Lying on King Arthur’s Grave

In August I spent nearly two weeks in England. I have wanted to travel there for as long as I can remember. Three-fourths of my immediate ancestral family names are English or Norman with the other one-fourth being nearby Scottish. Something to which I paid attention during my trip is how the ins and outs of English history have become inscribed on the architecture and landscape and people of that place. Things like which King, Queen, or Lord Protector held sway at the time (and with whom they were at war); religious sensibilities; and economic forces all left a mark on “merry old England.”

This multi-layered story became particularly apparent the day I visited Glastonbury in southwest England. In addition to its renowned music festival, which draws such big names as Coldplay and Sir Paul McCartney, Glastonbury has been a pilgrimage destination for centuries among Pagan, Christian, and, more recently, New Age spiritual seekers. Glastonbury is known for a variety of sacred reasons. It was historically believed to be a gateway to the fairy realm of Anwn inhabited by Gwyn ab Nudd, the Celtic lord of the underworld and keeper of the Cauldron of Rebirth. It is the site of the tombs of legendary King Arthur and Queen Guinivere of Camelot. It is also believed by many to be a significant crossing of ley lines with the landscape itself displaying the form of the Goddess. (1)

Glastonbury is also the site of the earliest Christian church building in England reportedly constructed by Joseph of Arimathea who is said to have visited the area with his young nephew from Nazareth, a boy called Jesus. Joseph is also rumored to have placed the Holy Grail near the Chalice Well. Stopping at the Chalice Well en route from touring the Abbey on my hike to the top of the Tor, I leaned into the ticket booth and said, “The Isle of Avalon…?” The two people behind the counter replied in unison, “You’re on it!” Can you feel the woo-woo yet? (2)

When I reached the summit of the Tor, I found a variety of people doing a variety of things. Some were celebrating a successful hike up the hill. A member of one group of people all dressed in white told us they were there on a spiritual pilgrimage for the benefit of the world. Another guy with long dreadlocks was sitting inside St. Michael’s Church Tower (pictured, above) playing an Indian instrument called a shruti box while throat singing. I dig it, man!

Now, I visited Glastonbury not as a pilgrim, but rather as a tourist. As a tourist, I observed, and I witnessed. I observed the layering of tumultuous English history leaving its mark on the geography. I witnessed people attributing sacredness to a place and visiting that place with the intention of connecting with spiritual energy to benefit themselves, others, and even the world. 

Reflecting on that day, I find myself asking, “What is sacred, anyway”? Is sacredness inherent or attributed? From my perspective, what is sacred for me is indicative of my sense of ultimate meaning, value, and worth. People attribute sacredness to places based on what has happened there; what we do there now; or what we plan to do there in the future (e.g., my meditation chair, Boquillas Canyon in Big Bend National Park, and the two oak trees on a friend’s property between which my wife and I spoke our marriage vows are sacred places for me). We attribute sacredness to objects based on the meaning we attach to them (e.g., my wedding ring or my grandfather’s wristwatch). Sacred activities may include practices that help us connect with our sense of worth (e.g., silence, meditation, deep listening). We can also hold values and ideals sacred along with the people by whom we have been influenced in coming to hold them (e.g., love, life, integrity, honesty, peace). Texts can be sacred. Songs can be sacred. Ideas can be sacred.

For Spiritual Naturalists the sacredness of Nature looms large. Landscape, flora, fauna, wind, stars, planets, galaxies, and people. Walking around Glastonbury I found myself reaching out and touching leaves and branches; paying attention to the grass and the earth on which I walked; feeling the strength of the wind in my face as it whipped over the Tor. The sacred can be whatever we need it to be—wherever we may find it—even in the ordinary and the mundane. This is why I find the distinction between sacred and secular unhelpful. There is nothing outside of the reach of finding meaning, value, and worth (including the useful practice of no-meaning, but that is another story).(3) 

Even though I did not go to Glastonbury as a pilgrim, I did engage in a spontaneous spiritual practice there. When I saw the place of King Arthur’s tomb in the ground of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey next to where the high altar once stood, I laid down on it for a few moments of memento mori. Because whatever may be said about the specialness of a place, and whether or not there really was a King named Arthur, ordinary people have lived in Glastonbury, died there, and left their bones in that earth. And new people are still doing those things: being born, growing, learning, making a living, making mistakes, finding partners, fighting battles, getting sick, practicing spirituality, getting old, and dying. It is the ongoing, ordinary course of life, which I find beautiful, yes, even sacred.

Before boarding the bus back to our hotel for the evening, I stopped in at Knight’s Fish and Chips to sample, well, fish and chips and some surprisingly tasty mushy peas. Knight’s has been serving their signature dish since 1895 and family owned since 1909. (4) Curiously, the walls of the restaurant building include stones from Glastonbury Abbey, which has lain in ruins since it was destroyed in 1539 under King Henry VIII’s Act of Dissolution of England’s wealthy monasteries. One thing becomes another. From a hallowed sanctuary, to royal fundraising program, to a place to eat. Oh, the tangled webs we weave. I don’t know what it means, but thank Goddess this weaving has produced some delicious fish and chips!

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Notes:

1. See, Rick Steves, History and Mystery in Glastonbury (online at, https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/glastonbury-england-history-mystery). 
2. For more about Glastonbury, see, History and Legends of Glastonbury Tor (online at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/glastonbury-tor/history-of-glastonbury-tor).
3. For another perspective on naturalism and the sacred, see the article Spirit Tree, posted here on Dec. 17, 2017.
4. https://www.knightsfishrestaurant.com/.