 For millennia, Glastonbury has been known as a great place of learning. In the Middle Ages, Glastonbury Abbey was acknowledged as a powerful centre of academic and spiritual activity with a great library, a school and links with the universities and political power in London. With the dissolution of the monasteries and the closing of the Abbey all this activity ceased. In the early part of the 20th Century, interest in Glastonbury as a special spiritual place revived and well-known personalities such as Dion Fortune and Rutland Boughton established themselves in the town. The war disrupted these activities but the 1980s saw a renewed interest in Glastonbury as a spiritual place and a centre of learning. Since the summer of 2011, Glastonbury Reception Centre has been offering a wide and varied programme of talks and presentations on a Glastonbury theme. All of them have been illuminating and insightful, offering those in attendance the opportunity to explore aspects of the spiritual journey that are relevant to their own path. Glaston Centre School of Learning has grown out of these talks. The School is not something in which one is required to enrol and instead aims to offer the opportunity for an individual to independently explore area of interest on their own personal journey of discovery. All our speakers are very experienced in their fields; presenting knowledge and wisdom that is not always easily accessible or available.  Meet Chrissy Heaven, who has recently taken on the position of being the School's administrator. She is a Reiki & Sekhem Master/Teacher, a Hypnosis Therapist, a Flower Essences Practitioner and a Holistic Cat Healer. She has been interested in spiritual and mystical discovery since a child. Her years of healing work inspired her to go on to gain a professional qualification in counselling. As well as her extensive natural healing training and qualifications, Chrissy has British university degrees in Psychology, in Social Science and in Social Research as well as qualifications in adult education and management. She worked in the field of social care for over 20 years - with disabled people, prisoners and in mental health. This background, together with her psychology training, afforded her a good understanding of mind/body/spirit healing issues. Chrissy is now retired and lives near Glastonbury. Besides being Admin for our School, she spends her days soaking up knowledge about mystical things, drinking cappuccino with her spiritual friends and making a fuss of her two black rescue cats  Photo: Matt Baldwin-Ives We are very proud to be working with the great folks of the Silent Eye School and honoured to be bringing their work into Glastonbury. The great thing is that they feel to be learning as much as we are so we reckon that's a pretty good trade-off!
Their next talk is on Thursday the 7th August, in the Avalon Room at 7.30pm and entitled - The Architecture of the Soul: approaching the mystery together. The evening will be largely unscripted and will rely on interaction between us all to produce a rich and personal experience. The word 'Soul' has been used in many ways since the Greeks laid the foundations for Western Civilisation. Use of the word Soul generally donotes a personal vehicle of the self. But which self? Is my sense of "me-ness" myself? What about the personality - where does that fit into a picture of the Soul? And what about psychology's Ego, does that form a part of the overall picture? In this talk the Silent Eye School depart from their usual style of presentation, laying out the room in a ritualistic pattern of four quadrants. Movement between each of these, by us all, will be used to illustrate the sense of self and its relationship to that which goes beyond the ordinary psyche and strives to link us out from the world of Becoming to the inner world of Being. The presenters have long pedigrees in the Western Mystery Traditions and you can find out more about them here. . . if you would like to attend, contact us.  Since 2007, the Pilgrim Reception Centre, a not-for-profit organisation, has been supporting and welcoming people to Glastonbury. Recognised as being open to all paths, we have been described as a 'living bridge' that connects across the spiritual and secular communities; we feel that spreading a harmonious message is an important part of our role and we are constantly looking at new ways of responding to the positive flow of energy. As you might be aware, we recently launched an appeal. Our working model and the difficult economic climate had taken us to a point of no longer being able to continue. Our imminent closure in April pushed us into exploring alternative ways of operating; on a spiritual journey, this period is often described as a 'dark night of the soul'. The PRC has been an organic organisation since its conception and our work over the last few years has taken us beyond the originally envisaged purposes. As in any spiritual journey, life for the PRC and all those involved with it, has been a voyage of discovery, adventure and challenge.  With this in mind, responding to the energies around us and the recognition of our organisation as being a place that supports all those on a spiritual journey, we feel now is the time in which to create a space that offers not only practical support and information but also a special place created not from any one faith or religion and where real spiritual encounter might also be experienced. We had only a short window of time in which to present the idea, launch the appeal and gauge reaction but the responses and the comments have been very heartening indeed. The vibrant flow of new and supportive, pro-active energy means we feel confident enough to move into the future. Our warm thanks are extended to all those who have encouraged and inspired us onwards. We shall now continue the process of transformation by creating within our premises a special sanctuary space that is not affiliated to any one belief and where Glastonbury residents, pilgrims and visitors can relax in a gentle atmosphere that celebrates and inspires our Unity through Diversity. The services we have previously offered to our visitors and residents – information, support and the opportunity to share experiences - will all continue. We have listened to all the feedback being offered to us and have responded to as much as we can within our resources. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers and to those who have supported us this far with your support over the years. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Read more. . .
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