It is now twelve years since the foundation of the "Knights of St Joseph of Arimathea and Dames of St Mary Magdalene", a chivalric order with an Avalonian charism and the first grade in the Holy Celtic Order of the Temple. In more recent years we have added two other complementary Avalonian themed orders, the explicitly Celtic Christian “Guild of the Holy Thorn” and the explicitly neo-Pagan, “Avalonian Druidcraft”. Today I would like to speak a little about each of these orders and we shall also look briefly at some of the countless literary resources which inform and shape the practice within these orders. This blog post will be illustrated with the covers of some of the many books we recommend. I take as my first premise the words of Brother A.D.A. in “Ritual Magic for Conservative Christians” …. “Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are pretty much pre-packaged magical systems in a state of denial ….” so for myself as a Druid, who is also a Liberal Catholic bishop, there is no conflict between the celebration of the Christian sacraments, the celebration of the Celtic Wheel of the Year, the use of Catholic folk magic and neo-pagan ritual magic for practical purposes. All these practices fall equally under the category of “magic”, especially if the working of magic is the explicitly stated intention. Indeed, Aleister Crowley from whom, amongst others, we hold initiatic succession, went so far as to say “every intentional act is a magickal act”, the really imortant thing for us is that magic, whether Christian or Pagan, is used solely for good, a reaching towards the Light. We take seriously the Wiccan Rede, “Do what ye will an’ it harm none”, a slight variation on the Christian Golden Rule” Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you”. My second premise is a theological one, laying a foundation for a personal practice which may include both Christian and neo-Pagan elements. For this purpose we look to the words of Dion Fortune’s character, Vivien Le Fay Morgan, in “The Sea Priestess”, ... “All the Gods are one God and all the Goddesses are one Goddess, and there is One Initiator”. This is essentially a Pagan theological concept that is inclusive of Christian practice. It is not, of course, a theological concept that sits easily with orthodox Christianity, yet it is compatible with the Liberal Catholic Acts of Faith, which replace the historic creeds for many Liberal Catholics. My third premise, again is best expressed in the words of Dion Fortune, "Two traditions meet in Avalon, the ancient faith of the Britons and the creed of Christ”. I would go so far as to say that a true Avalonian is always a little of both. The multi-layered symbol of the Vesica Pisces on the lid of Chalice Well, created by the Revd Frederick Bligh Bond, has become synonymous with Avalonian spirituality and its interlocking circles aptly encapsulate the symbiotic relationship between the Avalonian Christian and Pagan traditions. One cannot really understand or utilise either tradition without the complementary other. Like King Arthur himself, our once and future King, a true Avalonian keeps a foot in both camps. As the first grade in the Holy Celtic Order of the Temple, the Knights of St Joseph of Arimathea and Dames of St Mary Magdalene introduce the seeker to the Avalonian tradition with a gentle meander through Dion Fortune’s precious classic, “Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart”. It remains my favourite of all her works and is accessible to all. I have yet to meet an enquirer who disliked the book. Within its pages there is enough of both the Christian and the Pagan to please any but the most hardened fundamentalist of either persuasion as it introduces us not only to the legends of old Avalon and Glastonbury but also introduces us to Dion Fortune’s Glastonbury of the early 20th century. Like Avalon of old this Glastonbury has slipped into the mists of time and sadly exists now almost exclusively on the inner planes, the "Avalon of the Heart". A big part of what we do in our three Avalonian orders is to slip between the mists, journeying back to Glastonbury of a hundred years ago to bring back the wisdom of that time. Naturally, to acquaint ourselves with the works of Dion Fortune, as well as works about her and about other key figures of that time and place is essential to this work. In particular Patrick Benham’s excellent work entitled “The Avalonians” is a tremendously informative, compelling and inspiring book. It should be clear then that ours is essentially a “conservative" project, in that we aim to retrieve and conserve all that is best of the early Avalonian revival period and build on that solid foundation, avoiding in the process (we hope) some of the mistakes and excesses of modernity. Whenever possible it is good to connect with spirtual places in this apparent world as well as their inner planes counterparts, and I am certainly grateful for my two visits to Glastonbury more than 20 years ago now. They were spiritually formative, however, it may be observed that Glastonbury is not always an harmonious place as it has become a pottage of various influences that sometimes sit uneasily with each other, and often do little honour to the true spirit of the place. Certainly, from our perspective Glastonbury is a great place to shop and good for a visit or two to connect with the holy places and sacred sites but the assortment of "characters" who frequent the place are best treated prudently. One of the blessings and challenges of our day is the great “embarass de richesse” at our disposal if we wish to study an esoteric discipline, therefore the student needs to be very discerning. There are some worthy books on Avalonian spirituality now in the marketplace, but there are also a great many books inconsistent with our particular tradition, especially if they are anti-Christian, or even worse, not our kind of Christian! In each of our Avalonian orders a wide range of ebooks and other documents are available to the earnest initiate, however, we particularly recommend hard copy purchase of the works of Dion Fortune, Gareth Knight, John and Caitlin Matthews, John Michael Greer, Philip Carr Gomm, Sybil Leek, Philip Heselton, Christopher Penczak, and many others, whenever circumstances allow. In all her works Dion Fortune placed emphasis on male female polarity in magical working. Generally, as was usual for her times, she was also a complementarian, in that she affirmed traditional gender roles, particularly in magical workings. Being also firmly complementarian our orders also work with polarity, so we have the Knights of St Joseph of Arimathea and Dames of St Mary Magdalene, men cannot be Dames anymore than Dames can be Knights. In our Guild of the Holy Thorn (using the original Manual of the Guild of the Master Jesus, founded by Dion Fortune), the same applies, only priests in apostolic succession may be “Ministrants” of the Guild Liturgy whilst wherever possible a Deaconess or Dame takes the role of “Lector”. As apostolic Christianity is intrinsically patriarchal (and ought to be proud of it), this is reflected in the offices of the Guild, whilst with Avalonian Druidcraft, the reverse is true to some extent, the High Priestess normally taking the lead, whilst the High Priest assists her in a supportive role. We believe that men and women tend to flourish in roles allocated according to natural sex, however, there are sometimes exceptions to the general rule in Avalonian Druidcraft, which is afterall rooted in the more permissive Faery Faith, the principle manifestations of deity being Brigid, daughter of the De Danaan Father God, the Dagda, and Gwyn ap Nydd, King of the Faeries. An Avalonian spiritual path presents some challenges as we learn to juggle the Christian and the Pagan and give of our best to both. Regular, if not daily, prayers, shamanic journeying and magical workings, keep the energies moving and once again our great teacher, Dion Fortune, gives us a useful key to maintaining balance as she writes, in “The Goat-foot God” …. “Are the descending Paraclete and the uprising Pan two opposing forces locked in an everlasting struggle, or are they an alternating current playing between the two poles of spirit and matter?” Once more we look to the symbol of the Chalice Well Vesica Pisces and see reflected there that “alternating current”.
Happily, we are never short of applicants for the Knights of St Joseph of Arimathea and Dames of St Mary Magdalene, which is good, yet "many are called but few are chosen”. To really connect with the tradition one needs to invest time and effort in study and regular spiritual practice. My hope is that both the Guild of the Holy Thorn and Avalonian Druidcraft will attract a few more enthusiastic members who are prepared to invest that time and effort and make our tradition more widely known and accessible. May we harmoniously swim with the tides and go with the flow. Tau Blaise, Casa del Grial, Puerto de San Isidro, León 10/15/2022 Avalonian Druidcraft - two years on![]() It is now just over two years since the foundation of the Avalonian Druidcraft Tradition (founded September 2020). We have a handful of initiates as well as many more group members who might be consider "outer court", those who are exploring the tradition but not yet committed. Sometimes the deities and archchetypes work slowly and steadily to do their work in the souls of individuals so I am not concerned with the slow growth of the grove, besides, we live in uncertain times, when spiritual creativity may not be everyone's highest priority. Our egregore is still a younster, yet a personality is emerging gradually, bringing joy to his progenitors and our magical family. In Trinity Grove Esoteric Druid Order, for more than a decade now, we have offered a systematic course of study and initiation following the pattern of classical Druidry, in the grades of Bard, Ovate and Druid, as having completed the three year course of study with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids I can appreciate the wisdom of providing a foundation in basic ceremonial work and meditations to be followed by an in depth exploration of Ogham, herbcraft and divination, before beginning to consider magic. Indeed in that system many who attain the Druid grade have no interest in magic. In Avalonian Druidcraft, however, our approach is somewhat different as the goal of our work is magical proficiency, whether that be practical or theurgical magic. Following the tradition of Seax Wicca, founded by Raymond Buckland, we have but one initiation, as a priest or priestess of the craft, and it is up to the individual to determine his or her role in the grove and specific areas of expertise. ![]() From its inception our tradition has been inspired by the life and work of Dion Fortune, from whom we hold a lineage, and we are all, no doubt, aware that she was a great Qabalist, "The Mystical Qabala" probably being her best known work. If we are to follow in her footsteps should we not then also aspire to be Qabalists? That is certainly the position taken by the Society of the Inner Light, the magical order founded by Dion Fortune, which still teaches Qabala to all of its students. Conversely, people are drawn to Avalonian Druidcraft, for many different reasons, and of the initiates we have received so far I am not aware of any who have shown a particular interest or expertise in Qabala. Perhaps we ought to be mindful that in Dion Fortune's day the magical path was more or less limited to Golden Dawn, classical Solomonic Magic, esoteric Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and Martinism. The shamanic path had yet to be rediscovered, esoteric Druidism was in its infancy and Wicca had yet to be born, The latter in fact was heavily influenced by Dion Fortune's magical legacy. Therefore, we might ask, had (neo) Shamanism, Druidry and Wicca been options when Dion Fortune was seeking a magical path, would she have attracted to Qabala at all? I believe she may still have opted for a Qabalistic path for two reasons. Firstly, we live in a post Christian world, whilst Dion Fortune, unconventional as she was, did not. Her personal morality and private devotional life remained fundamentally Anglican, which at that time was an integral part of the national identity for most of the English middle and upper classes, therefore, a magical system based on Jewish mysticism would not seem so culturally alien to her, as it might to us, and it could even be envisioned as respectable. Secondly, even untrained in astrology as I am, taking a quick look at Dion Fortune's natal chart (see below) it would be hard to find any indication of a stong attraction to Earth based spiritual systems, due to an absence of earth and water influences, but rather, as a strong Sagitarian with significant planets in air signs, one can discern the source of her fiery temperament, creative genius and vibrant intellect. These qualities fitted her for the study and practise of Qabala, which in my limited experience, requires a disciplined intellectual approach, whilst some of us are naturally drawn to the more visceral and instinctive shamanic arts. So, two years on, in Avalonian Druidcraft, we may still be a bit weak on the Hermetic strand, and would certainly welcome initiates gifted in that area, however, we are blessed that among the present initiates we have some capable healers as well as those well versed in Celtic mythology and the Bardic triads; as well as those with expertise in Ogham, Herbalism, Tarot and Ceremonial Magic. Therefore, without setting out to do so, we have, nevertheless, managed to gather a select group in which the traditional Druidic skills of the Bard, the Ovate and the Druid are well represented.
My heartfelt desire, as we begin our third year, is that through individual practice and linking up with fellow initiates on the inner planes, we may nurture and strengthen the egregore of the coven, and continue to lay the foundations of a unique tradition; a Druidic Wiccan Tradition inspired more by Arthurian Ceremonial Magic than Spellcraft and more by Celtic Shamanism than Hermeticism - yet encouraging all four; explicitly Pagan in practice yet having a symbiotic relationship with Celtic Christianity, for as our dear teacher famously wrote, "Two traditions meet in Avalon, the ancient faith of the Britons and the creed of Christ". Let us go forward confidently, trusting in the guidance of our inner planes contacts. Blessed Be! 10/1/2021 On lineage and initiationDruidcraft, explored by Philip Carr Gomm is his excellent book of that name, is a synthesis of Druidry and Wicca, themselves sister traditions, as formulated by OBOD founder Ross Nichols and Wiccan founder Gerald Gardner. Both OBOD and Wicca were founded as initiatic traditions though not all descendents of the first OBOD Druids and Wiccans place equal emphasis on initiation these days. Avalonian Druidcraft, however, is one of those groups that does value highly both lineage and initiation. ![]() When it comes to Wicca, which first captured my attention as a young teenager, the Garderian/Alexandrian ideal of initiation has always been my standard but as that standard did not seem possible to attain I looked elsewhere. …. However, in early 2021, having discovered that I already share in the Church of the Grail succession from Dion Fortune (hereafter often referred to as DF) through a mutual sub-conditione episcopal consecration with an American bishop friend, I immediately felt that this esoteric lineage - along with our sacramental succession from Aleister Crowley - could fill the Wiccan-lineage shaped hole in my Druidic Wiccan identity. I had to ask myself, do I really need Gerald Gardner’s succession from a bunch of Theosophists who believed they were Margaret Murray type witches in a previous life (well, I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, to be honest!); when I already have an initiatic succession from two of the greatest magicians of the 20th century? What Crowley lacked in virtue is amply supplied by our highly ethical DF and what she may have lacked in magical confidence is balanced by Crowley’s unshakable conviction that he did in fact have real “magickal” power. Neither mage, of course, chose to identify as witches, though apparently Crowley did claim to have been initiated into the “Pickingill Craft” (Traditional Witchcraft) as a young man. Crowley also had a considerable influence on the development of Wicca, the Wiccan liturgy in particular, to such an extent in fact that Professor Ronald Hutton, the great historian of Wicca, even went so far as to suggest that Crowley could be considered "the God-father of Wicca". I would add that if Crowley were the God-father of Wicca then surely Dion Fortune may be considered the God-mother, as her novels in particular were a great inspiration for that first generation of Wiccans. The lineages we have received, therefore, from these two greatest magicians of the 20th century, in combination, form a strong strand of initiatory power which we might refer to as "proto-Garderian" for without the influence of Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley, Wicca would have been very different , if indeed it existed at all. ![]() However, even possessing as we do that tactile esoteric succession from both Crowley and Fortune, one might legitimately ask, if the intent of the rite is not also vital in passing on whatever supernatural power may be invoked? In the case of a sacramental succession in an esoteric Christian context the intention was clearly to pass on Christian or Gnostic episcopacy rather than a magical lineage, and especially not a witch lineage (as few, if any, of DF’s era had really thought of that yet), however, I can only appeal to my personal gnosis to explain how having a tangible connection with both Crowley and DF can provide a servicable Wiccan lineage. The Laying on of Hands in the context of an episcopal consecration - the intention of which is always to channel supernatural energy - appears to create a link like a telephone wire or a computer connection, not only between the consecrator and the candidate, but also with every other participant in the lineage, past and future. Once the crown chakra has been opened and the energy poured into the candidate that individual is forever linked energetically to all of the others, both living and departed, in the lineage. One might also compare it to the reception of DNA from ones ancestors and passed on to ones descendents. In my experience, once physically and spiritually installed, a line of succession can then be activated as a channel of communication between the members of the lineage. Since I became aware of my already installed Church of the Grail line, it has been thus activated and utilised to connect with the members of that lineage, most especially DF, in developing our Avalonian work. ![]() The Guild of the Master Jesus (later called the Church of the Grail) was always close to her heart and I am sure that now, from her vantage point in the world of Spirit, she is thrilled to see us using the rituals and meditations again, but I also feel she is very comfortable with Avalonian Druidcraft, as there was ever a part of her which yearned for a true experience of Paganism, and surely if it is Paganism with the atmosphere of her beloved Avalon, so much the better. Passing on in 1946, DF was a potent influence on that first generation of post war Wiccans and I really feel in my blood and bones that she is quite comfortable with the idea of White Witchcraft in a devotional and magical context, though being the devout Anglican she was, it would be essential to “keep it clean”. Obviously she would have nothing to do with the increasing prevalence of various shades of grey and even black in today’s Wiccan world, just as she kept a prudent distance from Crowley’s amorality. ![]() One might observe, however, that Wiccan initiation is not just about receiving a lineage, it is also about the initiatory experience itself. I have to agree to a certain extent, as I have been fortunate to receive about twelve "Regular" Masonic degrees, plus all the Memphis Misraim degrees, and six Rosicrucian and four Martinist grades in person, so I have experienced esoteric initiations, and as a result truly know myself to be a Mason, Rosicrucian and Martinist, even if a sporadic practitioner in each of them at this stage. The Masonic experience, however, is of historical importance to us in the Wiccan context as several of the members of the Witch Cult that initiated Gardner were Co-masons and Gardner himself was also a Freemason. Consequently Wiccan ritual bears the Masonic imprint, both from the New Forest Coven and from the Ordo Templi Orientis rituals which Gardner obtained from Crowley. My own Masonic first and third degrees. in particular, were extremely formative for my identity as an initiate, much more so than my three OBOD self-initiations I have to admit, so I do believe that the initiatory experience in a group context is unique and can be particularly powerful, however, the fact is that it is not always possible for people to be initiated by another individual or group. Observing this problem back in 1974 Raymond Buckland, himself a Gardnerian initiate, was inspired to start Seax-Wica, which provides for both solitary self-dedication and group initiation rituals and this is the model we have found most servicable for Avalonian Druidcraft. A ceremony of initiation can be useful in many ways, primarily as a trigger for interior initiation, but the power of initiation actually comes from the Divine, for as DF reminds us, “All the Gods are one God and all the Goddesses are one Goddess, and there is One Initiator”. Recently, a friend brought me a present of some homemade cheese presented on a beautiful saucer edged with a pink rose pattern. Pink roses have actually been a recurring pattern since I had afternoon tea with Auntie Vi in Chalice Orchard on a shamanic journey last spring, so whenever pink roses or peonies appear I know that DF is close by. I am thankful, not only for the initiatory lineages which help us form a connection with the Elders of our tradition, but equally I am thankful for the training I received many years ago in Spiritualist mediumship and Celtic shamanism, that are so essential to our particular way of magical working. Now, after more than four decades of wondering about Wiccan initiation, and thanks both to Philip Carr-Gomm's vision of Druidcraft and our own existing lineages, I have found the confidence to call myself a "Druidic Wiccan" and have equal confidence that our initiations in the Avalonian Tradition are truly connected and as good as any other. Our tradition may be not be to everyone’s taste, but it is our tradition and we can be proud of it. Blessed Be! Find us on MeWe! © Tau Blaise, 2021
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