Walking the Glastonbury Zodiac
Jonathan Fryer
In September 1995 Chris and I were given the opportunity of contributing to an evening syposium at the Isle of Avalon Foundation concerning the Glastonbury Land Zodiac. One outcome of that evening was that we undertook to carry out a series of pilgrimages which would take us a year to complete. This is a report on our progress; we chose to walk each sign of the Zodiac in order and at a time when, Astrologically Sun and Moon both occupied the particular sign, ie. at new moon.
What follows in the synthesis of our experiences sometimes as reportage or images or (exceptionally for me!) as poetry. Sometimes our accounts are combined, sometimes our voices are separate. A much larger book is needed – look on this, if you will as a postcard written en route. Nevertheless we hope that its contents will not displease and will maybe inspire others to undertake their own quest for the Sacred within the Landscape, be it at Glastonbury or elsewhere.
We extend our thanks to those who have joined us on different stages of this quest and who have all encouraged or expanded our vision of the possible by their enthusiasm, company and faith in our physical sense of direction!! Mike , Jenny , Jill, Taliesin, Alan , Les, Jo , Willow , Kevin , Ian, Bruce , Andy and Aaron
It is now nearly 70 years since Katherine Maltwood first proposed the concept of a sacred Zodiac hidden within the Glastonbury landscape. Briefly, her vision was of the hills, waterways and woodlands of the locality, modified and emphasised by ancient roads and earthworks to delineate the figures of the Zodiac, laid out in their proper order and with the stars falling on the appropriate sign when transposed from the planisphere. The Zodiac was thought to be the creation ancient peoples many centuries ago but maintained and tended through the Christian Era by intiates at Glastonbury Abbey. For Katherine Maltwood, the Temple of the Stars was both the setting and the goal of the Grail Quest of King Arthur’s companions.
Since that time many writers have given their own interpretation of the Glastonbury Zodiac. Much has been written on the clues left by placenames and local vernacular architecture, on the age of the figures and on its likely founders. Signs have been redrawn, reinterpreted, the whole concept has been both publicised and ‘debunked’ on television, whilst at the other extreme Land Zodiacs have been identified in Kingston- upon-Thames, Cornwall, Dyfed, Northumbria, Scotland and no doubt other places.
What remains at the end is that which inspires at the outset; the vision of the landscape as Sacred, embodying the elemental forces expressed in Ancient Zodiac lore, inspires today as it did in 1930 or as it inspired one of us when it emerged, by chance, during an otherwise long forgotten geography lesson at school. A finished, unfinished or an unfolding reality?.... it is for those more learned than ourselves to debate what the Glastonbury Zodiac actually is, or what it may become. But it is physically available to us all to explore and to develop through ritual a response and a way of celebrating its existence. We have chosen to explore – on foot – with the cycles of the New Moons and the seasons and to develop, tentatively at times, rituals to express and enhance the sense of time, place and energy that has prevailed. We are not unique in this approach though perhaps it is the less celebrated in print (Mrs.Maltwood herself described the Zodiac Figures thus: ‘.......too exhausting to follow them on foot......’).
We hope that other pilgrims, past or in times to come will not take exception to our approach.
Thus we have used our senses on the primary research and have discovered features and places not mentioned in other books; through ritual we have aimed to reinforce the correspondence between the landscape and the archetypal and to harmonize the different levels within ourselves. Apart from the sheer enjoyment of the extraordinary variety of landscape, we have been surprised by the range of moods, emotions and insights sparked by the journey. It seems that by taking the time out to be in touch with nature in a magically focussed way we are given glimpses, healings and new perspectives. There are many ways in which we could work with the Glastonbury Zodiac. We chose to work with the New Moons. One could perhaps visit critical points in one’s birth chart at the turn of major transits to seek resolution of crisis. If out of balance one could seek an appropriate place ( example - if feeling lethargic take a stimulating walk through the dynamic fire signs; if feeling mentally confused take space on one of the Air signs. If upset take time out by the Brue on Pisces or Scorpio or in the watery lowlands of Cancer. Get grounded on Taurus or at Launcherley.) The landscape is there, free for all of us to use. We do not have to pay for our birthright and perhaps by taking the time out to connect we can not only heal ourselves but do a little bit to help the land which supports us in all that we do.
We hope that the rituals we used will perhaps encourage you to try out ones of your own; we have kept things fairly simple and basic. If you are an aficionado of High Magic then you could take things a lot further; if you find any ritual superfluous or superstitious then a silent communion could be just as effective. We believe intention is more important than form and the opportunity for self transcendence, for pleasure or for understanding can come when we least expect it. Sometimes, later, after our journey is recollected, odd coincidences or insights emerge as more significant than what was percieved at the time.
We observed at the outset that the Zodiac has been revisioned and redrawn on a number of occasions. To the question 'What, actually, is the Zodiac?’ could be appended ‘Where, actually, is the Zodiac?’ Again we have taken the easy way out – broadly there are areas that ‘convention’ agrees upon and we have stuck to them. We have sought points which have ‘felt right’ or where the ambience has brought something extra to the intention of the moment. Where a particular feature or event has struck us as significant we have included it. In respect of the signs of Cancer and Libra where there is divergence between the starfall and the sign we have noted that.
Our journey is ongoing and at the time of writing we are visiting signs for a second time and so some rituals have been compressed to echo what has been learnt through hindsight. Earlier we observed that the vision of the Sacred within the Landscape inspires today as it ever did. Throughout known and unknown history Glastonbury and its environs have been a focus for those who have sought to discover the Spirit within the commonplace. Symptomatic of this is the way in which the landscape attracts multiple associations with the mythic and the fantastic. Never was this vision needed more than now – at many times on our journey we note the power that twentieth century technology has to transform the land far beyond the recognition of any Zodiac shapers. Smaller in scale are the endeavours of those, living and moving within the landscape with an awareness that nothing meaningful is to be achieved without a sense of the Sacred.