Spirituality of Avalon

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The spirituality of Avalon is a spiritual concept postulated in Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel The Mists of Avalon and other novels of the so-called Avalon series. Albeit a product of fantasy fiction, set in a fictitious British past (partly on the titular Isle of Avalon), this spiritual path draws on modern paganism, such as Wicca, druidry and what is generally known as Goddess worship or Goddess spirituality/religion. [1] [2]

Marion Zimmer Bradley American novelist and editor

Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy, historical fantasy, science fiction, and science fantasy novels, and is best known for the Arthurian fiction novel The Mists of Avalon, and the Darkover series. While she is noted for her feminist perspective in her writing, her popularity has been posthumously marred by multiple accusations against her of child sexual abuse and rape by two of her children, Mark and Moira Greyland, and others.

<i>The Mists of Avalon</i> novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine, a priestess fighting to save her Celtic culture in a country where Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Gwenhwyfar, Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women of the Arthurian legend.

Avalon legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend

Avalon, sometimes written Avallon or Avilion, is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudo-historical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was taken to recover from his wounds after the Battle of Camlann. Avalon was associated from an early date with mystical practices and figures such as Morgan le Fay. It is traditionally identified as the former island of Glastonbury Tor.

Religious aspects of the Avalon series are discussed in The Spirituality of Avalon: The Religion of the Great Goddess in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon Cycle (2010) by J.S. Morgane, a book-length study of "the religion of the Great Mother as portrayed in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon books. By looking at the literary and archaeological background of the ancient, Neolithic, Celtic, Roman and Arthurian traditions the novels are set in, a close reading of the texts gives the reader the possibility to engage with the concept of the Goddess within the religion created in the Avalon cycle." [2]

A mother goddess is a goddess who represents, or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.

See also

Goddess movement modern revival of divine feminine or female-centered spirituality

The Goddess movement includes spiritual beliefs or practices which has emerged predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction to perceptions of predominant organized religion as male-dominated, and makes use of goddess worship and a focus on gender and femininity.

Witch-cult hypothesis

The witch-cult hypothesis is a discredited theory which proposes that the witch trials of the Early Modern period were an attempt to suppress a pre-Christian, pagan religion that had survived the Christianisation of Europe. According to its proponents, this witch-cult revolved around the worship of a Horned God of fertility whom the Christian persecutors referred to as the Devil, and whose members participated in nocturnal rites at the witches' Sabbath in which they venerated this deity.

The Triple Goddess has been adopted by many neopagans as one of their primary deities. In common Neopagan usage the three female figures are frequently described as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the Moon, and often rules one of the realms of earth, underworld, and the heavens. These may or may not be perceived as aspects of a greater single divinity. The Goddess of Wicca's duotheistic theology is sometimes portrayed as the Triple Goddess, her masculine consort being the Horned God.

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Isaac Bonewits Neopagan leader, author, and neo-druid priest

Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits was an American Neo-Druid who published a number of books on the subject of Neopaganism and magic. He was a public speaker, liturgist, singer and songwriter, and founder of the Neopagan organizations Ár nDraíocht Féin and the Aquarian Anti-Defamation League. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan, Bonewits had been heavily involved in occultism since the 1960s.

Modern Paganism group of contemporary religious movements

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Thealogy the study and reflection upon the feminine divine from a feminist perspective

Thealogy views divine matters with feminine perspectives including but not only feminism. Valerie Saiving, Isaac Bonewits (1976) and Naomi Goldenberg (1979) introduced the concept as a neologism in feminist terms. Its use then widened to mean all feminine ideas of the sacred, which Charlotte Caron usefully explained in 1993: "reflection on the divine in feminine or feminist terms". By 1996, when Melissa Raphael published Thealogy and Embodiment, the term was well established.

<i>The White Goddess</i> book by Robert Graves

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The Warlord Chronicles or The Warlord Trilogy is a series of three novels about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell. The story is written as a mixture of historical fiction and Arthurian mythology. The books have been originally published between 1995 and 1997 by Penguin and Michael Joseph in the United Kingdom and by St. Martin's Press in the United States, in hardcover and paperback editions, each with different ISBNs.

Darkover series

The Darkover series is a science fiction-fantasy chronology consisting of several novels and short stories set in the fictional world of Darkover as created by author Marion Zimmer Bradley. The word "Darkover" is a registered trademark owned by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust.

<i>Priestess of Avalon</i> novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Priestess of Avalon is a 2001 novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, completed posthumously by Diana L. Paxson. It follows detailing the life of Helena, first wife of Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and mother of Constantine.

<i>The Forest House</i> novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Forest House is a fantasy novel by American writers Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson, though the latter is uncredited by the publisher. It is a prequel to Bradley's Arthurian novel The Mists of Avalon.

Accolon

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Celtic neopaganism

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Diana L. Paxson American neopagan and fantasy writer

Diana Lucile Paxson is an author, primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories. More recently she has also published books about Pagan and Heathen religions and practices. She is a founder of the Society for Creative Anachronism, where she is known as Diana the Listmaker.

<i>Ancestors of Avalon</i> book

Ancestors of Avalon is a 2004 historical fantasy novel by American writer Diana L. Paxson, and illustrator Dominic Harman, based on an idea of Marion Zimmer Bradley.

The Avalon Series is a series of fantasy novels written by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. It was illustrated by Braldt Bralds, John Jude Palencar, and Dominic Harman. Paxson later took over sole authorship after Bradley's death in 1999. The series focuses on the legendary island of Avalon and the various women who have shaped its history and that of Britain.

Matriarchal religion

A matriarchal religion is a religion that focuses on a goddess or goddesses. The term is most often used to refer to theories of prehistoric matriarchal religions that were proposed by scholars such as Johann Jakob Bachofen, Jane Ellen Harrison, and Marija Gimbutas, and later popularized by second-wave feminism. In the 20th century, a movement to revive these practices resulted in the Goddess movement.

<i>The Firebrand</i> 1987 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Firebrand is a 1987 historical fantasy novel by American author Marion Zimmer Bradley. Set in the ancient city of Troy, the novel is a re-telling of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad. The Firebrand is written from the point of view of Kassandra, the prophet daughter of King Priam of Troy, and also features other prominent characters from Greek mythology. As in the Iliad, Kassandra foresees catastrophe for her city but few pay heed to her warnings. In Bradley's story, Kassandra is presented as a strong and insightful woman, rather than as a sufferer of insanity.

References

  1. Hildebrand, Kristina. The Female Reader at the Round Table. Uppsala: 2001.
  2. 1 2 Morgane, J.S. The Spirituality of Avalon. AVM: Germany, 2010.