Star Temple

Glastonbury Tor

Glastonbury Tor in the west country of the United Kingdom has always been a place of magic and mystery, with its historic mound emerging out of a flat landscape, a place of pilgrimage dating back to the legends of King Arthur and Joseph of Armiathea. But other than suppositions that the Holy Grail is actually buried under Glastonbury Tor, could there also be a Star Temple?

Nicholas Mann and Philippa Glasson

Nicholas Mann and Philippa Glasson refer to an ancient astronomical observatory in their book The Star Temple of Avalon, lending credence that astronomical observance was carried out by archaic peoples who had in-depth knowledge of the stars, somewhat like the Mayans and the Ancient Egyptians. The question is could these ancient “star gazers” have created a sort of earth Star Temple to sustain their heavenly gazings in Glastonbury. John Martinean author of “A Book of Co-incidence” says “The Star Temple of Avalon is a groundbreaking theory and confirms Glastonbury as a magical world centre right back to 3500B. Such a discovery is a tremendous feat of astro-archaeology with huge implications”

Egyptian Temples

Another fascinating example of the Star Temple-style astronomical alignments were found in ancient Egyptian temples. The New Scientist states “they were so precisely aligned with astronomical events that people could set their political, economic and religious calendar by them.”

Hieroglyphs on temple walls have hinted at the use of astronomy in temple architecture, including depictions of the ‘stretching of the cord’ ceremony in which the pharaoh marked out the alignment of the temple with a string.

Various Places of Worship

But places of worship, like churches, synagogues and temples have been humanity’s way to contact the divine since time began. The most beautiful temples, for example, are often depicted by Eastern religions. The Tiger’s Nest Monastery seems to hover in the mists, but in fact it is perched on top of a 3,000 high cliff in Bhutan. Legend has it that Guru Rimpoche the second Buddha, flew up to the cliff on the back of a tiger. The exact spot where he is said to have meditated is now behind the monastery walls. Totally off limits to ordinary tourists, the temple and monastery are awesome examples of exquisite architecture and an amazing feat. To actually have built the Tiger’s Nest Monastery on the edge of a crag would have needed courage, faith and a head for heights!

Prambanan temple is an exquisitely beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia built in 850BC and composed of eight main shrines and 250 smaller shrines. It has some of the most stunning carvings in the world on its walls and most of them depict the sacred and epic stories of Gods and Goddesses.

The Wat Rong Khu, a modern temple in Thailand, is an all white, stunningly complex configuration of elaborate sacred depictions. Ornate mirrors strategically placed on its walls reflect the light of the sky and seem to illumine the temple so that it appears to be floating in the ethers. Created by the gifted artist Chalermchai Kositpipa it will take another 90 years to complete.

Yet we can also create our own mini Star temple. By decorating a corner with beautiful works of art and sacred depictions, we can energize an area of our own home and morph it into a mini place of worship. If we sit in that corner and meditate on the beauty of life and the greatness of Spirit we will have captured the intentions of Chalermchai Kositpipa, who understood that beauty is one of the doorways to the divine. Perhaps the ancient “star gazers” of Glastonbury, the architects of ancient Egyptian temples and the temple architects of the eastern religions, all understood that the mystery of the human soul reflects in the stars and to prove it attempted to bring heaven down to earth.