Well, time went by and I still didn't know any people here. In two years I still hadn't met any American-friendly Pagans and had been told I would just be something to laugh at. So, I guess that put me off a bit. But I had met a wonderful woman from Glastonbury who was in Portland one summer for a solstice celebration. Her name is Kathy Jones. She was very nice and I loved to hear her stories. I loved hearing about Glastonbury. I wrote to the Brigid Healing Centre where she works and told her I was over here now.

A year went by and one day I got something in the mail that was like a dream come true. It was a registration form for the "Goddess Conference" in Glastonbury. Would I be willing to take the train to who knows where and stay in some sort of hotel for 5 nights? YES!!! I was finally going to Glastonbury.

Although I was plagued by a horrible, nasty cold, I was determined. Having already paid and booked my hotel, I was more than ready when the time came. Finally, the Tor, Chalice Well and all those wonderful things were going to be within my grasp.

There were more people there than I had expected and the opening ceremony was almost overwhelming because of the closeness and heat from the room. But there I was, finally amongst people I could talk to and relate to, and they didn't care that I was American, because many of them were too. They accepted me as I am. What a nice feeling after two years.

Here is a picture of the hotel I stayed in across from the hub of the Goddess Conference. The George and Pilgrim Hotel was built in 1470. There is a passageway from the cellar to the Abbey but it has been closed to the public.

Most of the time I lacked the energy to follow the rest of the crowd and found myself doing as I pleased, which translates as "shopping". I was upset that I didn't have the energy to climb the Tor. Maybe next time. But I did take the "Tor bus" and stopped at the beautiful Chalice Well on the way back. It was a warm, sunny day and everything was as perfect as I had hoped it would be.

  

One of the workshops I went to was a very eye-opening experience for me. Many of us have read "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and hoped this magical place was still there. I had heard of the lakes and small islands where the women of Avalon lived and worked their magic. So, was it all just fantasy? Did any of this really exist? Yes, it did. Until Christianity arrived.

Now many of you who know me know that I am not a big fan of what the Christian people have done to the rest of the world, and after hearing what I am about to tell you, I was even more devastated. I even cried that such a wonderful, naturally magical place was destroyed by them, and I was angry. But this was not just a rumour. This was fact.

I met a fascinating woman at this workshop who told us all about what it was like long ago. She even wrote about it. She gave me permission to quote from her writings for my web page. Her name is Chesca Potter. Here is a part of what she wrote in Avalon magazine, in an article called "The Lady of the Lake".

"I feel that is was a draining of the marshes by Christians C6thCE which caused the extinguishing of the statue of the old ways. Imagine previously numerous tiny islands and hills, surrounded by watery bog and marsh, often concealed by the mists. The locals would have had intimate knowledge of this treacherous landscape and could hide easily, as well as keep their ceremonies hidden. Drain the waters and all is exposed to the eye of Christianity. The pagan cults of Avalon were water based. This mythic landscape was physically destoyed. To take away the power fo the Ladies of the Lake, drain their power source - the Lakes.

"Imagine the area in the late neolithic and Bronze age. There were numerous narrow trackways across the marshs made of hazel, oak and yew. People lived in lake villages on stilts. They travelled in flat bottomed oak log boats - later remembered as the barge of Avalon. They hunted with longbows: there is a reconstruction of a beautiful yew longbow from Meare near Glastonbury, dated 2,300 BCE in the British Museum. Women excel at archery - a woman could take her longbow for food and protection on her small log boat and with intimate knowledge of the landscape could be independent for days, both physically and magically.

"The magical realms of the Ladies of the Lake are still phsyically visible. I see them as more ancient, less romanticised, than the descriptions in the inspiring novel The Mists of Avalon. I see various magical islands with different aspects. Priestesses dressed in cowhide giving healing; Raven feathered cloaked women dismembering bodies and carrying the souls of the dead, heron cloaked triplicities, women who guarded wisdom and prophecy and fate, and were later seen as the fates, the norns, the hooded ones or cuculatti. I see very primitive nature based spirits, islands of the apples of love, and those of the dark night and stellar wisdom."

Meeting Chesca Potter was a fascinating experience and I hope I can meet with her again one day. In her workshop, we took greenery from the area and she trusted us with some of her treasured personal items to create a green woman. I was fascinated at the way she would talk to us all, looking around the room.....with her eyes closed. She knew we were there. To me it seemed a better way to communicate. I hung on her every word. Her art work is incredible. Please follow the link on her name to find out more about her and her work.