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The title carries weight that is not always immediately legible to those encountering it for the first time. Priestess of Avalon. It suggests something ancient — and it is. It suggests something living — and it is that too. But what does it mean in practice? What does a Priestess of Avalon actually do, on an ordinary Tuesday, or at the threshold of a marriage, or while weaving the sacred fire of a Summer Solstice night?
This is a practical and honest answer to that question — written for anyone considering working with a Priestess of Avalon for a ceremony, a tour, a period of spiritual guidance, or a collaboration, and wanting to understand what the title actually means before they make contact.
What Is a Priestess of Avalon?
A Priestess of Avalon – or Priest of Avalon – is a woman or man ordained within the Avalon tradition — a living spiritual lineage rooted in the mythology and sacred heritage of the British Isles, transmitted through the Glastonbury Goddess Temple in the United Kingdom. The title is not self-appointed. It is conferred at the end of a multi-year training programme that includes ceremonial practice, mythological and theological study, inner work, community service, and a formal dedication within the Temple.
The Priestess of Avalon serves the Goddess and the Lady of Avalon — understood in the Avalon tradition as an immanent divine presence, embodied in the Earth, in the cycles of nature, in the mythological figures of the Celtic and pre-Celtic world. She holds sacred space: in ceremony, in community, in the one-to-one relationship of spiritual accompaniment. She marks the thresholds of human life — birth, union, death — with ritual that is grounded, lineaged, and alive.
The role draws on a long European heritage of women who served as intermediaries between the human community and the sacred — a role found in many pre-Christian traditions across the Celtic and Germanic worlds, and one that the Avalon tradition has restored and made newly available in the contemporary world.
The Lineage — The Glastonbury Goddess Temple
The Glastonbury Goddess Temple, founded in 2003, is the first legally recognised Goddess Temple in the Western world since the suppression of the ancient Goddess traditions. Located in Glastonbury, England — the place identified in Arthurian mythology and in the Avalon tradition as the earthly location of the Isle of Avalon — the Temple holds a central place in the contemporary Goddess spirituality movement.
I trained at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple over several years, completing the full Priestess of Avalon formation and the Melissa training — a specific role within the Temple dedicated to holding sacred space and welcoming those who come to the Temple for guidance, ceremony, and encounter with the Goddess. I continue to serve at the Temple as a celebrant Priestess and Melissa, returning regularly throughout the year.
This ongoing relationship with the Glastonbury Goddess Temple is not incidental to my work as the Founder of the Milan International Goddess Temple — it is the foundation upon which I established this space.The Avalon tradition is a lineaged path, and lineage matters: it provides accountability, continuity, and a depth of transmission that self-styled spiritual practice rarely achieves.
Sacred Ceremonies — Handfasting, Naming, and Funeral Rites
Among the most significant work a Priestess of Avalon carries is the marking of life’s great thresholds through ceremony. Birth, union, and death — the three passages that every human life moves through — deserve ritual that is genuinely sacred, deeply personal, and rooted in a living tradition.
Handfasting is the ancient Celtic ceremony of union: the binding of two people’s hands in a cord as a symbol of their commitment to one another. In the Avalon tradition, handfasting is a ceremony of genuine spiritual depth — invoking the Goddess, the elements, the ancestors, and the sacred land — and can be designed as a legally recognised wedding ceremony or as a symbolic, spiritual union independent of civil registration. For couples seeking a ceremony that holds more than a registry office can offer, and more authenticity than many known traditions allow, handfasting with a Priestess of Avalon is an increasingly sought alternative. Both Milan, with its deep-rooted sacred history, and the timeless landscape of Italy offer an unparalleled and unexpected backdrop for such a ceremony — one of the most beautiful settings in all of Europe to exchange vows.
Naming ceremonies mark the arrival of a new life and the entry of a child into the human community and into the care of chosen guardians. As an alternative to religious baptism, a naming ceremony with a Priestess of Avalon offers a spiritual and ceremonial welcome that honours the child, the parents, and the circle of people who will hold them — without requiring adherence to any specific tradition.
Funeral rites are among the most sacred work a Priestess of Avalon carries. The departing of someone beloved deserves ceremony that meets the reality of loss without euphemism or formulaic comfort — that holds grief honestly, honours the specific life that has ended, and marks the passage with the full weight it deserves. Working with Goddess spirituality’s understanding of death as a threshold rather than an ending, these ceremonies draw on the Avalon tradition’s rich relationship with the cycle of descent and return.
All ceremonies are created bespoke: designed in close conversation with those involved, grounded in the Avalon tradition, and tailored entirely to the people, the place, and the occasion. As a trained Sacred Celebrant based in Italy, I bring these rituals to life with professional dedication, officiating each ceremony to honour both the ancient lineage and the unique story of those I serve.
Seasonal Celebrations and Women’s Circles
Beyond individual ceremonies, a Priestess of Avalon holds space for community — through the seasonal celebrations of the Wheel of the Year and through regular women’s circles.
At the Milan International Goddess Temple, the eight celebrations of the Wheel of the Year are marked with dedicated events held in Milan and online in collaboration with Libreria Esoterica Milano, and open to all. These are communal gatherings in the full sense: people come together around a shared intention, a shared mythological framework, and a shared willingness to meet the season consciously. Each celebration is led by me as Priestess of Avalon and follows the ceremonial structure of the Glastonbury Goddess Temple tradition.
My work is deeply woven into the source of this lineage: I also serve as a Celebrant Priestess for the Glastonbury Goddess Temple itself, co-creating and leading their official online seasonal celebrations for the global international community.
The monthly Full Moon circle — held online and open internationally — offers a more frequent and more intimate gathering space: a regular opportunity to mark the lunar cycle in community, to reflect, to share, and to be witnessed.
Both the seasonal celebrations and the Full Moon circle are entry points into the work of the Temple — moments where it is possible to experience the Avalon tradition directly, without any prior commitment, in a welcoming and grounded context.
Sacred Tours — Milan and Glastonbury Avalon
A less expected but deeply significant part of the Priestess’s work is that of sacred guide — leading individuals and small groups through landscapes charged with spiritual history, bringing the places alive through mythological knowledge, ceremonial attention, and genuine relationship with the land.
In Milan, private sacred tours – or hidden Milan tours – of the city’s Celtic and Roman sacred history are available — guided by me not only as Priestess of Avalon, but also as PhD in Old Norse with years of research into the pre-Christian sacred traditions of Northern Europe. The tour brings the hidden sacred geography of Mediolanum to life: the Celtic Goddess Belisama, the Roman layers of sacred feminine veneration, and the sites where the ancient and the contemporary city converge.
In Glastonbury, sacred tours of the landscape of Avalon are available during my regular residencies at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple — covering the Tor, Chalice Well, the White Spring, the Glastonbury Goddess Temple itself, and the broader sacred topography of this extraordinary place. For those planning a pilgrimage to Glastonbury and wanting to experience it with an insider’s depth of knowledge, these tours offer something genuinely different from what any standard guide can provide.
Both Milan and Glastonbury tours are available as standalone experiences or combined with other offerings — meditation, ceremony, ritual, or a shared meal in a setting chosen for its resonance with the day’s themes.
One-to-One Spiritual Guidance
The one-to-one work of a Priestess of Avalon is perhaps the least visible and the most intimate. It is accompaniment: the careful, attentive holding of another person’s inner journey, in the context of a living spiritual tradition.
Sessions are available online and, where possible, in person in Milan. They draw on the mythological and ceremonial resources of the Avalon tradition, on the tools of Goddess Healing, guided meditation, oracle readings, and on years of experience walking alongside people through periods of transition, threshold, and genuine inner reckoning.
One-to-one guidance is available as a single session or as an ongoing accompaniment across a period of months. Each engagement is shaped entirely around the person and what they are moving through.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I am not sure what I actually need. How do I know which offering is right for me?
Write to me and tell me where you are. A brief, honest description of what you are moving through — or what you are seeking — is enough for me to suggest what would serve you best. There is no commitment involved in making contact.
I am drawn to this but I feel like an outsider to the tradition. Is that a problem?
No. The majority of people who contact me are not already practitioners of Goddess spirituality. They are people who sense that something is missing, or who have been circling this territory for a while without finding the right entry point. That is precisely the situation I work with most often.
How do I know this is serious and not simply esoteric performance?
The training I underwent at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple is a multi-year formation — not a weekend course. The lineage I carry is the same one transmitted at the first officially recognised Goddess Temple in the Western world. My academic background as a PhD in Old Norse adds a layer of historical and scholarly grounding that distinguishes this work from generic spiritual offerings. You are welcome to read about the tradition, ask questions, and take the time you need before making any decision.
What is the first step?
Contact me. A short message describing who you are and what you are looking for is enough to begin.
See you at the Temple,
Anna
Priestess of the Goddess and of Avalon
I am a Priestess of the Goddess and of Avalon, and the Founder of the Milan International Goddess Temple. I trained at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple in the United Kingdom, where I serve as a celebrant Priestess and Melissa of the Temple. I hold a PhD in Old Norse, and for years I have woven historical research and spiritual practice into the work I carry at the Temple — in Milan and online. The full range of my sacred offerings, ceremonies, and experiences is available for individuals, couples, and groups.
Available for academic consultancy, media interviews, and documentary collaborations on the Avalon tradition, Priestess spirituality, and goddess-centred ceremonial practice — contact Anna.
