Reflections on more than a decade of Avalonian Explorations

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 

Tau Blaise, Casa del Grial, 2024