The Lydney Excavation

Temple site excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1920s. 

At the end of the fourth century, a temple complex on a hill overlooking the Severn estuary at Lydney, Gloucestershire, was built to the god Nodens. Finds at Lydney show the Nodens was a healing deity, and that pilgrims offered votive figures of dogs. These animals were mascots of healing throughout the ancient world. Nodens was likely to be connected to the sea and this temple was found to have a mosaic (now lost), of fish and sea monsters. Nodens corresponds with two figures of Celtic mythology, Irish Nuadha and Welsh Nudd, later Lludd. Lludd is the legendary king of Britain who fortified London and was buried at Ludgate. Both Nuadha and Lludd were involved in defending their kingdoms against invaders. At Lydney and London, Nodens may have been a god of the headland guarding a great estuary and this a national tutelary god. The patrons of Lydney were perhaps wealthy Romanised Celts of the great Cotswold villas, such as Chedworth. Built at the closing years of the Roman Empire, when Britain was under threat of barbaric invasion, and when paganism was giving ground to Christianity, Lydney could have been defiant against the new order. 

Article

 On a recent trip to a major London art gallery, I heard a group of young people laughing and praising a large exhibit. On closer examination, I discovered it was a painting of a woman, with legs spread eagled for all to see her delicate private parts and her naked body was splattered liberally with blood red paint. This painting was described on the accompanying plaque as a celebration of women.

Our minds, capable of absorbing so much, our daily bombarded by video shot images of gross distortion of the human mind and body, we hear expletives without adequate foundation. Television programmes cater and cause limited attention syndrome. Psychological manipulation is used for large corporations to appeal to our anxieties, needs and grades. We are justifiably fearful for the safety of our homes and ourselves. Our lives are controlled by consumerism and competition. We are losing our well-being. We are losing healthy relationships with our family and friends. We are losing ourselves also.

Getting to Know the Goddess Course 2:1

Goddess Pages online course. Visit: goddess-pages.co.uk

I have long felt connected to the Virgin Goddesses who have more of an independent life, greater power of decision making.  I love the video of a song to Ariadne, Goddess of the Labyrinth, who gave the hero a thread so he could kill the beast that had its lair in the centre of the dark caves of dread and pain. I felt her pull on a thread that brought me to safety when I was in a dark warren of depression. Though I travelled to Chartres in order to walk the Knights Templar labyrinth there, it was closed on that day, so to went to the beach and made one myself in the sand. There is a marvellous 1 mile to the centre labyrinth at Saffron Walden, which was created in the 12th century and I have walked it on a full moon and on Earth day, and in the rain! I honour the Goddess of the Labyrinth, she is my savour!
In Part 2 of the course 'Getting to Know the Goddess', we enter another interesting part of the course on learning about Virgin Goddesses. Mary is known as a Christian mother and also virgin. Perhaps virgin means pure, innocent or young rather than the more modern meaning of not having had sexual intercourse. 

Agents

There are some big literary agencies and smaller ones, some tough and some fuzzy ones, some clever, some sincere, some dismissive and some just mercenary! 

Some deal exclusively with book rights, some with film rights, some with both, and some deal with other rights, such as public relations, and some deal with all rights. Agents often need legal knowledge that specifically pertains to publishing, a speciality within general law. 

The best agents will be impressed by their clients presentation skills, their knowledge and abilities, and will want - and know how to get - the best for their client. Most agents have many years of knowledge and a long contact list of executives in peripheral businesses, especially in the publicity departments of magazines, newspapers, TV and radio channels. They will represent you, manage you, and should sell you to all they meet. They will look after your public profile, will advise you on future possibilities and opportunities, they will help raise your profile online and offline, and will help hone your public image. They will steer you away from what is not suitable for your particular 'brand'. Your brand is the best 'fit' for what you intend to do in terms of current targets and future aspirations. They will define what you are offering and help you to develop the skills that will land you with the work you seek. To be taken on by a literary agent expect to pay 10% - 15% of your income. 

Recommended: 

Author Information

If you are writing a non-fiction book, an agent is not usually needed. You do not need to complete the book before sending the mss to a publisher. Just three chapters and the list of contents and synopsis are sufficient. However, you do need to write an interesting letter to the publisher about yourself and your qualifications for writing the book. Most publishers will introduce your book to bookshops in the month that it is published, but after that, they do little marketing. You need to demonstrate to the publisher that your book will be a best seller, and you do that by having a good marketing strategy yourself with press releases, creating your own book launch, organising talks, publishing extracts, writing articles on the topic, making YouTube videos, and getting as many interviews as you can including on radio shows. Etc Etc. Your proposal should include any research you have done and details of your marketing strategy.

A non-fiction book is usually a minimum 60,000 words so aim for this ballpark figure. Remember that the title and subtitle you give your book might not be the one that the publisher agrees to. Publishers have standard titles that your book might comfortably slot into, or there might be another book on the market with a similar title. 

Getting to Know the Goddess Course 1:2

The Goddess-Pages online course, visit: goddess-pages.co.uk
The Goddess Remembers: I feel uncomfortable about the word 'universe', used when other words would be more appropriate. I especially dislike the expression 'the Universe will provide', because the universe might be unlimited, but our beleagured, unique and self supportive planet is finite and in extreme danger due to overpopulation by human beings. The more humans, the fewer of every other species, bar the ones that human beings use for their own ends. Some people have chosen to re-write the English language to manipulate and exploit and I resent it! The universe is full of dark matter. It has a black hole at the centre of our solar system. None of this will provide anything that we can currently use. 

Spiritualism Part Two

UK Spiritualism is experiencing a revival of books, TV stations, telephone lines, daily newspaper reports as ghost hunts, medical psychics, possessions, apports, missing children found, psychic art, psychic children and animals, channelled videos, and a hundred and one ways to conduct healing, add to the readings and messages from loved ones in Spirit and we have a huge revival taking place not only in the UK but throughout the world. 

Counselling Case Study 1985

From my training journal of 1995. 

The approach I use with all my clients is Rogerian / person centred approach, where my clients congruency provides its own focus and momentum, and I accompany the client on that journey in the sessions. In the way I work, each session is complete, and I don’t refer to previous issues. The approach involves reflecting the current client’s feelings. This has been shown to increase emotional tolerance levels, and provide access for catharsis, reflecting thoughts and meanings which may provide insight, and having a nonjudgemental attitude - I may not always be accepting of what they do but I look at my own projections and deal with these in my own therapy and supervision sessions, and I try to remember that we are all in the process of becoming, and I value my clients bravery and potentials. By being congruent where I feel it is appropriate, I may state my thoughts and feelings, which allows the client to see the ‘real’ me and hence transferences are not so likely to occur. If a transference happens, it happens, and I do not interpret it or amplify it. If a client is unhappy with a session, if they tell me before they leave, I return their fee. 

Reflections

Pilgrimages in mediaeval times were encouraged by the church and many ordinary people took to the countryside to walk from one holy site to another, staying in inns and abbeys along the routes. They were often very unprepared, without suitable clothing or shoes, or even had good health to start with. But this was the religious holiday of the time. People would hear sermons, speak with all kinds of tradespeople, artisans, paupers and intellectuals. They would learn about healing herbs, poultices, how to mend broken bones, how to heal fever and exhaustion, as well as learning about veterinary care of the animals along many of the drovers routes that ran alongside the pilgrims way.  

I was born in a place of mediaeval pilgrimage. Each day as a young child I walked twice through the ancient churchyard. To me it was not spooky but more romantic as my mother said that people were remembered for hundreds of years because they were good people buried there. My father said my relatives, with my surname, had their tomb stones on the floor of the ancient church of St Mary. The area was an early compass, as pilgrims would go from one site to another; listening for church bells and watching for church towers and spires. Weather vanes also provided useful advice when setting out. 

I had a great interest in this, given to me by my father as we had a tree in our garden that was one of the original trees from a line that provided an early clock and seasonal reference. He was also interested in healing and I inherited his interest. Many royalty came to our local ancient church with the pilgrims, and I imagined the colourful retinue of lords and ladies riding through the streets where I played. 

I was interested in the Knights of St John, known as the Hospitallers who built a major hospital in Jerusalem, the farthest of journeys, of 1,000 miles to the place where Jesus lived and died. The Templars (Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon) were responsible for getting pilgrims safely there, but on arrival, many were too ill to make the arduous return journey. I didn’t realise that the Templars were also good doctors and vets, caring for the pilgrims health, their precious horses, dogs, sheep and other animals on route. These monks had taken orders of poverty, chastity and obedience, and were also fighting men, a rare combination. Jerusalem was not only the most prestigious and desired Christian shine, but also a Muslim holy place, and both battled to own and retain this mutual holy land. Such horrendous man to man combat took place under heavy metal armour in the most severe heat. One cannot imagine what they suffered, and what the enemy also suffered, as the Christians were far from their homeland and in Arab territory. So many people of all beliefs suffered unto death or were severely disabled, Templars were sworn to never retreat from battle. It was a terrifying life, with constant practice and training for the big fighting events, mass each morning and prayer eight times each day, added to the care of pilgrims health and safety and the security of their finances. Theirs was the greatest of sacrifice as they were only initiated if they passed the most rigid criteria. They were the elite of all the Roman Catholic Orders, the highest ranking and made the greatest sacrifice to fight to keep the greatest place on Earth for the Christian faith for which they lived each day and were prepared to fight to the death. 

So today is a Friday and the date is 13th, and many who are interested in history and especially religious history remember the 1304 date when the Templars were arrested, imprisoned, accused of all kinds of heresy, blasphemy and sins against the church and their vows, and were tortured to confess. The king of France Philip the Fair owed them money and had installed a puppet pope in France to support the dissolution of the Templar Order. The date was probably chosen, Friday being named after the goddess Venus and 13, the number of the moon and womanhood. So the 70 year old Sir James of Molay, who had travelled many months to Paris with a large financial offering for the king, and was the previous week a pallbearer at a royal funeral, was arrested and confessed under torture. All sins were forgiven under confession and he was granted absolution. But his conscience was not clear. He had lied that his great Order and its brave and dedicated knights were guilty of such sins, and that he himself could not meet his maker knowing he had lied about desecrating the implement of torture that god had been crucified upon. So he withdrew his confession, knowing that he would be slowly cooked on a fire by the Inquisition. The Church of Our Lady on the Seine in Paris was the place of his execution by fire, alongside his most faithful colleague, Geoffrey de Charney. They went to their excruciatingly painful deaths with a clear conscience. I pray for the suffering in retrospect and think of them this day. 

Witch Bottles

Witch bottles (sometimes referred to as Bellamine jars) were used in 1600s to prevent curses and bad luck, believed to come from those who practiced witchcraft. Using witchcraft to conquer witchcraft, and curses to counteract curses was common. Many of these witch bottles have been found and analysed to have originally contained urine, pins and other sharp objects, animal or human hair, nail clippings, cloth or other material, and were placed in the hearth or under the entry point to a home. 

PCA training 1989

My first essay on Carl Rogers - Person (Client) Centred Counselling. 

The purpose of this essay is for me to examine my thoughts towards the person centred approach (PCA) to group work, counselling and practice, to state why I have chosen this approach for my particular client group, and how and why I would specifically use this approach in my work. I will explain the way that core principles of congruency (authenticity) empathy, and unconditional positive regard conflict (even experienced therapists can be challenged in these three areas). I would like the reader to be aware that my attitudes are still in the process of development, and many of my ideas have not been formulated from books but for my own experience and therefore my position may vary at times from traditional theory. 

My reasons for choosing to use this counselling style (PCA) are that I believe it is the most gentle of therapeutic approaches and causes, potentially, the least damage. Often a client arrives to see a counsellor in a distressed or damaged state, and the object is to help this person in the gentlest, calmest and quickest way. I think PCA is the best first-aid particularly for delicate problems and events. I also think that there is less resistance than in psychoanalysis, so therapy can proceed at the clients pace without pushing, and this is both reassuring and empowering. Carl Rogers says the client “Can become more aware of their personal strengths, and can become increasingly autonomous and creative as the architect of his or her own life. Because of the total focus on empowering the individual, we have come to think of this method as a ‘person centred’ approach“ Carl Rogers. A Way of Being page 182

Wassailing and 12th Night

There is an ancient tradition to carry good cheer to the community at Christmastide. This is a party for friends to gather around a jug of punch, cider, mead or mulled wine.  It in some spices into the liquid. Raise your glass and drink to today! Dress up in bright colours and carry a sprig of Rosemary. 

On 12th night after Christmas Eve, take a bowl or jug filled with cider, toasted bread, any flowers you can find in the garden, and ginger and cinnamon. Sprinkle the liquid with a sprig of Rosemary on to the fruit trees saying “Here’s to thee, old fruit tree! And when thou Mayes blossom and blow, hat’s full, and cap’s full and my own pockets too. Peace and goodness be among you”. 

Q & A from Wendy’s Postbag

 Dear Wendy: I would like to see energy fields around people. What is the best way to do this? Joe

Dear Joe: Some people can see colours surrounding a person, especially around their head. These colours can vary in intensity, hue and tone, and sometimes can move and mix together. Generally, the clearer and brighter the colour, the healthier the person. Dull and weak colours, often show ill-health. Very dark patches, like deep blobs of muddy colour, can reveal poor judgment, addictions, and other dangers. Stand in front of someone who has the light behind them. Look for colours about six inches surrounding their head. In addition to seeing, it is also possible to ‘sense’ the aura’s vibrations. With your hands, feel the energy that surrounds their shoulders and throat areas, approximately one foot away, then about eight inches away from their body.