Restoring/Restorying Arthur and Bridget: Vernacular Religion and Contemporary Spirituality in Glastonbury

Abstract

Introduction In this chapter I shall examine some of the ways in which expressions of belief concerning two significant figures connected with Celtic myth, Arthur and Bridget, have been revived, recycled and manipulated in the contested context of contemporary spirituality in Glastonbury, a small but highly significant town in the south-west of England. In order to understand this context, I shall briefly introduce Glastonbury (where I have been conducting fieldwork since the early 1990s), its status as a multivalent sacred site, and the varied ways in which Celtic spirituality has taken shape there. Thereafter, I shall explore some of the trends and shifts in emphases that have taken place within contemporary spirituality in Glastonbury over recent years with specific reference to Arthur and Bridget. The narratives, rituals, events and ideas surrounding Arthur and Bridget reported here are presented as a study in vernacular religion, stressing the importance of the geographical and cultural context in which belief and praxis occur – the ‘bidirectional influences of environments upon individuals and of individuals upon environments in the process of believing’ (Primiano 1995: 44) – and paying ‘special attention to the process of religious belief, the verbal, behavioral, and material expressions of religious belief, and the ultimate object of religious belief’ (Primiano 1995: 44).