Avalon Within

by Jhenah Telyndru

  What we do have are brief but powerful images of Avalon that have survived the passing centuries, igniting the imagination of many generations. Layer upon layer of mythos and meaning have been built around the idea of Avalon over the millennia. It has been ascribed physical locations, given both Pagan and Christian significance, and taken its place in one of the greatest mythic cycles of Western culture. Yet, to truly understand Avalon, we must first allow the various glamours surrounding it to fall away in order to see what lies at its most fundamental core. In order to understand the very heart of its existence, we must explore the power of its very name.

  Avalon. Ynys Afallon. The Island of Apples.

  Etymologically, the name Avalon can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root word abel (meaning “apple”), which passed into the Celtic languages as afal in Welsh, aval in Cornish and Breton, and ubhal in Irish Gaelic. Throughout time and across many cultures, apples appear in mythology and folklore as a sacred and honored fruit. We see them featured as the objects of quests, as the catalysts of personal trials and tests, and as the custodians of wisdom and immortality. We will discuss the importance and symbolism of the apple as found in Celtic mythos throughout the course of this book, especially as it relates to the Otherworld and the inner pilgrimage of the Celtic Wonder Journey known as the Immram. In Druidic lore, the apple was one of the seven Chieftain trees of the ogham system, and a Celtic triad underscores its importance, saying:

  Three unbreathing things paid for only with breathing things:

  An apple tree, a hazel bush, a sacred grove

  The apple is a symbol of fertility and sexuality, and is especially representative of women’s Mysteries. Archetypally, the apple embodies the essence of the Divine Feminine, who is revealed through Her three sacred colors—the red of the Mother in her skin, the white of the Maiden in her flesh and the black of the Crone in her seeds. These are also the colors of the alchemical process—the stages of transformation whereby dross is changed to gold; both sets of correspondences are appropriate for this powerful symbol of Avalon.

  Just as the blossoms of the apple tree are its sexual organs, drawing bees and other flying insects to drink its sweet nectar and pollinate its fragile white flowers, so are the fruits themselves the red and fertile wombs of the tree, each bearing the black seeds that will birth the next generation. It is no accident this prominent symbol of Otherworldly paradise is related to the Feminine in Celtic (and other) cultures, for like the cauldron—another one of the great symbols of the Avalonian Tradition—it bears a strong association with wisdom and the womb, a powerful call to women to seek the source within.

  The Five Seeds of Wisdom

  When we slice an apple horizontally, we reveal the five-pointed star that lies at its very heart—recalling both the pentacle and the homunculus, and which preserves a map of the Fivefold Mysteries of Avalon. Five seeds lie in the center of the Apple of Wisdom, each holding the potential for growth and the transformation needed to obtain knowledge of the true self.

  This fivefold construct holds many correspondences central to the Avalonian Tradition, and the immersion into this pentad of energy is what makes up the primary focus of this book. It represents the five goddesses in the Avalonian pantheon; it aligns with the five major power places in the ancient Avalonian landscape; it holds resonance with the five inner energy centers worked with by the women of Avalon today; it informs the path to wholeness represented by the Avalonian Cycle of Healing (which we will be examining in great depth); and ultimately instructs us on how to embark upon the Path of the Priestess.

  In Celtic myth and Arthurian legend, the voyage to the islands of the Otherworld and the journey to Avalon involves a trip over water. Making this crossing requires a magical ship, a fantastic bridge between two islands, or some kind of mediator who knows how to traverse the distance between this world and the Otherworld—between what is known and what is unknown. It was under Merlin’s guidance that Arthur took a boat into the water to receive the sword from the Lady of the Lake that marked him as king and guardian of Avalon. Later, it was a barge of three queens, including his sister Morgan, that bore the wounded King Arthur to the Holy Island. It is here we who seek the Isle of Apples must begin.

  The Apple of Wisdom

  Overlaying the fivefold energetic construct found in the Apple of Wisdom on the prominent components of what is described in myth as the journey to Avalon, we are presented with a metaphorical process that can guide us in our quest for the Holy Isle. This quest is an inner one, for if Avalon once existed on the physical plane—and indeed there are places that hold pieces of its energies enough to serve as portals—it no longer does so, requiring us to journey in a more subtle manner. We no longer need board a vessel and sail to a distant shore; instead, we must journey within through the eddies and tides of the unconscious to arrive at the archetypal realm of Avalon—a powerful island of wholeness and healing, very much intact on the astral plane.

  Seed One: Calling the Barge

  Somewhere deep in the soul of every Daughter of Avalon, the song of ancient memory sparks a longing for the home of our spiritual Mothers. Called to the quest, we stand at the shore of our becoming, daring to speak our need into the moonlit night. We embark upon the journey over the lake to Avalon, navigate the inner waters, and seek the reflection of our inner truths.

  Seed Two: Parting the Mists

  Confronted by the mists of illusion, we must find the word that will cause them to part—naming that vital element that is the root of our illusion. In naming this, we set ourselves free and lift the veil of the shadow so that our journey to wholeness may continue.

  Seed Three: Retrieving the Sword

  The veil parts, and through the water’s glassy surface we see the Lady of the Lake holding aloft the sword of truth. We have earned this tool against the darkness of illusion, and taking it in hand, we are empowered to establish inner queendom and step into a place of personal Sovereignty illuminated by the light of right action.

  Seed Four: Reaching the Shore

  At last, we find ourselves on solid ground—setting our feet on the sacred shores of Avalon. Our journey culminates in this moment of attainment; we have obtained our desire and overcome the obstacles preventing us from realizing our goal. Touching the core of our Sacred Nature, we rejoice in the knowledge that we have the power to transform our lives and draw closer to manifesting our authentic self.

  Seed Five: Reclaiming the Isle

  Bringing the energies of the landscape with us, we embark upon the labyrinthine path leading us to the top of the Tor, that place of ultimate connection with the Divine. At this sacred center, we pull in the threads of all aspects of the soul’s landscape—light and shadow, descending and emerging—to create the full tapestry of the self. Spinning ever higher, we gain the perspective that brings clear sight and the ability to read the great pattern. With the arch of the heavens above us, and the cauldron of the valley below, we bridge the realms of being and stand fully in the Sacred Essence of Avalon.

  The Avalonian Cycle of Healing

  A further reflection of the fivefold pathway to wisdom and wholeness is the Avalonian Cycle of Healing, a core paradigm of the Avalonian Tradition. Informed by the energies of the Apple of Wisdom and reflecting the cyclic course of transformation found in the myth of Ceridwen, one of the five goddesses of the Avalonian pantheon, the Avalonian Cycle of Healing combines several key energetics of the Avalonian Tradition to form a tool that has the power to transform the lives of all who seek the Holy Island. We will explore the energetic correspondences and allegorical symbolisms encoded in the Cycle of Healing, and will learn accessible ways to embrace this powerful process of soul growth and put it to work in our lives. For now, an overview will provide us with a foundational context from which we can proceed in our studies.

  The Avalonian Cycle of Healing is a symbolic distillation of the soul�
��s journey from woundedness to wholeness, from inauthenticity to sovereignty, and from disconnection to connection with the Divine. It provides a loom with which we can weave the tapestry of our fully actualized selves; in the Avalonian Tradition, this is the priestess self—she who is self-sufficent, connected with Goddess, and who lives in ego-less service to the Holy Island within.

  As with any cycle, the Cycle of Healing describes a circuit of energy that is whole and without any true beginning or end. However, for our purposes, we will artificially break down the Cycle into its five primary components, called Stations, in order to better understand the functioning of the whole. Each Station represents a corpus of energetic correspondences, some of which will be explored in depth as our work unfolds. These correspondences are crucial due to the fundamental power of cyclic thought: if you understand how one manifestation of cycle works, you gain an understanding of how all manifestations of cycle work. This concept is important and will be explored more as we proceed.

  The Station of Descent

  This Station of the Avalonian Cycle of Healing is concerned with turning the eye within in order to take spiritual inventory and identify the areas where we manifest disharmony and imbalance. We work to recognize outmoded patterns of behavior that play out in our lives and acknowledge destructive beliefs we hold about ourselves, our abilities, and our ultimate worth. This Station’s task is to consciously descend into the realms of the personal shadow, so that we may understand the ways our unconscious fears and pain control and direct our lives.

  The Station of Confrontation

  This Station of the Avalonian Cycle of Healing is concerned with ferreting out the root cause of the wounds and imbalances identified through the work of the Station of Descent. There is a saying: that which is unconscious, controls us. Naming something relinquishes its power over us, although this is only the first step to creating true and lasting change. Once we have revealed that which dwells in the darkness of the shadow, we must work to reclaim the energies that have been tied up in generating the negative patterns that are the outgrowth of our unconscious pain. The task of this Station is to see shadow aspects of the self for what they truly are, and to confront the old specters of fear and hurt—often wounds of the past which are still active and working through us in our present—and to choose, with consciousness, to walk a different energetic path.

  The Station of Emergence

  This Station of the Avalonian Cycle of Healing is concerned with redirecting energies freed from the unconscious motivations of the shadow self and using them to support the actualized essence of the priestess self. Just as we took inventory of energetic patterns that do not serve us during the Station of Descent, at Emergence we work on mapping the path we need to walk in order to unlock the potential of our inner gifts, to manifest our life’s goals and long-standing dreams, and to live from a center that is clear and connected to Goddess. This Station’s task is to plant the seeds of outer change and work toward keeping the vision of the priestess self foremost in our lives so that we may work to become the women we were born to be.

  The Station of Resolution

  This Station of the Avalonian Cycle of Healing is concerned with bringing aspects of the priestess self to fruition, as well as acknowledging and celebrating the growth and change we have been able to manifest in our lives. While there is still work to be done, it is important for us to recognize our triumphs and honor the progress we have made down the path towards our inner Sovereignty—a self that makes fully conscious life decisions based in wholeness and right action, rather than from a reactionary place of unconscious motivations. The task of this Station is not only to see closure (resolution) of a particular issue or situation, but also to harness the will—the resolve—to build upon our accomplishments and continue down the road of growth as the Cycle turns back down into the Station of Decent. This time, however, we look into the shadow from a different perspective and with a trust in the process of the Cycle of Healing. We have learned that our inner sight is sharpened when piercing through the illusions we hold about ourselves, and that by daring to see ourselves in a new light, we change the world by changing ourselves.

  The Station of Integration

  This Station of the Avalonian Cycle of Healing is concerned with bringing together all of the insights, lessons, and changes experienced as we journey through the Cycle, weaving them into the pattern of our soul. This Station lies at the Cycle’s center, as well as between each Station, reminding us that each step we take is but a stitch in the tapestry of our life’s big picture. To shift our perspective to see this big picture, we need but take a moment to breathe and connect with our center, where all aspects of the self are united, and aim to live from the clarity that comes from understanding the whole. While this may seem ethereal and abstract, at its heart, this Station’s task is to learn to experience life with consciousness and to see the gift in each challenge as well as the challenge in each gift. The Goddess is found in these connections; our purpose unfolds.

  The Sacred Landscape of Avalon

  A third major repetition of the fivefold energy of the Apple of Wisdom can be found in ancient Avalon’s landscape. Of the several places in the British Isles that scholars and theorists believe may have been the real location of the Island of Avalon, history and tradition has for centuries associated the final resting place of Arthur with the Somerset market town of Glastonbury. Somerset is renowned for its abundant apple orchards, and for its cider production especially. Local folk belief birthed the winter tradition of the Apple Wassail—a ritual where people enter apple orchards, sing songs to the trees, hang wheat cakes in the tree boughs, and pour libations of cider over their roots, in hopes of driving away evil spirits and ensuring bounty in the next harvest. The area’s strong association with apples makes it an attractive choice for Avalon’s real-world location, as does the similarity of the name Somerset, believed to reflect the area’s ancient Britons naming it the Summer Country (the Summerlands being one name for the Celtic Otherworldly paradise).

  Once almost completely surrounded by water save for a small land bridge in an area today called Pointer’s Ball, Glastonbury was one of a series of moorland islands resulting from an egress of the Bristol Channel into southwest Britain. The platforms and artificial islands built over the marshes to support the round houses of the ancient Glastonbury Lake Village were a wonder of Iron Age engineering; a network of wooden tracks constructed to connect the water-bound settlements with each other date back to the pre-Celtic Neolithic period. Although the area around Glastonbury has been drained to reveal its rich farmland (the first attempts at drainage beginning in the Roman period), the area periodically floods in winter and reveals some of the island’s boundaries once more.

  Since ancient times, Glastonbury has been a place of spiritual power for Pagans and Christians alike. The distinctive geologic features of its landscape may have been a compelling draw for the stone age-era Britons who first settled in the area, but there is something about Glastonbury that has continued to attract people even into the present day. Perhaps the power of the myths and legends associated with the Island of Avalon and Glastonbury itself have made this town a pilgrim’s destination for more than a thousand years. Or perhaps these legends came to reside in this area because of the landscape’s unique energies.

  There is an area of Glastonbury that, from a geomantic perspective holds incredible transformative powers and which will be referred to throughout this book as the Tor Valley Complex. Geomancers believe that two major ley lines (rivers of planetary energy that criss-cross the globe much like terrestrial acupuncture meridians) intersect on the Glastonbury Tor, a strange spiraled hill unlike anything else in the surrounding Somerset Levels. These two ley lines, one masculine and one feminine, are most often called the Michael and Mary lines (although some Pagans favor naming them Merlin and Morgan), and it is believed they correspond with the white and red dragons of Arthurian Tra
dition. Red and white are the colors of the Otherworld in Celtic myth, and British folklore has long held the Tor to be a portal to the Otherworld and, for many, the location of the Blessed Isle itself.

  Perhaps it is the confluence of these energetic streams which has shaped the physical form of Glastonbury, and in turn generated a spiritual essence whose effects would be felt by many throughout time. Perhaps it was these energies that generated awe in the souls of the firstcomers, and inspired them to settle in the area. Later, these energies may have supported the existence of a druidic college and temple of holy women at the site of ancient Avalon. Perhaps again this spiritual essence motivated the British Isles’ first Christian community to be built in Glastonbury and evolve to hold, for the modern seeker, a center for progressive spirituality in myriad forms and manifestations. Whichever may have come first—a powerful place that generated myths and legends, or the myths and legends which themselves built up the place’s power—there is no question for anyone who has been to Glastonbury that the land itself is sacred and that through its very nature, stimulates the spirit to grow.

  From the Avalonian Tradition perspective, the Tor Valley Complex is a geologic manifestation of the Apple of Wisdom and its five-stage journey to wholeness. This area of the ancient Priestess Isle features two prominent hills (the Tor and Modron’s Mound/Chalice Hill) and two sacred springs (the Red Spring and the White Spring)—each comprised of a pair of energetic polarities. The fifth point, holding the essence of the fully integrated Center, lies between these in the heart of this small valley, and acts as a proxy to represent the whole of the Island of Avalon itself.