Mystical Glastonbury Tor
The Tor is open to the public, and the hike to the top is worthwhile, not just for the rabbits that hop merrily alongside travelers, but also for the spectacular view from the relatively recent twelfth-century tower that was once the Church of St. Michael.
The mystical tales of Glastonbury Tor emerged thousands of years before King Arthur, with the construction of the Glastonbury Zodiac.
The Glastonbury Zodiac
Katharine Maltwood rediscovered the Zodiac in 1927. Mrs. Maltwood estimated that this huge astrological table was constructed at about 2700 BCE, while others suggest a far earlier date, perhaps as early as 7000 BCE, relating to Egypt's Dendarah Zodiac.
The Glastonbury Zodiac can be seen only from heights of 20,000 feet, and above. This vast circle includes the Tor and Chalice Hill (Aquarius) and nearby Wearyall Hill (Pisces). The diameter of the Zodiac is approximately 10 miles wide, and about 30 miles in circumference.
The Glastonbury Zodiac may be the original Round Table.
However, the Zodiac is not the only mystical link to early man.
Standing Stones and a Lunar Observatory
Long after the construction of the Zodiac, the Tor was part of another huge project: Over 30 standing stones on the Tor and nearby hills formed a lunar observatory that could predict eclipses. These stones also lined up with the sun on May Day and on Lammas (around the first of August).
Most of these standing stones had vanished by the 1880's, but one remains on the lower western slope of the Tor's east-west axis. This megalith, a power stone, is called Living Rock on the Ordinance Survey Maps. People who touch it at dawn or very late at night, often report feeling a mild electrical current emanating from the stone.
This megalith also marks the site of the Tor Fair.
Faeries, Druids, and the Otherworld
The Tor Fair has been linked to the "Faery Fairs," at which the faeries gather, trade horses, and so on. The most famous of these fairs is at Pitminster, on the slopes of Black Down Hill.
The Tor Fair predates the year 1127, when King Henry I granted a charter to continue the annual fairs, as long as the celebration was held upon the traditional, sacred site for at least two days each year.
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