Her Sacred Waters: Immersion in the White Spring

by: Jamie Michelle Waggoner
mythandmetaphor.wordpress.com

Inside the White Spring Temple of Glastonbury the light is dim, candles flickering from iron sconces on the stone walls. The sound of water is everywhere as it pours down from the walls, travels between pools, and runs along channels carved into the uneven floor. This is a holy place. Pilgrims and companions honor the calcium-rich waters of the large pool in the center of the room, touching the water gently with their fingertips … wading, whispering, singing and praying.

There is a deep immersion pool to the left of the large pool in the center. In this corner of the temple, a dark Madonna figure representing the Lady of Avalon is honored in a small alcove. Pilgrims may venture into this pool to immerse their whole body in the holy waters of the White Spring.

From the first touch on the skin, the water of the White Spring is crisp and sharp, chilling to the core. Three steps lead down from the retaining wall to the stone floor of the immersion pool; with each step, another part of the body numbs and tingles. The effect of the coldness is such that it forces a sudden intake of breath; the lungs responding as the heart begins to beat faster, pumping more warmth to combat the cold onslaught. It takes great courage to continue moving forward, down the steps, water swallowing first your ankles, then your knees, then your waist and finally your shoulders. Your sense of survival fights against you, tells you the frigid water is too dangerous for your frail body … but the call of the Goddess is strong in this sacred place, and another part of you – the bravest part, the truest part – compels you to keep moving into the deep. To trust. To give yourself over to Her.

Waters swirl around you. Your body quiets, the quivering of the flesh subsiding, as the Spirit of the White Spring fills you from within. Water piped directly from the belly of the Tor flows from the wall over your head. The sensation is one of being totally and fully alive, so alive that every cell in your body is vibrating, filled to overflowing with the Tanwen, the Holy White Fire. You realize that you have been asleep for so very long, until this moment, when you have been awakened in the Lady’s waters. You are not just close to the Source, you are the Source: a part of every drop that ever flowed from the spring, to the rivers, to the sea. This is the song of the Lady. A call to become your Higher Self. This is the power of Avalon.

Upon leaving the deep pool, your bones shiver and quake again, dancing up warmth for the flesh. You still feel the white flames within, at the core of you, for many hours after taking leave of this incredible place. Your skin glows, illuminated by the fire of Spirit. You are forever changed.

Photo credit: “Birdbath Mandala” by Laura Love

©2011, 2014 Jamie Michelle Waggoner.

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