All my life I have yearned to visit Glastonbury Abbey For those fellow Arthurian tragics like me, you know the call of Glastonbury: home of the monks who lived across the mists from mystical Avalon. I must admit I set off with my guide and fellow traveller Glennys, putting all of my energy into manifesting an experience that would be both spiritual and personal. Heaps of people told me about being disappointed with their visits to the Arthurian sites, that they were commercial, tacky and full of obnoxious tourists talking loudly and filming anything that moved. I've got to say, all of the places I visited could not have been more inspirational. I don't know if I've finally "cracked" the secret to walking in between realities, but something was certainly going on when I visited all of these places, time and space seemed to stop and I felt transported to the essence of each of stone, each building, each garden..........I felt like I was walking with the past inhabitants, like they had invited me on a journey and I am so grateful that they did!
When the spirits of the past are walking with you, doors just seem to open and the first door for me was Glennys offering to act as my guide over a few days and share with me her knowledge of the history of each place we visited. We just seemed to "fire" off each other, with both of us having different knowledge that we shared to complete the jigsaw of the history we were connecting with. Glastonbury Abbey is an amazingly quiet and peaceful place. The day was warm and sunny and sitting on the grass silently immersed in the energy of the place, each stone seemed to tell it's own story. The gardens are beautiful, little areas of woodlands with ponds, birds and ancient trees all framing the enormous structures of the Abbey that remain. The "Lady Chapel" has a particularly beautiful energy and I simply can't describe how quiet and still it was. Despite a number of people visiting while we were there, you could hardly hear another voice, just the chirping of birds and the gently rustle of the trees in the breeze.
Standing beside the site of King Arthur's tomb was an amazingly powerful experience for me. Some say he was never buried there, others swear he is still somewhere within the grounds.......I don't need to know whether his body is somewhere within the Abbey or not, it was enough for me to just feel him about........far more than I ever expected!
While we were sitting quietly on the hill immersed in our own thoughts, I saw an old lady sitting on a bench nearby. She was dressed in her "going out" clothes and had a basket with a thermos and sandwiches. I watched her as she gazed reverently at each building in turn and when her eyes came to rest on the "Lady Chapel" her face reflected the serenity and wisdom of her years. I wondered if she came her often. I wondered what it was that she found here and if it was the same sort of feeling I felt just sitting here. I wondered if she was real or maybe an apparition. I wondered if she belonged in this place, maybe she was a nun, maybe a local villager or maybe a queen from long ago. While I was thinking about her, Glennys said, "Hey Moll, look at that old lady, she just seems to belong here doesn't she?" And I understood her, cause that was just how I felt too!
No comments:
Post a Comment