Avalon’s Phoenix of Transformation: The Sign of Aquarius in the Glastonbury Temple of Stars

The Glastonbury Temple of the Stars is a huge Star Map of the Zodiac Constellations which energetically overlays the fields and villages in and around Glastonbury for several miles. First described by Katherine Maltwood in 1934, the outlines of these Star Maps are marked in the local landscape by the roads, streams, lanes and field boundaries.

Katherine was an artist by profession and she had first perceived the expanse of the Glastonbury Zodiac in a spiritual vision. She then worked out the detailed outline of each Star Map in the physical Landscape by referencing local maps and place names.

Glastonbury occupies the position of Aquarius in this Temple of Stars. Aquarius is usually linked with the image of The Water Carrier; the one who brings the Waters of Life, Light and Love to the thirsty. This symbolism conveys the idea of Celestial energies carrying cosmic frequencies of Light flowing down to Mother Earth like a waterfall.

On the personality level, these energies represent the ability to appreciate the unusual, innovative and spiritual perspectives in life and the willingness to share these unconventional insights with others. These are the ‘light- bulb’ moments which wake us up with new information and innovative solutions to life’s problems. On the spiritual level,  these are the vibrations which create an enlightenment or expansion of consciousness in our minds.

Visitors come from all over the world now to enjoy Glastonbury’s High Street shops and Workshops which share spiritual products, information and expertise. The town’s Aquarius placement in larger Landscape Zodiac has been translated into its unusual, now global role as an information centre for the New Age’s spiritual revolution; a perfect physical representation of the Landscape’s Star Map influx of Celestial energies.

However, the Sign of Aquarius in the Glastonbury Zodiac is not symbolised by the traditional image of the Water Carrier. Instead it is a Phoenix. Why is this so? In the multidimensional language of images, Katherine Maltwood’s switch in symbolism from the usual Water Carrier to innovative Phoenix in the Glastonbury Zodiac becomes wonderfully insightful. The Phoenix is an ancient symbol associated with inner Alchemy and the kinds of changes in consciousness which can result in a profound spiritual transformation. These are the awakenings of consciousness which come from a deeper level, the kind of epiphanies that can change our lives in a profound way. 

Avalon was and is a Sacred Site, a powerful Landscape Temple steeped in the mysteries of the Alchemical Phoenix, the bird-like aspect of our Spiritual Being who willingly casts herself into the purifying fires of transformation so that we may rise again, reborn and refreshed from the ashes of the past.  This Alchemical layer of multidimensional spirituality is firmly anchored in the Sacred Landscape itself and there are hints of its spiritual potential in the Landscape’s history and the Grail Legends which encode its Mystery.

To be continued…..

Welcome to my Avalon Grail Code blog

Today it feels like it’s time to begin this process of sharing what I have discovered about the Sacred Landscape Temple of Glastonbury in the south west of Britain.

There are many aspects and layers to these Mysteries, many layers of Glastonbury’s convoluted History and Avalon’s ancient Legends blending with the Here and Now in ways which are purposefully designed to baffle the logical mind. The Divine intention is to provoke an opening or bypassing of the rational mind so that the Timeless may be glimpsed.

This opening stimulates the experience of personal knowing, the direct perception or Gnosis that there really is a ‘something else’ to Life. This inner knowing, if honoured and pursued, magically stimulates the Quest, the inner processes of questioning blending with the outer processes of searching for more clues. And this is the ‘magic’, the dynamic between inner and outer which leads to further personal experiences of the mysterious Essence of Being that we still call the Holy Grail.

Over 20 years or so I read lots of books in my efforts to understand what was making Glastonbury such an extra-ordinary place. I can see now that this was a preparation for the event which was to break open the veil which was blocking my direct knowing of the Other-world, the realms of spiritual consciousness and Being which are primarily energetic rather than physical.

In my reading of Glastonbury’s Myths and Legends, I had created a framework for understanding what I was being shown. After my ‘opening’, I began to write poetry and paint because these were the easiest ways of communicating what I was seeing and feeling. It felt as though I was suddenly able to tune into the Bardic Realms of Avalon’s ancient Druids and could access their wisdom.

It was as though all those Druid Teachings were recorded as an underground hum in the Landscape and I had discovered how to hear them. I also began to remember my Past Life experiences of living in Avalon/Glastonbury at various times before. Another series of  layers revealed the real history of the First Church which was once sited on the land which is now the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey.

Then I began to make a series of Collages which were my avenue to a greater understanding of the timeless Mysteries of Mary Magdalene and The Goddess Isis. Slowly, slowly, I began to comprehend what I was being shown and now it time to share it…..

Looking inside Glastonbury’s 15th Century Magdalene Chapel.