It has now been 2 years since I arrived in Glastonbury. Life is still full of magic, but this year was more stressful.
My life revolves around the White Spring and my Water Priestess work and I couldn’t be happier. It is honestly a dream come true, and sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe it is real!
This year brought beautiful connections with so many people. I feel as if I have a real community in both the White Spring Team and my Water Priestess communities. Several of my students came to Glastonbury this year and I got to meet them face-to-face!
I completed a full turn on the Wheel of the Year Rituals at the White Spring. It has been an honor to hold a ceremony for the community at the White Spring. Each one seems to bring a different energy. Sometimes they are serious, sometimes they are fun! Sometimes they are incredibly powerful I can feel the magic of the place vibrating through my very being.
I also began gathering the Women of the Well to wild harvest local plants from the hedgerows to decorate the seasonal altar inside the White Spring. When I first began volunteering, I noticed it was never dressed according to the season. I wanted to change this, and now we gather a few days before the Sabbat to decorate the altar for visitors. We also created a Wickerman for Lugnasadh, carved pumpkins for Samhain, and more! Click here to read about an experience I had at the Summer Solstice Seasonal Shrine!
Water brought me a few beautiful friends from Wales who have nourished and enriched my life this year in ways I can’t even begin to explain. It was as if the water brought us together, and as soon as we met, it was like we had known each other for years. We have several fun projects in the works for 2025. You will be seeing a lot of them in my social media sphere moving forward.
I spent my days off in Rose Gardens, hunting for fossils on the Jurassic coast, exploring standing stones, burial mounds, and most importantly waterways and caves!
It’s not all spring water and roses though. I am still finding it hard to transition from rural life in Oregon to a very busy village life. I am not used to the hustle and bustle. It can be very overwhelming to me. I also put way too much on my plate this year! Which resulted in burnout.
Chalice Orchard has gone through massive renovations as well. We completed rebuilding the back portion of the building. The part that was falling apart and was hazardous to even walk in. We completed renovations of the “Sleeping Shed” which is now my Magical Space. We suffered through a new roof, patching numerous leaks, a chimney renovation, and are currently renovating the bathroom.
I presented at the Glastonbury Goddess Conference this year! If I could go back in time and tell my baby Priestess self this I would never believe it! I got to reunite with Priestesses I haven’t seen in years! My best friend came to visit me to visit Avalon during the conference. It was probably the highlight of my year, experiencing the Goddess Conference and Avalon with her.
Every single person in my life is magical. It is a bit strange to be so immersed in magical spaces but Glastonbury isn’t really home to non-magical folks. I’ve got more trusted people in my circle than ever before and that is beautiful.
When I first moved to Glastonbury I thought I would climb the Tor every day. The first year I think I went up less than 5 times. This year I set out to go up every day. I did not quite achieve that. However, I have climbed up the Tor 92 times since January 1st, 2024. I set out to climb it every single day but only made it up 92 times. It is still quite an achievement!
I have visited Dion Fortunes’s grave several times. My favorite is when my friend Agnes and I planted a rosemary bush under the full moon in the dark. Well truthfully she planted it, I held the flashlight.
I also traveled to Brean Down with my Husband and another couple to perform the Sea Priestess Ritual on the Full Moon. The first time counts as practice. The tide came in so fast that we had to pick up and run in the middle of the ritual to avoid getting soaked. The 2nd time we did much better. We learned the trickiness of the tide on this particular beach and could really feel the power of the ritual we performed. Unfortunately at the very end, the tide did get us. We have a plan for the 3rd time!
It has been a beautiful 2nd year here in Glastonbury. It was full of ups and downs. It has been magical and exhausting, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!