We seek to serve the folk soul of these islands and in consequence all that folk soul has touched from antiquity to the present time.   To do this we believe that we must not only aspire to the heights of heaven but also enter the ancient deep. For we further believe that in this may be found a true understanding of Soul, of Self, of the many dimensions with which we share creation, and of the creator, by whatever name.  Accordingly, our work encompasses both the pagan and Judeo-Christian mysteries. That is, the mysteries of the Great Goddess and the good earth, as well as the Christian ethos and its roots and mythos embodied in such symbols as  the Qabalistic Tree of Life and the Holy Grail.  For Avalon, rightly understood,  represents a drawing together of the many and diverse sacred threads embodied in all the great mystery traditions of the west.

The apparent gathering together of many of those threads in the ancient southwest of what is now England has created a tendency for Avalon to be solely associated with Glastonbury. As the historical focus of the happy collision of so many mystery traditions in one location, Glastonbury certainly enshrines a unique spiritual history. Ancient spirituality has hung in the airs of the place from the early Bronze Age through the Romano-Celtic epoch. This carried through in its fostering of British Christianity and the subsequent pagan-Christian hybrid of the Arthurian and Grail myths, the latter of which incorporated motifs of mystical Islam. Indeed the drawing together of so many sacred themes from these ancient seeds at Glastonbury is in itself  an essential feature of the concept we call Avalon. Consequently Glastonbury has become the place where the British folk soul, and the folk souls of more recent nations that sprang from it, have so often felt closest to their spiritual roots. Down the centuries a succession of priests and priestesses, saints, mystics and teachers, both pagan and Christian, have nurtured those roots and endowed Glastonbury as “the holiest earthe in England.”

 In the early twentieth century, Glastonbury experienced an influx of people who have since been called Avalonians, including such celebrated esotericists as Dion Fortune, William Sharp, Wellesley Tudor Pole, and Frederick Bligh Bond. Bond was himself influenced by a medieval Company of Avalon, a group of seemingly discarnate monks from Glastonbury Abbey. Through automatic writing, they revealed to him the esoteric secrets hidden within its archaeology. It is from the work of William Sharp, Bligh Bond, and especially Dion Fortune that this present Company of Avalon has evolved. Both Mike Harris and Steve Blamires, as initiates of this present lodge, stand in direct descent from the magical fraternity founded by Dion Fortune at Glastonbury. Yet Avalon is essentially an inner place, to which no person or physical place may lay especial claim. 

Afallen, the Welsh word from which Avalon perhaps derives, may be found in the Afallenau poems which were collated, along with other verses, in the thirteenth century Black Book of Carmarthen.  These poems describe the experiences of Mirddyn (Merlin) in what is now the Scottish lowlands of Celyddon, and seem to allude to the prophetic gifts of the Avalon inner state.  Parallel Welsh sources in the Mabinogi and Taliesin literature also mention Arthur and Gwyn ap Nudd (both later associated with Glastonbury) and journeys into the underworld of Annwn. But the concept of Arthur and Annwn and of Merlin’s related inner place of Avalonian apple trees and prophecy almost certainly reflect a lost mythological tradition common to the pre-Celtic peoples of these islands – and even their contemporaries in the ancient Mediterranean world – long before they were written down.   

Essential to Merlin’s and Arthur’s otherworld experiences is the mediation of feminine powers, who often appear in this literature as Faerie women with now familiar names like Guinevere, the Lady of the Lake, Morgen, Ceridwen and Arianrhod. Each of these, and others, display the otherworld characteristics of a Gwraig Annwn (partner of the deep) from Welsh mythology. Their teaching, healing and, ultimately, transformative roles embody the very raison d’etre of Avalon. Perhaps the most redoubtable of these was however Brighid, pagan goddess and Celtic Christian saint, in which latter role she became an integral part of the Glastonbury mythology. For a western civilisation whose spirituality is still overshadowed by the institutions of patriarchal religion, this conceptualisation of the divine feminine provides, as it has always done, a necessary counter-balance. 

Such factors serve to show that whilst The Company of Avalon attributes due reverence to both Glastonbury and earlier “Celtic” expression of this concept in the ancient west, it is the timeless, yet currently relevant, understanding of Avalon as an inner state which we seek to mediate, rather than specific times or places in its illustrious history.

Our objectives are mystical, but the means by which we seek to achieve them are magical. We therefore pursue the disciplines of  contemplation and meditation and seek their expression through the working of ritual magic. We also aim to train others in these disciplines, which necessitate an understanding of such varied subjects as Star Lore, Qabalah, Sacred Geometry, Divination, Astrology and Spiritual Alchemy as well as the study of our native, Celtic spirituality and magic, and the mythology which underpins its practice.  The Avalon tradition is, as we have stated, a drawing together of many threads, from Angelic to Faery, from Arthurian to “Atlantean”, from Celtic to ancient Egyptian.  In this it may resemble Celtic knot-work, but for all that, it is by no means exclusively “Celtic”. Since prehistoric times, the British folk soul has both borrowed from and informed other mythologies and cultures. The great mystery religions of the ancient Middle East provide but one example of this. We seek to make this universality clear in both our own practice and in the instruction of our students.

 We have no political or religious affiliation, for it is not the task of any mystery school to promote either political or religious dogma.  These things are for the discernment of the individual as a conscientious member of the society to which he or she belongs, but have no place within the fellowship of the Mysteries. In terms of spirituality, we embrace the elements of relevant traditions for what we consider to be their spiritual merit, not their exoteric dogma. We believe, for example that distinction needs to be drawn between, on the one hand, the ethos and mythos of “revealed” religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and the patriarchal dogmas that these faiths seek to impose. Equally, we would point to the distinctions between native pagan spirituality and magic, and the dogmas and prejudices of modern neo-paganism. The Mysteries, rightly understood, enlist what is of value to spiritual evolution and have no place for the limiting negatives, neo-pagan, Christian or other, which dogma implies.  

The Company of Avalon is structured upon the traditional format of most “contacted” lodges in the Western Mystery Tradition. It must however be said that such structures should be regarded in the light of their suitability for service, and as with all temporal human institutions, are not be viewed as being forever set in stone. The willingness to adapt to inner initiatives must always be paramount for any lodge which claims to be “contacted”. Contacted lodges are those who operate inner-outer alliances and who, through inner co-operation, are deemed competent to conduct relevant magical work, and to instruct and initiate others for that work’s continuance. 

Lodges are ruled by a Magus or Magi, who must be initiates of the “Greater Mysteries”. The Magus of a lodge has overall responsibility for all magical work and instruction, and he or she is the ultimate arbiter in any matters of policy, dispute or discipline  Greater Mystery initiates are those who, in the nomenclature of the mysteries, have reached the standing of Adeptus Minor or above. Such initiates carry forward a “magical lineage”, generally from the earlier lodges, which trained and initiated them. Both Mike Harris and Steve Blamires can claim such a lineage through their own initiator, who received his initiation from the Society of the Inner Light. That Society was founded by Dion Fortune, after her own initiation in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The present Magus of this Lodge is Mike Harris.  

We offer no guarantees of spiritual enlightenment or of initiation (implying such enlightenment) and we recognise that “our way” is by no means the only way in which the Mysteries may be served or spiritual enlightenment furthered. We are neither a cult nor a corporation and are bound by shared spiritual aspiration rather than by contract. 

Our aim is to invite all those who feel called to the Western Mystery Tradition and the vision of Avalon to an extraordinary, life-changing journey of transformation, and to this end, we offer practical and spiritual keys. It is, inevitably, up to the individual to use those keys in wisdom and in love to open the doors to knowledge of Soul, Self and the many dimensions with which we share creation. The Company of Avalon perceives Avalon as a mystical goal that can be realised and served through the practice of magic, the primary technique of spiritual training in the Western Mystery Tradition. As we are aware of people’s different stages of interest and involvement in these Mysteries, we offer three levels of participation:

                      which may be followed through:

 Articles and  books that we publish  www.ritemagic.co.uk

Seminars and Workshops

We also offer occasional sacred tour facilities to sacred sites 

(enquire  harrisavalon@btinternet.com) .  

The training we offer is primarily geared to service in this lodge, but should well equip anyone who

aspires to serve in any lodge of the Western Mystery Tradition or indeed as a lone initiate.A one-year supervised correspondence course is offered for anyone who aspires to the attainmentof the necessary knowledge and magical experience, giving a good grounding in theory and practicefor both self development and magical service.  Students will receive individual supervision by postor email The course is offered in computer data CD (PDF format) and covers the key subjects andtechniques of Western occultism..

Satisfactory completion of the course is acknowledged by the award of a registered certificate.

A training in the advanced magical arts for those who wish to join the Company of Avalon and pursue the path of

initiation into its Mysteries. The training falls into three overlapping areas typical of the Western Mystery Tradition:

Occult knowledge , Elemental Power, Mystical awareness. Eligibility will depend upon either the satisfactory completion

of the correspondence course and/or previous experience of practical magic and  spiritual endeavour,  gauged at a

personal interview in either the UK or USA.  Candidates for initiation will undertake advanced work and training,

plus attend regular residential meetings in North Wales and elsewhere.

We are tasked, with others, to build a spiritual bridge between the world of our times and the world which can be, and which is implicit in the inner concept of Avalon.

Our mission is to encourage, inform, recruit and train all who may share this aspiration and are willing to work with us, and with those celebrated Avalonians of other days, who continue to inspire and guide us to that end.

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© Mike Harris / Company of Avalon, 2008