You’d expect that a spiritual junkie like me would have known everything about Glastonbury, one of the world’s most famous spiritual centers, yet I only found out about it last year while reading Signe Pike’s Faery Tale. Captivated by Signe’s adventures while seeking acquaintance with the faery realm in the mythical island of Avalon that Glastonbury is usually identified as, I decided it was about time I paid it a visit. After a stressful two months of revising for exams, Glastonbury would be the perfect place for me to unwind and reignite my spiritual appetite.

At the heart of Glastonbury is the Chalice Well, one of Britain’s most famous holy wells believed by many to be the place where Joseph of Arimathea hid the holy grail after Jesus and his students’ last supper. From a New Age perspective, the well and its surrounding gardens are also popular for interacting with fairies, something that became blatantly obvious as soon as I set foot in the gardens: Women wearing elaborate Victorian-style gowns and fairy wings wandered around the oh so magnificent gardens, singing and talking to the flowers, others were chanting in circles while the “inexperienced” ones were meditating by the well or enjoying the beauteous scenery. In other words, I was in my kind of place with my kind of crowd, and I knew I was up for an extraordinary experience.

Before I set off to Glastonbury earlier in the morning I decided I missed painting. I used to love painting as a teenager and I’ve produced multiple of paintings while growing up, however, in the last few years I’ve been cheating on painting with writing. Suddenly I had the urge to draw again and so, before I got the bus to Glastonbury I purchased a sketch book along with a pack of sketching pencils. Little did I know that the fairies were guiding my thoughts all along, and as soon as I got acquainted with the place I had the uncontrollable urge to draw. I found a quiet sunny corner at the edge of the gardens and lay on the grass, soaking in the sun, grounding myself and allowing the sweet aroma of the flowers to raise my vibration.

Unearthing nature’s secrets

What happened next was purely magical. I felt a gentle wave of energy pour through me and I was inspired to sketch the flowers that surrounded me. The three flowers that I was most fascinated with were the chamomile, forget-me-not and what I later found out to be the old-fashioned bleeding-heart. Letting my spirit connect to their energy I allowed them to infuse me with inspiration. In time, I realized what the fairies aimed to teach me through that. By giving my undivided attention to each of these flowers I connected to their spirit, or their fairy, on a deeper level. Doing that helped me realize that each of the flowers had a very distinct vibration that distinguished it from all the other flowers.

I had read about flower remedies and aromatherapy before but it had never occurred to research how these modalities worked. By connecting with the flowers one-on-one I could finally see how powerful and unique their identity was, and how we could all use them for bringing positive change in our lives. As you can see in the drawings I made, all three flowers hold a generally positive message and vibration, but each of these words has a different degree of positivity that is appropriate for different circumstances. In times of doubt, a forget-me-not can show you that being vulnerable is not a weakness but a strength that can boost your tenacity to push through your insecurities. On the other hand, the delicate vibrational signature of the chamomile may unwind your sensitivity and invite you to nurture and express your feminine qualities, to show kindness to yourself and your loved ones.

I was enthralled by the possibility for healing and self-empowerment that this understanding provided me with and I was grateful for the fairies to divulge their wisdom. I now realize to a deep level that nature unequivocally has the power to bring miraculous healing to mind, body and spirit. Most importantly, I find it amazing that we can all have direct access to this wisdom by simply spending more time outdoors and letting nature guide us. As we gradually strengthen our intuition through meditation and time outdoors the messages we receive will get incrementally more personal, detailed and specific so that we can eventually establish a more solid connection to our whole Self, nature and life in general.