GLASTONBURY A STUDY IN PATTERNS
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GLASTONBURY
A STUDY IN PATTERNS
Cover Design: Supporter of the Neville shield. From Butleigh Court, Somerset
Boutell’s Heraldry, Frederick Warne & Co., 1891
by kind permission of
THE MARQUESS OF ABERGAVENNY
First Published August 1969.
First Reprint December 1969.
Second Reprint March 1971.
© RILKO 1969
GLASTONBURY
A STUDY IN PATTERNS
Editor : Professor Mary Williams
Assistant Editor Mrs Janette Jackson
Archivist- Miss Elizabeth Leader
A publication authorised by the
“ RESEARCH INTO LOST KNOWLEDGE ORGANISATION ”
College Court, Hammersmith, W.6
Telephone 01-748 5506
Chairman: Commander George Jules Mathys
Price £1 25 plus postage and packaging 81 ozs or 241 grams lOp.
THE
GREAT DOG
OF
LANGPORT
ATHELNEY
CONTENTS
PRE-CHRISTIAN
GLASTONBURY AS A POSSIBLE MEGALITHIC OBSERVATORY 5
A. Thom
THE SOMERSET ZODIAC Myths and Legends 8
Elizabeth Leader
THE GLASTONBURY REGION 13
THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND E, G. Bowen
POST-CHRISTIAN
Geoffrey Russell
Mary Williams
FREDERICK BLIGH BOND, F.R.I.B.A. 22
Janette Jackson
INTRODUCTORY NOTES ON A NEW THEORY OF PROPORTION TN 24 ARCHITECTURE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO GLASTONBURY ABBEY
Keith Critchlow
GLASTONBURY ABBEY: A SOLAR INSTRUMENT OF FORMER 31
SCIENCE
John Michell
39
pull out map of the GLASTONBURY ZODIAC
FOREWORD
No part of the British Isles is so important and therefore so deserving of preservation as the Glastonbury area, the meeting place to an extraordinary degree of Christian and pre-Christian legend. The Tor dominates a self-contained landscape and is visible in a curiously dramatic manner much farther afield tlian the Vale of Taunton. This landscape between Mendip and the Quantocks is studded with small mounds, affording the ideal background, together with other natural features, such as medicinal springs and the deep caves of Mendip, for ceremonial activities. To touch briefly on the Christian side of one legend According to a tradition current in South Wales and Cornwall, it is more than probable that a youth from the eastern Mediterranean whose maternal uncle was reputedly not only a metal merchant, but also in favour with the authorities in Rome, would have come to the south-west of the British Isles. In Cornwall there is a well known belief that “Joseph was a tin-man” In South Wales tradition says Joseph and his nephew Jesus came by sea to the Gower peninsula before sailing to the Glastonbury area.
Although archaeology is an interesting and useful method of studying the past and is at present very much in vogue, it is not the only way. Legends and myths could be justly called the archaeology of ideas and might sometimes give even better results than the debris left in the earth Scientists in all branches are constantly reviewing their opinions of dates and it cannot be very wise to brush aside such evidence as astrological myths or to dismiss the pictures asso ciated with the constellations and signs of the zodiac as so much day-dreaming. At the very least these stories could show us how men’s minds worked in early times
Our various contributors stress the fact that in their opinion there was a very high standard of scientific achievement in Britain in Megalithic ages. Perhaps it is not surprising that this knowledge gradually disappeared when one remembers the successive invasions which followed. It is not generally realised how completely disruptive of the early ways of life in these islands was the Diocletian edict ordering the extermination of Christianity in Britain. During this period not only were life and property destroyed with the utmost violence but towns, seats of culture, religious centres, libraries and records likewise alJ perished.
Obstinacy in the past has cost us dear. Had official and private destruction not obliterated monuments, moved landmarks, scattered libraries and records, we should be much the richer today. An excellent instance of this is provided by the Puritanical Bishop of St. Davids, Pembrokeshire, who in the 15th century caused all the records, missals, etc. of the Cathedral to be burnt in the public square as they smacked of popery. The consequence is that it is now proving most difficult to write an authentic and detailed history of St. David and the Cathedral. As wanton destruction still continues, the bulldozer is now removing up to 10,000 years of our history, it is more than ever necessary that areas such as Glastonbury should be preserved in order to receive expert attention and study from every point of view before it is too late.
Let is not be said of US that “ It is an infirmity of human nature to affect disregard for anything we do not ourselves understand.”
Henry O’Brien, “ The Round Towers of Ireland.”
Mary Williams
PRE-CHRISTIAN
Glastonbury as a possible Megalithic Observatory
A. Thom
PROLOGUE
“For my own part I consider that the view that our ancient monuments were built to observe and mark the rising and setting places of the heavenly bodies is now fully established.” Sixty years ago Sir Norman Lockyer in the second edition of “Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered," the preface to which contains the above statement, provided clear evidence for the existence in Britain 4000 years ago of an advanced scientific civilization, responsible for the erection of great astronomical instruments in earth and stone, the remains of which can still be found in every comer of the British Isles.
Since Lockyer’s time few have acquired the knowledge and skill necessary to advance his work. Recently, however, publications by Professor Thom have revealed further the remarkable nature and extent of prehistoric science.
Profesor Thorn, Emeritus Professor of Engineering at Oxford University, is now the leading authority on the subject of megalithic standing stones and the astronomical and mathematical science of their builders. In 1967 he published “Megalithic Sites in Britain,” the result of some thirty years’ work in locating, measuring and analysing circles all over the British Isles, many in remote and barely accessible country In “ Megalithic Sites ” he reveals that these structures, erected nearly 4000 years ago, were laid out with an accuracy comparable to that achieved by modern surveyors. The ground plan of all megalithic circles is strictly geometrical, based on Pythagorean triangles and illustrating advanced mathematical concepts, whose first discovery was until lately generally attributed to the Greeks in the 4th century B.C. Moreover, the position of the circle and of the individual stones was often determined by astronomical consideration. Alignments of stones were set to point towards a prominent peak or rocky island on the distant horizon, marking the position of the sun, moon or a particular star at its azimuthal extreme. Elaborate arrangements were used to detect minute cyclical deviations in the moon’s orbit, presumably for the purpose of predicting eclipses.
The science of prehistoric Britain consisted of a remarkable synthesis of geometry, astronomy and mathematics, expressed all over the country in the shape of megalithic monuments laid out according to a unit of measurment, named by Thom the megalithic yard (MY), and defined as 2.72 feet. Professor Thom (“Systematics” Dec. 1968) also finds that the spirals and cup and ring marks carved on megalithic stones were similarly conceived as figures of regular geometry. The revolutionary implications of Professor Thom’s researches are such that many of the assumptions on which our present notions of prehistoric life and ancient history are based appear no longer tenable.
J.M
An observant person may have noticed that during 1968 the Moon sometimes rose and set in an unusually far north position and then, two weeks later, it was equally far south. At every lunation the extreme positions became more and more separated. Its declination extremes were becoming larger and larger until the maximum was reached on 25th March, 1969. It will be 18.6 years before anything like that can happen again.
In 1969 the obliquity of the ecliptic is £=23° 26' 7 falling about O'.7 in a century. The mean inclination of the Moon’s orbit to the ecliptic is i=5° 08'.7 subject to a perturbation wobble of 8' 7± with a period of half an eclipse year i.e. of 173 days. But the line of nodes of the Moon’s orbit takes 18.6 years to complete a circuit, and so every 18.6 years the Moon can attain a declination of £+i. We shall call this the major standstill. It so happened that in 1969 the maximum of the wobble occurred almost exactly at the standstill. Adding together the three, £H+W, gives 28' 44'. 1 as the maximum possible and on March 25 the declination was 28° 43’ 6. The obliquity is decreasing every year and so it is unlikely that this high
declination will ever be attained again. But the decrease is very slow. In 1700 B.C. « Hi was 29 02'.5 and the figure shows how the Moon with this declination set over the Welsh hills as seen from Glastonbury about that date. The maximum position of the Moon at any lunation could be to the right or left as shown by the perturbation limits. But if the observer moved about on the high ground he could change the azimuth of the foresights provided by the peaks to left or right. If he had prepared positions such as we find in the complete Megalithic observatories, he could decide when the Moon was in an extreme position. The full Moon occurring near the time of the extreme would be eclipsed, and the new Moon might cause an eclipse of the Sun.
o Azimuth ZC 30 40' 50 320 io' ZO 30' 40'
Moon setting in its extreme northerly position.
A knowledge of the exact length of the eclipse year would enable the eclipse danger periods (each some 20 days long) to be predicted until new observations could be made at the minor standstill 9.3 years later when the declination maximum was (£~i). The nearest observatory arranged for this case known to the author is Parc-y-Meirw in Pembrokeshire.
On the higher ground in and around Glastonbury the earlier Ordnance Survey showed about 30 “ Stones ” but there is not much at present to show that these were Megalithic. A line of 5 stones is shown passing through the point 51003900 on the National Grid at an azimuth of about 298°. If it can be shown that this line is clear (or rather was clear) locally to the West then with the far horizon altitude of —0°,2, it shows a declination of +16° .4. We find this declination at many Megalithic sites. It is that of the Sun at May Day and Lammas, two important days in the Megalithic calendar (how can one predict anything without an exact calendar?). But before anyone can be definite about any of the stones he must establish on the site that the far horizons are visible. In fact we want to know much more than can be extracted from the surveys — especially if there are, or were, other stones not recorded.
In any given month the Moon may attain its maximum declination between the times of setting when its position can be gauged by finding the stance from which it appears to graze the distant foresight. This difficulty forced Megalithic man to devise a method of extrapolating from two night’s observation to find the stance from which it would have appeared on the foresight had it been, when setting, at its maxi
mum declination. We know this because recent work to be published soon shows that there are several complete examples in Scotland of the geometrical arrangement of rows of stones on the ground necessary for making the extrapolation. The grid of stones needs a level piece of ground and so is seldom at the backsight. The long distance to the Black Mountain (66 miles) necessitates such a large grid that it could not have been on the high ground. Is it possible that, the long row of stones shown on the O.S. in the plain below Glastonbury served some such purpose? Perhaps not, but enough has been said to show that an effort ought to be made to record the position of every stone however insignificant before all trace has been wiped out for ever.
The author knows of only one or two accurate and definite lunar sites in England and Wales but there are two dozen or so in Scotland. Can anything be done to change the picture or did the highly developed and precise observatories exist in Scotland only? In the clear air of Megalithic times the mountain range in the figure would have been easily seen. Today an exact profile ought to be obtained from Glastonbury If it agrees with the carefully calculated profile shown, then it would be strange if Megalithic man had ovelooked the possibilities presented by this site. Where are his backsights?
“... to suppose a country to be laid out, its districts divided, and its cities named, in allusion to astronomy, is a wild and untenable proposition. It is thus that men often hastily make conclusions. . . . upon this plan, the land of Egypt, the country where Moses was educated, was certainly distributed ... now if my Reader will turn to Kircher’s Oedipus, he will find it sufficiently proved that the land of Egypt was partitioned into three provinces, answering to the three decans, and into thirty Nomes, or praefectures, corresponding with the thirty Dieties ruling over each day of the month. In Egypt, then the country of Moses, we find the examplar of a territory divided and named according to the Calendar.”
Sir Willjam Drummond, “ Oedipus Judaicus ”
The Somerset Zodiac
Myths and Legends
Elizabeth Leader
A pattern is evident on the ground in the County of Somerset overlooked by the great Tor of Glastonbury and centred at Butleigh. It conforms to a circular design with a radius of five miles and a circumference of approximately 30 miles. This pattern takes the form of a zodiac or planisphere, being drawn by water courses, old roads and paths, with some earthworks appearing in appropriate places to supply details.
In the 1920’s, Mrs. K E Maltwood, F.R.S.A., while trying to follow the story of “ The High History of the Holy Grail” — a translation of the medieval French romance Perlesvaus — by Dr. Sebastian Evans, LL.D., spread the ordnance survey maps of the county of Somerset before her. She noticed that the River Cary between Charlton Mackrell and Somerton, outlines the underside of a great lion, the coutour of the head, back, tail and paws being defined by roads and footpaths. Surprised by this she looked for the giant that was to be expected near such a lion, and almost instantly found a giant child with a boat outlined below him. A friend suggested to her that she might have chanced upon one of the great zodiacs or star patterns that had been rumoured as existing. These were supposed to be in the Andes, Britain and the Gobi Desert. Mrs Maltwood continued her search and found that a zodiac did in fact exist. She wrote two short books about her work, and one or two little pamphlets to help the tourist. She also commissioned an aerial survey and published a selection of the photographs as a supplement to her books. In one of these “ The Enchantments of Britain ” she claimed only that she had discovered the design, and said that much of the rest of her writing should be considered as suggestions for further study. Her work was coldly received by most scholars, but it is on record that A. E. Waite called on her and congratulated her, while at the same time mourning the fact that he was then too old to revise his own life's work.
However, she was not the first to write about this astronomical pattern in plain terms. Dr. John Dee has preceded her by about 300 years. Writing in the reign of the 1st Queen Elizabeth, he mentioned his visit to Glastonbury and the discovery of what he believed to be Merlin's secret, describing the area and its earthworks of which he had made a map, and saying “ the starres which agree with their reproductions on the ground do lye onlie on the celestial path of the Sonne, moon and planets, with the notable exception of Orion and Hercules. . . .all the greater starres of Sagittarius fall in the hinde quarters of the horse, while Altair, Tarazed and Alschain from Aquilla do fall on its cheste. Thus is astrologie and astronomie carefullie and exactly married and measured in a scientific reconstruction of the heavens which shews that the
ancients understode all which today the lerned know to be fades ”.
This was not long after the dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey, where the monks had certain duties relating to the upkeep of waterways, roads and paths Dr Dee was no doubt able to contact people who knew the monks’ work programme, and as Dee was in that area with Edward Kelly for the professed purpose of research into alchemy, a subject which certainly had received attention locally, as witness the carvings of the griffin and the child with the lion on the north porch of Wells Cathedral, he would have had good opportunities for collecting information on occult subjects. One of the most frequent objections to the Somerset Zodiac, is that much of it is outlined now by motor roads, but it can be seen from the above that the figures were acknowledged long before tarmac was laid
There are thirteen outlined figures in the circle, another near the centre, and a triangular “enclosure” at Butleigh. There is also a known figure outside the circle, the Great Dog of the Parrett River.
We are in fact considering two patterns here, because if the design on the ground is really a zodiac, it must bear some relation to the traditional groupings of the stars into constellations, especially those constellations associated with the Signs of the Zodiac. Accordingly a circular planisphere must be adjusted for size to the scale of the ordance survey, regulating this by important star positions. The primary adjustment was made with the stars Aldebaren in Taurus and Antares in Scorpio. A line drawn between these two star positions in the design, represents the equi noctial line about five thousand years ago, the line of the solstices running then between Leo and Aquarius. Having placed the planisphere over the map, if the main constellations and principal star positions are marked through, it will be seen that they are either actually on, or very close beside the appropriate outlined effigies.
The sign of Aquarius is represented by a bird in this design, an interesting corroboration of the antiquity of this form can be seen on reference to Smith’s Classical Dictionary — illustrated edition — opposite page 304. Starting with the Tor which forms the head of the great bird, the stars of the constellation of Aquarius fall right across the body and outstretched wings — the Abbey ruins stand on its rectangular tail — and Cinnamon Lane curves below the Tor to the south, recalling the Phoenix nest of this spice. Following the circle of the year in proper order, Pisces crosses the two fishes, the most prominent of which is Wearyhall Hill, the stars of Aries start at Street and continue down the chest of the crouching Ram At Marshal's Elm, Taurus begins The Peleiades are
over the earthworks on the shoulder, Capella the she- goat, an important star to early man in the sign of Taurus, lies in the little wood near the tip of the Bull’s horns, which are two man-made ridges. The modern Hood Monument stands on the Bull’s ear. Aldebaran has already been noted, it lies in the little enclosure marking the bell beneath the neck of the Bull.
The next effigy is the giant Child, formed by the twin Dundon and Lollover hills. The great boat is outlined by waterways on the flat ground beyond Lollover Hill. The constellation of Orion lies near him and corresponds to his shape, and Lepus, known in earlier times as the Boat of Osiris, falls on the boat. In front of the Child are the Griffin Bird and the Little Dog. Sirius is the important star on the Griffin Bird, while Procyn, usually associated with the Little Dog, is on the Lion’s raised paw above him, Gomesia on his collar. In this design only the head of the dog is shown.
The Lion is three miles long, starting from Somerton. He includes the important stars of Cemini, Castor and Pollux, on his muzzle, the constellation of Cancer falls on his neck, while Leo shines just above his back with Regulus almost entangled in the tuft of the upraised tail. Hydra the Water Snake runs along the Cary River below him and on to the next sign Virgo. There the river beautifully outlines the front of Virgo’s headdress and face, which is only slightly defaced about the mouth, and continues down the front of the large figure. Most of the constellation lies just in front of her, but the great star Spica falls on her skirt. The sign of Libra is missing, but traditionally the Balance is a latecomer to the Zodiac. The stars of the constellation now called Libra fall about the outstretched right claw of the giant Scorpion. His head is missing, and this is accounted for in the “ High History”. The Scorpion’s tail ends in a sharp point, and with this he has stung the horse of Sagittarius causing it to stumble to its knees and unseat its rider the Archer. The stars of Sagittarius correspond to the horse, while the stars of Hercules and Lyra fall on the horseman. Capricorn’s stars are spread just below him, and it is important to note that those known as Job’s Coffin lie over the great earthwork forming his single horn, Ponters Ball. The earthwork was also called locally the Golden Coffin.
The remaining figures are the Dove, across which stretches the constellation of the Plough, while Draco is echoed by the paths in Park Wood at Butleigh. No stars correspond with the Great Dog of the Parrett River, which in all probability will be found to represent an aspect of the Moon. The water called Moon Drove is its mouth.
It has been computed that the chances of such a pattern being found on the ground to harmonise with the sky so closely, is of the order of 149,000,000 to 1 against. It must also be pointed out that both patterns correspond as to their north and south points, the signs of long ascension are also correctly larger for the most part than those of short ascension in the northern hemisphere.
When to this is added the “ coincidence ” of appro
priate folk tales and custom, some of which will be referred to later, and when additionally not only the incidents in the “ High History ” can be seen to refer to the figures, but also legends and myths from other lands and religions apply, the chances against mere accident are greatly increased.
The common arguments against the design by established scientists are; that it is too large, the whole thing is modern, the ancients could not have drawn it, and that the same thing could be found on any map, and the whole area was under water 5,000 years ago. Against these objections it can be shown:
“ Twenty-five thousands years ago, according to scientific reports on radioactive carbon-14 dating of the artifacts, an unknown species or race of people lived on the West coasts of North and South America — probably at a time when there was a larger land bridge. They moved enormous amounts of earth and stone to form pictures measuring millions of square acres. Some were pictures of men and women, some are undecipherable glyphs and others are astronomical symbols for Jupiter, Mars and other planets. They are recogniseable as the same symbols astronomers use today.
Aside from their tremendous age and size, the most interesting fact about these things is that they can be recogised only from heights above 30,000 feet.
A high flying reconnaisance pilot from Munroe Air Force Base made the astounding discovery while on a training flight early in World War II. As they were investigated further, it developed that the figures are almost perfectly lined up in the Western desert areas of the United States and as far south as Peru and Chile. From the ground they are totally undetectable.”*
British pilots from Western Zoyland Airfield told Mrs. Maltwood, “ You will be famous one day . . . but nobody will believe it until they have seen them (the figures) from the air as we have done ”.
A strike made by Messrs. B.K.S. Air Surveys Limited of Leatherhead, Surrey, at 10,000 feet, shows Capricorn, the whole of Sagittarius, the Dove and most of Virgo with clarity. It would be interesting to compare the outlines of the Archer and Virgo with the Tartesian figures in the National Archaelogical Museum of Madrid. The costume agrees extremely well, especially the pointed head covering of the man and the high bonnet and elaborate sleeve of the woman’s gown. As to it being duplicated on any other map, it would indeed be helpful if this was true as we would then have ample corroboration.
With regard to the claim that all this ground was under water, and that the design could not have remained so perfect for five thousand years, it must be stated that this is by no means proved. In fact most of the pattern is on high ground and would not have been submerged but with regard to the low lying portions it is well to remember that much recent evidence points to the possibility that the low lying land between Mendip and the Quantock Hills was actually higher at one time, witness the roads built for wheeled traffic found in the peat bogs, and the
• “ Technology 1,000,000 B.C. ” Joseph F. Goodavage In “ Flying Saucers ” October, 1968.
recent excavations at Meare. It would be enlightening to know more about the submerged forest shown off the coast of Somerset on O.S. maps. The stumps of the trees are still there.
When it comes to the ability of the ancients to draw on a large scale, the American figures quoted above seem to be even earlier and bigger than those in Somerset, and it may be salutory to remember the unbelief with which educated explorers heard the Bolivian peasants’ stories of monsters in the mountains. It was not until these doubting Thomases took to the air that the great drawing of a whale, condor, monkey, crab and so forth were observed to be beautifully drawn on the high plateau. They are now spoken of as the Nasca Signs, and are still a mystery.
In face of the work done recently by Professor Alexander Thom, and for those who will consult the report by Dr. Magnus Spence on “ Maes Howe ”, written in the early years of the nineteenth century, to name only two reputable workers in this neglected field, would not the public be justified in asking for a “ second opinion ”, instead of having to accept fashionable theories on the supposed primitive state of our ancestors.
With regard to the myths and legends we are on difficult territory, but not I hasten to add, unsure or unsafe. Those whose study this is are the archaeologists of ideas, and they must often long for a comparatively simple technical aid such as carbon dating. It is a curious fact that in the most recent Folklore Society publication on Somerset, there is almost a complete blank for this part of the County.
The Oxford Book of Carols has a Wassailing song from the Drayton Wassailers, in which the line “ The Girt Dog of Longport, he burnt his long tail ” occurs. This is interesting for two reasons, firstly the Dog of the Parret River extends from Burrow Mump near Athelney to Langport, a distance of some 5 miles, certainly a big dog! But the word “girt” may not refer to size. The children of this district had a custom of putting a dog in a bag with only its head and some say its tail, showing. The object was to take it round the villages to collect coppers for luck. I have been told that in parts of Dorset a similar custom was observed with a dog badger. Both the hound and the badger or bear, are used as symbols for the Moon. Taking this in conjunction with another custom, that of throwing yellow cakes at about Easter time into Moon Drove, the “ mouth ” of the girt dog, it would seem that the Hound as the Queen of Heaven to whom cakes representing light are dedicated in other parts of the world, was here remembered with the same custom. Before leaving the girt dog there is a curious tale that when angry the River Parret turns itself into a tree. The anger seems to be a reference to flood water, for this river has a tidal bore. The association with a tree reminds one of the little known myth of the bitch that littered a stick after Deucalion’s flood. This stick when planted, grew and bore fruit. In his Dissertation on the Book of Joshua, Sir William Drummond writing about the River Euphrates says, “The Pharrett, I conceive to be a fruit tree ”, and he goes on to explain that the land beyond the river banks was divided up to represent
an astronomical pattern relating to the constellations, these star groups being recognised as fruit. The Parrett at high tides caused by the Moon, and running under the girt dog, also represented a tree. Near its banks are the constellation effigies, the fruit.
Although these figures are so large that it is almost impossible to see anything of them from ground level, the people who lived locally have preserved a knowledge of some of the figures. Stories are still current of a great goat that haunts the Tor, hardly surprising with Capricorn’s huge nose pressed against its side. My grandmother who lived at Street, used to tell us tales of the district, and one of these was a strange story of King Solomon’s Ship which sailed up close to Glastonbury long ago and then disappeared. This was a puzzle until an examination of the large scale O.S. maps of the Dundon and Lollover Hills, showed the ship clearly, and Sol, or the solar child, crouched above it. My brother encountered an old man at Butleigh forty years ago who, pointing to Park Wood, told him that every year a “ great worm ” came out of the wood and was always killed by a knight in shining aromur ”. As it is at Park Wood that the paths trace out the head of Draco the serpent, and at the time this pattern was laid out the line of light at the equinox would have pierced the effigy, it seems the man was right. The local name for Ponters Ball forming the great horn of Capricorn, the Golden Coffin, also hints at a knowledge of the pictured Archer, representing the old sun in Sagittarius, being thrown from his horse to death at mid-winter. All these figures it must be remembered, are symbols of the sun at different times in his yearly journey through the ecliptic.
Mrs. Maltwood’s book also contains local tradi tions, but her great contribution was her connection of the Arthurian legends with the sky patterns formed by the Zodiac. Here she was obviously preceded by those who knowledgeably wrote down the stories in medieval times and as we hope to show, the traditions were also familiar to the followers of Mithra, to the Gnostics and to those who formulated the Greek myths; this by no means exhausts the list. If we take the “High History of the Holy Grail” as a reliable guide, as believed by the late Professor W. A. Nitze, of Chicago University, we can relate the other literature and traditions to it and examine correspondences from this viewpoint. It is widely admitted that “ the holy house of religion that stands at the head of the moors adventurous ” of the “ High History ”, is Glastonbury Abbey, but in pre-Christian times it could equally well be the Tor itself, if Mr. Geoffrey Russell’s theory of a Tor Maze is correct, and we may have to adjust our method of thinking from the logical or technical modes of today to a more imaginative and picturesque plane, but beware of considering imagina tion to be impractical, for no invention would get as far as the drawing board without it. Although the whole circle is worthy of study, the richest part from the point of view of legends is undoubtedly that portion from Havyatt slightly to the east of the Tor, round to Somerton.
Starting with the well defined Child in the Boat at Dundon which Mrs. Maltwood related to the con-
stellation of Orion, we find that in Mallory’s “Mort d’Arthur ” there is a strange tale of a visitor to the court of King Arthur known as Sir Ure of the Mount. He was said to have come to the court from Hungary, with his sister whose name is given as Fellole, to receive healing for wounds to his left hand, his side and his head. Arthur and other knights of the court all tried to cure him but failed until the arrival of Sir Lancelot who effected the healing. Looking at the Somerset pattern we see that the effigy representing Orion, or Sir Ure, is associated with the boat indicating a journey. His head droops as if he is too weak to raise it, one hand clutches his side, while the upraised hand points to the position of a star known to the Arabians as “ The Afflicted One ”.Ts the name of Fellole, Sir Ure’s sister, the same as the hill of Lole, or Lollover Hill, the twin hill of this effigy? The measurement of the boat fits the degrees of a zodiacal sign, in this case Gemini, and Sir Ure and his sister recall the older picturing of the twins as brother and sister. Because the sign of Cancer is included in the Lion of the Somerset Zodiac representing Lancelot, or the sun at the zenith of his power in midsummer, the lion is the next sign to rise on the wheel of the turning year.
Elworthy the Somerset antiquarian, mentions in his book “ The Evil Eye ”, that the women of the West Country had a saying that if the lions had a bad time cubbing, the women too would have trouble in childbirth. It is difficult to see how the women of this part of England would have had much knowledge of the life of a lioness, but if the tradition had persisted of trouble at the beginning of the Great Lion of Somerset, as is indeed shown by the drooping effigy child of Dundon and Lollover, the actual design may have been lost to sight, yet apprehension still linked humanity to the lion.
That there was a secret connected with a design such as is found on the ground here, is evidently a fact that was recognised by the Gnostics. In C. W. King’s “The, Gnostics” there is an illustration of a carved gem showing a child over a boat holding his finger to his lips.
in Taurus, while over the head of the bird is the crescent moon, the traditional ruler of the sign Cancer, under which lies most of the Griffin Bird in Somerset. Below the boat are the letters I.A.W. It is not generally known that these letters, equivalent to the Druid name for God as I.A.O., the so called Celtic cross and the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, are all glyphs or formulas for light, t Mrs. Maltwood pointed out that if the lines implied by the masts of the ship were extended, they would in fact meet at the enclosure of the sun above Butleigh.
A word should be said about the Griffin, the great bird standing on the poop of the ship. This creature is found widely distributed in the world. He is said to have the beak, head and wings of a bird, the ears of an ass and the body of a lion. When his position in this design is known, it may be possible to guess at the treasure that he guards so carefully. He is of course a calendar beast. The bird refers to the air sign of Gemini, his ears to the ass of Cancer, and more particularly perhaps to the two stars the Upper and Lower Ass in this part of the sky, while his tail continues over the chest of the lion. The treasure he guards is light in the sense of intelligence or enlightenment, and it is interesting to find that his conventional representations always give him an excres- ence, either a knob or a flame, arising from the top
t Letters of Hebrew Alphabet with corresponding Numbers.
Glyph for LIGHT British Druid and Gnostic name for
God as light=I.A.O. l=centre line.
A—minus cross=2 other lines.
O=circle.
In early times, the A was often written without the
cross.
The circle represents the apparent journey of the Sun round the earth during the day, or in a larger sense, the passage of the Sun though the Zodiac during the year. The Left hand line marks the path of ascending Light;* that on the Right marks the descending Light. Corroboration is to be found in the so-called Celtic Cross,
and the Tetragrammaton. Celtic Cross
Letters of Hebrew alphabet also stand for numbers.
Aleph =A=1
Beth =B=2
Gimel =G=3
Daleth =D=4
The surrounding circle is therefore the sum
1+2+3+4
= 10 the
The line of Ascending Light
The Midday Light 2+4 =
The Descending Light 3+2 =
5
6
5
the
the
the
10th
5th
6th
5th
letter is
of: Yod
letter is
letter is
letter is
Heh
Vau
Heh
Lest it be objected that this is simply a clever argument (it certainly cannot be the whole story) it is worth noting that so many old symbols and legends speak of LIGHT as being of supreme importance, that one should be hesitant of discounting ideas thus expressed. It may be remembered that Tyndale claimed that old Welsh and Hebrew were akin, and that travellers from Ireland were able to make themselves understood in Greece; while in Hebrew,
On one end of the boat, behind him, is the head of an ox, while on the end facing him is that of a bird. Over the head of the ox is a fourpointed star, the sun
Greek and Celtic cultures great emphasis was given to the fact that their alphabets were given them by divine beings. Apollo, Ogmius and Thoth in Egypt were credited with the invention of alphabets, that of the Hebrew coming from Jehovah (Yod-Heh-Vau- Heh). All of these were associated with the Sun and therefore shadows, except Thoth who some scholars say was first the Moon and later (as secretary of the Sun) Mercury.
Elizabeth Leader.
of his head. In Somerset this is not shown, but the little hill forming his head is called Lugshorn, the horn of eminence of Lugh the Celtic god of light? In the head of the Archer the name occurs again in the form of Lugsbourne, the stream of light, though this place name has now become blurred as Lubborn. It is for this reason that it is suggested that the light or treasure guarded by the Griffin is wisdom and understanding. Professor Suhr of Rochester University New York, contributed a very interesting article on the Griffin and its close incidence to volcanic disturbance, to the journal “ Folklore ”, which again brings this beast into contact with fire and light.
In Branch 24 titles 6 and 7 of the “ High History ” Sir Lancelot has an adventure involving him with lions and griffins, which he is only able to carry through successfully with the help of the little dog. This beautifully clear little figure lies directly between the lion and the griffin. The effigy of the dog represents the character of the knight Meliot of Logres in the "High History”. He is obviously a magic character, for when Gawain sees him first he is a small child playing with a lion, but shortly afterwards we meet him again as a fully grown man.
In the rites of Mithra not only is the Griffin to be found but also the Lion, and it is curious to note the extraordinary concentration of sites of Roman villas in this part of the design, the Pitney pavement was discovered near. Mithra also had a dog, and he is usually shown in carvings as slaying the bull Taurus, while the opposite sign of the Scorpion attacks the life of the bull. It will be appreciated that the stars of Scorpio rise in strength, as the opposite constellation of Taurus dies, or sinks, in the west.
Mention has been made of the headless condition of the Scorpion in this circle. In his first adventure, King Arthur conquers the black knight, one of the representations of Scorpio. The knight is dismembered by his companion knights who come to collect his dead body, but a damsel sends Arthur back for the head, as he has been wounded in his left arm, and his wound will not be healed save by the blood from the head of the knight. The River Brue represents this blood, and flows past the headless body of the Scorpion and down along Arthur’s left arm, although he is shown as an archer, rather than bearing the lance and sword of the medieval horseman. The pattern on the ground is a mirror picture, so what appears to be right must be understood as being left, and vice versa. The Scorpion is an old symbol for death and darkness, and it is here seen crawling towards Virgo. There is a stele in the British Museum showing the creature attempting to grab the light, as a lamp. It was traditionally women who had charge
of the sacred flame or light, indeed Ovid mentions the fact that the Flamen lost his position if his wife died, may not this have been an early tradition related to our British design?
Throughout the “ High History ” it is Sir Percival who is considered as the great hope of the world, the Good Knight. He was the son of the Widow Lady of Camelot, by the sea of Wales, and our Camelot at South Cadbury has as neighbour a hamlet called Wales to this day. He comes ashore from his boat to claim the great shield left for him in Arthur’s hall at Pannenoissance, possibly the position of the star Capella the she-goat, to which the great horn of Capricorn points. From then on throughout this wonderful story his work is to set matters to rights and support the New Law. Finally, when he again sees the Grail carried through the Hall of King Fisherman and is inspired to ask the question “ Whom does this serve?” he achieves the great task, the Quest of the Holy Grail.
To the literal mind the Arthurian legends associated with the Holy Grail are confusing, the people and places change character, the Grail itself for instance is sometimes a vast cauldron and sometimes a cup The Grail Castle is also called the burning castle, and this may be a reference to the Phoenix figure, the Castle of Souls the Castle of Tallages and appears also to be the Turning Castle to which Sir Percival, but not Sir Gawain or Sir Lancelot, was admitted, may this not refer to the winding paths rising up the Tor? May it not be that the pattern to be found here, representing the whirling star pattern on earth, over which the Sun Moon and Planets appear to advance and retire, gives us a unique opportunity of getting to the heart of the Mystery of Britain?
The “ High History ” assures us:
“ Never was the chapel (circle) wasted nor decayed,
but was as whole thereafter as tofore and is so still.” Branch 35 Title 7.
“ Guide to Glastonbury’s Temple of the Stars ” Mrs. K. E. Maltwood, FR S A John M Watkins, London, 1935.
“ The Enchantments of Britain ” Mrs. K. E. Maltwood, F.R.S.A. Victoria Printing & Publishing Co. Victoria, British Columbia. 1944.
“ The High History of the Holy Grail ” J M. Dent & Co. Ltd. London, 1910 (Everyman’s edition).
“ Parzival ” Wolfram von Eschenbach.
“ Dr. Dee ” R. Deacon, Muller, London, 1968.
“ The Gnostics ” C. W. King
“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
Jeremiah vi. 16
The Glastonbury Region
The Geographical and Archaeological Background
E. G. Bowen '
One of the most important developments in modern knowledge concerns the contribution made by archaeology to our understanding of early human cultures throughout the world. We have now, for example, a fairly clear picture of the major civilizations that flourished in Britain covering a period extending over three millennia before our islands are first mentioned in written records. This enormous extension of our historical horizons has meant that we are able to make a re-assessment of the proto-historic period which hitherto was known as the Dark Ages. This new knowledge acts, as it were, as a powerful light from behind silhouetting the shadowy figures of this period and presenting them to us in sharper relief. The whole process may be compared to that of the X-ray apparatus of the surgeon — a device whereby the skeletal frame and, indeed, other parts of a human being, can be silhouetted against a bright light, and in this way a much greater knowledge be obtained, not only of the structures themselves, but also of any damage they may have received as the result of accident.
One of the most remarkable features of early civilisations in Britain revealed by the study of prehistoric archaeology has been the great importance of sea travel in the remote past. It is now abundantly clear that movement by sea in pre-historic times was more important than movement by land. This was especially the case along the Atlantic shores of Europe, and nowhere was it more in evidence than around the coasts of Western Britain. It has been said that the Irish sea was as bright with Neolithic Argonauts as the Western Pacific is today. We should recall in this context that the picture we now possess was hidden from us in the past not only by the lack of achaeological knowledge, but also by the emphasis placed by classical scholars on the great net-work of roads that once united the greatest Empire the world had ever seen.
When we look at the western shores of Britain we are at once struck by the magnificent inlet formed by the Severn Sea. There is nothing in the west quite like it in size and importance. It was only natural, therefore, that ancient mariners used the Severn Sea as a great waterway leading into Western Britain. It was large enough not only to have traffic moving along the estuary from the open sea but also to offer movement in the other direction, connecting the South Wales coast with that of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
From the point of view of the Glastonbury legends and the association of the area with the Arthurian Romances, it is important that we should confine our attention to immediate post-Roman times. The Roman occupation of Britain had brought about a sharp distinction between the civil and the military zones. The Civil Zone was confined to what is normally
called the Lowland Zone of Britain — an area lying roughly south-east of a line from the Humber to the Severn, while the North-West was largely the zone of military occupation. The civil zone possessed most of the towns and villas and was the home of cultured Romano-British citizens. The Severn-Cotswold region stands out (as shown on Fig. 1) by virtue of its density of occupation and settlement in Roman times. Towns and villas are well represented, while it is interesting to note that there is much archaeological evidence to suggest that Christian communities were more in evidence in this area in the 4th and 5th centuries than was the case elsewhere in Roman Britain.
Another important matter is that the numismatic evidence in this area indicates that some form of Romano-British life continued to flourish here long after the Roman period proper had come to an end, and when towns and villas in other parts of the country were already falling into decay. Even on the farther bank of the estuary at Lydney Park there have been found some of the very latest minted Roman coins — the minimissimi, which experts regard as a sure indication of some surviving Roman influence. Here, therefore, was a very important, even if somewhat isolated, region in south-western Britain apparently maintaining a vigorous life when civilization was decaying elsewhere. At the same time this important region was in direct contact with the Western searoutes by way of the Bristol Channel.
As early as 1956 Mr. Ralegh Radford, while excavating the important Celtic monastery at Tintagel, on the north Coast of Cornwall, was able to identify a new type of pottery — a coarse red-coloured ware not entirely dissimilar from Roman Samian ware. This pottery can be shown to belong to the 5th and 6th centuries of our era and would appear to be contemporary’ with the early Celtic monastery at Tintagel. It can be shown to be of Mediterranean and North African origin and reached Britain by the Western sea-routes. During recent years pottery of this type has been found on several other sites in the SouthWest, including the famous site at Castle Dore in southern Cornwall, where we have a memorial stone to Drustans (Tristan) son of Quonomorus (who is also called King Mark), who plays, with his son, a prominent part in the Arthurian story. More recently, this same pottery has turned up at South Cadbury in Somerset — a site said to be the Camelot of the Arthurian Romances. In this context we should remember also that many stories about Arthur linked him with the Mediterranean. For example, in the famous Welsh Mabinogion story known as Culhwch ac Olwen, Arthur is made to say, “ I have been in Africa and in the islands of Corsica and Greece ”.
The Western sea-routes appear to have carried this Dark Age Pottery still further afield. It appears at Garranes and Garryduff in Southern Ireland and in
Northern Ireland it has been recorded at the well- known Celtic monastery of Nendrum. In Scotland it occurs at Dunoon and at Elie in Fife, and appears again at Catterick in Yorkshire. In Wales this pottery has been found on hill-forts re-occupied after the Roman period, more particularly at Dinas Emrys in Caernarvonshire and Dinas Powys, near Cardiff. On some of the sites where it has been recorded small fragments of glass have also been found. These have been judged by experts to be of Egyptian origin. The glass occurs in the same layers as the pottery. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the Western searoutes brought several places in Highland Britain into direct contact with the Mediterranean Lands in the post-Roman centuries, as had happened on many previous occasions in prehistoric times. This “Mediterranean ” contact would appear to be a basic element in the cultural fusion which took place — notably in the Severn estuarine area — between those cultures that had survived from the Occupation Period and the new stimuli derived from the sea. From this fusion we get the foundations of the Arthurian legend.
Fig. I
Before the battle of Deorham in 577, when the Anglo-Saxons captured Bath, Gloucester and Cirencester, this important area had easy access to the whole of Wales by way of the eastern borderlands. While this access remained possible we know that the Glastonbury-Gloucester area was in touch with Dinas Emrys in North Wales — one of the sites on which some of this Tintagel pottery has been found, as already mentioned. It is worth recording that in the case of Dinas Emrys one of the pieces was marked with the Chi-Rho monogram. This was the famous monogram, made up of a combination of the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, and established by Constantine the Great when he adopted Christianity. It was widely used by Roman Christians in the late Empire. Therefore, at Dinas Emrys in post-Roman times, there were at least some occupants associated with this late Roman-Christian atmosphere which seems to have had its centre in the lower Severn area. It is very significant for our major thesis that this re-occupied hill-fort figures greatly in Nennius’ Historia Brittonum, which is the earliest work known to us to refer to Arthur. The late Professor Sir Ifor
Williams has pointed out that in the Historia Brittonum we have an account of the confrontation at Dinas Emrys between Vortigern and Ambrosius Aurelianus. All scholars are now agreed that there were two “ parties ” in post-Roman Britain — the “ cives ”, or Roman party, who wished to maintain all that was possible of the Roman past, and the “ tyranni ”, who were more closely related to the Celtic past and did not share this great love of Rome. Ambrosius Aurelianus clearly belongs to the former and Vortigern to the latter. King Arthur, too, clearly belongs to the “ cives ” party. The story of Dinas Emrys is well known, but while most scholars would attribute Nennius’ Historia Brittonum to a period around a.d. 800, Sir Ifor Williams has shown quite clearly that the section dealing with the Dinas Emrys story is written in an entirely different style from the rest of the work, and is considered by him not to be the original work of Nennius himself, but to be something very much earlier, and more akin to a genuine Welsh folk-tale reaching back almost to the very events it describes. The story itself tells how Vortigern (based for the time being at Dinas Emrys) was experiencmg the greatest difficulty in obtaining secure foundations for the hill-fort. After consulting his Druids he was told he must find a boy who had no natural father and then offer him in sacrifice, and finally bury h'im beneath the foundations, after which they would stand securely. Messengers were sent out in all directions to seek such a lad and, significantly, they found one in the Gloucester-Somerset area. However, before they attempted to kill the boy, the lad explains that the true cause of the trouble lay in the fact that underneath the fort there was a battle in progress between two dragons — one red and one white in colour. If they dug down, they could catch these beasts in their sleep and destroy them and then all would be well. They did as they were told: the beasts were found and the foundations of the fortress made secure. The “fatherless boy” explains that the two dragons represent the two contending forces in Britain at that time — the Welsh and the Saxons. Finally, the lad identifies himself as Ambrosius Aurelianus — “ the son of the King of the Romans ”. The story concludes with the handing over of the fort to Ambrosius and Nennius explains that it was known henceforth in Welsh as Dinas Emrys (Ambrosius being the Latinized form of Emrys). Here then we appear to have very early evidence of a SouthWestern tradition spreading into North Wales and that in a clearly Christian-Roman context. There are many who think that Ambrosius Aurelianus might, indeed, have been “ the historical Arthur ”.
We can now return to the Glastonbury area and look more closely at its early Christian associations. We are familiar with the stories of the Holy Grail, and with that of St. Joseph of Arimathea establishing Christianity here at a very early date — the first landfall in Britain, according to the legend. All this is but an echo of the now proven contacts of the Glastonbury region with the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean. Closely allied, of course, is the spread of the eremitical form of early Christianity (as practised
by the Early Christian Fathers in the Egyptian Desert) into the Western Church. It reached Britain by way of the Western Mediterranean and Gaul. We are almost certain it was in the upper portions of the Severn Estuary that it came into contact with what had remained here of Roman Christianity from the Occupation period. A similar fusion had, of course, occurred in Gaul, as illustrated by the story of St. Martin of Tours. In the lower Severn lands the fusion produced the earliest of the Celtic Saints — men like Dyfrig (St. Dubricius), who appears to us to have been half a Roman Bishop and half a Celtic recluse. His foundations in this area reach from Southern Herefordshire into Breconshire, and beyond the Glastonbury area to Porlock in Somerset. It would seem, therefore, that the Glastonbury-Severnside area might have been among the earliest parts of Britain to receive this essentially Egyptian-eremitical form of Christianity by way of the sea-routes — and the medieval legends, likewise, might be genuine echoes of this fact.
The part played by the Celtic Saints at a slightly later period in spreading Eastern lore, and much that was connected with the Arthurian Romances, is often overlooked. It was they who helped to spread the Arthurian stories throughout the Celtic lands, linking Cornwall with Wales and Brittany. The importance of St. Paul de Léon in this respect needs fuller appreciation. We possess an early Life of this well-known Welsh-Breton saint, written by a monk named Wrmonoc before the destruction of the Breton monasteries by the Northmen in the tenth century. When the monasteries around the coast of Brittany were in danger, some of their treasures were taken inland, and a Life of St. Paul was taken in this way to the great Abbey of Fleury, a few miles from Orleans. The Life is in the handwriting of the tenth century and is now preserved in the public library at Orleans. St. Paul (or Paulinus) was a famous saint of Carmarthenshire, and the district between Llandeilo, Lampeter and Llanymddyfri abounds in church dedications to Paulinus and his followers. Indeed, (a very rare occurrence for a Celtic Saint) we possess an inscription bearing his name which was discovered in the parish of Caio, not far from Pumpsaint. The inscription itself is written in Latin hexameters and is rich in the praises of the saint. It is now in the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society’s Museum at Carmarthen. The inscription reads as follows:
Servatur fidoei patrieque semper amator
Hie Paulinus iacit cultor pientisimus aequi.
(Preserver of the Faith, and ever a Lover of his country, here lies Paulinus most devout Fosterer of Righteousness.)
We know, too, that in recent years people interested in proto-h'istory and astrology, such as the late Lewis Edwards, have given considerable attention to the
Pumpsaint area and, indeed, the whole countryside within the Llandeilo-Lampeter-Llanymddyfri triangle in which the cult of St. Paulinus flourished. Even more significant for our present purposes is the fact that Wrmonoc definitely states that he received information directly from transmarini (i.e. from people arriving in Brittany from over the seas, from Cornwall and South Wales, in particular) that St. Paulinus took with him from this part of Wales a party of Twelve Presbyters to the Court of King Mark (who is also called Quonomorus) in Cornwall. We have already referred to this king and his family as among those playing a very important part in the Arthurian Romances. Wrmonoc states that after visiting the Court of King Mark, Paulinus and his presbyters proceeded on their way to Brittany. In that country he settled at Kastell Paol (the present St. Pol de Léon) from which his cult spread to many parts of North-Western Brittany. As the late Canon Gilbert Doble pointed out, the coincidences between Wrmonoc’s statements and the information derived from Welsh, Cornish and Breton topography and archaeology is most striking and cannot be fortuitous. The Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire opens out on to the Bristol Channel and must have shared in all that the Gloucester-Glastonbury-Bath region had to contribute in Early Christianity and associated Eastern cults and mythology. In the story of St. Pol de Léon we have evidence of a direct contact between early Christianity and some of the leading Arthurian characters. The subsequent transference of much of this background to Brittany is the basis on which the French Arthurian Romances of the Middle Ages rest.
What, therefore, are some of the more important results of this great fusion of cultures which took place in the Glastonbury-Gloucester region between approximately 400 and 600 A.D.? The most important, undoubtedly, is that we must look to this area for the origins of the historical Arthur, and for many of the legends that have gathered around his name. For many of these we now have the most interesting archaeological confirmation. What other cultural elements arrived from the Eastern Mediterranean at this time we have no means of knowing, but it is extremely likely that all manner of astrological knowledge, including much that was related to the solar calendar, the stars and the signs of the zodiac travelled this way. It may well be that similar primitive astronomy had come this way along the sea-routes in association with earlier cultures from Megalithic times onwards, but much that survived into medieval times and became interwoven with the Arthurian Romances would appear to have been associated with the immediate post-Roman centuries. In the final analysis all can be traced back to the Ancient Civilisations of the Riverine Lands — to Egypt; to the valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates; and perhaps, even to the distant Indus as well.
The Secret of the Grail
Geoffrey Russell
PROLOGUE
Mr. G. N. Russell spent 25 years in Ceylon and is now Uving in Ireland with his Australian wife and three children in retirement on the Dunkathel Estate, Co. Cork, which he inherited from his cousins in 1956.
Mr. Russell’s interest in his subject flows from a mystical experience in Ceylon in 1944. This was quite unexpected and unsought and involved the identification, in himself, of a pattern of concentric circles which had to do with the function of the brain. Mr. Russell was able to make a contemporary pencil sketch of the pattern, but he seldom mentioned his experience as he regarded its content to be incommunicable. However, he did occasionally observe that life was rather “ like a pair of kidneys stuck together ”, an observation that was never very convincing!
In September 1962, Mr. Russell’s interest was reactivated when he saw an excellent photograph of the Tintagel maze (circa 1500 B.C.) in the correspondence column of “ Country Life ” and recognised the same motif he had tried to record 18 years earlier. There and then Mr. Russell decided to investigate the incidence of the pattern and he first reported progress in an article in the “ Irish Times ” of December 16th, 1964 which has since been quoted by international authorities.
Having learned that Dr. C. A. Meier of Zurich had written about a case of spontaneous production of the labyrinth some 15 years ago by a woman patient, Mr. Russell made a special visit to Zurich in the summer of 1968 to show Dr. Meier a file of evidence and photographs particularly of Glastonbury Tor. Dr. Meier succeeded for a time, the late Dr. C. G. Jung, as Head of the Jung Institute at Zurich. Dr. Meier wrote later to say how “ thrilled ” his late teacher would have been to have known of the suspected three-dimensional maze at Glastonbury and stressing the scientific importance of it. Dr. Meier can be counted upon to give his fullest support to any archaelogical investigation of the Tor that may at any time be contemplated and the sooner, he hopes (as we all do), the better.
“ The lovers of antiquity, particularly of the inferior class, always speak of ’em with great pleasure and as if there was something extraordinary in the thing, tho’ they cannot tell what.”
So wrote William Stukeley in 1724 in reference to turf mazes diffused around the English countryside and frequently associated with churches.1
Whereas examples of this maze pattern also appear on early Cretan coins (Fig. 1) and in the form of rock carvings (Fig. 2) its recent recognition in a large and massively cut maze surrounding the steep summit of Glastonbury Tor in Somerset appears to be unique.
The labyrinth theme is found associated with the
Ancient Mysteries’ and, in mythology as far afield as Ceram, Indonesia.3 Here as in many myths and fairy tales a maiden, living in a place difficult of access, stands for fertility and, generally, for the renewal of life. In quite a different context it is reported that children in Europe to this day love to play a game in the maze which they call, significantly enough as we shall perhaps see, “Heaven and Hell.”4
Pending archaelogical confirmation of the Tor maze it is perhaps permissible to speculate on some of the tradition attaching to Glastonbury in the context of the maze idea.
The most interesting legend is perhaps that of the Holy Grail. The Grail story which children hear today
is linked intimately to the adventures of King Arthur and his knights although historically the Grail legend and the Arthurian stories developed separately. In its Christian interpretation the Grail was the Cup containing the Blood of our -Saviour which Joseph of Arimathea brought to Glastonbury where, together with his seven companions, tradition says he built the old wattle church, the first church, some say, in Christendom.
The Arthurian legends originated with the Celts in Wales and in Cornwall where the pagan counterpart of the Grail may have been a legendary, magical, foodsupplying dish common to the mythology of Wales and Breland. A cross-section of Arthurian literature will convince many readers that the Romances reflect an initiation story into a mystery in which the dish, later the Grail, played a great part. That is a theory held by many scholars. At least one scholar, C. B. Lewis, concluded in his final analysis of the stories that all were based on some version of Theseus and the Minotaur.5 What must be emphasised is that one of the chief parts in the ritual of initiation into this seemingly universal mystery was one of Test and Trial or, at least so it was for adults.
According to the Welsh Bard, Taliesin, a centre for the Celtic Mysteries, the most important perhaps, was Caer Sidi, in meaning “ Spiral Castle ”6 the abode of the Goddess, Ceridwen. If we may suppose Glastonbury Tor to be Spiral Castle, candidates or pilgrims would have entered a three dimensional maze on the third path from the bottom and walked around the hill clockwise. Completing their first circuit they would have changed direction downwards, continuing anti-clockwise for the second circuit and so on, contrariwise, for the seven full circuits of the maze: “ Which number seven ”, said Apuleius, speaking of such matters in by-gone times: “is convenable and agreeable to holy and divine things.’”
Candidates or pilgrims would have entered the paths in the order 3, 2, 1, 4, 7, 6, 5. The fifth path should sweep steeply to the summit but no clear evidence of its last stage is to be seen on the Tor today.
What association could there be between this simple but toilsome maze ritual and the legend that Joseph of Arimathea brought to Glastonbury, the Cup containing the Blood of our Saviour and buried it there?
“ Blood ”, said Levi, “ is the first incarnation of the universal fluid; it is the materialised vital light.” Equating blood with spirit for which there is other authority in esoteric writings, the first part of the Christian legend becomes readily understandable. Joseph brought the Spirit or Light of Jesus to the ancient mystery centre of Glastonbury. We may speculate whether the news of the Resurrected Christ was readily received, if not expected, by the wise men of Somerset.
Explaining the transition from the mystery religions to Christianity, the late T. M. Wild, M.A. once wrote: “The True Mysteries consist in the participation of the Soul in the Divine Birth, Death, Resurrection and Ascension. These were adumbrated in Egypt in the Myth of Isis and the passion and Resurrection of Osiris.” Wild went on to say that on the fulfillment
at Golgotha: “The contents of the Mysteries were attached to the Person of Jesus of Nazareth and enshrined in the dogmas of the Church; the true treasure in Christianity being the experience of the regeneration of the Soul by the Spirit of the Christ.”'
If that is an acceptable philosophy, and many may feel that it is, there remains the question of a cup or container that, in the Christian Grail legend, Joseph of Arimathea brought with him and that held the Spirit or Light of Jesus. What could it have been?
According to Mathew, XVIII. 3., the first step towards entering the kingdom of heaven is to become as little children. Let us do that and take a close look at that Heaven and Hell game.
Our labyrinth (Fig. 1) is the board on which the game is played. Unlike “ Snakes and Ladders ” there are no short-cuts on this board such as Jacob and Dante chanced on. The game is simply to get from the start (Hell) to the finish (Heaven or “Home”). Tracing the tortuous path with our finger we will find, of course, that we can do so but only after travelling every part of the board. Having completed the seventh and last circuit on the board we face a narrow entrance widening into an inner receptacle not unlike a cup. This is “ Home ” and its shape together with the upright of the cross from which the design of the board was originally constructed, outline Christ the Good Shepherd’s crook (Fig. 2) which was there at the heart of the labyrinth to receive us if we had but noticed it. Is that the secret within the Holy Grail, a secret which adults had to penetrate by Test and Trial but which children, since time immemorial have penetrated in their innocence?
Let us look at an enigma comparable with that of the labyrinth. It is the riddle of the Labarum, a word listed in the dictionaries “ etymology unknown ” but related, a layman might think by the sound of it, to Labyrinth. The labarum that displaced the Roman Eagle on the new imperial standard of the militant Christian emperor Constantine was formed from the first two Greek letters — Chi Rho in the sacred word CHRistos. Variations of g theme uniting in a monogram the Chi (X) and the Rho (P) may be seen in Fig. 3.
The arrangement on the left of Fig. 3 is that attributed to Constantine’s standard but it is the variation on the far right that is relevant to the Christian Grail legend. This arrangement, from the Catacombs, is identical to that in Fig. 2 (at the heart of the labyrinth) but with the loop of the crook closed to form a true Rho (P). Here it may be observed that an early account of Constantine’s alleged vision, by Lactantius, did not speak of a Rho but of a Chi transversed by “ a line bent round at the top.’” Perhaps the loop of the crook was closed, as a refinement, to indicate that the
ITINERARIUM CURIOSUM. London 1724. p. 91. Quoted in Cook’s ZEUS. Vol. 1. p. 487.
Fab. PAG. Idol. Vol. 3. p. 269.
LABYRINTH STUDIEN Karl Kerenyi. Int.
EIN LABYRINTH IN VERSE'N. W. Meyer, p. 277.
CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY AND ARTHURIAN ROMANCE. C. B. Lewis.
THE WHITE GODDESS. Robert Graves, pp. 106-111.
APULEIUS quoting Pythagoras while discussing Ceres. GOLDEN ASS.
Letter to Sir Ackroyd Gibson, Glyn, Tintagel, Cornwall.
Drawings: Mr. Patrick Bassett
Fi^,3, VariaF/ons oF Me CHI-RHO.
Q
Ankh Ctoss
Hieroglyph (Rosella Shone)
Fig. 4*.
Ro/; Gin of Cyprus. C.48O-400BG
game had been played for the last time and the spirit was safely enclosed with the Saviour. We can now look for earlier examples of the same idea.
The most sacred cross of Egypt was the Ankh cross examples of which may be seen in Fig. 4. This was the sign of eternal life translated in a hieroglyph on the Rosetta Stone (with the hieroglyph following) into “ Ever Living ” although Ptolemy was, of course, dead. If we have correctly interpreted the Heaven and Hell game the cup or container of the spirit may be seen in the Ankh cross and in exaggerated form on the coin of Cyprus on the right of Fig 4.
The whole legend now begins to take reasonable shape. If Joseph brought the Christian message to Glastonbury this may have been received by wise men in a form appropriate to their way of thinking, i.e. Our Saviour’s work was finished and His Spirit was in the cup or Home by reference to the Heaven and Hell game. Joseph might well have brought some sacred symbol with him to displace, perhaps, a pagan symbol
GLASTONBURY TOR, SOUTH WEST ASPECT, SHOWING STRIP LYNCHETS IN FOREGROUND AND SIX OF THE
SEVEN STEPS AT THE BACK
[Photo by J. K. St. Joseph: Cambridge University Collection, copyright reserved
at Glastonbury. This might well have been a cup, even that of the Last Supper but any pilgrimage thereafter would enact the soul’s journey through life and thence, through Christ to God which accords with our Christian thinking yet gives a rather clearer picture of the nature of the Trinity than is normally available from theologians.
The legend of the Grail is relevant not only to our times but to our modern schools of psychology. After a lifetime studying people, that great psychologist, Dr. C. G. Jung, arrived at the firm conclusion that the world in our minds has no less reality either in substance or behaviour than the cosmic world around us.
Jung’s observations regarding the movement of the psychic force that he conceived to be in a state of flux within all men, match, pretty accurately the movements in the labyrinth even to the polarity implicit in both and to the forward and backward movement of energy at varying levels. Furthermore, Jung taught that if this natural movement is hindered by obstruction or misuse clinical states can be a consequence for the individual ranging from depression or mania to complete collapse of the ordered structure of the container as in some psychotic states.10
The Grail legends really say very much the same thing only more romantically for they tell of how, when the Grail is found again: “The waters will be restored to their channels and the waste land will turn to verdure.”
If that means that the world is sick today it also happily foreshadows an end to that sickness when men become wise again — to themselves.
GREGORY’S CHURCH HISTORY. London. M DCC XCV. Vol. 1, p. 522.
AN INTRODUCTION TO JUNG’S PSYCHOLOGY. Frieda Fordham. (Pelican) p. 17 ff.
While this brochure was in the hands of the printers the undernoted appeared in the Cork Evening Echo of 23rd July, 1969:
“ PATTERN ” DAY IN ARDMORE
On Sunday next the annual “ Pattern ” in commemoration of St. Declan, patron of the area, will take place at Ardmore, Co. Waterford.
In Ardmore and throughout West Waterford the name of the saint is held in great veneration — he is reputed to have introduced the Faith to the area some time before the advent of St. Patrick.
On Sunday devotees of Declan w'ill visit the historic spot to perform the “ Rounds ” in the grounds of the old cathedral, which is situated on high ground to the east of the village and to partake of the waters of the Holy Well nearby.
Church ceremonies will also be held to mark the occasion.
POST-CHRISTIAN
Perlesvaus
Mary Williams
Among the many versions of the Grail legend, some in verse others in prose, written during the Xllth and Xlllth centuries, is one known as Perlesvaus. The author is unknown but it is clear he was a Frenchman living in the Xllth century, on the borders of Wales and England. This romance was translated into English by the Reverend Sebastian Evans and entitled “ The High History of the Holy Grail ”' (le Haut livre del Saint Graal). A very detailed study of this prose romance in two volumes was made by Professor William A. Nitze and several collaborators; Volume I (1932) contains the Old French text; Volume II (1937) Commentary and Notes.2
Perlesvaus differs in many respects from other versions, one of the most important being its close relation to Glastonbury Abbey. In 1184 a disastrous fire destroyed most of the Abbey. Funds were required to rebuild it as speedily as possible and every effort was made to increase interest and consequent pilgrimages, just as 12 canons are known to have travelled in 1113 from Laon in France for a similar purpose and visited no doubt Glastonbury among other religious centres (they even went as far as Exeter and Bodmin in Cornwall, a monastery dedicated to the Celtic saint Petrock where they were surprised to find people still believed King Arthur was alive and would surely return, barely escaping with their lives when they protested), so monks from Glastonbury would have travelled widely in Britain and on the Continent to obtain financial assistance.
Shortly after 1191 a French cleric of wide reading and good medieval training undertook the task of writing a romance which should enhance the glories of Glastonbury Abbey and so help in the rebuilding of what was to be the greatest and the most beautiful in the kingdom. Glastonbury had already been equated with Avalon whither King Arthur had traditionally been taken to be healed of his wounds after the battle of Camlan, but King Henry H, who had been excommunicated by the Pope, wished to favour Glastonbury as against Canterbury; he also desired to be more closely allied to British royal families so it was found expedient in 1191 to discover the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in the grounds of the Abbey and rebury them before the High Altar. It is true King Henry had died in 1189, two years before the actual discovery but this discovery nevertheless added greatly to the renown and glory of the Abbey attracting ever larger numbers of pilgrims and consequent funds, sorely needed to continue the rebuilding of this vast temple. So our unknown cleric chose
to weave his romance around Glastonbury, King Arthur and the Quest of the Holy Grail, a romance steeped in mysticism and symbolism. This would not embarass the Medieval reader who was so accustomed to see life as a book of symbols that he would understand the allegory even when the text did not undertake to explain it.3
It is generally accepted that the author of Perlesvaus was writing on the borders of Wales and Salop (Shropshire) but it would seem more probable that he was a monk in the Priory of Bassaleg (basilica) near Newport, Monmouthshire, founded about 1110 by Robert de Haya and his wife Gundreda as a cell to Glastonbury. Here he would no doubt meet Welsh clerics: if so, this would explain the many allusions to Wales and Welsh customs so characteristic of the romance. Two Welsh knights who became hermits (hermits were common in Wales long after men had adopted the coenobitic life in England and the Continent, even as late as the Reformation) are the last to find the Grail Castle: all distances (except one) are measured in Welsh leagues, and the number 3, a very Welsh trait, frequently occurs. Nitze agrees that, contrary to the usual practice, Perlesvaus contains indications of definite geographical location. Several descriptions are very suggestive of Pembrokeshire which the author may have taken from the “ Descriptio Cambriae ” of Giraldus Cambrensis,4 written in 1188 when he accompanied Archbishop Baldwin through Wales to preach the Third Crusade. A copy was very probably in the Scriptorium of the Priory at Bassaleg.
Present day readers of Perlesvaus may see in it a story of initiation. The hero has three names as his sister explains, Perceval, Perlesvaus and Parluifet, although she adds that the last was not his true name. It is difficult to believe the author was unaware of the importance of the names when he interpreted Perlesvaus as “ losing” (French perdre — to lose) the vales, a reference to the seven castles of which the hero’s mother had been bereft, instead of suggesting the three degrees in an initiation rite: Perceval and Perlesvaus “ passing through the Vale, Vales ” and, most important of all Parluifet “ made of himself ”, the only way in which a candidate can reach the third
SEBASTIAN EVANS, "The High History of the Holy Graal". Everyman’s Library, J. M. Dent & Son. London.
W. A. NITZE and T. ATKINSON JENKINS, " Le Haut Livre du Graal ’’. “Perlesvaus.” The University of Cambridge Press.
C. H. GLOVER “ Glastonbury and the Fusing of English Culture ” SPECULUM X (1935) 147 — 160.
GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS “ Descriptio Cambriae ”: “ The
Itinerary through Wales’’ Everyman’s Library, J.-M. Dent & Co., London.
degree and be initiated into a cult. He can be helped through the first two degrees but to attain to the third the candidate, as in the case of Perceval, must have become perfect (Parfet) through his own effort — Par-lui fet, only then can he'penetrate the secret of the Grail.5
Other readers will interprest the story in d different way as will appear in the chapter entitled “ Glastonbury’s Temple of the Stars ”. The writer follows Mrs Maltwood’s suggestion that in the area around the Abbey figures of the Zodiac can be traced. Mrs. Maltwood had been preceded already in the time of Queen Elizabeth I by Dr. John Dee, but she had the advantage of aerial photography.
Those interested in Bronze Age Britain will find a reference to the Cult of the Bull in one of the episodes6 Perceval arrives at a castle where on entering the hall he is surprised to find a number of people worshipping a copper bull erected on four copper
columns for “ they believed in no other god ”. Perceval promptly kills all those who will not accept the true God. Such behaviour on the part of a Christian towards unbelievers would not surprise men in medieval times with the Crusades in mind.
Traces of other more ancient practices are also to be found in this romance, of a cult in which those taking part killed their hero and ate part of the body in order to obtain his Mana thus becoming in their turn heroes such as he had been. But although such extraneous episodes occur, the real purpose of the author was to compose a romance which should include the Quest for the Grail, connect it with King Arthur and his knights and place it especially at Avalon, thus adding greatly to the glory and renown of Glastonbury.
MARY WILLIAMS SPECULUM XIII (1938) 38 et sqq.
MARY WILLAMS “ The Episode of the ‘ Copper Tower ’ in the PERLESVAUS, Mélanges offerts à Rita Lejeune, Vol, II 4159 - 62. Editions J. Duculot, S. A. Gembloux, 1969.
Writing of the South Peruvian Nasca-culture, in her documentation of an ancient calendar science of the classical Nasca period of that culture, Maria Reiche, the German mathematician and geographer, says:
“ On the Peruvian coast, where a high cultural level was reached in ancient times, astronomy must have been cultivated. Later the Incas based their calendar on observation of the heavens. Even now people in the mountains celebrate June solstice by lighting fires on mountain tops, dancing around and jumping over them, which is the same custom that is still alive in many places in highly industrialised Europe. What is most impressive in all ground drawings is their great size, coupled with perfect proportions. One wonders how this could have been accomplished. . . . The basic tool for the transferring to the ground the elaborate shapes the ancient craftsmen had in mind and which,
in their final form, unless they were able to fly, they could only see with the eyes of the mind, was a unit of measurement. They must first have drawn models on scales comprehended within their field of vision, on which length and direction of every piece was carefully measured and taken note of. An approximate estimate of these would not have been enough to produce shapes, in which a deviation of a few inches would spoil the proportions, which, as we see them on aerial photographs, are perfect. Those acquainted with surveying techniques will best understand the accomplishments needed for such an undertaking. Ancient Peruvians must have had instruments and equipment which we ignore and which together with ancient knowledge were buried and hidden from the eyes of the conquerors as the one treasure which was not to be surrendered.”
Frederick Bligh Bond f.r.i.b.a.
Janette Jackson
The first Christian Church in Britain is affirmed by venerable tradition to have been established by St. Joseph of Arimathae and his companions at Glastonbury shortly after the crucifixion of Christ.1 This tradition was so firmly believed and so widely accepted that precedence was accorded to British bishops at the early Church Councils on the ground that he had brought the faith to these shores “statim post pas- sionen Jesu Christi ”* and between 1409 and th% start of the 17th century, was the basis of national claims.’
True, it is not logically possible to prove whether St Joseph’s staff was planted, budded and grew — though it would appear to be a Levantine thorn which blooms at Christmastide — but even if the story may only be accepted as a myth, such conceal deep truth offered to the simple in this way, and are powerful as Jung has shown. Since then the site (save for interruption by invasion) and later the Abbey have stood in increasing sanctity and splendour, until despoiled by Henry VIII in 1539, when the last Abbot was barbarously executed.
In 1907, the ruins were bought by public subscription for £30,000 and placed in charge of a Diocesan Trust of which the Archbishop of Canterbury was to be Chairman, their care being entrusted to a body of Abbey Trustees. It was in the following year that Frederick Bligh Bond, whose name must for ever be associated with the Abbey excavations because of the important foundations which he uncovered,4 started work on the ruins under the auspices of the Somerset Archaeological Society.
In 1910 there was found among the papers of Colonel William Long C.M.G. of Cleveden, what came to be known as the “ Sale Plan ” circa 1770: its authenticity was never questioned. The plan showed the Edgar Chapel, at the east end of the Abbey, to have had an apse, thus witnessing to the traditional interior length of the great church, as 581 feet. This find proved most controversial.
To Bond this proof was vital because it accorded with his conception of architecture — “both in its operative and symbolic aspects, an apse being essential to complete the ideal proportions found in many mediaeval buildings for which there seemed no adequate explanation.”5 The principle involved was one of geometric perfection as found in the teachings of Plato and Pythagoras whose oral tradition was common to Hebrew, Greek and Christian alike, but which would seem to have been lost sight of in England, after the Reformation.
To Plato there was no gap as between astronomy, religion and philosophy — he saw life whole. Art was not a matter of special ability, but a natural un- foldment of human history dealing with religious and philosophical systems.5 Its aim was to satisfy man’s body and spirit and since it was based on archetypal patterns, myths, legends and holy traditions, as opposed to merely intellectual abstracts, it did just
that. Hence the therapeutic quality found at Chartres and other Gothic abbeys and cathedrals built according to ancient Masonic Arcanum — something also to be found in labyrinths one of which Mr. Geoffrey Russell claims to have discovered on Glastonbury Tor.
Technically it was simple and since numbers could be expressed in letters of the alphabet, and vice versa, being thus interchangeable, measurements depending on numbers embodied in monuments and buildings, could equally well be read in words or figures. (See page 11.)
This will sound remote to many who have never thought, for example, that the Noah’s Ark beloved in childhood, was not devised by Hebrew scholars as a nursery game, but to present in allegorical form a canonical measure of the universe and the Creator, exhibiting in the proportions of the human body, the measures and numbers of time and space. Or again, that the Christmas Tree far anti-dated any Teutonic origin, having sprung from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, its lights being symbols of the planetary system and constellations; its gifts with which it is adorned, the experiences of life by which man may grow in stature; the glittering fairy at the summit, the splendour of that ineffable light of the Eternal Being by whose outpouring man lives and moves.
Bond possessed in addition to great architectural knowledge, a certain simplicity of mind which could appreciate true magic, and was thus enabled to be a disciple in this school. Imagine then his joy when he thought to have found in this unique British Church and particularly in the almost miraculously preserved Chapel of St. Mary, an example of this tradition. Here the cosmic and astronomical lore of the Zodiac was preserved, though concealed, in unbroken continuity, and hence its ancient name, “ The Secret of the Lord ”.
In passing it is interesting to note how closely Christian symbolism is linked with the Zodiac. Thus this twelvefold symbolism which dominates all schemes of orderly control, is the glyph of divine government, expressed in a simple geometrical figure which is also found not only in British megalithic monuments,7 but also perpetuated in many features of ancient churches and abbeys. M. Louis Charpentier has pointed out that in France the Gothic cathedrals of Les Notre-Dame de France were laid out in relationship to the constellation of Virgo.' Since this knowledge was known to the Gnostics, as found in their gems, why not also in the Benedictine abbey of Glastonbury?
But this was not all. In 1918 Bond published his book “ The Gate of Remembrance ” in which he claimed that much of his success was due to experiments in Psychic research, or what would now be known as the science of the subliminal mind. Today
his arguments would be accepted, at least as ground for study by students of E.S.P., but at that time this revelation proved deeply disquieting to the Trustees and he found himself laid open to most serious and damaging criticism, with finaLdismissal, a blow from which he never fully recovered.
After his return from America some years later, he found also that with the exception of the Loretto foundations, “ the whole of the remaining landmarks of my years of steady archaeological work have been either obliterated or else so altered as to make them unrecognisable ”. In vain he appealed to one authority after another in an attempt to clear his name and rescue his ruined professional reputation, but to no purpose. Men’s thoughts were by now centred on war. But he did succeed in obtaining the following record in the minutes of the Somerset Archaelogical Society’s Proceedings:
“We consider that there was sufficient evidence in the appearance of the ground on the north side when it was laid bare, to justify the construction of a wall to mark the outline of the trench. On the south side enough masonry was found to put the fact of the existence of a wall beyond dispute.”
Signed: E. H. Bates: Salisbury J. M. Price D.D.: John Morland.”
The Edgar Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey, 1909
hope that his restored foundations,’ as laid out in 1909, may be put back and the present wall which has no meaning, be removed?
After his passing, an old friend and one closely associated with his work, wrote of him that he was “ . . . (a man) of great natural charm, great artistry, and profound archaeological knowledge . . . what he did not know about Glastonbury was not worth knowing.”
Who shall measure either success or failure? May it not be that in the growing interest in sacred gematria and alignments now awakening in Britain and on the Continent, this gifted pioneer may yet prove to have been an “ opener of the way ”?
“ But there cometh change . . . the Old Gods shall be for a time eclipsed, and strange creeds and no creeds shall echo in the sacred places for a time: but thereafter a time and then the leaven of the faithful shall manifest — the Word as it was spoken. For men shall strive each for his own truth, and shall strip the garments off the gods, and behold! their nakedness shall show the face of the Eternal Truth whose shadow all religions be: and men shall say, “ Quarrel not! Behold! Your gods are mine, only we did not understand! For the Truth of the East and the West is the same and thereby shall all men marvel.10
“ St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury ’’ Rev. Lionel Smithett Lewis M.A. 1958.
1924 edition of above: p. 9 " Disputatio super Dignitatem Angliae et Galliae in Concilia Constantiano ” Theodore Martin Lover, 1517.
1958 edition: pp 55-56.
Bond always maintained that owing to the nature of the ground and the passing of centuries, earlier evidence of the first Christian settlement had still to be uncovered. This was the object of the van Dusen Trust, but her wishes remained unfulfilled.
“ Quest at Glastonbury " William Kenawell. Prologue p. 11-14.
“ Architecture, Nature and Magic ” W. R. Lethaby. Duckworth 1956.
“ The Mystery of Glaston and her Immortal Traditions. Bligh Bond.
“ Les Mystères de la Cathédrale de Chartres ” Louis Charpentier, Laffont, Paris. 1966. p. 34 (plate).
S. A. & N. H. Soc. Proc. 1909. p. Ill, Fig. 1.
“ The Hill of Vision ” Frederick Bligh Bond.
“ The beauty of the old temples and cathedrals and the veneration in which they were held present a striking contrast to the insignificant churches of modern Christendom and the indifference shown towards them by priests and people alike. A few centuries ago the mysticism of theology used to make every feature of ecclesiastical architecture a hieroglyph, which all could read except the totally blind. It is an unquestionable fact that there was a canonical art of building, just as there was a canon of the Mass, canonical books, canonical robes, canonical hours, canons of chronology, and canonised saints.” Anonymous 1897
The principle of the former existence of an apse was thus secured, but Bond did not live to get a full investigation by the Office of Works, as he had hoped. In the light of deeper understanding, is it too much to
Introductory notes on a new theory of proportion in Architecture
With particular reference to Glastonbury Abbey
Keith Critchlow
P. H. Schofield in his recent book on Architectural Proportional Theory1 when referring to the search for evidence of a Gothic “ System ” of proportion has the following to say about Cesariano’s commentary on his translation of Vitruvius, published in 1592 — “It is of great importance as the only clear account of Gothic methods which has survived.” He continues to say, “ Cesariano mentioned three rules for designing churches. The first fixed the overall length and breadth by means of the vesica piscis, the second provided for the subdivision of the plan into equal bays, and the third determined the heights of the various parts by means of equilateral triangles.”
This serves as a basis of fact from contemporary sources that the vesica piscis was the fundamental determining shape and proportion of the ground plan of Gothic cathedrals. The vesica piscis is so named because of its similarity to the form of a fish bladder used anciently as a float when inflated. It has a very involved symbolism and would appear to relate to the Hindu manas which has been explained as the “ spiritual consciousness, or route from empirical consciousness to universal consciousness ”. The form is determined by the overlapping of two circles of equal radius when the centre of one touches the circumference of the other and vice versa: It has also been equated as the overlapping of the circle of “ matter ” with the circle of “ spirit”.3 All these interpretations serve to point towards the depth and breadth of meaning rather than the limitations of partial explanation: we are yet far, I believe, from realising fully what this form has meant to man in the past.
Another point I would like to raise, before going into my own reasons for equating these proportional systems to the first three Platonic solids, is the one that even great scholarship such as we have in the work of D’Arcy Thompson’s “ Growth and Form ” has its blind spots; I say this in no disrespect for one of the most inspiring volumes of this century. When discussing the equiangular spiral, which is of the utmost importance as a device for deriving proportional rectangles as well as expressing a continuous and harmonic growth graphically, D’Arcy Thompson has this to say4 “while the one spiral was known in ancient times, and was investigated if not discovered by Archimedes, the other was first recognised by Descartes and discussed in the year 1638 in his letters to Marsenne.” This brings us to the most interesting point between what is verbally recorded and what is visually or materially recorded in other media.
D’Arcy Thompson chose to forget the ionic order of capitals to the Greek column which are notably given in Bannister Fletcher’s “ History of Architecture ”.s Fletcher does not neglect the biological aspect as he puts forward the classical angular volute, the Nautilus shell, as a possible source for the ionic architects. This brings us to the point that Charpentier has made
so well,4 that the architectural achievements of the great periods are living monuments, with a comprehensive language of their own, the only barrier to their understanding being within ourselves, should we want to understand to the fullest extent the meaning of that for which they stand. To return to the Platonic solids which are at the base of the cosmology set out by Plato in the Timaeus.’ It has been well known that there was a neo-Platonic School under the mastership of one Abbot Thierry at Chartres about the time of the building of that cathedral.8 It is therefore quite conceivable that there was extensive mathematical activity over generations which must have, (a) carried along an inherited tradition, the oral part of which we know little,9 and (b) been in three dimensions as laid out in the Timaeus, which was directed at the understanding of universal phenomena. It is even conceivable that Kepler’s Harmonies of the Spheres (which does not become such an inaccurate absurdity now that astronomers have conceded the high probability of other planetary systems — possibly one for every star in our galaxy — which have a more perfect harmonic relationship to each other than those of our own) was not so much a discovery as the setting out in writing for the first time of that which had previously been a strictly oral tradition. It is well to remember that there was the death penalty for the giving away of the secret of the use of the Zero in ancient Rome!
Another important aspect of the ancient sciences that is too often neglected, is that of navigation. The Phoenicians are very unlikely to have been able to navigate to the tin mines of Cornwall without the necessary spherical trigonometry. There is no space here to enter into the more difficult realms of spherics, but as pointed out in my book on order in space,10 the unification of all the platonic solids takes place in the great circle subdivisions of the sphere. So there is good reason to believe that we are just beginning to recover many lost and powerful techniques for relating ourselves with cosmic harmonies by the techniques of a priori principles which can be a reminder of the amazing advances in understanding made by the ancient peoples in relating the phenomena of their experienced universe.
P. H. Schofield “ The Theory of Proportion in Architecture " p. 86. Ch. V. Cambridge University Press MCMLVIII.
E. L. A. Govinda “Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism’’, p. 24 (Rider 1959 London.)
J. E. Cirlot “ A Dictionary of Symbols ” p. 194 (Keegan Paul 1967 London).
D’Arcy Thompson “ Growth and Form ” Vol. 2 p. 754.
Sir Bannister Fletcher ” History of Architecture ’’ pp. 99(c), 100 (P) and (R).
Louis Charpentier “ Les Mystères de la Cathédrale de Chartres ” Laffont, Paris, 1966.
Plato " Timaeus ” translated by H. D. P. Lee, Penguin Classics. 1965.
Von Simpson “ The Gothic Cathedral ”.
?. It has been put forward by Paul Naudon in " Les Origines Religieuses at Corporatives de la France-Ajanonnerie (Dervy, Uaris, 1950) that this was inherited directly from the Pythagorean ” Collegia fabrorium ”.
K. Critchlow " Order in Space ” Thames and Hudson 1969.
We would like to sum up with the relation between two ideas. Metrical precision and geometrical precision. Metricality is putting bounds on the infinite — measuring the immeasurable. Geometricality, by laying bare the irrationals of number, can point with more precision to the “ eye ” of the infinite. A quotation from that highly respected scholar Ananda Coomaraswamy11 seems the most fitting final comment before explaining the content of the drawings. ‘ The references of symbolic forms are as precise as those of mathematics. The adequacy of the symbols being intrinsic, and not a matter of convention, the symbols correctly employed, transmit from generation to generation a knowledge of cosmic analogies: as above so below ... it will suffice to say that the arts have been universally referred to a divine source: that the practice of an art was at least as much a rite as a trade, that the craftsman had always to be initiated into the Lesser Mysteries of his particular craft, and that the artifact itself had always a double value, that of a tool on one hand and a symbol on the other. These conditions survived in mediaeval Europe, and still survive precariously in the East.”11
NOTES TO ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE
PROPORTIONAL THEORY
ILLUSTRATION I THE TETRAHEDRON: this shows a perspective view of the prime solid Tetrahedron. This form was recognised and allocated primacy by Plato in his cosmology as related in the “ Timaeus ”. Hence all five regular solids are known as the Platonic solids.
la: is a view of the same tetrahedron with an edge facing the eye, the result is a square (in orthogonal projection) with one diagonal, the opposite edge on the underside being shown by a dashed line. It could well be that we have under-estimated the Egyptian mind for many years as it has popularly been believed that they upheld the “ square earth ” concept. What becomes a more viable prospect is that this was the demotic level of their heiroglyphic explanation and that they were perfectly well aware that the geological structure of our planetary sphere was ‘ four cornered ’, the four corners of the tetrahedron only appearing as a square to those of two dimensional mentality.
lb: gives the fundamental parity of the tetrahedron in two folded rhombs, or double equilateral triangular parallelograms. (This 'is the initial rhomb of the vesica piscis.)
lc: shows what happens when the tetrahedron is “ flattened ” on the axis of la, that is the two rhombs lying at 90° to each other “ flatten ” towards the four points of the compass. This pattern displays the </3 proportion of the longer axis measurement in relation to the shorter taken as one.
Id: shows the intimate relation between the Star of Solomon or Shiva, the six pointed star and three such rhombs crossing at 60° to each other. This figure gives an efflux of V3 ratios and rectangles, the latter marked by dashed lines.
ILLUSTRATION 2 THE OCTRAHEDRON: this shows a view of the Octahedron (the second regular deltahedron and Platonic figure in heirachy of occur
rence) which has eight triangular faces. The three central axes have been put in with a broken line and dots; these are the X Y and Z axes.
2a: gives a view of the octahedron viewed from a point towards the eye. In flat projection, this is an exact square with both diagonals.
2b: gives a perspective view of the same figure where it can be interpreted as being made up of three component squares; one in each of the X Y and Z axes. 2c: is a larger drawing of the same view as 2a, but in this case a lesser square has been drawn in dashed lines from the centres of the outer edges. This shows that the diagonal axis for each square in the whole figure is V2 proportion to the edges, which are taken as one, i.e. that each subdivision at 45° of any of the squares — here shown dashed — is a proportion of half the containing square’s edge:
2d: demonstrates the property of the star octagon which gives an efflux of ^2 rectangles and proportionate sudbivisions of the contained squares (dotted lines).
ILLUSTRATION 3 THE ICOSAHEDRON: this shows an edge-on view of the Icosahedron, the third all triangulated Platonic figure. In this view, the rectangle through the figure A B C D from two parallel edges is a Golden Mean triangle, known also as the extreme mean ratio.
3a: shows the icosahedron viewed With a vertex or point towards the eye, thus displaying its symmetrical “fivefold” property.
3b: is a perspective view of the same figure but this time showing by dotted lines the three golden mean rectangles which lie at 90° to one another. In other words, a golden mean rectangle for each of the X Y and Z axes. These have been indicated by darker opposite edges of the outer solid and dashed lines through the figure.
3c: is one such golden mean rectangle showing how the diagonals can generate the proportionally smaller figure at 90° to the larger by “ cutting ” a square off each side.
3d: this is the Star decagon — ten pointed — or more familiarly two crossing five pointed stars. This star generates golden mean rectangles from the adjacent points of the centre line (shown dotted). The similar repetition of golden mean rectangles at 90° on the smaller scale is indicated in the centre.
In summary: the whole page shows that one can demonstrate how the three most important irrational proportionals the -/2, ^3 and ^^ 1 all originate in the three primary structural regular deltahedra. Plato symbolically ascribed these in the following order:—
The molecule of Fire : TETRAHEDRON.
The molecule of Air : OCTAHEDRON.
The molecule of Water : ICOSAHEDRON.
In terms of modern physics these would be a correct sequence for the states of matter from those most refined in density.
Fire being the radiation or plasma state of matter, the "fastest”.
Air being the gaseous and next slowest state.
Ananda K Coomaraswamy '* Why Exhibit Works of Art?”
sA *A eA zA
K-C. «.^.'W.
Water being the liquid state and hence both slower and denser than the previous two.
These are the first three of the five Platonic allocations. The CUBE followed as molecule of earth, or the solid state, with the Pentagonal Dodecahedron as the “ vehicle ” or Ether of the universe.
DRAWINGS 4, 5, 6 and 7: these show the fundamental rectangles of dynamic symmetry as laid out by Professor Jay Hambidge in his version of the ancient Greek art of proportional symmetry as used in their great works of art and architecture.12 Whether or no one is convinced by Hambidge’s conclusions, the method of demonstrating the proportional rectangles and their relation to one another is good, simple and direct.
DRAWING 4: shows that the root two rectangle has the property of being two smaller versions of itself, when divided and orientated at 90° to the whole. The rectangular axes constructed by crossing the diagonals of these two proportioned ^2 rectangles gives the controlling axis for a V2 generated spiral — this we will demonstrate later.
DRAWING 5: shows the ^/3 rectangle. This follows the same principle as the ^2 having three commensurate similar rectangles at 90° to the whole.
DRAWING 6: is the double square or V4 rectangle subdivisable into four similar figures and is related to the V2 which is the diagonal of a single square. DRAWING 7: is the «/5 rectangle which has five similar and commensurate rectangles at 90° to the whole. Again the diagonals of each of the smaller cut the diagonal of the whole at 90°. The relation between this rectangle and the golden mean rectangle is demonstrated in drawing 10 where a square set centrally in the ,/ 5 rectangle A B C D is the exact “ overlap ” of the two golden mean rectangles on either side. The product of this overlap is a small golden mean rectangle at 90° to the whole at each side.
DRAWING 8: shows the procedure for drawing the successive proportional rectangles starting from the square (darker on the left) whose diagonal is ^2 to the side of the square as one. This produces the V2 rectangle by swinging it down to an arc to A. The diagonal of the ^/ 2 rectangle is </3 to the side of the square, hence by swinging this down to B — by the same procedure — we get a ^3 rectangle. Similarly the diagonal of theV3 rectangle is to the unit edge which when produced to C gives the double square. The diagonal of the double square is V15 so we get to our final rectangle by swinging this down an arc to D. When another square is added to this V5 rectangle, then the whole is divided and we get the golden mean rectangle (i.e. ^y-^ = Golden Mean). DRAWING 9: shows the same system inside the square when the rectangles are obtained by projecting across from the intersection between the arc and the diagonal of each successive rectangle, A, B, C, D. DRAWING 10: has already been discussed and demonstrates that when a square has its half diagonal drawn and is swung both ways through 180° (dashed arc) the resultant rectangle constructed on the limits of these arcs is a ^5 rectangle. The subdivisions are all proportionate to the golden mean, as explained earlier.
DRAWING 11: shows the method of generating a logrythmic spiral or equiangular spiral on the two diagonals of a given proportional rectangle — in this case a golden mean rectangle. Starting from it, each subdivision is extended at 90° to the predecessor until it cuts one of the diagonals’ axis; this continues in the same direction getting smaller by the same ratio or proportion and becomes a diminishing rectangular helix. If one draws a continuous curve to pass through the same points to the two diagonals axes, this generates a smooth logrythmic spiral.13 DRAWINGS 12, 13, and 14: give the related helixes for the \/3 isoceles triangle, the ./2 isoceles triangle and the Golden Mean isoceles triangle, all of which are directly related to the six pointed, eight pointed and five pointed stars. Their angles being 32°, 45° and 36° respectively. The method of diminution is to take off the same shaped triangle from the first figure by drawing the second with its larger side on the base of the first greater triangle, this is repeated successively to get a diminishing ratio: the curves follow through the points of one corner of each of the diminishing similar triangles. It can be noted that the wider the angle of the generating triangle, the “ slower ” the curve diminishes, also that this method is in equilibrium for the equilateral triangle and therefore a curve cannot be generated.
DRAWINGS 15, 16 and 17: are examples of the generation spirals, singly, in pairs and in co-ordination; all are generated from one or other of the proportional rectangles. This puts forward another approach to establishing a geometrically simple and rational scheme for architecture from a given natural form spiral — such as man can recognise anywhere in the vegetative life around him. The way leaves spiral outward around a stalk: the face of a moon daisy or sunflower: a sea shell or a snail shell. These have been magnificently explored and explained by D’Arcy Thompson.14 One could start from the spiral to generate proportionate polygons and rectangles in just the same way as one can generate a spiral from a proportional rectangle. Both are expressing the same thing — a state of growth, or the ratio between successive stages in a rate of growth. In short, a spacetime diagram.
DRAWING 18: this brings us to Glastonbury. Within the geometrical figures you will be able to pick out the outlines of the plan of St. Mary’s Chapel. It is an extremely fine, if not the finest example of a symphony of a/3 rectangles that one might expect to find in the British Isles. There are indications that the same ^3 proportions govern the Lady Chapels of St. Albans, Worcester, Salisbury, Chester, St. David’s and Hereford cathedrals. Fountains Abbey would also seem to have a good example, whereas in the church at Solihull, in Warwickshire, there are indications that a very direct use of the ^/2, ^3, and a/5 rectangles have been used to determine all four of the major rectilinear spaces. I agreed with Mr. Bligh Bond that there was a direct link between the
Jay Hambidge “ The Elements o£ Dynamic Symmetry " Dover 1967 (1st edition 1919).
D’Arcy Thompson " Growth and Form ” vol. II chap. XI. 14. Ibid.
Vesica Piscis as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and the Vesica piscis as a precise geometrical formula for the establishment of harmonic relationships between the peoples, voids and solids that make up the totality of architecture. I put forward this drawing to show the empirical basis for believing it to have been consciously and deliberately used as a canonical scheme for constructing the present chapel of St. Mary at Glastonbury.
Due to the relationship of the hexagon to the «/3 rectangle, I have drawn the hexagon together with the nodes of the full duodecagon — the twelve sided figure, or double hexagon — as they might point to a possible connection with the original twelve hides granted to the first Christians,15 but this is a matter to be established by a future worker in this field. If we take the first vesica A — B to be that double arc resting exactly inside the rectangle containing the whole plan of the building, the second vesica C — D is that arc that sits exactly lengthwise on the same axis as the first, within the contained circle whose diameter is the width of this second vesica which gives us the interior space of the chapel. Our third proportional diminution of vesica is that double arc E — F which fits exactly within the circle contained by the
second vesica. This time our third vesica is lateral and yet 90° to the first two. It can now be seen that the smallest vesica exactly marks out the capitals from which the roof vaulting is sprung. The whole interior space is four such “size three” vesicas, one and a half for each side of the central pivot. Drawing 19 gives the scheme in short.
There is good reason to believe that further harmonic diminution would reveal a direct proportional link with the human scale — a mathematical expression of the function of a sacred building, that of putting those entering into harmony with the cosmos.
I shall only expand briefly on one aspect of my findings in extending the principle of the ^3 system to the whole Abbey plan.
In Drawing 20, we start at the ^3 diagonals that were drawn as central axes through the Chapel of our Lady and take the idea that harmonic extension would be the most likely method that the architect
© K-C. f. 1969.
The oldest and most sacred traditions centre around this Chapel. In 1921 the remains of a pillar attributed to St. David which he put up to mark the site when building his stone church was unearthed. The brass tablet which St. David had affixed was in sound condition as late as 1639. Bond felt that the care taken to reserve this exact spot indicated that it represented the site of the ‘ ecclesia vetusta ’ and also suggested a conjectural theory as to even deeper and older foundations which might possibly afford proof of the first Christian settlement. He was not given the opportunity to proceed with this excavation and that of Van Dusen was not of sufficient depth to find anything. This important conjecture would seem, therefore, still to await investigation.
See Plate V S.A. & N.H.S. Pro. vol. 72 (.1926j, Part 2, p. 16.
15. N.B. It is beyond my brief survey in this instance, but there are very good indications that the twelve hides were a microcosmic version of the perfect division of the yearly circle into 12, now the planisphere in this area shows only 10 signs — and this for a particular purpose — but in the High History, Branch 35, Title 15, the hermits have charge of 12 chapels surrounding the graveyard wherein He 12 dead knights which refers to their knowledge of the perfect division.
would have adopted. We now extend our 60° axes which touch the bases of the N.W. and S.W. towers and extend eastwards until we reach a central axis running through the two most westerly columns of the lantern over the transepts. This brings our vesica, or rhomb, to a final position which tallies with F. Bligh Bond’s uncovered foundations of the Edgar Chapel, at the extreme east end of the Abbey. It must be noted on this drawing that the axis of the Chapel of St. Mary is 1$° different in alignment to that of the whole Abbey, hence the axis of the rhomb we have just described falls off centre at the termination of the Edgar Chapel. It would be further ground for study to determine a relationship between the realignment and the time factor in relation to astronomical factors.
The next move was to see what proportional diminution of rhombs might account for further dimensions of the ground plan of the Abbey, and next we chose a vesica subdivision which accorded with the length of the interior of the Lady Chapel. It was found that this smaller vesica, although not significant in determining the width of the Edgar Chapel was, in fact, most significant for the outer dimension of the overall Abbey nave, being two widths, and the dimensions across the transepts, four widths, together with giving a total to the overall length of the building of eight complete rhombs.
It was not until having completed this exercise that a check was made with the findings of F. Bligh Bond, when a remarkable coincidence emerged. It was found that this smaller vesica was 74 ft. in length and fitted exactly into the square grid prepared by that remark
able pioneer, Bligh Bond. This has put our findings in accord with those of Bond and enhanced my conviction that not only is there truth in Bond’s hypothesis, but extra support for his 74 ft. squares by the values of the dimensions of the contained vesica which was discovered by a separate method of analysis, further reinforced by Caesariano’s statement.
Drawing 20A puts the relationship between these separate conclusions together. I would appear to indicate a harmony existing (for another to uncover) between the ^3 and ^2 systems working in accord. We have also found evidence of the Golden Mean system ^52+ 1 inherent in the plan, but present space does not permit further expansion.
These diagrams are but small contributions to what we believe to be the beginning of an unexpected and possibly undreamed of series of depths that are just coming to light regarding the significance and value of a buried science of cosmic harmonies, known in the past, but virtually unknown to modern man.
In the same way that Fred Hoyle pronounced his conviction that there must have been a brain comparable to that of Einstein in 1850 B.C. to have aligned Stonehenge, we expect the same astounding implications to emerge from future studies of the huge astronomical planisphere of which Glastonbury is merely a part. It cannot be evaded that we have a grave responsibility to preserve this area until the proper intensive research has been completed to establish what may turn out to be our greatest national heritage.
Glastonbury Abbey: A solar instrument of former science
John Michell
Within the last few years, students of ecclesiastical architecture have generally become aware of some hitherto unrecognisable principle that determined the groud plan and elevations of the mediaeval Gothic cathedrals. We do not know precisely for what reason the masonic craftsmen, by whom these structures were erected, chose to incorporate in their scheme certain hidden elements of geometry and numerology; but this was certainly their practice. For in former / times every sacred building was both sited and planned accordingly to a remarkable system of natural magic, a tradition of extreme antiquity, surviving from the archaic world which preceded the resurgence of civilization in Egypt and the construction of the Great Pyramid.
It has recently been shown that the ground plan of Stonehenge was formed some 4000 year ago according to the same system of numbers, geometry and measurements as that which determined the dimensions of the Great Pyramid, and that both monuments were instruments of a prehistoric science whose achievements were of an astounding nature. For the scientists of antiquity pursued a magic quest for the springs of creation, seeking to define the universal laws of generation and the development of life. In this they came to recognise the existence of certain natural forces and influences, who significance is now scarcely acknowledged. Every prehistoric monument, for example, is sited at an important centre of those mysterious streams of terrestrial current, apparently emanating from lines of geological fault, underground rivers and veins of ore, whose location is readily apparent to experienced dowsers. This current, symbolised by the writhing serpent, was referred to as the spirit of Mercury and can be identified with the Promethean fire, the Logos, the vehicle of human inspiration and thus with the Christian message and the recurrent birth of the Messiah.
The triumph of prehistoric science was in the performance of the alchemical feat of creating a fusion between mercury, the female, yin or negative current, and sulphur, the fertilising principle, related to solar energy or atmospheric electricity. To achieve this purpose the scientists of the ancient civilisation laid out the entire world according to the principles of a system whereby the natural flow of terrestrial magnetism was controlled and regulated. Stone circles and pillars were erected at magnetic centres, great mounds were built and hills hollowed out to accumulate the current, and tracks, causeways and linear earthworks were lined up with these instruments to direct the flew of the terrestrial spirit into regular channels.
The finest of all surviving prehistoric structures is the Great Pyramid, the instrument which for long maintained the fertility of the Nile Valley and much of North Africa, for it acted both as an accumulator for the terrestrial current and as the conductor of the solar spark by which this current was animated.
In Britain the two functions were separated. The terrestrial force, generated at rocky outcrops by means of logan stones and carefully poised boulders, was conducted by alignments of standing stones through the earth’s nervous system to prominent hills and mounds, where it was stored to be vitalized at the approriate season by the spark of solar energy, distilled at a nearby stone circle. On a certain day of the year when the solar and planetary influences coincided with the maximum flow of terrestrial magnetic current, the fusion was created. Urged on by the Shouts, music and dances of the assembled people, the current returned through the land in a wave of fertility, stimulating the growth of plants and establishing a reign of prosperity and health among animals and men. The stimulation of the earth’s nervous system, corresponding to that of the human body, produced the atmosphere of the golden age.
The evidence for all this can be found in the various books listed below, and the summary given here is scarcely an adequate introduction to the former science of spiritual engineering, still practised in a degenerate form by such people as the Australian aborigines. Its relevance to Glastonbury is this: Glastonbury Abbey was built as the spiritual successor of Stonehenge, to exactly the same hidden plan as the monument on Salisbury Plain and for the same purpose, the distillation of solar energy and its fusion with the terrestrial current or life essence.
Stonehenge is associated with Silbury Hill, Glastonbury Abbey with the Tor, both of which are hills constructed or adapted for the accumulation of terrestrial energy. Apart from their identical geometry and numbers, Stonehenge and Glastonbury Abbey were physically linked by a dead straight processional path between the two monuments, a small fragment of which, Dod Lane, can still be found aligning upon the extended axis of the Abbey on the other side of Abbey House to the East. A clear view down the centre of the Abbey can be had by diming the tower of St. Benedict’s Church, which is also placed upon the same alignment to the west. From St. Benedict’s a line extended through the Abbey, along Dod Lane and past the foot of the Tor, passes over St. Michael’s Church, at the prominent lay centre on Gare Hill, and strikes the centre of Stonehenge continuing eastwards as the old Harrow Way to Canterbury. This great line of sacred centres is one of two that include Glastonbury, the other being the longest land line in southern England, the alignment of St. Michael’s churches through Avebury, Glastonbury Tor, King Alfred’s Fort, Burrowbridge, St. Michael’s Mount and the other such elevated shrines. The name Dod in Dod Lane refers both to the word for death and to the Egyptian Thoth or Mercury. Dod Lane is part of a mercurial spirit path, the bed of an invisible stream along which the souls of the dead are conveyed on their passage to Avalon, the western Isle. In China
such paths are known as Lung Mei, the roads of the dragon, and the land over which they run was reserved in imperial days for the burial mounds of the emperors. Glastonbury Abbey was erected on the line of a dragon road radiating from Stonehenge, and in the centre of the line, before the altar of the Abbey, was placed the tomb of King Arthur, the heir to the dragon throne of Britain.
THE MAGIC SQUARE OF THE SUN
and inherent geometry determined the proportions of solar structures such as Stonehenge and Glaston-
bury Abbey.
Each row, column and diagonal adds up to 111, and the total is 666, the characteristic solar number. There are 36 squares, as in the central rectangle of both Stonehenge and Glastonbury, and the perimenter, which at Stonehenge is 370 MY, here adds up to 370.
Each block of 4 squares, symmetrically placed, amounts to 74, the basic factor of gematria and cabalistic mathematics.
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Fig. I
GLASTONBURY ABBEY
Bligh Bond’s ground plan showing the basic grid of 74 ft. square. This i: a solar structure, referring to the number 666 expressed in terms of the three principal sacred units of antiquity, the foot, cubit and megalithic yard, for the rectangle which contains the Abbey has the following dimensions:
Length: 666 ft.
Area: 66600 sq. cubits (.cubit = 1.72 ft.'j or 666 X 40 = 26640 sq. MY (MY = 2.72 ft.}
Stonehenge was laid out according to the numbers and inherent geometry of an ancient figure of natural magic, traditionally known as the magic square of the Sun. This consists of the first 36 numbers arranged in a block so that each row, column and diagonal adds up to 111 and the total to 666. Upon this number, 666, Stonehenge, as has been show elsewhere, was founded. The form of the monument derives from the hexagonal crystal, which itself is closely related to the magic square of the Sun. These magic squares were highly valued by the philosophers of antiquity, for they appear to be constructed according to certain numerical laws which also express the ratios of natural growth. Thus they provide a scientific approach to the problems of life and a formula by which certain forces in nature can be brought within human control. Stonehenge was a solar instrument, operating in conjunction with Woodhenge, which has been shown to have been a structure of mercurial significance. Analysis of its groundplan shows that Glastonbury Abbey was also conceived as a solar structure. The units of measurement to which sacred structures have been erected all over the world from the time of the Great Pyramid, are the inch, foot and yard, the same as are used today, together with two other units, the megalithic yard (2.72 feet) and the Egyptian cubit (1.72 feet). These units are found both at Stonehenge and in the structure of Glastonbury Abbey. Some 40 years ago Mr. Bligh Bond discovered the secret plan on which the Abbey was built, the grid of 9 x 4 squares, each square having a side of 74 feet, Fig. 1. The Abbey is therefore contained within a rectangle of 666 feet long, whose area is 6660 sq. cubits or 6660 x 4 sq. M.Y. This figure is exactly 7.4 (2.72!) times greater than the corresponding rectangle at
Stonehenge, which, deriving from a geometrical development of the magic square of the Sun, coincides with the station stone rectangle at that monument.
Until one recognises the mystical nature of the ground plan on which Glastonbury Abbey was constructed, it is impossible to understand the depths of hatred which many Christians at the Reformation felt towards this great monument to their faith. Glastonbury Abbey in the Middle Ages was not only the largest and most splendid religious edifice in Britain, but was recognised throughout Europe as one of the original foundations of Christianity. Yet at the time of its suppression in 1539 it was regarded by members of the reformed Church as nothing less than the temple of the Antichrist. Many welcomed its destruction as a victory over the devil, and the very site was left unconsecrated for centuries.
STONEHENGE Fig. 1
Calculated on the diameter given by Atkinson, 320 ft., the circumference of the earth work forming the outer circle is 370 MY, the same number as the sum of the perimeter number in the magic square of the Sun. A geometrical development of this magic square, shown above, divides the circle into 36 parts and provides the central rectangle, A B C D, whose sides measure 90 x 40 MY. The area of the rectangle is thus 3600 sq. MY or 9000 sq. cubits, or 26640 sq. ft. The area of the equivalent rectangle at Glastonbury Abbey is 26640 sq. MY or 66600 sq. cubits. All sacred structures of antiquity were similarly planned with measurements in the various related units significant in terms of numerology and gematria.
Until the Reformation, the Church in Britain secretly preserved the institution of the Mysteries the traditional methods of spiritual invocation and the philosophy of the true, patriarchal religion, to which Christianity was the legitimate heir. Glastonbury Abbey, like Stonehenge three thousand years earlier, was laid out to a cosmic scheme, the ground plan of the New Jerusalem on earth. According to the former science of spiritual engineering, the holy city was established at a powerful centre of terrestrial
current, on a spot from which, by means of certain combinations of music, proportion and ritual, the sacred influences could be extended into the surrounding countryside. Chladni’s experiments on the geometrical effects of sound upon grains of sand scattered on a glass plate partly indicate the method by which this feat was performed. At the holy centre the act of fusion was accomplished by which the celestial and terrestrial currents were united, celebrating in their marriage the seasonal re-establishment of the spiritual Kingdom. In dealing with elements which, though imperceptible in isolation, may yet be detected through the invariable nature of their effect upon the forms of growth and other natural phenomena within the visible universe, the philosophers of antiquity evolved a language of symbols and numbers, by which experiences gained in dreams and visions could be expressed in terms of the eternal ratios of geometry. In this language 666, the solar number, represented the male principle, the fiery spark which instils life into form. In the structure of human society 666 stood for the emperor, the source of material rather than of spiritual power, and by the early Christian cabalists is was identified with
STONEHENGE Fig. 2
The hidden geometry, traditional figures drawn on the ground in the performance of magic, which determined the shape of Stonehenge. Another invisible structure is incorporated in the monument, a structure of numbers, based on the magic square of the Sun and the solar 666. The following are examples.
The outer circle, the bank within the moat, has diameter 117.5 MY and circumference 370 MY. It contains
1. Hexagon of area 66600 sq. ft. (7400 sq. yds. or 9000 sq. MY).
2. Solomon’s Seal or two equilateral triangles of combined area 66600 sq. ft.
3. Square, not drawn in the above figure, with perimeter 333 MY. Further, the equilateral triangle based on the diameter of the outer circle has an area of 44400 sq. ft. or 6000 sq. MY.
The circle contained within the hexagon, corresponding to the Aubrey hole circle, has an area of 6660 sq. yds.
the imperial rule of Rome, later associated with the Roman Church. 666 is the number of the Beast in St. John’s Revelation, the Antichrist, in that it is the antithesis of the Christ spirit. It is obviously incorrect to identify 666 with an element of pure evil, for only among the superstitious are the basic principles of creation regarded from the point of view of human morality. 666 represents the opposite pole to that of Christianity and in later times became the enemy of the spiritual kingdom. The Puritans, in compiling their utopian schemes of the New Jerusalem, attemp- ed to select only those elements which met with their moral approval and to omit those not directly associated with Christian values. They became blind to whole area of beauty. In the lights and music of the village inn opposite the church they perceived only the temptations of Satan. They suppressed those relics of antiquity whose sanctity was still respected by the country people. Borlase records the breaking up of a Cornish rocking stone by a Cromwellian governor, for “ the vulgar used to resort to this place at particular times of the year, and payed to this stone more respect than was thought becoming good Christians.” The destruction of Glastonbury Abbey was for the Puritans their greatest victory in the battle to exterminate the devil.
The weakness of the whole Puritan crusade lay in their selective acceptance of the real universe. The New Jerusalem must, as the ancient philosophers understood, incorporate all elements. The number 666 occupies a prominent position in the cosmic scheme expressed in the dimensions of Stonehenge and later, of Glastonbury Abbey, as it does in those plans of the mystic city compiled by the former master of cabalistic science from the days of remotest antiquity up to the time of Galileo and Kepler. For, although 666 is not itself a Christian number, it represents an essential component in universal life as the husband of the terrestrial spirit. Where it is not invoked the life essence remains unfertilised, the spirit drains from the country leaving whole areas desolate and virtually uninhabitable. Thus the same attitude of ignorant utopianism which led to the breaking of Glastonbury Abbey was further responsible for the depopulation of so many of the outlying parts of the British Isles, a process which still continues today.
The former science of spiritual engineering demanded a high degree of skill and precision in the arts of land surveying and geomancy. The dead straight alignments of sacred sites, which stretch across the entire country and which can be found in every continent to the furthest corners of the earth, form only one aspect of the ancient terrestrial pattern. Glastonbury Abbey, like Stonehenge, was based on the figure of the vesica piscis, illustrated in Keith Critchlow’s article, and, in accordance with traditional practice, this figure was repeated on a larger scale in the landscape surrounding the sacred centre. Various landmarks, natural or artificial, were contrived to corres
pond with the holy stations of a church, which themselves reflect the nerve centres of the tree of life or divine body. The Glastonbury map, here reproduced, shows the figure that the Glastonbury geomancers laid over the town, the twin circles each with radius 660 feet or 1 furlong, the number commonly used to represent the diameter of the earth (660 feet=7920 inches: 7920 miles= earth’s diameter). The Body of the church measures exactly one mile round the perimeter, and various stations in the town, the Market Cross, the Abbey fish pond, and the site of the present Catholic church mark intersections in the terrestrial geometry. The centre of the eastern circle corresponds to the exact centre of the 74 foot grid on which the Abbey was founded.
The meaning of this remarkable figure, its relevance to Mrs. Maltwood’s vision of the Zodiac, to the underground tunnels and hidden caverns which lie below Glastonbury and the Tor,* to the former triangulation of the country and to the whole system of prehistoric magic, all these are questions to which there is yet no clear solution. Yet their implications are obviously vast. For it seems now that it was only within quite recent times that we finally lost all surviving knowledge of the sublime prehistoric science whereby the elemental forces of Nature were manipulated on a universal scale to create a world of harmony, prosperity, and cosmic certainty which is the perfect, natural environment of the human race.
BOOKS
A number of books have recently appeared which refer directly or indirectly to this subject, reflecting the increasing interest now being shown in the remarkable secrets of the prehistoric civilisation.
In The Old Straight Track Alfred Watkins set out his discovery of the ley system, the straight alignments of prehistoric sacred sites all across the country.
The Pattern of the Past by the dowser, Guy Underwood, demonstrates the way in which all ancient and early Christian structures are located and shaped in accordance with the flow of underground streams or of other sources of terrestrial energy.
Winbaraku and the Myth of the Jarapiri, Charles P. Mountford. This writer shows how the aborigines of Australia still invoke the annual spirit of fertility in processions down alignments of sacred centres.
Fung Shui, J. Eitel. This book describes a similar system in China.
Megalithic Sites in Britain by Prof. A. Thom shows some of the geometrical, mathematical and astronomical considerations by which stone circles were erected.
Many other books relating to this subject will be found in the Public Libraries. My own, The View Over Atlantis, attempts to summarise the evidence from these sources and to throw some light on the purpose and operation of the spiritual science of antiquity.
* Editorial: it is hoped that the Tor may be excavated before too long.
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Professor A. Thom
Alexander Thom. Glasgow University B.Sc. 1915: Ph.D. 1926: D. Ac. 1929: Lecturer Glasgow University 1922-39: Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough, aeronautical research 1939-45: M.A. Oxford 1945: Hon. LL.D. Glasgow 1960: Professor of Engineering Science Oxford University 1945-61: Emeritus Fellow Brasenose College, Oxford, 1961. Publications, Books and papers to various scientific Institutions. Megalithic Sites in Britain O.U.P. 1967.
Professor E. G. Bowen
Born 1900 in Carmarthen, South Wales. B.A. Hons. First Class Geography and Anthropology. M.A. (Distinction) University of Wales. Member of staff under Professor H. J. Fleure, D.Sc. F.R.S. Elected Gregynog Em. Professor of Geography and Anthropology at University College of Wales Aberystwyth, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and of the Royal Geographical Society. Has been President of the Institute of British Geographers; the Geographical Association and the Cambrian Archaeological Association. Main interests: the Historical Geography of the Celtic Lands in the immediate Post-Roman centuries. Has published several books and articles in learned journals. His best known works are Wales: a study in Geography and History. The Settlement of the Celtic Saints in Wales. Saints, Seaways and Settlements in the Celtic Lands.
Professor Mary Williams
Born Aberystwyth, Wales. B.A. (Double First) French and German University of Wales. M.A. Wales. Fellow of the University of Wales. Doct. University of Paris, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Reader Romance Languages King’s College, University of London. Professor of French Language and Literature, University College, Swansea (Wales). Head of Department of French Language and Literature Durham Colleges, University of Durham. President Folk Lore Society (1961-63). Vice President Folk Lore Society, Vice President International Arthurian Society (British Branch), President Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion, Member of Court, Council and Finance Committee, National Library of Wales, of Court University College of Wales Aberystwyth. Editor: Perceval le Gallois (Chrétien de Troyes). Various Articles and Reviews in learned journals dealing chiefly with Arthurian and Celtic subjects.
Geoffrey Russell
Interested in Philosophy and Psychology and an ardent admirer of Dr C. G. Jung.
Keith Critchlow
A.R.C.A. Architectural Lecturer in Arts, History and Structures. Shell Mathematical Research Scholarship 1967. Royal Institute of British Architects Research Award 1969. Order in Space 1969.
Elizabeth Leader .
Connections with West of England, particularly Somerset for at least three past generations. An active student of the Somerset Zodiac for the past twenty years. An inveterate “ picker-up of unconsidered trifles ”,
John Michell
Antiquary and Writer. Flying Saucer Vision 1967. The View over Atlantis 1969.
Janette Jackson
M.B.E., A.R.C.M. Knowledge of Glastonbury as a quiet small town in childhood. Personal knowledge of certain of those connected with the Glastonbury Abbey, excavations With access to private correspondence belonging to the late Sir Charles Marston, a firm believer in the main Glastonbury tradition. He maintained that the excavations at Glastonbury were only second in importance to those at Jerusalem.
AIMS
“ A case exists which justifies further study ’’ is the statement sought from individuals whose judgment is universally respected and whose impartiality is unimpeachable. Such authoritative opinion is sought from those who have no direct interest in any particular facet of the subject, so as to encourage such bodies as Ministries, Foundations or Institutions to appoint a mutually acceptable referee to form an impartial study committee, and grant it a relatively small expense budget. The study committee would be charged with summarising facts from those knowledgeable in the widely differing related fields of interest, and drawing up proposals as to how the evidence might best be presented, by whom and at what probable cost, from what most suitable sources. The many major incomes which would certainly flow to Britain in the wake of such evidence being ratified, could also be enumerated by such a study committee.
G.J.M. (1966)
Some years ago the above conclusion was offered as that of an impartial business consultant and was based upon evidence submitted to me and experience gained from many important feasibility studies in Business, Finance and Education.
An organisation has since come into being to carry out impartial studies in a workmanlike way. The importance of that business like approach has led me to accept the responsibility for guiding and controlling the Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation (R.I.L.K.O.).
RILKO (1969)
George J. Mathys, Commander,
Chairman and Chief Executive
4
KR-460-321
Published by Research into Lost Knowledge Organisation
Printed by Thorne Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd., Whetstone, N.20
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