My Magdalene Pilgrimage, Part 3
Since living in Avalon, I’ve noticed how direct and immediate the connection between thought and manifestation can be.
The name, sense or image of a person might pop into my head and I’ll bump into them just minutes later.
Or I’ll remember there’s something I need or want and find it soon after.
What you’ll hear so many visitors to this magical place repeatedly speak about is the incredible number of synchronicities they experience here.
It’s as if our capacity for flow and intuitive awareness is enhanced both by the energy and pervasive spiritual ethos here, which invite us to reside in our hearts and senses, where we are more open to subtle perception.
Signs, symbols and cosmic messages are all around us, whether in the form of graffiti on the wall, the swoop of a bird or a snippet of overheard conversation.
I remember noticing this during my very first visit to Glastonbury, when I was contemplating signing up for the Priestess of Rhiannon training.
As I walked to the White Spring, a man came towards me and asked “are you the horse lady?” What a bizarre question for a stranger to ask you might think. But not, perhaps, when you know that Rhiannon is strongly associated with horses. As I sauntered down the high street, a child dashed past me and her father called out “Rhiannon!”
In my London life, these kinds of occurrences would have been extraordinary. In Avalon I took them in with wonder and gratitude at such obvious confirmation of my chosen path.
And it was after stepping onto that Priestess path in 2014, that I first made a connection with Mary Magdalene.
If I’m honest, I’d never really thought about her until that point. But as I deepened into my initiation as a Priestess of Love & Sacred Sexuality, I became aware that there was a whole alternate theology about Mary Magdalene as herself a Tantric Priestess, spiritual teacher and intimate beloved of Yeshua.
This current of knowing felt so resonant for me – like a truth that bloomed my heart and called my soul, that I felt compelled to pursue it.
I devoured any and all books I could find on the topic and was hungry for the messages, practices and wisdom that came through those I felt to be authentic channels for Mary or – better yet – directly from her, such as in her Gospel.
What I discovered felt more like a remembrance than a revelation. The confirmation both of my own longing and gnosis. I felt so deeply enlivened and empowered by Her teachings. So held and healed by Her radiant love. So moved by and aligned with her embodiment of holy sensuality and sacred union.
It was like finding a long lost sister – or the spark of an essence that already resided within.
I’d already been steeped in tantric study and practice for some time. Facilitating sexual and spiritual awakening for women since 2012. Deepening in my exploration of and calling to inner and outer union.
The mythos of Mary Magdalene and Yeshua as divine couple encapsulated the tantric promise of awakening consciousness and rising in love through intimacy my life was devoted to. Their purported initiations in the temples of Egypt and/or India aligning further with what I already sensed or knew, with Isis emerging as yet another teacher/guide in my own journey.
And after some years of following this trail, I began to have a sense, that Mary’s presence was with me in my work. Not just by me, but in me.
I’ve gotta be honest. I doubted it. Who was I, after all, to embody such an incredible being?! But each time it happened, whether in the form of words, sounds, touch, energy or the simple transmission of love through my eyes and being, it really did seem as if “I” just got out of the way and some far greater transpersonal power stepped in. So long as I trusted and surrendered, whatever needed to happen for my clients happened. It was not something I could ever have “thought” into being or used my intellect or rich array of trainings and techniques to figure out. And the wonderful thing was, that opening up to and residing in that energy was as effortlessly blissful for me as it was potent for my clients.
Along with this connection there flourished a dream. One I wrote on my vision-board over and again. To follow in Mary’s footsteps both in France and Egypt.
But still locked into solo parenting as well as elder-care, and living on a tight budget, the £5k or more guided tours to such places I’d often longingly contemplate seemed financially unjustifiable and out of reach.
Year after year I kept on writing them down though. Holding the vision. And waiting.
And then the time finally came when I was free of my primary care responsibilities. Both of my children now at University. Both of my parents passed over.
Like a shot I was out of London and headed to Avalon. My modest worldly goods in storage. Two suitcases and a few boxes in my little blue car.
And when the time came to write my annual vision board came round again, the Mary Magdalene pilgrimage, France and Egypt, were still there.
At first I was too burned out to do very much at all. The many years of caring. Especially the last few years of dealing with both my parents’ difficult demise and deaths. Supporting. Struggling. Had taken their toll.
But at a certain point I found myself googling “Mary Magdalene pilgrimage” to see what guided tours were on offer, as well as what information there was to support me in creating my own solo tour.
A few times in my searches I circled back around to a 222km walking pilgrimage, marked out by the Provence tourist authority and felt really tempted. But then I’d feel overwhelmed by the organisation involved and resistant to carrying all I needed for such a journey in a little backpack. Who or how could I transport my luggage I kept wondering ??
And then one day, as I was literally pondering this question with the website still open on my laptop, my friend and fellow Priestess, K, came to tea.
As I told her what I’d been thinking about, she said: “well a group of us are going on a Mary Magdalene pilgrimage to France and we have one more place left. Do you want to come?”.
I had just 3 questions: 1) do I have to drive? (because if I do, I don’t want to do it). 2) what’s the anticipated budget? And 3) when are you leaving ?
With a No (K was going to do all the driving), the perfect figure I’d had in mind and 30th September (my 59th Birthday!!!) as the answers I was in. YES, YES, YES.
And that, my friends, is how Glastonbury works her magic. 🧚♀️🧚♀️🧚♀️