This greensand spear head is placed within the heart in the following way: The spear or Wand is the True Will. The Eagle flies from Glaston, bringing the Heart Grail to unite with Wand. Also, the site of the spear head is within the heart area of the large Eagle surrounding Shaston. When this union of Will and Heart is gained, then Love is the Law, Love united with Will.
In pre-Christian times, the Priest who conducted the ritual here was known as the Master of the Cauldron. The Cauldron is the Ark's Pot of Manna, or the equivalent to the Grail in our terms. In Early Saxon times, this Cauldron Master lived at the foot of the greensand hill. Very little is visible today, but the site of this Master's residence is marked on the Blue 1:25,000 Shaftesbury Ordnance Survey map and is known as Anketil's Place. We can imagine the Cauldron Master purifying his or her self here in preparation for the ascent of the Hill. He would take the Stave or Wand of Aaron and climb to the Summit of Castle Hill and Invoke the waters of Life. I feel that this was done at least once a year, if not more often, around May Day. In our New Aeon, this Ritual should be done at anytime of the year by as many individuals who are inspired to do so.
What ever happened to the Egyptian Wand? It may have translated onto the invisible planes. The Byzant, which can be seen today, is the present physical symbol for this ancient Wand. Whether any parts of this Byzant are recycled bits from more ancient Shaston Wands, I do not know. What is important is what the Wand stands for - the True Will in Action... When the Magickian first begins to work at Mastering the True Will, the Wand is a useful external symbol for focus of effort and attention. By the time the adept has evolved to Chokmah-Neptune, the sphere of the Magus of the Wand, his or her wand has become invisible. This simply means that the True Will is clear and active and in Mastery of the Binah Grail - a physical Wand isn't really needed anymore. The Magus has united his or her self with the Foundation Word of the Aeon so that the Wand-Will of Self and Aeon is One. The Key Image of this New Aeon is the Immortal Child, and this Child's Aeon-Word is Everlasting Life!
A quote from my 1986 book, Voyage to Avalon:
1989 is the year when the Glastonbury/Mount Shasta and Glastonbury-Shaftesbury magick culminates and reaches alchemical balance. It is the year that the Wand of Merlin fertilizes the Holy Grail.
There is a connection between Mount Shasta, the global base chakra, and Shaftesbury. The raw energies unleashed from Shasta in the 60's and 70's have had to pass through the Omega Point eye of the needle at Glastonbury in 1984 and now expand their sacred geometries through Shaftesbury in the 90's. It is only when the Shasta energies reach Shaston that they assume truly useful forms.
As I have said elsewhere, New Jerusalem is a planetary Omega Sphere. There are now 12 main Gates opening around this World Sphere. Each of these 12 is a traditional sacred site of pilgrimage. These are the 12 Sacred Wombs giving birth to the Immortal Child of the Aeon. One Child has 12 mothers and when the Child is fully born, a mystic 13th Gate opens in Russia. It is interesting that King Edward, who was buried at Shaston, is often shown with a youthful countenance, falcon, cup in one hand and sceptre in the other. This is an exact emblem of the Eagle, Grail, Wand, and the elixir of eternal youth - the major symbols of this Prophecy...
A portion of the ceremonial path from Anketil's Place to the summit of the Hill is still in use. It is the oldest known route up the Hill and is called Stoney Path.
Another route up the Hill sounds pretty alchemical: Up Gold Hill, past the site of the Sun & Moon Inn (to balance yin-yang) and then on to the Summit of Castle Hill. Stop in and tune into the Byzant on the Way up Gold Hill - it is in the Museum.
This strong link overlays another cultural spear pattern on Shaston. The Spear of Odin blends in here. As Shaftesbury awakens over the next decade, benefits shall flow into the above-named nations. We have already seen this in the Baltic nations.
Odin's Spear, Gungnir, is identical to the Grail legend Christian spear. Instead of the Spear of Destiny misdirected into Christ's side on the cross, we have, in Norse myth, the god hung on the Tree of Life, Yggdrasill, with his side wounded by a spear. The choice is always the same, do we direct the Wand or Spear of Will toward Life and Peace or to death and war? The most famous quality of Gungnir was that it never missed its mark. This is of course, the symbol of the True Will of the Magus in action. The recent interest in casting the runes has sparked a greater awareness of Norse and Teutonic myths. Odin is considered the first Rune Master.
Much could be written here on runes. There are runes for spears and for cauldrons and runes for various spiritual principles. I shall leave such research to others and will mention a related matter. The sacred sites of Britain receive a primal current coming down from the north - what I would term the Hyperborean Energy. This ancient force comes through 2 gateways, one yin and one yang. The male Hyperborean Gate is at the Callanish Stone Circle on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides. Merlin is the Guardian of this Gate. The female Gateway is on the main island of Orkney. This is the complex including the Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Maes Howe, a stone chamber. Morgan le Fay is the Guardian of this female Hyperborean Gate. Maes Howe is her sacred home. And it is here at this site in Orkney that the Rune and Viking connection is at its strongest. I would advise anyone who would like to go deeper into Norse Magick to spend some time in the Orkneys in deep meditation. The interplay between Odin and Morgan le Fey is a powerful one!
Merlin is Wand Master, Morgan is Grail Queen. If we turn to tarot we are given an insight into the initial Shaston events. The Ace of Wands is the essential Form of the Tree of Life and is the card of the spring equinox. The Ace of Cups is the essential form of the Holy Grail and is the card of the summer solstice. Thus the period from the spring equinox to the summer solstice sees the annual wedding of Glaston and Shaston.
Also, the lovely Anglo-Saxon herb garden is not to be missed. Only those herbs which were used for healing in Anglo-Saxon times are grown here. A list of the herbs and their qualities is available from the Abbey shop.