Back from England

[ecosophia]

Yes, I'm back home in East Providence, RI, now. As promised earlier, here are a few of the details. 

Travel is easier.  It's been eleven years since I last flew, and I was surprised by how little hassle I had getting to and from England. The security and customs process on either end of the flight is little more than theater these days; no doubt the fact that both countries have fairly porous borders takes a lot of the urgency away. The most unnerving discovery I made is that airport food has improved. I expected the usual vile slop, inflicted on travelers who had no other choice; getting a genuinely decent burger and good beer in Logan Airport left me wondering if I'd somehow slipped into an alternative timeline or something. 

London is London. I shouldn't like London. It's sprawling, crowded, raffish, and not especially clean, but for some reason I always feel comfortable there. I took several long walks through various London neighborhoods without any hassle at all. It's a polyglot jumble of people from all over the planet, as it's been for the last three centuries or so; if that distresses you, I don't recommend going there. To forestall one of the obvious questions, yes, there are a fair number of people in Muslim dress there, but no more than I remember from eleven years ago; for that matter, most of the big new religious buildings I saw there were Hindu temples, not mosques. 

Glastonbury is weird. This will doubtless explain why I like it so much. It hasn't changed appreciably since my two earlier visits; the used book stores are still packed with obscure occult tomes, and eccentrics parade down the streets, so I fit right in. The various ancient sites haven't gotten any younger, and of course neither have I -- I climbed the Tor in decent time, but had to stop and rest twice on the way up, which I hadn't needed the last two times.

A good time was had by most.  You can judge the character of London these days by the fact that of the three readers I met my first day in London, one is Mexican, one is Irish, and the third is a British descendant of Indians expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin. Inevitably, we ate Thai food for dinner. The next day I walked for a few miles to have lunch with an editor of the online magazine UnHerd, where some of my essays have been posted, and then took the Tube to meet one of my publishers in Clerkenwell. 

I had two book signings in London, one at Watkins Books on the 3rd and the other at Atlantis Bookshop on the 4th. Both were well attended. The second was enlivened by two people fainting -- they're both fine now. Then it was off to Glastonbury, carpooling through London traffic and then through green countryside and dubious roads into the west. Readers and friends started turning up almost immediately on my arrival. So did pints of Mena Dhu, a Cornish stout that makes Guinness seem just a little thin and pale. (You can literally eat the foam by the spoonful.) Friday we wandered through the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, visited the White Spring, and then climbed the Tor; Saturday and Sunday we met, around fifty of us, at the Glastonbury Assembly Rooms for a variety of talks, and then went to the George and Pilgrims, a fifteenth-century pub, to talk until closing time. I also did Essene Apprentice attunements for eight people, ordained two Gnostic priests, and consecrated a Gnostic bishop. (I'll give her a proper announcement sometime soon.) 

Monday the 9th I was back on the road, carpooling with more friends, and stayed the night with yet another reader and friend, an alternative-health practitioner who cheerfully calls himself "a back-street quack." To describe our conversations as strange would understate matters considerably; that is to say, I enjoyed myself immensely. Tuesday I squeezed in time for a video interview with UnHerd -- I'll post a link once it's available -- and then I was off to Heathrow and on my way home. 

The 11-year itch. It didn't occur to me until I got to Britain that I've gone there at 11-year intervals: my visits there have been in 2003, 2014, and 2025, always in June. I'd like to go back a little sooner than 2036, but partly that depends on the return of the arrangements that allowed freighters to take up to 12 passengers, which closed down during Covid -- I don't feel I can justify air travel more often than I have to, given the ecological impact. Nonetheless, it was quite something to celebrate my 63rd birthday in Glastonbury with a substantial gaggle of friends. I'd be remiss if I neglected thanks for Oliver Rathbone of Aeon Books for arranging and facilitating the London end of the adventure; Brigid Brennan for making all the arrangements for the Glastonbury end of things; and all the other participants who helped make this a memorable and pleasant experience. Thank you, one and all!

Comments

I’m glad you’re back!

[(Anonymous)]

I most certainly missed reading you these past ten days and I’m very happy you’re back.

Annette Simard

Re: I’m glad you’re back!

[ecosophia]

Thank you!

[milkyway1]

Thanks for sharing your impressions! "Glastonbury is weird" is a very British understatement - although, noticeably, our group seemed to be even weirder... ;-)

The convention was a very memorable and pleasant experience indeed. It was good to put faces (and names!) to nicknames, to have so many great and inspiring conversations, and to be right at home among like-minded (or at least equally weird) people. Thanks a lot to everybody who contributed, by organizing, giving a talk, or just by being there.

"I'd like to go back a little sooner than 2036, but partly that depends on the return of the arrangements that allowed freighters to take up to 12 passengers"

I strongly suspect you just cursed the poor shipping companies - they might get flooded with letters, emails and calls demanding this option to be opened up again... ;-)

I hope everybody got home well,

Milkyway

PS: For the people who couldn't attend (or who could and would appreciate some reminder), I'm working on a report about the convention and will post it as soon as it's done, which should be within the next few days.

[vitranc]

milkyway1:"Glastonbury is weird" is a very British understatement - although, noticeably, our group seemed to be even weirder... ;-)

Haha, true, so very true. On the last day, at the assembly rooms, one of the shop proprietors, a very nice lady, told me: "You guys are weird by Glastonbury standards".

So, peak weirdness achieved.

[robertmathiesen]

Welcome back, and belated birthday good wishes for your 63rd year!

[ecosophia]

Thank you!

[grandswamperman]

Glad you had a good time! Now I really want to try that beer...

[ecosophia]

It's worth trying. I'd call it one of the half dozen best beers I've ever had.

[fringewood]

Far out! ;^)
Glad you had a good time and returned safely to the fold. Did you bring back any tee shirts?

[ecosophia]

Nope. I don't wear tee shirts!

[(Anonymous)]

Glad you had a memorable and pleasantly weird trip to London and England! Happy belated birthday, JMG!

Tim PW

[ecosophia]

Thank you.

Hope not as long as eleven years

[(Anonymous)]

I was really sorry to have not been able to join you, just business associated with new job and home - but new job and home is half an hour from Glastonbury (ten minutes from Bristol airport, also mainline train station from London), so if you do come back across the pond I will hopefully be in a better position to join in (and help!).
Sam/ Elizaphanian

Re: Hope not as long as eleven years

[ecosophia]

I'll keep the list posted when the next opportunity comes up.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you find London expensive? How about other parts of UK?

[ecosophia]

London's expensive to live in -- rents are insanely high -- but such other expenses as I had there were comparable to urban east coast US prices. Glastonbury was cheaper -- there were flats there I could afford, for example -- and I gather that there are plenty of less fashionable places that are cheaper still.

[dr_coyote]

Welcome back, Happy Birthday!, and thanks for the synopsis of your trip. In particular though, I'm very glad that your trip was both so smooth and pleasant. Hearing this gives me some hope for this world, and a little extra hope on a Thursday afternoon is always a good thing.

[ecosophia]

I was really quite surprised by how easy it was. My previous trips abroad were much more awkward and complicated.

[borealbear]

Glad to hear you had a smooth and safe journey back, and that you enjoyed your time in England. It was certainly a treat to meet both you and so many other delightful, interesting people in real life, with so many fun conversations. I especially liked being able to talk about things like occultism and divination so openly with people who "got it" and often had a practice of their own going.

As impressive as the abbey and the Tor were, I think my personal favorite piece of Glastonbury was something much less grand: a tiny little parklet between the outskirts of town and the Morrison's, with these three huge, amazing oak trees. Something about finding a place like that tucked away in between a street of mundane houses and a big, ugly supermarket, so unexpected, but still so beautiful.

[ecosophia]

England has a lot of places like that. When I was walking through London I kept on running across these little squares with gargantuan trees thriving in them. All very welcome.

[(Anonymous)]

It was a real privilege to meet you John after all these years reading. I found the whole experience pleasantly intense (the white springs in particular; I filled every random bottle I had with me on the Sunday morning to take home).

You were most generous with your time too: between all the chats and the Mena Dhu your head must've been buzzing.

May I take the opportunity to wave cheerfully at everyone I got a chance to talk to (and everyone I didn't). Let's try and do something similar before too long. It was the highlight of my year so far.

Cheers,
Jack

P.S. (@ John, so you have an interview with Freddie Sayers or one of the others at Unherd? Looking forward to that)

[ecosophia]

Thank you! I had a grand time, and the Mena Dhu was delicious but not overly intoxicating. As for the UnHerd interview, it was with Florence Read; it'll be up this coming Monday.

[tritumi]

Border crossings are very much controlled by data base analysis in advance. This improves efficiency and ease for those of us with no sharp edges in our files.

[ecosophia]

Doubtless, but that's part of why I was startled. Given some of the things I've posted online, it seemed reasonable to expect that the British authorities at least would see me as edged.

Cheers

[transcriberb]

Dear JMG, Happy Birthday! And wonderful to hear that your journey went so well and you are back. Cheers!

Re: Cheers

[ecosophia]

Thank you!

welcome back

[(Anonymous)]

Welcome back, sounds like it was a good trip ! I have heard about traveling by freighter before, I did not know they shut it down.

Atmospheric River

Re: welcome back

[ecosophia]

Yeah, it was regulated out of existence during the Covidiocy. I hope it becomes an option again.

[(Anonymous)]

And, Happy Birthday !

Also, do you need any Saint Johns wort ? It is peak time for saint johns wort here

Atmospheric River

[ecosophia]

Thank you. Is the St. John's wort flowering? If so, I'd be very interested in getting quite a bit of it -- the blossoms are essential for making the classic Red Oil, which is both powerfully protective in magical terms and a robust topical antibacterial and antiviral.

[scotlyn]

Just one more "chime" in to wave at everyone I met, spoke with, ate with, walked with, hugged with, drank with and whose lovely company I enjoyed at Glastonbury. I had a blast, and so, for that matter, did my husband, who, as a perennially offline person had few preconceptions. :)

My favourite part was learning about the "real" patron saint of England (St Edmund) from the lady who had a stall for displaying and selling her paintings at the hall throughout the Saturday and Sunday, and who was blown away by the talks and the atmosphere, and who I managed to persuade to give us all a 5 minute reprise of her subject. (Thanks also to Brigid who made it happen). It was a real extra serendipity, since she had never heard of the ecosophia blogs, but blended in perfectly! :)

[ecosophia]

Please let your husband know that it was a delight to meet him and tip back a few pints together!

[baconrolypoly]

Happy birthday, JMG!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it was lovely to finally put faces to names after all this time and hear the voices of those who I've previously only read. I especially enjoyed the Abbey ruins and all we talked about there, and then the White Spring was quite an experience. That big cavern lit by who knows how many candles and the overflowing pool in the middle. For what was probably an ordinary Victorian well house in the past, it has been turned into something very beautiful and atmospheric.

I'd like to thank Scotlyn for performing her bit of acupressure there to help my knee as we paddled about in the spring overflow. Your ministrations made a real difference and gave me great relief.

My one regret is that me and earthworm couldn't stay longer but we have a deadline in preparing an English country garden for its annual gathering of posh people and the client gets a bit, shall we say, urgent at this time of year.

I hope we get to do a repeat one day in the not too distant future.

[ecosophia]

I'm glad to hear you had a good time. I haven't begun to think about future scheduling, but we'll see.

[booklover1973]

I would like to wish you a belated Happy Birthday and to remark that I'm glad all went well. I was a bit surprised; the state of the Western world doesn't look like as if it would be congenial to easy travel. There is an interesting synchronity in your travel to Glastonbury, because in late August, I, my father and a few friends plan to travel to Penzance for a week. Thanks for the beer recommendation, also, because I know someone who might be intersted in trying.

[ecosophia]

You'd think so, right? That was one of the things that left me wondering if I'd somehow slipped into an alternate timeline. ;-)

[bridgeofsighs]

Thanks for coming JMG, and to everyone who contributed including the ticket buyers who made it possible to set up.

In the absence of an Aeon Books stall, due to Oliver's illness, they have created a unique discount code for the conference attendees/JMG fans - JMG20 - which will give 20% off any JMG books on their website until 13/07/2025.

I will post a bit more about the experience later on and I know Regine and likely Rachel (who was taking notes) will be doing so too.

[ecosophia]

I'll look forward to everyone's reflections. In the meantime, I doubt there'll be another chance to get my Aeon Books titles at anything like this discount, so I'd encourage people to take advantage of it.

[(Anonymous)]

Glad to hear you had a good trip!

I have always wanted to do a freighter crossing as well. Alas, most have a maximum age limit in the mid to late 70s-- set by insurance, no doubt. Hopefully it becomes an option again before you age out!

I did not know the COVID closure was still in effect. It must not be very profitable for the shipping companies in that case.

Perhaps one of your readers is a secret sailing master.

[ecosophia]

One of my readers works in the travel industry and tipped me off to the existence of repositioning cruises -- basically, what happens when cruise ships have to be moved from one popular location to another. They take passengers at reduced cost to help defray the expense; there's no entertainment and none of the other frantic nonsense, so you get a sea voyage for a reasonable price.

Thanks!

[bendithfawr]

Well, thank you so much for coming over! Since so much of my world view and practice derives from your books and blogs it was a big relief that you are exactly how I imagined you to be. Not that it matters much when the writing is that good but still a relief. :-)

And it felt amazingly pleasant to be among people where you can switch from small talk to your daily ritual practice without a hiccup. Almost like a separate reality where Druidry is the majority religion...

Hope you get rid of jet lag quickly and looking forward to your next visit! I know freighter travel would be nice but is unlikely to come back and think of it this way: unlike a private jet, that plane is flying anyway, with or without you on it. The marginal resource use is negligible and I'm sure Cathar country would be delighted to have you visit as well!

PS: Hiking Somerset is delightful. On the official footpaths I ended up climbing fences, crossing bridges overgrown with stinging nettles and running from cows – all over rolling hills and besides apparently centuries-old hedges. Felt like Tolkien was walking beside me much of the time.

Re: Thanks!

[ecosophia]

We'll see about freighter travel -- I have hopes.

[open_space]

A strange time was had!

Not only did the clouds part, only for conversation over dinner with the lovely lady that is hosting me to go something like: "the weather forecast has been extremely wrong this week" she said but I really was surprised to see how well we all got along, even though we'd never met before.

I had a genuinely good time with you all. I am still in Glastonbury and I have to confess the George & Pilgrims feels rather empty as I type this with a Mena Dhu on my hand --a Laser Juice IPA is next and then a glass of Odin's Mead to be followed by no more drinking for a while. "Where are your druid friends mate?" The barman says. "Oh they are back in the forest" I replied jokingly. "Ah, so I should not open another keg then".

Thanks as well to Brigid and Markéta for the wonderful day after we serendipitously crossed each other at Dion Fortune's grave the day after everyone left.

I have a lot of pictures to share that will go on a post of its own over on my journal in the coming weeks, along with my experience with the astral monks of the Abbey and the rest of it.

[scotlyn]

Oh, I look forward to hearing about the astral monks, and other reflections, and seeing the pictures.

*waves* from "back in the forest" somewhere... ;)

[vitranc]

It was one of the most enjoyable vacations I ever had in my life, and also the most unlikely one.
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment with you guys. It has been stated many times above how nice it was to openly talk about divination, magic and worldviews that we can only express here.

There is a separate personal development related to this groups activities in regard to the Glastonbury gathering, but I will post it on the next Magic Monday, to give it closure there.

Best regards,
V

[(Anonymous)]

Ditto to all of this. By the way I was saying bye to folks in a hurry on Sunday afternoon and missed your self. So: it was great chatting with you and once again that was an awesome gift you got our host 😀🙏.

Jack

[(Anonymous)]

This makes me think I should try to visit Glastonbury and Wales at some point.

A few questions:

1. Did you notice any difference in your daily rituals while you were over there? I remember an English reader commenting on a Magic Monday that the SoP felt different in America.

2. Any idea what was going on with the two people who fainted?

3. Any plans for traveling around America?

-Cliff

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, but that's true of every place I do the SoP. Because it interacts with the land energy, it has a different flavor in Salem MA than it does here in East Providence, for example. Glastonbury had its own energy, and each of the three places I stayed in London (in Paddington, Clerkenwell, and Highgate respectively) had its own feel.

2) It was a small, cramped bookstore and it got tolerably warm inside from the crowd. One of the people who fainted had also just been through some very stressful business dealings, too.

3) I'll be attending a Martinist gathering in Maryland in late July; other than that, I haven't made any plans. If anyone's interested in bringing me out somewhere to do some talks or what have you, that's always a possibility.

[(Anonymous)]

I wish you a late happy birthday, JMG, and I am glad England appears to be in better shape than many right-wing personalities claim.

Patrick

[ecosophia]

Keep in mind that I was only there for eight days! It certainly didn't seem as dire as American conservative pundits like to portray it, though.