Gwyn ap Nudd
Ancient British God & Hero
When we are lost we may seek direction. We may use a map, ask another, or put our trust in a compass. As it is the lack of knowledge that necessitates sourcing information, we can feel as lost in our state of mind as if physically misplaced. To attain the information we would benefit from, therefore, can open a blocked path and help us move on.
We impart information by word of mouth and may use books and internet search engines to meet our requirements. As there are many ways to source information we might find it relatively easy to ascertain what we want to know and within a fairly short time. However, when information was scarce and reliance on another was not always dependable, a person who could teach or show the way was not only useful but might be entrusted with lives.
As the ancient British Death God, Gwyn ap Nudd was a guide for the dead to the Underworld (the Afterlife), his role as a psychopomp was to escort the newly-deceased from one state of being to another. In Jungian psychology a similar definition of this role is applied to our unconscious realms in their relation to each other. The term appertaining to that which can bridge the unconscious with the conscious is referred to as an element and in dreams this can be symbolically personified as someone wise or kind. Whether it is a person or an unusually helpful animal, the factors for our dreaming may be we have reached a crossroads in our lives and require assistance!
Therefore as we can be lost and welcome being guided, we can be guides to each other. To bridge any differences we have may free our cluttered life paths. The reward for our self development may be a less hindered route towards achieving our potential.
As you proceed with this part of the Gwynvyd Method you will work with Gwyn, the Guide to discover what the concept of being lost means to you. To begin, you will:
1. complete a task with no assistance.
2. answer a series of questions honestly.
As the work you do is personal to your development it must be undertaken personally. The questions that are asked of you must therefore be asked of yourself.
The Task:
Your task is divided into two sections, to understand the second you must complete the first.
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Please follow this brief guide around Glastonbury:
Glastonbury,
formerly known as Ynys Witrin (the Isle of Glass) is in the county of
Somerset, South West England. One of its reasons for being a centre for
ritual observation for thousands of years is that it is mystically presided
over by a Tor that
some believe
is still the entrance to the Celtic Underworld.
Amongst the
first people to occupy Glastonbury were the Celtic Druids who used it as one
of their locations for a perpetual choir, that which made music 24 hours a
day every day of the year. At that time the sea was nearer and the land was
virtually marsh and boggy. Ynys Witrin would have appeared as a small
cluster of islands rising above the submerged Somerset Levels. It would have
been a remote spot to have visited, possibly explaining why it became used
for sacred ritual.
On arriving at
Glastonbury, drive to the town centre and head for Magdalen Street where
there is a pay car park. From here walk to Glastonbury Abbey which is also
off Magdalen Street. As you enter the grounds you will see a chapel which
allegedly marks the site of
Joseph of Arimathea's original church and the first above-ground
purpose-built church in Christendom. As Glastonbury is the only place with a
claim to King Arthur's grave, it was supposedly found in the Abbey cemetery
by two monks. As you walk around what are now ruins observe the arches which
are Romanesque (half round) and the Gothic Arch
which
came later. It is made with the top half of a vesica pisces, a sacred
symbol, which you will come across again later.
Because
Glastonbury was the birthplace of Celtic Christianity, it grew to be a
powerful site of pilgrimage that after Henry VIII had created the Anglican
Church, caused him to take over the Abbey's land. After accusing the Abbot
of theft of a chalice, Abbot Whiting was hanged on the Tor and his body was
divided into four pieces that were displayed in four different areas of the
country. The Abbey was left to fall into ruin.
Before
you leave the Abbey grounds note that part of the structure is inscribed
with the date 1909. This was the mark of the Church Architect, Frederick
Bligh Bond, who was hired by the Anglican Church to do some excavations.
He found the Egg Stone in the Edgar Chapel, a building behind the High
Altar, and recognised that it was of pagan value. As the Anglican Church
decided it wasn't to be removed, it was discretely placed behind the Abbot's
Kitchen.
Leaving
the Abbey grounds and walking down Magdalen Street to Fisher's Hill you will
to the end where the road joins Bere Lane and turn left. Walk along it until
Bere Lane joins with Chilkwell Street and then crossing over road, turn
right to walk a short distance before you will find the Challice Well
Gardens on your left, just before Well House Lane.
Here in these beautiful gardens you will discover why spiritual pilgrims of
all kinds have come since the waters of the well were known for healing.
Because the water is red its first sacred association was with the Earth
Mother. Believe to be bloodied by her menstrual blood, the spring was
believed to be life giving. Hence it is known as the Red Spring or the Blood
Spring.
At
the base of the Glastonbury Tor and within the Gardens there is what is
called the Lion's Head. A stone headed lion marks the spot where pilgrims
can drink the waters. Above it is a scion of the Holy Thorn Tree (Crateagus
Monogyna Praecox) that allegedly Joseph of Arimathea brought from the Holy
Land. This is a special thorn because in late October and early November,
the Celtic time of death and rebirth, the tree bears berries and flowers.
At
the bottom of the garden is a vesica pisces shaped pool that has Chalice
Well water flowing in to it at different levels. The vesica pisces is a
symbol in which the circumference of one circle goes through the centre of
another that is identical size. The area in the middle is the vesica. Before
you leave the gardens have a good look at the lid on the Chalice Well. Here
is another vesica pisces which was designed by Frederick Bligh Bond, the
same architect who worked on the Abbey.
As
you leave the Gardens to now walk towards the Tor, reflect on the fact that
the waters have never been known to fail. The Springs, both White and Red,
were the only sources to have kept working through the drought of 1921 -22.
Today, 25,000 gallons of water still gushes up to the surface.
From
Well House Lane you can begin your climb up Glastonbury's Tor. A tor
actually means a natural hill but for some, Glastonbury Tor is a three
dimensional labyrinth or a hill that was purposely and structurally added
to. The
Tor,
associated with King Arthur, St Michael and the ancient British deity Gwyn
ap Nudd, rises from the Somerset Levels to a height of 158m. It is
formed of almost horizontal layers of Jurassic rock and the Lower Lias and
Middle Lias silts and clays are overlaid by Upper Lias clays, capped by
harder Midford sands known as Tor Burrs. Archaeology suggests that the land
was originally open to communal farming but following enclosure in the 18th
century, small fields were formed and hedgerows developed. Paths and
gateways were cut through these to give access to lynchets, the farmed
terraces on the Tor itself. Excavations conducted in 1964-66 revealed
a Neolithic axe head, 5-7th Century AD timber structures, metal-working
hearths, pits with animal bones and two north/south aligned graves. A
wheel-headed cross, ovens and cells, provided 9-12th Century evidence of
a Christian settlement and monastery, possibly linking the Tor to
Glastonbury Abbey. Interpretations of the Tor and its terraces have
included an entrance to the Celtic Underworld, a labyrinth, a Romano-British
temple, a stronghold or look-out of a local chieftain and a foresight for
astronomical observation. In the 13th century an early church was
destroyed in an earthquake. It was replaced in the 14th century by a chapel
dedicated to St Michael and this stood until Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the
Monasteries in 1539. All that remains now, of which you can see, is the
tower.
As
you descend the Tor back and return to Well House Lane, return back up
Chilkwell Street and continue walking pass the old Abbey Walls until you
reach the top end of High Street. This is the main shopping faire for
Glastonbury, containing old pubs, cafes with gardens, book shops and
spiritual shops to meet the need of any persuasion. Take you time to browse
and if you wish have a tea or coffee break. When you are ready to return to
your car, you can walk to the other end of High Street which links to the
top end of Magdalen Street. Walk down it and on your left you will find the
pay car park.
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As the above guide gave you a brief glimpse of Glastonbury, you are now to provide a similar guide for another. You can base your guide on where you live or a city/town which is familiar to you. What do you find interesting about it?
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Historically
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Religiously
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Architecturally
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Anything else?
Create a route that encompasses facts of interest and consider what you would find helpful to know if you were not aware of where you were going. Allow yourself time to think about this. If you can make the time to do so, walk the route and observe how long it might take. Your guide can be as brief or as long as you wish. Remember the objective of the information you provide is to assist another. To assist you in your objectivity you might go ahead and ask yourself now any one or all of these five questions:
1. Am I guided?
Do you listen to others? Do you accept positive criticism?
You may be in a position to receive helpful information from a parent, and if you are in employment it may be from your employer. As our parents role is to nurture us, the purpose of appraisals at work are to ascertain our strengths and assist us with our difficulties. Could you assist your guide in that you ask them useful questions? Could you be more willing to make a greater effort?
As we master new skills we become our own masters.
2. Am I a guide?
Do you intervene when you see someone struggling? Would you stop what you are doing to assist another?
We can be aware of our own strengths and abilities and know that we are in a strong position to help another. If we have been helped by others in the past we may value an opportunity to do the same. Could you attain more skills to assist another? Could you use what abilities you have to assist someone who’s lost?
As the blind can lead the blind, a guide may show the guided.
3. Do I think all guides are good guides?
Do you think a little help is better than none? Would you only offer help if you could offer accurate information?
We can think what little we do may be more than enough when compared to efforts of others, however if we fail to offer quality we may fail who we would help and by our poor efforts, fail ourselves. Could you allow more time for others by spending less time on yourself? Could you be more depended on to provide more helpful information?
When we lose our credibility we gain nothing that is real.
4. Should I always guide others?
Do you think everyone needs assistance? Do you readily offer help but feel you shouldn't?
If someone has asked for our help we are in a stronger position to assist knowing it is wanted, however, not everyone requires guidance as there are those who need to guide themselves. Could you watch over someone and only assist if necessary? Could you offer assistance in that you could be turned to if required?
By pulling together we are stronger, but in trying alone we find our own strengths.
5. Am I worried about helping?
Do you think you would be rebuffed if you went to help another? Do you think if you managed to help your efforts would be wasted?
We can be deterred in our effort to help if we have experienced a rude response in the past, however as we can never know what has fuelled a poor attitude in another we may be failing to assist someone who really needs us. Could you offer positive effort and not value negativity? Could you give yourself thanks and not expect someone to say it?
To pass on bad behaviour might pass it on and on.
Well done! You may continue to enlarge on your guide providing additional useful information or you can return to this area again late. Alternatively, you can now enter another area of the Gwynvyd Method.
Reference Sources/Links