When I thought about the first two weeks of posts focusing on the letter A, I immediately formulated ideas as to what my posts would be about.
Ha!
This morning, as I thought about making my first PagBloPro post, the Lady whispered in my ear, "Post about this instead."
We make plans - Goddess laughs.
So my first A post is about (*duh duh duh*) - Avalon.
Perhaps an obvious first post, and one I didn't intend to make, but it makes sense to discuss this given that I am a Priestess of Avalon.
Avalon is a place that seems to call to people. It either really draws you in and you totally get it, or it remains shrouded in the mists of mystery that you just don't feel the need to part or penetrate.
But the questions that largely come from any discussion about Avalon is - what is it and where is it?
Neither question is easy to answer. There are many differing views on the subject, all with very convincing arguments. Some have studied ancient texts very deeply and done much research and feel very strongly about their conclusions. I cannot say I've taken that road, preferring experiences to guide me, but I shall share a bit of my own journey with Avalon and my own thoughts on it.
The funny thing about Avalon for me is, I don't actually remember when I first learned about it. It feels as though I've always known it. It's just been there, simmering away in the background of my DNA like some primordial stew, thickening and maturing until it came time to remember it and taste it.
The mythical and fictional accounts of Avalon never held much sway for me. I'd read books about Merlin and King Arthur and seen films about them as well, but the Avalon portrayed in them, if they were at all, held little to no fascination for me. When it began to come to the forefront of my memory again, it meant being completely drawn to Glastonbury, a place I knew I would have to visit one day. This was solidified even further when I saw the film version of The Mists of Avalon. Although a wonderful film in its way, I knew it wasn't telling the real story and that reality was far different - better, actually.
When I moved to the UK, Avalon drew me in. Shortly after I moved here, I found a small advert in a Pagan magazine for the Priestess of Avalon training in Glastonbury and something deep within my soul said, "This is for you."
It would be a couple years before I visited Glastonbury though and four years before I undertook the training I saw advertised. When I did visit Glastonbury, it was a very emotional experience. As we drove in the back of a taxi en route from Castle Cary to Glastonbury, the energy of the land touched me deeply. And eventually, the Tor rose up in the scenery, statuesque and majestic, and I cried tears of joy at the sight, knowing I was home.
I'm not unique in this experience. Not by a long shot. I've heard similar accounts from other people who have had emotional first visits. My time in Glastonbury then, and every time since, is a homecoming, where I rest in the arms of the Lady, feel my connection with Her, and experience Her awesomeness.
All of this is well and good and very warm fuzzy like, but Avalon isn't always that way for me.
It was during my first year of priestess training that I had a crisis of faith. "What IS Avalon? What IS this place? How does one define it???"
Yes.... not easy questions to answer. Also fuelling the fires of doubt were the other accounts that the physical location of Avalon is actually somewhere else. Now, where that is remains a topic of great debate. I've read that Avalon is actually St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall. I've read it's in north Wales. I've read that it may potentially be in Sicily or the Canary Islands, or, perhaps most convincingly, Avalon, a little town which is in Burgundy, France. There is convincing argument that the Glastonbury Abbey's claim that King Arthur's body was found buried in their grounds was merely propaganda meant to draw tourists to Glastonbury and the church.
So what is the truth? The conclusion I eventually came to is Avalon is in all of them. Avalon is a mystical place that exists in the heart, the soul, the imagination, in dreams, a place of magic, an astral place that we find in that liminal state between sleeping and waking, life and death, in the spirit world and beyond it in ways we cannot comprehend until we move on from this life. Avalon is the cosmic mirror that reveals to us who we are, shows us our shadows, our bright sparks and leads us to ourselves. Avalon is within us and around us.
As to physical location, it's a matter of personal preference. Where do we feel the strongest connection with Avalon? For me, and for many, that strong connection is felt in Glastonbury. However, this does not mean that I do not feel that strong connection with Avalon in other places. I most certainly do. And I acknowledge and honour that for others, the physical locale of Avalon is elsewhere and they feel very strongly about. My feelings on it are less rigid. Avalon is all of them and hopefully, one day, I'll visit all of them. I'd quite like to.
With defining Avalon as this ethereal place, yet also a place that can be experienced energetically in the physical landscape, it begs one to define what it means to be a Priestess/Priest of Avalon. I reckon one might get many different definitions from as many different priestesses and priests. What we all can probably agree on is that we all serve the Divine Feminine energy that we all feel is a part of Avalon; She that created it and permeates that place, that land.
Being Her priestess, to me, means being a channel for Her energy. As a priestess, I create those spaces where others can get to know Her and experience Her, and Avalon, for themselves. I'm a cosmic telephone operator - I help connect you, but also give you the number so you can connect for yourself later. It's a simplistic way of looking at it, I suppose, but then I like keeping things simple.
I don't know that there's much more I can say on the subject, so I'll end my first A post here! It would be lovely to hear from others who are drawn to Avalon. I hope to go read some of the wonderful posts that others have written. If I continue my motivational streak, maybe I'll eek out a second A post before Friday, so I'll be ready for the B's! Until then -
Bendithion o Afalon i bob! Blessings of Avalon to everyone!
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