Table Of ContentPriestess of Avalon
Marion Zimmer Bradley
CONTENTS
PEOPLE IN THE STORY
·
PLACES
·
PROLOGUE
·
Part One—THE WAY TO LOVE
·
Part One—THE WAY TO POWER
·
Part Three— THE WAY TO WISDOM
·
To our grandchildren
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is the story of a legend.
The provable facts about Helena are few in comparison with the
wealth of stories that have attached themselves to her name. We
know that she was the consort of Constantius and the honoured
mother of Constantine the Great, and that she had some association
with the town of Drepanum. We know that she owned property in
Rome and that she made a visit to Palestine, and that is all.
But wherever she went, myths sprang up behind her. She is
honoured in Germany and Israel and Rome, where she is hailed as a
saint in the churches that bear her name. Medieval hagiography
makes her the great discoverer of relics, who brought the heads of
the three Wise Men to Cologne, the Robe Jesus wore to Trier, and
the True Cross to Rome.
But she holds a special place in the legends of Britian, where it is
said that she was a British princess who married an emperor. She is
believed to have lived in York and in London, and to have
established roads in Wales. Some even identify her with the goddess
Nehalennia. Did these stories arise because Constantius and
Constantine both had such strong connections with Britain, or could
she have originally come from that isle?
If so, perhaps it is not so great a stretch to link her with the
mythology of Avalon, and add one more legend to the rest.
Marion Zimmer Bradley and I began this work together, as we
have worked together before, but it was left to me to complete it. At
the end of her life Marion attended a Christian church, and yet she
was my first high priestess in the ancient mysteries. In telling the
story of Helena, who also walked between the Christian and the
pagan worlds, I have tried to remain faithful to Marion's teachings.
In the creation of this book, Marion's was the inspiration and
origin. The historical legwork was mine.
Among the many sources which were useful I should list: Fry's
Roman Britain; Gibbon's classic Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, which includes all the gossip; The Later Roman Empire, by
A.H.M. Jones; Robin Lane Fox's fascinating Pagans and Christians;
and The Aquarian Guide to Legendary London, edited by John
Matthews and Chesca Potter, particularly the chapter on the
Goddesses of London by Caroline Wise of the Atlantis Bookstore.
More specifically, I relied on Constantine the Great, by Michael
Grant, and Jan Willem Drijvers' classic, Helena Augusta; and for
Helena's journey and the reinvention of the Holy Land, Holy City,
Holy Places?, by P.W.L. Walker. The hymn in chapter thirteen was
written by St Ambrose in the fourth century.
I would like to express my gratitude to Karen Anderson for
working out the astronomical configurations in the third century
skies, and to Charline Palmtag for helping me with their astrological
interpretation. My thanks also to Jennifer Tifft, for enabling me to
make an extra trip to England and find the chapel of St Helena in
York, to Bernhard Hennen, for taking me to Trier, and to Jack and
Kira Gillespie for showing me Cumae and Pozzuoli.
Diana L. Paxson
Feast of Brigid, 2000
PEOPLE IN THE STORY
^ »
= historical figure
*
= dead before story begins
()
Aurelian —Emperor, 270-275
*
Aelia—a young priestess, trained with Helena
Allectus—Finance Minister to Carausius, later Emperor of Britannia, 293-6
*
Arganax—Arch-Druid during Helena's youth
Asclepiodotus—Constantius's Praetorian Prefect
*
Atticus—Constantine's Greek tutor
Carausius—Emperor of Britannia, 287-293
*
Carus—Emperor, 282-3
*
Carinus—older son of Carus, emperor, 283—284
*
Ceridachos—Arch Druid when Dierna becomes High Priestess
Cigfolla—a priestess of Avalon
Claudius II—Emperor, 268-270, Constantius's great-uncle
*
Corinthius the Elder—Helena's tutor
Corinthius the Younger—master of a school in Londinium
Julius Coelius—[King Coel] Prince of Camulodunum, father of Helena
Constantia (I)—daughter of Constantius and Theodora, married to Licinius
*
Constantia (II)—daughter of Constantine and Fausta
*
Constans—third son of Constantine and Fausta
*
Constantine [Flavius Valerius Constantinus]—son of Helena, Emperor, 306-337
*
*
Constantine (II)—eldest son of Constantine and Fausta
*
Constantius Chlorus [Flavius Constantius]—consort of Helena, Caesar and later Augustus, 293-
* 306
Julius Constantius—second son of Constantius and Theodora
*
Constantius (II)—second son of Constantine and Fausta
*
Crispus—Constantine's illegitimate son by Minervina
*
Cunoarda—Helena's Alban slave
Dalmatius—son of Constantius and Theodora Dierna—Helena's second cousin, later Lady of
* Avalon
Diocletian—Senior Augustus, Emperor, 284-305
*
Brasilia—cook in Helena and Constantius's household
Bishop Eusebius of Caesaria—Metropolitan Bishop of Palestine, a major writer of church
* history and later the biographer of Constantine.
Fausta—daughter of Maximian, wife of Constantine and mother of his legitimate children
*
Flavius Pollio—a kinsman of Constantius
Galerius—Caesar, 293-305, Augustus, 305-311
*
Gallienus—Emperor, 253-268
*
Ganeda—Helena's aunt, Lady of Avalon
Gwenna—a maiden being trained on Avalon
Haggaia—Arch Druid when Helena returns to Avalon
Julia Coelia Helena, later, Flavia Helena Augusta—(Eilan) daughter of Prince Coelius, consort
* of Constantius, mother of Constantine and priestess of Avalon
Helena the Younger ('Lena')—a noblewoman of Treveri, wife of Crispus
*
Heron—a maiden being trained on Avalon
Hrodlind—Helena's German maid
Joseph of Arimathea—founder of the Christian community on the Tor)
(*
Katiya—a priestess of Bast in Rome
Lactantius—a rhetorician and Christian apologist, tutor to Crispus
Licinius—Caesar appointed by Galerius to replace Severus, later Augustus in the East, 313-324
Lucius Viducius—a pottery merchant trading between Gallia and Eburacum
*
Macarius—Bishop of Jerusalem
*
Marcia—midwife who delivers Constantine
Martha—a Syrian slave, healed by Helena
Maximian—Augustus of the West, 285-305
*
Maximus Daia—Caesar appointed by Galerius
*
Maxentius—son of Maximian, Augustus in Italy and North Africa, 306-312
*
Minervina—Constantine's Syrian concubine, mother of Crispus
*
Numerian—younger son of Carus, Emperor, 283—84
*
Philip—Constantius's servant
Postumus—rebel Emperor of the West, 259-68
*
Probus—Emperor, 276-282
*
Quintillus—brother of the Emperor Claudius II, Constantius's great-uncle
*
Rian—High Priestess of Avalon, Helena's mother)
(
Roud—a maiden being trained on Avalon
Severus—Caesar appointed by Galerius, executed by Maximian
*
Sian—daughter of Ganeda, mother of Dierna and Becca
Suona—a young priestess of Avalon
Teleri—wife of Carausius and then of Allectus, later, High Priestess of Avalon
Tetricus & Marius—rebel co-emperors of the West, 271
*
Tulia—a maiden being trained on Avalon
Victorina Augusta—mother of Victorinus and virtual ruler
*
*
Victorinus—rebel Emperor in the West, 268-270
*
Vitellia—a Christian matron living in Londinium
Wren—a maiden being trained on Avalon
Helena's dogs: Eldri, Hylas, Favonius and Boreas, Leviyah
PLACES
« ^ »
BRITANNIA
Aquae Sulis—Bath
Avalon—Glastonbury
Calleva—Silchester
Gamulodunum—Colchester
Cantium—Kent
Corinium—Cirencester
Eburacum—York
Inis Witrin—Glastonbury
Isurium Brigantum—Aldborough, Yorkshire
Lindinis—Ilchester
Lindum—Lincoln
Londinium—London
Sabrina estuary—the Severn
the Summer Country—Somerset
Trinovante lands—Essex
Tamesis—the Thames
Tanatus Insula—Isle of Thanet, Kent
THE WESTERN EMPIRE
Alpes—the Alps
Aquitanica—southern France, Aquitaine
Arelate—Arles, France
Argentoratum—Strasburg, Germany
Augusta Treverorum (Treveri)—Trier, Germany
Baiae—Baia, Italy
Belgica Prima—eastern France
Belgica Secunda—the Low Countries
Borbetomagus—Wurms, Germany
Colonia Agrippinensis—Cologne, Germany
Cumaea—Cumae, Italy
Gallia—France
Ganuenta—formerly an island where the River Schelde joins the
Rhine in the Netherlands
Germania Prima—lands just west of the Rhine, Koblenz to Basle
Germania Secunda—lands just west of the Rhine, North Sea to
Koblenz
Gesoriacum—Boulogne, France
Lugdunum—Lyons
Mediolanum—Milan, Italy
Moenus fluvius—the River Main, Germany
Mosella fluvius—the River Moselle, France, Germany
Nicer fluvius—the River Neckar, Germany
Noricum—Austria south of the Danube
Rhaetia—Southern Germany and Switzerland
Rhenus fluvius—the Rhine
Rhodanus fluvius—the Rhone
Rothomagus—Rouen, France
Treveri (Augusta Treverorum)—Trier, Germany
Ulpia Traiana—Xanten, Germany
Vindobona—Vienna, Austria
THE EASTERN EMPIRE
Aegeum—the Aegean
Aelia Capitolina—Jerusalem
Aquincum—Pest (Budapest), Hungary
Asia—Western Turkey
Bithynia et Pontus—northern Turkey
Byzantium (later, Constantinople)—Istanbul
Caesarea—a port city south of Haifa, Israel
Carpatus Mountains—the Carpathians
Chalcedon—Kadikoy, Turkey
Dacia—Romania
Dalmatia—Albania
Danu, Danuvius—the Danube
Drepanum (Helenopolis)—Hersek in northern Turkey
Galatia and Cappadocia—Eastern Turkey
the Haemus—Balkans
Heracleia Pontica—Eregli, Turkey
Hierosolyma—Jerusalem
Illyria—Yugoslavia
Moesia—Bulgaria
Naissus—Nis in Romania
Nicaea—Iznik, Turkey
Nicomedia—Izmit, Turkey
Pannonia—Hungary
Rhipaean Mountains—the Caucausus
Scythia—lands above the Black Sea
Singidunum—Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Sirmium—Mitrovica or Sabac on the Save, Serbia
Thracia—southern Bulgaria
PROLOGUE
« ^ »
249 AD
With sunset, a brisk wind had blown in from the sea. It was the
season when farmers burn the stubble from their fields, but wind had
swept away the haze that had veiled the heavens, and the Milky Way
blazed a white road across the sky. The Merlin of Britannia sat on
the Watcher's Stone at the top of the Tor, his eyes fixed on the stars.
But though the glory of the heavens commanded his vision, it did not
hold his entire attention. His ears strained to catch any sound that
might come from the dwelling of the High Priestess on the slopes
below.
Since dawn she had been in labour. This would be Rian's fifth
child, and her earlier babes had come easily. The birthing should not
be taking so long. The midwives guarded their mysteries, but at
sunset, when he had prepared for this vigil, he had seen the worry in
their eyes. King Coelius of Camulodunum, who had called Rian to
the Great Rite for the sake of his flooded fields, was a big man, fair-
haired and massively built in the way of the Belgic tribes who had
settled in the eastern lands of Britannia, and Rian was a little dark
woman with the look of the faerie people who had been the first to
dwell in these hills.
It should be no surprise that the child Coelius had begotten was
too large to come easily from the womb. When Rian found that he
had got her with child, some of the older priestesses had urged her to
cast it from her. But to do so would have negated the magic, and
Rian told them she had served the Goddess too long not to trust in
Her purposes.
What purpose was there in this child's birth? The Merlin's old eyes
scanned the heavens, seeking to comprehend the secrets written in
the stars. The sun stood now in the sign of the Virgin, and the old
moon, passing him, had been visible in the sky that morning. Now
she hid her face, leaving the night to the glory of the stars.
The old man huddled into the thick folds of his grey cloak, feeling
the chill of the autumn night in his bones. As he watched the great
wain wheel ever further across the sky and no word came, he knew
that he was shivering not with cold, but with fear.
Slow as grazing sheep, the stars moved across the heavens. Saturn
gleamed in the south-west, in the Sign of Balance. As the hours drew
on, the resolution of the labouring woman was wearing away. Now,
