Cygnus Review, 2011 Issue 6

Cygnus Review issue 6, 2011 – free of charge

www.cygnus-books.co.uk

heal your body, feed your soul, free your mind, love your planet

23 authors choose their most life-changing books The Direct Path Andrew Harvey

20th Anniversary Issue

Celebrating 20 years of helping you find spiritual treasures, life-changing insights and healing wisdom

The Book of Mirdad Mikhail Naimy The Age Revolution Dr Charles Clark & Maureen Clark Self Compassion Kristin Neff Crystal Skulls & the Enigma of Time Patricia Mercier Teach Us to Sit Still Tim Parks

The Flower of Life

William Bloom First, some television for a change. It really encouraged me when Tom Pellereau, with his friendly smile and a warm enthusiasm for life won The Apprentice, against the other contenders who were aggressive, sharp and workaholics. Yay! The good guy won!

If I could wave a magic wand and change just one thing in our society, it would be this: Instead of status being awarded to people with money, glamour and power, esteem would be given to intelligent, warm-hearted and empathic people. That could change everything.

I enjoy television. It is one of my pleasures, an entertaining and informative window on the world. I also love pondering cosmic mysteries. Yes, television and the cosmos. I see and feel no contradiction here. Although I respect that some people judge television to be less than spiritual, in my worldview Spirit is in everything – no exceptions. How can anything be outside the wonder of creation and all existence? How can anything be excluded? Television is part of it all.

Yin and Yang Often, pondering the great mystery of All That Is and how the cosmos came into being, I contemplate two immensely powerful dynamics. The first is the explosive expansive force which manifested the cosmos. The Big Bang. The Breath of Creation.

The awesome primal dynamic. Emergent.

Expansive. Explosive But this raw expansive energy would never settle down into the beauty of creation – galaxies, stars, suns, planets, people, nature, creatures, flowers – without an equal and balancing force. This second force is the magnetic, attractive power that moulds, settles, holds and contains primal energy into solid form, touchable and stable.

In many spiritual traditions there is a clear understanding of these two forces. It is found most explicitly in the Taoist concepts of Yin and Yang. Yin represents the magnetic, settling and attractive gluing force of containment. Yang represents the expansive dynamism. Many Taoist scriptures explain how Yin and Yang are inextricably entwined, cannot exist without each other and are the primal forces of the cosmos. The well known symbol for this entwinement is the circle, one side black and the other white, with a wavy line dividing the two. On the black side of the circle is a small white dot. On the white side of the circle is a small black dot.

Yin is embedded in Yang, just as Yang is embedded in Yin. It is a divine marriage.

We can see this same theme surfacing too in the many traditions where deity is described

The Cosmic Apprentice as both Father and as Mother, the Father representing the emergent and expansive force of creation, the Mother representing the settling and magnetic force of creation. We can see them, too, in spiritual cosmologies that feature a polarity between Earth and Heaven. a) The explosive, expanding, raw breath. Yang.

Father. Heaven b) The magnetic, settling containment. Yin. Mother. Earth Now! Here’s the insight – these two cosmic polarities are also inside each of us. We experience them all the time in our psychological, emotional and spiritual lives. We, all of us, experience an instinct to expand and change. We also experience an instinct to stay the same. Transform, emerge! Stay the same! This is a continuous dance inside us.

Ideally, this dance is conducted with grace, and we grow and transform gracefully, like a river flowing to the sea. But – of course – there are times when the dance of change is not graceful. We may find ourselves changing and expanding too fast, over-excited and possibly anxious. At other times we may find ourselves caught in too much magnetism, glue and containment, resisting change and experiencing inertia and depression.

Don’t we all do this? Swing between moods of elation and melancholy? These are not just born of human psychology. They are part of the cosmic dance between emergence and settling.

The love dynamic These great forces of Yin and Yang, Mother-God and Father-God, are not the only cosmic dynamics. There is also, for example, the dimension of Time – Chronos, Saturn, Aeon, the Great Wheel of Life. We could say that the dance of creation between Yin and Yang is driven by the dimension and rhythms of time. The great god, Chronos, is powerful. Imagine trying to stop Time. The mind boggles.

And there is yet another dynamic that I want to add here – Love. Whilst Yin and Yang are boogying on the cosmic dance floor to the beat of Father Time, the whole space is permeated with a field of energy, with a quality, that we call benevolence or Love.

Love permeates all of this.

And then there is the space within which all of this happens. Space – is this thing we call ‘Space’ also a force, an entity or dynamic? Does Space have consciousness? Or is Space a manifestation of Consciousness?

These are all great enquiries of spiritual philosophy and metaphysics. They are meant to bewilder us, tease us and expand our consciousness.

A sacred drama Look at these fantastic actors on the cosmic stage: Yang – aka Father-God Yin – aka Mother-God

Time. Love. Consciousness.

I invite you now to imagine a Sacred Drama with wonderful actors dressed in amazing costumes and masks, portraying these celestial deities and their interactions.

This is precisely what happened in the great temples and amphitheatres of the ancient world when ‘The Mysteries’ were enacted, sometimes in private ceremony and sometimes in public spectacles.

Sadly, today in the modern world we lack those great pieces of celestial theatre. But it is in that same engaged and magical spirit, knowing that everything is interconnected and potentially meaningful, that I, and many others, watch the spectacle of world events and entertainment on television and celebrate a good guy, symbolic of the archetypal chivalrous hero, winning The Apprentice.

All my love, William www.williambloom.com

Editorial Message Dear Friends, A warm welcome to the 20th anniversary edition of the Cygnus Review. The rose on the front cover expresses for us all the joy, beauty, peace and wisdom that have carried us along, as a hidden undercurrent, through all the ups and downs of the last 20 years, and will no doubt continue to protect and guide us throughout the next 20 years and beyond.

When we look at that rose, and close our eyes, we can actually smell it, and feel cleansed by the peace it exudes. It's not just a picture for us, and we hope you experience it in the same way - as a connecting doorway to the treasure trove that is your heart.

To celebrate this special anniversary, we asked a number of authors to tell us about the book that has been most inspirational and influential to them during the last twenty years. What effect did it have on them, how did it help them and why would they recommend it to you? We were so happy with the response, which brought about another kind of flowering: a Cygnus Review full of personal messages from the heart, none of them chosen by us, all of them combining to give you a sense of connection with a huge group of people who are all walking the same path in their own unique way. Among the authors' suggestions, you'll also find, as usual, our selection of new books, and some features that we hope will help you see your way forward. We're hoping, too, that you'll be able to help create a wave of celebration for our 20th birthday. More about that on p. 16.

With love, blessings and gratitude, Sarah, Ann, Geoff and all at Cygnus

Our cover photograph is by Janet Baxter, © 2011. Prints can be obtained by calling Cymric Cards on 01970 871333, www.cymriccards.co.uk This magazine is printed with vegetable inks on paper from sustainable PEFC accredited sources by S&G Ltd, Merthyr Tydfil, 01685 388888.

A Message from the Angels

The angels are telling me that Cygnus reaches and impacts upon many more people than you might think. They tell me that it reaches into corners and places that other spiritual magazines don’t and that you help to open up people’s minds, by presenting them with information on books and authors that they might not have previously considered reading.

You are much more than a bookseller, rather you are a source of inspiration for those who come across your magazine.

Through the Cygnus Review you help to take away people’s doubts and make important spiritual messages much more accessible.

Cygnus has been guided from the beginning and all the team there, including authors who write articles, and people who pass on copies of the magazine to others are playing an important role. The angels tell me that it hasn’t always been easy, but you have successfully climbed many mountains over these twenty years, and will continue to do so in the future. Keep up the good work.

Blessings, Lorna In Angels in my Hair I tell the story of the evening that Archangel Michael gave this prayer to me, and from that day on I have given it to people who come looking for help. Many people have told me they have written out the prayer to carry it around with them, or to give it to someone else.

Prayer of Thy Healing Angels Prayer of Thy Healing Angels, That is carried from God by Michael, Thy Archangel.

Pour out, Thy Healing Angels, Thy Heavenly Host upon me, And upon those that I love, Let me feel the beam of Thy Healing Angels upon me, The light of Your Healing Hands.

I will let Thy Healing begin, Whatever way God grants it, Amen.

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ANGELS IN MY HAIR Lorna Byrne

As a child Lorna saw not just the world around her but, equally vividly, angels and spirits, too.

Now, as she tells the story of her life, we meet the creatures from the spirit worlds who also inhabit our own, mostly angels of an astonishing beauty and variety – including the prophet Elijah and an Archangel – but also the spirits of people who have died. Angels in My Hair may also help you remember times in your past when Angels have helped you.

334pp, 128mm x 196mm, softback, 2009, RRP £7.99 Code: 180506 Cygnus Price £4.75

STAIRWAYS TO HEAVEN Lorna Byrne

Lorna Byrne was told by the angels that her job on this earth was to share the wisdom and knowledge that God and the angels were giving her. When Lorna’s husband died, her world fell apart. Here Lorna tells the story of how she pulled her life back together, how she started to spread the angels’ messages to the world, and how she came to write Angels in My Hair. Lorna also tells us of the future that God envisages for us and introduces us to the Guardian Angel of the Earth.

304pp, 128mm x 196mm, softback, 2011, RRP £7.99 Code: 201006 Cygnus Price £3.99

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ANDREW HARVEY

The Paradox of the Journey All major mystical traditions have recognized that there is a paradox at the heart of the journey of return to Origin.

Put simply, this is that we are already what we seek, and that what we are looking for on the Path with such an intensity of striving and passion and discipline is already within and around us at all moments. The journey and all its different ordeals are all emanations of the One Spirit that is manifesting everything in all dimensions; every rung of the ladder we 44% climb toward final awareness is made of off! the divine stuff of awareness itself; Divine Consciousness is at once creating and manifesting all things and acting in and as all things in various states of self-disguise throughout all the different levels and dimensions of the universe.

The ‘Sublime Joke’ of the Journey Knowing that we are looking for something we already have and are does not, of course, mean that the journey is unnecessary, only that there is a vast and sublime joke waiting to be discovered at its end.

There is a story that I was told by an old Greek Orthodox monk that describes this joke deliciously. I was twenty-five when I met him in a monastery in central Greece; he took me to his room and gave me thick black coffee and we talked of God. He said, ‘Have you heard the story of Stassinopolos Street?’ When I said I hadn’t, he threw up his hands in mock horror.

‘Then you still don’t know the meaning of life.’

And he began: ‘There was a poor young man who lived in a village in the Pelepponese who had a dream. In it he saw a courtyard with turquoise tiles with an old man sitting on a vast pile of treasure. The old man said to him, ‘All this treasure belongs to you. Come and get it! You’ll find me at 3 Stassinopolos Street in Salonika.’ When the poor young man woke up, he leapt for joy. ‘God is good! God has told me how I can become very rich! And in such a detailed way too!’

‘So he set out immediately for Salonika. Well – to cut a long story short – everything conceivable happened to him to stop him getting there for years. He was robbed, beaten, left for dead, kidnapped, sold into slavery for two decades on the Barbary Coast. As a middle-aged man, weary, disillusioned, he found himself in Salonika at last and decided, ‘What the hell, I’ll see if Stassinopolos Street really exists.’

‘Well, it did exist and there was a number 3.

And, sure enough, when he entered through the door, he saw an old man sitting on a bench in the sunlight in a courtyard with turquoise tiles just like the old man in the dream. His heart leapt with joy.

‘The old man looked up at him and clapped his hands. ‘Oh, you have come at last! You are

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the man I saw in a dream I had many years ago! Many years ago I dreamed of a poor young man who lived in a village somewhere in the Peleponnese. He was sitting on his brokendown cot, and underneath his cot there was a gleaming pile of treasure. I meant to set out and see if I could find the man, but life intervened and I never did.’

‘All at once, the man who had been looking all his life for Stassinopolos Street understood; the treasure he had been hunting for so long was all the time within his own deepest self.’

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THE DIRECT PATH Andrew Harvey

‘Nothing is more essential than to give people everywhere the assurance and confidence that a direct approach to the Divine is possible; that anyone with good will, an open heart and a commitment to serious, humble practice can attain it; and that this direct contact can work in very powerful transformative ways to change completely, over time, the quality, direction and inner meaning of one’s life.’

Andrew Harvey demonstrates, with his life and his words, that there is indeed a Direct Path to the Divine, which all of us can follow without any intermediary. He passionately explains why he believes that the Direct Path is now essential to the future survival of humanity, and how the truth and vibrancy of this radical vision depends on the reclamation of the Sacred Feminine. Better still, his description of how to practise the Direct Path is truly empowering. He describes eighteen sacred practices for transformed spiritual living, and gives intensely practical information on how to embody and integrate mystical consciousness with all aspects of your life.

298pp, 124mm x 197mm, softback, 2011, RRP £8.99

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Treasure within The old monk wiped away tears of joy and held my hands in his.

‘My son,’ he whispered. ‘Please never forget this story.’

I remember asking him rudely, ‘Well, if the poor young man always had the treasure within him, why did he have to go on such a long, harsh, complex journey to find that out?’

The old monk laughed. ‘That is just how it is.

You have to go through a million different experiences to discover what you already are. It is God’s joke.’

One serious explanation of this joke at the

The Direct Path

heart of the journey is, of course, that our essential self is hidden from us by what the Sufi mystics call ‘a hundred thousand veils of illusion.’ Placed in this dimension of time and space and matter, we forget who we are; we identify our essential nature with what surrounds us and with what our culture and society and parents and ordinary senses tell us about ourselves; a massive journey is then needed for us to ‘dis-identify’ with everything we have falsely learned about our selves so that we can experience, with the ‘hundred thousand veils’ burned away, the glory of our true identity.

This is one explanation, and it is true as far as it goes. The trouble with it, however, is that it subtly devalues the experience of being created at all and dismisses too easily the whole of human experience and creation itself as what the Hindu mystics have called maya, illusion.

Why would the Divine have created us in the first place if the only meaning of our being created is to escape the ‘illusion’ of Creation, transcend all its particulars and events to enter into what is beyond it?

Seeds of the Divine Perhaps the deepest and richest answer to this question – and it is an ‘answer’ that the Direct Path embraces in its difficulty and challenge – is that we are placed here as a seed of the Divine within time, space, and matter to unfold fully all our divine powers and ca pacities within them: We do this not to escape the ‘illusion’ of creation but to divinize not only ourselves but also reality from within it.

This explanation – that is at the heart of certain schools of Jewish, Sufi, and Christian mysticism, and which has inspired the work of great modern evolutionary mystics such as Teilhard de Chardin and the great Hindu sage Aurobindo – has the advantage of treating the whole journey of the Path not just as a marvelously witty joke – which it, of course, partly is – but also as an opportunity for the Divine through us to permeate, infuse, and transfigure its own creation.

What this version of the meaning of the journey makes of each of us is what Hildegard of Bingen calls ‘co-creators with God of a New World.’ We undertake the tremendous journey of return to Origin not to vanish into Origin or simply rest in its peace and glory but to be infused with its sacred passion and power and become so saturated with its energy and love that we can ‘reenter’ reality and become agents with and in God of a massive transformation of all the conditions of the Creation. In other words, we are created by the Divine to participate with it in its ‘plan’ of bringing the whole of the Creation consciously into the glory of its eternal being.

From The Direct Path, © 2011 by Andrew Harvey, published by Watkins.

Read another article – Heart Talk with Andrew Harvey

www.cygnus-books.co.uk/magazine/2011/07/heart-talk/

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LET YOUR SOUL SOAR

FINDING HARMONY

LIVING DANGEROUSLY Osho

Osho is one of the best-known spiritual teachers of our time. Nearly two decades after his death, the influence of his teachings continues to grow, reaching seekers around the world. This collection of spiritual wisdom offers a way for everyone to access the enlightening message of the Buddha as it applies to the present, as Osho offers his unique take, with a wit that makes it a wonderful read. Osho’s words are fluid and engaging, and his shrewd insights will stay with you always. Whether he is discussing a complex philosophy, or the teachings of a great mystic, Osho always approaches the subject with his own distinctively irreverent, thought-provoking and inspiring perspectives. Covering subjects including Belief, Responsibility, Relationships, Doing Good and the Power of Consciousness, Living Dangerously offers real insight into leading a more spiritual life now.

234pp, 126mm x 198mm, softback, 2011, RRP £8.99 Code: 210603 Cygnus Price £4.99

ILLUSIONS Richard Bach

Recommended by Madeleine Walker, author of The Whale Whisperer [210505]

STEPPING INTO THE MAGIC Gill Edwards

“Hi! For me it has to be Stepping into the Magic

by Gill Edwards: one of the first mind-body-spirit books that I ever read. I was walking around WHSmith, looking for a birthday card and just happened to glance at the book section. I saw the title, which roused my curiosity. I remember it said something like ‘growing through joy rather than struggle,’ and, as my life felt like a big struggle at the time, I thought, “I could do with some of that!” It opened up my mind to so many new concepts and fed my thirst for spiritual knowledge, which blossomed after reading that book. I often wonder what made me look at the book shelf when I was looking for a birthday card! The universe works in mysterious ways and this book certainly opened up my mind to spirit. Thank you, Gill!!” Blessings, Madeleine

256pp, 135mm x 216mm, softback, 2006, RRP £8.99 Code: 160620 Cygnus Price £6.50

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Disillusioned writer Richard Bach doesn’t 41%! believe in anything he can’t see or touch.... until he meets Donald Shimoda – former mechanic and self-described messiah who can make wrenches fly and Richard’s imagination soar. In Illusions, Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings: that people don’t need planes to soar... that even the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them... and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places – like hay fields, insignificant mid-western towns, and most of all, deep within ourselves.

144pp, 126mm x 170mm, softback, 1998 (First published 1977), RRP £7.99 Code: 161109 Cygnus Price £4.75

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Recommended by Ursula James, author of The Source [210307]

THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN Betty Edwards

“A seemingly odd choice for an inspirational book – but it is one which helped me to think ‘out of the box’ creatively, and to give me the confidence to draw. Once I started doing this, 47% I could access the unconscious processes so much more easily – off! and to wonderful effect. Whenever I get stuck with my problem solving, I go back to its words about seeing shapes rather than identifying them as faces or a bridge, and my thinking starts to flow. My drawing might not be brilliant, but my thinking is more so because of this book. My advice to anyone who is stuck creatively is to read this book and just do it.

Whatever the ‘it’ might be for you.” Ursula James

291pp, 189mm x 230mm, illus. in b&w, 2001, RRP £14.99 Code: 101134 Cygnus Price £7.99

“Big love to all Cygnus Readers!” Tim Freke FREE POSTAGE on UK orders of £25 or more!

Recommended by Joe Vitale, author of Zero Limits [210505]

EXCUSE ME, YOUR LIFE IS WAITING Lynn Grabhorn

“The book that deeply energized me is Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting. I consumed it when I was lost and struggling. It helped me focus on my feelings, follow my passions, and lead a happier, healthier, more productive and prosperous life. It made me awake and aware to my feelings, so I could sense which ones led me astray or led me home. I’m grateful for the uplifting wisdom in that book. It changed my life.” Thanks, Joe Vitale

319pp, 128mm x 197mm, softback, 2004, RRP £8.99 Code: 140703 Cygnus Price £6.50

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A message from the author

THE HEART’S NOTE Stewart Pearce

“The secret chamber of your heart is like a Crystal Cave where a great Magician resides. In silence the Magician gifts you a loving connection with the most precious of cosmic forces, the portal presence of universal co-creativity. In this portal the energy centre of your Heart Chakra will allow you to partake of a quintessential remembering, an utter sense of who you truly are as a quanta of light: emphatically human and yet suffused within the membrane of all that is preciously divine.”

Love & Light, Stewart

160pp, 135mm x 216mm, softback, 2011, RRP £7.99 Code: 210205 Cygnus Price £5.20

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HEALTH & HEALING

THE AGE REVOLUTION Dr Charles Clark & Maureen Clark

The Age Revolution will, says Dr Charles Clark, help you to improve your quality of life by slowing the ageing processes which would otherwise inevitably occur, through a well-structured and natural lifestyle management programme.

Nutrition forms the basis of slowing the ageing process, so Dr Clark’s food plan is based on his well-researched high protein diet, complemented by physical and stress-relief exercises. So you can neutralise a huge range of age-related health concerns, to improve your health and reduce your need for medication. You can lower cholesterol and blood pressure, protect yourself from arthritis, cardiovascular disease and heart disease, control or reverse diabetes, look younger and feel re-energised. The programme is very well presented, with clear instructions and delicious recipes, guiding you through a 21-day kickstart plan and taking you beyond into an enjoyable and sustainable routine, rediscovering the joys of a fresh, healthy and youthful life.

280pp, 154mm x 224mm, softback, illus. in b&w, 2011, RRP £12.99 Code: 210604 Cygnus Price £6.50

TEACH US TO SIT STILL Tim Parks

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Teach Us to Sit Still is the thought-provoking and entertaining story of Tim Parks’ quest to overcome ill health. Suffering a crippling condition which nobody could explain or relieve, and having endured endless tests and investigations, he confronts hard truths about the relationship between the mind and the body, the hectic modern world and his life as a writer.

Following a fruitless journey through the conventional medical system he finds solace in a prescription of breathing exercises that eventually leads him to take up meditation – the very last place Parks expected or wanted to find answers. Meantime, he is drawn to consider the effects of illness on the work of other writers, the role of religions in shaping our sense of self, and the influence of sport and art in our attitudes to health and well-being. This intimate, captivating and honest description of a man’s journey through illness may help many more – and especially men, who are notoriously shy of these matters – through their healing.

335pp, 128mm x 196mm, Softback, illus. in b&w, 2010, RRP £8.99 Code: 210605 Cygnus Price £4.25

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Recommended by Gill Edwards, author of Conscious Medicine [201201]

THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF Bruce Lipton

“In recent years, the most mindblowing book I have read is The Biology of Belief by biologist Bruce Lipton. I had known for decades that our health mirrors our state of consciousness – but I couldn’t prove it to a scientist. Now, for the first time, I understood the physical pathways by which the invisible realms of thoughts and beliefs get ‘downloaded’ into the physical body – via the cellular membrane – switching genes on or off, and creating either health or dis-ease. I remember dancing around the room in excitement at this! Bruce Lipton shows that we are not victims of our genes, and that the body is designed to be healthy – if only we get out of its way. This groundbreaking book bridges the gap between biology and spirituality, between mind and matter, between science and metaphysics.

And it is written in such a readable, ebullient and passionate style that you cannot help but smile as you read it!” With love and blessings, Gill

224pp, 152mm x 228mm, illus. in b&w, softback, 2006, RRP £12.99 Code: 160801 Cygnus Price £5.40

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Recommended by Chris Thomas, author of Synthesis [210435]

“We now live in a world where pharmaceutical companies control the way in which we perceive medicinal remedies. It used to be that we relied on herbs for health but that has now been taken away from us

by EU regulations. These two books by James Wong begin to help re-balance our choices by describing how to let herbs back into our lives instead of being forced into chemicals. Both are extremely helpful books full of advice on what to grow, how to prepare the herbs and what ailments can be treated. Well worth taking!”

Best wishes to everyone, Di and Chris

GROW YOUR OWN DRUGS James Wong

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A YEAR WITH JAMES WONG James Wong

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There is No Perfect Way to Heal – Jennie Williams When we are unwell for a long time, we will likely have one of two tendencies. One is to give up and believe that we’ll never be well and the second is to find a strategy to get ourselves better. I’m a strategy person and sometimes have this crazy idea that if I can just find the right formula I can outsmart illness.

Needless to say, the formula never works! Healing always happens through relationship – an ever developing relationship with God, myself and the world.

A Healing Story I’ve suffered with digestive problems for as long as I can remember and when I become really unwell I think I can find the perfect diet to make myself better. But strangely enough my digestive problem isn’t just about my gut! It involves my whole self and my relationship with food and life.

Recently I realised that I needed to address my issues around my tendency to self-deprive and my fear of indulgence. As I worked through this I found that I could eat more and more of the foods that I previously felt allergic to. When the rest of my family was eating chocolate cake, yoghurt and strawberries I found that I could eat it too and it felt good!

Some days I still revert to feeling allergic, doubt my approach and go back to my ‘safe’ foods. However, deep down I know that I can’t stay here because I’ve already started to move somewhere else, and I have to keep moving. My mind tells me ‘Keep eating safe foods for at least 6 months’ but my heart tells me ‘Keep learning to indulge and enjoy life’.

There is no perfect diet and there is no perfect way to heal.

Jennie Williams You may join in this discussion at www.cygnus-books.co.uk/magazine

KRISTIN NEFF

Self-compassion requires that we stop to recognize our own suffering. We can’t be moved by our own pain if we don’t even acknowledge that it exists in the first place.

Of course, sometimes the fact that we’re in pain is blindingly obvious and we can think of nothing else. More often than you might think, however, we don’t recognize when we are suffering. Much of Western culture has a strong ‘stiff-upper-lip’ tradition. We are taught that we shouldn’t complain, that we should just carry on (to be read in a clipped British accent while giving a smart salute). If we’re in a difficult or stressful situation, we 44% off! rarely take the time to step back and recognize how hard it is for us in the moment.

And when our pain comes from selfjudgment – if you’re angry at yourself for mistreating someone, or for making some stupid remark at a party – it’s even harder to see these as moments of suffering. Like the time I asked a friend I hadn’t seen in a while, eyeing the bump of her belly, ‘Are we expecting?’ ‘Er, no,’ she answered, ‘I’ve just put on some weight lately.’ ‘Oh...’ I said as my face turned beet red. We typically don’t recognize such moments as a type of pain that is worthy of a compassionate response. After all, I messed up, doesn’t that mean I should be punished? Well, do you punish your friends or your family when they mess up? Okay, maybe sometimes a little, but do you feel good about it?

Everyone is worthy of compassion Everybody makes mistakes at one time or another, it’s a fact of life. And if you think about it, why should you expect anything different? Where is that written contract you signed before birth promising that you’d be perfect, that you’d never fail, and that your life would go absolutely the way you want it to? Uh, excuse me. There must be some error. I signed up for the ‘everything will go swimmingly until the day I die’ plan. Can I speak to the management, please? It’s absurd, and yet most of us act as if something has gone terribly awry when we fall down or life takes an unwanted or unexpected turn.

One of the downsides of living in a culture that stresses the ethic of independence and individual achievement is that if we don’t continually reach our ideal goals, we feel that we only have ourselves to blame. And if we’re at fault, that means we don’t deserve compas-

Compassion for Ourselves

sion, right? The truth is, everyone is worthy of compassion. The very fact that we are conscious human beings experiencing life on the planet means that we are intrinsically valuable and deserving of care. According to the Dalai Lama, ‘Human beings by nature want happiness and do not want suffering.

With that feeling everyone tries to achieve happiness and tries to get rid of suffering, and everyone has the basic right to do this....

Basically, from the viewpoint of real human value we are all the same.’

This is the same sentiment, of course, that inspired the US Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are BOOK CIRCLE CHOICE: Even more savings when you buy extra copies!

SELF COMPASSION Kristin Neff

Self Compassion offers a powerful solution for combating the depression, anxiety and self criticism that comes with living in our pressured and competitive culture, by stopping judging and evaluating ourselves and accepting ourselves with an open heart, treating ourselves with the same kindness we would show others. You will learn to live in self-kindness, connection and mindfulness, replacing negative and destructive measures of self worth and success with a kinder and non-judgemental approach.

Through Self Compassion you will come to accept your weaknesses and limitations, discover improved self confidence, contentment and reach your highest potential – simply, easily and compassionately. Kristin Neff’s expert and practical advice guides you in letting go of unrealistic expectations of perfection, and opens the door to real and lasting satisfaction.

320pp, 153mm x 234mm, softback, 2011, RRP £12.99

Code: 210602 Cygnus Prices: 1 copy £7.25 2 or more copies £6.75 each

endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’

We don’t have to earn the right to compassion; it is our birthright. We are human, and our ability to think and feel, combined with our desire to be happy rather than to suffer, warrants compassion for its own sake.

Many people are resistant to the idea of self-compassion, however. Isn’t it really just a form of self-pity? Or a dressed-up word for self-indulgence? I show throughout Self Compassion that these assumptions are

false and run directly counter to the actual meaning of self-compassion. As you’ll come to see, self-compassion involves wanting health and wellbeing for oneself and leads to proactive behavior to better one’s situation, rather than passivity. And self-compassion doesn’t mean that I think my problems are more important than yours, it just means I think that my problems are also important and worthy of being attended to.

Softening your heart Rather than condemning yourself for your mistakes and failures, therefore, you can use the experience of suffering to soften your heart. You can let go of those unrealistic expectations of perfection that make you so dissatisfied, and open the door to real and lasting satisfaction. All by giving yourself the compassion you need in the moment.

The research that my colleagues and I have conducted over the past decade shows that self-compassion is a powerful way to achieve emotional well-being and contentment in our lives. By giving ourselves unconditional kindness and comfort while embracing the human experience, difficult as it is, we avoid destructive patterns of fear, negativity, and isolation. At the same time, selfcompassion fosters positive mind-states such as happiness and optimism. The nurturing quality of self-compassion allows us to flourish, to appreciate the beauty and richness of life, even in hard times. When we soothe our agitated minds with self-compassion, we’re better able to notice what’s right as well as what’s wrong, so that we can orient ourselves toward that which gives us joy.

Self-compassion provides an island of calm, a refuge from the stormy seas of endless positive and negative self-judgment, so that we can finally stop asking, ‘Am I as good as they are? Am I good enough?’ Right here at our fingertips we have the means to provide ourselves with the warm, supportive care we deeply yearn for. By tapping into our inner wellsprings of kindness, acknowledging the shared nature of our imperfect human condition, we can start to feel more secure, accepted, and alive.

In many ways self-compassion is like magic, because it has the power to transform suffering into joy. Tara Bennett-Goleman uses the metaphor of alchemy to symbolize the spiritual and emotional transformation that’s possible when we embrace our pain with caring concern. When we give ourselves compassion, the tight knot of negative self-judgment starts to dissolve, replaced by a feeling of peaceful, connected acceptance – a sparkling diamond that emerges from the coal.

From Self Compassion, © 2011 by Kristin Neff, published by Hodder and Stoughton.

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44% off!

THE SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE

Recommended by Pierre Pradervand, author of The Gentle Art of Blessing [140801]

44% off!

Recommended by Jenny Smedley, author of Pets Are Forever [210509]

THE SHACK William P Young

STILLNESS SPEAKS Eckhart Tolle

“This book was a real eyeopener to me, and also a confirmation of what I’d long thought – that everyone is entitled to their own opinion on who or what God is. God can be anything you want him/her to be, and you’ll be accepted by him, however you picture him. I was brought up a Christian, and then later in life when I discovered my own path, I was told by some that I couldn’t continue to consider Jesus to be my friend – the way I’d always thought of him, if I didn’t ‘conform’ in other ways and stop believing in past lives. I couldn’t put this book down because it confirmed how ridiculous and unnecessary dogma is.

Every page will make you smile, and honestly, if God can’t make you smile – who can?” Jenny Smedley

“This book is really very special.

Not only is it extremely brief, but it is in the form of a series of short aphorisms. As Tolle explains in the introduction, an authentic spiritual teacher has nothing to teach in the conventional sense. He simply helps you eliminate what separates you from the truth, from your real nature. His book is a return to one of the most ancient forms of spiritual teaching: the millennial Sutras of India. So just get into a comfortable armchair, or on a blanket in a stream or in a peaceful forest, and start reading very slowly, pausing after each paragraph. Do your own favourite exercise to calm down, start reading slowly and pause after each paragraph. As Tolle states, these texts are sacred and one feels it deep down. They exude such a deep healing peace because they come from the sacred stillness within and you will feel it because that stillness is already within you, just waiting to be acknowledged. You are in for such a treat dear friend.” Pierre Pradervand

248pp, 128mm x 196, softback, 2008, RRP £7.99 Code: 181108 Cygnus Price £4.49

Recommended by David Hamilton, author of The Contagious Power of Thinking [210401]

144pp, 128mm x 198mm, softback, 2003, RRP £7.99 Code: 130901 Cygnus Price £4.50

Recommended by Hazel Raven, author of The Angel Experience [200618]

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI Paramahansa Yogananda

“The book that been most inspirational and influential to me is Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda. My copy is the original 1946, 50th anniversary edition. I have read it over and over again, always finding it to be a spiritual treasure trove of love, guidance and wisdom. Although Yogananda passed away a few days before I was born, in a state of ‘mahasamadhi’ – a great yogi’s final, conscious exit from his earthly body – I feel it is not only a spiritual yogi classic, but it was written just for me. It touches my heart so deeply, I feel waves of bliss and deep Soul recognition. My favourite quote about Yogananda is: when asked if, after he was gone, he would still be near in spirit, Yogananda replied, ‘To those who ‘think’ me near, I will be near.’ “With love, Hazel

602pp, 117mm x 190mm, illus. in b&w, softback, 2007, RRP £5.99 Code: 180426 Cygnus Price £4.19

SPECIAL OFFER: buy ‘Stillness Speaks’ & ‘Autobiography of A Yogi’ together for £8.19

Recommended by Karen Tweed, composer of Midnight May Monday CD [D210328]

42% off!

THE BOOK OF SECRETS Deepak Chopra

“I originally bought The Book of Secrets for my brother, who already had it. I kept it, and eventually read it myself, following my brother and mother’s deaths. It was simply uplifting and so very very helpful to reframe and understand so many conflicting emotions. I continue to read it now – Deepak Chopra is inspirational.”

Very best wishes, Karen Tweed 282pp, 152mm x 233mm, softback, 2004, RRP £11.99 Code: 141117 Cygnus Price £6.99

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Order line: 01558 825 500

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off!

“From time to time, a book has a 33% off! huge impact on me. I found Conversations with God a few days after I resigned from the pharmaceutical industry in 1999. I would encourage anyone to read it because it’s a textbook for understanding our role in making the world a better place. Compassion and kindness are timeless. There is always room for them and there will always be room for them. I believe in the truth of Gandhi’s philosophy. If we want to see more compassion and kindness in the world then we need to be more compassionate and kind in our interactions with each other. This means being aware of our thoughts and how we treat each other and it means courageously stepping up where we need to. The world is a projection of the content of our hearts and minds. The inside creates the outside.”

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD Neale Donald Walsch Buy 1, 2 & 3 for £16.97

47% off!

BOOK 1 Code: 085064 RRP £8.99 Cygnus Price £5.99 BOOK 2 Code: 085065 RRP £9.99 Cygnus Price £5.99 BOOK 3 Code: 085066 RRP £9.99 Cygnus Price £5.99

THE PROPHET & THE ART OF PEACE Kalhil Gilbran

The haunting words of wisdom and truth in Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, are among the most heartrendingly beautiful ever written. So poetic, so glorious are they that, as you read them, they inscribe themselves in your heart so that you never forget them. First published in 1923, The Prophet tells the story of Almustafa the Prophet, who is about to leave the country where he has been teaching to return to his native land. Before leaving his place of exile, he delivers twenty-six homilies that form a treasury of counsel on human life. His teachings reveal the highest truth we can learn from life – that though our bodies be dust and our minds illusion, within us resides a potential that is nothing less than divine. This beautifully illustrated gift edition also includes The Garden of the Prophet, together with selections from Gibran’s other works.

272pp, 152mm x 234mm, softback, illus in colour, 2011, RRP £14.99 Code: 210607 Cygnus Price £7.94 Special Offer: buy with ‘The Book of Mirdad’ for £12.43 – see p.9

Query line: 01558 825 503

MIKHAIL NAIMY

Recommended by Geoff Napier

“I have read and re-read The Book of Mirdad many times. It once took me oneand-a-half years, there was so much spiritual food to digest in it! At the time I was very conscious of being entirely alone, and this, along with the Tao Te Ching, was my closest spiritual companion. It would help me to redirect my thoughts away from everyday nonsense, into fields which were sustaining and nurturing for my soul. Yet there are no pretensions – it is also just a story, and can be read as such. It was precisely to enable people to find books like this that we started Cygnus.” Geoff Napier

Love is the Law of God

Love is the sap of Life. While Hatred is the pus of Death. But Love, like blood, must circulate unhindered in the veins. Repress the blood, and it becomes a menace and a plague.

And what is Hate but Love repressed, or Love withheld, therefore becoming such a deadly poison both to the feeder and the fed; both to the hater and to that he hates?

A yellow leaf upon your tree of life is but a Love-weaned leaf. Blame not the yellow leaf.

A withered bough is but a Love-starved bough. Blame not the withered bough.

No love is possible except the love of self. No self is real save the All-embracing Self. Therefore is God all Love, because He loves Himself.

You have no friends so long as you can count a single man as foe. The heart that harbours enmity how can it be a safe abode for friendship?

Love is the Law of God. You live that you may learn to love. You love 44% THE BOOK OF off! that you may learn to live. No other lesson is MIRDAD required of Man. Mikhail Naimy And what is it to love but for the lover to absorb ‘Whoever cannot find forever the beloved so that the twain be one? a temple in his heart, And whom, or what, is one to love? Is one to the same can never choose a certain leaf upon the Tree of Life and find his heart in any pour upon it all one’s heart? What of the branch temple.’ that bears the leaf? What of the stem that holds Written by a close the branch? What of the bark that shields the friend and biograstem? What of the roots that feed the bark, the pher of Kahlil Gibran stem, the branches and the leaves? What of (see p.8), The Book the soil embosoming the roots? What of the of Mirdad is a masterpiece of spiritual wissun, and sea, and air that fertilize the soil? dom to rank alongside The Prophet.

It is a If one small leaf upon a tree be worthy of your timeless allegorical story about a mysterilove how much more so the tree in its entirety? ous stranger, Mirdad, who visits the remote The love that singles out a fraction of the whole mountain monastery of the Ark. There he foredooms itself to grief. assumes the role of teacher to the nine You say, ‘But there be leaves and leaves chosen Companions, and through his diaupon a single tree. Some are healthy, some are logue with them, we are given teachings sick; some are beautiful, some, ugly: some are which show us how it is possible to transgiants, some are dwarfs. How can we help but form our consciousness and uncover the pick and choose?’

God within, by dissolving our sense of dualI say to you, Out of the paleness of the sick ity. The Book of Mirdad is among the great proceeds the freshness of the healthy. I further religious classics of the twentieth century say to you that ugliness is Beauty’s palette, and deserves to be the constant companion paint and brush; and that the dwarf would not of any spiritual seeker. have been a dwarf had he not given of his 198pp, 124mm x 196mm, softback, 2011, RRP £8.99 stature to the giant.

Code: 210606 Cygnus Price £4.99 You are the tree of life You are the Tree of Life. Beware of fractioning You do not know the joy of Love so long as yourselves. Set not a fruit against a fruit, a leaf there is hatred in your hearts. Were you to feed against a leaf, a bough against a bough; nor all things the sap of Life except a certain tiny set the stem against the roots; nor set the tree worm, that certain tiny worm alone would against the mother-soil. That is precisely what embitter your life. For in loving anything, or anyyou do when you love one part more than the one, you love in truth but yourselves. Likewise rest, or to the exclusion of the rest. in hating anything, or anyone, you hate in truth You are the Tree of Life. Your roots are everybut yourselves. where. Your boughs and leaves are everyFor that which you hate is bound up inseparawhere. Your fruits are in every mouth. Whatever bly with that which you love, like the face and be the fruits upon that tree; whatever be its the reverse of the same coin, If you would be boughs and leaves; whatever be its roots, they honest with yourselves, then must you love are your fruits; they are your leaves and what you hate and what hates you before you boughs; they are your roots. If you would have love what you love and what loves you. the tree bear sweet and fragrant fruit, if you Love is not a virtue. Love is a necessity; more would have it ever strong and green, see to the so than bread and water; more so than light sap wherewith you feed the roots.

and air.

Let no one pride himself on loving. But rather breathe in Love and breathe it out just as unconsciously and freely as you breathe in the air and breathe it out.

For Love needs no one to exalt it. Love will exalt the heart that it finds worthy of itself.

Seek no rewards for Love. Love is reward sufficient unto Love, as Hate is punishment sufficient unto Hate.

Nor keep any accounts with Love. For Love accounts to no one but itself.

Love neither lends nor borrows; Love neither buys nor sells; but when it gives, it gives its all; and when it takes, it takes its all. Its very taking is a giving. Its very giving is a taking. Therefore is it the same to-day, to-morrow and forevermore.

Just as a mighty river emptying itself in the sea is e’er replenished by the sea, so must you empty yourselves in Love that you may be ever filled with Love. The pool that would withhold the sea-gift from the sea becomes a stagnant pool.

There is nor ‘more’ nor ‘less’ in Love. The moment you attempt to grade and measure Love it slips away leaving behind it bitter memories.

Nor is there ‘now’ and ‘then’, nor ‘here’ and ‘there’ in Love. All seasons are Love seasons.

All spots are fit abodes for Love.

Love knows no boundaries Love knows no boundaries or bars. A love whose course is checked by any obstacle whatever is not yet worthy of the name of Love.

I often hear you say that Love is blind, meaning that it can see no fault in the beloved. That kind of blindness is the height of seeing.

Would you were always so blind as to behold no fault in anything.

Nay, clear and penetrating is the eye of Love.

Therefore it sees no fault. When Love has purged your sight, then would you see nothing at all unworthy of your love. Only a love-shorn, faulty eye is ever busy finding faults. Whatever faults it finds are only its own faults.

Love integrates. Hatred disintegrates. This huge and ponderous mass of earth and rock which you call Altar Peak would quickly fly asunder were it not held together by the hand of Love. Even your bodies, perishable as they seem, could certainly resist disintegration did you but love each cell of them with equal zeal.

Love is peace athrob with melodies of Life.

Hatred is war agog with fiendish blasts of Death.

Which would you: Love and be at everlasting peace? Or hate and be at everlasting war?

The whole earth is alive in you. The heavens and their hosts are alive in you. So love the Earth and all her sucklings if you would love yourselves. And love the Heavens and all their tenants if you would love yourselves.

From The Book of Mirdad, © 2011 by Mikhail Naimy, published by Watkins.

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SPECIAL OFFER: buy ‘The Book of Mirdad’ & ‘The Prophet & the Art of Peace’ (see p.8) together for £12.43

9

Geo Trevarthen

The Alchemy of Sacrifice – Opening to the Greatest Power

Some people see the Harry Potter phenomenon as a particularly silly manifestation of popular culture. My fascination with the books led me on a long spiritual and scholarly journey, that included developing and teaching a course at the University of Edinburgh and writing my own Seekers Guide to Harry Potter in some of the same cafes where JK Rowling used to write. I didn’t try to read JK Rowling’s mind. All creative work can be approached both from what the creator put in and what the reader may take away – and you can’t pepper novels with mystical symbols without incorporating their constellations of meaning. I concluded that the Harry Potter phenomenon tells us a lot about what’s missing from our culture – magic, hope, family bonds, friendship and the willingness to sacrifice for a greater good.

The novels then go some way towards revealing the ways we can fill our social, cultural and spiritual voids.

One way they do this is through alchemical symbolism, which Jung mined so richly in his psychological work. Harry is the ‘seeker’ in the wizard’s sport of quidditch. He seeks a winged golden disk, a symbol that appeared in Egypt representing the young god Horus, who defeats the evil Set, in the near East as a symbol of making the right choices in life, and in alchemy as the end of the alchemical process – the philosopher’s stone.

Transformation The first Harry Potter novel is entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which tells us all we need to know about JK Rowling’s focus in her seven novels – the same number of stages involved in making the stone. Creating the philosopher’s stone was the greatest attainment in alchemy, involving transformation and sacrifice.

Alchemy had physical, psychological and spiritual aspects, the soul development of the alchemist going hand in hand with physical operations involving colour and form changes within the alchemical vessel. JK Rowling said she never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist was another matter.

Her alchemical research shows. For example, the three friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione clearly represent the three primary alchemical elements, salt, sulfur and mercury.

Harry is the salt of the earth. The alchemical salt originated in the prima materia, the ‘first matter,’ as a ‘blood-red’ substance, which then became a bright white substance called the salt of wisdom. Here we see that the alchemical salt, mercury and sulfur aren’t necessarily the same substances that go by THE HARRY POTTER SERIES J K Rowling: THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE Code: 150802 £5.50 THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS Code: 150803 £5.50

these names in ordinary chemistry. In a sense, then, this ‘salt’ is already the philosopher’s stone, it just doesn’t know it yet, but the knowing makes all the difference. Salt is like spirit, the stone is like soul. Spirit is given, soul we create.

Affirming Harry as the hidden stone, end product of the work, his wand core is made of phoenix feather – the phoenix being another symbol for the end of the process.

The red of the phoenix feather also echoes the red of sacrificial blood, essential to the alchemical process in many accounts. Salt is revealed as the stone by the transmuting actions of two other substances, sulfur and mercury. The easiest of these elements to see in Harry and his two best friends is Mercury.

THE SEEKER’S GUIDE TO HARRY POTTER Geo Trevarthen

As you may already know, alchemy is the process through which the base metal of our ordinary, human self is gradually refined and transformed into pure spiritual gold. This has the most far reaching effects, not just on our subtle bodies, but on our physical body as well, and not just on ourselves, but on the world around us too. The seven Harry Potter novels are a dazzlingly perfect allegory of the alchemical process, and in this book, Geo Trevarthen unpacks some of the huge depth of meaning in JK Rowling’s incredible creation. Her exploration of the spiritual foundations, symbols, archetypes and mythic elements encountered in these magical stories is enthralling in itself, and you’ll find yourself drawn into a deeper sense of magic and meaning, both in the novels and in your own life. And if you haven’t yet ventured with Harry, all the novels are still available from Cygnus.

267pp, 139mm x 216mm, softback, 2008, RRP £11.99

Code: 200903 Cygnus Price £7.99

Another name for Mercury is Hermes, Hermione’s namesake. Mercury’s designation on the periodic table is Hg, Hermione’s initials. Her parents are both dentists. (Think Mercury fillings.) Mercury is often pictured as androgynous or feminine.

Mercury is associated with water, and sulfur is associated with fire, which brings us to Ron, our red-haired, emotional sulfur. As Jung notes, on one level, sulfur is burning and corrosive to the matter of the stone. This quality is typified in Harry and Ron’s conflicts, though sulfur is ultimately the very same matter as the stone itself, which Ron comes to understand in the end when he transcends jealousy to understand his heroism and Harry’s by the same terms. The sulfur and the stone are one.

THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN Code: 150804 £5.50 THE GOBLET OF FIRE Code: 150805 £6.99 THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Code: 150806 £6.99

Magic flows from the man Alchemy and magic aren’t incidental to the stories, but the human qualities of the magicians are depicted as more important than the magic itself. For example, while Harry, Hermione and Ron try to get to the philosopher’s stone, they use some magic, but that’s not the main thing that gets them through.

At the end, there’s no special trick or even skill to Harry getting the stone. He doesn’t know the right spell. It’s his internal state – that he wants the stone but not for himself – that gets it. In principal, throughout the books, as here, the truly significant magic flows from the man, rather than the magic being a pure technique.

Evil, like good, appears in the novels in ordinary and extraordinary terms. Voldemort flees death by magically placing parts of his soul in objects.

Harry’s Uncle, Aunt and cousin place their soul in material objects in normal consumer terms. The money spent on Harry’s cousin’s room of broken toys could probably save an African village. Harry’s posture of sacrifice is the antithesis of their self absorption and opens him to the greatest power, that of his true will.

On one level, the philosopher’s stone is simply the enlightened wizard or alchemist – the person who, like Harry, has transformed himself and so, can transform others. We get much more than a hint of Harry as the philosopher’s stone at the beginning of The Deathly Hallows, when the potion that transforms Harry’s six friends into likenesses of him to aid his escape turns a beautiful gold. When his friends drink ‘him,’ they become him. The stone isn’t just something special in and of itself, it’s special by virtue of its effects on others. In The Gospel of Thomas Christ says, ‘He who drinks from my mouth shall become like me; and I myself will become him.’ Harry’s message is that by sacrificing our limitations we gain a deeper connection to our community, to the wider world, to Spirit and to our best selves.

Le Beannachdan – with blessings, Geo THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE Code: 150801 £6.99 THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Code: 170724 £6.99 SPECIAL OFFER: buy all seven for £42.00

MYSTERIES OLD & NEW

CRYSTAL SKULLS & THE ENIGMA OF TIME Patricia Mercier

Mystifying carved skulls made of crystal have been appearing around the world. Some are ancient, from Tibet and Central America, but there are modern ones too. Today’s Mayans of Mexico, Nicaragua and Guatemala, who prophesy a new era starting in 2012, include the skulls in their ceremonies. This is the story of the Patricia Mercier’s global quest to discover the secrets of the skulls; a saga of adventure, 45% ancient wisdom, sacred ceremonies, and inner jouroff! neys. Patricia explains the T’zolk’in Maya Calendar and the traditions of the Maya people, and connects the skulls with our current global situation. She shows how the skulls can be used for healing and gaining insight, and how they transfer information to each other, operating as a network. We are also introduced to a new super-consciousness that the crystal skulls suggest is a key to the future – a rebirth of humanity when, with the help of the skulls, Homo sapiens could evolve into Homo spiritus.

252pp, 134mm x 216mm, illus. in colour, softback, 2011, RRP £10.99 Code: 210608 Cygnus Price £5.99

THE VIEW BEYOND Dave Patrick (Editor)

Enjoy a real spiritual adventure as you immerse yourself in these explorations of the vision of Sir Francis Bacon, written to celebrate the 450th anniversary of his birth. A man of alchemy, science and mystery, Bacon lived at a time before the split between religion and science took place - a period before the triumph of the materialistic model. His ideas have had a tremendous influence on how society has developed. At one moment an alchemist, the next an architect of the scientific method, Bacon was probably also an esotericist, privy to secret wisdom, and a member – if not a leader– of a secret group. Some suggest he even wrote all the Shakespeare plays, and may have been the child of Elizabeth I and Leicester. Whatever you decide to believe after reading this book, you'll certainly find it deeply interesting! Contributors include Bacon specialists, astrologers, and writers from Theosophy, the Lucis Trust, the Rudolf Steiner Movement, British Dowsing, Spiritualism and the White Eagle Lodge.

288pp, 156mm x 234mm, softback, illus. in b&w, 2011, RRP £12.99 Code: 210609 Cygnus Price £9.99

SPECIAL OFFER: buy ‘Crystal Skulls & the Enigma of Time’ & ‘The View Beyond’ together for £14.98

GROWING UP IN HEAVEN James Van Praagh

“James has a way of writing that not only educates but leaves you very touched and uplifted.

This is primarily because he himself has such a huge heart which come across in all of his work with the spirit world” Tony Stockwell Drawing on nearly three decades of spirit communication, James Van Praagh takes us on a powerful, emotional and inspiring journey to the other side, bridging heaven and earth. He brings 40% comfort to those of us who have endured the off! loss of a young loved one by describing the beautiful realm where the spirits of children go when they leave our earth. With compassion and insight, he offers a detailed portrayal of a child’s soul on its journey from this world to the next. Through true stories and messages from those who have passed over, he explains the unbreakable bond between parent and child while offering us an amazing vision of heaven. Van Praagh proves that love transcends the physical and material planes of this world, and offers compelling evidence that our departed ones, however young and tragically taken, will always be a part of our lives.

224pp, 156mm x 234mm, softback, illus. in b&w, 2011, RRP £9.99 Code: 210610 Cygnus Price £5.99

40% off!

Awakening to Divine Light – Pamela Young I thought long and hard about choosing books that had influenced my path over the last twenty years. There were three that stood above the rest like beacons, significant because they fulfilled my quest to know myself in mind, body, and spirit, on both a personal and collective level, each a shining signpost on my path of awakening which confirmed and connected my personal path with that of the Divine plan for humanity. I thank the spirit and angelic realms for connecting me to the authors and their inspiring message.

The first book – James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy – came to me in the mid 1990s about a year after my mother died and though I knew she was still with me in spirit, I missed her terribly. I knew it to be true. This book lifted and delighted, confirming and encouraging us to go through the doors of perception; to co-create Heaven on Earth. This simple but profound adventure story, this modern day parable, affected millions because it connected us all to the oneness of everything, and deep within we re-cognised and re-membered the divine plan. We were awakening!

We were also becoming conscious of being ‘In service’ to The Light and that no matter how much knowledge or how many spiritual gifts we have, Love is our greatest gift.

Eileen Caddy’s Opening Doors Within fills me with love and presence every morning.

The 20th Anniversary Edition also includes a lovely forward by Diana Cooper. The daily messages are beautiful and sublime; it is like receiving a personal letter from the Source every day, with just what we need. The synchronicity is astounding.

Jonathan Black’s Secret History of the World reveals his life-long exploration of the evolution of spirit on earth according to esoteric knowledge passed down through secret societies and initiates of mystery schools. This book contains the answers to everything I ever wanted to know and a lot more that I didn’t even know I needed to ask. I have read this book five times and now use it for divination when I am impressed to receive food for thought, such is its alchemical power. It is a fascinating adventure and every time I read it I understand from a deeper level of the human psyche.

We are taken on a magical mystery tour from ancient civilisations through to the esoteric foundations of modern day cities, religions, and societies. We are shown secrets in art and literature and we see that most of the great men and women in history believed in mind before matter. The book reveals a myriad places, civilisations, people, philosophies, religions and secret societies who kept the faith alive. Which ever road we walk we are led by and to the divine.

We are on the cusp of integrating our two states of mind, the intuitive and the reason, the feminine and masculine, the action and the silence and these books give me great hope that one day soon new science, new age spiritually and reasoning shall ‘let Light’ and we shall return along the red road by choice to Heaven on Earth.

Pamela Young, author of Hope Street [210207] Read Pamela’s article in full at www.cygnus-books.co.uk/magazine

THE CELESTINE PROPHECY Code: 085069 £5.99 THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WORLD Code: 180704 £6.50 OPENING DOORS WITHIN Code: 086054 £6.99

www.cygnus-books.co.uk

11

With Love to All at Cygnus

Jehanne Mehta Much love, blessings and all courage for the way ahead into these new, unknown and exciting times.

With love to all at Cygnus, and warmest congratulations for having stayed the course so wonderfully for this long.

Jehanne Summer on Selsley Common These could be the fields of heaven, only we’re here now, in time and place, with the lark rising, bathing us in trills and paeans to the perfection of this summer morning, despite the barbarism, the cold slicing of hearts and lives, the ache of the unheard, unfelt tragedy of the wild, the alone, the wars, erupting out of invisible subworlds.

These, I say, could be the fields of heaven (I would ask for nothing more): swathes of citrus yellow bedstraw, sacred to Frigga, Norse goddess of birth, its upright spikes of tiny florets complementing the clover, thistle, self-heal, scabious, orchid, in every shade of mauve, magenta and palest lavender, between the glitter of dancing grasses.

And there is more: gold vetches, rock rose, mouse ear and small spheres of white clover in crowds, nectar for the furry beefolk.

Here on the great barrow, long despoiled of its ancient secrets, high above the curving Severn, where heavy clouds roll in from the moisty west, we marvel at the rapid coiling flight of swifts, mere inches above the flowering earth, then turn and head homewards along the wide grassy track.

Elysian fields, these, here, on the edge of Cotswold, and the heart lifts and gathers, sequestering the loveliness, to revisit when tight fingered winter dips over the landscape and we seek the inner sun.

Jehanne 07.07.2011

12

Recommended by Ann Napier

EMBLEM (CD) Jehanne Mehta & Earthwards

I have heard Jehanne and her husband Rob sing Emblem, the title track on this CD, lots of times, and it has never failed to move me to tears. A call to ‘wear your heart like a beacon, that you raise to rouse the sleepers, the dreamers in the labyrinths of nerve and blood and bone’, it is also, for me, the perfect expression of Jehanne’s aim when she performs her lovely poetry and songs.

Modern songs, performed in the folk tradition, her music is nevertheless utterly unique, because it really is written to produce a kind of awakening in the hearer. Subtly, just beneath the surface, you feel an undercurrent of something unspeakably magical and beautiful. It is like being in the presence of real troubadours, especially when Jehanne sings in French.

14 tracks, total running time 63 min, 2006, RRP £12.00

Code: D160521 Cygnus Price £10.00

No Reference Points Along with those, so many now, whose letting go unravels their age in a sudden burst of birth, old memories are leaving, rising from their comfortable armchairs, no longer needing their structures, books, potted plants, their things, moments fixed in black, white and sepia.

Old memories are passng through a curtain of fine rain, over a threshold into light.

Even yesterday dissolves beyond recall.

Who are you, am I, are we, without them?

Shapeless, immaterial, unmortal, a consciousness without reference points?

We are nothing special, forerunners perhaps, trailing songs like ribbons in the wind?

Thrown from our familiar mounts, bruised, open, becoming incipient points of shine, we meet a portal into an unborn world, a glow, a warmth, no material boundaries, we are one to one, one into one, no separation … heralds of the sun?

Janet Baxter

Heart to heart here, unbelievably, first time, we are one another.

Jehanne 23.06.2011

Recommended by Jehanne Mehta: The Magdalene Line Trilogy

by Kathleen McGowan

“Kathleen McGowan’s trilogy is not only a powerful page turner, but underlines again and again the importance of love as the central transformative principle and how this is so strongly carried by the feminine energy.”

Jehanne Mehta Join Maureen Paschal in her adventures to uncover secrets of the hidden corners of Christianity, unravelling prophesies and clues that link history’s greatest artistic masters, spiritual teachers and scientific minds, taking her to sacred sites around the world. She receives ancient coded documents, discovers fascinating family lines, and learns secret

teachings of a sacred order. Great stuff!

43% off!

THE BOOK OF LOVE Code: 190713 £5.99 THE EXPECTED ONE Code: 190714 £5.99 THE POET PRINCE Code: 200801 £4.55

SPECIAL OFFER: buy all three Kathleen McGowan books together for £15.53

Order line: 01558 825 500 Query line: 01558 825 503 Website: www.cygnus-books.co.uk Email: info@cygnus-books.co.uk

Ann Napier & Sarah Portsmouth Ann and I share a deep love of nature, and we often exchange stories of connecting with the trees, insects, flowers and birds.

So I love that her choice for this anniversary issue is an amazing celebration of what it is to be with nature.

There is a lovely tale to Ann’s connection with The Story of My Heart, too: as a teenager, she was once at the library, looking for an interesting book to read. She put her hand out to pick up her chosen book, but her hand came back holding The Story of My Heart, which she hadn’t even seen was there! She began to read it, and found Richard Jefferies’ exquisite description of the spiritual opening he experienced whenever he communed with the Earth. As she read, it was as though the world stood still, and she experienced exactly what Richard Jefferies was describing.

What better affirmation could this bring?

That nature can give this spiritual connection to you. You can be at one with nature at any time, for you are part of the same In summer I went out into the fields, and let my soul inspire these thoughts under the trees, standing against the trunk, or looking up through the branches at the sky. If trees could speak, hundreds of them would say that I had had these soul-emotions under them. Leaning against the oak’s massive trunk, and feeling the rough bark and the lichen at my back, looking southwards over the grassy fields, cowslip-yellow, at the woods on the slope, I thought my desire of deeper soul-life. Or under the green firs, looking upwards, the sky was more deeply blue at their tops; then the brake fern was unrolling, the doves cooing, the thickets astir, the late ash-leaves coming forth. Under the shapely rounded elms, by the hawthorn bushes and hazel, everywhere the same deep desire for the soul-nature; to have from all green things and from the sunlight the inner meaning which was not known to them, that I might be full of light as the woods of the sun’s rays. Just to touch the lichened bark of a tree, or the end of a spray projecting over the path as I walked, seemed to repeat the same prayer in me.

The long-lived summer days dried and warmed the turf in the meadows. I used to lie down in solitary corners at full length on my back, so as to feel the embrace of the earth.

The grass stood high above me, and the shadows of the tree-branches danced on my face. I looked up at the sky, with half closed eyes to bear the dazzling light. Bees buzzed over me, sometimes a butterfly passed, there was a hum in the air, greenfinches sang in the hedge.

Gradually entering into the intense life of the summer days, a life which burned around as if

The Story of My Heart

whole. It’s as easy as falling off a log!

Here is a blessing received by Ann as she lay in the company of two huge oak trees.

The Blessing of the Trees Dearest children, we want you to receive, and be filled with, the deepest comfort. Open your hearts and listen in stillness to the song of solace and renewal that you can hear – the song of joy and passion that reverberates through the whole of nature at this time of year.

We know you often think of life and death as two sides of the same coin, and from the perspective of life in a human body, in the world of space and time, that is often how they look. But in truth they are not. They are not of the same order, just as clouds are not of the same order as that overarching canopy of blue you call the sky. Life is eternal, never ceasing to flow, both within and beyond time. Whereas death is merely a momentary incident, a discrete event signifying change. It does not and cannot signify ending, for life – by its very nature – can never end. Just open all your senses, and look and feel around you, and you will know that this is true.

Love is stronger than death. Life is stronger than death. Light is stronger than death. The

light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. See this, around and within you, in all its glory. Know that it fills you, and will never leave you. Recognise that, in truth, it is you. Yes, all that beauty, all that joy, flows through you just as it flows through all creation, giving you your sense of self, giving you life, ever present to wash you clean of those illusory twins: death and separation.

Know that this river can never come to an end. Give thanks for this eternal blessing which is given to you freely, and is always yours. And in that state of gratitude, let Life come to full flower within you, just as you can see it blossoming all around you now.

And with this renewed sense of the invincible power of Life flowing through you, step out into the world with courage, knowing that – through your open mind, your loving heart, and your willing hands – this power of Life can soften and dissolve many an illusion, in ways far beyond your understanding.

So dear friends, why not give yourself half an hour to lie or sit under a tree, and let yourself be replenished from the everflowing well of Life itself?

With heartfelt love, Ann and Sarah through the song-notes and the marked feathers of the birds; through the insects’ hum and the colour of the butterflies; through the soft warm air, the flecks of clouds dissolving, I used them all for prayer.

From The Story of my Heart, © 1883 by Richard Jefferies, published by Green Books.

Recommended by Ann Napier every grass blade and leaf were a torch, I came to feel the long drawn life of the earth back into the dimmest past, while the sun of the moment was warm on me. Sesostris on the most ancient sands of the south, in ancient, ancient days, was conscious of himself and of the sun. This sunlight linked me through the ages to that past consciousness.

From all the ages my soul desired to take that soul-life which had flowed through them as the sunbeams had continually poured on earth. As the hot sands take up the heat, so would I take up that soul-energy. Dreamy in appearance, I was breathing full of existence; I was aware of the grass blades, the flowers, the leaves on hawthorn and tree. I seemed to live more largely through them, as if each were a pore through which I drank.

The grasshoppers called and leaped, the greenfinches sang, the blackbirds happily fluted, all the air hummed with life. I was plunged deep in existence, and with all that existence I prayed.

Through every grass blade in the thousand, thousand grasses; through the million leaves, veined and edge-cut, on bush and tree;

Post to: Cygnus, PO Box 15, Llandeilo, SA19 6YX

THE STORY OF MY HEART Richard Jefferies

The Story of My Heart is no ordinary autobiography. First published in 1883, it is the story of a soul’s awakening. Richard Jefferies describes how, leaving aside all the preconceptions of past and future, he placed himself in the eternal Now, and allowed the Now to become his soul’s only guide and source of nourishment. Thus freed from the usual blocks to awareness, Jefferies’ senses became windows for his soul, through which the natural world could be seen in its true, dazzling brilliance.

Jefferies describes how this vision reflected back into his consciousness an awareness of his soul’s eternity, and its immense, unquenchable longing and love for what he called ‘soul-life’. Highly recommended.

126pp, 134mm x 198mm, softback, 2002, RRP £8.95

Code: 120904 Cygnus Price £5.99

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JUDY HALL

Like most of humanity and earth itself, I’ve been squeezed, scraped and scrambled as karmic encrustations are exfoliated, ingrained patterns reprogrammed and everything outworn is stripped away. Change tingles the air we breathe. Christopher Sell has described it as a catalyst in the dance of transformation. What has helped me move through it with grace has been the good friends who recognised the value and purpose of a process in which they are themselves participating. That and facilitating the small group workshops at my home where there is a deep and honest openness with enormous support and compassion for each person. We have amply demonstrated that the healing power of a group is greater than the individuals it comprises and that when one member makes a shift, everyone benefits. An effect that then moves out in ripples into the wider community.

So, why the soul scouring?

Well, we’re moving into the astrological Age of Aquarius. The lovely John Van Rees summed up Aquarius beautifully when, writing about the recent soul shattering events in Japan, he said: When one of us is in pain, we are all in pain. When one of us is in joy, we are all in joy together. It is time now for us to use the tools we have of compassion, humility and knowledge to assist one another in our personal and planetary healing journeys. How do we do this when there is so much to be done?

Where do we start? Inside. We start inside working on making ourselves happier, healthier and more at peace.

The Age of Pisces, out of which we are moving, was about developing compassion but also about sacrifice and merging into the divine. It looked to religion to bring this about, that is it went outside the Self. Aquarius looks to humanity to bring about transformation, encouraging us to take personal responsibility along with expanding our awareness.

Change is a fundamental part of Aquarius.

Astrologer Jonathan Cainer pointed out in his column that I wasn’t wading through treacle (although that’s exactly what it felt like). It was more, he said, as if I was herding butterflies through moving goalposts. Butterflies, which to me represent transformation and soul gifts, are dancing around the luxuriant Greek garden in which I’m writing. A sign from the gods, this is the land of oracles after all and the natural world speaks to us whenever we choose to listen. I’ve come here to get an overview on my life and replenish my inner peace.

The view from my terrace is wonderfully

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Butterflies not Treacle

instructive. The raw power of nature has been amply demonstrated. Astrology is alive all around me. A spectacular ice and thunder storm woke me this morning. Lightning flashed across the mountains, a rainbow built a bridge between the worlds. Zeus (Jupiter) had come to call. As a Sag I am attuned to this ruler of the ancient gods. This is the planet of expansion and new horizons. Just the sort of sign I was seeking. A tiny owl, Athena the voice of intuitive wisdom, hoots me to sleep at night.

Surprisingly there is no astrological planet named after her, we only have Mercury and his intellectual knowledge which the ancient Greeks – just as the modern world – seem to value more highly. But, we can all turn inwards and allow our knowing to speak.

I’ve always felt close to the old divinities here on the islands. The planets were named for the gods and took on their characteristics – or was

A message from the author

“When I wrote The Book of Why I realised how far I’d travelled in my understanding of karma and soul intention. I no longer saw it as solely cause and effect, punishment and reward, as I’d opened to the possibilities of grace and spiritual evolution and become aware of why we choose the life we lead and how others interact with our soulplan. It took me away from blame and into personal responsibility. I hope that the book provokes similar light-bulb moments for you as you apply it to your own life.” Judy Hall

THE BOOK OF WHY Judy Hall

Judy Hall explains that we are not victims of circumstance, nor are we solely a product of karmic consequences. We are all following a soulplan which may be strewn with obstacles but which will ultimately lead to soul growth.

So if you’ve been asking yourself why certain things have happened to you, the key may lie in other lives or in the space between lives – the interlife. In this wide-ranging book, Judy Hall encompasses the vast kaleidoscope of karma and interlife choices.

220pp, 156mm x 234mm, softback, 2010, RRP £16.95

Code: 200820 Cygnus Price £12.99

it the other way round? With their petty squabblings and jealousies, those gods often feel closer to a modern dysfunctional family. Or a soul family travelling through time in which each plays many parts and an apparent 49% enemy may off! be the truest soul friend and greatest catalyst for growth. Zeus hurled his

thunderbolt at those who displeased him.

Aphrodite (Venus) cast her amorous spells and plotted assiduously against those more beautiful than she. The Dark Lord (Pluto) abducted an innocent maiden, taking her deep into Hades to learn about her true self. When given the opportunity to return above ground Persephone chose to stay below for part of the year, suggesting that she had learned to value introspection and the insights offered by the darker parts of soul and psyche.

So what happens now that we’re moving into the Age of Aquarius? This humanitarian sign of brotherhood asks how we will create our future. It insists we take personal responsibility for ourselves, our planet and all upon it. It points out that when one person shifts, the whole benefits.

But can we raise the vibrations of the humanity and the planet if there are only a few people at the peak? Some courageous souls always go first but, under Aquarius, they then turn around to give a hand to others so that all become equal.

A unity of consciousness A beautiful bee with iridescent blue wings now shimmers in front of me. Another messenger from the gods. He sets me thinking about the hive mind, a unity of consciousness and purpose that acts as one. As modern human beings we seem to have lost that knack but, whenever I enter an expanded state of consciousness, it’s there. In a more refined and less instinctual way perhaps than for the bee but who I am to know? I do know that, raised up to another dimension, I have a different perspective on the part others are playing in my soul drama – and I in theirs – and how we all collude to act out the greater drama of humanity. I see where with a little adjustment, a tad more awareness and by working together we put aside our individual egos and recognise ourselves as a soul family with one aim: the evolution of consciousness in all its forms.

So, can we find a way to pull together? A way that unites and encourages each other. By developing inner peace can we bring about outer harmony? Can we step out of treacle and share what we know with open heartedness and without jealousy, honouring every contribution and each soul’s unique journey? Can we be butterflies dancing a new universe into being?

Polishing our souls to a brilliant shine? After all, if we can’t who can? I’ve come to recognise that The Crystal Bible isn’t just a book it’s a community of like minded souls, as is Cygnus. If a butterfly beating its wings in the Amazon creates a hurricane in the Caribbean, just think how a million crystal butterflies beating their wings in unison could transform our world.

With love, Judy

THE CRYSTAL BIBLE Judy Hall

VOLUME 1 Code: 190817 £6.99 VOLUME 2 Code: 190818 £6.99 SPECIAL OFFER: buy ‘The Crystal Bible’ Volumes 1 & 2 together for £12.98

To receive our email newsletter – with extra offers and articles – tell us your email address Send a request to info@cygnus-books.co.uk, and add us to your address book

BEACONS OF LIGHT

Recommended by Diana Cooper, author of The Silent Stones [120605]

THE GENTLE ART OF BLESSING Pierre Pradervand

“When I first read this book a soft warm cloud of peace fell over me. It took my knowing about the wonder and healing power of blessing to a deeper level and prompted me to use blessings all the time. I found I had often sent blessings mechanically but this book reminded me to passionately and wholeheartedly see the person I was blessing enjoying everything they could possibly wish for themselves or I could wish for myself. Now I picture them laughing, happy, healthy, surrounded by love and abundance.

Pierre Pradervand offers an amazing tool for happiness and inner peace for in blessing someone who has injured you, you are the recipient! Blessing invokes the Law of Grace so that wondrous things happen when you bestow this unconditional energy on others.

I met Pierre at the Cygnus 15th birthday celebration and he radiated an aura of benevolence and harmlessness.” Diana Cooper

224pp, 138mm x 213mm, softback, 2010, RRP £11.99 Code: 140801 Cygnus Price £7.99

Recommended by Claire Nahmad, author of Angel Messages [200304]

MARY MAGDALENE, BELOVED DISCIPLE Clysta Kinstler

40% off!

“Whilst expressing this congratulatory greeting to Cygnus and my gratitude for its existence to Ann and the team, I had a poignant experience. In 2005 I read Mary Magdalene, Beloved Disciple by Clysta Kinstler. Its message is that Mary stands as a tower and a beacon for all the qualities and values of the Sacred Feminine so vital for this dawning of new times.

Many seers speak of Mary as a little woman. It was whilst contemplating this that an angelic contact came through clearly. I saw all the Cygnus team and readers as a body of light, working for the new day. In global terms, the band may be small, but in spiritual dimensions it is both a tower and a beacon! And I saw it comprises ‘beloved disciples’ of the light of which Mary was such a towering custodian. So happy anniversary, Cygnus, and long may you shine over us!” Claire Nahmad

334pp, 138mm x 216mm, softback, 2005, RRP £9.95 Code: 151103 Cygnus Price £5.99

SPECIAL OFFER: buy ‘The Gentle Art of Blessing’ & ‘Mary Magdelene, Beloved Disciple’ together for £12.48

“With age comes experience, which spreads knowledge to others.

Wisdom is an amalgamation of experience, and that is something that lies abundantly within the pages of Cygnus Review. Wise words gained through spiritual exploration and awareness... for all to share.” Margrit Coates [Animal Angels CD, D181228] “Happy Birthday, Cygnus! Well, I don’t know about you but after about 20 years of exploring practically everything in the Mind Body Spirit areas for my books, I think I can tell you confidently: I know nothing at all. Indeed, I’m wary of those who think they have found the answers – or are certain that their way to truth or spiritual understanding is the right one. I have become more and more sure of less and less. For the book that has been the greatest influence I would choose one of the autobiographies of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. And perhaps his summary of Tibetan Buddhism also has it for me… ‘My religion is Kindness’? Yes, I can manage that – and if we each live by that for the next twenty years, we’ll have enough to work out I think. Don’t you?

Love to you, xxx” Isabel Losada [The Battersea Park Road to Paradise, 210511]

READ BY DIANA COOPER

I so loved writing the Tara and Her Talking Kitten books [210329 and 210330] that I couldn’t stop thinking of stories to help children and introduce them to the other realms. So I wrote twelve tenminute stories and recorded them onto two CDs, with fabulous sound effects and music by Diane Egby Edwards.

The stories are fun, though even I was surprised when I played the test CD to a young mother who was convulsed with laughter as she listened!

Tara is not always polite or tactful. She gets into trouble and can be horrid as well as nice but her little grey kitten, Ash-ting, helps her no matter what.

In the stories Tara learns how to talk to her guardian angel. She meets her dragon and makes friends with a Chinese girl. She rescues some children with the help of the mermaids and dolphins. In one story, because of her bad behaviour Ash-ting her kitten, is stuck at the top of a tree by a naughty dragon. In another a courageous imp helps her and her brother Jack. All the stories offer unique insights into other realms and teach children how to help themselves and others.

These CDs are a fabulous way of keeping children (and adults) enchanted: for children aged 5–9 years, who will be enchanted by these stories and learn about other cultures, nature, fairies and angels as well as how to deal with feelings. They also make wonderful bed time stories.

TARA & HER TALKING KITTEN MEET HER GUARDIAN ANGEL & Other Stories CD Diana Cooper

Listen to stories of Tara and her wise friend, Ash-ting the kitten, and a Guardian Angel, coping with anger, growing flowers, making friends in ‘real life’ and in other realms, and making bread (with fire elementals!)

6 tracks, 60 mins, 2011, RRP £10.00 Code: D210563 Cygnus Price £6.85

TARA & HER TALKING KITTEN MEET THE NAUGHTY DRAGON & Other Stories CD Diana Cooper

More Tara stories, read by Diana - dragons, imps, fairies and more.

6 tracks, 60 mins, 2011, RRP £10.00 Code: D210562 Cygnus Price £6.85

SPECIAL OFFER: buy both ‘Tara & Her Talking Kitten’ story CDs together for £12.70

Recommended by Maddy Harland

PERMACULTURE IN A NUTSHELL Patrick Whitefield

“Permaculture in a Nutshell, by Patrick Whitefield, was the first permaculture book I edited, way back in 1992, yet it is as fresh and relevant today as it was then. An accessible and concise introduction to the subject, it has been reprinted many times and translated into numerous languages. Patrick has hardly had to update it over the years, as it still holds such a visionary essence, proving that publishing can endure over decades. I warmly recommend this book. It opens the door to a creative approach to abundant and fulfilling lifestyles, to tread more lightly on the Earth.” Maddy x

84pp, 130mm x 198mm, softback, 2005, RRP £5.95 Code: 190417 Cygnus Price £4.45

Try CDs before you buy – listen to clips at www.cygnus-books.co.uk

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Join in our 20th Birthday Celebrations!

Let’s celebrate together!

Dear Friends Rather than holding one centralised birthday event on ‘the big day’ (September 10th), we would like to encourage you, wholeheartedly, to create your own Cygnus birthday celebration, marking our achievement as part of a vast network of joy, freedom and love. So the party radiates out to you and, like this magazine grew from the small contributions of many, coming together for magnified effect, we know that we can create a vortex of abundance and love.

So, how about holding a party, a meditation, a musical evening, a healing share, a walk in the woods, a dance in the kitchen, a sandcastle build, a flashmob singalong, a mass kite-flying, a feast, prayer or ceremony – whatever you’re compelled to do – sometime around the birthday, in celebration of our Cygnus family? If you’d like to invite others to join in, you can post a message on our website: www.cygnus-books.co.uk/magazine/ 2011/07/cygnus-twentieth-birthdayevents/ or let us know by letter, email or telephone. Just tell us what you’re going to do, when, and where and we’ll share the

information on the website. We’ll do all we can to help you to be part of a celebration.

During August and September, we’ll share lots of blessings, prayers and celebration ideas on our website: www.cygnus-books.co.uk/magazine/ 2011/07/cygnus-twentieth-birthdaycelebrations/ so that, even though we are scattered far and wide, we can all join in celebration.

We’d love to include your suggestions, too, so please send them to us. We’d also like to invite you to send a Cygnus birthday message from your heart to our members – a few words of wisdom, gathered from personal experience – or you may wish to mention how Cygnus has influenced you.

You can post your message at www.cygnus-books.co.uk/magazine/ 2011/07/cygnus-twentieth-birthdaymessages/ or send them by letter.

We’ll start a Book Circle discussion on the website, from Monday 8th August – you’ll find details on the website and in our email newsletter that week. If you’d like to act as a coordinator/moderator, please let us know.

Love and blessings, the Cygnus Team No internet? Write to us, or phone 01558 825500

The Cygnus Top 20 All-time Bestselling Books

1. The Gentle Art of Blessing – Pierre Pradervand 140801 – total sold 13,225!

Just imagine how many more blessings have been offered thanks to this book.

2. The Secret – Rhonda Byrne 170103 3. The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle 100301 4. The Biology of Belief – Bruce Lipton 160801 5. A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle 151006 6. Hidden Messages in Water – Masaru Emoto 140803 7. Stillness Speaks – Eckhart Tolle 130901 8. Conversations with God: Book 1 – Neale Donald Walsch 085064 9. The Journey – Brandon Bays 090801 10. Loving What Is – Byron Katie 120528 11. Your Body’s Many Cries For Water – Dr F Batmanghelidj 090823 12. The Cosmic Ordering Service – Barbel Mohr 13. The Silent Stones – Diana Cooper 120605 14. The Crystal Bible – Judy Hall 190817 15. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Body – Chris Thomas & Diane Baker 130609 16. Feeling Safe – William Bloom 121007 17. Discover Atlantis – Diana Cooper & Shaaron Hutton 150912 18. Lucid Living – Tim Freke 150713 19. Angels in My Hair – Lorna Byrne 180506 20. The Reconnection – Dr Eric Pearl 130734

16 www.cygnus-books.co.uk

A Birthday Gift From 3rd August to 30th September, every order valued at £25 or more will include one free pack of twelve Know That You Are Loved greetings cards, worth £5.99. And we will also be popping some surprise gifts into orders at random.

CHAT PAGE We need your contributions

We know that many of you may be facing difficult questions that require deep new answers, and we often hear how the Chat Page has a way of helping people right when they need it most. When you share your profound spiritual experiences, in messages from your heart, you reach across the entire Cygnus family, to uplift, support, help, reassure and inspire. So we ask: What has filled your life with joy? What rescued you from sadness or difficulty? What gift can you share with your Cygnus friends?

THE WRITER OF OUR ‘STAR’ LETTER OR POEM WILL RECEIVE A £10 VOUCHER

If you have an insight, experience or poem, please write it down in NOT MORE THAN 250 WORDS (or, if it is a poem, in NOT MORE THAN 24 LINES) and send it by post or email. If you send it by email, to info@cygnus-books.co.uk, please include ‘Chat Page’ in the subject line, dropping your text into the body of the email.

IF YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS PUBLISHED ON THIS PAGE, YOU WILL RECEIVE A £5 CYGNUS VOUCHER

Our wish for abundance Five years ago, at our birthday gathering in Lampeter, we made a wish for joy, freedom and love for all beings, and a wish that Cygnus might play a role in spreading those healing, heartopening ‘foods’. We also wished that Cygnus might be abundant, so that it can survive and thrive as long as it is needed. Well, thanks to you, we have survived, so far – a sure sign that it is needed. Let us carry those wishes on.

The strength of Cygnus is in you, the Cygnus members – the Cygnus Review and our website form the framework by which you breathe life into the ‘whole’ that is Cygnus. So, we send out our wish that whenever possible you will support us and help us to grow. Your orders, your subscriptions, your feedback, your participation and your sharing what you have gained with and what you love about Cygnus will help us to reach more and more people, so that they, too, can find the guidance and inspiration of words of wisdom brought together.

We make our wish for abundance for our entire Cygnus family. We thank you for what you have done, and for what you will do.

Post to: Cygnus, PO Box 15, Llandeilo SA19 6YX

Noticeboard

CYGNUS EVENTS DIARY 2011

Cygnus will have a stand at the following events:

Scientific & Medical Network Conference, University of Winchester. From £210 Tel: +44 (0)1608 652000, email: info@scimednet.org, visit scimednet.org Mon 26 Sept Cheryl Richardson, The Art of Extreme Self 7pm to 8.30pm, Care, St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL, £15/10 concs. alternatives.org.uk Sun 9 Oct Michael Beckwith, The Life Visioning Process 10.30am - 4.30pm workshop, Logan Hall Institute of Education, Alternatives 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, £75/55 concs

Fri 26 Sun 28 August

Beloved Consciousness Experience A Multidimensional Experience of being a Co-creator.

The Leading Edge of Spiritual Technology.

Allowing the past to become the future.

Discovering your Divine Purpose and opening your Heart to the Level of Light. Achieving unbelievable levels of Love and Joy! Welcome to the New World.

Isis Beloved

Shambhala School of Consciousness, Glastonbury BA68BH 01458 834811/831797 isisalljoy2@talktalk.net

Would you like to reach more than 80k readers in one great mailing list? Advertise here!

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Advertise in Cygnus Review from just £42 (30-word text advert) – great value – excellent response

JO CROWBIRD CARDS Beautiful little spiritual cards with inspirational wording.

Very popular ~ sell like hot cakes! Several different designs.

Put a boxfull on your sales counter. Sample available.

Visit www.cosmiccentral.com to view Gallery.

Also … SPIRITUAL READINGS …

To help you activate your Angel Wings – 0781 142 jocrowbird@gmail.com

6500

RECONNECTIVE HEALING® THE RECONNECTION® Reconnective frequencies:

•Connect us to the natural energy gridlines •Enable spiritual & evolutionary advancement •Increase vibratory levels for healing & development •Enhance and renew the functions of the body

Each healing experience is unique UK Reconnective Healing Practitioners trained by Eric Pearl

Chris Long,Twickenham 07729 835300 Lilian Bason, Skelmersdale, 01695 728842 Stuart Brown, Matlock 01629 580272 Muriel Howells, Shetland Isles 01595 694583 Jean Clack, Cardigan 01239 682683 May Johnstone, Bridge of Allan, 01786 834701 David Tanner, Ashbourne 07714 098757 Derek Hassack, Ware, Herts 01920 412 602 Emily Davies, Leeds 0113 256 0034 Dawn Taylor, Glastonbury 07971 826944 Ruth Simpson, Bedale 01677 450248 Barbara Collins, Macclesfield 01260 220960 Jane Duggleby, Bristol 01935 864007 Denise Davis, Luton, Beds, 01582 416605 Emily Larkin, Islington, 02083 486660 Penelope Warder, Huntingdon 01480 890552 Jill Dunsford, Exeter 01392 877554 Christina Cherry, Cambs/Beds 07913 405007 Luca Occelli Stockwell 07802 308289 Miranda Wilson, Covent Garden, 07941 339612 Clare Palgrave, Woking 01483 762697 Stuart & Julia Mallinson, Keighley 01535 634629 Daniela Horder, Horley 01293 771870 Birgit Horrolt, Ely, Cambs 01353 968079 Maria Wilton, Liskeard 01579 343111 Jean Whitbread, Leicester, 01949 81755 Philip Wade, Ripon 01423 329153 Mayke Hogestijin, E.Sussex 01323 871150 Ian Clayton,Tintagel 07854 062667 Pushpa Hillman, Bromley 01689 861668 Audrey Scully, Sheffield 01142 691145 Karen Peach, Harrogate 07971 589967 Sheila Smith, Uckfield 0777 8388230 Kathy Price, Aberystwyth 07968 803776 Alison Walker Uttoxeter 08081 088311 Helen Reid Alderley Edge 07775 611791 Frances Beasley, Banff 01261 861259 Peter Roovers, S. Ockenden 07960 977230 Leonard Mutch, Sheffield 01142 888160 Maria Schweitzer, Durham 01915 814400 Ruth Webb-Krill, Ashford 07817 397374 Charlotte Voaden, Carms 01994 453 316 Karina Kasler, Stroud 01453 836566 Julia Williams, London NW6, 02084 517696 Louise Lewis, Totnes 01312 083380 Margaret Doherty, Glasgow 07776 255660 Sue Cain-Smith, Bolton 01204 595368 Lucia Franziska. Glastonbury 01458 898 415 Helen Ashton,Truro 01726 684154 Catherine Wallace, Scarborough & York 07960 036608

www.reconnectionpractitioners.co.uk

For box ads, call Carol on 0845 456 1571, for lineage ads, call Sian on 01558 825 503

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THE INCREDIBLE CHI MACHINE (Beware of imitations)

The original Sun Ancon Chi Machine and the only one to have been the subject of extensive clinical trials and medical research.

New to this country and already changing the approach to health!

The Quantum Magnetic Analyser – a device for analysing and determining a person’s physical health status and problem areas without blood tests, giving 85% accuracy in one and a half minutes! (Therapists) The iMRS 2000 Mat uses the square wave which has been shown by NASA to be the most effective for joint/muscle pain, circulatory, respiratory and digestive problems.

The Quantum Laser operates at cell level rejuvenating cells, relieving pain, stress and inflammation as well as working on emotional and cosmetic problems.

Tricia Dickens CMH, CHyp, Tel. 02392 793720

www.alternativehealthuk.com

NIRVANA LIGHT

We specialise in ‘love and relationship’

We choose only the best psychics to help give you direction and guidance. All readers have been tested to an exceptional standard.

‘Phone today to find out why our clients say we are the UK’s best psychic line’ Credit card readings :

0800 138 44 22

7 am - 2 am

0906 11 11 912

All major credit/debit cards accepted

24hr premium line readings, tel:

All calls recorded & cost £1.53 per minute from BT landline - 18+ - PO Box 387, CT9 2WD

THE ISBOURNE HOLISTIC CENTRE CHELTENHAM

Monday 12th September: ROBERT HOLDEN – Shift Happens! (7-9pm, £12 / Early Bird £9) Monday 26th September: MICHAEL NEILL – An End To Stress (7-9pm, £13 / Early Bird £10) At Cheltenham Town Hall Friday 23rd September: JEDDAH MALI – Changing The Paradigm (7-9pm, £12 / Early Bird £9) The Isbourne is at 4 Wolseley Terrace, Cheltenham, GL50 1TH

More info/bookings: www.isbourne.org 01242 254 321 info@isbourne.org

AtlasPROfilax®

NEW AMAZING SELF-EMPOWERING REALIGNMENT What if you could get rid of Back, Neck, Knees, or Hips, Pain, Whiplash, Migraines, Dizziness, Trapped Nerves, Difference in Leg Length, Frozen Shoulders, etc…

A strategic and non-chiropractic massage is applied to the short musculature of the neck

In only one application, safely and permanently

Marie-Agnès Casalini: 07828 954304 / 01342 303279

marie.atlas@yahoo.co.uk

“See more testimonials” www.marieatlas.co.uk

We’re open every day of the week Entertainment only

London (Oxford Circus), West Sussex, Scotland, Manchester, Birmingham, Marlborough, Totnes Cumbria: Rezwana Patterson (01900) 822 078 www.visagetherapy.co.uk

BELPER MIND BODY SPIRIT SHOW

THE HEALING CODES

www.belpershow.co.uk

Sowerby Bridge, 13th August, Liverpool, 20th August, Manchester 3rd September, Birmingham, 10th September Newcastle 17th September, Athens, 23rd September

Sat/Sun September 3rd/4th 2011 50 stands, 13 free talks & workshops Drumming/EVP/Chinese medicine/crystal skull workshop

1 Day Workshops

Belper sports centre, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 1RZ Doors 10am – 6pm. Admission £4 / 2 day pass £6

Anne & Jack Stewart offer 1 to 1 Coaching by skype or phone

WWW.TUNEINCHILLOUT.COM

Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy Lincoln, Lincolnshire

organisers Eric Henderson & Annette Moss tel: 01773 716411

www.thehealingcodes.co.uk 01925 479257

Let our monthly rota of relaxing visualisations compliment your current healing programme, or start one for you.

Log on each day to enter the chill zone for that day of the month. Plus – discover for free how to conquer stress in sixty seconds with a proven technique that works!

This course is accredited at practitioner status by the General Hypnotherapy Register. For a free prospectus contact Claire Chesters Senior Registered Practitioner in Clinical Hypnotherapy Tel - 07831848987 Email - celestialhealing@tesco.net Web page - www.celestialhealing.co.uk Very affordable courses. Also Reiki & Spiritual Development Workshops.

A WEEKEND ON LIVING CONSCIOUSLY

GREECE SUN, SEA AND THE SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY

contact: jenny.quine 060@orange.fr Tel: 00 33 555 25 36 19 www.alivecentre.net

Tel 0208 816 8533, email: info@kalikalos.com

3/4 September, Horsham, Sussex (English/French Facilitators) By conscious living our lives become more alive and more loving.

Jenny and Jean-Pierre hold the group strongly and lovingly, with insight, directness, playfulness and absolute skill. Very powerful and very empowering.

FOR SALE: BWLCH AGORED

A lovely 3-bedroomed 18th Century cottage with two spacious and attractive converted traditional stone outbuildings, set in the wonderful surroundings of the Towy Valley countryside. For further information, contact BJP on 01558 822 486 or www.bjp.com

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at Kalikalos Holistic Centre. www.kalikalos.com.

5-19 August Family Fortnight for parents and kids; 19-26 Aug, Raw Food Detox; 2-9 September, Scaravelli Yoga; 9-16 Sept, Music, Song & Dance; 16-23 Sept, Jac O’Keeffe Satsang; 23 Sept-7 October, Autumn Workcamp.

HEALING WEEKENDS WITH HOLISTIC TREATMENTS

17th Century Thurst House Farm in the beautiful Pennines of W. Yorkshire Sept 15th – 18th Healing weekend with a workshop on developing your healing & psychic potential on Sat 17th 2.30 – 5pm.

Oct. 21st – 23rd. Healing weekend with a talk on “How to tap into natural energy”

01422 822820 /077596 19043 email Judith@thursthousefarm.co.uk www.thursthousefarm.co.uk

Copy deadlines: Issue 7, October, Fri 2nd September; Issue 8 November, Fri 30th September

HEALING, COACHING & READINGS EXCELLENT TAROT READINGS: Helpful, Insightful, Confidential, One-to-One Tarot Readings for Love, Work & Money Decisions. Call Day or Night: 0906 570 6483 calls cost £1.53/min PO Box 19 TN37 6YE EVER FELT YOUR ISSUE ISN’T ACTUALLY YOURS? Nikki Wyatt, The Karma Coach, helps release ancestral issues. Karmic Flower and Crystal Essences. Learn your soul gifts with a FREE soul flower reading available at: www.spiritoftransformation.com

ERIN, GIFTED PSYCHIC & MEDIUM. Telephone readings: messages, guidance & healing available immediately, day or evening with experienced reader visit www.erinpsychicandmedium.com Tel. 01239 615299 or 07786 906576

ENERGETIC MEDICINE for acute and chronic conditions – including degenerative diseases, nervous system disorders and emotional healing 30+ years experience of healing, teaching and counselling.

Silvia Martin TSBMS, MAMP (Mexico) Tel: 07939 128025 JESSICA - CLAIRVOYANT/MEDIUM. Professional, Experienced Readings for relationships, career, direction etc. Also mediumship communicate with loved ones who have passed over. Telephone readings: £22 per 30 mins/£30 per 45 mins. Positive and in-depth guidance. Tel: 0117 3737 405 or 07800 929257

CHANNELLED READINGS AND MEDIUMSHIP: Phone sessions densely packed with clear, accurate, waffle-free information, pointers to your growth and development, healing messages from family, pets, loved ones. Corinne Jeffrey (01264) 791071/+44 1264 791071 www.lovebeingyou.co.uk INTERNATIONAL CLAIRVOYANT JENI COUSINS. Accurate phone and past life readings to answer questions with clarity to guide you on the right path to find peace within your soul. Tel 02891 465987 www.soulworkwithjeni.com

NEGATIVE ENERGY RELEASE. Safely release negativity affecting your life. Professional remote scanning facilitates the release of negative thoughts, beliefs, behaviours, past life issues, attachments etc.

Contact Heather Smith 01747 860305

COMPANION ANIMAL LOSS LISTENING LINE (CALLL) Christine cares and truly understands the pain of pet loss. She is fully trained in pet bereavement. Calll 0115 840 2737 visit www.calll.co.uk email: calllchris@ntlworld.com

ASTROLOGICAL CHILD PROFILE Beautifully presented in a luxury silver hardback cover, this 45 plus page detailed report is a wonderful gift. It will help all parents to understand their children better and make more suitable choices for them as they develop. Tel: 01540 661828

METATRONIC HEALING® connects with energetic frequencies of Archangel Metatron Combining energy healing, spiritual surgery and vibrational colour essences to release old patterns. FFI please contact Louise at holisticlouise@tiscali.co.uk 01296 696285.Bucks www.wendovermetatherapies.com

RINEEN NATURAL HEALING CENTRE Beautiful West Cork, overlooking sea and woods, in stunning peacful location. Weekly retreats Aug, Sept, October, includes organic meals, guided meditation and workshops. www.rineenwellness.com email: reedhart@eircom.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.

NEW LIFE PATH NEEDED? By effectively clearing negative energies and blocks you can move forward in life easier. Virtual/Phone Consultations. Cygnus Discount 50%. SRT/NLP Practitioner Jo 07961 134035 www.yournewlifepath.co.uk

GENUINE, CARING, FREE SAMPLE READINGS Psychic, Spiritguide, Pastlife email/postal readings also recorded mp3 available. Remote Reiki healing available for animals and people. Monthly competition, monthly offers. email: sarahsreiki.psychic@yahoo.co.uk http://sites.google.com/site/sarahsreikipsychicreadingsuk/

HEALING, COACHING & READINGS

BRIGHT EYES PSYCHIC. Natural healer, clairvoyant, gifted medium, works with guides, tarot and crystals. Gives no false information.

Receives many thank you’s over the world. Distant animal healer. All calls returned 070579 77000.(calls cost 50p per min from standard BT lines)

CRYSTAL HEALING, REIKI & REIKI COURSES with Emily based in central and south London, distance healing also offered. Please visit the website at www.emilywilsontherapies.co.uk or contact Emily on +44 7979 591716 or info@emilywilsontherapies.co.uk

INTUITIVE HEALING AND SPIRITUAL COUNSELLING. Why carry your burdens when you can release them to the Universe? Phone Moira now on 07778 140223 to book a consultation.

BRINGING SPIRITUAL HEALING and Psychic Portraiture Together For a spiritual psychic portrait plus a reading by a healer artist. Please phone: Shirley Ariel 020 8907 9123 between 10am and 7pm.

IVY- GENUINE ROMANY Clairvoyant & Medium. Est.35 yrs. Is your future uncertain? I have the answers you seek! Immediate telephone consultations: 01843 866862 Not an agency!

CHANGE YOUR LIFE WITH A READING FROM PSYCHICS, Julie or Deana, at Changes 4 Life in Worcester. Telephone readings are £40.00 for one hour. 01905 616500 www.changes-4-life.co.uk

PERSONAL

SPIRITUALLY BOUND MALE, SEEKS SOULMATE. Well read, enjoys nature, music and less ego drama. Age 31. Looks are Important but it’s what’s inside that counts! Northwest area only but if you’re willing to travel, fine. Contact 07597 341345 or email. whitehill_paul@yahoo.com

PROPERTY FOR SALE - TO LET - WANTED

LONDON ACCOMMODATION WANTED. Professional and respectful male seeks quiet and comfortable accommodation in London or surrounding areas. House/flat sitting also offered while you’re away. Tel: Neil 07754 016779 or email: neil@neilfrench.co.uk

TAIGH AN T-SOLAIS...HOUSE OF LIGHT FOR SALE near Kyle of Lochalsh Scotland. 4 Bedrooms, home of healing and a portal for the light. Contact: 01599 555448

EVENTS, COURSES & WORKSHOPS

TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE. First U.K. Inner Bonding workshops. Break free of your ‘ Programming ‘ and create the life of your dreams.

September 24th/25th Central London. www.choosingselflove.com Contact Neil : 07754 016779 neil@neilfrench.co.uk

ANIMAL REIKI WORKSHOP 12 & 13 November 2011 in beautiful Derbyshire Peak District at Spirit of the Peaks Centre facilitated by Janet Roome. www.peakspirit.co.uk Tel. 07885058548 e.mail: peakspirit@hotmail.co.uk.

LEARN MARTIN BROFMAN’S world famous Body Mirror Healing technique. Weekend course in London September 24/25th. For details contact Anna Parkinson 0781 806 1605 www.hunahealing.co.uk Anything can be healed!

STAR SEED ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TRAINING - London 24th September. Advanced system using combinations of Star Attuned and Galactic Master Crystals. For personal use with Certified Practitioner option. www.siriusascension.com/ssems.htm email guidedbythelight@hotmail.com

STAR CONNECTING COURSE – BRIXHAM DEVON guided by the Master Hilarion and the Lord Melchisedek, through Amuna Ra. 22/23 October: Awakening to Your Soul Origins. 10/11 December: Conscious Channelling. 28/29 January: Ascension Practices and Star Portals. £125 per weekend. Details: www.PleiadianRegression.co.uk tel. 07532 195256

For box ads, call Carol on 0845 456 1571, for lineage ads, call Sian on 01558 825 503

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EVENTS, COURSES & WORKSHOPS ANAM CARA RETREAT CENTRE, Scottish Highlands, Inverness.

Residential workshops and retreats in Buddhism, Shamanism,Bushcraft, Sweatlodge Ceremonies, Soul Quest, Ancient Crafts, Healing Arts and working retreats. To request a programme, tel. 01463 711702 email: welcome@anamcara.org visit: www.anamcara.org

DISCOVER DOWSING! Foundation courses for beginners with The British Society of Dowsers: at the heart of Dowsing since 1933. 15/16 October, Nr Malvern, Worcs £139. Additional dates later in the year.

Tel 01684 576969 www.britishdowsers.org

DOWSING CONFERENCE. International line up from all around the world! 23-25 September at Cirencester, Glos. Come for just a day or the whole weekend. Unmissable! From £99. Tel 01684 576969 www.britishdowsers.org

STOP THE MIND......I WANT TO GET OFF!! Energy workshops and Inner Peace Days with Sally Chaffer held regularly in Yorkshire.

Experience ways to stop the mind chatter. Empowering blend of healing and meditation - reconnect with the NOW! 07884 332644 www.peacenowhere.com

DIANA COOPER SCHOOL teacher training courses and workshops 2012 and Beyond, Golden Atlantis, Angels, Ascension and Transform Your Life in Warwickshire with Master Teachers Jillian and Peter Stott, 01926 851898; jillianstott@btopenworld.com

ANGELIC REIKI Experience the absolute joy of healing with the Angels. Workshops and treatments in Norfolk. Will travel by invitation to facilitate workshops. Contact Alison on Tel. 07540 938107 www.angelreiki-norfolk.com CRYSTAL & SOUND HEALING BY CORRESPONDENCE. Crystal, Sonic RejuvenationTM - natural face-lift; Sound Healing to practitioner level; Past Life Regression. All courses with professional accredited College. 01984 633597 visit www.atlantiscrystalhealing.com

DOWSING GEOPSYCHIC STRESS BSD COURSE with Vicky Sweetlove London 12th/13th November £139.00. Create your Karmic Grid 15th October. Akashic Record Readings £50 More information tel: 01277203180 mob: 07885 945008 www.fengshuilife.co.uk email: vickysweetlove@yahoo.co.uk

LEMURIAN CRYSTAL ATTUNEMENT WEEKEND HEALING COURSES in Milton Keynes £125, certificated including comprehensive manual. Connect with the Lemurians and discover the amazing healing power of these crystals. Tel 01908 240400 or email marcia.lemurianhealing@gmail.com

PSYCH-K® BASIC WORKSHOP. Imagine being the master of your own destiny. Overcome your subconscious limiting beliefs and start manifesting your life’ s desires and goals in this weekend workshop.

October Peterborough 1/2 Cardiff 15/16 Brighton 29/30 Contact Cazzie Dare. www.yearning4learning.co.uk Tel 07769581902 STEP ABOARD ON A HISTORIC LIGHTSHIP in Gloucester Docks and experience our various luxurious treatments and certified sound and Reiki courses. Find yourself surrounded by the water energies whilst playing all sorts of instruments. Call: 01452 527566 or www.lightshiptherapies.net

REIKI TEACHERS are you teaching to the new recommended training standards for Reiki Practitioners? Distance Learning course to help you to adjust your teaching available at www.manteia.webs.com tel: 07990 620660 YOUR ASCENSION MISSION WORKSHOP 3 & 4 December 2011 in beautiful Derbyshire Peak District at Spirit of the Peaks Centre facilitated by Janet Roome. www.peakspirit.co.uk Tel 07885058548 e.mail: peakspirit@hotmail.co.uk.

USUI & KARUNA REIKI COURSES in Lancashire, Cumbria, Devon & Surrey. www.reiki-sunshine.com Kathryn G. Eckley 07952995340

GEOMANCY AND EARTH HEALING: MARKO POGACNIK London Talk 25 August 7.30pm: “Practical Ways of Creating A Culture of Peace”. £10. London Workshop 26-28 August: “ Geomantic Exploration Of The Extended Olympics 2012 Landscape”. £200. Contact Lizzie 07834 770234, lizzie@earthenergynetwork.co.uk, www.earthenergynetwork.co.uk

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EVENTS, COURSES & WORKSHOPS THE ANIMAL HEALER in Worcestershire. 13th September 2011.

Elizabeth Whiter (author of The Animal Healer) will be hosting a workshop at Chaddesley Corbett village hall. Cost £30 to include light lunch & refreshments. Proceeds to Cancer Research UK. Bookings call 01562 68693 or e-mail argentum562@gmail.com

LOVING KINDNESS RETREAT, Meditative retreat focused on Buddhist practices with Anne Simpson, homeopath and healer. Monday 22 - Friday 26 August. Retreat, accommodation, vegetarian meals. £295.

Claridge House, Surrey. RH7 6QH. 01342 832150 www.claridgehousequaker.org.uk CALLIGRAPHY FOR ALL, Beautifully write out your favourite texts with Gaynor Goffe, calligrapher tutor for over 30 years. Friday evening 2 Sunday 4 September. Course, accommodation, vegetarian meals. £175.

Claridge House, Surrey. RH7 6QH. 01342 832150 www.claridgehousequaker.org.uk BUDDHISM, A philosophy for life, introductory workshop covering key Buddhist concepts led by John Preston, a previously ordained Buddhist monk. Friday evening 9th - Sunday 11th September. Workshop, accommodation, vegetarian meals. £175. Claridge House, Surrey.

RH7 6QH. 01342 832150 www.claridgehousequaker.org.uk

THE LAUGHTER JOURNEY, To help develop new perspectives and qualities with Jo Eadie, experienced laughter facilitator, part of UK Laughter Network. Friday evening 16 - Sunday 18 September. Course, accommodation, vegetarian meals. £175. Claridge House, Surrey.

RH7 6QH. 01342 832150 www.claridgehousequaker.org.uk

SPIRIT OF THE INCA. Train to be a shamanic practitioner. Learn ancient wisdom teachings from the Inca tradition, and powerful healing techniques to shift the matrix of the energy field. Training to become a healer, a coach, an inspiration to others and a catalyst for change in the world. www.spiritoftheinca.com email: shaman.healer@talktalk.net

THE UNICORN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUAL LEARNING in Somerset.

Angels, Unicorns, Ascension, 2012, Lemurian Planetary Healing, Reiki, Teacher Training, Healing Practitioner, Correspondence Courses plus more. Tel: 01460 53699 Visit: www.unicorncentre.com

MYSTICAL MALTA AND GOZO SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 5000 Year Sun Temples, Oracles, Secret Chambers, Powerful Elemental Energies, Priestesses/Priest Workshops, Meditations, Sacred Ceremonies. Small Friendly Groups. Very Affordable. Christine: 020 8305 2317 www.talkingpeace.co.uk

KARUNA REIKI® The next step for Reiki Masters (all lineages) seekers of Universal Truth and Compassion. 3 day classes set in beautiful Peak District. Contact Janet Roome (UK Karuna Reiki Rep) Tel. 01629 733227 email: peakspirit@hotmail.co.uk visit www.karunareiki.co.uk TRUSTING OUR INNER VOICE, with Annie Blampied, 2nd to 4th September. We will listen to the Voice for Truth, discover the power of choice, trust our guidance. Staying in beautiful, coastal Wales. tel. 01341 430617 www.whitehorsesretreat.co.uk www.annieblampied.co.uk THE HEALING POWER OF VOCAL SOUND with James D’Angelo, author of The Healing Power of the Human Voice. Various forms of toning and chanting for self-healing. www.soundspirit.co.uk and 01452 413220

THE ONCE & FUTURE GRAIL: A Special Conference. With GrailQuestors John Matthews, Roger Woolger, and Prof. Beth Darlington Sun 11 September, London SW7. Student rates.01865 407996 woolger.uk@talk21.com, www.deepmemoryprocess.com DIANA COOPER SCHOOL Transform Your Life Teacher Training Courses in East Anglia. Also Workshops, One to One Email Life Coaching sessions. Master Teacher Nija Morgan 01842 814988 www.selftransformation.co.uk

SACRED GEOMETRY WORKSHOP under guidance of Metatron. 9 sessions from 3rd September 2011 in Birmingham. Contact: Sakhmet 07816 389 428 dasleicampbell@hotmail.com

Advertise in Cygnus Review from just £42 (30-word text advert) – great value – excellent response

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

RETREATS, B&B & HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

APRICOT SEEDS, which contain high levels of B17, direct from the Himalayas. £20 for 1kg bag, £12 for 1lb bag plus p&p. Apricot Seed Oil, £5 per 100ml bottle. Please call 0800 374 976

VEGIVENTURES HOLIDAYS, tours and short breaks in Britain, Turkey, Peru and the Caribbean. Great vegetarian/vegan food, small friendly groups, environment oriented. Tel: +44 (0)1760 755888, email holidays@vegiventures.com visit www.vegiventures.com

CRYSTAL KI, HARLEY STREET, LONDON. Treatments, Workshops, Vibrational Creams, Serums and Formulas for men and women, plus Books, CD and Downloads from £1.99 by Janine Regan-Sinclair. www.crystalki.co.uk Tel: +44(0)75 4781 7808

GEOPATHIC STRESS - CAUSING ILL-HEALTH? Professional British Society of Dowsers registered, Mike & Maureen Rawles, investigate and rectify your house’s Earth Energy. Signs include: Poor sleep, Reclusive, Irrational Anger, Depression, Headaches, Regular ill-health, Tiredness.

Tel: 01460 281450 www.dragonstone-uk.com

MAGNOTHERAPY FOR PEOPLE. Non-evasive, drug free. Bioflow proven to work on animals, maintaining health and healing. Stylish and practical magnetic units to suit all lifestyles. Glenda Procter 01797 226100 glendaprocter@hotmail.com

SMILING ANGELS AND SMILING ANGELS TWO by Suzanne Morton.

Priced £4.99. Very moving page turners, full of inspiration and hope.

Written from the heart. www.smilingangels.co.uk Tel: 01503 264155

BEAUTIFUL, ORIGINAL ARTWORK. GODDESS PAINTINGS inspired by your photograph. Decorative altars for meditation and prayer. Please contact Ruth 01746 218097 or visit www.joyfulstudio.co.uk.

CRYSTALS FOR SALE, beautiful natural crystals, minerals & gemstones for healing, meditation, development. Also available crystal healing, Reiki and psychic protection contact or distant.

Tel: Eric 01773 716411 www.northstarcrystals.com

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

WHO ELSE WANTS TO WORK FROM HOME creating a freer life and pension-style income from helping others? Simply watch FREE online info video or call me: Pamela G Glynn: 01803 867390 www.reach4yourstar.com HIGHEST RATED SUPPLEMENTS IN THE WORLD! Business partners needed. Improve your health, increase your wealth and enjoy helping others. Be part of a team that makes a difference.

Tel 01179425044 email. cherryscott@blueyonder.co.uk

A GLOBAL SELF CARE EVOLUTION IS TAKING PLACE, enhancing treatments of medical practitioners and therapists worldwide. To be amongst the forerunners of this profound, exciting breakthrough, only enthusiasm and an interest in good health is required.

Country irrelevant. email: info@energyessence2010.com

AWARD WINNING NEAL’S YARD ORGANIC SKINCARE require consultants/therapists to sell to friends/clients. No experience needed.

25% discount No targets, £95 start-up, free training. Contact Heidi at 07918147446 nyrorganic@virginmedia.com www.ecobeauty.org.uk

RETREATS, B&B & HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

MAGICAL PEMBROKESHIRE Two idyllic s/c cottages, sleeps 2&5. Four poster. C.H. wood burners. Fully equipped. Spiritual, Reiki, Seichem Healings available during your stay in these tranquil surroundings.

Tel Pam 01994 419439 visit somerscottages.co.uk email somerspam@yahoo.co.uk

COME AND SHARE MY IDYLLIC HEALING RETREAT in the heart of the Cotswolds and accelerate your personal journey to becoming lighter.

All welcome. Tel. 01285760684 or visit cotswoldhealingretreat.co.uk WELSH BORDERS. Delightful holiday cottage in peaceful location with garden. Sleeps 4. Woodburning stove. Broadband. Pets welcome.

Ideal base for walkers and lovers of wildlife. See online availability or tel 01547 330003 www.littlecottagewales.co.uk

GLASTONBURY. EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED! Shambhala Consciousness Retreat on the Tor. A sacred site; sunny rooms, organic food, superb treatments, peace doves, water gardens and lots of joy!

Good Retreat Guide Gold Star Award. 01458 834811/831797 email: isisalljoy2@talktalk.netvisit www.shambhala.co.uk

GAUNTS HOUSE, DORSET offers an annual programme of residential courses, retreats and events. Established workshop and day conference venue. Presently inviting applications for community and Wwoofing.

Tel. 01202 841522 or visit: www.GauntsHouse.com

COMFORTABLE B&B, HAMMERSMITH, LONDON. Central, quiet, close to river, pubs, restaurants, all attractions. Ideal base holidays, courses, exhibitions, business. Double/twin/triple £26pppn. Single £39.

Tel: Anne/Sohel Armanios 020 7385 4904 visit www.thewaytostay.co.uk LOVELY, SELF-CONTAINED, ONE FLOOR COTTAGE, nr Bath, Longleat & Stourhead. Sleeps 4. 48ft lounge, flat screen tv, indoor swimming pool, fishing, glorious countryside. £100 per day.

Tel. 01749 813890 email: terencebrady@btconnect.com www.teddyhouseholidays.co.uk

Y BWTHYN BACH Cosy, one room, self-catering, barn conversion with wood stove, in a beautiful garden, with immediate access to wild North Pembrokeshire countryside and 1 mile from the coast. Perfect for walking, meditation, writing etc. Tel 01348 811282 or visit www.genuslocus.net

MID WALES, CARAVAN for 2 people on secluded hill farm. Ideal for meditation, hill walking, bird watching, £85 per week. Sorry no pets.

Tel. 01597 860244 visit www.lesleywickham.co.uk

BEAUTIFUL LOG CABIN IN PEACEFUL SETTING. Ideal base for reflection, meditation & within walking distance of the Pembrokeshire coast. Reconnection Healing and The Reconnection available.

Telephone Charlotte on 07976 269684 or 01994 453316.

STEPS FARM SOMERSET for fresh air, big skies, good vegetarian food and a warm welcome. Healing and Counselling available, also courses on Animal Healing and Vegetarian Cookery. Tel 01749 812788 or visit www.stepsfarm.com ANCIENT SACRED TOURS. TTA bonded. Egypt - Caitlin Matthews lead meditations, chants, ceremonies. 150 pages manual. Private Access Philae, Karnak, Sakkara, Great Pyramid, Sphinx. Only 16 places.

Ann 02380 695841 www.ancientsacredsitestours.com

NEW PINE LODGE. ORGANICALLY PAINTED INSIDE.Spectacular sea and countryside views. Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Devon.

Superb beach. Clifftop and inland walks.Self Catering, sleeps one double. Tel 01548 560426 email heronslodge@googlemail.com

AYURVEDA RETREATS at SEREN RETREAT Relax & Rejuvenate in the heart of Gower. Take charge of your health & wellbeing New Polarity Therapy Training begins autumn 2011 New Yurt Self Catering Accommodation tel. 01792 371 421 www.serenretreat.com www.polaritywellness.co.uk www.ayurveda-retreats.co.uk RURAL DERBYSHIRE CO-HOUSING COMMUNITY Peaceful, countryside setting. Beautiful 2 1/2 bedroom stone-built hayloft conversion - exposed beams, circular staircases - £225,000. hayloftearthheart@yahoo.co.uk.

EGYPT FOR 11/11/11. Experience the energy of the temples and pyramids with experienced guide. Cruise the sacred Nile connecting your higher self with ancient wisdom. Call Carol 01367 242088.

3-5 DAY RETREATS WITH SPANISH & LOCAL WISEWOMEN, Sikh Warriors and Mexican Shaman. Earth honouring ceremonies, rituals, sweat lodge, feasts, fires, joyfulness. West Wales. Tel: 07790643216 or see www.amazinglyfe.com

EARTH-STAR YURT CAMP: Sacred Stillness in the heart of Devon, September 30-2 October. Meditation and Gongs with Amuna Ra. Medicine Wheel Making. Residential/non-residential. Details: Bookings: 01803 866864 www.PleiadianRegression.co.uk www.havenmeadowsyurtcamp.co.uk SCOTLAND: TRANQUIL, COUNTRYSIDE B&B near Fife coast for personal retreat or holiday break. Small group retreats or workshops welcome. Tel. Sue 01333 423880 www.bankhead-house.co.uk

COME SHARE OUR CONVERTED METHODIST CHAPEL in South Lincolnshire , floatation tank, acre of gardens, Chartres Labyrinth and healing . All welcome full details contact Jenni/Ali 01775 640048 or visit www.anjelichapel.co.uk

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