Glastonbury or Avalon? Holy Grail or Holy Sword or Holy Thorn tree? Sacred Quest or Sacred Well? Merlin or Morgan Le Fey? Arthur or The Lady of the Lake? The Tor or the Abbey? The Road to Camelot? The treacherous steps to Tintagel?

Whether you follow the Christian or the Pagan tradition, or believe something else entirely, Somerset and Cornwall are magical places. The very air is rarified, the land undulating and verdant, the stone buildings ancient and stoic, the people kind and funny.

Soon I will undertake my second pilgrimage to this sacred land.  I will climb the Tor and the steps to Tintagel Castle.  I will hold my pendulum over the High Altar at the Glastonbury Abbey ruins and the King-stone at Stonehenge. I will weep at the holocaust display in the Witch’s Museum in Boscastle.  I will drink from the Sacred Well of Avalon on Chalice Hill.

Jean Bolen says, “Avalon exists where divinity dwells in nature and quickens it in the pilgrim.  Where there is feminine divinity, there is access to Avalon,” (Crossing To Avalon).

Next week, I’ll explain the meaning of the symbol at the top of this entry.