In one of the weekend newspapers just gone there’s a question and answer onepage piece by a famous novelist. Amongst the 12 questions, which the paper tries to make a bit different and bespoke in its own way, is something like “Do you believe in an afterlife?” I won’t quote the reply in full but she calls “the afterlife” (whatever that might mean) a “complete and utter con” and a “sneaky raid on man’s rational thought”.
Of course people are free to think what they want, but it’s insulting that people who are genuinely exploring other levels of reality are so disrespected and demeaned like that. What’s more, I often find that my ostensibly reliable “thought” goes in all sorts of deranged directions much of the time and honestly I couldn’t say when it qualifies as rational. It’s certainly not some kind of perfect shining castle that’s vulnerable to the assaults of mysticism.
It used to be brave and alternative when people described themselves as atheists and the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley got into terrible trouble for it in the early 19th century. I am fully aware that in many other cultures even now it’s the same. But in the West it’s nothing. It’s predictable
and boring to imply that spiritual belief has been left behind us in the relentless march of progress. It’s much braver to say “I think there is more, and I am exploring to the best of my abilities what that might be”. Very few high-profile authors or intellectuals put their heads above that parapet.
We are not mugs or naïve. We aren’t rabid anti-everything conspiracy theorists. We doubt, we question, we can’t take refuge in niceties. We are also intelligent and kind and believe in love and community as the way forward. For myself….I don’t know what I truly think about reality or the cosmos or anything. I might turn out in the end to be an atheist too. Who knows?
It’s an honour to put these books, decks and articles before you and let you work things out as best you can. When I read about the new book by Gordon Smith, Where Two World Meet, I wasn’t even sure whether I was going to include it. He’s a lovely man and a highly capable psychic, but this book is “spiritual fiction” and that’s really not a thriving genre.
I decided to include it because it was him, but when I received an electronic copy I started reading it and I couldn’t stop – I was captivated! It’s written in a fable style and you can finish it quickly, but it’s uplifting and optimistic and gives a worldview that makes sense and which shows us a way forward, especially when we might not know what we should be doing. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it just made me feel better. When we are overloaded with negative news about decline, war, people undermining each other or scapegoating other human beings who they see as outsiders, and with other people relentlessly amassing goods and money that they don’t need and that could turn around the lives of countless people – it’s sweet relief to read instead about co-operation, understanding and redemption. About beings co-existing in harmony and about a network of mutual support and love across all life.
Optimism – that’s quite an unfashionable concept. Optimism
can be seen at best as Pollyanna-ish and at worst as self-delusional. It can be used to cover over fear and negativity and there’s a danger that it can genuinely make us deny certain important scientific facts. However, there’s a contagiousness about anxiety, which I feel is an epidemic today, and optimism is an antidote.
There are crows in the park right by where I work and there are crows at home, cawing and bickering in the trees above us. They are meant to be amongst the most intelligent birds and they are said to recognise certain humans. When I am optimistic and believing in the connection between all life, I greet them and try in whatever way I can to establish a relationship with them. Whether I am an atheist or not, this is a two-way loving connection that is real and can take understanding forward.
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“...it’s sweet relief to read instead about co-operation, understanding and redemption.”
The Divine Masters, also known as “ascended masters”, are a congregation of enlightened beings, spiritual guides, and souls who have dedicated themselves to the healing and nurturing of the world.
These beings are universal spiritual guides operating on a multidimensional level, meaning that, like angels, they aren’t limited by linear time and space, and therefore anyone can connect and work with them, no matter what their background or experience.
The Divine Masters have appeared in different spiritual traditions with different names but similar roles, teachings, and even locations. For example, Buddhists believe that ascended/enlightened masters reside in Shambhala (a hidden city of light in the Himalayas), while many sadhus and Udasis (the wandering holy men
of India) have spoken of hidden temples and mysterious masters or gurus, and Christian traditions have taught that there is a Communion of Saints (a gathering of human souls and angels in heaven).
No matter what path or tradition you follow, the Divine Masters are willing to guide and support you. Most have had physical incarnations and therefore understand the complexities of being human and spiritual at the same time. Call upon these beings in challenging times and they will support you through the process of healing and transformation.
This 44-card deck acts as a bridge of light for you to connect directly with these beings and receive their guidance. Let this connection become an exciting spiritual process that supports the raising of your vibration and leads you to a life filled with meaning and purpose.
The Divine Masters are a congregation of enlightened souls who have dedicated themselves to the healing and nurturing of the world. This has been an age-old concept that came to light in modern times through Madame Blavatsky. Included here are legendary figures like Saint Germain, Melchizedek, Kuthumi and Babaji, as well as the great world teachers like Buddha and Jesus. There are 44 cards and the images are like passport photos with the being looking directly at us. Each card then carries a quality embodied by that being and a statement embodying a message that they might be delivering. We can imagine that we can use this to connect directly with these beings or with a quality inside ourselves. Kyle Gray’s decks always do well at Cygnus, I think because they so effortlessly carry a beautiful, otherworldly quality. Available at the beginning of November.
44 cards and 160-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330307 ❖ Non-Member Price: £14.43 ❖ Member Price: £12.99
I must admit that this wasn’t a book I was originally going to include in Cygnus. It came out in May and I initially thought it was perhaps too pagan and too “up close and personal” with the reality of death. However I think it’s a touching and perceptive book that deals with issues that are hard to find discussed elsewhere. Death is something we all have to deal with, usually many times, and it helps if the process is meaningful. The author is a spirit medium and is very used to being present at death. She suggests positive ways of approaching it and relates many encouraging stories and messages about communication with the person during and after death. I think if we read this book we will come up with better ways of helping friends and relatives with this transition and perhaps we can also make constructive plans for our own.
128pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330355 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
by
Andy SharpThis isn’t your normal Cygnus title but it’s very good and I have never really seen anything like it before. It’s an alternative take on heritage, a guidebook to places where weird things happened: some of them are quite dark but others are more upbeat, being places associated with gods and goddesses from different traditions. There are photos of some of the locations made to look like Wish You Were Here postcards. There are some practical tips on where to stay in these places which range from London to Nantes, New York to India and the wastes of the Sahara to Stranraer in Scotland, but it’s not meant to be a practical guidebook. It’s an inspiration to visit a set of amazing places, like Avebury and Chiswick House in the UK or Zugarramurdi in Spain and Hendaye in France. Just being close to these sites of initiation or alchemical practice will surely inspire us.
290pp, 203 x 178 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £18.99
❖ Code: 330361 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
Ancestral magic as a practice is something that is easy to relate to. No one can object, as far as I can see, to living a better life now, inspired by people who went before us, and creating a poetic connection to them. This book is strong on creating an altar, finding out stories about ancestors and looking at the beliefs that used to predominate within a family, but it also describes having an ancestral guide and rituals to contact ancestors. It depends how far you want to take it. Chapters include Ancestral Karma and How to Work with It and What’s Your Family Totem and Other Talismans. This is one of those lovely largerformat Cico titles with flaps and plentiful colour illustrations, all for a very reasonable price.
144pp, 236 x 195 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330305 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
Many of us at Cygnus are captivated by our own local folklore so it’s a treat to be able to delve into someone else’s! This lovely hardback book is a comprehensive guide to all the nasties from India, of which there are many; we meet Apasmara, a Hindu demon of ignorance and ego, the Buga, a race of shapeshifting mermen, Mura, a gigantic predatory bird and Rulpui, a fearsome, giant, feathered serpent demon amongst many others. The descriptions are both graphic and informative, but also hugely entertaining with stories and anecdotes about the creatures, and there are lots of black and white illustrations that bring the fiends to life. This may not be quite our usual content, but it’s a really lovely book to have or to give as a gift.
368pp, 241 x 161 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £18.99
❖ Code: 330364 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
In 1989 Vivianne wrote a book called Wicca, which was one of the first pagan books to be published for a long time and which became a real go-to text on the subject. She has written books since but she is still best-known as a pagan, even though she has done lots of work since in shamanism and Jungian psychology. This is a good book that I enjoyed reading because it’s full of anecdotes about her life but it also brings in wisdom and teachings along the way. It tells stories that range across the world in all the places she has visited for her own personal learning and to teach others in classes and workshops. It really encourages and lifts the reader to go and search for magic and enchantment in their own lives, just as she has picked it up in all those wonderful locations. Ronald Hutton calls it “the best book on the experience of magic that I have ever read”.
336pp, 199 x 129 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £10.99
❖ Code: 330335 ❖ Non-Member Price: £8.87 ❖ Member Price: £7.99
Now in paperback, this is a book of literary activism that stands as an antidote to the current epidemic of shallow thinking. To read it is like being swept on a poetical adventure into the land where fairy-tale and modern life co-exist. In his latest book, Martin Shaw once again dares us to step into the fuzzy meeting space of myth and legend, which he claims to be as real as the world we normally inhabit. It is there that we meet our “wild twin”; our slightly naughty but always well-meaning inner child, who calls us to re-examine our sometimes all too civilised daily selves. This book does not give any clear and easy answers, but instead inspires us to dream and be more daring. I suspect that this is something we need more of at the moment.
144pp, 197 x 127 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £11.99
❖ Code: 330303 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.98 ❖ Member Price: £8.99
Many of us have a problem with the word, even the concept of, prayer.
I was brought up, as many have been, with the vague idea that prayer was asking a super-human called God to do something. In church I would obediently repeat the words in front of me. Even in my agnostic phase, in extremis I would call out silently from the depths, asking for help from I knew not what. When I recovered my faith about twenty-five years ago, and came to the Quakers, I still found “prayer” a difficult word, and wondered what it might mean.
In some religions – Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Roman Catholicism – spiritual practice, communal or personal, is mandatory. Most Christian denominations and many other religions rely on services led by a priest with set prayers for the whole congregation. The authority of tradition – the structure, the power, of the same words spoken over the centuries – these are central for many people of faith.
If you ask a practising Muslim, Jew, or adherent of most denominations of the Christian faith about prayer, you will probably get a pretty clear answer – at least about communal prayer. Less so, perhaps, for private prayer, which varies according to the individual and their need. But what most might agree on are the usual purposes of prayer, which answer needs shared by most of humanity: praise, thanksgiving, confession, forgiveness, petition and intercession for others.
There are those, however, who are increasingly uncomfortable saying words which do not come directly from the heart, and perhaps no longer reflect their own beliefs or experience, and we are not alone in finding it a challenge. Even monks talk of going through the motions, and the difficulties of keeping mind and voice in harmony. St Paul said that we do not know how to pray.
But beyond the generally accepted forms and types of prayer lies an ancient and wholly different tradition, which can be found in most major religions of
the world. Although often viewed with suspicion by the mainstream Church, contemplative or mystical practice is a longstanding part of the life of Christianity, and can be traced through the seventh-century Desert Fathers and Mothers, to the anonymous Cloud of Unknowing, and such mystic figures as Julian of Norwich.
Contemplative prayer is about being present, and getting ourselves out of the way. It is not escapism or daydreaming, but a deepening awareness of our place in the world, our connection with all that is, and the Divine Mystery: being self-aware but not self-conscious. Contemplative practice requires us to pay attention. Particular spiritual practices such as
waiting in the Light (listening, letting go, opening ourselves), adopting a contemplative gaze, and the Lectio Divina practice of sacred reading can be gateways and can awaken us to an awareness of the Presence.
As writers from many traditions have testified:
At the heart of contemplative prayer is recognition of our relationship with God, and with each other and all living things as an expression of the Divine. Prayer is attuning yourself to the life of the world, to love, the force that moves the sun and the moon and the stars.
(David Steindl-Rast, The Music of Silence, Berkeley Ca: Seastone, 1998, xvii)
A monk once told me that “prayer is not so much a matter of words or ideas” but rather “a deep, inarticulate longing for one in whom one’s whole being can rest and be at peace”.
If prayer is not defined by tradition, form or specific practices, what is it? If prayer can be at any time, in any place, might we say that prayer is more a state of mind and heart than an action? The apostle Paul bids us to “pray without ceasing”. In so doing, we might see prayer as encompassing the whole of life.
We all have our individual relationship with prayer, our own practice, our own understanding of what it means. In the end, it is important (in the words of Dom John Chapman) to “pray as you can, not as you can’t”.
www.jenniferkavanagh.co.uk
We have included another article by our friend Jennifer Kavanagh, who gave up her career as a literary agent to work in the community in London’s East End. She is now a wise spiritual teacher. This book outlines her experience from practising inside the Quaker tradition but it describes common principles from within the spiritual life. Quakerism has always been seen as the least dogma-laden branch of Christianity and one that many of us can approach without taking on mainstream Christianity per se. It’s a very hospitable place to work on our own contemplative and devotional practices. So, what is prayer according to her? What are the best conditions in which to pray? And how does prayer relate to practices within other religions, like Buddhism?
80pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £8.99
❖ Code: 330308 ❖ Non-Member Price: £6.65 ❖ Member Price: £5.99
Belinda Womack has been a channel for the 12 Archangels for more than 30 years and here she shares their advice on overcoming what they call a “lack of abundance”. It’s a heartfelt commentary on how to overcome personal discontentment and appreciate all that life has to offer, with some advice on financial gain too. The angels share healing visualisations to help tackle deeply embedded layers of guilt and shame. They are also aimed at raising the vibration of your thoughts, feelings and beliefs, to attract happiness, confidence and a sense of freedom. The words are kind, supportive and reassuring, and carry you along so you feel better just by reading them. This is a book to savour, to dip into when feeling low and to work with when trying to connect with your true self and everything you want to be.
272pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.00
❖ Code: 330344 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.98 ❖ Member Price: £8.99
Calista, interestingly once a cancer research scientist, is based in Perthshire. She is described by Theresa Cheung as “a rare and radiant angelic light…” and this shines through in her new book. It’s a follow up to her lovely Oracle deck, and is a quality title with thick paper and full colour illustrations. It’s an in-depth guide to the 17 female Archangels – each named to symbolise the quality she represents, such as Grace, Hope, Clarity or Joy. Calista shares their direct loving guidance and wisdom, focusing on their specific Divine and Angelic qualities as well as how they connect to the colour rays, their fellow Archangels and the crystal realm. Each chapter also offers an Angel ritual, an attunement, affirmations and a reflective “Rise like an Angel” exercise and blessing to help you embody Angel consciousness. In addition, the book includes the Angel Healing A-Z Prescription Guide, which allows you to discover the energetic causes of disease states.
352pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £18.99
❖ Code: 330345 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
by Jennifer Vanbergen
This fascinating short book tells the alluring account of one woman’s encounter with the life and work of CG Jung and how she has been guided by his inquiries into the true nature of the human spirit. Her personal experiences around the death of her mother lead her to read what Jung wrote about his supernatural experiences and all the layers of existence below the surface life in the material world. The subtitle is A Short Guide to the Real Possibility of Life After Death which I think doesn’t quite get it right: it’s a guide to all the alternative possibilities in every sphere. She doesn’t seem to come to any overt conclusion but you feel the world is a richer place by the end of the book. It deals with big subjects but it isn’t academic. In fact it’s full of anecdotes – mostly from Jung – and is an enjoyable read.
178pp, 198 x 129 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330302 ❖ Non-Member Price: £16.65 ❖ Member Price: £14.99
Anke Evertz
This book is an extraordinary combination of a heart-stopping true story and a heart-felt exposition on the meaning of life, freedom, consciousness and purpose. After many years of feeling unhappy and unsure of her place in the world, Anke Evertz had a near-death experience that would terrify most of us: she was consumed by fire in her own living room. But rather than collapse into complete panic, she relates how she found herself leaving her burnt body and watching serenely from the outside as she’s rushed to hospital and put into an induced coma for nine days. Her fascinating, astounding book then tells us about her spiritual journey over those nine days and how she is given the answers to all her questions. Once well again, she puts them into practice. Not surprisingly this has been a best-selling title in her native Germany.
240pp, 212 x 134 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330317 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
Evelyn Elsaesser is part of a group that is conducting some much awaited research into After-Death Communications (ADCs) using in-depth surveys answered by more than 1000 respondents from across the globe. This book details the results of the first of 5 phases and already provides overwhelming evidence of the frequency of ADCs (50-60% of us), supplying information about both the circumstances in which they happened and their aftermath. Here then we read about the survey itself, including the data collected and the demographics of those surveyed, then a description of the different types of ADCs identified and how they occur, followed by the impact of ADCs on the those who experience them, on their belief systems and the beneficial impact on the mourning process. Packed with testimonies taken from the survey to illustrate every point, this book is a treasure trove of both experiences and science that will be sure to make you smile and feel reassured.
352pp, 214 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330312 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.88 ❖ Member Price: £12.50
In her introduction, Ehime Ora explains that she created this book to nudge us closer to mindfulness through accessible short prose and affirmations. So, here we have an affirmation, prayer or reflection for every day of the year which, if followed, will take us on a healing journey and help us connect with our ancestors. Examples are: “I pray that you see life through. I pray that you let it show you just how good it can get” and “If you’re feeling stuck, speak to the heavens. A path to freedom will open up.” The author also encourages us to allow our ancestors to guide us: “Ask your ancestors a question and then open to a random page in the book. Trust that the ancestors will guide you to the page that contains the answer you seek.”
416pp, 177 x 129 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £13.99
❖ Code: 330328 ❖
Non-Member Price: £9.98 ❖
Member Price: £8.99
Never in the history of humanity have we been exposed to such an infinite variety of opinions, beliefs, forms of behaviour, customs and so on. Humanity has become a melting pot of world dimensions! Be it in the areas of religious beliefs, forms of politeness, dress, physical appearance, attitudes towards work and play, financial behaviour and integrity, business practices, eating (ways of eating and what we eat) … I have barely started the list of differences facing most of us, sometimes daily!
In such a situation, there are basically two forms of response: refusal and rejection or accepting and embracing. In a professional career encompassing almost 60 years and traveling or living, studying or working in 40 countries of the five continents, I have witnessed so many forms of behaviour, from the village chief who welcomed me starting with excuses that he only had 32 wives (who crawled on the ground with their heads bowed till they reached his feet which they would kiss before he allowed them to lift their heads) – whereas his father had 94 – to one of the first African feminists with whom I worked many years, an utterly amazing powerhouse of a woman; from the village of Semari in Mali (Dogon country) whose women walked DAILY 40 kms to fetch water (by temperatures in the sun reaching 50 centigrade) to ultra clean Sweden (not to mention my home country, Switzerland, often maniacal for its cleanliness) where the cleanest water runs from all taps.
My life has been an amazing apprenticeship in tolerance, a quality which will by necessity become one of the main qualities expressed by the citizens of this planet if we wish to survive. From an ultra-strict Calvinist protestant upbringing which caused me to look askew at my catholic neighbours to my 12 years in polygamous Muslim countries, where the deeply convinced feminist world citizen I was truly learned the meaning of tolerance… a road we are
all going to have to travel to survive as a race.
For me, the indispensable tool of this tolerance has been finding a strong spiritual grounding where “Loving one’s neighbour” is not simply a nice quotation from the Sunday church liturgy (I personally am not the member of any particular spiritual teaching), but the evident basis of all human relations in this incredibly diverse world (see my earlier blog on “Loving Putin”).
We bless nations and individuals in their understanding that this variety is a new form of wealth and especially a new pedagogical tool for each one of us.
I bless myself in my total and sincere acceptance of all these differences – in physical appearance, in dress, in eating habits and attitudes in public, in forms of behaviour and speaking… these endless differences that form our polychrome humanity.
I bless myself in learning to love my African/Latin American neighbours and the loud music they so enjoy late into the night rather than calling the police or knocking angrily on their door.
I bless myself in learning to really stretch beyond the rather narrow limits of my upbringing and embracing all rather than judging them, however strange some customs may seem to me.
And may I learn to grow spiritually everyday a little more in tolerance and acceptance until I am able to say of all men and women “This is my beloved child (brother, sister) in whom I am well pleased.”*
Pierre Pradervandhttps://pierrepradervand.com
September 1, 2023 *King James Bible
THE GENTLE ART OF SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT
by Pierre Pradervand
Many of us already know what an inspiring teacher Pierre is. His books contain many stories of spiritual healing both from his own life and from people in challenging conditions in West Africa for example and on death row in Texas. I am pleased to say that this is more of the same. It’s not a big book but it’s packed full of teachings and anecdotes and there is little superfluous theory. It’s great as a pick-me-up and an overall uplift when we are tired and perhaps down a little. It’s interesting to read that he too had to rediscover his spiritual strength after it was all blown away. There are also practical teachings in the book as well as stories and personal accounts. The three questions he suggests we try and answer are: Who am I deep down? What am I really looking for? And what is the deep motivation for my search?
128pp, 210 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330352 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
Books on plant communication are becoming quite frequent now. However I know that this one is worth paying close attention to, because it has a foreword by Pam Montgomery, author of Plant Spirit Healing, plus an endorsement from eminent herbalist Rosemary Gladstar. This step-by-step guide opens us up to receiving the wisdom and healing gifts of plants, and the author includes chapters on specific plants like yarrow, plantain, mugwort and rosemary, which are all familiar to plant lovers on these shores. There are 16 plants and trees in total. Every chapter also has an exercise which is not specific to the plant featured in that chapter. This isn’t a book of recipes and remedies but it’s actually deeper than that; there are stories throughout and guidance on the overall character of each plant so that we can intuitively decide which to cultivate.
352pp, 229 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330346 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.77 ❖ Member Price: £11.50
There have been many many books full of what they call “hacks” to increase human life but not many on doing the same for pets, at least not in the mainstream trade. Gary Richter has been a practising vet since 1998 and he is already the author of a couple of books on pet care for Hay House. People love to have their cats around for their company and affection so why not try and prolong that relationship? He writes about what can be done now to keep your cat healthier and living longer, but he is careful to discuss the science behind it as well and he also goes on to outline the future possibilities for animal longevity. The book is straightforward and not difficult to follow and there is an index and copious notes that we can take up to find out more for ourselves about the science.
256pp, 217 x 136 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330321 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
Here naturally is the companion book to Longevity for Cats by the same author, cutting-edge vet Gary Richter. Dogs tend not to live as long as cats but there is still the same potential to extend that span. Recent advances in longevity science have shed light on the causes of ageing and how we can intervene to help our dogs live longer, healthier lives than ever before. Likewise this book shows us not only how to extend our dogs’ lives, but also to make those extra years healthy and fulfilling. You’ll understand how to make the best choices for your unique dog, using diagnostic tests, personalised diet and exercise plans, supplements, herbs, pharmaceuticals and even high-tech regenerative medicine.
272pp, 217 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330322 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
Barreto
This fascinating book explores all the ways in which the spiritual framework around humanity equally applies to animals. Where do the spirits of animals go after they die? Do animals have chakras or auras? Why were animals worshipped in ancient religions? The book is a deep exploration of the spiritual evolution of the animal kingdom. Drawing on both modern physics and metaphysics, he reveals, for example, how dogs can love unconditionally because of their large electromagnetic field, which nourishes the etheric bodies of those around them, and how cats can detect subtle energy shifts and disharmonies and conduct etheric filtration while they sleep. He also investigates the spiritual repercussions of meat consumption and animal sacrifice, and the possibility for transformation of all species as the age of Aquarius unfolds.
192pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330350 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
Ranquet
EFT means tapping and this is a guide to using tapping to heal animals from behavioural, emotional and health issues. To be honest I am not 100% sure how it works but there’s a lot of evidence across the spectrum to show it does. In practical terms it looks like acupressure in as much as it soothes the meridians running through our bodies. In this case much of its impact is effective through the relationships between humans and their animals, or animals and their humans, and this book is great to help us get on better with the animals we share our spaces with, both when they are under particular pressure, or just in a more general sense if there is discomfort or misunderstanding. There are plenty of diagrams showing us where on the animal to do the tapping, plus of course stories from the author’s own animal care practice.
192pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330342 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
You need to know that the subtitle of this book is The Capture of Medicine by Animal Research and How to Break Free, which is probably going to get you to pay attention. Written with pace and passion, this book reads almost like a thriller: “Learn how an experienced medical professional takes on the establishment with expert use of science and data and is criticised and pilloried only to fight on and bring change” sort of thing. The evidence she presents is pretty devastating and depressing, because it clearly shows that the experiments carried out in the name of our health are not fit for purpose and with the massive advances in modern research and technology, they are outdated. This is a powerful book and hopefully it will change some minds.
304pp, 197 x 128 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £9.99
❖ Code: 330333 ❖ Non-Member Price: £8.87 ❖ Member Price: £7.99
Ihave written my memoirs for several reasons. Firstly, as a Transpersonal Psychotherapist and teacher of Spiritual Retreats, I am always listening to other people’s stories and felt a strong need to tell my own. I also think I’ve got quite an interesting and, in places, rather an amusing story to tell as I’ve had an unusual life. The centrepiece of the book is about how I struggled to leave my rich, entitled and privileged world where status and fame counted for so much – and which never made me happy – and set about discovering a more spiritually abundant and soulful world where I can live simply, honour all people on the planet and feel a good friend of the Earth!
There’s therefore a strong educational ingredient to this book. I want to let people know that it is possible to begin one’s life very wounded, entitled and narcissistic as I did, and turn it around. I also want to introduce people to some of the teachers and teachings which have been so important to me at different stages in my life.
As you’ll see, I have been very eclectic and have never been part of any religion or system. Yes, I’ve sat at the feet of different spiritual Masters, some of whom have been women. Yes, I’ve studied with Shamans and Sufis and Buddhist teachers and English mystics and I’ve worked with psychedelics, but I’ve done my best to integrate all these teachings together. Sometimes people have wanted me to define myself and asked questions like: “Are you a Buddhist?” My reply has generally been along the lines that there have been many great teachers such as Jesus or the Buddha or the great prophet Mohammed, and I have learned much from all of them, but I don’t feel a need to define myself. If anything, I’m just a Serge-ist! I don’t need mosques or churches to pray in. My greatest temple is being out in nature. I always like to quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he tells us that:
“Spirituality I take to be concerned with qualities of the human spirit –such as love, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense
of responsibility, a sense of humour – which brings contentment both to self and other. And there is no reason why the individual should not develop these, even to a high degree, without recourse to any religious or metaphysical system.”
I talk a lot about how I’ve created my own way of doing psychotherapy which is very much centred on trying to support people to open and heal the wounds inside their hearts and how many of our problems begin to clear up when we recognise and choose to let go those many internal patterns which don’t incline us to
live lives of harmony and integrity. Also, having taught spiritual retreats for 40 years, I now conduct what I call “individualised spiritual retreats” whereby one person or a couple come and work intensively with me in Mallorca for a week and we get through years of psychotherapy in a very short time.
I call my memoirs Amazing Grace because all my life I have been aware of a certain “helping or healing presence” or “higher power”, as it were, stalking me! I show how, at times, it has saved my life, given me advice and guided me. Often the grace has been fierce and I also explore certain powerful initiations which I have had to confront and how I have tried to use my suffering as a trigger to help wake me up. One chapter in the book is devoted to giving guidelines for the 21st century spiritual seeker and the last chapter looks to the future and outlines the kind of society I think we are going to have by the end of this century. Fear not: my vision is a positive one!
Throughout, I stress my role as a sacred activist and remind people that if we wish to be happy, that we need to have our lives focus on being of service to others and to our planet, as more than anything it will shake us out of our own egotism.
www.sergebeddingtonbehrens.com
AMAZING GRACE by Serge Beddington-Behrens
Serge is an old friend to Cygnus, and it’s a pleasure to include an article by him. Here is his life story and the account of his spiritual development, from privilege into deep immersion. There’s a lot of name-dropping but a lot of humour as well. He also has a great deal of insight into human nature and clearly his life of material riches when he was growing up didn’t make him happy. The book could probably do with closer editing but there are some lovely anecdotes about people like Papaji, Mother Meera and the Magus of Strovolos, and other teachers who we would have read about. This is a life very unlike most of ours, but it shows how we can all follow the lessons of our conscience and change ourselves through strong resolution and some self-sacrifice.
336pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £19.99
❖ Code: 330310 ❖ Non-Member Price: £15.54
❖ Member Price: £13.99
This is the third oracle deck from this very popular author and trailblazer. She writes that the previous two were very much based on astrological and astronomical facts whereas this deck is completely intuitive – she says that the moon made her do it! The box contains 48 cards and a comprehensive 126 page guide book full of interpretations of the symbols and suggestions for readings. Cards include: Blood Moon – COURAGE, Moon Goddess – HIGHER POWER and Moonstone – SLOW IT DOWN. The colours are all mysterious and dreamy reds, yellows and blues: pastel shades and never gaudy and bright. They contain isolated figures in empty landscapes which are often deserts. We feel that moon energy guides our deeper thoughts and feelings so these cards should be an intuitive conduit to our subconscious.
48 cards and a 126-page booklet, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330324
❖ Non-Member Price: £14.43
❖ Member Price: £12.99
This 60 card deck has been created by an Indonesian-born Chinese metaphysics teacher. The cards represent the 60 pillars of the five elements (wood, water, fire, earth and metal) in Chinese Metaphysics, grounded in traditional theories and Taoist wisdom, and channelled through a modern perspective. Divining a card’s meaning can be as simple as reading the guidebook entry or as deep as one’s understanding of Chinese Metaphysics might be. The colours are bright and stimulating and the theme of each card is one of a roster of familiar animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon etc) combined with one of the five elements. The book also gives a good grounding in Taoism to help you tune into the material. It’s ideal for anyone exploring Chinese metaphysics like Feng Shui or Taoism.
60 cards and 192-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £18.99
❖ Code: 330325
❖ Non-Member Price: £14.99
❖ Member Price: £13.50
David Wells is a very popular author and spiritual teacher. At last, we have from him a deck that works with Qabalah and the Tree of Life in a beautiful way. The Tree is rich with symbolism, and these symbols - drawn from astrology, Tarot, and ancient alchemy - are reproduced using the paintings of visionary artist Roberta Orpwood. This deck of 44 cards – divided into 11 Sephiroth, 22 Paths and 11 Magical Forces, including the Elementals - harnesses the power of Qabalah to change people’s lives. An accompanying guidebook explains the meaning behind the symbols and suggests card layouts for readings and interpretation. This mystical oracle deck is suitable for full or daily readings, but what could be more important is that the cards make for an excellent primer to the Qabalah that can help us internalise the Tree both consciously and subconsciously.
44 cards and a 144-page booklet, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330331
❖ Non-Member Price: £14.43
❖ Member Price: £12.99
BEDS, Luton
Jenny Martin 01582 415242 jennym4759@yahoo.co.uk
BRISTOL, Bishopston
Jane Stott 07788 418 078 janestott070@gmail.com
BUCKS, Milton Keynes
Nikki Brown 07972 257 004 nikki-nutrimed@hotmail.co.uk
CARMARTHEN, Ferryside
Dorothy Morris 01267 267652 or 07505 455978 dorothy_morris@hotmail.com
CEREDIGION, Llangrannog
1st Wednesday of every month
2-4 plus 3rd Friday 7-9 pm
Amanda Painting 01239 654 699 amandapainting@gmail.com
CHESHIRE, Chester
Sue Bates 01244 318231 sgcbates@uwclub.net
CLEVELAND, Saltburn
Kathryn Luczakiewicz 01287 204 400 info@saltburnwellbeingcentre. co.uk
CORNWALL, Port Isaac
Ann Fanstone 01208 880 300 fanstone@phonecoop.coop
CORNWALL, Penzance
Anthea Tounsend 01736 719 606
CUMBRIA, Penrith
Jackie Lewis 07799 884452 stellapolarisbb@gmail.com
DERBY/NOTTINGHAM
David Steare 01332 661 102 david.steare@ntlworld.com
DEVON, Barnstaple Mrs Viv Easton 01271 375 303 easton866@btinternet.com
DEVON - Torbay Janet Devine 07854 976272 janet_colourworld@hotmail.co.uk
E AYRSHIRE, Kilmarnock Anita Neilson 07778 923380 anitaneilson61@gmail.com
E SUSSEX, Bexhill on Sea Carol Sargent 01424 217 630 mail@youniquewellbeing.co.uk
E SUSSEX, Hove Simon 01273 220 159 info@tolcentre.com
FIFE, Markinch
Amy Thomson 07775 877114 heartholistictherapiesbyamy@ gmail.com
ISLE OF WIGHT, Shanklin
Kate Stuart 07957 909 566 redfox_1@btinternet.com
KENT, Ashford Sylvia Nichols 01233 626 206 viastjames@icloud.com
LANCS, Lytham, St Ann’s Simone Qualter & Andy Cowgill 07928 632 976 simonequalter@yahoo.co.uk
LEICS, Coalville
Cheryl Colpman 07974 100591 cheryl@cherylcolpman.co.uk
MANCHESTER, Sale
Rosemary Plunkett 0161 962 4123 rosieglow3@icloud.com
MERSEYSIDE, Liverpool, Woolton
Pamela Langley 0151 421 1772 pamelalangley@hotmail.com
MERSEYSIDE, Liverpool, Thornton
Sue Massey 0151 924 6240 suemassey60@yahoo.com
MERSEYSIDE, Liverpool, New Ferry, Wirral, Julia Cornelius Tel: 07799 960933
N LONDON, Enfield/Waltham Abbey Chrissie 07845 019398 / 07935707538
N YORKS, Selby Val Turner 01757 706693 valdert@btinternet.com
N YORKS, Whitby Daphne Wright 01947 602 425 daphnewright05@gmail.com
NORFOLK, Kings Lynn Amanda Rowe 07786 066761 info@hectorsbarn.co.uk
OXFORD
Norma Hare 01865 849459 norma.or@hotmail.co.uk
OXON, Chalgrove
Susan Rose 07880 778555
PEMBROKESHIRE, Milford Haven, Anne Kerr 01646 831670
PERTHSHIRE, Crieff Rebecca Dearman 07483872183
RHONDDA, Pontypridd Louisa Mills cygnuscaferct@aol.co.uk
RICHMOND UPON THAMES, Surrey Liz Sokoski 07432 585693
ROSS-SHIRE, Conon Bridge Shenagh Leiper 07721 656 668 leipershenagh@gmail.com
SHROPSHIRE, Shrewsbury Hilary Foxwell 07941 539435
SOMERSET, Taunton Robin Littman 01278 671 679 Robin@resource-me.com
S YORKS, Doncaster Sandra Edwards 07773 173 919 sandra579@btinternet.com
SOUTH LAKES, Cumbria Catherine Hunt 07957 861408 hello@ primewellbeingfoundation.com
STAFFS, Stoke-on-Trent Nathan Smallman 07724 189 988 nathan.smallman@btinternet.com
STAFFS, Tamworth
Jo Greaves 07738 216429 jo.greaves2017@gmail.com
SURREY, Guildford, Shere Linda Sewell 07850 839 472 lindasewell@hotmail.co.uk
W SUSSEX, Bosham
Jeanine Hanneman 07769 666729 jeaninevh@live.com
W SUSSEX, Horsham and Haywards Heath Judy Sharp 01444 459 433 judysharp123@gmail.com
WIRRAL, Merseyside Carol Carter 07807 077966 carolcarter100@btinternet.com
★ NEW WORCESTERSHIRE, Great Malvern Nerodha nerodha25@gmail.com
WORCESTERSHIRE, Tenbury Wells Diann Dowell 01584 811228 SenseTenbury.co.uk
We are never alone; we may be lonely, but we now know we are not alone, wherever we are!
We know that we have many members who are interested in starting Cygnus Cafés in their community, and that they have questions, both about how to get started and also how they want their group to run. Below is a mini-guide to running a Cygnus Café to give you a taste of what you can expect – if you would like to start your own Café please do get in touch.
❖ The starting point for setting up a group is the purpose of a Cygnus Café, and that is creating a space for you to meet people of like mind in your own locality. Nowadays it is often the case that you might find you can only get so far by yourself using a book. Sometimes it can be a great help on your spiritual journey to share issues that feel unresolved, with others of like heart.
❖ Most of our groups run in what we would call an unstructured way, they have no agenda and allow the magic of the moment to provide the topics spontaneously, depending on who wishes to share their recently experienced insights or share their current concerns of the heart.
❖ When getting down to practicalities the first thing you need is a space, generally meetings are held in members’ homes or quiet rooms in cafés or community spaces. Any room hire costs etc. are shared by the participants on a donation basis. We advise avoiding noisy venues or spaces that have no door, as this helps a great deal. You need a safe space where you know you will not be interrupted.
❖ When thinking about when and how often to hold your meetings, consider the needs of the group when deciding what is best for (most of) you. Some groups choose mornings, others evenings, some even choose a weekend. Larger groups sometimes choose to have two meetings in a month, once in the evening and once in the morning, to match the different lifestyles. Most meeting last for around 2 hours and our advice is to stick to the same day every month, week or fortnight to allow people to organise their diaries. ❖ Many groups take a little while to gain momentum, and this is normal. We suggest you avoid the temptation of trying to find a perfect arrangement.
❖ For meeting support you can contact Vicky Hartley at Cygnus on vicky@ cygnus-books.co.uk
❖ Setting up for the meeting we suggest that the host prepares the room in the most appropriate way, arranging the seating so that everyone has eye-to-eye contact. Meetings generally begin with everyone taking turns to say their name and where they are from and, if they wish, a mention about something they may want to talk about later.
❖ Many groups have found it very helpful to keep the level of the meeting at a higher level by setting the intention of the group to the highest good at the beginning of the meeting. So that, whatever happens, the highest good may come out of it.
❖ Gradually most groups begin to observe how Cygnus Cafés can grow in depth as participants feel more comfortable and they can share their vulnerabilities and “soft spots”. This gives others the confidence to share their concerns or doubts.
Cygnus is on a journey of transformation. At its heart is a group of supporters who share our vision. Help us realise the potential of this growing community – join Cygnus today for £25 (UK) and £35 (overseas)
★ Guaranteed copies of Cygnus Review, four times a year – Carefully selected titles, tried, tested and reviewed just for you
★ Free subscription to Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine – delivered with your Cygnus Review
★ Discounted entry to a number of events throughout the year
★ Access to the Cygnus Café network –Meet up with local Cygnus supporters for mutual growth and support
★ 10% discounted Member Price on all Cygnus books* – Save even more off your favourite books, DVDs and resources
BECOME A MEMBER FOR LESS THAN A CUP OF COFFEE PER MONTH
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Kretz
This is a fascinating book but it’s hard to describe. It’s about alchemy, sacred geometry, freemasonry and native American shamanism. It’s printed on heavy paper and is full of photographs, diagrams, colour illustrations and plates. It’s full of wisdom even though it is a bit strange. The author suggests that the Philosopher’s Stone is a shape like an oblong square rounded off at the end, which is the same shape as a Masonic Lodge as described in freemasonry. This is then illustrated as operating in the human body in all its systems. Finally he tells many stories about a Native teacher he met living further up the mountain from him. These are intriguing and they teach us a lot. The author manages to bring it all together at the end and reveals how transformed he has been by all this material. I can recommend it but it’s a weird one…
192pp, 229 x 153 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £18.99
❖ Code: 330343 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
by Almudena Rocca
This book introduces a lovely idea about using hands-on art to help you manage your mental health. The author is an artist who has suffered herself and with this journal she shares the ways in which she deals with processing feelings and emotions using a technique of continuous line work that she calls “intuitive drawing”. It’s very approachable: this type of drawing includes things like repeat motion, the sort of lines you draw when frustrated or angry, or repeat pattern, which we’ve all probably done in the form of doodles. The book walks us through these techniques, with blank areas to try our worst, then through the 11 core emotions – fear, guilt, trust, sadness and more – with examples from the author and exercises to try, and finally a helpful series of prompts to keep us on track. This is a book that we can use to vent, feel better and then hopefully treasure.
208pp, 190 x 130 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £13.99
❖ Code: 330358 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.98 ❖ Member Price: £8.99
Many of us at Cygnus feel that things in the outside material world are in some way wrong and don’t fit in with our values. Of course, perhaps that’s the way it’s meant to be and there is nothing we can do but focus on our own practices and our own consciences. But it can still be reassuring and give us strength if we understand what is happening. Kingsley Dennis is aware of this but throws us a rope which we can use to drag ourselves clear of it all, the “deep materialism” he says we are “embedded” in. His book is very much influenced by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Gurdjieff. Above all it is guided by Gnosticism, which is well used to mapping a dysfunctional world. The author maps out the territory very well and it’s daunting to contemplate. He urges us of course to stay awake, alert and above all discerning.
178pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330301 ❖ Non-Member Price: £16.65 ❖ Member Price: £14.99
It feels like quite a long time since we last had a book from Diana Cooper, one of the most popular British spiritual authors and a pioneer, especially in her work with angels. The Golden Future is well worth the wait, and it’s an intoxicating description of the amazing future that awaits this earth and all the life on it. She goes into detail about why this is happening and the stages on the way there. More importantly, she tells us how to raise our own frequencies and to prepare to make the best of this upcoming Golden Future. Diana, like many writers now, discusses moving up into the Fifth Dimension, and she gives many visualisations, tools and exercises to help us live there comfortably. This is of course highly recommended to all fans of her teachings and everyone willing to move up into the light.
304pp, 214 x 136 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330316 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
This is a more political book dealing with the bigger planetary system than other books that are just about inner mental strength. Like so many others though it’s still about healing. The author is a doctor in neuropsychology who went through a process of deep pain and trauma in her early 30s which helped her remember a pre-birth trauma she had undergone. But as the subtitle of the book underlines, this is not just about personal, it’s also meant to help us deal with planetary trauma, including climate change and the pain of colonisation. Most of the energy teachings come from the Chinese and Taoist models as she shows us that a subtle touch along certain meridians is able to increase neuroresilience and makes us able to get past the trauma and shocks we have endured in our lives. It’s a less personal book than other titles here, but it holds out genuine promise in helping us with the things that terrify us.
192pp, 227 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330351 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
This is a very profound book that takes on a lot of heavy issues. It’s about healing inside and realigning your life, either because you have to when you are dealing with challenging grief or loss or because you want to when your life feels aimless and meaningless. The subtitle of this book is Practices to Quiet Your Ego and Align with Your Soul and I believe that this is something that many of us want to do. Sue is an intuitive and a Soul Regression therapist and this book contains many transcripts of conversations where she uses these skills with her clients. Her skills might not be directly available to us, but there are exercises throughout that coax us into using what we have to see things from our soul’s perspective. I think the book has the potential to bring us home to ourselves and live the life we know is right for us.
272pp, 228 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330341 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
This is a beautiful deck, designed to enchant your everyday life through its depictions of mythic trees, animals and beings. The cards are stunningly illustrated in linocut-style artwork and depict both iconic characters from the Green Man and Robin Goodfellow to Boo Boo Shaw, animals like Bear, Wolf and Badger and trees from Ash to Willow. The colours are sympathetic to nature but intense, and the images really capture the essence of the creature or tree they depict. The booklet is properly bound and very thorough too, with profiles for each card, a story to bring the character or being to life and suggested practices for working with the character’s energy. This deck will help you to answer questions as an oracle, fire up your creativity and connect with nature.
60 cards and a 182-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £22.99
❖ Code: 330357
❖ Non-Member Price: £15.54
❖ Member Price: £13.99
by Danielle Rama Hoffman
This deck is definitely one for the lightworkers. It’s energised, ambitious and very consciousness expanding. The Magdalene deck in the last Cygnus was very much related to the historical and mythical figure Mary Magdalene, whereas this set is channelled from the Magdalene Midwives, a higher dimensional collective intelligence, which is devoted to helping ascension efforts on earth. It’s esoteric but fascinating. The cards are all like sigils, mandalas or a cross between the two and appear against beautiful colour backgrounds. I have to say I don’t really understand the cards but they do feel full of potential and I feel drawn to them even though they aren’t really my thing. And the accompanying book is more than just a guide to each card – it’s a philosophical treatise about manifestation.
44 cards and a 124-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £25.00
❖ Code: 330347
❖ Non-Member Price: £17.76
❖ Member Price: £15.99
by Kyle Gray
Kyle is one of the most popular angel experts in the UK, but you can fall in love with this deck without following his teachings or even knowing his work. The 55 cards are in beautiful colours and portray loving and benevolent beings from many earth-based spiritualities from around the world, including the Native American and Aboriginal traditions. The cards are divided into The Sacred Ones, Guardians and Messengers, Warrior Symbols and Seasons. The images are stimulating and full of details –I think they would make wonderful divination cards. This is a new version of the deck, in which the cards are smaller and contained in a charming tin. It’s also missing the book that previously accompanied it but this is great for connecting more intuitively with the cards.
55 cards, Small Leaflet, 2023, RRP £10.99
❖ Code: 330323
❖
Non-Member Price: £8.87
❖ Member Price: £7.99
You won’t have to get up in the middle of the night to sow your carrots! Countryside dwellers – and repeat buyers of this book, which has been published more or less annually for over thirty years – know that planning their work in harmony with the rhythms of the moon produces better crops. It’s that easy. They get higher yields and better flavour in vegetables. Flowers produce stronger displays and heightened colour. This gardening guide computes everything you need to know about the daily influence of the moon and the planets. With its full 15-month daily calendar, it creates an essential timetable for the year ahead and is also a fine means of self-discipline for keen gardeners. This book is now written by a different author to earlier editions.
96pp, 234 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £9.99
❖ Code: 330314 ❖ Non-Member Price: £8.87 ❖ Member Price: £7.99
If you watch The Repair Shop then you’ll know that Jay Blades is a warm and amusing presenter, and he brings these attributes to this book. As a black child in working class London, he started learning some pretty brutal life lessons from a young age, but he tells us how he was determined even then not to let them shape him negatively, and indeed they gave him the impetus to make a success of his life. The lessons he shares with us are mostly ones we know, like “Stay on top of your past, so you can have a better view of the future” and “Mistakes are perfect – as long as you learn from them” but put in the context of his own life and perspective, he really makes you stop and think. The book is a lovely read, very uplifting and inspiring, and would make a great present for almost any Repair Shop fan!
176pp, 205 x 137 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330334 ❖ Non-Member Price: £11.10 ❖ Member Price: £9.99
It’s very pleasing to find a tarot set which includes warm and homely images from the midwinter season while also paying attention to the pagan origins of the festival. In that respect we couldn’t be in better hands as Kristoffer is the Head of the Anglesey Druid Order and the author of many bestselling titles including From the Cauldron Born and the Book of Druidry. The box includes a large format book and a classic Rider-Waite-Smith style deck of 78 cards. The suits are reimagined as candles (wands), good cheer (cups), candy canes (swords), and gifts (pentacles), and Kristoffer’s guidebook presents detailed descriptions of each card’s keywords, meanings, and holiday lore as well as five unique midwinter spreads that will deepen your connection to this magical season. A perfect gift!
78 cards and 312-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £36.00
❖ Code: 330339 ❖ Non-Member Price: £22.21
❖ Member Price: £19.99
Weird Walk is a small magazine written by three semi-anonymous writers based in England which celebrates the ancient ritual year in the UK. This is their first book, which brings together many of their best writing to form a year-round portrait of the ancient places of Great Britain. It’s a bright yellow and well-designed hardback, full of photographs and drawings and descriptions of places like Avebury, Stonehenge and Castlerigg and ancient celebrations at Ottery St Mary, Abbots Bromley and Chepstow. It’s a respectful celebration of much that is magical about this island and an encouragement that we too should walk around these places and try and re-energise and reactivate the ancient powers dormant here. There is more to life than smartphones, TikTok and online gambling, as we all know.
284pp, 216 x 183 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £19.99
❖ Code: 330362 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.88 ❖ Member Price: £12.50
Whether viewed as a midwinter observance of the Winter Solstice or a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, for millennia cultures have honoured the darkest days of the year with lights, foods and festivities. Presenting an around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs and magical seasonal plants, Ellen Evert Hopman shares lore, recipes, rituals and crafts you can make as a family activity to enliven your Yuletide observance. She explains how to perform Winter Solstice divinations and cook traditional foods and drinks such as Wassail and Elizabethan gingerbread cookies. And she looks in depth at the medicinal and magical properties of the many herbs, barks and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide season such as Frankincense and Myrrh, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Hibiscus, Bayberry and many more. 344pp, 228 x 152, Paperback, 2023, RRP £25.00
❖ Code: 330340 ❖ Non-Member Price: £17.76 ❖ Member Price: £15.99
Once a year all the animals in the wood are given a wondrous blessing by the Great Stag, including the Brabbit family of rabbits.
Even the wind fell at that moment, making it appear to the creatures gathered there that the lord had power over the elements. Maybe he did. He lifted his head and looked through the branches above him, following the shards of moonlight that were beginning to burst through the dense foliage of the wish tree. He opened his nostrils, drawing the night air deep into his lungs before exhaling a cloud of steamy breath from his mouth that sat for a second above Jack Brabbit’s head. The little rabbit was hypnotized as he studied the patterns forming in the steam.
The stag sent out a feeling in the language of sense that every animal, bird, insect and reptile in the circle of trees instantly understood: ‘Be still and bow your head in respect for the goddess Cailasha, for she is now the keeper of the sky.’
In the wintry mist above the dells a presence was building, and all at the gathering felt it. The frosted ground began to reflect the white moonlight all around the circle, making the trees look as though they were being uplit for a great event.
The great stag gave out more sense:
‘She is the winter goddess and she teaches us about life, death and rebirth in the world.’
The silence intensified and the frost sparkled.
‘Nothing that lives can truly die,’ said the stag, ‘but we all must experience a winter in our lives, otherwise we haven’t truly lived.’
The tone of this teaching was felt by each creature in its own way. It was the kind of teaching that was absorbed more than understood; it became part of you and even if you couldn’t understand it at the moment when it was given, it would reveal itself to you
This is something new and different from Gordon Smith, a story about loss and grief, and the power of nature to heal. Our hero, Dill, is a young boy whose sister has died and he and his parents have moved to a remote cottage in the countryside to try to recover. Dill enjoys exploring the wild landscape of the Dip-n-Dells with his trusty spaniel, Bramble and, with the help of his grandmother, Dill learns a magical language that allows him to befriend the animals he meets and uncover the secrets of the mystical landscape around him. As his friends in nature help him to understand the cycles of life and death, the cloud of sadness surrounding Dill begins to lift. Determined to share this gift with his parents, Dill and his friends set out to bring light back into their lives. In doing so, he finds out that where love is involved, anything is possible... This charming story would be enjoyed by adults and children alike.
272pp, 198 x 130 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £10.99
❖ Code: 330330 ❖ Non-Member Price: £7.76 ❖ Member Price: £6.99
when you needed it most.
‘This is the time when things become slow, and they become slow in order for you to reflect on and learn from the times you have come through. Those of you who are in your first winter will learn that Cailasha allows you to rest and ponder, and when you rest and ponder, the light body grows, and as the light body grows, so does your sense.’
The stag’s wide eyes took in the whole scene, and his heart was content, and all could feel it.
Another deep in-breath was followed by billows of steam as he raised his eyes to the sky, where Cailasha was waiting in cloud form to draw back the veil that separated the two worlds.
A high-pitched sound was now ringing out around the hill of the fairies, the light was neither night nor day, the ground was like the surface of the moon and all of life in the Dip-n-Dells was connected and in complete harmony. Something special was happening, nothing was solid any more, the place was thin and even the stillness had a kind of motion in it, flowing through the gathering like a wave. It was time.
Lights of all colours began to appear in the moonlit forest. Starting out like little pearls and fairy lights, they expanded until they looked like bubbles, clear and transparent but with rainbow light moving through them.
For the creatures who were less than a year old, this was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to them, and at some point they would drift off into a state of grace and peace, while the older ones who had been here before just went with the moment and accepted the gift of light from the goddess.
Some lights were guiding other lights to certain families. Each family who had lost a loved one in the last three seasons was given a ball of light, and in it was the light body of the one they had lost. For what felt like a second or a lifetime, they could see, hear and feel that family member once more and learn that the disconnection of death was only temporary and that all that was required to reunite loved ones on opposite sides of the veil was love itself.
Salzberg and Robert Thurman
Both the authors of this book have had most or all of their training from within the Buddhist tradition and are teachers of the highest standing. They come from opposite poles: Sharon is an experienced practical teacher whereas Robert comes from a more academic tradition. This is a new edition of a book that came out ten years ago but there is extra content this time. Buddhism focuses a lot on dealing with anger because it’s one of the most destructive emotions and frankly it makes us unhappy. Fortunately the practice of lovingkindness is well placed to help with it in a very practical way. One of the best-known practices is to start by having lovingkindness for ourselves and then for the people we love. That’s the easy part. But where we really learn new skills is by extending it to those we are indifferent to and then ultimately to our enemies.
216pp, 216 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330326 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
by Paula Arai
This is a great little compendium of Japanese wisdom and teaching stories. The author was born in America to a Japanese mother and went on to undergo Zen training in Japan. Paula Arai started the book after her mother’s death when she went on a kind of pilgrimage to seek wisdom and thus comfort around the death of her loved one. There are many opportunities everywhere to start small processes of healing such as creating an altar, developing rituals within the family, chanting or paying close attention to small everyday tasks like watering the plants. There are illustrative calligraphies at the start of every chapter by her Zen teacher and wash drawings in black and white of everyday objects like flowers in vases and a broom, accompanied by haiku. It’s an inspiring book.
224pp, 187 x 145 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330338 ❖
Non-Member Price: £13.88 ❖ Member Price: £12.50
by Marie Diamond
Marie Diamond has a host of famous followers whose endorsements of her work propel this book onto the ‘must-have’ list. She clearly does great work with Feng Shui, using it to help with relationships, success, health, money, wisdom and more, and in this book she shares her techniques with us so we can work with it too. The book begins with the basic background information about Feng Shui and the ideas behind it, then there are chapters on how to use Feng Shui to help attract different outcomes, such as improved family relationships or a more successful career. There are also Feng Shui dos and don’ts for each room in the home, using crystals to help activate the Feng Shui and so much more. It is a great one-stop resource for all our Feng Shui needs and one that we can refer back to whenever we need to.
240pp, 197 x 130 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £10.99
❖ Code: 330332 ❖ Non-Member Price: £7.76 ❖ Member Price: £6.99
The subtitle here says it all: A Fourteen-Week Course to Learn Meditation and Transform Your Life. I like this book because it doesn’t separate meditation from Buddhism and make it sterile and functional, but it is to-the-point and direct and doesn’t waste time with theory and cosmology. The book advances in stages: it gives you a technique early on and then asks you to practise it for a week without moving on or reading any further in the book. Obviously I had to cheat to do this review! Those fourteen weeks will give you a grounding in meditation and insight that you will never lose. There’s no one who can’t commit to three minutes a day so the whole book gives you confidence to finally start meditating. The author is British by birth and is now a senior faculty member at Dharma College in Berkeley, California.
144pp, 203 x 134 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330336 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
Nagaraja
This is a collection of Buddhist stories for children, compiled by a Scottish teacher who used to be a guest presenter on the Terry Wogan Show on Radio 2. They were formerly published in three separate volumes and now they have been brought together into one. This is a lovely big colourful hardback with plentiful illustrations that would be a great collection to read to your child, grandchild or any other young person in your life. The stories come from the Jataka Tales that were associated with the historical Buddha. They are intended to help with spiritual practice, including meditation and mindfulness. There are also additional sections in the book about the Buddhist teachings and about the practical aspects of meditation and the stories also happen to be lessons on Buddhist belief and practice.
336pp, 234 x 187 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £19.99
❖ Code: 330363 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.88 ❖ Member Price: £12.50
Pema is one of the wisest and most reassuring teachers around right now. She is an American-born Buddhist nun who has directed various monasteries and schools across the continent. She is also the bestselling author of When Things Fall Apart and many other books. As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment – the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. Here Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life – learning to live with ease, joy and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear. This was previously in hardback.
240pp, 210 x 133 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £19.99
❖ Code: 330337 ❖ Non-Member Price: £15.54 ❖ Member Price: £13.99
by Caroline Pover
Caroline Pover had an awful reaction to the first Covid vaccination she received and when traditional medicine could offer her very little relief except moral support, she decided to try everything she could to get herself back to normal, or as she puts it, her new normal. When she discovered that there were other people suffering like her, she decided to help and created this book which both documents the many ways in which she’s been able to improve her health and gives space to chart your own symptoms, thoughts and progress. She has broken it down into the aids she found most effective, starting with sleep and diet, and moves on to managing symptoms and stress and more, giving lots of detail and plenty of support along the way. This approach could definitely also help people with other long-term illnesses.
176pp, 228 x 153 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330304 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.21 ❖ Member Price: £10.99
The subtitle of this book is Mastering the Eighth and Twelfth Astrological Houses. It’s an in-depth look at only these houses, but as the author points out, “everyone at some time in their life will have planets transit through these houses and will benefit by learning more about them”. The eighth house is the most powerful house in astrology, and the twelfth the most spiritual and mystical so they can affect a large part of who we are, and in this book the author introduces us to the many positive lessons that these two houses create even though they are traditionally known to bring difficulties. With inspiring personal experiences and observations, and the helpful insights from the author, this book is a treasure trove of information for all astrologers, both beginners and the more experienced.
290pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £17.99
❖ Code: 330309 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.88 ❖ Member Price: £12.50
by Richard Lister
Richard Lister is the author of Runes Made Easy and clearly has a passion for these ancient sigils, their power and their history. He writes with such joy about them, it’s hard not to want to know more. In this book, he invites us to explore runic astrology, and to enjoy immersing ourselves in Nordic myth and legend along the way. We learn what runic astrology is, how the runes correspond with each astrological sign, how to cast and interpret our runic birth chart and rituals to master runic astrology. With helpful tables to refer to and a unique combination of mythos and practical advice, the book truly shows us how to tune into our past, present and future.
272pp, 197 x 130 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330329 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
The subtitle of this book is Tap Into the Healing Power of Crystals but it actually covers a whole lot more. It’s beautifully illustrated with over 300 colour photos and well constructed to make it easy to dip into for interest, or to refer to if you’re in need of a crystal for a specific moment in your life. It has advice and information on crystals to use for love, home & family, friendship, work, abundance, health and mind, body, spirit so it is very thorough. It’s more of a beginners’ guide than the bigger encyclopaedias, but it’s still extremely comprehensive and would be really useful for anyone starting on their crystal journey. It also has a big thumbs up from Kyle Gray who says “Golnaz is a miracle worker and has done all the exploring so you don’t need to. This gem of a book has spiritual remedies for every situation - don’t leave the house without it!”
144pp, 235 x 193 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330306 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.77 ❖ Member Price: £11.50
Christopher Vasey is a naturopath and a popular author on many health subjects. In this practical guide to supporting your lymph health naturally, he explores the essential role played by the lymphatic system in your overall health and offers self-care methods for strengthening and maintaining this important aspect of your body’s immune system. He details 12 natural therapies to support your lymph health and accelerate removal of toxins from the cellular terrain. He also looks at simple dietary changes and explains how food toxins are a principal cause for sluggish circulation or obstruction of lymph. He examines lymph drainage techniques, including compression therapies, breathing practices and physical exercises that stimulate the lymphatic vessels to improve circulation of lymph, blood and other bodily fluids.
176pp, 210 x 136 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330356 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
This is a delightful hardback book full of recipes, remedies, tips and beauty treatments from the author’s own Eastern European tradition. It’s beautifully designed with an embroidered, patterned look that gives out the vibe of a Polish kitchen, both exotic and homely at the same time. There are also a few colour photographs. It’s like a treasure-trove that will lift and stimulate the reader, all inspired by the author’s Polish grandmothers. Ideas range from Camomile Baths for relaxation and optimism, to beauty products, such as a Lilac Body Oil for improving your skin and your intuition; from rituals like weaving wildflower wreaths for your midsummer celebration to nutritious recipes like elderflower cake for immunity.
208pp, 216 x 182 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £18.99
❖ Code: 330360 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
Even though my childhood was simple and happy, I found one aspect of it very frightening. Every now and then I would go into a dark state, not for any particular reason I can remember, and find myself sliding down a plug-hole which basically made me feel, “I don’t want to be here. I am such a bad person. No one could ever love me or want me. I am bad, bad, bad.” I would go and shut myself in my bedroom and sob for hours. Fortunately for me I had chosen a mother who could coax me out of this state and I would bounce back into equilibrium fairly quickly.
Having met and spoken deeply with thousands of people in my life I now realise that a huge percentage of the population have episodes like this. It doesn’t always come in the same form that mine came in, but whatever form it takes, beneath it lies a distinct lack of self-worth. This drove me into all sorts of trouble growing up, which I now know I have been forgiven for, but emerging into my twenties it all helped to set me on a journey to heal myself.
A lack of self-worth is a feeling most of us share. Christians believe it to be “the original sin”. This original sin appears to be so unforgivable that up until now many souls have thought they must atone and go on atoning… and in that way find inner peace. However, in my early twenties I came into contact with some people who had peace in their lives: true peace, that didn’t go away. I looked at them and suddenly saw there was a way out! I started to search and ask the higher power if I could know the inner peace
that they knew, accepting I could not do this out of my own strength for I had tried for so many years. I knew that if I could be forgiven for all that I had done wrong in every lifetime, I would serve the highest good as best as I could, for the rest of my life. It was a lonely but sincere journey until one day I fully trusted that I could be forgiven instead of fearing that I could not and immediately found myself in peace and harmony, free from the “bad”. I handed my life to the service of the greater good. I was no longer afraid to be myself, indeed I was happy to be me. The inner peace held steady and has never left me.
It was always my wish to share knowledge of such peace to as many people as I could. However, no one would ever listen to me! I journeyed alone for a couple of decades, always
THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA by Louisa Crisp
improving my connection to God/ Source, finding myself in an everdeeper way, until the universe one day showed me I was ready to fly and caused me to set up a retreat in my parents’ old home. From that day to this I have strengthened my connection to source, sharing it with anyone who wanted to find the same realms of inner peace that I have found. Thousands of people have visited me at the retreat over the years, and it is their stories, combined with mine that are incorporated in this, my third book.
The Alpha and the Omega goes back to the beginning of the cosmic expansion and brings understanding of what this world is really all about, how and why it began and where as a world we are now. It also gives us a personal reason for why we are here and how we can heal ourselves if we drop the complicated systems we have wound around our lives and let go of our fearful conditioning, exchanging it for trust. Anyone keen to find the simplicity, love, truth, wisdom, peace and eventually real lasting joy in their hearts will be interested in this book.
I wish you all a safe journey to true and everlasting joy.
With love, Louisa www.cotswoldhealingretreat.co.uk
We are including this book again to go with the new article we have received from Louisa. She has written two previous books under the name Anna Delves: From Chrysalis to Butterfly and A Memory Returned, which have both been popular with Cygnus. Here she recounts how we have fallen out of balance with the Source and shows us a path to finding connection again. Louisa runs a farm and retreat centre in the Cotswolds where she offers space and peace to people and also guidance where required that comes through her close connection to the Source. It’s this rare connection that enables her to get an insight into the deeper workings of the universe. What she has to say is hopeful because we are living with a sense of separation and it’s down to us to get past it. We need to listen closely to our own intuition and then do the work to be more honest and direct with ourselves.
324pp, 234 x 155 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330159 ❖ Non-Member Price: £13.32 ❖ Member Price: £11.99
by Rob Wykes
We live our lives at such a cracking pace that it’s a wonder any of us find time to nurture our spiritual selves. PauseA Spiritual Power addresses this phenomenon, not in a religious sense – while the author is a practising Christian, he’s not talking about finding time to go to church or the mosque – but in an everyday way. In his approachable and often amusing book, Rob Wykes uses his own experiences, both spiritual and physical, to illustrate how we can boost spirituality in our daily lives by finding those moments which allow us to pause. He defines a “pause” as “the moment our body, mind, and spirit coalesce in an unmeasurable, unrestricted moment” with our “whole being at rest and in concert” and while this sounds like it might be hard to achieve, his analysis and anecdotes quickly make us realise that it’s something we can definitely do and absolutely benefit from.
216pp, 214 x 139 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £15.99
❖ Code: 330313 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.21 ❖ Member Price: £10.99
by Kris Carr
Kris is the author of the bestselling “Crazy Sexy” series of books where she describes her cancer issues and her push for wellness. Oprah Winfrey calls her “an absolute game changer” and Sheryl Crow says she is “brilliant and inspiring”. Here she takes stock of her life and all its challenges – it’s an anecdotal “memoir” book that is immensely readable and also a little bit frank and foul-mouthed! It’s about grief, illness, pain and suffering but it’s very encouraging and it teaches us how to move through all the stuff of life and stay positive. It’s a book you can whizz through in a few sittings because it’s so conversational and full of stories. It doesn’t have any techniques or exercises but it’s comforting in a time when everything can feel so messy and radioactive.
240pp, 224 x 142 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330315 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.77 ❖ Member Price: £11.50
This is a new and expanded edition of this bestselling guide to Hawaiian spiritual healing. Powerful yet concise, it summarises the Hawaiian ritual of forgiveness and offers methods for immediately creating positive effects in everyday life. Exploring the concept that everyone is deeply connected – despite feelings of singularity and separation – four tenets are disclosed for creating peace with oneself and others: I am sorry, Please forgive me, I love you, and Thank you. Offering practical exercises, this simple four-step system encourages readers to focus on difficult conflicts within personal relationships and healing the past. By addressing these issues, owning one’s feelings, and accepting unconditional love, unhealthy situations transform into favourable experiences. It includes new exercises and contemplations.
112pp, 165 x 114 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £7.99
❖ Code: 330348 ❖ Non-Member Price: £5.54 ❖ Member Price: £4.99
A guide to awakening the wisdom of the feminine soul, this new book from Mara Branscombe presents an inspiring look at the seven feminine archetypes that prevail in the modern psyche: Maiden, Mother, Sage, Huntress, Lover, Mystic and Queen. We are taken on a journey to meet these archetypes, in order to really understand them and their influences on us throughout the different stages of our lives and the positive impact each of them can have. Studying each of the archetypes chapter by chapter, Branscome unveils lots of fascinating information and things to think about. She also includes step-by-step creative practices, guided visualisations, mind-body rituals and soulful poetry. These embodiment techniques are designed to help us shift our consciousness away from our habitual patterns and to help us to embrace all that the divine feminine can grant us.
256pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330353 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
This is an exceptional book on how to overcome the often devastating effects of childhood trauma. It has received a host of glowing reviews, including one that claims that “this could be the best book on trauma I’ve ever read”. Alex Howard, author of Decode
Your Fatigue, writes fluently and with clarity, bringing his own experiences and other case studies into the narrative which help make the point that there are all sorts of traumas in childhood that might be having an effect on us. The book is laid out in three parts: part one looks at trauma and the ways that it echoes later on; part two teaches the RESET model for creating change in your nervous system; and part three is a comprehensive look at the ABCD of trauma healing in the real world of our relationships with others and committing to lasting change.
272pp, 278 x 229 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330318 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
HUMAN DESIGN by Jenna Zoë
Human Design is a system that first came to light in 1992 in a book written by someone who called themselves Ra Uru Hu. It combines astrology, the I Ching, the Tree of Life and the Chakra system to give you a blueprint of who you are and why you came into this incarnation. There is a huge buzz around this book where Jenna, a UK-based author, takes the system mainstream in an easy and instructive way. I must warn though that you will need to be able to scan a code inside the book to be able to put in the time, date and location of your birth to discover your own way and the roadmap you need to follow. The book then describes how to make the most of your own personal gifts and how to flow when you work with the energy of the universe. It’s a very exciting proposition.
304pp, 210 x 150 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.99
❖ Code: 330319 ❖ Non-Member Price: £10.55 ❖ Member Price: £9.50
You can advance your Reiki practice to the next level with vibrational sound healing and shamanism combined in the beat of the drum. In this guide, Reiki master and shamanic teacher Fay Johnstone explores in detail the practices and benefits of shamanic drum journeying in the context of Reiki healing. Fay is the author of Plants
That Speak, Souls That Sing and Plant Spirit Reiki, which are both popular at Cygnus. She shares Reiki drum techniques and step-by-step shamanic practices to bring empowerment, healing, connection and clarity to you and your clients. She shows how drumming allows a Reiki practitioner to dive into shamanic journeying for deeper guidance and insight on a client. Welcoming Reiki practitioners into the rhythm of the drum and the path of shamanism, this book will inspire you to journey deeper into the unseen web that connects us all.
208pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99
❖ Code: 330349 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.77 ❖ Member Price: £11.50
by Elizabeth Ashley
The Eleusinian Mysteries were the most prestigious initiation of the ancient world. The nine-day festival was run by a group of women called Melissae, or “bees”: married women, second only in rank to the Priestess of Athena Polias, who presided over Athens. They amassed incredible wealth, fame and political status. Herbal textbooks speak of a relationship between these women and the Lemon Balm herb (Melissa officinalis). This book explores their practices and how we can continue their work today. Bees are amongst our closest and most important allies and here we can learn how to strengthen those bonds and draw from their wisdom. Use this book to journey into the enchanting dreamscape of the hive with UK-based aromatherapist Elizabeth Ashley.
360pp, 216 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £20.99
❖ Code: 330311 ❖ Non-Member Price: £16.11 ❖ Member Price: £14.50
Anne-Marie is a death doula and this informative book tells us all we need to know about the process of dying, about how to let go and navigate the transition. Don’t forget that we can also die during life into a new existence and that dealing with death imaginatively can make us able to live better. Just as we might prepare a nest for one about to give birth, so can we lovingly prepare a nest for one who is dying. Anne-Marie incorporates ancient and modern death doula techniques, mindfulness practices and herbal support to show how anyone can physically, emotionally and spiritually care for the dying, whether at home, in hospice or even in the ICU. She deals very practically with every stage of the process: with the build-up to it – management of pain and anxiety – with the moments of death itself and with the moving on afterwards.
192pp, 229 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £14.00
❖ Code: 330354 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.98 ❖ Member Price: £8.99
Marcela Lobos
Marcela Lobos is the author of Awakening
Your Inner Shaman, a book we featured in an earlier Review and which proved very popular. This is her follow-up where she takes a closer look at the 10 rites of the Munay-Ki, which she describes in the subtitle as 10 Shamanic Initiations to Heal Past Wounds, Awaken Your Conscious Evolution and Reveal Your Destiny. It’s both a personal journey where we get insights into her own initiation into Andean shamanic teaching and a guide to being able to benefit from these teachings ourselves. She invites us to join her in exploring sacred ways to transform trauma and suffering into wisdom and joy and to understand our place in the cosmos. She also gives examples of this work in the stories she tells of her students and the transformations they have undergone. The book includes a fascinating introduction from Alberto Villoldo, who also happens to be her teacher and her husband!
216pp, 230 x 150 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330320 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
by Tanis Helliwell
Tanis’s books have delivered joy to many a Cygnus member, especially her enchanting Summer with the Leprechauns. This book gives us an insider’s view of the lives of all the elementals and their relationship with humans. It’s a transcript of the words of Lloyd, a Leprechaun Tanis knows well, and is part autobiography and part dissertation on life, the universe and everything, dictated to Tanis while she was on holiday back in Ireland. Lloyd is quite a character, and has thoughts on everything from friendly goblins, inept elves, clever leprechauns (well, of course) and us humans. His message is strong and loving too, about how he and other elementals want to partner with humans to create a wonderful world. A truly fun and magical read.
168pp, 215 x 140 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £17.00
❖ Code: 330365 ❖ Non-Member Price: £16.65 ❖ Member Price: £14.99
Shawn is a medium and teacher from the Native American tradition. His people are the Mi’Kmaq, who originate in the North Eastern part of the continent, straddling the border between Canada and Maine. The book is a delightful exploration of his people’s spiritual tradition and like the best of these books, it is full of illustrative stories which both entertain and teach. He describes his spirit guides and friends who passed on – he encountered these people even in his childhood. I am proud that books of Native American teaching are so popular with Cygnus. The book gives plentiful lessons on how to connect with spirit ourselves. We can also learn how to develop our psychic powers just like Shawn, which we can do through clairvoyance and clairaudience.
264pp, 217 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99
❖ Code: 330327 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50
Welcome one.
Blessings yours,
quill-literature.co.uk
NEW ENERGY PATTERNING - Clearing patterns, life issues, contracts, past lives, other-dimensions, galactic work, journeying, Soul Retrieval. Working with Light Beings and Energies. Contact Jane 01691 662471 newenergyp@proton.me
ECKHART TOLLE UK EVENTS Free Online Webinars, Workshops, Retreats, One-to-One, Video Teachings, Local Support Groups. www.eckharttolle.co.uk
Email : neil@thepowerofnow.co.uk Tel : 07754 016779
LADY, SPIRITUAL HEALER, 60’s. Vegetarian, loves country walks, animals, astrology, meditation. Seeks friendship, Male or Female, Hertfordshire. Tel, Evenings: 07969 956283
ANGELIC GUIDANCE WITH MICHAEL Welcome positive change into your life. Please telephone Eastbourne 01323 365751 for further details. mikeallone@talktalk.net
CLAIRVOYANT, PAUL offers spiritually guided consultations in Brighton & Eastbourne and also by telephone. My work always helps those ready for change.
Please telephone Brighton 01273 602929 for further details
JUSTIN ROSEVEARE HEALING CENTRE, Clairvoyant/Medium, Energy Healer, Spiritual & Personal Development Workshops and Courses, Inner Child Healing. www.healingwithjustin.com
ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR HEALTH? If yes, then Restore in Four is for you! A unique programme tailored to your individual needs, enabling you to restore health and well-being in 4-8 weeks. www.complete-balance.co.uk
AFFECTED BY NEGATIVE ENERGY? Spirit attachments, negative thoughts, beliefs, cutting ties, past life issues are professionally and safely released remotely for people and property worldwide. Call: 01278 732127 or visit: www.denisestoneham.bravesites.com / www.facebook.com/negativeenergyrelease
Immerse yourself in the sacred designs and loving words given for your inspiration, journalling, colouring, meditation and more, much more.
Yahvay
HOLY FIRE REIKI on-line course to Practitioner or Master levels. Tutor 30 years’ experience. More information: Email:.the9thhalo@macace.co.uk Text 0772 090 5123.
SHAMANIC TRAINING with Derek Gane, practicing shamanic healer and teacher of 20 years. One year / two year in-depth teachings on a 20 acre woodland retreat in North Cornwall. Starts April. www.healingtree.org.uk www.shamanic-training.co.uk
thehealingtreecentre@gmail.com
In this remarkable 480-page volume twenty spirit guides, members of a vast group soul collective concerned for humankind and the planet, communicate wisdom to uplift, inspire and offer the earnest spiritual seeker clarity and direction.
No platitudes.
No wasted words.
Beyond society, beneath the everyday lies a hive of spiritual activity.
The seemingly empty spaces of this world teem with unseen life and powerful energies.
And in the Spaces Between the ancient, acclaimed spirit communicator Joseph unveils a hidden reality that will cause you to rethink and re-examine the meaning of your life locally, globally and in the greater universe…
…The ‘spaces between’ are about to divulge their secrets.
PAPERBACK from: thejosephcommunications.co.ukor amazon.co.uk or send cheque for £16.95 (includes p&p) made payable to Band of Light Media Ltd. to: 10 Sparrable Row, Briercliffe, Burnley, Lancashire, BB10 3QW. For details of other Joseph Communications books: www.thejosephcommunications.co.uk
or amazon.co.uk or send cheque for £18.95 (includes p&p) made payable to: Band of Light Media Ltd. to:
10 Sparrable Row, Briercliffe, Burnley, Lancashire, BB10 3QW.
Just detailed guidance on topics such as: Life’s Journey; Aspects of the Afterlife; The Sacred Earth; Spiritual Science; CoCreation; Connections; Spiritual Living and Health and Healing
Let Many Voices, One Mission deliver to your door timeless spiritual wisdom for 21st. Century living.
Paperbacks—ebooks—audiobooks thejosephcommunications.co.uk amazon.co.uk
Publishing overlooked, suppressed and underreported global news and research for over 35 years
In the Oct–Nov issue: Wave Nature of the Genome • Sri Lanka’s Ancient Water Technologies • Our Mysterious Sun: Gaseous Plasma or Liquid Metallic Hydrogen? • Crop Circles of 2023 • Asian and Persian Prophecies • And more
