Wednesday 18 April 2018

Only in Glastonbury by Lu Hersey


Since moving a couple of weeks ago, I feel I now live in the country, even though Glastonbury is actually a small town. But compared to Bristol, it’s country - and not just any piece of country. This is the heart of Avalon, land of myth and legend. As a self-proclaimed writer of myth-based, kitchen sink paranormal fiction, I thought coming here might be a positive move.

The day I picked up the keys to the house, this photo appeared on Google Earth. It’s of me and my friend Laura Daligan (the only person I knew in Glastonbury before moving here). An acquaintance of Laura's had posted it on her facebook page, having recognised her in the picture.


You may notice there’s something very odd about it. Laura and I are simultaneously at the side of the road, and in the middle of the road – in the same photo. Which possibly proves Schrodinger’s cat could actually be dead and alive at the same time (or hopefully, alive in two different places). 

By odd coincidence, I noticed today's Robert Macfarlane’s word of the day on twitter is 'fetch' - meaning  the distance a wave can travel unobstructedly, but also used to mean the wraithe, or double of a living person. Perhaps an alternative explanation for the photo is that Laura and I have ‘fetches’, or doppelgangers...

The same day I saw the Google Earth photo, artist friend Keone sent me an image of the painting I'd commissioned for my new home. I’d left the subject matter up to him, knowing that he would dream something interesting. I just wasn't expecting something so completely extraordinary.


It's an awe-inspiring vision of a powerful (and slightly terrifying) goddess of Avalon rising above Glastonbury Tor. And yes, gobbling the tower. And, er, possibly displaying her cosmic vagina. Don’t get me wrong, I love the painting – I'm just learning this landscape is more powerful than I realised.

In an attempt to get a more serious background to life in the town, I started reading an old English Heritage book on Glastonbury. It turned out to be a very dry, academic read, and the author was obviously no fan of myth or folklore. The only thing he had to say about all the local legends was that none of them could be proven and therefore they almost certainly weren’t true. In fact he went out of his way to rubbish them all, from the Abbey being King Arthur's last resting place, to the legend of Joseph of Arimathea's flowering staff, supposedly the original Glastonbury thorn. I got annoyed and gave up reading. Of course myths, like magic, are impossible to prove – but does that make them completely untrue?

I’d like to say Laura and I were searching for a portal to an alternate universe when the Google Earth picture was taken. Actually she was just showing me the short cut to Morrisons…

Magic is never how you expect it to be.

Lu Hersey
@LuWrites

9 comments:

Penny Dolan said...

Happy to hear that you've arrived at your new home and are settling into Glastonbury.
Maybe you're the one who'll be able to write the new & inspiring book of that magical, mystical place.

That's certainly a very powerful and different painting.

Steve Gladwin said...

Hi Lu, Hope you're as happy in the west country as I was. If you want to read a really good novel which combines the two Glastonbury's,(or maybe two of the many)then do try Phil Rickman's The Chalice. Also it can often feel like a different universe in Morrison's - in Glastonbury maybe even more so!

LuWrites said...

Thanks Penny, Ramshu and Steve - will track down The Chalice. And yes, Morrisons and the High Street are in different universes!

Anne Booth said...

I love this - the google earth picture is brilliant - and the very powerful painting! You definitely should have lots of inspiration in your new home!

Sue Bursztynski said...

I spent only two hours in Glastonbury when I visited England many years ago. It was the bus timetables, you see. My mum and I were staying in Bath.To get to Glastonbury we had to go via Wells(which was well worth the short visit, we got in a visit to the cathedral and its famous clock, as we waited for the connecting bus). We reached Glastonbury but by that time we had only two hours before the last bus returned to Wells, then back to Bath. Three in the afternoon! I did visit the ruins of the monastery, but couldn’t get to the Tor, which I badly wanted to visit. Lucky you, living there!

LuWrites said...

Thanks Anne - I hope so! And thanks Sue - Yes I feel very lucky to be living here now, even if I spend half the time commuting back to Bristol for work! Next time you come to England, go up the Tor - it gets a bit busy but the views are spectacular...

Andrew Preston said...

That shortcut from Magdalene St through to Morrisons is very handy. The nearby St Margaret's Chapel is very lovely. I never do the spiritual talk, but if I did, that for me might describe it.

Sue Purkiss said...

I hope you'll be very happy in Glastonbury, Lu. It's like nowhere else!

LuWrites said...

Thanks Sue - it's certainly like nowhere else, that's for sure :-) And thanks Andrew - I obvs need to explore more than the short cut to Morrisons...