of the Round Table, peopled by noble and virtuous knights, and married the beautiful but adulterous Guinevere who betrayed him for his best friend Lancelot. Arthur was mortally wounded by his treacherous nephew, Mordred, and is said to be buried on the mythical Isle of Avalon, from where he will rise again in Britain’s hour of need.
There is a tradition that Glastonbury was the Isle of Avalon. In 1191 the monks of Glastonbury unearthed, from 16 feet under the ground, an oak coffin that they said was Arthur’s. They showed an inscription: ‘Here lies beneath the renowned King Arthur with his beloved Queen Guinevere his second wife in the Isle of Avalon’ on a lead cross, which they said had been found in the coffin.
With its miraculous weapon of destiny, its goddess-like Lady of the Lake appearing by moonlight from the water and, most of all, the mysterious realm of Avalon, where Arthur journeys by water to be healed from death, the Arthurian world shimmers with a Celtic supernatural glow. Like a faraway, half-heard song, Avalon conveys a sense of something lost forever, never to be found - the mystical quest for the lost land, the lost world, the lost self and lost psychic powers.
AVATAR
Derived from the Sanskrit word avatora, which means ‘descent’, avatar is used in Hinduism to denote a god who has descended, by way of incarnation, to either human or animal form, coming into this world for the duration of one lifespan. An avatar is believed to be a mediator between people and the divine.
An avatar is similar to the Christian figure of an incarnated being but is different in two ways. First, a Hindu god can become incarnate in many places at the same time through partial avatars (amshas); second, the avatars do not fully participate in human activity or lose the knowledge and power of their divinity.
Exceptional holy men and women in India are called avatars. Hindus accept Gautama, Buddha, as an avatar. Vishnu, sky god and protector of the universe, is most famous for his numerous avatars, which include Krishna and Rama, but other gods, such as Shiva, also have avatars. Many charismatic leaders, such as the Indian mystic Chaitanya (c.1486-1533), have been regarded as avatars. In our own time, Ammachi - Mata Amritanandamayi -the South Indian woman who was given the Gandhi-King award at the United Nations in Geneva in 2002 for her promotion of non-violence, and who greets her long lines of followers by giving each person a warm hug, is considered an avatar of the Great Mother.
The bhakti (devotional) movements of Hinduism have often centred round avatars who are supposed to possess psychic abilities and paranormal powers, such as the ability to levitate or bilocate.
AVEBURY
A village in Wiltshire, England, eighty miles west of London, and site of the Avebury stone circle, one of the oldest prehistoric monuments in Britain. More extensive than Stonehenge, Avebury is large enough that it is said more than a quarter of a million people could stand within the boundaries of its circle. The circle was in active use in later Neolithic/early Bronze Age times, between 2600 BC and 1600 BC, so it pre-dates the Druids.
The Avebury circle was probably constructed by people from the Beaker culture. It is the largest stone circle in Europe; its 100 standing stones, reaching up to 14 feet high, mark a circle that is 1,100 feet in diameter. Another nearby landmark, Windmill Hill, bears an earthwork on top and may pre-date Avebury as a cattle market or ritual site. The purpose of Silbury Hill, yet another nearby landmark and Europe’s tallest man-made mound, remains unknown.
No records survive attesting to the original purpose and uses of the Avebury stone circle, and excavations have yielded few insights. According to theories Avebury may have been used for religious festivals to honour the Goddess, or it may have had astronomical purposes, as the stones align to the May Day sunrise. It is believed by some that the Avebury stones are repositories of Earth and psychic energy, which can be detected by clairvoyance and dowsing and that tapping the stones can enable communication with other megalithic sites. Such psychic energy may be responsible for paranormal phenomena that have long been reported at this site, including strange lights drifting on the ground and eerie small figures and apparitions flitting around the stones. In the 1980s Avebury became a major site of mysterious crop circles, geometric patterns made in arable fields that defy explanation.
AXINOMANCY
A term derived from the Greek axine (axe) and manteia (divination) and applied to the art and practice of divination by an axe, hatchet or saw.
An obscure form of axinomancy recorded among ancient Greeks is that of placing an agate stone on a red-hot axe. Its motion is taken to indicate the identity of someone guilty of a crime. Another method is of reading the direction an axe, saw or hatchet handle quivers or points when driven into a tree or post. Yet another method involves observing the way an axe falls to the ground. This method is usually used by diviners to determine the direction a thief has taken, or the location of buried treasure.
AYURVEDIC MEDICINE
A traditional Indian approach to healing that includes meditation, purification procedures, rejuvenation therapies, herbal and mineral preparations, exercises and dietary advice. Ayurveda is a holistic medical system that claims wellbeing is only possible through a balance in the flow of life energy (prana) between body, mind and soul.
Ayurvedic medicine is the national health system of India and has been found to be extremely beneficial for many medical conditions, in particular chronic ailments and conditions associated with unhealthy lifestyles. To qualify as an ayurvedic physician candidates must complete a five-year training course and are strictly regulated by professional and governmental bodies.
Ayurveda’s basic theory states that the body’s functions are regulated by three physiological principles’ called doshas, whose Sanskrit names are vata, pitta and kapha. Like astrological signs, these terms are used to designate individuals as well as traits and body types that typify them, and imbalances of the doshas are said to be the underlying cause of all disease. Ayurvedic treatment with diet, meditation and other therapies supposedly corrects these imbalances. Leading promoters claim that positive thoughts lead to healing but sad, angry and hostile thoughts depress the immune system and increase the risk of poor health. The aim is to harness consciousness as a healing force. See Behavioural medicine.
BA
In ancient Egyptian mythology the Ba is what we would call ‘soul’, but there are differences. According to the Book of the Dead, after death the Ba rises up out of the body in the shape of a falcon, with a human head, that can fly between the tomb and the underworld. It was also believed that the Ba could take on any form it chose but that it had to reunite itself with the deceased every night in order for the deceased person to live forever. So the Ba remains very much attached to the physical body, contrary to the concept of the soul or spirit separating from the body at death. It was thought that the Ba had the same physical needs as the person, like food and water, so offerings of cake and water were left at tombs for the Ba.
