Post by Indilwen on Jul 15, 2010 16:51:55 GMT 12
THE INNER REALM OF AVALON.
Avalon is the Inner Temple of the Celtic and British Mysteries, a landscape of the soul, a country of the heart. It is the land which the poet and mystic see in vision, where the artist and musician find inspiration; where the soul goes for healing and spiritual refreshment: a timeless land of power and mystery that offers initiation and enlightenment to all those that embark upon the inner voyage.
Avalon does not exist in the dimensions of time and space. It lies within the Otherworld, a place that the Celts have always taught us exists now and always, nowhere and everywhere, in the ‘thin’ places of the landscape, within the cracks of everyday life. As an archetype, or blueprint, of cosmic order and harmony, it distils the qualities of power, beauty and wisdom, sorely needed in our world today.
The Apple Island
Avalon is from a Celtic word meaning 'apple.' The apple-tree is a Celtic Tree of Life, upholder of the Worlds above and below and the source of all spiritual sustenance. In Irish tales, it grows upon an Otherworld island and bears the fruit of immortality which emits a heavenly fragrance, is able to satisfy all hunger, heal all ills, and yet always remains whole.
The Isle of Women
In both Irish and British traditions, the Isle of Apples is traditionally ruled by a group of priestesses who are the guardians of the Tree of Life. They are also keepers of a magical vessel, cauldron or chalice, a timeless symbol of the Goddess, which may nourish, heal, inspire, and transform. The priestesses, led by Morgan le Fay, act as initiators of those who voyage to Avalon, and their vessel is nothing less than the cauldron of rebirth, out of which emerges the transformed initiate of the Avalonian Mysteries.
Arthurian Tradition
The power of Avalon lies behind the Arthurian Cycle, which is the primary myth of Britain. Arthur's sword, Excalibur, was forged there, and here the king was taken to be healed after being wounded in his last battle. Merlin, Taliesin and Arthur all play important roles in Avalon.
The Castle of the Grail
In the Middle Ages, Avalon turned into the place where the Holy Grail was kept, when the Celtic motif of the Goddess's cauldron became fused with the legend of the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper, called the Grail. In a number of versions, the sacred vessel is kept by a holy woman known as the Grail Maiden, and it is housed in a castle on an Otherworld island. The Grail is described as having many different forms, but is primarily a vessel containing the substance of pure Spirit which bestows an ineffable mystical experience.
Glastonbury
Throughout the ages, people from the Celtic lands have tried to locate Avalon in the physical world. It has been particularly associated with the area around Glastonbury in south-west
England, but folklore also places it in Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, Scotland and Brittany. Once an island, Glastonbury is home to many ancient sacred sites, including the Chalice Well, Holy Thorn and the pyramid-shaped Tor. The power of Avalon can still be felt in Glastonbury, which is woven about with legends of faeries, Arthur, and the Holy Grail. Many people today report unusual, often supernatural, experiences there.
Atlantis
Dion Fortune, who has been called the greatest occultist of the 20th. century, believed that Avalon was closely connected with the lost world of Atlantis, and that we can reclaim and redeem the wisdom of our ancient past through working with the Inner Realm of Avalon.
In Avalon lies the beauty and power of the Faery Kingdom....
In Avalon, the pool of the mind becomes still to reveal the Mystery
that lies at the core of all things....
In Avalon, the Holy Grail offers sustenance to the spirit & the Mystic Rose unfolds within the heart.....
In Avalon we find ourselves at home again.
source: avalonmysteryschool.net/inneravalon.htm
