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Magical Mystery Tor A Review of Dion Fortune's "Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart" By Soror I.T.L. | |
 Predawn. The peculiar crown of Glastonbury Tor disappears into the swirling mists of Avalon. Our jet-lagged breaths, visible in the chill, synchronize with our steps as we trudge the well-worn footpath that winds its way up the hill. It's so very quiet. True, there is an occasional faint rumble of a truck in the distance. But here, on the western side of this magical mountain, we only hear the occasional twittering of a worm-catching bird, the whisper of white rabbits nuzzling clover, the scattering of twigs as some unseen presence, faeries perhaps, scramble through the undergrowth.We climb into the mists. It's so very, very quiet. Without warning, the jutting tower of St. Michael appears in front of us. We step into the ancient remnant of the church and it's like walking through the looking glass into another world. But it's not the spiritual world hinted at by our silent ascent through the stilling fog. No. We walk smack into a stinky cigarette-smoking, cheap wine-chugging, bad music on boom box-playing, loud-talking party. It's a veritable shock to the system as we step over ciggy butts littering the ground and past the tight leather-panted and loose flowing-skirted group of Newage (rhymes with sewage) Tor Hoppers. Suddenly, a hush falls over the crowd as everyone gazes expectantly at what may be a glint of gold in the Eastern sky. "Is it?" they whisper. Yes, it is the uprising of the sun. Silence permeates the crowd. Even the hardiest partiers are awestruck by this majestic vision. This was the first of four times we climbed Glastonbury Tor during that Summer of 1999 and each time it was a different enchanting experience. We were drawn to the Tor, much in the same way I suspect Dion Fortune was. For in Dion Fortune's little book, "Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart", the collection of 20 essays brings Glastonbury and the Tor (the hill) that she loved alive. In her opening essay, "The Road To Avalon," Fortune describes the three ways of approaching the town she refers to as the "English Jerusalem": first, the high road of history and Glastonbury's great but never dominating influence on the history of England; second, the upland path of legend where the legend of the Cup (the Graal) and the legend of the sword (Arthur) are wound about Avalon; and thirdly, the secret Green Road of the soul-the Mystical Path. In following essays, Fortune elucidates upon her opening theme. She writes about the Avalon of Merlin, of the Graal, of the Celtic Saints. She writes about Avalon and Atlantis. She takes a more Christian turn and expounds upon the Holy Thorn (grown from the staff of St. Joseph of Arimathea), the famous Stone Abbey and the Monks. And she tells tales - both real and urban legends - about Glastonbury and the Tor, where she established her Chalice Orchard Retreat. Now, I love Fortune's telling of the Arthurian, Christian, Atlantean and urban legends. And I am fascinated by her four part series chronicling the Glastonbury of her days. (With the exception of a lot more seemingly superficial crystal vendors and occult book sellers, Glastonbury doesn't seem to have changed that much since the tourist show, market town Glastonbury of the 30's and 40's.) But for me, it is Fortune's description of the Tor "There is such magic in that first glimpse of that strange hill that none who have the eye of vision can look upon it unmoved. Each road around Glastonbury has its trysting place where the Tor first comes into view… What powers the ages have centered upon that strange hill who can say? The ancient Druids knew it; and the tradition tells us the 'Avalon has never lacked a seer.' "that really resonates. I clearly remember our first glimpse of Glastonbury Tor, rising in the moonlight outside our room in a local farmer's B&B. It was an absolutely awe inspiring sight. I wanted to charge up that hill, I wanted to dance and sing and let my hair down and conjure up things in the moonlight. That was before my initiation, before recognizing that I was truly on a spiritual quest, before reading anything about Glastonbury Tor. (Later that day, I did pick up "The Mysts of Avalon" in Glastonbury, which I passionately read during our travels in England and Scotland.) And to finally stand on top of the Tor - whether we put ears to the ground to listen to the faeries or lent an ear to the self-appointed warden's historical, legendary and mystical perspectives of the hill, whether we communed with nature or just communed with the mysterious forces and spirits - one becomes part of a powerful link between the earth and the sky, the past and the present. Glastonbury Tor is, as Fortune calls it, "the Hill of Vision." Then there's the shape of the Tor, a perplexing form that Fortune points out is the center of on-going discussions about whether the Tor is natural or artificial. She calls it pyramidal in form, but I, seeing the tower as a nipple, view the softly rounded mound as the Great Good Breast of the Divine Mother. Fortune also points out the varying opinions on the function of Glastonbury and its Tor. Although several of her accounts suggest that this place, like the Jerusalem it's often called, is sacred to several ancient and modern traditions, I particularly enjoyed her essay on Avalon and Atlantis. In her well-researched recitation, she speculates that the Tor may have been the last outpost of the Atlanteans. It is clear from her scholarly-yet poetic-essays that Dion Fortune knew Glastonbury and the Tor like the lines on her face. As Janine Chapman (after reading the essays and visiting the village) writes in her biography, "Quest for Dion Fortune", "[Dion Fortune] knew the names of its plants and trees, she knew its roads, marshes apple orchards, meadows and moors. She knew its architecture and its history, real and imaginary." However, there seems to be something amiss in Fortune's erudite chronicles of Glastonbury. And that something appears to be herself, her story in relation to her Avalon of the Heart. She does, in her essay "The Tor" describe a magical experience on the hill in flowery yet mundane language. In her Epilogue, she refer to the 40-foot army hut she set up as the Chalice Orchard hostel at the foot of the Tor. And, in the same section, she also calls herself, as either a local celebrity of local sight, the "last of the Avalonians, of those who were drawn to Glastonbury as a centre of ever renewed spiritual and artistic inspiration..." Yet, in these accounts, as in many of her other writings, Fortune tends to hold her utmost self in abeyance. What I mean is here is a place, a town, a mountain that were so incredibly important to Fortune's mystical and spiritual development that she established it as a permanent base in 1924. It was here that she received her first major and dramatic Inner Plane contact. And it was here, as Alan Richardson points out in his biography, "The Magical Life of Dion Fortune", where she practiced her best magic, where she resolved her troubles with the Air aspects and later gained control of the Fire Elementals. Still, in "Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart", Fortune glosses over her own magical experiences that kept her connected to this town. And with the exception of the human/Atlantean priestess sacrifice scene in The Sea Priestess, which may have taken place in the human sacrifice niche of the Chalice Well at the foot of the Tor, there is, to my expert's (Fra. O.L.L.'s) knowledge, no mention of Glastonbury or the Tor appears in any of Fortune's occult novels. This leads me to wonder about what Fortune is hiding in what's heralded as her "personal account of the love affair with the area that has repeatedly drew her back over the years?" Is there, perhaps, another layer to her stories? As one who thrives on attempting to answer such simple questions (and since the book was a mere 98 pages), I reread every essay at least once with a very open mind. And I believe that Fortune's accounts of Glastonbury are what they are, a wonderful telling of a fascinating place. So, you may ask, what I have learned from reading "Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart,"? First of all, I learned that I can read a Dion Fortune book. And, beyond the wonderful yet impersonal stories she writes of this place-most of which information is just as eloquently presented in the hordes of Glastonbury websites - I learned that Dion Fortune really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really loves Glastonbury. If you're going to visit Glastonbury-or even just fantasizing about it- this little tome is a must read, along with any of the guides to ancient, esoteric or stonecentric places in the British Isles. If you're into Merlin material, "Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart" makes for great supplemental reading. And if you're a Dion Fortune, well, although this book doesn't deeply explore her psyche, it does put the reader into contact with one of her great loves. For more info or to purchase "Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart", click here.
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