Every year for the last ten years or so my family and I have visited the town of Glastonbury in Somerset. I guess if I were to use the new age/ hippy terminology I would say that it has good vibes. However unless  you are interested in history, mythology, religion or contemporary music Glastonbury may appear to be just an ordinary English small town with nothing much happening, with some rather curious shops, a small supermarket and a couple of pubs along its one and only main road. 

However underneath this seemingly uninteresting  facade Glastonbury is indeed a fascinating place .Like the mists that swirl round the Tor, history, myth and religion intertwine and coalesce giving the location a sense of mystery which sparks our imagination and distracts from the mundane. Yes Glastonbury is most certainly an intriguing place and we have visited mainly out of interest but also from a sense of  fascination difficult to explain and I have a keen infinity for this location. I obviously do not believe in the validity of all the myths and legends or give credence to all the many religious beliefs represented in Glastonbury nonetheless there is for me a special something, a kind of on going positivity about the environment which I have not experienced elsewhere. It has a mystery and magic if you like, an aura of the mystical and un-earthy, it distracts and give me a sense of hope that perhaps there does lie something beyond all our suffering and unhappiness.

I will share briefly some of the myth, legend, historical  and religious aspects of Glastonbury. For more detailed information visit the external links included in this section.

Legend associates Glastonbury with Joseph of Aimathea whom it is  believed was the great uncle of Jesus and it is claimed that Joseph had once bought his nephew as a child to visit this location. It is also thought that after the crucifixion, Joseph came once again with the holy grail, the chalice containing the blood of Christ. He journey through the inlets to wearyall hill were he planted his staff, thought to have been cultivated from the crown of thorns. The staff took root and grew flowering into what is now known as the Glastonbury thorn or the holy thorn which continues to bloom twice each year. It is also believed that Joseph founded the first Christian church in England. 

Another significant myth has it that this location is the fabled Isle of Avalon and the final resting place of King Arthur. In the twelfth century two bodies were  found by monks of Glastonbury Abby and it is claimed that a cross was also fond bearing the following inscription: "Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur with Guinevere his second wife in the Isle of Avalon".

Today Glastonbury is a place of pilgrimage to Christians, Pagans and new-agers. Most of the shops along the high street cater for New age, Pagan, Christian, Buddhist and a various mix of religious interest difficult to define, along with many practitioners of complimentary and alternative medicine. Once a year Glastonbury is the venue of a popular music festival of great significance among followers of this type of contemporary music, tickets for which are greatly sought after.

The following is a selection of photographs taken by my husband and son of some of the interesting and significant attractions of Glastonbury along with short commentaries.

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In the foreground is the descendent of the original tree referred to as the holy thorn or the Glastonbury thorn which legend tells us sprouted from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea. This tree flowers twice each year during Christmas and Easter coinciding with the Christian calendar