What is Spiritism?

In Poughkeepsie, New York State, in 1847 an uneducated faith healer and medical seer, Andrew Jackson Davis, wrote an autobiography entitled ‘The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations’. In this book, he described his very remarkable channelling mediumship abilities which he had discovered whilst experimenting with the techniques of Franz Mesmer whose early work, entitled ‘animal magnetism’ was being modified, resulting in the discovery of ‘intentional somnambulism’ an early word used for ‘trance’. He was in touch with intellectuals in the spirit world, such as Swedenborg and Galen and he went on to write fifty books on education, health, politics, psychology and philosophy. Within a short time, in Hydesville, a local town in New York State, two young sisters, Margaret and Kate Fox reported strange knockings and rappings. These developed into a code that revealed - it is said - that a peddler had been murdered and buried in the cellar of their home! An excavation revealed some bones and the previous owner of the property, Mr Bell, was accused of murder on account of this. 

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 your work to a publisher. Just three chapters, the list of contents, and a synopsis are sufficient. However, you do need to write an interesting letter to the publisher about yourself and your qualifications for writing the book. 

You also need to demonstrate to the publisher that your book will be a best seller, and you do that by having a good marketing strategy with press releases, a 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. If you know a successfully published author, ask them to write you a letter of introduction to their publisher. All this helps to show you are a serious writer - not a one book wonder! 

A non-fiction book is usually a minimum 60,000 words so aim for this ballpark word count. Remember that the title and subtitle that you give your book might not be the one that the publisher agrees to publish under. Publishers have standard titles that your book might comfortably slot into, or there might be another book on the market with a similar title. Each publisher has a niche. See their submission guidelines and rigidly keep to them. 

Walsingham - England’s Nazareth

The date is 1061, and Harold Godwinson, son of Godwin of Wessex became Earl of East Anglia on his father’s death. He had been promised kingship of the entire land by King Edward the Confessor but in the years just prior, he had a paralysis that was cured at the miraculous cross at the abbey at Waltham.

In this year, the Virgin Mary appeared several times to a Saxon noblewoman, Richeldis de Faverches and instructed her to build a replica of the house where the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, and where he told her she was to bear a son, whose name would be Immanuel - ‘God is with us’. Richeldis followed Mary’s instructions, and one night, whilst she was deep in prayer, the building materials that she had bought, suddenly assembled themselves into a holy house in the tiny village of Walsingham on the Norfolk coast. This quickly became a major centre of pilgrimage, one of the very first in this country. It was built because pilgrimages to Jerusalem were dangerous and, during this time, there was serious conflict between the French and English. An Augustinian and a Franciscan monastery were soon erected nearby. When gazing up at the night sky, the Milky Way was called the Walsingham Way of the heavens. 

Herbs

Sunflower: Cultivated 3,000 yrs ago, dedicated to Sun God, Helios. 

Hops: Pliny 1st century, and used for brewing by 8th century. 

Agrimony: Used as a heal all in Anglo Saxon times. From Agrimone Greek. Used for eye and skin disorders 

Hyssop: from Hebrew, a holy herb used for purifying temples and rituals. 

Elecampane: Helen of Troy was gathering this herb when she was abducted by Paris. 

Lavender: Used by Greek and Roman from lavare to wash. Insect repellant properties.

Meadowsweet: a strewing herb used in Elizabethan England for church weddings and bridal garlands. Sacred to the Druids.

FREE healing meditation

With gratitude. A beautiful FREE YouTube healing meditation presented by the US musician, Heather Kropf. 15 minutes of personal enjoyment. Ensure you are not interrupted! Visit Heather Kropf's website: https://www.heatherkropf.com/

Codependency No More Book Extract

Dependency issues: Many codependents don’t feel happy, content, or peaceful with themselves. They look for happiness outside themselves. The latch on to whoever or whatever they think will provide happiness for them. They feel terribly threatened by the loss of anything or person they think provides their happiness. They didn’t feel love or approval from their parents. And they don’t love themselves. They believe other people can’t or don’t love them. Desperately they seek love and approval. They often seek love from people incapable of loving. They believe other people are never there for them. They equate love with pain.

The Invocaction of the Graces

I bathe thy palms in showers of wine, in the lustral fire, in the seven elements, in the juice of the rasps, in the milk of honey, and I place the nine pure choice graces in thy fair fond face : the grace of form, the grace of voice, the grace of fortune, the grace of goodness, the grace of wisdom, the grace of charity, the grace of maidenliness, the grace of whole-souled loveliness, the grace of goodly speech.

Dark is yonder town, darker those therein, thou art the brown swan, going in among them. Their hearts are under thy control, their tongues are beneath thy soul, nor will they ever utter a word to give thee offence.

A shade art thou in the heat, a shelter art thou in the cold, eyes art thou to the blind, a staff art thou to the pilgrim, an island art thou at sea, a fortress art thou on land, a well art thou in the desert, health art thou to the ailing.

Thine is the skill of the fairy woman, thine is the virtue of Bride the calm, Thine is the faith of Mary the mild, thine is the tact of the women of Greece, thine is the beauty of Emyr the lovely, thine is the tenderness of Darthula delightful, thine is the courage of Maebh the strong, thine is the charm of Binne-bheul.

Dreams Part One

Dreams have been an inspiration to many people throughout the ages. Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley, Graham Greene and Stephen King used their dreams to provide the characters and plots for their fictional books. Barbara Cartland dreamed the story-lines to her novels - in fact, she believed God gave them to her in this way! Many artists have been inspired by dream images, especially Salvador Dali and those of the Surrealist Movement. The composer, Guiseppe Tartini dreamed the entire ‘Devil’s Sonata’, following a dream Edward Elgar wrote the first theme of his Cello Concerto and Igor Stravinski composed an entire octet whilst asleep. The music for Paul McCartney’s favourite and most successful record, ‘Yesterday’, was heard first in a dream.  

Rapprochement Card Reading

Taken from the card of Justice by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber: This card depicts the naivity of youth yet it contains very ancient wisdom. It is a winged angel that carries the heart-tipped-star-encrusted spear of Ultimate Truth. This extraordinary spear cuts through obscuring veils to reveal hidden wonders. The bright, shining blade only deals punishment that is deserved, or provides protection for validity of innocence. The scales held in her right hand weigh all factors, and finds the pivotal point between truth, order and justice. Yet she is not blindfolded, and she sees all sides of any given question. Behind this impartial Angel of Justice, a pink sky indicates the dawn of recovery as Justice must prevail. The angel has chosen to take her stand on a huge leaf of neutral space that Justice brings to a world in chaos in terms of ecology, health, finance, education, well-being, legal and all other necessary attributes. Without Justice, no kingdom, society or organisation can survive for long. 

Now is the time for seeing the other person's viewpoint. It is time for a balancing out of accounts on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. Conflict resolution involves the risk of letting go of power in the short term for rewards in the long term.

Gipsy Vans - A Poem

 Gipsy Vans by Rudyard Kipling

Unless you come of the gipsy stock
That steals by night and day,
Lock your heart with a double lock
And throw the key away.
Bury it under the blackest stone
Beneath your father's hearth,
And keep your eyes on your lawful own
And your feet to the proper path.
Then you can stand at your door and mock
When the gipsy vans come through...
For it isn't right that the Gorgio stock
Should live as the Romany do.

The Wood Wide Web

Trees remove the dangerous levels of carbon dioxide from our air, and make wood from it. They give out helpful oxygen! This huge synthesising work takes place in addition to supporting wildlife and providing beauty free of charge!

Pollution affects trees, the climate change causing them distress. They find hot summers, cold winters, floods and droughts difficult to cope with. Many infections and pests, especially from abroad are killing them. We all need to think of planting a suitable tree that will help wildlife and the planet. The oak, for instance, supports over 2000 species and 300 of those only live on the oak tree! 

Glastonbury - A Visit

I had not been to Glastonbury for at least 35 years so it was a delight to visit again and see the amazing changes - and also see so many things that stayed the same. It is a place where legends associated with all my favourite characters are brought to life. Perhaps a pre-Christian holy site, since the days when Joseph of Arimathea* brought two goblets (believed to be the Grail from Golgotha after the death of Jesus) to our land and placed his staff into the ground. The hillside is now called Weary All Hill because he and his group were exhausted from such a vast sea and land journey. I recently attended a family wedding at the ancient church of St Just in Cornwall where Joseph's boat is said to have arrived into the small bay. Joseph is an ascended master and I sense his energies all around