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In 1999 Sheikh Nazim came to Glastonbury. As he stood in front of the Abbey he said, “This is the spiritual heart of England. Now I understand why Grandsheikh (Sheikh Abdullah Daghistani, Sheikh Nazim’s Sheikh) has been sending me to this island for all these years. It is from here that the spiritual new age will begin and to here that Jesus* will return. I want you to stay here and to open a shop.”
SPECIAL EVENTS: In June
2008 Healing Hearts invited Hakim Archuletta: Hakim Archuletta is from the USA, originally of Native American/Irish descent. He became a Sufi and Muslim in 1969 and has for the last 35 years been working as a Healer in the traditional holistic Islamic healing methods. see leaflet (Word Doc)
On Friday the 19th of June 2009 at 7.30 pm, in St. Mary’s Church Hall, Glastonbury , Healing Hearts invited Ian
Bradley, To give a talk about: King Arthur, Sacred Monarchy and Britain Throughout history in all civilisations right up to the French Revolution, kingship was considered the very basis of civilisation. Only savages could live without a king. Security, peace and justice could not prevail without a ruler. Whatever was significant was embedded in the life of the cosmos and it was the king’s function to maintain the harmony between that integration. Through the king the harmony between human existence and supernatural order was maintained. Those who ruled on earth did so as mediators of Divine Rule. The Psalms of Solomon (61-57BC) look forward to the coming of a new son of David, who will be raised up by God to deliver Jerusalem and bring about a new world order of justice and righteousness. This had to be a praying king, a psalm-singing king, a temple building king and a king who mediates and promotes God’s covenant with his people. In the New Testament the birth of Jesus was announced as: To you in David’s Town this day is born of David’s line (Mathew and Luke). The sacred Kingship in Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Britain took on the forces of chaos, often represented by dragons and monsters and embodied the principle of order in both the cosmic and everyday world. In mythology the king was located at the axis mundi / centre of the world. This was clearly apparent in Celtic societies where the king was seen as possessing special divine healing powers to uphold the moral and spiritual order of his people. At the same time it was clear that the opposite: falsehood of a sovereign brought about natural disasters. If the king pronounced an untruth the centre literally ceased to hold and there was a physical as well as a moral collapse. In Christian coronations the focus was not on choosing a king or even crowning and enthroning him, but on invoking the divine blessing, setting him apart and reminding him of the derivation of his power from God and of his responsibility to rule wisely, justly and mercifully. In 574 Columba blessed King Aedan’s head in Iona. This was the first consecration of a monarch on British soil. Since 1307 every English sovereign, with the exception of Mary I and Mary II, have been crowned on a special coronation chair made on the orders of Edward I to house the Stone of Scone, the stone of destiny, the pillow of Jacob when he slept and had the dream of the ladder into Heavens (Genesis 28:12-17). The British Royal House are direct descendants from King David. The United Kingdom coronation service has had the same format for over a thousand years. It is closely modelled on the inauguration ceremonies for the Kings of Israel as described in the Old Testament. The deepest moment, the anointing of the new monarch with holy oil, is directly compared to the anointing of King Solomon. From 1250 onwards Avalon was the pre-eminent shrine of knighthood, the holy place of the monarchy and the accredited apostolic fountain- head of the British Church. Henry VII chose to call his first son Arthur to emphasise the British lineage to the Tudors and since then every Prince of Wales has been given Arthur as one of their names. Legends about King Arthur provide a fascinating blend of primal and Christian perspectives on the sacred dimension of monarchy. Each year
shortly before Christmas sprigs from the Holy Thorn in Glastonbury,
which legend has, sprouted from Joseph of Arimathea’s staff,
are cut at a special ceremony and sent to The Queen. This tradition
originated in pre-reformation times and was revived in 1929 by
a Vicar in Glastonbury whose sister-in-law was a lady-in-waiting
to Queen Mary. It has preserved the ancient link between the British
Monarchy, King Arthur and the sacred origin of ruling. |
