The Women’s Spirituality Movement seems to have been one of those ideas whose time had come, so that besides fighting for rights such as equal pay and more reproductive freedom women began to question why God seemed invariably to be visualised as male and to research such attitudes and beliefs, not only in the present day but due to patriarchal ideas and customs that have come down to us over thousands of years.

By no means all feminists supported the new Goddess spirituality, but the power of this movement for both personal and political change was becoming obvious by the time of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp and similar protests.

At the Glastonbury Goddess Temple we have been fortunate enough to host and meet many of the Foremothers of the Goddess Spirituality movement, and had especially close ties with a number of writers, artists and activists, including Asphodel Long, Julie Felix, Lydia Ruyle, Monica Sjöö and Lady Olivia Durdin-Robertson.

In addition, in the twenty-three years since Kathy Jones launched the Priestess of Avalon Trainings in Glastonbury, with other trainings soon to follow, we have sadly lost several of our Priestesses, such as Koko Newport, who died in 2012, and for whom Kathy wrote an eloquent tribute. There is also a moving description of Koko’s funeral by Geraldine Charles, at the Feminism and Religion Project.

Also in 2012 we lost lovely Dutch Priestess Evelien Brighid van Meerveld. The singer and songwriter Kellianna dedicated her song To the Summerlands to Evelien, you can see the lyrics and hear the song here. 

During the coming months we plan to add our cherished memories and of course photos, here and in linked pages, and invite you to join us. You don’t need to stick to the names we’ve given, of course, so there’s a form here to make initial contact and we’ll get back to you right away to see how best to help.