Favourite Watery Places

The Chalice Well in Glastonbury

The Chalice Well has always been a special place to visit with its beautiful red spring water and its lovely relaxing gardens.  But at this time of the year when we are in the season of Cerridwen, Mother of Water, it becomes an even more significant place to be.  The water there is red because it is mixed with minerals deep in the Earth and this red colour reminds us of the Mother when She gives birth.  Cerridwen gave birth to three magical children and they would have been held in Her womb, in Her amniotic fluid and birthed in Her blood.  As the Mother of Water, She is the life force that flows through us all, washing, clearing and refreshing all that is stale and stagnant.

When I first started coming to Glastonbury the Chalice Well was an obvious place to visit and I have had many magical experiences there.  The sound of flowing water is very relaxing and opens the senses to otherworldly experiences.  The two huge Yew trees are also representative of Cerridwen in Her Initiatrix season as they are trees of death and rebirth.

Springs have been sacred for thousands of years.  Fresh water that gushes straight out of the earth is a gift from the Goddess and people have worshipped at these sites since before history began.  Early humans instinctively knew that springs were magical and I cannot believe they would ever have taken these sources of fresh water for granted.  I believe that early humans had a much more special relationship with the world around them where they saw everything as sacred.  Every drop of water, every pebble, every plant was sacred to them.  

I think it is when we lost this connection to the sacredness of life that we began to see the earth and the water as something that was just there for us to exploit as we wished.  If we could all find our way back to seeing all the earth and water as sacred again then we could save the planet and all the life on it.  But that is only my opinion.

The Chalice Well is a reminder of the beauty of natural spring water and the magic that it holds.  Like Cerridwen herself, it holds the ability to transform us, if we just open our hearts to its power.

 

Janet Parfitt

Glastonbury, UK

Janet Parfitt is a Priestess of the Goddess and a Priestess of Cerridwen.  She has also written three books, is a professional Tarot Reader, a soul healer and a qualified funeral Celebrant.  She is a regular Melissa in the Glastonbury Goddess Temple and with Bee Helygen, takes part in the Dark Moon Rituals at every new moon.