Annabel Du Boulay’s journey into the mystical realms of the Rose, Gnostic, and Celtic Lineages is both profound and deeply personal. Through her experiences as a spiritual teacher, transpersonal therapist, and author, she explores the wisdom of the Feminine Divine and the transformative power of self-knowledge and healing. MysticMag has the pleasure.
What led you down this mystical path?
My fascination with the Rose, Gnostic, and Celtic Lineages was inspired by my Irish lineage grandmother Moira – a storyteller, singer, and seer – and my Scottish lineage grandfather Joseph, Grand Master of a Masonic Lodge, as Freemasonry was one of the ways in which the Rose Lineage survived as an esoteric mystery tradition following the Church’s violent suppression of it in the 13th-16th centuries.
It was in 1991, while studying for my BA Degree in English, that I first read the Greek Myths and Medieval Mystics, and asked the question “Why is God male?”
Like many people who are brought up Protestant or Catholic, my devotion to the Feminine Divine came through my love of Mother Mary when my mother had cancer. In fearing the loss of my mother, I turned to the Divine Mother.
In 1993, I found her in a rural village in Southern Italy, where I became fascinated by the quasi-Pagan-Catholic veneration of the Black Madonna as the later Gnostic embodiment of an ancient, pagan Black Earth Mother Goddess, and where I later set my novel The Serpent’s Tale.
Then in 1995-96, I lived in the house of a Peruvian shaman and travelled with him throughout Peru, from the Andes to the Amazon, where I took part in an Ayahuasca ceremony with a tribe, and he taught me about the Inca Earth Mother Goddess Pachamama and Mother Earth Spirituality.
On my return to London, I completed my MSc Degree in the Sociology of Religion from a feminist perspective at LSE. My thesis compared the concept of the Feminine Divine, and the role of women, within Ancient & Contemporary Paganism, Gnosticism and Christianity, looking at how patriarchal religion appropriated and manipulated the pagan and Gnostic teachings of the Rose and Celtic Lineages in order to control women in society.
My spiritual path has therefore always been deeply woven with my path as an academic, activist, and teacher, but it wasn’t until I gave birth to my eldest daughter Sophia Mary in 1999, who was born with a life-threatening syndrome, that I had my first mystical experience with Sophia, Black Goddess of Wisdom. Since then, Wisdom Sophia has been my primary Goddess and Guide.
During the years that I nursed my daughter through 12 operations, I continued to study the Rose and Celtic Lineages, and the mythos of Sophia, Black Goddess of Wisdom, whilst my daughter Sophia led me repeatedly on the Sophianic Descent and Ascent of the Soul.
As a coping mechanism, I channelled my academic knowledge and lived experience into the writing of my Gnostic, historical novel The Serpent’s Tale, based in 16th-century Italy at the time of the witch-burnings, with an allegorical framework inspired by the Greek Myth of Demeter and Persephone, and the later Gnostic Myth of Sophia.
And, in 2001, I began my Priestess of Avalon 4-year training with the Glastonbury Goddess Temple, before I eventually moved to Glastonbury where I founded The Avalon Rose Chapel®, through which I offer my Soul Development Programme of Online Workshops, Immersions, and Courses.
What are the main ideas and traditions you base your work on as a Teacher?
The Wisdom teachings of the Black Goddess Sophia flow down to us through the millennia, from the original Black Earth Mother Goddess of Africa to Mount Sinai, and thence to Ancient Mesopotamia, before weaving their way down the Rose Lineage through Ancient Judaism, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and into Early Christian Gnosticism.
Sophia was honoured as Goddess of Wisdom by the Ancient Greeks and Gnostics, gnosis being the Greek noun for spiritual knowledge and mystical enlightenment. The path of gnosis teaches us that we can return to the allegorical Garden of Eden through the Sacred Marriage of our Soul, by healing the wounds that are preventing us from embodying our full Soul potential and sharing our unique gifts in the world.
Self-knowledge was considered the path to enlightenment in the Rose Lineage spiritual tradition, through which we not only reunite with our Self but also with the Divine as we experience it, be it a transcendent being or inner guide. Sophia is an archetype of Feminine Divine Wisdom that can be found in all religious and spiritual traditions, thus forming a bridge of peace and union between all faiths.
The Myth of Sophia teaches us that darkness is not separate from light, that it is within the darkest times of our lives when we experience deep pain, loss, and fear that the light of rebirth can guide us towards greater wisdom, strength, love and compassion – gifts that we can then share with our loved ones and communities. It is a philosophy that helps us to accept and surrender to life’s challenges, trusting in ourselves and in life that every seemingly negative experience is an opportunity for us to heal, learn and grow along our path of gnosis.
‘Philosophy’ comes from the Greek Word ‘Philosophia’ meaning a ‘Love of Wisdom’. Philosophia is the term I use for all my teachings I share on the Black Goddess Sophia, the Avalon Rose Lineage, and the Philosophia Wheel of the Year, inspired by the Celtic Wheel and Rose Mysteries. Through my Soul Development Programme of Online Workshops, Immersions, and Courses, I invite my clients to peel back the layers of patriarchal distortion, explore their spiritual and mythological heritage, and engage with ancient soul development tools and rituals designed to guide them along their own path of gnosis or self-knowledge.
What can a person expect from being coached by you?
In 2006, I trained as a Transpersonal Therapist, Self-Development Workshop Tutor, and Guided Meditation Teacher, gaining the General Qualification in General Hypnotherapy Practice (GQHP) from the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council and membership with the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR Reg).
My therapeutic skills are underpinned by having completed 8 years of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with a Professor of Psychology, and 6 years of Transpersonal Psychotherapy with a therapist trained by Dr Christine Page, author of the Return of the Great Mother and the Handbook of Women’s Mysteries.
Since qualifying, I have worked extensively in the private, voluntary, and corporate sectors, providing 1:1 therapy and coaching, as well as writing and facilitating numerous self-development workshops, courses, and trainings. From 2006-12, I also worked for the UK’s leading mental health charity, facilitating workshops for sufferers of severe and enduring mental health difficulties.
As an expert in the myths, archetypes, and symbols of the Rose, Gnostic, and Celtic Lineages, I combined my academic knowledge with my transpersonal trainings to create a unique and highly effective way of empowering clients to work deeply with their Soul and Psyche, which can bring about powerful healing and transformation through working with their inner archetypes or ‘parts’.
You are also an artist. What kind of art do you make?
I was inspired to create ‘The Healing Womb’ Art Installation by my personal experience of mothering three children, two of whom were born with life-threatening syndromes, who I’ve nursed through 20 operations.
During the many months, I lived on neonatal intensive care and paediatric surgical wards, I became aware of the depth of women’s suffering and untold stories, and wanted to create a sacred space in which they could come to share their stories and heal.
The Installation featured 4 archetypal paintings of the Mother of Loss (Hecate), Mother of Solitude (Lilith), Mother of Healing (Brigit) & Mother of Compassion (Kuan Yin), in which women gathered to share their stories in relation to child loss, childlessness, the challenges of mothering disabled children, and pregnancy termination.
Inspired by Wisdom Sophia in her role as Lady Alchemia, through painting the Installation, I transformed the lead of our suffering into the light of our gnosis to support other women.
To learn more about Annabel’s work, you can visit her:
Website: annabelduboulay.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/annabelduboulay
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnnabelDuBoulayAuthor
