i'm a pagan at heart really

monday was may day bank holiday and i was so lucky to be invited up to glastonbury by ben (robin's ex boyfriend) for the beltain festival.

it was a grand weekend! glastonbury is one of my favourite places. it reminds me a lot of victoria but it's much more hippy/pagan/yoga-fied. every other shop specializes in crystals or healing stones or tarot cards or wands or swords or incense. people freely walk the streets in celtic robes and the town is awash with earth tone clad, dread-locked, caped hippies or witches.

on sunday ben and i ventured to a barn dance at belham farm. it's a small farm that the city council wants to split up and sell off. well, this angered some local hippies and they decided to do something to stop the sale. a group of them began squatting and turned it into a fully functioning farm. they had yummy cider on tap and i bought a fantastic mixed lentil-rice soup mix.

then we went to a steam engine fair, as you do. we eventually capped off the day with a pint of bitter called tally-ho in an old pub (with original tudor beams and fireplace) with live blues playing in the background. nice!

monday was beltain day. we were up at 4am to leave by half 4 and walked over hill and dale for a 5am start at chalice well. oh dear god. walking muddy-hilly tracks in the pre-dawn darkness getting scared by badgers running in your path is only slightly fun. oh yes, it was also pouring with rain. the entire weekend had been beautiful and sunny until that morning. ben was so kind as to lend me the best coat in the world. i was the only one who stayed warm and dry, but it came at a cost. the coat weighed about 20 pounds.

beltain celebrates the day between vernal equinox and summer solstice. it's basically the start of summer. a fair crowd gathered in the chalice gardens and we followed queen may and the green man by the holy thorn where we picked up flower offerings. we went through a small arch where we also picked up and lit a tealight and then we were cleansed by a sage smudge and sacred light. we left our offerings at the chalice well and waited for everyone to gather around.

we then participated in a group meditation. the theme of the contemplation were the things we wanted to grow within our lives. what seed did we want to nurture in the coming summer season? what wish did we have for ourselves, our friends, and the world? we were also encouraged to ask the rain to stop at the end of our mediation. poetry was then shared by various people.

the group processed through another archway to an open field where the beltain fire was lit. what happened when everyone entered the field? the rain stopped.

the bard of glastonbury then led his choir in traditional beltain-spring-summer folk songs while people jumped over the smaller beltain fire. once you jumped you went through the branch archway created by queen may and the green man thus cleansing yourself.

you can see ben jumping the fire in the last picture. yes, he has an antler (made from branches) and ivy head-dress on.

around 7am or so we left the festivities and walked up the tor to get a view of the newly sunny morning. we were home by 9am and in bed by 10. fantastic!

ben's house backs onto a farm and i pet one of the cows.

i want to live in glastonbury.

everyone should read into it's history, it's wonderful, i thoroughly enjoy every aspect of it - christian and pagan. glastonbury is avalon. i stood by king arthur's *supposed* grave at glastonbury abbey. chalice well is *supposedly* where joseph of arimathea dipped the chalice that caught jesus' blood. when jesus was a child he came to glastonbury *supposedly*. joseph also *supposedly* brought the holy thorn over from the east. although, there are 3 holy thorn sites and i can't say which is the original. i say supposedly....it's all myth and legend, but there is some sort of power in that area, a feeling in the air. it's enchanting. it's exciting that someone i know owns a house there.

i'll be posting many picutres on 23 and flickr....hopefully tonight, check 'em out if you have a minute.