My best Christmas wishes, dear readers. Christmas Eve. Chalice Well, Glastonbury, Somerset

Christmas Eve.
Our family tradition is to completely forget the last minute supermarket rush for sprouts and whatever people cannot live without on Christmas day and take a long walk. Christmas and its trappings always threatens to overwhelm me with an existential crisis, but Christmas Eve in the wind and rain and snow and ice and whatever the day throws at us is transcendent. Even the singular year we were having a beach BBQ in shirtsleeves, dusting the sand off our burnt vege sausages and discussing whether we should throw off all our clothes and swim in the great grey wintery Atlantic. Under the barrage of commercialism and high expectation, this day feels real and elemental.

Glastonbury is a well known spot for all sorts- Christians, Arthurians, Druids, New Agers, Travellers, Neo-pagans, Wiccans, Low Impact Livestylers, Crystal Healers, Rock Festival Goers, Ley Line Enthusiasts (here the Michael and Mary line cross over at three different points), etc.

Archeological evidence has shown that the Chalice Well has been in constant use for over 
2000 years and it dispenses 25,000 gallons of water every day even in times of drought. 
According to Christian legend Chalice Well marks the site where Joseph of Aramithea
placed the chalice that had caught the drops of Jesus' blood and from thenceforth the waters turned red. It was also here that Joseph thrust his staff into the ground which took root to produce the Holy Thorn Tree (Crataegus Monogyna praecox) which blooms in the Chalice Well garden every Christmas.

                                              Chalice Well inside the Chalice Well Garden. 

    On the adjacent road there are two pipes, one for the Red Spring and one for the White Spring. Having two very separate water sources whose mineral content is so different in such close proximity is quite unusual.  The red water is due to its high iron content, while the white water contains calcite.
I filled my bottle with the white to drink after we climbed up the Tor in a gale force wind.

           Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas, my dear readers. 

Thank you for reading.

Joyeux Noël!

щасливого Різдва

圣诞快乐

Gelukkige Kerstmis

Frohe Weihnachten

Selamat Natal

Buon Natale

Wesołych Świąt

Срећан Божић

Счастливого Рождества

มีความสุขคริสต์มาส

Giáng hạnh phúc
        Gembira Krismas