In 2011 I participated in the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, in the UK, and made my personal pilgrimage to "Avalon". As I write about Spirit of Place, I remember my experiences while visiting this site where, for at least a thousand years, people made pilgrimage to the sacred springs and the Tor. Some quotes that just came to mind when remembering that time...............
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Debra D. Carroll "From Huacas to Mesas"
DIALOGUES WITH THE LIVING EARTH, compiled by James and Roberta Swan (1989)
"There is an earth-based energy available to
human beings, concentrated at specific places all across the planet,
which catalyzes and increases this eco-spiritual consciousness. These
specific places are the sacred sites discussed and illustrated on this
web site. Before their prehistoric human use, before their usurpation
by different religions, these sites were simply places of power. They
continue to radiate their powers, which anyone may access by visiting
the sacred sites. No rituals are necessary, no practice of a
particular religion, no belief in a certain philosophy; all that is
needed is for an individual human to visit a power site and simply be
present. As the flavor of herbal tea will steep into warm water, so
also will the essence of these power places enter into one’s heart and
mind and soul. As each of us awakens to a fuller knowing of the
universality of life, we in turn further empower the global field of
eco-spiritual consciousness. That is the deeper meaning and purpose of
these magical holy places: they are source points of the power of
spiritual illumination."
Martin Gray
"The
deepest spiritual energies of the Red Spring relate to the future: to
the emergence of a reborn and rebalanced divine masculine energy that
can complement and eventually conjoin with the Goddess energy that is so
venerated in Avalon. This last stage of the alchemical work, involving
the balanced union of a rejuvenated solar king-god with a goddess-queen
in a symbolic heart centre, such as the pool in King Arthur's court,
has long been delayed by our deep neglect of the divine feminine. Since
the recent cleansing of the White Spring, the spiritual and healing
powers of the two springs can now manifest in a more balanced way."
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Martin Gray
Nicholas Mann and Philippa Glasson, "The Red and White Springs of Avalon"
***Martin Gray published his monumental book Sacred Earth: Places of Peace and Power in
2007
with Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. of London based on his
decades of travel to research sacred places throughout the world. The
author spent the last 20 years on a pilgrimage: he visited 1,000
sacred sites in 80 countries around the world. His journey unfolds in a
remarkable compilation of images that reveals just how devoutly
pre-industrial cultures everywhere worshipped and respected our Earth.
Gray’s stunning photographs and fascinating text provide unique insight
into why these powerful holy places are the most venerated and visited
sites on the entire planet.
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