Stephen Wollaston - An Interview

 

Introducing Stephen WOLLASTON

"What have I been doing... I recovered from a straightforward illness that became serious one night when hospital doctors informed me they needed to contact a member of my family. I remember being quite accepting of the situation and thinking "I won't have any bills to worry about now". Yet, through the quick actions of the doctors, I pulled through and here I am! It was an interesting time. I realised I'm not afraid of dying! 

Before this, in 2017 I co-edited a new title with Ian Mowll, the coordinator of GreenSpirit, in the low-cost GreenSpirit Book Series, ‘Dark Nights of the Green Soul’, which was expanded this year with four additional chapters. The book highlights wisdom about facing difficult times, alongside reflections on our interactive relationship with Nature. The second and largest section has particularly resonated with some readers, and includes personal stories of people who found new meaning and growth by either connecting with an animal friend or in Earth-centred spiritual awakenings and teachings.

 

I also co-edited ‘Awakening to Earth-Centred Consciousness’ in the series, which is a selection of articles from GreenSpirit magazine. Each chapter engages thoughtfully with green topics. A wide-range of major subjects are covered such as green burials, veganism, raising green awareness in the Amazon, elephant protection, ecopsychology, and how Nature can heal us. Further to this I compiled two meditations books of quotations: one on green spirituality, released earlier this year, using passages from different GreenSpirit publications, and one of quotations by my late and long-time friend, medium and former Benedictine monk Glyn Edwards, to coincide with what would have been his 70th Earth-Year.

In regards to GreenSpirit, I continue to help with graphic design work on a voluntary basis as part of my personal spiritual practice such as laying out the magazine or designing their books. I’ve also started a regular page in the magazine on Good Green News to address the balance of the media’s obsession of reporting mainly on negative topics. Obviously, Covid 19 has changed the way organisations and charities work and regional GreenSpirit groups have been doing regular Zoom meetings for the equinoxes and solstices, as well as other meetings on array of green related topics. It’s been a good way for people to still be involved and not feel isolated. It has also sparked a slight growing interest in what GreenSpirit is about, and active members such as Ian Mowll and myself, have been approached by some organisations – such as the Arthur Findlay College, a reputable university, and a church in Poole  – to do talks on things such as Green Spirituality and other related topics. I’ve also been approached recently about doing a series of articles for Wake Up World’s website and eNewsletter, which I’ve summitted mainly on Earth-centred/green subjects but included one based-on a chapter from my low-cost ‘Realms of Wondrous Gifts’ book – which was repackaged and revised recently – on the topic of Sign, Wonders and Mystical Experience in Islamic Spirituality.

In regards to my late and dear friend Glyn Edwards, because of co-authoring my first two books with him, several people approached me about writing a biography about him or doing a tribute book honouring his life, teachings and work. As he was never interested in having a biographical book done, I decided a tribute book with a selection of stories and memories people had to share, along with some articles by him, would be more fitting. It came out last year along with the Meditations book mentioned. In addition to projects done with, for or about Glyn, the Spiritualists Association of Greet Britain has recently started to post various quotations and book extracts by either Glyn or myself on their website or Facebook page, which the manager and I discussed about doing. Plus, all the books with Glyn have recently been made available for the first-time as eBooks this year, including ‘The Spirit World in Plain English’, which has remained a popular title since its first release in paperback over twenty years ago.

Finally, I’ve also just finished the OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation Ministry course and thoroughly enjoyed it and got a lot out of it, but the real highlights for me were the interaction with other students in my year-group. It was both profound and awesome how we trusted and supported each other through two years of highs and lows of our lives and becoming friends with each other was greatly enriching. I can thoroughly recommend the course to anyone interested in a more inclusive approach to their spirituality. I’m also about to take some Psychosynthesis Certificates I have a step further and hope to complete a postgrad course in it in a couple of years, but with job uncertainly and Covid 19 around, I can only hope and trust things will work out okay!

Many blessings

Santoshan (aka Stephen Wollaston)