Alone - A Poem

O let me be alone awhile! 

No human form is nigh; 

And I may sing and muse aloud,

No mortal ear is by.

Away, you dreams of earthly bliss,

Ye Earthly cares be gone! 

Depart, ye restless, wondering thoughts, 

And let me be alone!

One hour, my spirit, stretch their wings

And quit this joyless sod;

Bask in the sunshine of the sky, 

And be alone with God.

End Times

 Words by Jesus about the End Times:

“Though I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.”

“That day of wrath, that dreadful day, shall the whole world in ashes lay, as David and the Sibyls say. What horror will invade the mind, at the last trumpet’s wondrous sound, and through the rending tombs, rebound, and wake the nations underground. The judge ascends his awful throne, He makes each secret sin be known, and all with shame, confess their own. Forget not what the ransom cost, nor let my dear-bought soul be lost. Prostrate my contrite heart I rend. Do not forsake me in my end.” Funeral song in the Requiem Mass. 

The Pregnant Dolphin - A Story

”The famous Italian diver Enzo Mallorca dived into the sea at ​​Syracuse. He was talking to his daughter Rossana who was aboard a boat and felt something slightly hit his back. He turned and saw a dolphin. Then he realized that the dolphin was trying to express something and as the dolphin dived, Enzo followed.

At a depth of about 12 meters, Enzo saw, trapped in an abandoned net, another dolphin. Enzo quickly called to his daughter to grab diving knives and join him. Soon, the two managed to free the dolphin, which issued an "almost human cry".

Abou Ben Adhem - A Poem

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An angel writing in a book of gold:—

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the presence in the room he said,

Horse Whispering

The art of horse whispering was kept a family secret, and horse dealing was conducted using handshakes and passwords to avoid charges of witchcraft. In Essex, 'Cunning Murrel' was used by farmers to heal livestock. Dan Wickett from Polperro, Cornwall, was a wort healer and had also horse whispering abilities. East Anglia was a major area for horse whispering. They often used in horse racing, talismans for 'drawing' - attracting horses, or 'jading', - repelling the horse. A wedge found in a foal's mouth'milt' or 'pad' was dried and soaked in oils to draw. To jade, a frog or natterjack toad was killed and impaled on a whitethorn to dry and buried for a month. It was then thrown into a running stream. One bone would float, and this. was kept as a talisman. This bone was the ileum or pelvic girdle and looks like a wishbone. It was carried in a pouch with flesh and other repellents and when placed in the horse's hoof would stop it from running fast. Herbs were used to attract, such as sorrell, bryony, cinnamon, rosemary, and tansy. Raw ginger under the horses tail would make it 'prance', called 'gingering up'. A twitch in the mouth would create pain and focus the horse's attention on the front of its head for operations at the back. Spiders web, chesse rind and harness leather were used to heal fleshwounds. Horse hair was used to make necklaces to cure goitre. 

The London Stone

William Blake thought that Druids sacrificed human victims on the London Stone! 

The London Stone was first mentioned in a gospel book of the West Saxons before 940 A.D. Stow, in 1598 describes the stone on the south side of Cannon Street as fixed in the ground, very deep, fastened with bars of iron and otherwise so strong that if carts run against it, their wheels be broken but the stone remains unshaken. The original function and significance of this limestone remains a mystery. In the Middle Ages, proclamations would be issued from it and binding agreements sworn over it. When Jack Cade, leader of the Kentish rising in 1450 occupied London for three days, he went straight to the London stone which he ceremoniously struck with his sword. A clue to the stone’s significance is other similar stones, such as the Coronation Stone at Westminster Abbey and the Kingston upon Thames stone upon which seven Anglo-Saxon kings were crowned. It is now thought that the London stone was also originally a symbolic source of power and authority.

The Wraggle-Taggle Gypsies - A Poem

 The Wraggle-Taggle Gipsies - Anon

Three gypsies stood at the castle gate
They sang so high, they sang so low
The lady sate in her chamber late
Her heart it melted away as snow

They sang so sweet, they sang so shrill
That fast her tears began to flow
And she lay down her silken gown
Her golden rings and all her show

She took it off her high-heeled shoes
A-made of Spanish leather-O
She would in the street in her bare, bare feet
All out in the wind and weather-O

 

Ancient Wisdom

Every Springtime, Egypt has an the 'inundation', as the great Nile River floods across the land from the South and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Rich soil is deposited and this provides for the crops that have sustained the people for millennia. All kinds of fruit and vegetables grew to feed people and animals. This excellent pasture supported healthy people who could fish and hunt water birds, make music and dance, tell stories and create art, sculpture, architecture and paintings. If a society had the means to write, they had the very rare and valuable ability to record their life. The Egyptian priests learnt to read and write and perform mathematics (especially astrology, geometry and algebra) and were very intelligent and knowledgeable and their glory and fame spread throughout the known world.

Counselling Training Essay

Unconditional positive regard and congruence in Client Centred Therapy

The counsellor’s genuine caring and responsibility needs to be in evidence. If the counsellor is only pretending to have unconditional positive regard, it would be obvious, and a client with healthy discernment would seek help elsewhere. On this particular subject, I had a conversation with my counselling trainer, Tony Merry, who told a story of when he was a counsellor. This particular client had no friends because he was so boring! In the course of therapy, the counsellor had felt so bored for seven consecutive therapy sessions that on the seventh occasion, the counsellor stated that he too was bored.The client grew very angry (which was not boring for the counsellor), and from that point onwards the counsellor was not bored by the client. 

I think this was wrong for two reasons. Firstly, the client was not working through his material at his own pace, and secondly he felt the need subsequently to be in therapy to interest his counsellor. I think it is important that a counsellor is congruent, but in a non critical way. 

When I Was One and Twenty - A Poem

 A poem remembered from my childhood:

When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard a wise man say,

“Give crowns and pounds and guineas

       But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies

       But keep your fancy free.”

But I was one-and-twenty,

       No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard him say again,

“The heart out of the bosom

       Was never given in vain;

’Tis paid with sighs a plenty

       And sold for endless rue.”

And I am two-and-twenty,

       And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.