- Chalice Well

Journal of the Companions of the
Chalice Well
Issue No. 32 • Autumn 2011
“A Heavenly Sanctuary on Earth.”
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Editorial
In Tennyson’s ‘Passing of Arthur’ as his funeral barge disappears into ‘the island-valley of
Avilion’ the King says, ‘The old order changeth, yielding place to the new.’
By the next issue of The Chalice we will almost certainly be in 2012, a date that has been
beckoning to us since 1987, when people all over the world gathered in large numbers at
sacred sites in the August of that year. At Chalice Well, Leonard and Willa Sleath were the
Guardians living on site and Sir George Trevelyan was staying in Little St. Michaels. Several
times over the days around the 17th August he led groups of pilgrims and celebrants up the
Tor and proclaimed a new awakening for humanity.
Next year Chalice Well will mark the coming of 2012 with several events including our
‘Unity’ Conference in June and a Day for Children – our future - in August. It seems timely that
we celebrate this ‘gateway’ year with these special events, also taking time through the Wheel
of the Year to journey fully towards the keynote moment of 21st December 2012. This date
marks the end of many indigenous peoples’ calendars and prophecies. However, 2013-2032
is now being spoken of as the key to the future, a time when we will finally learn to live and
share as one human family or sink back into a chaotic situation governed by materialism.
This is the first editorial I have written while sitting on the slopes of Chalice Hill. It
seems appropriate for this issue as we are featuring a substantial article by John Wadsworth
and Anthony Thorley that examines the mysteries of place in the temenos of Avalon with
particular reference to Katharine Maltwood’s star temple zodiac. We are also marking the
100th anniversary of the great meeting between Wellesley Tudor Pole, Alice Buckton and
Ábdu’l-Bahá’ in Bristol in 1911 with a fascinating article by Alan Royce. Several Companions
have been sending us wonderful photographs of the Well and we feature one in the ‘Prophecy’
article. Tudor Pole himself wrote that as the Age of Aquarius became established the quality
and rhythm of the water at Chalice Well would change and recent photos certainly suggest
that something is happening!
We are also remembering three of our great Chalice Well friends who have passed over
in recent months. There have been several beautiful events between May and August this
year and so we have focussed on images rather than text in the News section. They conjure
up the special atmosphere inherent in this valley and so let us finish as we started with Lord
Tennyson from his poem ‘Holy Grail’ as quoted in Maltwood’s ‘Temple of the Stars’:
‘Now the Holy Thing is here again
Among us, Brother,
That so perchance the vision may be seen
By thee and those, and all the world be heal’d.’
Paul Fletcher
Front cover: (Photo by Gareth Lovelock)
Front Cover Quotation by William of Malmsbury from Katharine Maltwood’s “Temple of the Stars”
Back Cover: (Photo by Gareth Lovelock) Glennie Kindred with the Well Dressing completed
The Chalice Well Trust is a registered charity, founded in 1959 by Wellesley Tudor Pole and a group of
friends. It is dedicated to preserving the ancient spring and surrounding gardens as a living sanctuary for
everyone to visit and experience the quiet healing peace of this sacred place.
The Trust welcomes donations to maintain Chalice Well and gardens including Little St. Michaels retreat
house, and to further its work. Voluntary contributions towards upkeep are therefore greatly appreciated.
Any person who wishes to support the Trust’s purpose by making an annual subscription may be registered
as a Companion of the Well.
For further information contact: The Chalice Well, Chilkwell Street, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 8DD UK
Tel: 01458 831154 Fax: 01458 835528.
Email: [email protected] Website: www.chalicewell.org.uk
Registered Charity No: 204206 Published by The Chalice Well Trust, Chilkwell Street, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 8DD, UK
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News from the Well
We would like to take this opportunity of saying thank you, goodbye and good luck to
Jacqueline Redmond who leaves us after three years for a new career direction; and welcome
to Vanessa Poulton, who joined as a member of staff in the winter of 2010. Vanessa introduces
herself below:
My experience of Chalice Well does not go very far back, but has had a profound impact on my
life. I first visited in May 2007 and have felt ‘drawn’ here ever since. For many years I had a career
as a Make Up Designer at the BBC, and then went on to teach. After a year or so of daydreaming
about Glastonbury, my life direction took a large swerve, having lost a close relative and been
let down in my job. So, suddenly, there was nothing to stop me moving here from London. My
Chalice Well career started as a Garden Volunteer, spreading to the Gatehouse by way of the
frontline office desk. I have now very happily ‘landed’ as a staff member in the shop. Meeting
people has always been a part of my job and it is a delight to meet our visitors who come from far
and wide. Doing shop displays is also great fun, and you are very likely to find me in there, at the
top of a stepladder, hanging bits of wood from the ceiling!
Since the last issue of The Chalice went to press
at the end of April, the garden has seen a number of
events taking place, not always under clear skies, but
enjoyable nonetheless:
Glennie Kindred brought her Well Dressing skills
to Chalice Well again in April, and with her enthusiastic
team of helpers transformed, by painstakingly inserting
each petal by hand, the blank clay pictured here into a
beautiful piece of art. The finished result can be seen
on the back cover.
During the Beltane celebrations on May 1, the
crowds started arriving at 6am and made their way to
the Cress Field for the fire jumping and spiralling, after
which the Chalice Morris Men entertained visitors
on the lower lawns, followed by dancing around the
Maypole.
Glennie and volunteers working on the Well
Dressing (Photo by Gareth Lovelock)
Above: Left, Beltane Morning; Right, Jumping the Fire 4
(Photos by Tony Arihanto)
The Chalice Morris Men For Companions’ Day on 4th June we
had plenty of sunshine and fascinating
presentations by John Wadsworth and
Anthony Thorley on the subject of the
Glastonbury Zodiac (see main article
in this issue on pages 10-14). and after
lunch, which was accompanied by
Vicki Burke on the harp, the question
and answer session raised a number of
interesting points. Following afternoon
tea, John Wadsworth lead the meditation
around the Well Head, with the Closing
Circle around the Vesica Pool bringing
(Photo by Tony Arihanto) Companions’ Day to an end.
Above: Companions’ Day morning inside
the marquee.
Right: Afternoon question and answer
session with Gareth and keynote
speakers John Wadsworth and Anthony
Thorley.
Below: Companions’ Day closing circle (Photos by Tony Arihanto)
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Our Weaving Summer concert on 11 June, brought wonderful music into the garden,
provided by Nigel Shaw and Carolyn Hillyer . The evening was a great success and much
enjoyed by the capacity crowd in the marquee.
Nigel Shaw and (left) Carolyn Hillyer performing at
the Weaving Summer Concert (Photos by Tony Arihanto)
Jay Ramsay and Sophie Knock in a unique collaboration between poet and healer, lead
the Naturally Poetic event on 10 June which gave all those attending the opportunity to
incubate their poetic creativity in Chalice Well’s empowering environment.
Jay Ramsay and Sophie Knock with participants on the Naturally Poetic event (Photo by Tony Arihanto)
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We marked the Summer Solstice on 21 June
with a midday meditation by the well head and
conversation, cakes and relaxation on the lower
lawns.
Left: Visitors enjoy the sunshine at the Solstice
Above: Summer Solstice in the garden
Below: The lower lawns, Summer Solstice
(Photos by Gareth Lovelock)
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We gave Love and Thanks to Water on 25 July,
with Tim Knock’s crystal bowls at the well head.
Caroline Wyndham and Sophie Knock led the
meditation at the well head.
Above: Caroline leads Love and Thanks to Water meditation.
Right: Tim Knock playing crystal bowls
(Photos by Gareth Lovelock)
Damh the Bard entertains the
crowd
Fruition on August 1 brought good weather and a large
crowd to enjoy the garden’s wonderful summer display,
particularly along the newly planted long border.
Damh the Bard on 18 August ended our run of four full
moon late opening evenings with a great open-air performance
in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.
During our always popular Healing Weekend from 27-29
August, we had a wonderful variety of therapies on offer,
which as usual were all eagerly booked. There were also a wand
and staff workshop, lunches and delicious cakes (courtesy of
Chalice Well’s Mindful Cake Co-operative, a group of staff and
volunteers who provide a range of delicious cakes, including
gluten and dairy free, for Chalice Well events). Ark led the
Walking Meditation around the garden on the Monday, and
Silent Meditation sessions were available in the Upper Room.
Left: Ark leads the walking meditation.
Above: Queues forming for healing sessions on lower lawn.
(Photos by Tony Arihanto)
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News From The Garden
Ark Redwood
At the time of writing it is almost the end of August, and summer is on the wane, although
some would say we haven’t really had a proper summer yet, as the weather has been very
changeable to say the least, with only brief spells of sunshine interspersed with plenty of
showers. Despite all this the garden has performed reasonably well, so I am not complaining.
At least there is still September to come, which is often a lovely month, with its sense of
fullness, and energy of culmination, but also strong hints of obvious change in the air as
leaves start to lose their greenness and flowers begin to tire. The air feels undoubtedly cooler
and the descent into autumn can no longer be denied.
I must say that the new Main Borders have
progressed well, and have certainly surpassed my
expectations, having looked good all year, and
they can only improve in the future. The Long
Border (behind the Gatehouse) is next up for
refurbishment, and work will commence soon.
Mostly it will be a question of enhancement
rather than total replacement, and designer
Nick Burton and I will be working on a plan to
include the majority of the plants already present,
although some will definitely be replaced, or cut
back and reshaped. This year it has certainly been
very colourful, and this will be a key feature with
the new design. As I have hinted at in previous Nigella damascena (Photo by Tony Arihanto)
articles the principle problem with this border is the fact that half of it ends up in too much
shade for most of the growing season, giving an unbalanced look to the planting. All being well
this issue will now be addressed and a more consistent planting can hopefully be established.
The border next to the Shop has a large gap after a number of shrubs succumbed to the
low temperatures last winter. This has now been filled with new plantings, albeit initially on
the small side. These are a Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’, a Ceanothus ‘Concha’, and a Rosa
rugosa ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’. The very leggy lavenders which currently edge the bed will
be removed this autumn as they are long past their best, and removing them will mean that
the pathway can then be widened making access easier, especially for wheelchairs.
Back in April I planted an Acer negundo ‘Flamingo’ on the bank above the Main Borders,
which was in commemoration of the late Pip Bourne, who some long-time Companions
may remember was a much-loved volunteer
and friend of Wellesley Tudor Pole, who with
her husband Arthur, was a key figure at the Well
during the early days of the Trust. I have also
planted another Acer negundo very close to the
site of the much-missed Grandmother Birch,
which was sadly felled in January. This is a
fairly large tree and should help to fill the space
admirably. One of the best qualities about this
particular acer is that it is one of the few trees
which are immune to honey fungus (the others
being walnut & yew), so they should thrive for
many years to come.
Castanea sativa (Photo by Tony Arihanto)
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Chalice Well Companions Day The Glastonbury Zodiac
John Wadsworth & Anthony Thorley
For the past three years astrologer John Wadsworth and landscape geomancer Anthony
Thorley have been facilitating an experiential astrology adventure called The Alchemical
Journey, in which participants are invited every month into the mysteries of each zodiac
sign in turn, following the passage of the Sun around the astrological year. Through myth
and guided imagery, music and sacred theatre, they have enabled people to penetrate the
transformational and healing potential of each zodiacal
perspective. As part of the weekend experiences, participants
take a ritual journey into the thirteen landscape effigies of
the Glastonbury Zodiac (the thirteenth being the guardian
dog). It has been a profound and life-changing experience
for many who have participated, inspiring those who have
taken the journey to make significant changes in their lives
and helping them to manifest their dreams and visions. It
has also spawned a number of creative projects which have
celebrated the zodiac wheel through artistic endeavours,
music, mask-making, mosaic, poetry and prose. Vicki
Burke’s harp journey around the zodiac, Keys to the Golden
City, is one fine example. It constitutes a pilgrimage of
the soul, a revelation of the mythic or imaginal realm as
something real and empowering. In June, Anthony, John
and Vicki presented their perspectives on The Glastonbury
Anthony Thorley Zodiac at Chalice Well Companions’ Day.
(Photo by Tony Arihanto)
Introduction to the Glastonbury Zodiac
Imagine the circle of the twelve constellations which the sun appears to pass through on
its yearly round. Now literally drop them out of the sky and set the stars of the traditional
effigies (lion, bull, virgin etc) on the landscape and see in your mind’s eye a shimmering circle
some thirty miles round and eleven miles across. There you have the Glastonbury Zodiac
framed in the Somerset countryside. The centre of the Zodiac is near the village of Butleigh;
Glastonbury is to the north and Somerton to the south. This most visionary phenomenon,
literally joining heaven and earth, had to be first recognized by a remarkable visionary mystic,
artist and student of the esoteric, Katharine Emma Maltwood (1878-1961), whilst newly
resident in Somerset sometime around 1917.
But Katharine did not immediately recognize the animal effigies as zodiacal. She had
been reading of the knights’ tales in an Arthurian romance, The High History of the Holy
Grail, allegedly written by the monks of Glastonbury Abbey in the early thirteenth century.
The more she read, the more she began to sense that the knights’ adventures with maidens,
giants and lions were identifiably taking place in the lands of Somerset around Glastonbury
Abbey itself. She first discovered, in a profound personal epiphany, the figure of a lion
around the royal town of Somerton etched in the line of the River Cary, the woodlands of
its mane and the front paw stamping its authority on the town, and quickly made a sketch
of its convincing outline. Soon after, she identified the earthly form of a giant a little to the
north at Dundon, (now recognized and one of the twins of Gemini) and went on to see
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the beginnings of other figures emerging from
the land – all consistent with the Arthurian
stories. Then, the story goes, a friend came to
tea with Katharine, a friend who suggested that
the figures might more probably form one of
the zodiacs on the land recently proposed by
the co-founder of the Theosophical Society,
Madame Blavatsky. Blavatsky, in her writings
in the 1880s, did not actually identify where on
earth such zodiacs might be found, but she did
first propose the idea that landscape zodiacs
actually existed. Soon, Katharine realized that Katharine's first depiction of the Aquarius Figure
this was indeed a zodiac on the ground, but a (from the Maltwood archive, Victoria, BC)
zodiac also uniquely incorporating the legends
and stories of the Arthurian epic, and in the years immediately after the Great War (1914-18),
she consolidated her findings to identify all twelve zodiacal effigies, and a great guardian dog
(an ancient symbol of British Sovereignty) near the town of Langport, literally guarding the
heavenly circle.
For the rest of her life, and long after she emigrated to Canada in 1938, Maltwood tirelessly
researched the Zodiac, realizing that each effigy carried its own folklore, myths, legends, place
names and local history which went far beyond a simple Arthurian context. The research
confronted her with such a convincing body of evidence in, for example, the synchronicity of
place names (the Guardian Dog’s tail is at Wagg, its ear at Earlake etc.) that she was certain
that the Zodiac had been constructed by Sumerian priest-engineers some four thousand years
ago, who had sailed from Sum-eria to found Sum-erset!
Katharine Maltwood’s fanciful archaeology is now easily dismissed, as indeed is the whole
concept of the zodiac, as nothing but the passionate projection, or virtual invention, of an
eccentric artist-millionairess with time on her hands, but for those of us who have followed in
her footsteps as students of the zodiac, (and indeed other zodiacs, for there are over fifty now
identified in England alone!), it actually confronts us with a profound set of phenomena and
experiences which really challenge all our ideas about linear time and simple cause and effect.
The fascinating thing is that there is no explicit reference to the Glastonbury Zodiac actually
existing, or being recognized, in any of the historical accounts or records about the county,
before Katharine’s own epiphanical moment as the lion blazed through her Bartholomew
map into her consciousness. And yet there is overwhelming evidence that the landscape
has slowly shaped itself over the centuries in the changing field-boundaries, road outlines,
drainage ditches and patterns of human occupation to produce, sometime by the early
20th century (but not before!) identifiable zodiacal effigies. The zodiac land seems to call its
discoverers, pull them into the discovering process and there is a sense of profound dialogue
between land and person. But how can this be? Such a process of complex interaction and
historical development cannot possibly be explained as mere psychological projection or
fanciful invention of one person, so how do we begin to explain it? We have been greatly
helped in our approach to this question by the magical manifestation and rich stream of
synchronicities that we have experienced with our fellow-travellers on the workshops and
pilgrimage walks of the Alchemical Journey round the Zodiac.
A summary is difficult, but it is as if in some way our consciousness (like Katharine’s) in
the blaze of recognition, the Eureka moment of perception, is able to reach back in time to
influence the very processes: geological, biological, agricultural, historical and man-generated,
that eventually come to produce the very thing, the zodiacal effigy, that we are compelled
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to perceive. The whole landscape becomes a
veritable tissue of synchronicities reaching
backward and forward in time and in the centre
is our own perceiving consciousness. And that
is a big idea to swallow! But if you take the view
that everything is somehow connected in time
and space (not a long way from some ideas in
quantum physics) and that our imagination,
which comfortably roams such non-linear
realms, actually forms the basis of a much
profounder reality than the constriction of a
mere three and a half dimensional universe (as
the English Romantic tradition has been telling
us for years), the landscape zodiac begins to
make more sense. Chalice Well and its own
rich tradition casts more light on these subtle
Map of the Glastonbury Zodiac Circle by Katharine
processes.
Maltwood.
Chalice Well’s Place in the Glastonbury Zodiac
Chalice Well occupies a highly significant position in the Glastonbury Zodiac, the sign of
Aquarius, just below the beak of the eagle or phoenix, which its founder identified as the
Aquarian figure. So let us explore this sacred bird of power and resurrection and why it is a
perfect symbol not just for Glastonbury, but for Chalice Well in particular.
The Aquarian zodiac effigy covers much of Glastonbury, from the high street to the north
and east of the town, with one wing reaching out over St Edmund’s Hill to the north and the
other wing reaching eastwards to Edgarley and Wick. The abbey grounds form the tail of the
bird and Glastonbury Tor its head. Katharine recognised that the crested head of the bird
is turned toward its tail “in order to reach the Blood Spring”,1 and to drink of, or bathe in,
its holy waters. So here we have a sacred bird of immense mythical significance interwoven
with the sacred landscape of Glastonbury in a profoundly meaningful way. The phoenix is a
mythical bird that self-immolates every 500 years, building a nest in the branches of an oak.
It then builds a pyre using cinnamon and other spices, and a young phoenix is born from the
ashes. On a recent Alchemical Journey walk we found the most extraordinary representation
of the phoenix in one of the ancient oaks, known
as Gog and Magog, out on the bird’s eastern
wing. We also find synchronicities in two of
Glastonbury’s street names; both Cinnamon
Lane and Ashwell Lane remind us of the legend.
When the new-born phoenix is strong
enough it carries its nest to Heliopolis, in Egypt,
and deposits it in the Temple of the Sun. The
Greeks believed that the phoenix lived next to
a well, bathing in the water of the well at dawn,
prompting the Sun God, Helios to stop his solar
chariot momentarily and listen to its beautiful
song. And, again, we can bathe ourselves in the
imaginal resonance of this. We have a lovely
synchronicity here too, found once more in Can you see the phoenix nesting in the ancient
oak?
1
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Katharine Maltwood, The Enchantments of Britain, p. 47
the street names. Helios’s son, Actis,
was exiled from Greece to Egypt where
he taught astrology and founded the city
of Heliopolis (on the site of modern-day
Cairo), and he is remembered in Actis
Fields which lies just below the Tor, and
in the name Actis Road on the modern
housing estate.
So why is the Aquarius figure
represented by an eagle-type bird and not
the more familiar water bearer? In the
Greco-Roman cosmos, the constellation of
Aquarius is a representation of Ganymede,
the beautiful youth who is abducted by
Zeus in the form of an eagle, and carried
up to Mount Olympus, where he becomes
cup-bearer to the gods. Ganymede’s role is
to serve the gods their regenerative nectar
or ambrosia, the elixir of immortality; a
task that he performs with such grace and
care that he becomes beloved of all the
gods and goddesses. As well as becoming Maltwood’s Aquarius figure showing the position of
a contemporary gay icon, Ganymede has Chalice Well in the Zodiac
always been considered the genius of fountains and springs, and within the scope of this
myth, the sacred springs of Glastonbury become fountains of youth and sources of divine
food. Ganymede is often represented wearing a Mithraic or Phrygian cap, which classically
flops over to one side, pointing downwards and linking the head (Aries) to the feet (Pisces)
in the manner of a wheel. This has long been be known in esoteric circles to represent a sign
of initiation into the zodiacal mystery school, and the secret is revealed in our zodiac, as the
Piscean fish springs out of the head of the Aries figure at Street! When our own students have
completed The Alchemical Journey around The Glastonbury Zodiac, we always present them
with our hand-made versions of the cap in honour of their journey.
The constellation of Aquila the eagle is close to Aquarius in the heavens, just north of
the ecliptic, and it remembers the story of Ganymede’s abduction, so we should not be
surprised to find a carving of an eagle high up on St Michael’s tower on the Tor. This bird
could equally be a phoenix, particularly with the Tor’s long association as the location of
the “ever burning” Grail Castle of which “will be kindled the fire that shall burn up the
world”. Perceval is a zodiacal hero figure, and learns of this castle from twelve hermits who
he meets on the seashore and tell him of “twelve chapels that surround a graveyard wherein
lie twelve dead knights that we keep watch over”.2 The Tor can be rendered in many ways, as
a sacred mountain, a glass faerie hill, or a Grail Castle, but what can also be said about it, since
Katharine’s inspired discovery in the early 1920s, is that it is a prime point of orientation over
the round table zodiac wheel spread out beneath it. This realisation no doubt prompted the
first lady of the Zodiac to reflect the following:
“The Glastonbury phoenix...carries the cup of regeneration or ambrosia, whose
therapeutic waters rise in Glaston’s Tor and fill the Aquarius pot called Chalice
Blood Well, whilst spread out below lies his Wheel of Time or Chakra.”3
2
3
Chretien de Troyes, High History of the Holy Grail, Branch 6: 15
Katharine Maltwood, The Enchantments of Britain, p. 46
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The constellation of Aquila, in Hindu tradition, is identified
as Garuda, who possesses the traits of a phoenix. Garuda is
hatched from an enormous egg, 500 years after being laid, and
steals the amrita (ambrosia), assuming a golden body, as bright
as the Sun penetrating a fiercely revolving wheel that protected
it. Some accounts say that he carried it in his beak, others that
it was carried in a chalice, or moon goblet. Garuda is often
depicted carrying Vishnu on his back, with Vishnu holding the
solar wheel, and thus the secret to the mysteries of the Zodiac.
The Greeks derive their word “phoenix” from the Egyptian
Benu, a mythical bird which looks like a heron with an
impressive crest on its head representing Upper Egypt. The
Benu is said to have created itself from a fire that was burned
WTP’s copy of the original 1935 on a holy tree in one of the sacred precincts of the temple of
Temple of the Stars
Ra. The Benu rested on a sacred pillar, known as the benben
stone, which was considered the most holy place on earth. Benu means ‘to rise brilliantly’ or
‘to shine’ and it comes to represent creation and renewal, manifest in the first light of dawn.
In the Christian tradition, we find the pelican expressing the phoenix’s qualities and this
bird is frequently employed to represent Christ in his dying and resurrecting aspect. There
is a legend that in time of famine a mother pelican would strike her breast with her beak,
feeding her young with her blood to prevent starvation. There is an alternative version of the
legend, even more apposite to the Christian mythos, which tells of a pelican feeding her dying
young with her own blood to revive them from death, but in turn losing her own life. We
have often reflected on the position of the Chalice Well as being on the breast of a phoenixpelican that pecks into its own flesh to release the iron-rich blood-water, which suggests
both life and death. This synchronicity is strengthened by the presence of the Christ-aspelican relief carving on the East Gate of Glastonbury Abbey, nowadays the entrance arch to
Abbey House, which lies just a quarter of a mile further along on the breast of the bird effigy.
And Chalice Well, too, along with its beautifully maintained gardens, offer up a number of
imaginal portals into the cycle of death and rebirth, not least the presence of its two enigmatic
yew trees; trees which were indeed more numerous on this land in bygone years.
We hope we have been able to give you a taste of the mythic richness of both Chalice Well
and the wider zodiacal landscape. Chalice Well is profoundly and indubitably a sacred site,
a temenos or holy sanctuary with probable historical recognition going back thousands of
years, and yet it is nested within a greater sanctuary, a landscape temple which represents the
circle of the heavenly universe set down on earth. So as we take the spring waters, stare up
at the stars or sense the zodiacal effigies beneath our feet, we are bound to be in awe of the
profundity and richness of this Somerset countryside and
the challenges that it brings to our own personal journey.
The Alchemical Journey weekends can be attended
as individual workshops and will continue through
to March 2012. For dates and more details, visit:
www.thealchemicaljourney.co.uk
John Wadsworth also teaches a one-year astrology
course in Glastonbury, over seven weekends, with ongoing
support and online tuition throughout the year. This is
also facilitated in an experiential style, with an emphasis Part of the Alchemical Journey group
on self-realisation, healing and transformation. For more about to climb the Tor on the Aquarius
details of this course, visit: www.kairosastrology.co.uk.
weekend
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Prayer that we go deep enough
for love
Not made, but found;
where the thick oak well cover with its Vesica,
eternal twin circles connected and bisected
in all our longing…is lifted; is open—
revealing the black squared grille and the well beneath
peeping bracken fronds and hart’s tongue
clinging to its stone sides…
there
someone has left two red Cosmos stems
blossoms resting head to head side by side
between two squares; poised, above its void
above the water’s whispering, cloaked by evergreen
as the sun slants out around the well now
in part shadow, part light; quiveringly
and is my prayer exactly, for you and me.
Jay Ramsay
Aug 5th 2011
Chalice Well Garden, 2 a.m.
The water, the moon and I are well awake,
alone in almost silence.
The white of Beltane flowering
and a coverlet of cloud
light up the paths, the well,
the ever-flowing Lion’s Head.
I ask the Scorpio moon to end in me
whatever keeps me from the Oneness.
The Healing Pool is sombre
and in my mind I walk her waters
re-affirming my entreaty
to the fullness of the moon.
Margie McCallum
28 April 2010
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Prophecy, Time and 2012
Paul Fletcher
In the darkest days of the Second World War, in the spring of 1943, Wellesley Tudor Pole
gave a talk in London called ‘Memory, Time and Prevision’. It may have seemed a strange
topic for the audience in a time of such crisis. Although several esotericists including Dion
Fortune and Ronald Heaver believed by this stage that Germany would inevitably be beaten it
would still be another two years of total war before victory and peace came to Europe.
In the talk TP concentrated on three words to explain how they might work - memory time and prevision. With regards to memory he established that there was a link between fate
and free will and that as a person grows in spiritual understanding a time is reached when
they are faced with a choice between continued effort to exercise their own free will or a
submission of their freedom and fate to what he called ‘the Will of their Creator’. This would
seem to be a modern problem for humanity that has only increased over the last 70 years.
There has been much talk recently about a moral vacuum at the heart of our society. There is
something huge that is at stake here for humanity. Mikhail Gorbachev has pointed out that
‘with the passing of time a whole pyramid of diverse problems has been accumulating in every
part of the world: social, political, economic, and cultural problems. Contradictions have
appeared in society and they have created conflicts and crises. Even wars. The relationship
between humans and nature has become more and more complex and strained. The air has
become poisoned, rivers polluted, forests decimated.’ Gorbachev goes on to ask, ‘Is there a
path beyond the crisis?’ and emphasises that we now understand the problems but have to
find a way to act, to construct a path for our continued survival.
It is with these issues and thoughts in the air that the year we call 2012 has become the
focus of much conjecture. I remember the call that went out for the Harmonic Convergence
on August 16 - 17, 1987 when many people gathered, for the first time in such numbers,
at sacred sites around the world, including Glastonbury. A man called Jose Arguelles had
promoted the idea of the Harmonic Convergence, which marked the beginning of a 25 year
cycle to December 21, 2012 that would signal the supposed end of the Mayan 5000 year
calendar. On the inner planes of meditation, mediation and prayer, August 1987 was an
important moment of focus.
Back in 1943 TP had pointed out that humanity now had what he called “seers” in its
midst who could look far beyond human horizons and whose vision contained a prophetic
element, which was universal, not personal. These seers were beginning to pick up a gradual
approach towards humanity of a wave of illumination and spiritual power from the higher
regions that continues to grow in strength and immanency despite the two world wars of the
last century. So here TP is referring to something vast that happens over a long period of time.
His advice was to exercise “expectation” of a new dawn for the human race and to reflect
on this in our hearts and minds. He stressed that the actual form of the Coming was of
secondary importance but that a change in our living reality was to be expected. Tudor Pole
finished his talk with advice for the individual on the “stilling of the self” so that we are able
to become “servitors of value” in the unfolding drama. He pointed out that we have only just
begun to understand the power of Silence. “Stillness begets awareness of spiritual realities as
an interior and personal experience which can come in no other way.”
Jose Arguelles stressed that a great moment of transformation awaits us in 2012 - a moment
that is not really about time as we (humanity) measure it but about what he called “harmonic
calibrations.” For some reason, known to the Mayans thousands of years ago, our global
civilisation has reached a crisis point symbolised by the year 2012. Of course Hollywood and
sensationalist media are portraying this as a catastrophe and “the end of the world.” This is
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not the case - Arguelles describes this moment as a “period of dramatic evolutionary change
affecting the whole planet.” 2012 is the gateway for this change. Our situation is calling on us
to CHANGE, to work out how to move forward into global maturity so that we can pass on a
healthy and unpolluted planet to our children and their children’s children.
Many visionaries and forward thinkers have written about 2012 and the 20-year period
that follows, as a period of intensified possibility and opportunity. One of the most prominent
of these thinkers is Ervin Laszlo, founder and president of the Club of Budapest, president
of the World Shift Network, member of the International Academy of Philosophy of
Science. Chalice Well will
be welcoming him as one of
the keynote speakers at our
“Unity” conference in the
Chalice Well Gardens next
June. (See page 2.)
The importance of
sending out a note of
“unity” beyond 2012 from
this sacred site is paramount
and may have incalculable
benefits. Laszlo has stressed
that an “evolving human
spirit and consciousness
is the first vital cause
shared by the whole of the
human family” and that
“the only permanence is
sustainable change and
transformation.”
He
Photo by Pat Arkosy
explains that “planetary
consciousness is the knowing as well as the feeling of the vital interdependence and essential
oneness of humankind, and the conscious adoption of the ethics and the ethos that this
entails.” So December 21, 2012 can be seen not as an apocalyptic moment but one that is
happening inside each one of us as we birth our collective destiny.
Mayan messenger Carlos Barrios writes:
“The world will not end. It will be transformed...... everything will change...... change is accelerating
now and it will continue to accelerate. If the people of the Earth can get to this 2012 date without
having destroyed too much of the Earth, we will rise to a new, higher level. But to get there we
must transform enormously powerful forces that seek to block the way. Humanity will continue,
but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity
to be more human. Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take
action. The prophesied changes are going to happen, but our attitude and actions determine how
harsh or mild they are.
This is a crucially important moment for humanity and for Earth. Each person is important. If
you have incarnated into this era, you have spiritual work to do balancing the planet. The greatest
wisdom is in simplicity. Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It is not complex
or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you.
Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your hearts, and you will find your way.”
(Taken from ‘2012, A Clarion Call’ by Nicolya Christi [Bear & Co.])
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W.T.P. and Ábdu’l-Bahá
Alan Royce
This September marked the one hundredth anniversary of the visit of the leader of the Bahá’ís
to Bristol in 1911 where he was welcomed by Wellesley Tudor Pole. This anniversary has been
marked by the planting of a rose bush in the Chalice Well gardens and by a centenary gathering
of Bahá’ís in London.
W.T.P. first heard of the Bahá’í Movement in 1908
during a trip to Constantinople where he was
searching for early Christian texts. In 1910 he went
to Egypt to meet Ábdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh,
the movement’s founder, to learn more at first hand.
What he learned convinced him the Bahá’í Movement
was worth joining and he actively supported it for the
remainder of Ábdu’l-Bahá’s life, only withdrawing
when he felt the movement was diverging from the
Quaker-like path he had expected it to follow.
W.T.P. was part of a team of people who prepared
the way for Ábdu’l-Bahá to visit Europe during 1911,
along with Alice Buckton, Annet Schepel, Archdeacon
Wilberforce, Neville Meakin, Robert Felkin* and
several earlier Bahá’ís resident in the London and
Manchester areas. W.T.P. was not the only new Bahá’í.
Alice Buckton and Annet Schepel are both noted on
Ábdu’l-Bahá (with thanks to Gerry Fenge) early lists, as are Neville Meakin and Robert Felkin.
Meakin had spent some time in Egypt with Ábdu’l-Bahá in early 1911 and was concurrently
trying to induct W.T.P. into his ‘Order of the Table Round’.**
While in London, Ábdu’l-Bahá twice visited Alice and Annet at ‘Vanners’, their home
in Byfleet in Surrey, and they seem to have accompanied him when he came across England
to Bristol to stay in the Pole family guesthouse at Clifton. This visit is well documented in
W.T.P.’s writings, in the ‘Star of the West’ Bahá’í journal, in ‘The Christian Commonwealth’
and in local newspaper reports, so a reasonable reconstruction can be attempted.
Ábdu’l-Bahá arrived by train around noon on the 23rd of September 1911 at Bristol’s
main station. He was not alone. Several guests and helpers and Tammadun úl-Mulk, his
interpreter, came with him. On arrival at 17, Royal York Crescent coffee was served and
Ábdu’l-Bahá walked upon the broad terrace before the house, enjoying the sea views and
the clean air. W.T.P. laid on carriages to take his guests on a tour of beauty spots in the
countryside nearby. Its vivid greenness impressed Ábdu’l-Bahá, who likened it more to spring
than autumn. 1911 was, apparently, a better than average summer so many folk were out
enjoying the good weather. Ábdu’l-Bahá was especially pleased by the lively independence of
some women he saw, riding horses and bicycles, and spoke of the importance of educating
both sexes equally and well.
That evening nineteen people sat down for dinner. Nineteen is a significant number for
Bahá’ís. Ábdu’l-Bahá commented that this meal, at which many cultures were represented,
was a great and holy occasion and would go down in history. Afterwards, a meeting had been
* See ‘The Avalonians’ by Patrick Benham pages 102-105
** ibid.
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arranged at which ninety or so visitors, reporters and local dignitaries were given a chance
to meet Ábdu’l-Bahá. It began with a duet for violin and a talk by W.T.P. reminding the
gathering of the long imprisonments and sufferings of Bahá’u’lláh, Ábdu’l-Bahá and their
followers in Persia. Then Ábdu’l-Bahá spoke of Jesus and Bahá’u’lláh,
‘As day follows night, and after sunset comes the dawn, so Jesus Christ appeared
on the horizon of this world like a Son of Truth; even so when the people – after
forgetting the teachings of Christ and his example of love to all humanity – had
again grown tired of material things, a heavenly star shone once more in Persia, a
new illumination appeared and now a great light is spreading through all lands.’
The next day, a bright Sunday, saw Ábdu’l-Bahá out once more on the Downs, speaking
with children he encountered during his travels. Back at the guesthouse he then gave private
interviews to newly arrived visitors, after which he gathered the servants together and thanked
them for their labour. He then went through the house and blessed each room (including the
Oratory that contained the Blue Bowl) and said it would become a House of Rest for pilgrims
from all over the world. Once again there were nineteen for supper, and once again Ábdu’lBahá blessed the gathering and showed joy and animation.
On Monday 25th
September he spent much
of the morning in short
discourses and in silent
prayer. About midday he
and his entourage began
the return trip to London,
leaving a beautiful prayer
and blessing in the
visitor’s book.
This was not Ábdu’lBahá’s last visit to Bristol.
He returned for a night
on Wednesday January
22nd 1913, after a long trip
to America. Once more
he held a meeting at the
Clifton Guesthouse to
which many were invited
and he spoke about the
teachings of Bahá’u’lláh,
emphasising
Justice,
Equality, the abolition of Ábdu’l-Bahá and friends outside the Pole family guesthouse in Bristol
all Prejudice saying that
‘the Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.’
In the interval between these two visits, however, much had happened. In 1912 poor
Neville Meakin had passed away of T.B. which cut short any entry into the Order for W.T.P.
Alice Buckton, for her part, bought the old Catholic Seminary buildings in 1913 on the corner
of Chilkwell Street and Wellhouse Lane for use as a school for young women. But that is
another 100-year anniversary and another story for another time.
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Farewells
On these pages we remember three great friends of Chalice Well: John Wilkes who designed and
created the flowform in the lower garden, Cynthia Howles who was a friend of Tudor Pole and a
Trustee for many years and Philip Rahtz who Tudor Pole asked to undertake archaeological digs
at Chalice Well, the Tor and Beckery.
John Wilkes
John studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art. While
in London, he met the mathematician George Adams
and later Theodor Schwenk, a pioneer in water research
and author of Sensitive Chaos. In 1961 Wilkes joined the
Institute for Flow Sciences in Herrischried, Germany, and
his research over many years into the flow and rhythm of
water eventually led to the Flowform Method in 1970. He
worked concurrently at the Goetheanum in Switzerland, researching and restoring Rudolf
Steiner’s sculptural and architectural models. In 1966, he began contributing at Emerson
College in Forest Row, Sussex. He was director of the Virbela Rhythm Research Institute.
Flowforms: The Rhythmic Power of Water. Floris Books (2003)
“Water is not only fundamental to life but is essential for the cycles and changes
in nature. John Wilkes asserts that water is the universal bearer of whatever
character we put into it. Consequently, the way we treat water is crucial to our
own health and to the well being of the planet as a whole.”
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For John Wilkes: A message of gratitude and joy
from the Water Sprites of Chalice Well
All gratitude and thanks to John Wilkes who in his gentle wisdom crafted the flow-form
in which we play
Energising our fluid nature in a true dance of liberation, joyfully we sing your praises,
daily blessing your creation
Nymph after nymph, we constantly tumble through the spiral layers delighting in the
flowing form that brings us closer to perfection
Exhilarated undines, we cling to lips and cups and deepened bowls, and sloshing through
interchanges pour down through every infinite curved delicious dish, increasing our vibrant
life-giving force at every voluted turn
Warm or cool, in rain or shine, by star or moonlight, forever enhancing the elemental
dance and memory of our prime source
Until finally we cascade out from the flow-form bringing the healing essence of our body
of water, ready to spread a tide of joy across the world
We thank you John for your work and gift and bless your return to the ocean of the source.
Joanna Laxton
Cynthia Howles (Pilkington) 1914-2011
In 2007 in my capacity as Archivist I put out a
request to the Companionship to see if anyone
still had a copy of the long playing record made
by Wellesley Tudor Pole in 1963 – an artifact
that was missing from our archives. It was my
good fortune to be contacted by ex-Trustee
Cynthia Howles who said she would be happy
to pass on her copy of the LP. This led on to
a wonderful series of telephone conversations
with Cynthia where she was able to reminisce
about her years as a Trustee and although in her
90’s, was bright and sharp about contemporary
events and the world. For many years Cynthia
gave valuable service to the Trust while also
running the Seekers Trust in Addington, Kent (www.seekerstrust.org.uk).
It was in the 1930’s that Cynthia became involved in the Seekers Trust with Dr. Lascelles
and Charles Simpson and witnessed remarkable healings. She became Secretary of the Seekers
after the war in 1951 and remained committed for the next sixty years becoming a Trustee
and finally President. In the 1960’s she began to support the work of the Chalice Well Trust
and served on the Board until the mid 1990’s, following in the footsteps of her husband
George Howles. She was a true philanthropist and gave various charities thousands of pounds,
particularly animal charities that were her dearest love.
In her usual business-like way the LP was hand delivered to the Chalice Well by a young
messenger with a kind note attached. She stressed her great friendship with Tudor Pole and
mentioned she was always referring to his books. We are now blessed to be in touch with
Cynthia’s granddaughter, Kathy Searle, who has taken over the role of Spiritual Leader of the
Seekers from Cynthia.
Paul Fletcher
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Philip Rahtz 1921 – 2011
His Times obituary on June 14, 2011
described Philip Rahtz as “a famously
hands-on archaeologist and excavator
whose innovative teaching at York
inspired and challenged a generation
of students” but to those familiar with
the history of Chalice Well he will be
remembered best for his freelance
excavations at the Well in 1961. He was
suggested as a substitute by Raleigh
Radford to Wellesley Tudor Pole,
Founder and Chair of the Chalice Well
Trust who had obtained finance from the
Russell Trust to excavate at the Well.
In
his
autobiography
Living
Archaeology he wrote: “I agreed, little
knowing what I was letting myself in
for..The Chairman (really my employer)
was a remarkable man..who believed
in Transubstantiation (the living of
successive lives)… In talking to him I had
the uncomfortable feeling that he knew
exactly what I was thinking… Chalice
Well is the site of a major spring… it
was locally believed that it had been an
important feature of Early Christian settlement, and was it was claimed the place where the
Vessels of the Passion had been washed. I was engaged to see if there was any archaeological
evidence to support such claims.”
In the event though, Rahtz found evidence of ancient use of the spring via Mesolithic
and Roman flints and pottery and the 2000 year old stump of a Yew. The Well itself was
revealed to be a medieval well-house built to safeguard the Abbey water supply and there was
no sign of the Holy Grail! Rahtz wrote of his findings “Tudor Pole was not disappointed by
my report. Although I was a sceptic (and he was well aware of this!) he was pleased with the
results and this led to the more extensive excavations on the Tor and Beckery.”
By 1964 Rahtz and his team, which included his teenage daughter Diana (now a Chalice
Well Companion and Volunteer) began their three years of digs on the Tor based at Chalice
Well. The Chalice Well always had a special place in his affections in later life. As he wrote
in ‘Glastonbury Myth and Archaeology’ “the gardens of Chalice Well, lying in a sheltered
cleft between Chalice Hill and the Tor, are one of the pleasantest spots in the whole of the
Glastonbury area, with gardens arranged around a series of fountains and water issues.”
Despite his rationalist scepticism and his preference for scholarship and evidence rather
than Glastonbury’s multiplying myths and legends, Rahtz was undoubtedly grateful to
Wellesley Tudor Pole and the Trust for helping him to establish his reputation as a field
archaeologist and begin a new career in academia. He became an Assistant lecturer in the
School of History at Birmingham University at the age of 43, despite having no formal
academic qualification! He went on to complete 53 major excavations in the UK and abroad
including 18 in Somerset and became Professor of Archaeology at York.
Anthony Ward
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