A Guide to Starting a Cygnus Café

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.

Become a Cygnus supporter

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)

ALIVE UNTIL YOU’RE DEAD

by Susan Moon

This is a book about ageing. It’s not prescriptive but is mostly full of stories that are there to encourage us and to comfort us, about our own ageing and dying and about it happening to others we love. Likewise the author - a popular Buddhist teacher who is in her eighties - writes about her own ageing and about the ageing of people she has known, like her Zen teacher and her friend Jenny who has Lewy Body dementia. Every story is told with great humour and compassion and I am convinced that this book can be enjoyed by anybody, of any age. The author has no theory to outline or anything to convince us of. There is also no overt narrative: every chapter is an essay (the subtitle of the book is Notes on the Home Stretch which pretty much sums it up). Reasoning won’t make us relaxed about getting old but the warm embrace of a book like this can.

208pp, 227 x 151 mm, Paperback, 2022, RRP £16.99

❖ Code: 320234 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.77 ❖ Member Price: £11.50

ON ALCHEMY by Brian Cotnoir

Brian Cotnoir is a well-known contemporary authority on alchemy and this is not just the psychological aspect but also the literal chemical kind. This is a beautifully-packaged little hardback that could fit in your pocket. It’s full of line drawings and classic alchemical engravings. Alchemy is traditionally a bit impenetrable but if anything could open it up it’s this book, although what’s nice is that it also maintains the mystery around alchemy. It contains many practices including meditations and visualisations. Because it’s so great to look at, it would also make a great gift to friends who are on a spiritual quest. On Alchemy is the antidote to all those books about Manifestation which make it sound easy. This is the ancient road to Manifestation and it requires hard work but the rewards can be incalculable.

120pp, 185 x 130 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £12.99

❖ Code: 330244 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50

SEEDS FOR A BOUNDLESS LIFE by

Zenkei Blanche Hartman

This one has been recommended by a Cygnus member who read it after Susan Moon mentioned it in her book Alive Until You’re Dead. Again like Zen Mind it’s a collection of oral teachings that have been set down in a book. Blanche was another teacher in the Bay Area of California and she has died since this book was published. She was 90 and again she had much to say about ageing. There’s so much to be treasured in Buddhist writing like this. Sometimes when you lose your way spiritually these books comfort you and make you feel safer and that you are not totally lost. All the endorsements on the back cover talk about her love and wisdom – there are Buddhist specific aspects of the text but mostly it’s just life wisdom that’s both inspiring and illuminating.

192pp, 215 x 141 mm, Paperback, 2015, RRP £15.99

❖ Code: 330248

❖ Non-Member Price: £12.21

❖ Member Price: £10.99

UNDERSTANDING MODERN SPIRITUALITY by Inna

Segal

This is a very interesting book. It’s a wellproduced hardback with coloured ink and beautiful designs and it would make a great gift to yourself or to someone else. The packaging makes you think that it’s going to be mainstream and perhaps too introductory, but actually its teachings are heavily based on the Rudolf Steiner work and the book is profound and quite esoteric. The author has written many other high-profile books such as The Secret Language of Your Body and she is also a gifted teacher and energy worker. The book as a whole describes a coherent esoteric worldview which helps us make sense of our lives and possible destiny, and in its rigour it helps us let go of a lot of new age lazy thinking. There are practical exercises too and the experience is like sitting in a meditation hall with a wise teacher.

240pp, 218 x 150 mm, Hardback, 2023, RRP £15.99

❖ Code: 330267 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.21 ❖ Member Price: £10.99

Unseen Beings

by Erik Jampa Andersson

In this book the author suggests different ways of seeing and thinking to see the life in all things. This will then cause a shift in how we live on this delicate planet. It will help us if we have climate anxiety by giving us a bigger picture and helping us away from a humanfixated outlook on existence. Erik is trained in Tibetan Buddhism and plant medicine of all kinds, and even in the Tibetan traditions there are nature spirits that we can work with. Of course there are also other beings in the European traditions that he discusses, including elves in Iceland and fairies in the British Isles. By relating to these unseen beings, to the animals and other life-forms around us, we can broaden our horizons to become more fulfilled and also be less destructive to the planet in our ways of living.

320pp, 217 x 135 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £12.99

❖ Code: 330269 ❖ Non-Member Price: £9.44 ❖ Member Price: £8.50

ZEN MIND, BEGINNER’S MIND

by Shunryu Suzuki

Featured author Susan Moon is part of the lineage of Suzuki who came over from Japan to teach Zen in San Francisco and became a legendary figure in American Buddhism. This book has become a classic: it’s a profound education and it also offers gentle guidance and spiritual support. Each chapter is taken from a talk he gave but the teaching is not exclusively Buddhist. In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics - from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality - in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It’s one of my favourite books.

176pp, 209 x 133 mm, Paperback, 1970, RRP £16.99

❖ Code: 330271 ❖ Non-Member Price: £12.77 ❖ Member Price: £11.50

THE HEALING WATERS ORACLE by Rebecca Campbell

We have already featured many books and decks by Rebecca Campbell in Cygnus. She sells well and everything she does has spiritual authenticity. This 44-card deck and accompanying guidebook will be familiar to members who have previously bought her products; the cards are in pastel colours and portray mystical inner landscapes with photography style figures within a swirling collage. Because it all relates to water, the cards are all in shades of blues and purples and invite us into a calm and wholesome place. There’s a title for each card: for example, Clear Waters, Gentle Force and The Sirens; plus statements like Use Your Voice. Expansion. Freedom, and Consistency. Persistence. Patience. The long game. Rebecca lives in Glastonbury where the land is watered by many springs including the Chalice Well. 44-card deck and 176-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £19.99

❖ Code: 330227

❖ Non-Member Price: £15.54

❖ Member Price: £13.99

WATER ALCHEMY ORACLE by Alexandra Wenman

It’s amazing to have two water-based oracles in this Review and they are both excellent. All 40 of these cards are a riot of colour. The colours aren’t spiritual and pastelly but instead they are bright, vivid and varied – a real treat for the eyes. Each card encapsulates an aspect of water: Droplet, Purification, Dam and Tears for example. The author was born in Australia, lives in London and used to edit Prediction magazine. The accompanying book is larger than usual and each entry has plenty of information, describing the card, giving advice on how to work with the card and even including a ritual for it. There is also a lot at the start of the book about water and its profound importance for us all. This is a very “up” and cheerful deck that can be the foundation for a spiritual practice.

40-card deck and 144-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £19.99

❖ Code: 330270

❖ Non-Member Price: £13.88

❖ Member Price: £12.50

THE HEALING SPIRITS ORACLE by Gordon Smith

Gordon is famously the UK’s most accurate medium and he has a great gift and a gratifying integrity. He hasn’t brought out anything for a while and so this oracle deck is very welcome. Basically it’s full of messages from the other side so that, if you use it suitably, it will be like psychic guidance. There are 48 full-colour cards and they are divided into four suits: Healing from Spirit Healers and Helpers, Healing from Spirit Guides, Healing from Spirit Sages and Masters and Healing from Guardian Spirits. The four suits are colour coded. The guide book gives more information about the nature of these different spirits and more information behind the brief message on each card. This has to be the next best thing to getting a reading directly through Gordon. The illustrations on the cards show figures in different visionary cosmic landscapes. 48-card deck and 120-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99

❖ Code: 330259

❖ Non-Member Price: £13.88 ❖ Member Price: £12.50

CRYSTAL SOUND HEALING ORACLE by Jeralyn Glass

This is different. There are 48 cards which carry images of crystals, geometric shapes, landscapes and other soothing images. Each card relates to a crystal or stone and the book then carries an entry for each that gives three pieces of information: an Alchemy Message; What Does This Card Mean For You?; and an Alchemy Mantra. Most importantly, the back of each card has a QR code on it and you can use it to hear the exact sound to go with the card, played on a pure quartz crystal singing bowl. The frequency you hear will then support the message on the card, making the oracle like a 3D, all-enveloping experience. So don’t buy this if you don’t have a smartphone or a computer. can imagine that this experience can make all kinds of transformation feel possible, because sound can work in ways that other media can’t.

48-Card Deck and 128-page Guidebook with 48 Singing Bowl Audios, 2023, RRP £17.99

❖ Code: 330215

❖ Non-Member Price: £14.43 ❖ Member Price: £12.99

The Law Of Positivism Healing Oracle

This deck and book set has been put together by the creator of the Law of Positivism Instagram page, which has more than 325,000 followers. She is of Kurdish descent and lives in Sweden. There are 50 cards and they are grouped around five aspects – the physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual layers that we all have. The cards are all in pastel shades and the images are in the photographic style. The statements on them include My Heart Space is Abundant and Flowing, Hear Speak and Express My Truth and Accept My Life Exactly as It Is. Almost all the human figures in the deck are female and the deck itself is definitely orientated towards women. It’s an uplifting deck which will inject joy and positivity into anyone’s life.

50-card deck and 152-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99

❖ Code: 330261

❖ Non-Member Price: £14.43 ❖ Member Price: £12.99

The Mary Magdalene Oracle

Meggan Watterson is a wonderful combination of Harvard trained theologian and mystically inclined spiritual teacher. She wrote the book Mary Magdalene Revealed which is a classic and which has done well already with Cygnus. There are so many facets to how we can learn and be inspired by Mary: through her appearance in the canonical Bible, through her Gnostic Gospel and through all the myths and legends associated with her. This deck is intended to make her teachings available to us in a direct and visceral way. Each card has a title (for example The First Power, The Cave, Mary Magdalene and The Soul) together with a slogan (Darkness Makes Vision Possible, Sanctuary Exists Within, Love Only Ever Expands, I am Free, respectively) and the images are sometimes provocative montages of figures, landscapes and symbols.

44-card deck and 120-page guidebook, 2023, RRP £17.99

❖ Code: 330237

❖ Non-Member Price: £14.43 ❖ Member Price: £12.99

After all these years, and despite doing it a lot in many places and on many occasions, I have given up on meditation. By that I mean I have given up on doing it formally because I think that there are also aspects of meditation that I practise all the time. I am terrible for projecting into the future and for creating demanding imaginary scenarios and that’s connected with my worrying mind. I don’t know if the worry came before the obsession with what is to come or vice versa. And in the end it doesn’t matter because the answer to it all is to be, radically and relentlessly, in the present. Thus in every challenge there is an opportunity.

So to do this I try and stay mindful of the sensations in my hands, especially when (like now) I am typing, or my clothes resting on my skin, or how my feet feel inside my shoes. I smell the flowers as I walk along and feel the breeze on my face. All my current sensations fill up my mind and don’t give it space to picture what might happen tomorrow or the next day. All those piling-up appointments, journeys and expectations looming ahead of me.

It’s going to take a lot of practice and it might be a long slow process. And, if it works, it is meditation, constant all-day meditation. I find it so much harder when I sit on the cushion