. The groups represented the 8 directions and the centre. Each direction represented a part of the landscape eg volcano, valleys, mountain tops, caves and forests/glens. We were asked to select the group that spoke to our soul and the part of the landscape that we found the most joy. As I had travelled so far to have this experience in Glastonbury I selected the centre the Isle of Avalon representing transformation - a very powerful group and one that has changed my life forever even after only 1 day of the conference.

Walking out of town on the beginning of our landscape sacred walk

Welcoming each attendee at the gate of the Tor 

Starting our ascent of the Tor

My turn of carrying the staff for our group

After a tea break we then gathered for our sacred welcoming ceremony of the evening which has left me humbled and in awe of the people involved. It is a sacred ceremony and unfortunately there are no photographs to share with you. It involved an enchanted forest with nymph and faery casing each other through the standing stones and women skyclad representing the earth elements of our groups. The earth from our individual pouches was mixed together from all participants and then each goddess of the elements added there earth to form a large cauldron of earth from all corners of the world.

Glastonbury

Today we had a quite day walking around the village of Glastonbury, looking through the many many shops of new age books, faery items, unusual clothing, crystals and esoteric ornaments I think I am in heaven.

The courtyard of the Glastonbury Experience

The Glastonbury Experience Entrance from High Street - Imagination, Transformation & Inspiration

Town Square

Although a charter was granted to the town in 1705, following a petition citing the lack of local justice which stated "whereof the morals of the inhabitants are corrupt, and cavil and breach of the peace are frequent", it was not until 1813 when an order was placed with a Mr.Beard of Somerton to draw up plans for a Town Hall. The early Corporation, composed of capital and inferior burgesses, held meetings in the market house which, because of its poor condition made change inevitable. After years of discussion a Mr.Down offered a piece of ground next to the gateway beside the Red Lion one which to build a new market hall on the ground floor and a Town Hall above. The Council Chamber remains there today, above a small meeting room which is part of the whole complex. The first meeting of the Council in the new Town Hall took place in December 1814, but "later adjourned to the White Hart to consider how to find £100", presumably for further costs. The debt was still not repaid in 1865. Today the building houses the office of the Town Clerk, a large hall with three fine chandeliers widely used for receptions, dances, musical entertainments and meetings. This week it is the head quarters of the Goddess Conference. 

Town Hall 

I just love the shops and the names they give them this is the Cat & The Cauldron

High S|treet

War Memorial a Saxon cross discovered when excavations of the St John's church took place in 1908

The Sacred Glastonbury Thorn Tree in the church grounds - unfortunately the one on Wearyall |Hill has been vandalised however this tree is from the same original cuttings at that one

Of the original St John’s Church on this site little is known. However, recent excavations in the chancel, together with others in the nineteenth century in the nave, revealed early foundations. The excavations indicate a large central tower that possibly dated from Dunstan’s abbacy, c. 950, and a later Norman nave arcade on the same plan as the existing one. A central tower survived until the fifteenth century. The Church of the blessed Saint John the Baptist of Northbinne, as it is called in the early charters, was one of the seven local churches over which, from Saxon times, the Abbey of Glastonbury had claimed complete ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This led to disputes with the Bishop of Wells, and in 1170 these churches became a special Archdeaconry with the Abbot as Archdeacon. About this time, when a Master Alvred was the incumbent, there were attempts by the Abbey to appropriate the revenues of the church. This finally happened on the resignation of Ralph the Chaplain in 1203 and the Sacrist of the Abbey was then to appoint the future vicars and to pay them a stipend. This was confirmed in 1225 by Pope Honorius III, when it was stated that the revenues were appropriated to help the Abbey’s building fund. (The Abbey had been burnt down in 1184). The parishioners also had to pay rent of 6s. 9d. to the Abbey. At the dissolution of the Abbey in 1539, the church passed to the Crown, and the rent was raised to £1 2s. 2d. In 1649 it passed to the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who is the patron of the living. St. Benedict's Church, Glastonbury, and West Pennard Church were originally chapels of the mother church of St. John's. They always had their own churchwardens, and eventually became separate parishes, but were served by the same incumbent, except between 1846 and 1980. In medieval times the churchwardens were a corporate body owning considerable property in the town. We are fortunate that the number of their account rolls from the year 1366 onwards have been preserved, although with many gaps and doubts about the dates of some of them. 

St John's Church

Glastonbury Walking the Tor Labyrinth

For interested in the Glastonbury Tor Labyrinth I have spoken in details in a previous posting on this subject so please refer to this for more information.

The terracing slopes of the Glastonbury Tor are a great three dimensional labyrinth, a ceremonial way dedicated to the ancient Goddess where many people walk her path in a sacred manner.

My experience of the walking the Tor with 10 other women from America, South Africa, Australia and the UK was one of great challenge and very humbling. We started on the main concrete path towards the Tor from Wellhouse Lane stopping to greet each other as we entered through the wooden gateway, we walked to the fallen Standing Stone which was our entry point for Level 3 associated with the Fire Element and the Solar Plexus Chakra. The walk continues through the layers of the Labyrinth next being 2 associated with the Water Element and the Sacral Chakra, then Level 1 associated with the Earth Element and the Base Chakra, then Level 4 associated with the Air Element and the Heart Chakra, the next Level 7 associated with the Crown Chakra, next Level 6 and the Third Eye Chakra and finally Level 5 and the Throat Chakra.

The whole walk took 8 hours with time on each level to hold ceremony of honour and to receive blessings. The top of the Tor is also where the lay lines of Mary (Magdalene) and Michael (Archangel) come together a very powerful place to receive guidance and answers to questions you may have. It is also linked through myth and legend to be home of Gwyn ap Nudd the Lord of the Underworld and a place where the faery folk live.

My personal learnings from the day have been about life in general. As we start out our challenges are few and easy to deal with like the uneven ground of the lower levels of the labyrinth. As we age and mature the challenges become more complex and difficult to solve and you must rely on inner knowings and lessons learned through life experience how to step ahead. This is represented by the higher levels of the labyrinth where you must not doubt your footings and there is one path to walk only small 10cm wide tracks that are uneven, with holes to step into, or the very steep slope of the mountain to fall down. You must learn to trust and step with confidence and keep going forward not stopping or fearing the process but continuing with determination to achieve your goals. Once you have taken this lesson to heart you find yourself on an easier path and the journey ahead is clear and sure. So to it is in life, I was truly surprised how much this walk and life in general where the same. The animals around us also provided learnings for us as we walked.

We had lunch in the heart of the Tor in the Avalon Orchids and I was humbled to think that I was here and becoming one in such an ancient and blessed place.

First Views from Level 3

First sighting of the Tor

We walked in single file in silence

This is Wearyall Hill which jut captivated me all day

Avalon Orchids

Gathering for Grandmother ceremony

Offerings to mother

Glastonbury Tor

The Sacred Egg Stone

We tied blessings onto the sacred tree beside the egg stone

Bristol

We spent the day in Bristol today with many many other thousands of people celebrating the Harbour Festival of 2013, didn't know what we were coming to and were more than surprised when we arrived.

Another city with many hills and of course we had to head to the top of the highest one with the tower on Brandon Hill to catch the views over the city.

Our first stop was to see the Cathedral Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity. A church has probably stood on this site for over a thousand years but it came to prominence in 1148 when Robert Fitzhardinge founded the Abbey of St. Augustine. The first of the cathedral the Chapter House built between 1150-60 then the last to be built the Western Tower in 1888 make up the changes made over 700 years can be seen along with  Abbey Gatehouse today.

City Hall has been the seat of local government in Bristol, England since 1956. The foundation stone for was laid in 1938 and the building was opened by the Queen in 1956.

City Hall

The Abbey Gatehouse & Library

We then climbed Brandon Hill and to the top of Cabot Tower the century old 34m (102ft) high tower that offers panoramic views over the city. Built in 1897 with the angelic Lady of Commerce statue at the very top. It was constructed in memory of John Cabot, 400 years after he set sail in Matthew from Bristol and landed in what was later to become Canada. The foundation stone was laid on 24 June 1897 and the tower was completed in July 1898. It consists of a spiral staircase and two viewing platforms which overlook the city.

University of Bristol

The Clifton Suspension Bridge spanning the Avon Gorge built in 1754 a dream of a Bristol Wine merchant

The back of City Hall & Cathedral

Cabot Tower 

The Georgian house was built in 1790 for John Pinney, a wealthy slave plantation owner and sugar merchant, it was also where the enslaved African, Pero lived. It is displayed as it might have looked in the 18th century and provides an insight into life above and below stairs.

Georgian House Museum is an 18th Century 6 storey townhouse

Study

Dining Room

Cold Water Plunge Pool

Kitchen

Laundry

Library

Drawing Room

Bedroom

Wills Memorial Building of the University of Bristol

The Red Lodge house, built in 1580, is furnished in Elizabethan, Stuart and Georgian styles and contains the impressive Great Oak Room, with its original Elizabethan plasterwork ceiling, oak panelling and carved chimneypiece. It was built as a lodge for a Great House, which once stood on the site of the present Colston Hall. It was subsequently added to in Georgian times. It has had several uses in its past, including a reform school for girls. This was set up in 1854 by Mary Carpenter and a room is dedicated to her memory.

The Red Lodge

Bedroom

Knot Garden

Bristol Museum

Funery Jar 800BC - 500 AD

Greek Goddess Breotia Greece 600BC