Glastonbury Goddess Temple Foundations

by Kathy Jones – Founder

The annual Glastonbury Goddess Conference was begun in 1996 by Kathy Jones and Tyna Redpath. It is held each year in Glastonbury at Lammas and celebrates Goddess and the Lady of Avalon in Her many forms. In 1998 Kathy began to teach the first Priestess/Priest of Avalon training which educates people in what it means to become a Priestess/Priest of Goddess and Avalon. The course began as a one year training and rapidly expanded to become a three year, Three Spiral Training. It was taught by Kathy for several years and now by other teachers who love Glastonbury, Avalon and the Lady.

Priestesses of Avalon

Glastonbury Goddess Temple came into being in 2002 as a physical and energetic spiritual space in the Courtyard of the Glastonbury Experience, just off the High Street in Glastonbury. The inspiration to create a modern-day Goddess Temple came in 1999 when Kathy and her partner Mike Jones were on holiday in Anatolia after the annual Goddess Conference which celebrated the Great Mother. They visited Mount Olympus in Greece where at the foot of the mountain are the remains of the ancient town of Dion. Among the earliest ruins there are several Goddess Temples, with a partially intact Temple to Isis. Kathy and Mike had visited many ancient Goddess sites in the western world and wherever they travelled the Temples to Goddess are always in ruins.

Beside the ruins and overcome by grief at the loss of another Goddess Temple and the Goddess-loving culture that supported it, Kathy made a vow to create a modern-day living Goddess Temple in Glastonbury. When she returned home she called friends together and over the next 18months the group created pop-up Temples in different spaces in the Glastonbury Experience. A space became available to rent in the Courtyard and the group decided to take it on as a permanent Goddess Temple which opened at Imbolc 2002. In 2003 Glastonbury Goddess Temple became the first formally registered Goddess Temple in Britain for at least 1500 years or more. The Temple has been open to the public since then from 12 noon to 4.00pm every day.

Goddess Temple Detail

The activities of the Goddess Temple have expanded through the years. We began teaching many different kinds of Goddess-centred courses and priestess trainings, workshops and online offerings under Goddess Temple Teachings. As the Temple itself became too small for all the people who wanted to come to our seasonal ceremonies we expanded into Goddess Hall where many trainings also take place. Under the guidance of priestess artist Sue Quatermass we opened Goddess Temple Gifts shop in the Courtyard where you can find beautiful Goddess designed items made by local craftspeople and priestesses.

With the help of Angie Twydall we took on the beautiful Goddess House as a Healing and Educational centre in Glastonbury. We have been open for several years now and own the building. It is a wonderful space where you can receive healing and therapeutic treatments of many kinds. Rooms are also available for use by regular and visiting groups and smaller workshops. Here we also offer weekly hands on healing sessions by donation and seasonal Oracles of the Lady of Avalon. Roots and Wings children’s educational project was hosted here for a few years.

The Goddess Hall

In recent years our teaching and spiritual projects have all expanded and many hundreds of people have taken part in all that we offer to the world. In 2025 we opened the Sacred Birth Centre at the top of the High Street where mothers and families can find help and support, prenatal and postnatal classes. The Sacred Birth Centre is part of the MotherWorld Vision which supports all people as they move from conception, pregnancy and birth, through life into death and then rebirth. This powerful and life-enhancing project aims to support Mother Earth, mothers and the values of mothering, which are love, care and support for all people, all creatures and all of Her nature.

Other projects that we have created include Goddess Temple Weddings in which we offer legal weddings and handfastings in the Goddess Temple with official Priestess Registrars. We also organise wonderful wedding receptions and gatherings outdoors and in other places. We also offer Goddess Temple Pilgrimages to ancient sacred places in Europe which were once known for their Goddess Temples, as well as shorter day and few day pilgrimages to sacred places in Britain.

The Goddess Temple continues to expand through the years with the primary aim of bringing Goddess alive in the world once again. Please support Glastonbury Goddess Temple and all Goddess Temples in the world with your words, deeds and finances as we celebrate Goddess together.