19/04/2026
Josef of Arimathea and the Holy Thorn Tree
One of the most special stories in Glastonbury regarding Josef of Arimathea is, of course, the Holy Thorn.
It is the story of Josef of Arimathea coming from the Holy Land with his family, carrying this staff that he had cut from the Holy Thorn tree in Jerusalem. Or rather, a stave, a freshly cut staff. In many artworks, especially the stained glass windows across the south west of England, you see him holding this staff, with leaves growing out from the top.
That in itself is a powerful symbol of new growth, regeneration, and the living Earth energies. In the Jewish tradition, and also in the Druid tradition, the staff represents an Earth energy symbol, a connection between sky and Earth. It brings the divine light down from the heavens into the Earth, and then back again from the Earth up into the realms of light.
We also have the staff of Moses, which turned into a serpent, again representing the Earth energies, the serpent lines, the ley lines. And so the leaves growing from the top of Josef’s staff show that energy rising from the Earth in regeneration.
This was the energy that he and the family of Christ brought from Old Jerusalem, a place that had become corrupted by the Roman Empire, where the Hebrew faith had become more patriarchal, more controlled. They brought that energy back to what they felt was part of their homeland, Britain, where they would reconnect with the old Celtic people, the Druids, who they were already deeply connected to through King Arviragus, and through their lineage going back into ancient times.
Josef of Arimathea had travelled here many times as a tin merchant, as his father had before him, and their family long before that. There has always been a link between Britain and Israel, never far from their consciousness, never far from their hearts.
So this act of Josef travelling with this staff, cut from the Holy Thorn in Jerusalem, escaping the persecution of the Roman Empire and the control of the religious powers of the time, and then planting that staff into the land of Glastonbury, Avalon, is deeply symbolic. It is the bringing of the energy of the Holy Land, of Old Jerusalem, into Glastonbury as a New Jerusalem.
It was planted for the future age, the Age of Aquarius, because they knew it would take around two thousand years for humanity to truly understand and accept the teachings of Christ, the teachings of love, light, and peace. They also knew that the forces of control would do all they could to distort those teachings, to suppress the feminine, and that Mary Magdalene would carry that living wisdom forward, supported by Josef of Arimathea.
The Holy Thorn itself carries this story in its very nature. Unlike the native hawthorn trees, it flowers not only in the spring, around Easter, but also in the winter, around the winter solstice. The winter flowering represents the birth of Christ, the solar energy returning in the darkest time. The spring flowering represents the death and resurrection.
All of this is symbolic, synchronistic. The beauty of the blossoms is there to open the hearts of man. That is what it has always been about. To open the heart.
Through this tree, we are connected back through those two thousand years, to the same lineage of trees that the family of Christ would have known, celebrated, and taken joy from. It is a living thread, a gift for us now to reconnect with.
It is said that if you plant this tree anywhere outside of Glastonbury, it will only flower in the spring, not at the winter solstice. I have not personally seen proof of this, but symbolically it speaks to the unique sanctity of the energy held here in Glastonbury as a New Jerusalem.
The tree also reflects the deeper story of Adam and Eve, the tree in the Garden of Eden, which itself is a symbolic story of a new beginning, a new age. Adam and Eve representing the divine masculine and the divine feminine, which is what this story is calling us back into now, as we enter the Age of Aquarius.
The tree represents the spine within the body. Adam as the inner divine masculine, Eve as the inner divine feminine. The branches and flowers reaching up into the heavens, like the energy rising through the body, connecting to the two hemispheres of the brain, left and right, reaching into the realms of light, and then returning back down through the roots, grounding into the Earth.
The story of the forbidden fruit can be seen as the pineal gland. When we connect to it, we access divine knowledge. This is the free will of humanity, the choice to live as divine beings, or to fall into the lower, animal instincts. It is the balance between higher and lower vibration.
When Adam and Eve turned toward those lower instincts, away from their divine nature, confusion entered. The angelic state became clouded by desire and attachment. And so we find ourselves walking this path again now, remembering, rebalancing.
So the symbol of the staff becoming the Holy Thorn tree is really Josef of Arimathea and the family of Christ bringing a new energy to humanity. An awakening. A reminder.
The blossoms reaching up into the light are calling us to rise, to connect to our ancestors, our lineage, our higher selves. Each flower a reflection of a different aspect of who we are, across time, across lifetimes, guiding us toward our highest consciousness.
And at the same time, the roots hold us firmly in the Earth. This is the balance. This is free will.
The tree is the symbol of that middle path.
So connect to it in your heart, in your body, in your spine, in your soul. Feel the balance of the masculine and feminine within you. See the blossoms rising into the light, and the roots deep in the Earth.
And through that, feel the presence of Josef of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, Yeshua, and all those who carried this energy before us, still holding that frequency, still guiding us back into that state of love, light, and peace, through the living symbol of the Holy Thorn.
If you’re interested in learning more and working with a group of people on these teachings and please leave the comment ‘interested’ below on the original post and I will get in touch, because I’m putting together a mystery school around these teachings and look forward in working with the right people maybe it's you?
