The Glastonbury Goddess Festival 2015

The White Spring, Shrine to the Lady, Glastonbury, UK.

It is a great disappointment to me that I will not be attending the GLASTONBURY GODDESS CONFERENCE this year as I had planned, as I have to have a surgical procedure, and had to cancel my plans to go to England. The Conference begins on Tuesday, July 28.   But I  will always remember when I went to Avalon  in 2011, one of the most magical times in my life, and profoundly imbued with the presence of the Numina of this sacred and ancient Pilgrimage,  the Lady of Avalon.   How wonderful, and transformative, the Conference was for me.  I wish that same magic to any who are fortunate enough to attend this year.

 THE CHARGE OF THE GODDESS

I Who am the beauty of the green earth
and the white moon among the stars 
and the mysteries of the waters,

I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.

For I am the soul of nature 
that gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed 
and unto Me they must return.

Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices,
for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength, 
power and compassion,
honor and humility, 
mirth and reverence within you.

And you who seek to know Me,
know that seeking and yearning will avail you not, 
unless you know the Mystery: 

for if that which you seek
you find not within yourself, 
you will never find it without.

 by Doreen Valiente, as adapted by Starhawk

I copied below one of my posts from 2011, remembering that time with great gratitude.  Also, at the bottom of this post, an interview with Kathy Jones, the founder of the Glastonbury Goddess Conference, from a series of interviews called "A Gathering of Priestesses" with Gloria Taylor Brown.

7/26/2011 

 "The island of apples Avalon  which men call “The Fortunate Isle” (Insula Pomorum quae Fortunata uocatur) gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides.  The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them." 

Geoffrey of Monmouth

I stopped at the Roman Baths at Bath  en route to Glastonbury, and saw the above, snapping a picture.  Truly, I felt like responding to the synchronicity with a  "Here I come!".

"Avalon" meant the "Apple Isle", and I thought of so many wonderful legends of the apples of the Goddesses.  And, of course, Marian Zimmer Bradley's famous book "The Mists of Avalon".

So walking a few days after arriving, I felt naturally drawn to a bough of apples hanging over a wall, and went to help myself to a few of them..  Right where I reached for an apple was a little niche in the wall - and someone had left a polished amethyst there, with a wire on it so it could be worn on a cord.

I'll take that as a blessing!

Photo by Tony Howell (www.tonyhowell.co.uk)

Motherworld - A Vision from Avalon

Banners by Lydia Ruhle

The Vision of the Motherworld

by Kathy Jones 

Motherworld is where mothers and the values of mothering - love, care and support for each other, and for our Mother Earth and all Her creatures - are placed in the centre of our lives, rather than being left out on the periphery. 

The Motherworld is a vision of a society in which creative and life-affirming values, actions, insights and awareness are honoured and encouraged in women, men and children. It is the society that is grounded in the fact that we all live upon our Mother Earth. She is the source and foundation of all that we are and all that we have. We need to take care of Her, of each other and of all life.

The primary values for the new Motherworld are:

Honouring Mother Earth as a living being. 
Love for each other, kindness, support, respect, care, and compassion. honouring all forms of mothering, honouring fathers, and the celebration and nurture of children and young people. Protecting and taking care of the earth, water, fire, air and space in Her world.

Suggested values for the new Motherworld include:

Honesty, personal integrity, authenticity, relationship, diversity, choice, discernment, inclusion, trust, beauty, emotional expression, listening, clear boundaries, reflection, soul development, empowerment, shadow-healing, the pursuit of wisdom, the encouragement of self-responsibility, self-worth, self-respect, self-confidence, self-discipline and self-reflection, prayer, ceremony, service, connection, partnership, generosity, sharing wealth, gifting, receiving, humour, creativity, education for all, non-violent methods of resolving conflict, honouring and protecting Mother Nature and all living beings, ethical production of goods and services, the protection of the vulnerable, and valuing the Wisdom of the Elders and of the Ancestors.

The Motherworld is the society where the patriarchal structures and values of dominance, ‘power-over’ control and coercion, greed, excessive profit, destructive competition, violence, rape, war, slavery, suffering, hunger, poverty, and the pollution of Mother Earth and Her atmosphere, are recognized as shadow expressions of humanity which need to be challenged, deconstructed, transformed and healed. In the Motherworld, healing practices are encouraged and made readily available to all.

In the Motherworld it is recognized that all human beings, women and men, carry wounds from our patriarchal conditioning – emotional and mental patterns which may be activated as we try to change our world. In the Goddess community we are particularly aware of our shadow material, which includes envy, jealousy, judgment, competitiveness, collusion, resentment, undermining, back-biting, blaming, naming and shaming, projection of negative emotions, such as anger, shame and rage, fear, loneliness, lack of self-love, lack of self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, all of which are the result of individual cultural and karmic life experiences.

In the Motherworld, one of our first works is to love and support each other in taking responsibility for our repressed and often hostile emotions. These shadows undermine all our best endeavours to change the way we act in our personal and social relationships, in our lives as Goddess-loving people living in a patriarchal world, as Her priestesses and priests, as Her melissae, and in our personal commitments to Goddess. They often prevent us from experiencing true empowerment. Amongst many of us we already have developed skills and techniques of emotional expression, such as really listening to each other and offering reflection and support so that we may heal these wounds. This personal healing work needs to – and can - accelerate at this time with the help of the Motherworld community, which can help hold us in compassionate safety as we work to heal our wounds.

Although the name ‘Motherworld’ comes from Barbara Walker’s novel about an ancient fictional matriarchal society, this is not a return to such a society. It is a forward movement to a new kind of mother-centred community, where all are valued, supported and appreciated, and where we can experiment together with new ideas and forms. ‘Motherworld’ evokes a loving world where we are held safely in the Great Mother’s embrace.

Kathy Jones is the Founder of the Glastonbury Goddess Temple, and the annual Glastonbury Goddess Conference.  It was inspiring indeed to hear her talk this past weekend.  For more information about Kathy and the Temple, visit:  

 http://www.goddesstemple.co.uk/index.php/the-vision-of-the-motherworld