Glastonbury #2 - Glastonbury’s Sacred Sites

Chalice Well, Glastonbury

In my previous post, I touched on some of the sacred places that we can visit in Glastonbury. Here, I’ll be sharing a one-stop guide to all of them and why they’re worth the visit. There will be information on the stories and legends surrounding each, how to best plan your trip, and the official websites with more information on entry and opening times.

Glastonbury has long been associated with myths and legends, folklore and magic. Some say it is the site of the mythic Isle of Avalon. For the Celts, it was a Druid centre of learning and initiation. And, in Christian mythology, it is where the Holy Grail may have been buried by Jesus’s uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, and the first Christian Church established. Often called - and certainly experienced by me as - the ‘heart chakra’ of the world, it is a potent place of Divine Feminine and Masculine energies, a retreat into balance, harmony, self-connection and self-discovery.

Travelling to and through Glastonbury offers seekers and pilgrims from across the world knowledge, spiritual awakening and unique experiences. On my first visit, I didn’t know what to expect, but I followed the trail recommended by others. I printed pages of information about the sites below and, with each new visit, I let go of these, and allowed intuition and direct experience to guide me. I hope this post inspires you to visit if you haven’t yet, or to journey deeper into yourself and ancient Avalon if you have already. I recommend printing this, just as I did, highlighting the parts that feel true to you and taking your journey into the direction you feel called to.

Chalice Well

Glastonbury is home to two healing springs and one of these can be found at Chalice Well. This is called the red spring due to its high iron content, which you can certainly taste when you take a sip. It is said to symbolise the Divine Feminine, with the red and iron depicting women’s cycles. The source of this spring is unknown, only adding to its mysterious allure. It gushes at the bottom of a well at the back of the garden sanctuary known as Chalice Well.

Chalice Well is a closed garden, with a small fee required for entry. Before reaching the back, visitors make their way past a vesica piscis-shaped stream, a section called King Arthur’s Court, where you can walk through a shallow healing pool, and many cosy nooks of benches and trees, such as the Angel Seat bench. The garden is a wonderful, beautiful place for finding peace and feeling connected to something bigger.

In past times, some say the well and gardens were built and maintained by the Druids, who had an important learning centre at Glastonbury. Another story tells of the well and water as symbols of the Holy Grail and Chalice that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. This story follows that, after Jesus’s crucifixion, his uncle Joseph of Arimathea took the Holy Grail to Glastonbury and buried it here. From it, the red water sprung. (Alternative stories say that the Holy Grail was placed under the hill of Glastonbury Tor and that the water sprung from here and flowed down to Chalice Well.)

The well’s cover is adorned with a vescia piscis-decorated circle, a sacred symbol of the merging of opposites. The Feminine and Masculine, the spiritual and material, the outer and inner can. The symbol’s Latin name translates to bladder or vessel of a fish, and is often linked to Jesus, who was known as the ‘Fisher of men’ and is sometimes represented by the ichthys symbol (which resembles a fish). The middle of the vescia piscis, where the two circles overlap, forms a mandorla or almond shape, representative of sacred knowledge and divinity - the result of the uniting of opposites. But there’s also something unique about the vescia piscis overlooking the well - a sword runs right through it. Possibly, this is King Arthur’s sword Excalibur, here to help in this merging and protect truth-seekers. Arthurian myths prevail throughout Glastonbury, with visitors at liberty to follow the thread of story that is most enticing to them.

Whenever and however you find yourself here, Chalice Well will offer you a gentle retreat into Mother Nature, her healing powers and the beauty that we as humans can create through looking after her. My personal recommendation is making sure to visit the gift shop, whose energy is otherworldly and inspiring. The books and other finds you’ll come across might be just the inspiration you need to take back to your home life.

Chalice Well is open daily between 10am - 5pm, with last entry at 4pm. More information and updates can be found on the Chalice Well website.

White Spring

A couple of steps from Chalice Well, we find the White Spring - a cave-like temple buzzing with calcite-rich water. Whilst the red spring is found outside in an airy garden, the white spring offers the opposite as we step into a candle-lit cavern beneath Glastonbury Tor. A buzzing, large pool stands strong in the middle and water flows throughout (waterproof shoes or wellies are recommended). At three of the four corners, carefully-tended-to shrines offer a rest for your soul and give thanks to the guardian or deity there. This white healing spring provides the Divine Masculine counterpart to the red water.

White Spring is one of my personal favourites in Glastonbury. Entrance is free, though you’re welcome to make a donation. It’s a magical place of shelter, a glimmering sanctuary, where you can immerse yourself in the central pool, as visitors often do, or sit at one or all of the enchanting shrines. There, you will find the Goddess Brigid, the Lady of Avalon and the King of the World of the Faerie. You may find that you feel most attracted to one, or that different ones appeal to you each time you visit. Photographs inside the White Spring aren’t permitted, allowing for a potent direct experience of the energies present.

The first shrine as you enter, situated on your left, is dedicated to the Goddess Brigid. She was a Celtic, pre-Christian goddess. She is multidimensional and often seen as a ‘triple’ goddess in that what she represents is wide and complex. She’s linked to fire and everything light and elevated, as well as to water and healing, and poetry and smithcraft. She is sometimes seen as a mother and teacher to humanity, but also as a maiden and symbol of purity. Her festival day is Imbolc on 1 February and it would have been celebrated by the Celts with fires, games and the community coming together. As Christianity took over the earth-based religions practised in Britain, Saint Brigid rose to fill Goddess Brigid’s place and her present-day associations often mirror that of the Goddess’. St. Brigid was born in (or around) 450 in Faughart, Ireland. Her life story is full of charitable giving and caring for others and, around 480, she established the first nunnery in Ireland at Kildaire. Here, a sacred fire was looked after by her nuns, which some say is the continued eternal flame of the Celtic Goddess Brigid, previously tended to by her priestess. Her name means ‘the high one’ or ‘the exalted one’, and both the goddess and saint aspects of Brigid offer us a timeless reminder to always act from compassion, to believe in our inner fire, and to devote ourselves to healing - whether of ourselves, those around us or the planet.

The Lady of Avalon’s shrine follows as you walk clockwise. She is the goddess that exists in and around Glastonbury. Until doing some extra research for this post, I had the impression that this shrine was dedicated to the Black Madonna, as a small statue of her is placed here. The White Spring website seems to confirm this is so - that this statue ‘miraculously survived the fire that destroyed the [old] church’ built in the first century. But it also tells us that this shrine is actually for the Lady of Avalon. The Lady is a presence of love, healing and maternal comfort, and you can connect with her throughout Glastonbury. She is the protective, divine feminine energy blessing and comforting all who visit. Yet, if, like me, you find that you connect with the Black Madonna at this shrine more so than the Lady of Avalon, then we should always follow our intuition. (P.S.: No goddesses or divine ladies care much for how we interpret the universal love overarching us; in other words, which aspect of the Sacred we connect with.) The Black Madonna is a symbol of deep transformation, the wisdom that comes through suffering and hardships, and the importance of darkness. She is the alchemical cauldron from which everything new springs, the primordial darkness that was the beginning of the universe.

The King of the World of Faerie is another shrine that I initially associated with a different being - the Horned God. This shrine is in the right back corner, continuing our clockwise walk. The Horned God is a pagan deity and, for some, the overarching God of Wiccan/ Witchcraft traditions. For others, he is the male counterpart to the feminine moon goddesses, or the protector of nature and all things wild. The King of the World of Faerie has some similar connotations, so visitors are again encouraged to go with what speaks to them. The King of Faeries is the guardian of the faeries and their world. In Glastonbury, the Tor is where the faeries are said to live and this hill serves as a portal to otherworld, such as that of the faeries. Faeries are symbolic of nature, beauty, grace, magic and our belief in something more than what meets the physical eye. When we look through the eye of the heart, we can encounter a deeper peace, which nature beings such as faeries help us with. Spending some time at this shrine can help us to reach this inner peace, and remember the magic that surrounds us every day.

Outside of the White Spring, a series of pools allow water to flow down, down through each one. Following sacred geometry principles, the pools are another opportunity to gaze peacefully at the physical world as we experience an inner letting go. There are also small spirals etched into the ground, symbolic of the feminine energy in nature and its ever-cyclical essence.

Entry is free, and opening times vary daily. White Spring is closed Mondays and Wednesdays, and open generally between 1:30 - 4:30pm. More information can be found here.

Glastonbury Tor

Next to the White Spring is a path leading to the top of Glastonbury Tor - the hill overlooking Glastonbury, home to St. Michael’s Tower and, maybe even, the entrance to the faerie world. If you’ve read my previous post, you may already know the stories and lore about this potent place, so I won’t repeat too much here. If you haven’t yet, you can find it here.

Glastonbury Tor is known as the Faerie Hill, a Holy Hill, a Spiral Castle, a Grail Castle, a Magic Mountain and the Land of the Dead/ the Underworld. Seven ‘terraces’, or levels, can be seen on its slopes, forming a spiral-like journey around and to the top. In Celtic symbology, the spiral is seen as the soul’s journey through life, death and rebirth. If we see these terraces more as a labyrinth, then their path can serve as a meditation or initiation and, for the Celts, taking such a journey again related to that of our soul.

To make it to the top of the hill, a straight walk takes around 15-20 minutes, and a walk through the spiral can take around 4-6 hours. As a whole, the hill is a place of initiation, ceremony and connection with the Divine Feminine and the Earth. Many in Glastonbury say it represents the female body itself, or that of the Lady of Avalon or Mother Goddess.

Within the Tor, some say there is a tunnel, or tunnels, possible one serving as a passage to Glastonbury Abbey. Others believe that there is a Druid cave or temple within the hill. In the Arthur stories, the Tor could be the Grail Castle that King Arthur and his knights travel to; maybe even the Holy Grail - whether from the Arthurian stories or Christian mythology is buried inside the Tor.

I recommend visiting on a sunny day as you can see the whole of Glastonbury from the top. Even better, climb up just before the sunrise to watch strokes of orange, pink and purple paint the sky.

The National Trust’s website has information on accessibility.

Glastonbury Abbey

In the centre of town, Glastonbury Abbey offers remnants of an old abbey, which was possibly the location of the first Christian Church in the world. Medieval legends say that Jesus’s uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, arrived first at Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury and then founded this first church where the Abbey now stands. With him, he brought the Holy Grail, which may have been buried in the Tor. The church, built around 63 CE, became known as the ‘Old Church’ and formed the first Christian community in Britain. In the 900s CE, under the Normans, more structures were built to extend the building into an abbey. However, in 1184, a fire destroyed the abbey, including the Old Church. The Abbey is now looked after by a charity organisation, it’s open 7 days a week and paid entrance is required for access.

One of the first buildings visitors will be drawn to as they centre the grounds is the Lady Chapel. Supposedly built on the site of the Old Church, and completed just two years after the great fire, it’s dedicated to Virgin Mary. For me, it felt like a retreat into the Divine Mother, with the now-missing roof creating a rather unique combination of feeling both inside and outside. Beautiful carvings can still be seen and enjoyed. Below the Lady Chapel, there exists a crypt dedicated to Joseph of Arimathea, built at the end of the 15th century.

Other surviving buildings at the Abbey include a kitchen, ‘one of the finest surviving examples of medieval kitchens in Europe’ and used by the abbot and his guests. A chapel dedicated to St. Patrick also remains, though it’s closed to visitors at the time of writing this post, as do three ‘massive baulks of masonry of the Great Church’, which can be seen and overpower us as we gaze up to take them in. This masonry is from the Norman church built after the fire and it became the second longest church in Britain at the time. In 1539, the Abbey was dissolved as part of Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. Glastonbury Abbey was one of the last monasteries to be dissolved and had been the second wealthiest in England. Its abbot was hanged at Glastonbury Tor, along with two of his monks.

Alongside its Christian origins, the Abbey has been linked to Arthurian legends. In 1191, a group of monks claimed to have found the remains of King Arthur and his wife Guinevere at the site, alongside a cross that read ‘Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur, with Guinevere his second wife, in the Isle of Avalon'. The place of this can be accessed by visitors, with a plaque marking the location.

The final sacred place to visit at the Abbey is the Holy Thorn. When Joseph of Arimathea climbed up to Wearyall Hill, he thrust his staff into the ground and, by morning, it had grown into a thorn tree that bloomed twice a year - once around Easter and again around Christmas (or so, at least, the story goes). This tree’s descendants continue on the at Abbey, though you can find them in other places, too (as I did by accident outside a church in Devon).

A simple stroll around the Abbey, whether aware of the history or not, will bring a pleasant few hours to visitors. The space is relatively large, with grass and greenery all round and comfortable benches for sitting. Visitors are welcome to stay as long as they like, taking in nature and simply being.

Glastonbury Abbey is open daily between 10am - 6pm, with last entry at 5:15pm. More information can be found on the Abbey’s website here.

For history enthusiasts, the University of Reading’s archaeological project of Glastonbury may be of interest, as well as this article by The Conversation.

Glastonbury Goddess Temple

The Glastonbury Goddess Temple was founded in 2000 and is open year-round to visitors. Its founder, Kathy Jones, was saddened on her world travels to find that there were almost no surviving temples dedicated to the Goddess. On one such trip, near Mount Olympus in Greece, she found herself at the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Isis, now in ruins. In that moment she decided to create a living Goddess Temple when she arrives back home in England. So, she founded the temple in Glastonbury - a modern-day community and permanent place of recognising, celebrating and connecting with the Goddess, the Divine Feminine.

Situated just off the High Street and with free entrance, the Temple is possibly the ‘first formally recognised public indigenous British Goddess Temple in Europe for perhaps 1,500 years and maybe ever’. It’s looked after by a loving network of priestesses and followers, and can be accessed free of charge. A nearby building, the Goddess House, houses events and treatments offered by the network of priestess. You can pre-book an appointment, or drop in. I’ve personally received more than one powerful treatment there, and would recommend them to anyone. (There is a range of treatments available.)

The Goddess Temple celebrates the goddess through the seasons’ changes, adorning it with the current xxx… The last time I visited was this April (2024), so the goddess Ostara was on display and green decor surrounded her. You can sit for a while, pick an oracle card from the decks available, or even read from the Temple’s collection of books. On my recent visit, just as I thought I was living, I was drawn to explore the books on offer. I picked up Alice Walker’s We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for and opened to a chapter that held just the message I needed to hear.

Entry is free, and opening times vary daily. White Spring is closed Mondays and Wednesdays, and open generally between 1:30 - 4:30pm. More information can be found here.

The Goddess Temple is open everyday between 12-4 pm, and entry is free. You can find the Goddess Temple website here, the Goddess House website here and the Events calendar here.

To listen to Kathy’s story, I recommend this podcast interview on Spotify, which you can also watch on YouTube here. (Skip to around 25:30 for the Goddess Temple creation story.)

Planning your visit

Almost everything is within a 20-minute walking radius of each other. After taking a stroll through the High Street, maybe stopping off at one of the many bookstores, cafes and small shops, your closest places will be the Goddess Temple and Glastonbury Abbey. I recommend leaving about an hour for each, although you can certainly spend more time resting at the Temple and walking around the Abbey.

If you head to the springs and Tor from there, it will take about 15-20 minutes. Again, an hour or so at Chalice Well and the White Spring might be enough, but, on the days when you feel especially connected to these powerful places, you may want to stay for longer. Just outside of the White Spring, you’ll find the path to the top of the Tor, which consists mostly of steps and will take 15-20 minutes. Once you make it to the top, the choice is yours as to how long to spend. It’s often quite windy, so I recommend bringing a windbreaker or warm jacket (even if the weather in town seems pleasant). The 360° view is breathtaking regardless of the weather, and the wind can feel cleansing and exhilarating.

If you only have a day, you can fit everything in, it just might be a bit of a squeeze in particular because of the varying opening times. If you have two days, then you might feel a little more relaxed to take your time and enjoy everything that Glastonbury has to offer - from the sacred sites listed above, to the beautiful shops and eating places. Extra time also means you can spontaneously book a reading, a treatment or a workshop, or simply wander and follow your intuition stress-free. If you can get your hands on the Glastonbury Oracle, or read it online, you can find what’s on during your visit. (This is how I found a wonderful workshop during my first stay.)

For parking, I normally use St Johns car park. You can other options here.

Glastonbury’s official Information Centre website can be found here.

Happy travels!! xx