Getting to Know the Goddess Course 1:1

Goddess-Pages online course.
This  purse is practical as well as educational, and it has made me think about so many aspects of my life and society in general, as well as put me in touch with antiquity, with womanhood throughout the ages, and about many of the women in my life that have influenced me. I had never thought of ‘Goddess’ as a diminutive word, such as waitress, but She is the original, the first, She was the one and only, and therefore maybe I will attach a prefix such as this when describing Her. 
I have a connection with the Goddess and relate to many of Her archetypes. She is healing, and when focussing, and meditating on ‘the Lady’ especially in Springtime, as Flora, my meditations are wonderful, and full of images of beauty of all kinds. I love the early archaeological discoveries of the sculptures of the ‘Venus’ types. I am reflected in these images. I am very concerned about the incredible temples in the Middle Eastern war zones, unexplored, with the ground full of wonders, many, I am sure, would reveal much more about Her if protected for the future. I feel very aggrieved about the archaeological atrocities, despite many being in protected World Heritage sites. (Not to say anything about the animals, and rare species especially those that are badly affected by war, the ecological damage – as well as human suffering beyond our ability to imagine). I am against war, war on people, animals, and the delicate ecology of the planet.

Waltham Abbey Church

In the time of the Danish King Canute, around the date of 1030, his standard bearer, Tovi, owned land in the area of Montacute (locally called Lutegaresberi) near Glastonbury which was a very prestigious monastery. A blacksmith on Tovi's land had a dream - a vision over several nights resulting in fingerprints left upon the arm of the smith by an Angel who showed a hill top where great treasure was buried. So, with prayer and fasting, an investigation was organised by the village priest. A delegation of dignitaries, in procession, singing litanies, dug to a depth of forty cubits where the dream suggested, and there a large black stone crucifix carved skilfully onto black flint was discovered. With it was a smaller one under the right arm, and a bell under the left arm. There was also a book of the gospels. The Lord of the Manor, Tovi was called and they were taken to the graveyard. The small cross was placed in the Montecute church. 

The other precious objects were placed on a wagon with twelve red oxen and twelve white ones. Holy sites were named by Tovi to the animals, such as Canterbury, Winchester, York, Glastonbury, Westminster, etc., but the oxen failed to make any movement forward. Only when Tovi called the name of Waltham was called did the cart move. Waltham was a tiny church and hunting lodge, on the Lea river owned by Tovi. The animals immediately started walking and continued until they arrived at Waltham when they abruptly halted. Along the route many were healed of illness. The crucifix was taken from the cart and erected at the tiny church which was named after the holy cross. 

Introduction to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust was founded by author and naturalist Gerald Durrell 50 years ago with the mission to save species from extinction, and it has a proven track record of doing just that! Species that have been pulled back from the brink include the Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, echo parakeet and the Mallorcan midwife toad, and our dedicated conservationists are hard at work in threatened habitats around the world, continuing each day to protect and conserve many more amazing species.

Due to the increasing demands of humans on the environment, we have witnessed in recent decades, a massive rise in the rate of extinctions.The number of species under threat has reached alarming proportions, including 23% of mammals, 12% of birds and 32% of all amphibians. A wide variety of species are necessary for the building blocks on which our ecosystems are sustained and it is these ecosystems that provide us with previous resources, such as clean water, fuel, fibre and food. 

Meeting the Crow Tribe

Les Fuller Interview ‘MEETING THE CROW TRIBE OF EAST LONDON

Les is a trained healer and platform medium and has worked in the Essex/East London area for over 40 years with his partner Jacci (pronounced Jacky) who quietly supports him with her own healing and mediumship skills.

Les has had many tutors and mentors, but he also has worked closely with his own spirit guides to enhance the empathic and authentic spiritual life path that he walks. Over these many decades of working with Spirit, Les has been inspired and encouraged by his First Nation/Indigenous American spirit guides to work in new ways which provide relaxation, joy and upliftment and can be profoundly moving experiences for those who attend his workshops and meetings. One of his early mentors was the late Ernie Alexandra of Waltham Abbey, a recruiting medium who recruited Les and Jacci to his training circle. Edmonton was another early centre of gaining knowledge of spirit and spirit messages and he has worked at Cheshunt giving talks and at Manor Park.

The Fox

About 16,000 years ago, when Paleolithic painters were drawing steppe bison in the Spanish cave of Altamira, A woman of unknown name died in what is now Jordan, in a site called autumn al-Hamman. The body was laid among flint and ground stone, and a red fox was carefully placed beside her ribs, resting with her fraternity on a bed of ochre. The care in the joint burial is believed to suggest some emotional link between the human and Fox, beyond that shown to wildlife perceived as food or clothing. It has been speculated that these pre-Natufian people coexisted with foxes that we’re at least half domesticated. It is clear that Fox’s held a strong cultural significance for these people of the Levant. They are commonly found in human graves in modern Israel, dated around 8600 years ago, while stone carvings of foxes with thick brushes adorn the pillars of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, believed to be the world’s oldest temple. Bones from two foxes have been found in a grave in North Yorkshire at Star Carr and ancient settlement along with those of Britain’s first known domestic dogs.

Cornwall - A Visit

St Just Well

Wild moorlands and magnificent coastlines of Cornwall have inspired artists and writers to visit this beautiful rural county but there is further wonder and magic that makes it ideal for channelling energies of angels and ascended masters. 

When hordes of invaders, Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Jutes, and others, arrived from the Continent of Europe, the indigenous Celtic people were driven to outlying lands, to Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. In these places, the Celtic languages survived, and we have traditions handed down the generations by the Druids, famed throughout the ancient world for poetry and storytelling, their love of family ties and their knowledge of the law.

Lenormand Cards

Lenormand Cards are named after the most famous fortune-teller of all time, Mademoiselle Marie Anne Lenormand who was born in 1772 in Normandy (as her name suggests). She was 5 years old when her parents died and she entered a convent orphanage. Though her personal history is unclear, she was sent to Paris at 14 years of age and apprenticed to a milliner but by the age of 30 she was known as the ‘Sibyl of the Parisian Salons’. Many celebrities of the day met with her and reported on her style and methods. The telling of fortunes was described as a ‘black art’ and was illegal so she designed her own card decks to double as ordinary picture cards. They were small enough to hide in the volumes of her lace and pearls should she be confronted by the police. Her drawing room, the ‘Sanctum Sanctorum’ was guarded by a servant and Mademoiselle Lenormand would appear from a hidden door within the panelled walls. The room was extravagantly decorated and perfumed and she wore highly exotic costumes. She would shuffle and the Querent (a derivation of a Latin word meaning ‘seeker’ and denoting someone who seeks the advice of a cartomancer or medium) would cut the cards with their left hand and she would lay the cards out in rows, side by side, asking, as she did so, a number of questions, such as the Querent’s date of birth, favourite colour or animal.

Your Feast Meditation

 With thanks to Erica Longdon for the voice-over and video creation
 

Auditory Processing Disorder

 

Reclaiming the Earth

 The values of the reclaiming tradition stem from our understanding that the Earth is alive and all of life is sacred and interconnected. We see the goddess as eminent in our planet’s cycles of birth, growth, death, decay and regeneration. Our practice arises from a deep, spiritual commitment with the Earth, to healing and to the linking of magic with political action. 

Each of us embodies the divine. Our ultimate spiritual authority is within, and we need no other person to interpret the sacred to us. We foster the questioning attitude, and honour intellectual, spiritual and creative freedoms. 

We are an evolving, dynamic tradition and work for female and male energies of divinity, always remembering that the essence is a mystery which goes beyond form. Our community rituals are participatory and ecstatic, celebrating the cycles of the seasons and our lives, and raising energy for personal, collective and Earth healing. 

Writing Autobiography

The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Oscar Wilde

Don’t just remember what happened! Relive and reflect on episodes of the past as though it is happening today. Write in the present tense! Write like you are writing to a dear friend whose relationship you treasure!  Don’t forget to say how you feel, and include your thoughts, not just circumstances. Live your truth and describe it with good language skills and with as few repetitions as possible. You are unique, your story is unique, don’t copy anyone else. Make it deep. Make it exciting. Make it live! Send shivers down spines, make your reader gasp, make them tell their friends about the excitement! Write from your heart, mean every word. Write and write, but your spontaneity is required. At the end, edit, and edit bigtime, especially avoid being presumptuous, up staging or praising yourself too highly. Take out the ‘shitty committee’ and if you do criticise, end with compassion. We don’t walk in the shoes of others, and if we are in their shadow, look for our own mistakes within that uncomfortable relationship. 

Claim your story! Write for yourself - readers will relate to you better than you can relate to your readers. There needs to be light and darkness, different moods, joys, tragedies, difficulties, burdens overcome, outcomes not expected, people described in all their variety, places experienced, coldness followed by warmth, followed by enlightenments and revelations shared. What is the motive for your memoir? Please don’t say ‘to make money’ because unless you are an international star, your time will never be paid for. Revenge, therapy, for your grandchildren, to raise yourself out of obscurity, setting a record straight, to make others laugh or to share your life wisdom? You will discover your reason usually after you have written it! All these and more will be part of your life story!

Free YouTube Meditation

Your Film Story. 

This is a free YouTube healing meditation written by Wendy Stokes and presented by Erica Longdon. Please make yourself comfortable, avoid interruptions, and enjoy the visit to your own personal spiritual cinema!

Perfume Part Four

There are 20 species of herbacious perennial freesias in the wild, all natives of South Africa. The name derives from the German physician, Dr Heinrich Theodore Freese who discovered the beauty of this flower. In 1909 the British painter Edward Frampton painted them in Fairyland as an emblem of spring and regeneration. Freesias are second only to the great favourite rose oil; their variety of colour makes them popular for cut flower displays and their lemony scent lends itself to a single note fragrance. The yellow Freesia refracta abd the pink Freesia armstrongii were brought from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to Europe in the later 19th century and have been hybridised into the many beautiful flowers we see in florists and garden centres today. The Netherlands is the main centre of production, but they can also be found growing in East Anglia and Lincolnshire. They are also grown in California. Most freesia scents are now chemically based. 

Words of Power

The Gospel of John begins: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God! This sets out the power of nouns which are naming words. The name of God was so powerful in the Jewish religion that it was not allowed to be spoken. A symbol or alternative word for God's name was used. The second Commandment states: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain! The name of God was sacred. In fact, everyone's name is sacred, yours, mine and others. Since earliest recorded time, it has been recognised that words have an intrinsic power. Abracadabra, Hocus Pocus, Heypresto, Opensaysme! All are words that conjure magic or call upon spirits. Words that name places, also carry power. Ask any Irish person about this. Many of their folk songs feature place names that have not only ancient meanings but also hold highly valued personal memories. Words are said at special times to bestow important meanings, 'Congratulations', 'I forgive you', 'You are fired', are examples of words that carry vital meaning. Words have power, to heal and to harm. This is the nature of the curse. An awareness of the power of words means that we understand that by using a word, we deliver that energetic vibration into the world.

Templars!

The Templars had great success in defeating the poor peasants of the Holy Land, but Templars were trained warriors on large and heavy armoured horses. The Crusaders wielded expensive swords and wore expensive armour, how could the poor people of this land fight and win against them? God supported the Crusaders are they rode through the countryside, many hundreds of miles, taking from local peasantry whatever they needed in terms of food and other necessities, sometimes they returned home with great luxuries! Over the course of 200 years, the local people gathered and trained themselves to fight against these Crusading intruders. Losses occurred, and God no longer supported their successes! This would lead to the downfall of the Templars. 

The Templars honoured St John the Baptist and also Mary Magdalene, who were saints, but neither featured in the Christian Creed. Templars were dedicated to both these prominent saints but not instead of Jesus the Christ or his mother, Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God. There were two pillars of the church, John the Baptist and Jesus. Both had a powerful ministry. 

The Baptist was the fore runner of Jesus, like Elijah who handed his cloak to Elisha. He also was a powerful preacher who baptised in the name of forgiveness, and preached the way of the Lord. He came from the highest and important Judaic family of his time, his father was the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple and, like Jesus, he also had a miraculous birth. 

Mary, Theotokos, Mother of God, was praised for her obedience and humility. Catholics asked Mary to intercede with Jesus for favours, as she was the closest to him. Her life is documented from time time when Gabriel appeared to her and the Magnificat prayer was said by her. 

Mary Magdalene was honoured as a saint who is mentioned in the Bible as one who had 7 demons exorcised from her by Jesus. She cared for Jesus and his disciples from her own money, so she was a woman of independent means. She was at the crucifixion and saw Jesus after he rose from the dead. So she was considered a woman of high sainthood.