Vision 3 by Gareth

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Vision

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Managing Director: Sammi Addey General Manager: John Addey Editor/Promotions: Clare Sheridan

gypt has always held a mysterious fascination with people the world over. The number of souls who claim to have lived a past life there increases on a daily basis. Well this issue we’re transporting you to the land of the pharaohs to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about ancient Egypt. Uncover the truth behind the so-called curse of Tutankhamun (p8), unveil the secrets to the pyramids (p20), the sphinx (p22) and cartouche (p24). Ancient Egyptian healing techniques also come under the spotlight with articles on reflexology

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Star Letter

Graphic Designer: Emma Gregg

Subscriptions: Lindsay Deane 0113 286 6789 Contributors: Anara Ashwood; Cordelia Brabbs; James Christie; Margrit Coates; Michael Hallowell; Karl Hemmings; Alison Holroyd; Diana Jarvis; Anna Kaye; Peter Lancett; Anne Marrino; Georgia Mead; Jacky Newcomb; Nance Turner; Catherine Vander Cammen; Sangeeta Uppaladinni, Jessica West; Dave Wharmby. Logo ©Vision magazine Ltd The Vision logo is a registered tradmark. It may not be used by anyone other than ourselves under any conditions.

Founder: Sammi Addey Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those held by the publishers and editors. © Copyright Vision magazine Ltd and/or contributors. All rights reserved. No part, written or visual (including adverts typeset by Vision) of the magazine (including the logo) may be reproduced, without written permission from the publishers. Call 0113 286 6789 for subscriptions and back issues. All images © Vision unless otherwise stated. Competitions: The first correct entry drawn at random after the closing date will be notified. Competitions are open to all residents of the UK aged 18 or over except employees of Vision magazine Ltd, their families, contributors, its printers and anyone else connected to the competition. There is no cash alternative unless otherwise stated. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Clare Editor

Letters

Each letter published will receive a copy of Pure Calm from the Pure Series worth £10.95, courtesy of New World Music. Let Stuart Jones’s fluidity and perfection on keyboards clear your mind. The Star Letter will win four titles from the Pure series including Pure Calm, Pure Dreaming, Pure Love & Light and Pure Tranquility - worth a total of £43.80. For further information and a free catalogue, contact New World Music on 01986 891600, or visit www.newworldmusic.com We reserve the right to edit letters.

Senior Graphic Designer: Stewart Leech

(p50), Seichem (p52) and even mummification (p42)! PLUS don’t miss our interviews with mediums Stephen Holbrook (p39) and Tony Stockwell (p6), the second part of our Isatreya psychic development course (p30), Destiny Doctors, Heal Your Pet and, of course, Coven Corner. AND there’s the chance to become an Angel Gems angel (p32)! So go on….walk like an Egyptian!

The Perfect Day What am I doing today, in this the imperfect world? Things really sadden me, all these people fighting - and over what ? Why do most wars seem to involve religious factions? I thought and hoped that I had made a perfect world, but it seems it is not to be. Where did I go wrong???? What did I do that was wrong???? If it is me someone please tell me what I did wrong. Perhaps it isn’t me but other people. I have created all things that one should need for a perfect life but people just get greedy and want more, more, more. Perhaps if you all stopped being so greedy the perfect world which I thought I had created would materialise All of you need to have more thought for your fellow man. Don’t just think me, me, me. Think as all of us in one United World. I know it will be hard to achieve but by working together we will succeed. And then perhaps I will have a perfect day. Wendy Martin, Leeds. Ed’s note: Wendy wrote this poignant poem in light of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Spirit song I really enjoyed the first issue of Vision and thought I would send a poem I have written: Please don’t weep now I have gone, I’m still around but just moved on. Think of me, precious memories keep, Rejoice for me but please don’t weep. For I have entered a better place, Even though I still see your face, The light all around casts a loving glow, My spirit is safe, we can both let go. We are all spirits in a human phase, But must return to our heavenly place. Lynda Spink, Leeds. Joy My real thanks to your staff for this wonderful magazine and my special thanks to Michael Looking Coyote. Thank you for being on the CD, for being a Destiny Doctor and for your articles in the January edition. I enormously enjoy his food for thought, such as the ideas that everything is connected, of a “cosmic glue” that joins all living things; that we should be caretakers of the land and that each person carves out their own life path. Michael, thank you for putting into words my thoughts, thank you for being in Vision. Miriam Mesa-Villalba, London.

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P6 Celebrity spirit Tony Stockwell

P8 The curse of Tutankhamun P10 Visionaries P14 Name that ghost P16 Experiences Explained

The Wonders of

Egypt

And the rest... P28 Destiny Doctors P32 Competitions P75 Subscriptions P76 Reviews P78-81 Vision Shop P82 Day Tripper

P18 The Egyptian spirit P20 Pyramid consciousness P22 An ancient enigma - the Sphinx P24 Guardian of the pharaohs P26 Magical paper P27 Common ground ÂŠ The James Christie Archive.

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P39 Stephen Holbrook P30 Seeing is believing P34 The hands of the gods P36 The gems of kings P38 Scarab of the sun P42 The realm of the dead P44 Dreaming of Egypt P45 Dream directory

P47 Medicine magic P46 Essential oils - aromatherapy P50 The right step towards health reflexology P52 Divine healing harmony P54 Heal your pet P56 Coven Corner

P58 Written in the stars: Egyptian astrology

P63 Horoscopes -

your April forecasts by James

Christie

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Celebrity

Images ÂŠ Hodder and Stoughton.

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spirit Tony Stockwell is well-known by his many fans as the star of Living TV’s Street Psychic, Psychic School and more recently Psychic Detective. He talks to Jacky Newcomb (pictured right) about one of the more famous residences he was asked to investigate.

edium Tony Stockwell gave his first reading as a teenager and has brought comfort to the grieving ever since. Brought up in Walthamstow, he has been aware of the continuation of the soul after death from a very young age. Tony does not ‘dabble’ with the dark side but sometimes curiosity can get the better of him. I asked Tony to spill the beans on one of his spookier stories… “One of my scariest moments happened in the rented home of the singer/actress Cher. A friend of mine called Lesley, whom I’d met at the SAGB (Spiritual Association of Great Britain) was looking after the place with Cher’s assistant Astrid, and they were both convinced it was haunted.

feel anything. As we got out of the car, Carol started picking up on the energy of the late Paula Yates and all I could get was the Egyptian pharoah Tutankhamun - so we both started laughing. “The house was like a miniature castle, tucked away behind a modern office block. We had to walk down a tiny dark alleyway and there it was at the end, complete with gargoyles and turrets. We entered the house by a large, old creaky door. The house immediately felt as if it was just filled with loads of spirits. I picked up on the spirit of a young girl who showed us how the house looked hundreds of years ago. The house seemed to have a sinister history. “We started to explore the house and could hear lots of groans and creaks

Right in the middle of the “courtyard was a life-sized figure of Tutankhamun!” “Cher had taken out a long-term lease on the property so that she could use it as her UK base, so when they asked me to come and check it out I was very curious. I’m not sure if Cher knew we had been asked along or not! “I don’t normally deal with bad stuff and exorcisms although I am aware that bad things can happen in the world, and this leaves a negative energy. These ladies were hearing voices and footsteps when no-one was in the house - it needed checking out! “I often work with another medium called Carol Bohmer and I decided to ask Carol to come along with me on this particular night to see what we could pick up. The property was in the Belgrave Square area of London and on the way over I asked Carol if she could

us that she had been found collapsed in the bathroom, which was very sad. “We were amazed but I felt perplexed that there seemed no association to the Egyptian pharoah I’d felt earlier. Before we left I asked Astrid and Lesley if there was anywhere that we had not seen yet and they suggested we check out the courtyard before we left. My mouth dropped open as we stepped outside…right in the middle of the courtyard was a life-sized figure of Tutankhamun! “It’s rare to encounter such strong energy in a house and most people wouldn’t pick up on it during their usual day-to-day activities. I felt as if the spirits in the house just wanted to make themselves known. Most people would not pick up on this residual energy, but it’s surprising what you find when you go looking for it!” Tony Stockwell’s new book Spirited is published by Hodder and Stoughton priced £10.99. For more information about Tony visit his website at www.tonystockwell.com

- the lights flickered constantly. There was a hidden staircase in the panelling which went right up to the roof. We climbed to the top and when we looked over the roof we could both see the twisted body of a spirit man far below us. It took my breath away! “The upstairs was the most active area. When I stood on the stairs I realised there was a terrible spirit energy in the corner looking at me. Unbelievably the cold, clammy essence of this spirit walked right through my body - it totally zapped my energy. “Once I recovered we walked into one of the upstairs rooms, where Carol immediately sensed the late Paula Yates again. It was then that we discovered that she had actually stayed in the house and on one occasion they told

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Writer Antonia Behan (pictured) investigates the curse of the boy pharoah.

utankhamun is probably the most famous pharaoh of ancient Egypt even though he was just a boy when he died in 1325 BC, at the age of 18. The cause of death is still unknown; however with signs of injury to the skull, it is possible that he was murdered. Tutankhamun’s burial arrangements lasted 70 days; the time needed to prepare and preserve the pharaoh for the afterlife. His tomb would have been filled with everything he needed for the new world; the ancient Egyptians believed that his spirit would rise to the spirit realms in the day, before coming back to rest in the body at night. It is for this reason that the tomb may have been protected by guardians from the spirit world, ensuring the sleeping Tutankhamun would not be disturbed anyone who dared would suffer dire consequences! Over 3,000 years later on February 17th 1923, at a site in Luxor known as the Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun’s tomb and its amazing contents were uncovered by archaeologist Howard Carter. He claimed to have seen ‘wonderful things’ as he gazed at the awesome treasures, with Lord Carnarvon beside him; the fanatical Egyptologist who had financed the whole project. Although Lord Carnarvon did not usually dismiss the threat of Egypt’s high priests, this time as the jewels and artefacts dazzled before his eyes, the threat above the tomb, which read: ‘Death will come to those who disturb the sleep of the Pharaohs’, was ignored.

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Over the following years, many mysterious deaths occurred to people linked with the uncovering of tomb. Is this just coincidence or is the curse more than a legend? It may hold a mysterious lethal power that has caused the death of those that dared disturb the young pharoah. There were warnings about the curse from well-known mediums of the time including Count Hamon, who warned Lord Carnarvon that if he entered the tomb, death would claim him. Mari Corelli, a novelist of the time, published a warning in 1923, saying that there would be dire consequences for anyone who had entered the tomb. From the moment the tomb was opened, the curse appeared to claim its victims. The first was Lord Carnarvon’s pet canary who was attacked and eaten by a cobra on the day of the opening. Two months later, Lord Carnarvon himself became very ill and died painfully in his hotel. The cause of death is unknown. Mysteriously there was a mosquito bite on his cheek in the same place that the pharaoh had a blemish on his face! According to legend, at the moment of Lord Carnarvon’s death, his dog back home in England was heard to howl in a most distressing way - just before it took its last breath. A further two months passed

and Lord Carnarvon’s secretary, Richard Bethell, died of heart failure. At about the same time, Arthur Maze, another member of the archaeological team died in the same hotel as Lord Carnarvon. Within six years, 12 members of the team were dead. When the treasures were transferred from Egypt to an exhibition in Paris, further warnings about the curse came, this time from Mohammed Ibrahim, Egypt’s director of antiquities. He warned the government not to allow the treasures to leave Egypt, as he had experienced terrible visions of the consequences of their departure. Ibrahim left the meeting with government officials but moments later, as he stepped out onto a road he was killed by a car! In 1927 the treasure was transported to London for an exhibition at the British Museum. Ibrahim’s successor, who did not believe in the power of the curse, died the night after supervising the packaging of the treasure onto a Royal Air Force plane. The crew of that plane reportedly suffered tragedies, injuries and death in the years that followed. There were many strange tragedies connected with the treasure of Tutankhamun and although the curse cannot be proven, the coincidences are phenomenal. No-one really knows if the

the moment the tomb was opened, “theFrom curse appeared to claim its victims. ”

tomb’s guardians hold a mysterious power to exact revenge on trespassers, but with evidence of 21 deaths supposedly connected with the tomb, we cannot dismiss the possibility that the curse of Tutankhamun is real. In 1949, an interesting theory about the curse came from Louis Bulgarini, an atomic scientist. He thought it was possible that the ancient Egyptians used atomic radiation to protect their sacred places, by covering the floors of the tombs with uranium or the graves with radioactive rock. Such rock was mined in Egypt at the time and has the power to kill a man today. However, the people of ancient Egypt had an understanding of curses. There were great magicians among the Egyptian people, the priests were the main practitioners. They were known as Guardians of the Sacred Knowledge, given to them by the gods. The lector priests were the most respected practitioners of the ancient magick - which they would use in rituals to protect their kings and help the transition of the soul to the afterlife. Tutankhamun’s curse would have been initiated by the lector priests; harnessing the powers of the cosmos through ancient rituals passed down through generations. A bacterium in the tombs is a more favourable reason for mysterious deaths related to their opening. However, the coincidences are interesting so it’s always useful to keep your mind open to the possibility that the curses of Tutankhamun and other pharaohs are real!

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elcome to another investigation by the Visionaries. As usual the team were raring to go, and what an exciting time we had too! This month we were in Huddersfield at a lovely hotel which was home to a plethora of tragic tales.

The time: A spooky eveningâ&#x20AC;Ś The place: Dalton Grange, Huddersfield. The Visionaries: Georgia Mead, Nance Turner, Rachel Lacy and Diana Jarvis. by Nance Turner

Georgia, Nance, Rachel & Di.

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Upstairs bathroom When we entered the upstairs bathroom (pictured below), Georgia and myself both picked up on an oppressive feeling. I felt sick and breathless, and I got the impression that something horrible had happened in there. I had a raging headache and felt pressure around my neck. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the feeling in the room whatsoever. Diana, however, picked up on a nice feeling, she cottoned on to a spirit lady who seemed to follow her around. She said the lady felt lonely and unsettled, and thought she had been seen in there many times.

Snooker room Georgia sensed a lady whom she thought committed suicide in this room - she had terrible stomach pains and thought that something or someone had forced the lady to take her own life. This lady was very unhappy and said that nobody listened when she tried to explain. Georgia got a date in the early 1800s and the name Sarah, who apparently had long dark hair, was in her late 30s and was extremely pretty but appeared to be very sad. I also picked up on a lady but this one was much older and had a very childish attitude. She was a prima-dona - two-faced, selfish, and appeared to be very bitter about something. She said that when the place was built, it was with lots of love , but a tragedy caused her to turn bitter. There was also a gentleman spirit with her who couldn’t get a word in edgeways! He did say, though, that this lady wore the trousers in their relationship and he didn’t feel appreciated. He said she treated him like he was to blame for all the tragedy that had occurred. Whatever happened, it needs to be resolved. I also picked up on some Scottish links and foreign influences. I could also see lots of people in fancy dress, as well as evidence of a lot of renovation on the building.

Above: Georgia didn’t sense much in the dining room - but is she sharing the room with orbs?

Entrance and staircase When I walked through the entrance I sensed lots of hustle and bustle, lots of young people having a good time. Outside I could see brand new cars from the early twentieth century. The people appeared to be very shallow in character and dressed in finery from the 1920s. I got the name Anna, and some kind of tragic legend about this woman. As I walked up the staircase I sensed something to do with a suicide and hanging. I got the impression that everything was very lavish, maybe a connection to merchant traders of some description.

Left: Di checks out the grand staircase. Below: the cellar.

Dining room The dining room was quite a different experience altogether. The lady that was upstairs in the snooker room was down here - she was one negative lady! She tried her hardest to block everything and not let any information come through. Georgia and I were very annoyed with her - if Spirit don’t talk, we can’t help them! The feeling of the room was totally flat - nothing came through for any of us.

The cellar Georgia sensed that there was a lot of energy down there, it was as though many different time periods in history all existed in the one room. She felt that there was a lot of livestock and that they were slaughtered on the premises. I didn’t pick up on much, I could, however, smell burning, and thought that there could have been a fire in the cellar at some point. I could also see lots and lots of wine barrels.

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The seance The séance was conducted by Diana and Rachel in the refectory, and was attended by some of the members of staff who worked there. They picked up on a rather spoilt lady with curly blonde hair who had the name Annabelle. She told them that she had hanged herself, everybody there felt a presence around their necks. They asked her to tell them her age and she told them that she was only young, maybe 18 to 20-years-old. Apparently she took her own life after she was raped because nobody believed her.

The Ouiji board session The Ouiji board was conducted in the same room by Diana, Rachel and the same participants as the séance - they received the name Sarah. Diana and Rachel picked up that she broke her neck by falling off a wall, she appeared to be bored and said that she moved things around just to be noticed. She said that she was better off dead, and everyone thought that the fall had been planned. There was also a presence of a nasty man, who it appears raped the poor girl - she died trying to get away from him.

Above: Could this be an orb near Nance on the landing. Below: Rachel and Di hold a Ouija board session.

So there you have it, quite a sad one this month. We all got the impression that the two ladies were linked, and the man was responsible for both rapes as well as the tragic way in which the two ladies took there own lives. Of course it is up to you what you believe - we only present the facts of the night! The Visionaries would like to thank the owners and staff of Dalton Grange.

Dalton Grange facts by PSI investigator Rachel Lacy.

Dalton Grange was originally a rural retreat built on common land in 1870 for Henry Brooke. The land had until then evaded being built upon under the Enclosure Act, as the land was thought to be too steep and there were too many trees. At the time, Brooke, was the head of JH Brooke and Sons, cloth manufacturers of Bradley Mills. Allegedly there is another similar if not identical building that can be seen from the top of the turret, however the stewardess had not seen any such building, and nobody could confirm that one had ever existed. There have been few alterations to the building, although of note in 1974 a new door was put in to the former billiard room

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downstairs, which may not initially sound like a major project, however the thickness of the walls made it a difficult task. The building was sold off nearly 50 years later, and a club officially opened there in 1917 for the workers of British Dyes Limited - a major employer in the area thanks to the expansion of the chemical industry. The staff who ate and drank there were mainly chemists, and as time went on the club expanded to include snooker, billiards and card games, particularly bridge. Smoking concerts, dances and ladies evenings were also held there – women were eventually allowed into the club at all times apart from weekends, but not until the 1920s! However, by the end of the 1960s it seemed as though the old rules we re-applied, as it seemed to be an all-male preserve. The club kept going through two World

Wars, during which time the owners produced their own produce. The vegetables and fruit trees did not fair particularly well in the poor soil, but attempts to raise pigs, poultry, geese and turkeys were more successful. One dismal story connected with this regards the breeding sow at the club in the 1920s, who produced a magnificent litter. But many of the litter were put in the kitchen drawer, in what is now the cellar. When they were returned to the sow, she rejected them, and killed the lot.

NEXT MONTH: We investigate a terrace in Sherburn, West Yorkshire. Would YOU like the chance to take part in a Visionary vigil? If you think you’ve got what it takes, email your reasons to visionaries@empyrealltd.co.uk and you could become part of the team for a night!

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Diana Jarvis defines what qualifies as a haunting.

hat is a ghost? The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines a ghost as: ‘the soul of a dead person in Hades etc; spectre esp. of a dead person appearing to the living’. A ghost may indeed be a deceased person as the dictionary definition states, but it may also be an animal, poltergeist phenomena, or a sphere on a picture. To help you classify hauntings, have a peek at these different types of ghosts and see which, if any, you can recognize or have witnessed.

Orb/Spirit light. Hotly debated, these white (and sometimes coloured) spheres appear on digital cameras, Infra-Red/Zero Lux camcorders, CCTV and SLR. Some psychics allege they can see them with the naked eye, although this is rare. Many are nothing more than moisture, dust, pollen or bugs. Most interesting are those that appear on camcorder - there is a distinct movement to these that set them apart from bugs, pollen etc, and they can also travel through objects, which the others can’t. Ectoplasm. Forget Victorian séance parlours where mediums spout globs of goo from their mouths! Ectoplasm is a cloud that appears like smoke, moves in a deliberate or ‘sentient’ manner and disappears as quickly as it came. The most common origin for ectoplasm is cigarette smoke. Another common natural cause is moisture in the air. It is imperative that you make every effort to eliminate natural causes before you label your picture ‘ectoplasm’.

Vortex. Less common than the phenomena above, a vortex appears as a tornado-like white spiral. In particularly good examples of this, you may see that it is composed of hundreds of orb-like shapes. The most common cause of a vortex on camera is the camera strap. Tie it back or remove it . . . and the same goes for long hair! Part manifestation. This is where the apparition is only a body part, such as a head or a pair of legs. Most often the haunting will be explained by the story alleged to be behind it. A good example of this is from The Crown Hotel in Poole, Dorset. There are reported sightings of a spectral child’s head floating across the dining room and bar of the hotel. The story goes that in the 17th century deformed twins were born in the hotel, which was supposedly an indication of a Satanic birth. The twins were locked away by their father, tortured cruelly and finally decapitated! The head is a spectral reminder of the gruesome murder that allegedly took place there. Replay. Here is spectral cinema at its very best! Perhaps the best-known example of a replay is the ‘lost’ Legion IX of Roman Soldiers at Treasurer’s House in York. In 1953 Harry Martindale, then 18, was chiselling a hole in the ceiling of the cellar in Treasurer’s House. To cut a long story short, he witnessed a small group of soldiers and horse dressed raggedly, walking out of a wall, across the cellar and through another wall! At no time did any of the soldiers make eye contact with Harry and there was absolutely no interaction. A scene like this is known as a replay. The ‘ghosts’ do not interact or even seem to be aware of the presence of the witness. It is like watching a video. There is a fascinating theory for the phenomena of replays, affectionately termed The Stone Tape Theory after a well-known film of the same name. A large proportion of replays are witnessed in old stone buildings. The stone in these buildings often contains quartz, which is renowned for it’s piezo-electric qualities. It is alleged that the quartz in the building will, under certain conditions, act as a recorder and both record and replay a scene from the past. Exactly what conditions are required to stimulate the replay properties are debated. Many suggestions conjure up scenes from Scooby Doo and suggest dark nights and thunderstorms with rain pelting down. Some say that it is the emotions of the witnesses that set off the replay, or sometimes the emotions present when the scene was recorded. NEXT MONTH: Find out about poltergeists, screaming skulls and blue boys!

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Diana Jarvis explains your weird experiences. Haunted house? I have been experiencing some weird goings-on in my house and wondered if you could perhaps offer any explanations? The following has occurred in the last 6 months:. I have entered the house several times when my housemate was out and the kettle has been boiling; I once went up to my bedroom and my bedside lamp was on; One of my cats cries really loudly all the time and has been acting weird; One night I was in my bedroom in the attic, and I heard a scraping noise at the far side of the room, and both cats were downstairs. It could have been from next door’s attic bedroom; I was alone in my living room one night and I thought I saw a black flash next to the fire, out of the corner of my eye - neither of the cats were there; The next morning, alone in the house, I woke up and heard a really funny noise. I thought I was hearing things but my male cat was sat on the chest of drawers looking up, all around and his ears were pricking up all over the place; Looking back, the majority of these are explainable, but I am getting a little freaked out. Can you offer any advice? Sophie Haley, Shipley. Diana says: A lady with common sense! Always, always, look for the rational before you conclude something is paranormal. Many of these things could be explained by rational means and if you are already aware of this (and you obviously are), then you must feel that something is out of place. If all rational explanations are exhausted, then it seems to me that there is a spirit that wants you to know it’s there. Based on nothing at all except my own sixth sense, I have a feeling that it is a ‘house resident’ spirit, ie a soul that is attached to the building for some reason. The kettle boiling and lights on when no-one has turned them on is alleged to be signs of spirit activity. Animals are extremely sensitive to ‘the other side’ and it is no surprise that they would react if something is going on. I would suggest that you talk to the spirit! Say ‘Good Morning’ and ‘Good Evening’, acknowledge its presence and make it clear that you have no problems in sharing the house, but explain you would like a few less scares. I would also suggest you do this when your housemate is out - people do tend to think someone is going mad when they talk to thin air!

Mystery return My cat Sparky went missing for over 2 weeks and I had concluded that I was never going to see him again. I was quite upset. Soon after I woke up at about 2am thinking of Sparky with a feeling that he was ok and nearby. At that moment there was a knock on the door with what sounded like a key on the glass and then a meow. I opened the door to find Sparky there. I mentioned it to my boyfriend who turned white - his grandfather who had died the previous month used to tap his key on the door when visiting. Could it have been him that brought Sparky back home safely? Shari, Hull. Diana says: Animals are supposed to be very attuned to ‘the other side’ and have senses above and beyond ours anyway, including an incredible homing instinct. The sceptic will naturally say that your cat used this instinct to find their way home after a little hunting or wooing. I think it is very likely that Sparky may have got assistance from someone in spirit to guide him home. Having heard so many tales of similar experiences to yours and also having had an experience myself, I am really quite biased and do believe you. We will never actually know, but I sway towards your boyfriend’s grandfather having a hand in Sparky’s reappearance. Or, and perhaps more likely . . . Sparky having a paw in your boyfriend’s grandfather’s reappearance!

Party spirit This picture was taken on a Christmas night out with a client. This was the only picture taken all night with an apparent ‘orb’. It is actually over a lady whose relative had passed away about a month before the photo was taken could it be an orb and could it be her relative? Corrine Howkins, Coventry.

Diana says: It is always hard to determine if a sphere on a picture is an orb. It can always be dust, moisture, pollen etc. I think that a good 90% plus of pictures of ‘orbs’ are not orbs, so I tend to sway in that direction in most cases. With yours, for some reason (that is not particularly scientific, but my own feelings), I think it may be an orb. If it is an orb, it is more than likely to be a relative or spirit guide making its presence known, but I couldn’t say if it would be that relative without being there. It certainly COULD be!

If you would like to share your experiences, send them to Diana Jarvis at the Vision address or email experiencesexplained@empyrealltd.co.uk. Please give as many details as possible - tell us what you saw, how you felt, and what you sensed etc. We reserve the right to edit letters.

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Sangeeta Uppaladinni uncovers the spiritual side of the ancient Egyptians.

he spiritual world that was created by the ancient Egyptians is one of the earliest in the history of human religion. Manifold facets are still today shrouded in mystery. For although Egyptian religion was often covered in layers of myth and ritual, it nevertheless permeated the ancient civilisation of the Nile and ultimately created, sustained and shaped Egyptian culture in almost every way. The pre-dynastic period existed before the first dynasty of Menes who founded his capital at Memphis between circa 2650 and 3000 BC. Also known as the ‘Archaic Period’, the pre-dynastic era evolved theories surrounding spiritual and religious beliefs about the creation of Egypt. Most of the evidence has been collated by examining the remains of the interred, objects and artefacts. The ancient Egyptians were extremely devout in their beliefs and religion was the primary focus of Egyptian life. Their way of life revolved around these beliefs. They endeavoured to do that which was right. Magic was commonplace for them - they wore amulets to ward off

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evil. Magical spells, potions and concoctions were used to treat the sick and injured and if they did not work, then it was decreed that it was the will of the gods. The people’s calm acceptance of the strange and usual allowed them to reconcile themselves to either natural phenomena or those things unseen. Every occurrence had spiritual meaning and had a unique god assigned to the act.

Myth

The Egyptians believed strongly in creation myths, although many versions abounded. The land of Egypt was revered as the ‘paradise of earth’. It was generally believed that the universe was originally filled with water from which a hill arose, and on which life began. This was no doubt derived from what they observed each year as the Nile flood subsided. Different gods were thought to have emerged from the hill or water and went on to create other gods. One thing that does seem familiar about their ancient religion was that people were very concerned

about the afterlife. with a notion that ethical worth determined immortality. If mistakes in life were made, it could be rectified by spells and good advice. In order to avoid being counted amongst the damned of the afterlife, one had to not only venerate the Egyptian gods, but also live by a code of standards that would be judged after death. The spiritual significance of their early burials is demonstrated by the inclusion of provisions for the afterlife such as pots, jewellery and other items. Many of the Egyptian gods represented strong forces in the natural world. Egypt’s prosperity depended on the daily reappearance of the sun and the annual flooding of the river - these natural forces were thought of as gods who needed to be pampered and encouraged by sacrifice and worship. There were numerous gods, but rather than living on an isolated mountain or in an unreachable heaven, many of them were believed to have lived invisibly in the

mortal world - omnipresent through sacred sites, items, animals, or even chosen people. Furthermore, the spirits of the deceased, if remembered and honoured, could aid and guide the living from the afterlife.

Cycle

The pre-dynastic dead were buried facing west in a contracted position, with their hands clenched near the face and their heads facing south. Their bodies were wrapped in a mat for protection and provisions were placed either outside this wrapping or in a small niche dug into one of the walls of the grave. The burial pit with its food offerings was an image of the womb. The contracted foetal position of the earliest surviving interments and the consistent direction of the face to the west where the sun sets, may very well suggest the belief in spiritual rebirth. The fact that women gave milk identified her as a source of life and nourishment. The idea that mothers gave physical birth and sustenance was a powerful influence on early Egyptian religion.

Imbuing human traits in animate or inanimate objects was believed to allow the gods to ‘live amongst the mortals’. Ancient Egyptians believed that gods took on human-like characteristics when they visited earth. However, it is entirely possible that spiritual beliefs surrounding inanimate objects such as the sky were not as easy to represent in physical form, as were animals and people. The idea that the divine might manifest in animal form is a vital prerequisite for the animals which were shown acting in entirely human ways and which are the major representation of Egyptian gods at the end of the pre-dynastic period. The early years of the Egyptians set the foundation stones for the dynasties that followed with its gathering of myths and beliefs - the most important factor established was the confidence to deal with the dead.

Images © The James Christie Archive. Right: a stone figure outside the Temple of Karnak. Below left, the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Magic was “ commonplace for the ancient Egyptians they wore amulets to ward off evil.

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Writer Antonia Behan delves into the mysteries behind the pyramids.

he pyramids of Egypt hold a great mystery. Thousands of years later the truth of their origin and purpose still remains deeply hidden. So what is it about them that attracts tourists from all over the world? Do they hold the key to the mysteries of life or perhaps the truth about the gods?! People have been exploring the pyramids of Egypt for centuries. Various theories and beliefs about their purpose have been uncovered, ranging from astronomic observatories and UFO landing blocks, to places of cult worship. They were built between 2630 and 1640 BC, by the great ancient civilisation on the west bank of the Nile. They are burial tombs; places for the kings and pharaohs of ancient Egypt to make their transition to the afterlife. Today, thousands of years later, the pyramids still stand in all their glory; so what is about these magnificent structures that have humankind mystified? Perhaps their function is obvious, but does the consciousness behind them; the creativity of the minds that built these fantastic structures, hold a much deeper message for humanity? The pyramids ensure our minds stay open - they ask us to question the afterlife, spirituality and who or what inspired these magnificent creations of such mathematical precision to be constructed. Is it possible that ancient civilisations were more advanced then we give them credit for? Perhaps their technology was way ahead of ours, but the great Egyptian empire went to such extremes with control and technology that it completely destroyed itself; leaving no clues as to its development. The Great Pyramid is a mystery in itself. Located at the centre of the land

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The pyramid of Khafre.

Do the pyramids hold the key to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;mysteries of life or perhaps the truth about the gods?!

mass of the earth; the pyramid intersects the east/west parallel and the north/south meridian. The calculations for construction are also impressive; casing stones weighing as much as 20 tonnes were placed with an accuracy of 5/1000th of an inch; they were polished and flat to an accuracy of 1/100th of an inch; and each weigh about 15 tonnes with nearly perfect right angles on all six sides. With such accuracy and mathematical precision, based on sacred geometry, surely the structure must be more than just a burial chamber? It seems to hold a higher consciousness; a greater understanding about life. Perhaps at some level of our being the pyramid affects our conscious

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and unconscious mind? Talking about pyramids takes you to a place beyond the limitations of time; the pyramids are futuristic in design and yet they come from the past to make us consider our future and life beyond the physical plane. To say they are complex is an understatement; they hold profound teachings for those able to perceive. The geometric principles that form the basis of their construction also represent the conscious creation of earth. Put simply, the sacred geometry to which the pyramids were built comes from a belief that everything in the universe, in essence, is connected as one being. Perhaps then it is no coincidence that these structures lie at the centre of our

consciousness

The rise of the pyramids Clare Sheridan constructs their history: There are 3 great pyramids in the Giza Plateau: the Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaura. The Pyramid of Khufu is known as the Great Pyramid and is the largest of the 3 standing at 149.59 metres high. The Great Pyramid reputedly took 100,000 men, over 20 years to build between 2551 and 2528 BC. It was thought to be a funerary monument for the pharaoh. It is one of the last survivors of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Pyramid of Khufu was the world’s tallest building until the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889. The Pyramid of Khafre is the middle pyramid at 143.5m in height, and The Pyramid of Menkaura is the smallest of the 3 at 65m high.

planet and are visible from space? The capstone is missing from the Great Pyramid. To our subconscious mind, a missing capstone may represent our disconnection from other planets and spirit planes; we have become so focused on our world and our lives, and given all our power to political and religious leaders, that we may have forgotten the real ‘truth’ about life? Perhaps if the capstone were to be replaced then that may herald a time of celebration when humanity is once again ready to believe in the possibility of communicating with alien and spirit beings and to understand that life never truly ends? Perhaps this time is dawning; more people are opening up to mediumship; programmes about spirits and ghosts are reaching millions of people; books about life after death are becoming bestsellers all over the world; times are changing, but what are we moving towards? The pyramid by design stands for a hierarchy, however the top is missing. Perhaps this reminds us that the true power cannot be found on earth, but among the stars; in a greater consciousness; beyond logic and reason; into the world of Spirit and unknown realities that lie waiting to be found? Perhaps the true teaching of the great pyramid is given simply through its existence; a simple form for all to see. ‘The truth’ is simple and like the great pyramid, is found at the heart of your being. This would also indicate that the consciousness of the great pyramid is indeed a doorway to the akashic records; the truth and history of life on earth. Further reading: Read about planetary consciousness and sacred geometry in The Flower of Life, by Drunvalo Melckizadech.

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Anara Ashwood looks into the significance of the Sphinx.

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gigantic beautiful beast with the head of man, neck of a bull and the body of a lion, this is a mythical creature to some and an embodiment of the gods to other ancient civilizations. The Sphinx was carved out of a single piece of limestone weighing hundreds of tons. It is about 70 feet in height and is 38 feet across the shoulders. It has been a passion among Egyptologists to discover its origins and purpose and has caused heated debates within the academic arena. Although the face of the Sphinx appears to be that of the Pharaoh Khafre, ruler of Egypt from 2520-2494 BC, it appears that the Sphinx existed before this period - the body of the Sphinx show signs of erosion from water which predates the dry arid climates of the old dynasty.

Egyptologists Robert Bauval, Adrian Gilbert and Graham Hancock have questioned the time the Sphinx was thought to have been constructed. In their findings, the Sphinx was built around 10000 BC, at a time when the climate in Egypt was much wetter - heavy rain and possible flooding would have caused the Sphinx to erode. They believe that the Sphinx was constructed in alignment with the stars, as were the Great Pyramids. They used computer and astronomy software to recreate the positioning of the stars and sky in 10500 BC. The Sphinx faces east and at this time, the Leo constellation would have shown up over the horizon at the spring and autumn equinox. So the twinning of Leo in the stars and the Sphinx in heaven and on earth would have been of religious importance to the ancient Egyptians.

Eden The ancient Egyptians believed that sphinx were used to guard the ‘splendid place of the beginning of all time’. The sphinx, usually in pairs, were gateways to the temples, which were a replica of their Sirius home for the god kings on earth. Water was a significant part of the structure of the temples in ancient Egypt and waterways were created to flow through the sphinx gate and into the temple, to rest at a sacred pool. The water was a conduit for communication with their Sirian elders, which resided in the star constellation of Orion as a tool for divination, healing transformation and a stargate to journey home. There is evidence that the large Sphinx was restored by the Pharaoh Tuthmosis IV (1401-1391 BC), ruler of the 18th Dynasty. In his hall of records, it shows the prayer of Tuthmosis as he makes his offerings to the lion-headed Twins Shu and Tefnut, the children of the lion-headed Sun God Atum Ra. The Sphinx faced the rising sun at the time of the equinox and at that time offerings were made to Atum Ra.

If the Sphinx was honoured as an embodiment of Ra on earth, then it is probable that the pre-dynastic Egyptians also saw the king of the time as an embodiment of Ra - his son on earth, which would explain the carving of the king’s head upon the Sphinx. Such a construction has not yet been achieved in recent times - perhaps the answer to the enigma lies within the Sphinx itself? Could it explain the origin of man as a star seed witnessing life upon the Giza plateau as a mirroring of heaven on earth - their lifestyle below on earth, a mirror of what was above? There have been discussions amongst Egyptologists and parapsychologists about the possibility of secret chambers inside the Sphinx that contain writings on the history on the race of Adam and the star seed race - the first inhabitants of earth. There is even speculation that the pre-ancient Atlantian peoples of Egypt, then named Kemet, left behind their history and teachings inside the Sphinx so that future generations would remember their stellar origins and the true nature of mankind. According to the trance medium Edward Cayce, the Sphinx has a chamber in its hindquarters which holds the

records of the origin of the ancient Egyptian and Atlantian civilizations. He claims to have visited the chamber while in trance. Could it indeed hold the mysteries on the tables of life beyond the stars and the cycles of the journeys between the heavens and earth? As a result the Sphinx has been named the keeper of the Halls of Amenti. How the ancients created the replica of their stellar home Orion on Kemet, as Egypt was then named, and how they kept their immediate contact with their star families are questions which could be answered if it were possible to gain access inside this chamber. Perhaps it can be entered by different means. There are many faces of god in all its forms throughout the world, and if we refrain from latching onto any one definition from a specific race, gender or religion, the Sphinx is the embodiment of them all.

Anara Ashwood runs workshops on the Mystery Dances of Ancient Egypt and leads sacred sites tours, plus dance holidays to Egypt and other countries throughout the year. For more information visit www.voyager1.org or contact her on 0845 456 1246.

The majestic Sphinx.

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Horror novelist and paranormal researcher Peter Lancett (pictured) uncovers the mysteries of the cartouche..

he sign of the cartouche is undoubtedly the most prominent and easily recognisable symbol to be found among the hieroglyphic writings of ancient Egypt. The distinctive oval shape with its tied ends quite obviously represents a knotted rope, and in the earliest times, it was circular rather than oval. The transition of the cartouche from circle to oval can be easily explained; the form had to be elongated in order to accommodate the names of the pharaohs in a way that was difficult for a circular form. The cartouche itself seems to have no linguistic meaning and its use in hieroglyphic writings has symbolic and magical significance. The cartouche was instrumental in the deciphering of hieroglyphics. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone seemed to confirm that the hieroglyphics found on Egyptian monuments and artefacts was indeed a linguistic form of communication, and not merely symbolic. The Rosetta Stone was discovered soon after the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon in 1798. Its surface contained a decree issued by the collective priesthoods of Egypt in honour of Ptolomy V in 196 BC. The decree appeared in three languages; Greek and demotic (the written language identified by the Classical Greek historian, Herodotus), and hieroglyphics. It fell to a young schoolmaster, Jean Francois Champollion, to crack the enigma that the hieroglyphic text posed. The repetition of hieroglyphs within the cartouches allowed Champollion to work out the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra and from there, the secret code of the hieroglyphic text was unravelled. Had it not been for the enclosure of the royal names in the protective and symbolic cartouche, it is possible that Champollion would not have been able to separate the combinations of symbols that comprised the royal names from the jumble of unknown symbols that surrounded them.

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Make your own cartouche with our guide to hieroglyphs ...

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The magical cartouche had provided a valuable key that would allow future generations access to the knowledge of the wise and intuitive society that had created the hieroglyphic language. The use of the cartouche as a device for the creation of powerful amulets is also easy to understand. It represents the ring that separates and protects all that is contained within it, from external influences and forces that exist without and might work – unwittingly or not – as acts of destructive malevolence. In hieroglyphic writings from the First Dynasty (3050 – 2850 BC) the gods are seen holding out the magic ring, which at this point is empty, to the pharaoh, the great god-priest of the earthly kingdom. By the end of the Second Dynasty (circa 2700 BC) it was common to write the birth name of the pharaoh inside the ring. It is important to realise that the names that we see in writings found in plain sight represent the name given to the pharaoh at birth; the name given to the pharaoh at coronation is not usually seen thus represented. This sacred name was likely reserved for personal amulets of great force and effect. Egyptian theology was well aware of the great power that could be wielded by the knowledge of the true name of an object or person. A true, or magical name represented the very essence, or true nature of an object or person. To the ancient Egyptians, the magical ring of the cartouche also represented the cosmos, literally “that which the sun circumnavigates in its circuit”. Given that Egyptian theology identified the god-pharaoh with the solar cult, it is again easy to see why royal names were symbolically enclosed within the magical cartouche. The essence of the ring has always had great significance in the practice of magic in many cultures through many ages and still endures to this day. It represents that which is

universal, that which is infinite, and from this enduring infinity, it draws its spiritual, mystical and magical power. Witness the use of the ring as a protective agency in the performance of magical rituals, often performed within a protective ring of salt. The use of the cartouche as an amulet to ward off malevolent forces of nature is readily accessible on a personal level and can be easy to create. All that is required is for one to draw a cartouche on a piece of paper. Insert your name within the cartouche, fold it, seal it and carry it or wear it next to the skin as a form of spiritual and psychic self-defence. If your name can be encrypted by writing it in Egyptian hieroglyphs, the amulet will be so much stronger. You can even frame the amulet and hang it above your bed to ward off bad dreams. You can find automated web pages that will translate names and phrases into hieroglyphics on the internet. This personal involvement in the creation of your amulet will add to its strength. The more care and time you invest in its creation, the more powerful it will be. The ancient Egyptians realised this. Allow them to transmit their wisdom to you. Harness the power of the cartouche for yourself and begin to enrich your life. Email Peter at peter@bloodbinds.com for more info. BloodBinds Press publishes amazing books of horrific supernatural tales. Visit www.bloodbinds.com for more info.

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Magical

paper

Peter Lancett leafs through the origins of papyrus.

ynastic Egypt was a society steeped in and governed by magic. The use of hieroglyphs to record and inform is a potent demonstration of this fact. There can be no doubt that the hieroglyphs themselves carried with them hidden, occult references. It is fair to say that Egyptian culture from the earliest times was writing-conscious to a great degree, and papyrus as a medium for recording hieroglyphs first appears in the archaeological record from the Fourth Dynasty (2613 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2498 BC) during which came the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), builder of the Great pyramid. The use of papyrus provided a flexible, inexpensive medium for recording hieroglyphs for more personal and secretive use. The very word papyrus is the root of our modern English word, paper. It was made from strips of fibre, obtained from the trunk of a plant that grew along the banks of the river Nile, the Cyperus Papyrus. The process of transforming these fibres involved peeling away the outer fibres and slicing the stalk into very thin strips. Soaking these strips in water removed much of the sugar content. The strips, pounded and drained of the water, were placed together, overlapping slightly. Then, pressed under a heavy stone weight for several days, the remaining sugar binds the strips as the fibres dry, and the completed sheets were polished to a smooth finish using shell or ivory. We can never escape the magical and mystical in any investigation of ancient Egypt, and papyrus itself, seemingly an innocuous and convenient medium for written communication, is steeped in mystical resonance. Egyptian magic and ritual resounds with references to regeneration and transformation. The very stones that shrouded burial chambers were carved with hieroglyphic representations. These glyphs were living forms of the gods imbued with living power to aid and guide the risen deceased on the journey through nether-realms. And if the Egyptians could see and understand the power of life that exists in objects such as rock, imagine how easy it was for them to understand the life inherent in papyrus - the lifecycle there for them to observe as the reed grows, flourishes, dies and regenerates along the banks of the Nile. The Egyptians, a highly literate and intuitive society, embraced the use of this miracle of nature as the catalyst to empower personal magic. In the flourishing of the reed itself is mirrored the flourishing of the human condition. In death, as it is harvested, it maintains a potential for transformation; in other words it does not die, it awaits a new, transformed, life! Imagine the risen Osiris; imagine, then, the progress of the

A typical love spell on papyrus.

dead risen within the tomb, the living power of the gods, carved into tomb walls, stepping out to guide them on their way. The Egyptians understood this transformational process. Magic, in the form of amulets to ward off bad luck or to encourage good fortune, were commonplace. Papyrus was a particularly special medium for encoding such magic, for papyrus could maintain the secret of the power invoked like no other medium before it. Papyrus could be rolled and sealed. Papyrus was light enough to be carried, worn next to the skin, where its power could flow with ease to transform the living energy of the wearer, while forever keeping its secrets close. Magic is all the more powerful when able to work its wonders free from the observation of those who would work to thwart it. Secrecy was as important to ancient Egyptian magicians as it has ever been in the centuries that have passed since. The rolled and sealed living papyrus, was itself, well aware of this, and for the Egyptians, upheld its special guardian role. The Egyptians revered the qualities of papyrus in guarding and channelling the magic they charged it with. We might do well ourselves to follow their lead.

Egyptians revered the â&#x20AC;&#x153;The qualities of papyrus in

guarding and channelling the magic they charged it with.

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Email Peter at peter@bloodbinds.com for more info. BloodBinds Press publishes amazing books of horrific supernatural tales. Visit www.bloodbinds.com for more info.

Michael Looking Coyote speculates on how far afield the Egyptian influence spread.

t first glance, there may seem to be little in common between the ancient Egyptian civilisation and the peoples who inhabited the New World so many millennia ago. True, there was a common liking for pyramids – the Egyptians preferring the flat-sided model whilst the ancient Americans opted for the stepped variety – but seemingly little else to bind them culturally, spiritually or in any other way. However, there is a growing body of evidence that, in ancient times, the Egyptians may well have visited the Americas and even traded with that continent’s inhabitants. In August 1914, Professor MA Gonzales excavated ruins in Acajutla, an ancient Mayan city in Mexico. One afternoon he stumbled upon two small, well-preserved statuettes, The two icons – one male, one female – were clearly representations of the Egyptian deities Osiris and Isis. By all orthodox historical conventions such a find was impossible, for the ancient Egyptians were thought never to have visited the New World. Other evidence has been forthcoming. Scholars from the Epigraphic Society have pointed out that the languages of Native American tribes such as the Ataccapas (South Eastern Louisiana/Texas), Tunicas/Caddos (Mississippi Valley) and Chitimachas (Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana) bear breathtaking resemblances to the Nile Valley dialects in common usage around the time of Christ. The Hopi Indians believe that, thousands of years ago, their people lived in a huge underground world in the Grand Canyon. A dispute arose between the ‘People of One Heart’ and the ‘People

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The Egyptians may well have visited the Americas and traded with the inhabitants.

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of Two Hearts’, which ended in the former leaving their underground world and settling in their traditional homelands after a short stay near the Colorado River. What has this to do with the ancient Egyptians? Well, on April 5, 1909, the Arizona Gazette announced the find of a “great underground citadel” in the Grand Canyon. The discovery was made by GE Kincaid, who was travelling down the Colorado River by boat. Kincaid described entering a large cave where he found mummies as well as a shrine containing a Buddha-like statue with a lotus flower in each hand. Although superficially it would seem that this find indicates contact between the Americas and Asia, hieroglyphs found by Kincaid sounded distinctly Egyptian according to some. Curiously, this would link Kincaid’s find to an earlier one reported in the Phoenix Gazette. John Wesley Powell was an explorer who traversed both the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon between 1868 and 1872. On one occasion Powell recalled returning to camp to find ‘many fragments of pottery; also etchings and hieroglyphics on the rocks’. From his other writings it is clear that Powell had found the same caves discovered by Kincaid. He talked of large

numbers of artificially-created caves containing “architectural forms” so great they are beyond description. Photographs of Egyptian hieroglyphics (allegedly snapped by Kincaid) have been posted on the internet. If they are genuine, then the Egyptian connection is beyond question. Kincaid and the Arizona Gazette could see the link, and even said that the original settlers in the area were “possibly from Egypt”. Perhaps the strangest – but most telling – evidence in favour of an Egyptian connection with the Americas surfaced in 1992. German toxicologist Svetla Balabanova, using standard testing methods, found large amounts of of both nicotine and cocaine in hairs taken from the mummy of the 21st Dynasty Egyptian priestess Henut Taui. Independent tests carried out at other institutions outside of Germany returned identical results. More tests were carried out on 134 mummies unearthed from an ancient Sudanese graveyard. Sudan was, at that historical juncture, part of the Egyptian empire. Over 40 of the bodies, buried ages before Columbus discovered the New World, tested positive for nicotine and cocaine. As tobacco and cocoa were unknown outside of the Americas, the finds prove conclusively that there must have been contact between ancient Egypt and ancient America in the distant past. Meanwhile, explorations are still being carried out to find the legendary ‘Kincaid caves’ and the ancient Egyptian treasures they supposedly contain. One day, perhaps, the history of both ancient Egypt and the Americas will have to be extensively rewritten.

Vision 3

Anna Kaye.

Michael Looking Coyote.

Do you have a problem which you lack intuition to solve? Do you have any spiritual questions to which you seek answers? Native American Michael Looking Coyote will use his Spirit Stones and clairvoyant medium Anna Kaye will consult her Tarot to offer a fresh view on matters.

Trapped I’m unhappy. I have a beautiful daughter and, although we are separated, her father and I get on fine. My family is supportive, but my past is stopping me feeling free. I feel my soul is trapped and I’m my own worst enemy. Anti-depressants don’t work. My boyfriend is terminally ill and needs a lung transplant. There’s only a 40% chance of him surviving the operation - if they find a donor. The thought of never seeing him again makes me want to die, but I have hit a brick wall crying out for help. What’s wrong with me? via email.

Soulmates? I met a man over a year ago and I think we’re soulmates. For a time everything went well - in fact too well. I got scared, thinking once I’d let my guard down he’d hurt me. Instead of risking it, I pushed him away and accused him of cheating. He called after I told him that in a text, but I didn’t answer the door. We still talk, but not about what happened. I like him, regret what I did and I want to tell him how I feel but I’m scared of rejection. Please can you help me? Angela, Northamptonshire.

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Looking Coyote’s Spirit Stone reading - the Frog & the Turtle: Frog calls for you to change. Cleanse your mind of your negative past and stride confidently ahead in the knowledge that the Spirits will always support you. Turtle wants you to go inside yourself and re-examine your outlook. For instance, you assume that if your partner dies you will never see him again – but you will; in the Land Across the River. Chief Seattle once said, “There is no death; only a change of worlds”. Your cries for help have not gone unheard. Trust the Creator and draw on your own inner strength. Despite everything, you have the power to be happy.

Anna’s Tarot reading - the Star, Strength, & the High Priestess: You can’t change the past, but you can learn from past experience. You are what you think, and your thoughts about your past are keeping you trapped. Your partner has a 40% chance of survival. That’s better than no chance. The Star card: have faith and hope. Brightness lies ahead. The Strength card: you are resilient, but you need to slow down and make time for yourself. The High Priestess: draw upon your own intuition, ask for guidance from the Divine and believe in the power of prayer. The past is gone; live for the present and look forward to the future.

Looking Coyote’s Spirit Stone reading - the Snake, the Chipmunk: Both this man and you have the potential to enjoy a stable, meaningful relationship if you both work at it. This could be a relationship based on love, but it wouldn’t necessarily make you “soulmates”, which implies a spiritual bonding. Snake indicates that this man’s personality will bring some permanent and positive changes into your life, whilst Chipmunk asks you to think about what you really want and then go for it. You may very well become soulmates, but work out whether you want to spend the rest of your lives together first.

Anna’s Tarot reading - the Tower & the Star: Please don’t let your fear of rejection spoil what could be a wonderful relationship by carrying negative thoughts and feelings from past relationships into future ones. Tell this man what your fears and feelings are. The Tower card: relationship breakdowns from the past have left you sensitive and with low self-esteem. With the Tower there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The Star card: this is a positive card and speaks of hope and bright prospects for future relationships. Don’t look back and give yourself a second chance. You deserve it, and I can see you smiling.

Looking Coyote’s Spirit Stone reading - the Drum, & the Rattle: Relax, Jackie! This bird wasn’t anything sinister at all, but a powerful animal totem. Simply put, you have undeveloped spiritual gifts which, should you use them, will prove to be an immense blessing to others. The Drum highlights your connection to Mother Earth, telling you that the heart of Mother Earth and your own heart beat as one. The Rattle is a shamanic totem suggesting strong connections with the spirit world, and I’d be surprised if you haven’t felt the presence of your ancestor spirits before now. Listen to them, and enjoy the riches that your future spirit walk will bring.

Anna’s Tarot reading - the Empress: Jackie, if you can still remember this blackbird it is more than likely a spirit animal or a familiar. All witches have familiars. Blackbirds are messengers. Do not be afraid, for it is in no way sinister. The Empress card: I see growth and expansion as you move forward into the future. I feel this is more to do with your spiritual side. You are at one with Mother Nature and the universe. I feel strong links to ancient Egypt with you, and for some reason I see you using essential oils or practicing aromatherapy in the future. Enjoy your spiritual journey!

Baffling bones I’ve had the all-clear after cancer treatment, although I fractured my femur due to the radiotherapy weakening my bones. Now I have pains in my limbs which are slowly spreading and getting worse. The doctors are baffled as all the tests are clear. They say I’ll get better, although I don’t know how they can say this if they don’t know what’s wrong. Recently I woke up and heard a voice say: “It’s bone cancer but don’t worry - we’ll be with you”. I’d be very grateful if you could explain this. Janet, Colwyn Bay, North Wales.

Anna’s Tarot reading - the Star & the Empress: I’m pleased you have been given the all clear, but I’m sure you’ll still be anxious after all you’ve been through. Do try and have more faith in your consultants. If there was anything on your scan, believe me they would have known. The Star card: please try and think positively. There is hope, and you should believe that. The Empress card: this speaks of fertility, growth and expansion. She is the Earth Mother. You are still changing because of your experiences. Try relaxation and meditation to still your mind as you grow stronger. Enjoy every day and believe in the power of positive thinking.

Anna’s Tarot reading - the Hermit: Dogs in our dreams represent friends. Your dream is about betrayal and friendship. The Hermit card: take time out to look inside yourself. My intuition tells me you are always available to listen to others’ problems, but is there anyone there to listen to yours? Do some soul-searching and find out who your true friends are. If you can count them on one hand you are rich. Stop worrying – and sweet dreams!

We have been trying for four years to get a visa to move to Florida. My husband has a job but we seem to come up against so many obstacles. Will we be successful this year? M C, Glasgow.

I hope you can help me. When I was a child I remember waking, sitting up in bed and seeing a very large, black bird just sitting there at the bottom of my bed looking at me. I started screaming and my parents came in and told me it was all a dream. However, to this day I still recall it very strongly as if it was real. I wondered if it was perhaps an animal spirit looking after me or if it was something sinister. Any advice would be gratefully received. Jackie, Bristol.

Looking Coyote’s Spirit Stone reading - the Moccasin & the Whale: As “Moccasin goes where foot directs”, your life, for all its hardships, is progressing as it should. Whale speaks of a time when you almost “crossed over”, but if you are now testing clear for cancer have you considered that the Spirits may have removed this burden from you? Maybe they were “with you” in a way you didn’t envisage! If you feel ill, then of course ask your doctor to investigate. Don’t ignore symptoms. However, instead of wondering about how you may one day face death, think instead about how to live your life. The Spirits said “Don’t worry”, so don’t! Just “Live for the Now”, Janet, and savour every moment.

Looking Coyote’s Spirit Stone reading - the Wolf & the Eagle: Wolf represents the teacher, and speaks of gaining knowledge. The first puppy represents you, the puppy being eaten someone close to you who can teach you a valuable lesson. The act of eating signifies you embracing a lesson held by the other person. Is someone close to you trying to give you some good advice, and could you be ignoring it? Eagle speaks of your ability to see your life like a big picture. Jettison aspects of your life that are of little value and prioritise other things that you may have been paying too little attention to. Happiness will follow.

A carefree move?

Bad birds

Worrying dream I have had a very vivid, worrying dream. I feel sick when I think of it. Part of it involves a few puppies. One started to eat another from the back. It got to half way through and I woke myself up. It was horrible. What does it mean? A Fincks.

Looking Coyote’s Spirit Stone reading - the Turtle & the Canoe: The question is not “Will we move to Florida?”, but “Should we move to Florida?” It may be that the obstacles that have prevented you are the Creator’s way of preventing you from making a hasty move. The Turtle represents “Turtle Island” – the USA – and the canoe a journey across water. These seem to point strongly to a move to America, but the timing may be wrong. Think deeply about whether you really want this move. If you do then work towards it, but wait patiently until the time is right and the Spirits allow you to proceed.

Anna’s Tarot reading - The Fool, Temperance, & the Devil: From May until June I see growth and expansion with yourself and your partner - in life in general. Mid-year I also see some very positive changes and loose ends being tied up. The Fool: don’t let minor setbacks hold you up at this time. Temperance: be patient; your hard work and efforts will pay off. The Devil: stop worrying, even though your partner will be tying himself down in a new roll that’s mentally and physically demanding. Will you be going to Florida? Well, I do see you buying property in a sunny climate!

Send your letters to: Destiny Doctors, Vision, Amadeus House, 6 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, LS25 1EQ, or email destinydoctors@empyrealltd.co.uk

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Look beyond the conventional with the third part of our Isatreya psychic development course.

ost people see the world in which they live with their physical eyes - but by using inner sight they would be able to perceive a much wider vision beyond the limitations put upon them by conventional sight. Clairvoyance is about using inner sight and having the ability to decode the visual information that is presented in images either inside or outside the head. A clairvoyant has to learn to take that information on face value and in an unquestionable manner. If you are given a message through clairvoyance for another person, then the chances are that it will feel alien to you and it will make no sense at all. To the other person though it may mean everything and could be the sign that they were waiting for! It is important to understand that when you receive any form of message, we are purely the messenger. It is not the job of the clairvoyant to make messages up. You are just there to pass the messages on. Visual messages can be very vibrant and solid like a television picture, or they can slowly form like the hidden image in a 3D picture. A clairvoyant has the ability to relax their eyes and focus on the image portrayed and then interpret

what they are being shown. When you use clairvoyance in your everyday life, you become more sensitive to the world around you, you will connect with people and places, and you will have a deeper level of empathy.

How to see clearly: The following exercise if practiced over time will train your eyes to relax and see images that our conscious mind dismisses in everyday life. Light a candle in a darkened room. Make sure that the candle is safe and away from any curtains, furnishings, pets or children. Never leave the candle unattended. Now ground and protect yourself. Look at the candle flame. Note the shape and density of the flame. Make a mental note of how you are feeling. Imagine a colour around the flame. For example if you choose blue, think about a blue outline around the flame starting from the wick. The more you think about the colour you have the chosen, the stronger the colour will become. You may be able to see the colour blue in your head or see it clearly around the flame. It may be all around the flame or on one side. Look slightly above the flame, are any

images, thoughts or feelings coming into your mind? Make a note of them and extinguish the flame. By practicing this exercise and having the patience to do this, you will learn to interpret feelings and thought patterns. This is part of clairvoyance because you are introducing yourself to subtle energies and training yourself to register on the outside what you are feeling inside .

‘Clairvoyance: noun: apparent power to perceive things that are not present to the senses.’ When you address your emotional body and your thoughts, you will become more sensitive and see clearer images. Remember everyone is clairvoyant, just like everyone can play the piano if trained. Some people will make a sound by hitting a note, others will be able to play a masterpiece. What is needed is practice, dedication, and an unquestionable mind to accept.

NEXT MONTH: Don’t miss the chance to develop clairaudience. This course has been written by Isatreya Institute of Higher Learning.

Isatreya Psychic Postbag Q) When I enter old buildings I start to smell strange scents and thoughts pop into my head. Am I clairvoyant? David, West Yorkshire. Isatreya replies: What you are describing is clairsentience and not clairvoyance. It does show that you are extremely sensitive to subtle energies, so practice the exercise above as you may well find that you are a very good all-rounder! Do you have a question for the Isatreya team? If so please write to Isatreya, Bailey Brook House, Amber Drive, Langley Mill, Nottingham, NG16 4BE. Isatreya certified and accredited 5-day residential courses held in the Brecon Beacons are both fun and informative, enabling you to understand who you are. They allow your energies to flow freely, assisting you to be a ‘lightworker’ in the true sense of the word, and develop your spirituality further by teaching you how to channel messages from angels and guides, sacred sound, yoga, Native American traditions, psychic art and much, much more. For further information on Isatreya visit www.isatreya.com or call 01635 34538.

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Win a copy of The Iron Maiden!

Become an

Angel Gems Angel! L earn how to cleanse and attune crystals in your own home! Angel Gems offers a fun and informative way of learning about crystals. Simply invite your friends along to an Angel Gems class and an Angel Gems Angel will conduct the Free interactive class in your home. During the class you will learn how to cleanse and attune them to your particular needs, and also demonstrate the healing properties of crystals on you as the host. Everyone is given the chance to sense and feel for themselves the powers that crystals hold, and the opportunity to order natural crystals that have been hand-cleansed. Also the ‘Heavenly Host’ of the class will receive a beautiful Laser-etched Angel Crystal to thank them for their hospitality. Angel Gems are now recruiting Angels to conduct classes throughout the UK. To become an Angel Gems Angel you need to attend a training day which includes practical workshops on the healing properties of crystals, cleansing and attuning crystals, chakra energies and crystals, plus pendulums and seminars on self-esteem and business administration. You will also receive a full demonstration kit which contains everything you need to conduct an Angel Gems class including crystals, CD, uniform, brochures and hostess gifts, all for a total investment of only £125. In

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return you will earn commission on all your sales, and benefit from national advertising and promotion at major exhibitions. At Angel Gems we believe that it is our duty to you as an angel to promote you through our presence in the media and at mind, body and spirit shows. Should a person request a class in your area then we will take their details and pass them on to you. Angel Gems are offering 6 lucky readers the chance to become Angel Gems Angels FREE. The prize includes a day’s training at a local venue and a demonstration kit so you will have everything you need to start earning a living with Angel Gems. To enter simply tell us why you think you have what it takes to become an Angel Gems Angel. Send your entry to: Angel Gems Vision Comp, Angel Gems Ltd, 116 Sandringham Road, Sandiacre, Notts, NG10 5LE, by April 21. For further information on becoming an Angel Gems Angel, or to host an Angel Gems Class in your home, call 0845 833 0391 or visit www.angelgems.co.uk Terms and conditions: The first six names drawn after the closing date will each win Angel Gems Angel training; winners must make their own travel arrangements to and from the training venue; no alternative prize will be offered; winners must be 18 or over; only one entry per person; Vision accepts no responsibility for the fulfilment of prize obligations or the distribution of prizes; Vision cannot be held responsible for external competition organisers forwarding entrants’ details to similar companies.

Horror novelist Peter Lancett’s amazing new book is set to be this year’s sensational read and Vision has 10 signed copies to give away! When Kevin, a young homeless man in London, meets Jenny Marsten, he finds himself drawn into a supernatural quest to save her from a nightmare fate. He is joined by Lee-An, a woman who has been reincarnated many times and is taking revenge for her death through the centuries - but she has her own reasons for wanting to be close to the Marsten clan. Driven by love, he struggles to confront the forces that inhabit a darker, more sinister world - a world into which Jenny has been taken and now threatens to engulf him. Published by Bloodbinds and packed with references from ancient Sumerian and Celtic magic, this ill-fated love story captures both the heart and the imagination. At times it will chill you to the bone, have your blood curdling and heart pounding. To enter, simply answer the following question: What is the name of the reincarnated character taking revenge for her deaths? Answers via either e-mail or post to visioncomp@bloodbinds.com or The Iron Maiden Competition, Vision, Amadeus House, 6 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, LS25 1EQ, by April 21. BloodBinds is a publishing company with a difference. Visit www.bloodbinds.com. Email your own paranormal stories and photographs and join in cutting edge paranormal research. The Iron Maiden is available from Ottakar’s, Waterstone’s and all good booksellers now!

Next month

in Vision:

PLUS: Coven Corner, Destiny Doctors, Visionaries, May horoscopes and much more! Vision 3

In ancient Egypt many animals were revered, and their physical features transferred onto powerful deities. Cordelia Brabbs investigates the link between gods and animals, and looks into the background of some of the most popular Egyptian deities.

Horus.

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ncient Egypt was a society steeped in religion, mystery and magic. Between the sun-scorched deserts and the fertile plains of the Nile lived a people who looked to a vast pantheon of gods and goddesses for protection, healing and prosperity. Many of these deities, such as the sun god Ra, with whom many of the pharaohs were associated, were depicted in human form. Others, such as Horus, Bastet and Anubis, were portrayed either as animals or as humans with animal heads. This, however, did not mean that they were ‘animal gods’, or that it was the animal being worshipped. Rather, the Egyptians acknowledged the divine qualities of certain animals - such as the swiftness of the falcon - and transferred these attributes onto their deities. Portraying a god with an animal head was a means of symbolizing those qualities in visual form. Those animals that were linked with deities were viewed as sacred, and treated with due reverence. The cat and the ibis bird, for example, were kept in captivity by priests and sacrificed in mystical ceremonies. Egyptologists have uncovered tombs packed with mummified animals, indicating the significant role that these creatures played in religious life. Animals also had an important place in domestic society. Cows, sheep and dogs were used in farming or, in the case of the latter, kept as pets. Horses in particular were cherished, and treated with immense love and respect. However, it is still the images of the animal-headed deities that come to mind when we think of the ancient Egyptians, and it is their powerful energies on which Seichem and Egyptian Cartouche masters call when conducting their healing work.

Bastet The feline goddess Bastet was the divine embodiment of the cat – an animal that was only domesticated after 2000 BC. She was traditionally depicted as either a cat seated in a calm, majestic pose, or as a woman with a cat’s head. Because cats were thought to be the sacred animal of the sun god Apophis, many figurines and images wore a scarab on their heads and breasts as a symbol of the sun. Real cats were treated with reverence, and were carefully embalmed and mummified after their deaths.

Horus Horus, the falcon-headed god, was seen as the protector of the pharaoh, with each ruler being thought of as his human embodiment. The falcon earned the respect of the ancient Egyptians through its majestic flight and its hunger for battle – qualities they associated with divinity. The Egyptian hieroglyph for ‘king’ is a falcon, and on many tomb reliefs the pharaoh was shown praying to or standing next to Horus. A popular symbol in ancient Egypt was the ‘Eye of Horus’, which was carried as an amulet in the belief that it would ward off evil.

Hathor Known as ‘The Golden One’, Hathor was the cow-goddess in charge of physical pleasures such as music, art, and dance. As such her festivals were lengthy displays of drunkenness and merry-making. Hathor also represented the many forms of femininity from unmarried girls to mothers, and as well as protecting women in childbirth she was frequently depicted as suckling the pharaoh. Images of Hathor show either a woman with the ears and horns of a cow, or as a cow with the sun-disc between its horns.

Anubis The jackal-headed god of the dead was thought to preside over the embalming of corpses and to guide the deceased on the paths of the Underworld. Anubis was associated with the jackal because of the animal’s habit of scavenging in cemeteries. Tomb paintings show him leaning over mummies to perform mystical rites, yet Egyptologists believe these to be representations of priests wearing jackal masks. These Anubis priests would also be present at the person’s funeral, where they would open the mummy’s mouth, eyes, ears and nose so they could regain their senses in the afterlife.

Anubis.

Sekhmet Sekhmet – ‘The Powerful One’ - was the lion-headed daughter of the sun god Ra – whose fiery temper and ability to destroy was feared by the Egyptians. In one instance she was said to have gone on a killing spree, vowing to destroy all of humanity. Ra placed a vat of beer mixed with pomegranate juice in her path, which she mistook for blood and drank until she fell into an intoxicated sleep. In Egyptian society the lion was a noble animal associated with divinity, and was portrayed in paintings and sculptures as a regal and powerful beast.

Thoth Thoth, the moon god of wisdom, was sometimes associated with the baboon, but mostly with the ibis, a bird with a long, curved beak. The ibis was seen as a symbol of bliss, and in the late Egyptian period there was a huge ibis cemetery at Thoth’s cult centre in Hermopolis, where hundreds of thousands of the birds were mummified. As the inventor of writing and the patron of writers, Thoth was often depicted with the scribe’s tools. He was thought to record the verdict placed upon each soul in the Hall of Judgement after the person’s death.

Cordelia Brabbs is a writer who runs Spirit Script, a PR and marketing company for alternative therapists and New Age businesses. Her first book, Goddess Power Pack, will be published by Godsfield Press in September. Visit www.spiritscript.co.uk for more details or email cordelia.brabbs@btinternet.com

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Clare Sheridan investigates the ancient Egyptians’ use of crystals.

o many people jewellery is simply a fashion accessory – but to the ancient Egyptians, it was so much

more.

The Egyptians prized their gemstones – they possessed magical and spiritual properties. Crystals were also used in mummification rituals as well as in spells to protect themselves. Each mineral or metal was associated with a different god. If you examine the treasures found in the tombs

of the pharaohs – they sparkle with a plethora of gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, carnelian and malachite. But despite the abundance of gold used by the ancient Egyptians, silver was actually rarer and therefore classed as a more precious metal – the sarcophagus of Psusennes I was made entirely from silver. The gemstones which the Egyptians valued above all others were lapis lazuli, carnelian and turquoise.

The metal gold (right) had the properties of being indestructible and eternal – the same qualities as the sun. Many ancient Egyptians believed the gods’ flesh were made of gold – hence the abundance of gold statues and sarcophagi. The bones of the gods were thought to be made out of silver (right). Today gold is thought to activate the third eye and crown chakras as well as clear the other chakras and to improve inner potential.

The rich green malachite (left) was the symbol of joy and healing. It was worn by the ancient Egyptians to protect them against cholera and ground malachite was used in the manufacture of eye make-up and paints. Today it is commonly used for balancing, clarifying emotions and clearing and activating the chakras. It can also be used to treat asthma, arthritis, torn muscles and broken bones.

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A common way of wearing such stones was in amulets. These were worn from birth right through to death – and even into the afterlife - to protect against harm from evil spirits, illness and even natural disasters. The shape of the amulets were also important – the shape as well as the stone determined what the amulet protected against. Scarab amulets were worn to encourage long life – thanks to the scarab’s connection with the life-giving

Peridot (below) was revered by the ancient Egyptians and was thought to protect the wearer from evil spirits. It was known as the gem of the sun because it was so bright in the sunlight that it had to be cultivated at night. It was also used by the pharaoh’s counsel priests to keep their minds’ free from envious or jealous thoughts towards him. Today it can be used to help treat disorders of the heart, lungs and stomach ulcers. It is also good for cleansing and energizing the heart and solar plexus chakras.

sun. Green scarabs were placed in the heart cavities of mummies to guarantee new life and rebirth. The colour green represented health and new life. The symbol of the buckle of Isis was always made out of red stone – representative of the genitals of the god Isis - this was worn by women to imbue them with Isis’ wisdom and help with fertility. The eye of Horus was a powerful amulet placed on mummies and was

commonly made from lapis lazuli. It ensured the deceased would defeat his enemies in the next life. The Shen amulet was also sometimes made out of lapis lazuli, although predominantly it was made from carnelian. Associated with the sun god Ra it symbolised the sun on the horizon and ensured long life. The not so wealthy members of society who could not afford these gems replicated them in similar amulets with

A bright shade of red, carnelian (left) is known today to protect against fear as well as banish sorrow. It can also be used to treat allergies, colds, gall stones and can even cleanse negativity from other stones. The ancient Egyptians believed that amulets made from this ensured safe passage and protection through the afterlife.

Turquoise (right) was believed to protect the wearer from danger and offer foresight. It was also a symbol of prosperity. Today turquoise is known to stimulate the throat, heart and sacral chakras, is good for spiritual attunement and grounding, and is also soothing. It can protect against accidents and help heal physical damage. The world’s oldest known surviving piece of jewellery contains turquoise and stems from ancient Egypt – the gold and turquoise bracelet was found in 1900 when archaeologists excavated the tomb of Queen Zer.

brightly-coloured pieces of glass. Although they did not have the means to afford the gems, they still wanted the protection from the amulets. So next time you put on your jewellery or use any of the mentioned stones – just think of how you are following in the footsteps of the pharaohs! Main image is the Egyptian village Quam.© The James Christie Archive.

The beautiful blue lapis lazuli (above) was associated with the Nile and fertility as well as the sun – the Egyptians believed the hair of the gods was made out of lapis lazuli. The Egyptian name meant joy or delight and it was mixed with milk and slime from the Nile to treat cataracts. It was also ground down to make paint to adorn walls. Today it is known to expand awareness and can also be used over the third eye chakra to aid insight into dreams. It also energizes the throat and brow chakras, protect from physical and psychic attacks and help alleviate symptoms of insomnia, dizziness and boost the immune system.

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Peter Lancett examines the power of the dung beetle.

n insect that collects and eats dung might seem an unlikely talisman for a civilization as sophisticated as the ancient Egyptians. Yet the scarab as a representative icon of ancient Egypt is almost as commonplace as the pyramids. The scarab beetle (we will not call it a dung beetle) has certain unique characteristics that had symbolic value to Egyptian theology. It would have been observed collecting dung and fashioning this into a round ball. This it would roll, pushing with its hind legs, towards an underground burrow, where it would disappear with its prize. The dung ball itself served a dual purpose; on the one hand it was food for the scarab, on the other it served as an incubator for scarab larvae. One further characteristic of great significance to the Egyptians would also have been that the scarab would ALWAYS push its dung ball in the direction of the sun - from east to west. To the Egyptians, the scarab, rolling its dung, was representative of the sun’s heavenly journey across the sky. Egyptian iconography is replete with images of a scarab carrying the solar disc on its back. The scarab came to be associated specifically with the sun at the point of its rebirth – the sunrise. As such, the scarab was symbolic of the god Khepri – the god of the rising sun. Thus, the image of the scarab became intrinsically linked with solar worship. Khepri was the creator-god who brought the sun from the underworld and moved it through the sky. The god Khepri is represented in images as a man with a scarab for a head. Of course, the fact that the scarab rolled its ball from east to west, finally disappearing below ground, was likened to the way the sun itself seemed to disappear below the earth at sunset, thus completing the solar analogy in the Egyptian mind-set. The association with Khepri, the creator-god was further strengthened by the scarab’s act of laying its eggs in the buried dung. To the Egyptians, as the eggs hatched, the young seemed to emerge from the ground fully formed.

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The magical and mystical significance of this should not be underestimated. The scarab was believed to have the power to create life out of the earth, or from the earth. Life, furthermore, created following a period of secret, hidden, or occult transformation - the very stuff of alchemy. Indeed, the Egyptian verb to transform, or to come into existence, is Kheper. The hieroglyphic representation of Kheper is a scarab. The Egyptians believed that there were only male scarabs and the emergence of new scarabs from the balls of dung buried in the darkness was indicative of an act of pure creation on the part of the scarabs that had rolled them there. The scarab seemed, in this way, to demonstrate the reality of spontaneous generation; creation from an act of will. Again, there is the association with Khepri, the creator-god, the direct agent of the daily rebirth of the sun itself. Stone-carved scarabs were used as magical amulets, supposedly imbuing their wearers with the power of eternal life-renewal. Scarabs were also employed as talismans and royal seals, and the winged scarab was used in funeral rites. This funerary scarab amulet was one of several amulets dedicated to the sun god Ra, and was one of the most important of the many amulets associated with funerals. The scarab was also known as the protector of the heart, so this particular amulet was placed in a mummy’s heart cavity while a priest read from the Book of the Dead.

During life, Egyptians carried the scarab amulet to protect their hearts and give them long lives. The powerful symbol coupled with the words, images, or designs on the underside of the scarab, offered the wearer a safe and ordered world in both this life and the next. The power of the scarab amulet lay in its heka, a word often (though not accurately) translated as magic. Heka was, according to Egyptian beliefs, the energy that helped create the world, shaping order out of chaos. Elements of the Egyptians’ earthly realm all contained this creative energy. Connecting the image or symbol of any of these with an individual by means of an amulet established a power conduit that enabled that individual to maintain the order established in the beginning of time and, as a result, maintain order and help control many of the events in his or her own life. The scarab, then, is an unlikely symbol to represent a civilization that endured for thousands of years, but what it symbolised to the Egyptians – the mystery of life, death, rebirth and creation, order out of chaos – still has resonance in our modern world. As a talisman drawn on paper and worn over the heart, it still maintains its power to invigorate and protect and regenerate. As an emblem on which to focus while contemplating the mysteries of creation during meditation, it still has few equals. Email Peter at peter@bloodbinds.com for more details.

Stephen Holbrook stands before an audience on a nightly basis and asks them to believe in the afterlife – yet sometimes he cannot quite comprehend it himself! Clare Sheridan met the modest medium.

own-to-earth medium Stephen Holbrook is a regular on the live circuit – but he admits himself he is a sceptic! He has a reputation for being one of the UK’s most accurate mediums, but he has also built up a reputation for hard work - the man does all of his own publicity: “I don’t trust anyone else – I’ve got to have total control!” he jokes, “I work 28 nights a month, 9 months a year. I do all the advertising, press releases – even selling tickets on the door!” But Stephen is no stranger to his supernatural gift – he has possessed the talent since he was a young boy. At the tender age of 9 he was woken up in the early hours of the morning by the ghost of his grandfather. “He came into my bedroom and stood there. He said ‘I have gone – go and tell your mother’. She put me back to bed – she thought I was dreaming. But the next morning my sister came in and told me he had died.”

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“

There were no more occurrences until he was 16 when he accidentally brushed the hand of a lady in a supermarket and was a given a message about her dead son. His ability led to some rather surreal moments: “I started going swimming and I’d touch someone by accident. I would say ‘Who’s George?! I’ll catch you in the next lane as you come back up!’” he said. But he wasn’t always so willing to embrace this rare skill: “It got on my nerves. I decided I had to get rid of it. I went to my GP and he recommended I go to a spiritualist church!” He did, and that was where he met one of his closest friends, singer Jane McDonald. “The only people there under 60 were me and Jane,” he fondly remembered. “Her gran was president of the church. I watched and thought ‘I can do that’. One of the mediums cancelled one day and I did it instead.” But talking to Spirit is not his only talent – he ran a very successful hairdressing salon in Leeds for 17 years before forsaking that to be a medium full-time. “Spirit moved me out. I’ve never looked back – there’s nothing better. It’s the best job in the world. I enjoy what I do - I don’t do it for the money,” he said. The 38-year-old was born in Wakefield and has kept his home in West Yorkshire – but he travels all over the country with his demonstrations. He’s clairaudient so he regularly hears Spirit but rarely sees them. Sometimes he finds it hard to believe: “I’m sceptical! But I know I would never give a message if it’s not 100 per cent. I’d never cheat – I’d give up, it’s not worth it. “I have to have proof – I’ve always had a problem with blind faith. But most religions agree and promote the idea of eternal life. I presume when you get to the next world there are certain things you would do – certain things you will probably have missed out on when you were down here that you have not been able to fulfil. “When you get over to the next world I assume you do work which is

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I’m sceptical! But I know I would never give a message if it’s not 100 per cent.

”

similar to this life. I don’t really want to know too much – what will be, will be. It’s healthy for me not to have any aspects or goals because life has a knack of turning corners when you least expect it to – sometimes it’s better to plod along seeing what opportunities come up.”

Now a veteran of the live circuit, Stephen loves demonstrating before an audience: “There are 3 categories of people who come to the shows: the men who are dragged along who sit there with their arms folded; the people who think ‘If he comes to me I’m off!’; and my favourite – the ones that sit there and say ‘come on mother’. I love them all. “My evenings are electrically charged. I cry at every single one but I also laugh – and so does the audience. I’m really hyper when I demonstrate… one woman in Glasgow actually stood up and said ‘For God’s sake, sit yourself down – you’re making me dizzy!’” And it is that live audience that has made him turn down numerous lucrative TV deals. He prefers to keep it ‘real’ and unedited: “If I die a death on

stage, people will see – it would be awful but I’d deal with it. It’s a learning curve for me.” Despite his experience, he still sometimes has trouble getting his message across: “You don’t change when you die. Spirits never say who they are or where they lived etc – they expect you to know! It’s never crystal clear – I pride myself on the fact that people seem to be gobsmacked with the accuracy and the content of what comes through at my shows,” he said. But his abilities do not stop there – he has had some psychic experience too – which usually occurs in dream form. He had premonitions of both the September 11 World Trade Center and Asian tsunami disasters. Stephen’s family take his profession all in their stride – particularly his wife, Caroline. “She is so relaxed – she takes it with a pinch of salt and just accepts it. We’ve been together 17 years.” And she has every reason to accept it as Stephen once channelled the spirit of the late entertainer Marti Caine – who helped him and his family get through Caroline’s battle with cancer. Thanks to a prime example of synchronicity he came across Marti’s book and discovered she had suffered with the same rare form of cancer which Caroline beat. His three children Robbie (10), Bradley (8), and Ellie (5) don’t bat an eyelid either. In fact his eldest has designs on following in his father’s footsteps: “Robbie says he’s going to be a medium because it’s cool!” I doubt Stephen would discourage him if he had the gift, as he says himself: “It’s the best job in the world – giving people comfort is priceless.” Stephen is currently in the middle of a nationwide tour. Visit www.steveholbrook.co.uk for more details or call 01823 660164 to book tickets.

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by David Wharmby – founder of the Bassetlaw Ghost Research Society.

he concept of death means different things to different individuals, faiths and religions. To many, upon death you simply die and that is the end. Others believe there is a resurrection under their God, and then there are those who believe there is an afterlife into which your spirit moves upon death. Religion teaches the multitudes that God will bring about a just and final end to the world in which we live. However, many believe that upon death the spirit moves to spirit world or heaven, where upon death they are met by loved ones or friends. If the latter is to be believed could this explain why people claim that ghosts or spirits appear to them? If so what of the ghosts that are said to still walk the earth, or even haunt a certain location? It is widely believed that each person has a pathway to follow in their own individual lives, but should something occur in that pathway that wasn’t meant to be, this can alter the very meaning of that individual’s goal or purpose. If they suffer death before their due time (ie accident or murder) could this reflect upon this person’s passing over to the spirit world? Could this explain why so many ghosts wander the earth? Or could it be they are simply awaiting the call of their God? The Egyptians were strong believers in life after death, but they felt like many that it would not be immediately granted upon death - their

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great gods would raise them in time, and this is why they endeavoured to preserve their physical bodies as much as possible. We all know that upon death they were mummified, but do you know to what extent they actually took this? High Priests insisted that upon the death of royalty, their internal organs were removed and placed in sealed jars alongside their bodies. Different jars were used for different organs, and then the body was filled with a resin to keep it intact as much as possible. The body was then wrapped in material rather like bandages. But what happened to the spirit of these people? Egypt has been classed as a place of high paranormal activity over the years for the simple reason that the spirits of those long since dead are still waiting for the time when their god will fetch them. Renowned ghost hunter and colleague in this field, Eddie Burks, spoke of the fact that the souls are still here wandering and waiting and that he alone had passed over multitudes of spirit to the other side - but he went onto to say that the number of past Egyptians who had not passed over were still in their thousands. Deciphered hieroglyphics tell the stories of an afterlife and what they felt would occur upon death - spells and incantations were used in order to protect them on their journey. So what does this all mean, are we to accept that upon death we do actually move over to spirit world, does our spirit

go or stay - is spirit a reality? For decades these questions have been asked and many paranormal investigators, scientists and psychologists, still today endeavour to find proof of such a possibility. The Bassetlaw Ghost Research Group diligently studies this feasibility. We have encountered many inexplicable things during our research which have led us to the conclusion that if there isn’t life after death, there is definitely something yet to be discovered by mankind. I have personally studied this field for over 26 years and still question myself. Despite what I have witnessed and heard, I believe there to be a spirit of a past life. Let us hope that one day the evidence is found and that mankind will be able to accept this very concept. Visit www.ghost-research.org for more details about Bassetlaw Ghost Research Society.

Oh mummy! Clare Sheridan burrows beneath the bandages… The bodies of those who were to be mummified were dried out with a salt mixture called natron, which was found along the Nile. The brains of mummies were removed via the nostrils by a large bronze needle with a hooked end. The liver, stomach, intestines and lungs were placed in Canopic Jars – these had lids shaped like the four sons of the god Horus. The heart was left intact because it was believed that the essence of the deceased person lived there. An amulet was often placed over the heart. The body was then ritually cleansed and purified. The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony was performed on the mummy at the funeral and was believed to restore the senses of the deceased. The Egyptians believed that a person was made out of six elements: their physical body; their shadow; their name; their ka (spirit); their ba (personality); and their akh (immortality). All these elements joined a person at their birth and were necessary to achieve a re-birth after death. The ka (spirit or soul) lived in the tomb and offerings such as food, drink and worldy possessions were left for it. The ba (personality) was believed to leave the physical body at death and move freely between the underworld and the physical world. It could take on different forms. The akh was immortal and joined the gods in the underworld. It was created after death through spells and ensured the person could not die a second time. The mummification process took 70 days. The preservation of the physical body was thought to ensure a successful re-birth into the afterlife. Ushabti were uniformed figurines placed in the tombs to do work in the afterlife on behalf of the deceased. There were 401 in each tomb – 365 for each day of the year and 36 foremen. The walls of the tombs were inscribed with texts from The Book of the Dead, The Book of the Gates and The Book of the Underworld.

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by Catherine Vander Cammen

n ancient Egypt people believed in the magical powers of dreams and premonitions. Perhaps even today we unwittingly refer to this power when we use the expressions “a dream holiday”, “having a bad dream”, and “a dream come true”. How many of us have heard stories about people being saved from accidents after experiencing a premonitory dream? A well-known Biblical story refers to an event that took place in the Middle Kingdom during the reign of King Amenemhat. Joseph - son of Jacob interpreted the following dream: “The king was standing near the river Nile. Out of the river came seven fat cows. Soon after, came out seven lean cows. Then, the seven lean cows ate the seven fat cows!” Joseph told the king that it was a prophetic dream representing seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. The king decided to store enough food to cover the needs of his people thus saving Egypt from tragedy. In the ancient Egyptian civilisation, people believed in the principles of rebirth and the underworld. That was based on the concept of survival of the soul. The journey of the sun illustrates their beliefs: the sun appears in the east symbolising awakening, life and rebirth, and it disappears in the west, representing sleep and death. To the Egyptians, dreams were experiences outside their control. To them, sleep was like a journey in the underworld. Dreams took place during that journey. The dream zone was like a window through which they could see and speak with deities, the dead, spirits and monsters. Dreams were a very effective way of communicating with the gods. Temples were erected and dedicated to gods such as Hathor, Isis, Ptah and Serapis. There, people would incubate

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and sleep under the protection of their favourite deity. Hathor was very popular. Many believed in the goddess’s kindness and turned to her for guidance in personal matters. Hathor was known as the ‘mother’. She was associated with love, music and dance. The Ramesside Dream book contains detailed records from the Middle Kingdom. The ancient scripts suggest that there were different types of dreams: Simple dreams: In which answers (yes/no) were given to everyday situations; Incubated dreams: These took place in a temple. The practice of fasting was well spread and based on the understanding that it would enhance receptivity; General dreams: The message would either be god or bad. For example, dreaming of a cat: was good dream. It meant that there would be no mice or rats in the fields. The crops would be strong and healthy. Eating grapes was good dream. It was associated with wine and wealth. Eating figs was bad dream. It suggested that there may be some health problems. Figs were used as medicines. Many of the scriptures referred to the Egyptians’ fear of bad dreams! They believed that bad dreams were responsible for poor health, diseases and unhappiness and should not be spoken about. This was based on the concept that when the words are spoken, they become alive!

The effects of a bad dream were neutralised with rituals. Symbols were drawn in red ink on a piece of pottery or a figurine which was broken and buried so that the power would no longer cause any harm. When the dreamer sought a cure or healing, ancient texts containing medico magical rituals were found. They covered the use of spells, burning incense, dietary regimen made from herbs, beer and myrrh. Nightmares were caused by monsters and demons from the underworld. Dreamers felt crushed and tormented by demonic beings. Amulets and talismans were used to protect the sleeper. Beds were decorated with powerful deities to fight unwanted spirits. Prophetic dreams were visions into the future. Tuthmosis IV fell asleep in the shadow of a tree. In his dream he saw Kepri-Ra who told him that he would become king and reunite the two lands known as Upper and Lower Egypt. Upon waking, Tuthmosis promised to restore the Sphinx should the dream come true. He kept his promise! Talismans, gems, crystals, incense and other sleep rituals are still part of the paraphernalia of modern sleepers. Although our lifestyle and beliefs have changed, residues from the ancient Egyptian culture have survived the test of time. Catherine Vander Cammen is a therapist who specialises in Oneirology. She is a member of Oniros and the European Association for the Study of Dreams. She can be contacted by email at info@vandercammen.co.uk

Once upon a time, in ancient Babylon, lived a Rabbi called Hisda. One night, he had a strange dream which he could not understand. He sought guidance from the best experts in the field. Later, when asked who gave the best interpretation, he replied: “I consulted 25 specialists, they gave me 25 different interpretations... they were right!” This example illustrates the complexity of Oneirology. The purpose of the following is to guide you in your own dream exploration process.

Common dreams beginning with the letter Dance In many cultures, dance is a celebration, a form of language, to express feelings and emotions. In some traditions, dancing is a form a healing. Symbolically, this may indicate the need to express yourself in a more creative way. You may wish to get closer to others. Danger Dreaming of a dangerous situation is not usual and may reflect existing worries and anxiety in your life. Your unconscious mind may be alerting you of a potential risk. Psychologically, you may be feeling isolated or trapped. In any case, it is worth looking at all aspects of the dream and its outcome. Indeed, you may feel ready to tackle some unfinished business. Dark Symbolically, this may be a reflection of how you feel in your daily life and it may highlight a sense of insecurity and uncertainty. Psychologically, you may have been feeling lonely, confused or depressed. Spiritually, this may be a sign that are going through a testing time. Remember the saying: ‘there is light at the end of the tunnel’! Death In many traditions, “the small death” is a ritual used as a form of initiation to mark the passage from one state to another: birth, puberty and marriage. This symbol is present in the tarot and refers to a state of transformation. Although frightening, this type of dream suggests that you are going through some changes. You may have to go through the process of ‘letting go’ or losses before you can move on. The Devil Beware of illusions for the devil has many faces! Throughout the world, art has portrayed the devil as a charmer or a frightening being. The devil is

represented in the arcana 15 of the tarot and refers to the darker side of our personality: greed, anger and addictions. Perhaps you feel that your life is out of control! Spiritually, you may wish to protect yourself from negative energies. Doctor The question is: did you see yourself as the patient or the doctor? The doctor may represent the healer or shaman within! These types of dream can awaken some knowledge and skills which were not apparent before. It is possible that you may have had a past life recall. Alternatively, your unconscious may be trying to alert your attention to a specific health matter that has been ignored or neglected. Dog In ancient Egypt, one of the dog’s functions was to accompany humans in the underworld. The qualities of the dog are: faithfulness, protection and unconditional love. The dream may help you to discover your own hidden inner qualities. This type of dream may help you to understand the quality of your relationship with significant others. Dolphins This symbolism is associated with water and regeneration. Mythology tells us the story of drunken pirates who fell in the sea and were transformed into dolphins. There have been numerous evidences of dolphins rescuing people. You may be able to identify with qualities attributed to dolphins such as wisdom and intelligence. If you have been feeling down, this may be a healing dream. Door The door symbolises the passage from one room to another, the known/unknown, light/dark. Psychologically, the door may be inviting you to make a decision, a change. This

‘D’

may involve leaving something behind before moving to the next stage. Spiritually, you may be accessing new knowledge. Drinking Symbolically, drinking refers to our basic needs. Without fluid, the body would not survive. It is interesting to note that drinking and talking involve the mouth. Absorption versus expression. Now may be the time to ‘take in’ new information. Alternatively, your body may be feeling dehydrated. Or, it may simply be a sign for a celebration! Drowning Water is associated with emotions, so this may suggest that you are perhaps dealing with a difficult situation or demanding people. Drowning may be indicative of how you feel: out of control or losing control. Symbolically, your body is perhaps ‘drowning’. Watch out for signs of fluid retention! Why not take some breathing space? Drum According to old texts, the drum was the first instrument created by human. Music is a form of communication, allowing us to get closer to the divine, ourselves and others. The drumming can be a reminder of the time we spent in our mother’s womb and her heartbeat. Theories suggest that sounds have powerful healing properties which explains why drumming is used in most ritualistic ceremonies. In a dream, the drum may represent your life rhythm and show whether you are ‘in tune’ with your soul purpose! This may be a call for more creativity or life readjustments.

Catherine Vander Cammen is a therapist specialising in oneirology. Contact her via email at info@vandercammen.co.uk

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Essential

oils

Anne Marrino (pictured) investigates the Egyptian origins of aromatherapy – a therapy which balances both the body and the mind.

any people envisage aromatherapy as a fragrant, luxurious massage. However, the real onus in the therapy is NOT on aroma; but the properties and powers of the oils themselves. The therapy embodies the principle of using carefully selected blends of essential oils to help alleviate physical and psychological problems. It is neither wholly a beauty treatment nor an alternative therapeutic treatment but a combination, treating both the mind and the body. Aromatherapy has been practiced all over the world in places such as Greece, France and the Arab world. However, it is ancient Egypt that really led the way regarding the use of oils and the plants. The essential oils derived from these plants have been used in the same way for thousands of years. The Egyptians used aromatics from around 3000 years BC to embalm their dead, as well as for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Papyrus documents dating from about 2890 BC show they used some of the plants medicinally – integrating aromatics into pills, powders, suppositories, medicinal purees, ointments and pastes for external use from a wide variety of plants such as aniseed, onions, cedar, garlic, coriander, grapes and even watermelons! There are records etched on clay tablets which record that oils such as cedar and cypress were imported, which demonstrates a trade in oils existed however, they did not know how to distill the oils themselves. These days Basil, Black Pepper and Neroli are the only oils to originate from Egypt. Generally, aromatherapists work with around 60 different oils, which all have different properties. Carrier oil (which forms the base of the massage oil) is selected first of all and is used to treat skin type - grapeseed oil is good for oily skin or sweet almond oil for dry skin.

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A blend of essential oils are added to the carrier oil, chosen for their specific properties. A patient with poor circulation would benefit from the oils eucalyptus or rosemary, or for eczema, Bergamot or geranium are very useful. An aromatherapist will blend a selection of oils to combat a variety of ailments, sometimes as many as 8 or 10 and it is in this synergy of the oils where the skill lies. One cannot throw together any old combination, as certain oils do not blend well with others - Tea tree should always be used alone for example. Other oils can produce an extremely unpleasant odour or more seriously, can work against the client - these contra-indications are certain oils which cannot be used on the client. If someone has a kidney disease or disorder, juniper oil must be avoided due to its nephrotoxic action, and an insomniac must avoid peppermint oil as it can cause wakefulness, particularly if used late in the day or for prolonged periods, despite its other redeeming qualities. So essential oils should always be used with respect and caution; 1 drop of oil is said to be 70 times stronger than its counterpart herb. Oils belong to different plant families and have either a top, middle or bottom note and it is these factors, along with their individual properties and powers, which determine the synergy of a successful blend. A conscientious and properly qualified aromatherapist will

always complete a thorough medical questionnaire with a client in order to be aware of any contra-indications and to select the best possible oils for their particular problems. The only oil which can be said to be suitable for everyone is lavender as it has no precautionary effects and can be applied neat to the skin. When having an aromamassage, never be afraid of asking what oils are being used and why - a good aromatherapist will be only to too happy to explain, and be wary if no questions are asked regarding medical matters. There are other ways to benefit from oils apart from massage: they can be inhaled via a few drops on a handkerchief; used with water to make a compress and placed upon the afflicted body part; 6 to 8 drops can be added to bathwater or placed in a vaporizer; or oil can be placed in an oil burner to scent a room. A massage with oils is a wonderfully relaxing and pampering experience as it works on different levels – the scent of the oils has a profound effect on the mood, the massage comforts and relaxes, and the individual properties of the oils work their own effects on the body’s systems. So take a leaf out of the Egyptians’ book and pamper yourself! Anne is currently studying for an ITEC qualification in aromatherapy. She is based in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, and can be contacted on 07903 848804.

Yoga therapist and energy healer Karl Hemmings of Willow Lodge Healing Therapies takes us on a captivating journey to reveal the ancient Egyptians’ magical medicine.

lose your eyes and cast your mind back to the time 1500 BC. To a place in the Middle East where magic and healing go hand in hand. Where gods and goddesses unleash their wrath in a series of unfortunate events or bestow their favours in the form of boons in response to the dedication of their followers. Our story begins…

The goddess Sekhmet. Image © WebZEN.

You are awoken by the morning prayers from the nearby temple. As you rise from your bed you notice that you are clad in a soft, flowing, beautifully embroidered linen robe that is delicately scented with rose and lemon grass. As you walk towards the window your senses are tantalised by the subtle, but compelling aroma of burning incense carried on the dry, warm air - the familiar essences of frankincense, juniper berry and myrrh. Sleepily gazing out of your window to the courtyard you see royal attendants scurrying around. Your bedroom doors open and a line of attendants shuffle into the room. Heads bowed slightly as a sign of respect, they carry your freshly cleaned morning garments and an array of precious ointments. As your robe is drawn gently from your body you are washed with warm, aromatic water and massaged from head to toe with oil infused with blue lotus flower. You close your eyes and immerse yourself in the exquisite experience. Taking a deep breath you manage to catch the fleeting fragrance of honey and willow bark rising from the oil as your body heat sends them cascading upwards toward the ceiling. ”The temple’s priest-physician has outdone himself with THIS concoction,” you think to yourself as you reluctantly recall why the massage has been administered every morning and evening for the past 5 days. You are now at the other side of what had been diagnosed as a terrible fever caused by your reluctance to attend the ceremonies to Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess of war and healing. “I should have paid attention to my father’s warning… he said that my intolerance and lack of respect to the royal Sekhmet ceremonies could cause our people great misfortune, and me a discomforting illness!’ Discomfort is soothed away as your morning robes are lovingly wrapped around you. Clasping your hands in prayer you turn toward the lion-headed statue of Sekhmet sitting at the foot of your bed. Having already sipped your bitter tasting medicine you remember to recite your invocation from the Ebers Papyrus as insisted by the priest-physician: “Come Remedy! Come thou who expellest evil things in this my stomach and in these my limbs!”

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This snapshot from the life of a royal princess undergoing the final stages of her healing is based upon detailed writings from various medical papyrus and glyphs from royal Egyptian tombs. There is no doubt about it, if you had to be ill in ancient times then it would probably have been best to have lived in Egypt and have had access to their countless remedies. The Egyptians considered injuries and illness to be caused by the gods when they were displeased with your personal conduct or devotion. If any one of the gods were neglected by the people, they would unleash their wrath in the form of plagues and pestilence. Because illness was thought to be the work of the gods, the body had to be cleansed of wrong-doing and the gods appeased. Expunging illness and correcting imbalance was the role of the priest-physicians or swnw (pronounced soo-noo). Specialists in their work, they drew upon not only an extensive knowledge of the various medicinal herbs of their own country and those with which they often traded, but also the healing qualities of water, honey, sunlight and moonlight. Physicians would know all of the appropriate spells and remedies and also the causes of illness or injury. The swnw were integrated into Egyptian society and often resided in the great temples where they perfected and practiced their art. Not only those of royal blood were privy to their healing powers. Healers were accessible to every level of society, including the working classes who would visit them as you or I would visit our own GP or complementary therapist. As true believers in the power of natural remedy and magic, they used both to rid a person of illness and drive out evil spirits. To cure an illness or to encourage a broken limb to heal, the swnw would prescribe prayers and incantations for the client to recite both before and after applying the ointment. The prayer would request help from the appropriate god or gods and intensify the natural healing qualities of the ingredients of the ointments. Magical amulets such as the Wedjet eye (eye of Horus) which means ‘that which is whole’ would also have been prescribed, to encourage healing. Some amulets were used to ward off evil and prevent the illness from taking the life of the victim. Interestingly, medicines such as those created with herbs were

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Above: The Ebers Papyrus; Right: A royal princess is treated for her ailment. Images © WebZEN.Visit www.webzen.co.uk

thought to moderate pain or discomfort only, and it was believed to be the magic that really effected the cure. The Ebers Papyrus, which dates from about 1552 BC, is the oldest preserved medical document and it concisely states the beliefs of the time: “Magic is effective together with medicine. Medicine is effective together with magic.” It is known that the common cold plagued the inhabitants of ancient Egypt as much as it does the people of modern times. Their remedy, ‘the milk of a mother who has given birth to a boy’, is most certainly as effective as anything we have available today. They also had an invocation to help rid the patient of the complaint. The ancient Egyptians also had fascinating remedies for everyday complaints including stomach upsets (a concoction of cow’s milk, grains, honey and mash); bowel trouble (Melilot and dates cooked in oil which anointed the sick area); and headaches (a mixture of flour, incense, wood of wa, waneb plant, mint, horn of stag, sycamore seeds, mason’s plaster, seeds of zart and water, applied to the head). So next time you’re ill, spare a thought for what you may have had to have endured to be cured in ancient Egypt! Karl Hemmings is a yoga therapist and energy healer at Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Staffordshire. Visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for more details.

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Reflexologist Alison Holroyd examines the ancient practice of reflexology.

he feet and hands may not be the first place you would think of to tackle any physical ailments, but the sole of the foot is a unique representation of the internal human body. Reflexology has progressed greatly over the last 5,000 years. It is believed that the ancient Egyptians were one of the first cultures to practice it in its early stages. Detailed illustrations demonstrating how feet were held and massaged were found in tombs which date back to 2,330 BC. There is also evidence that reflexology was known to the primitive tribes of Africa as well as the Native Americans. The two names who pioneered it in the twentieth century were Dr William Fitzgerald and Eunice Ingham. Dr

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Fitzgerald was an ear, nose and throat consultant who began offering a form of treatment which later became known as Zone Therapy. Dr Fitzgerald noticed that when carrying out minor operations on different patients with the same disorder, some would feel considerable pain while others would feel very little. He found that those who felt little produced an anaesthetic effect by applying pressure to different areas of their body â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in some cases he had applied the pressure himself. Further investigation led him to develop Zone Therapy in which the feet and hands were vertically divided into ten zones: when pressure was applied in a certain zone, it would effect other areas of the body which lay in the same zone. Eunice Ingham examined Dr

Fitzgeraldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work and through it developed modern-day reflexology. Thanks to Dr Fitzgeraldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s findings, she realized that the entire body could be treated by applying pressure to different zones on the hands and feet. The pressure increases circulation to that particular zone inside the body, thus promoting bodily and muscular functions. Reflexology works in harmony with the systems of the body and can help re-balance it and remove any energy blockages or toxins which may be present. This uplifting and deeply relaxing experience is particularly effective for combating common ailments such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, PMS, sinus problems and much more. See below and opposite for our practical guide to simple reflexology for common ailments.

Relax with reflexology Simply place mild pressure with the thumbs on the following areas and work around that region to alleviate symptoms: Corresponding region on foot: - Stomach/small intestine - Toes/eyes/ear areas - Big toe - Kidney area - Bladder area - Lung area

Ailment it combats: Irritable Bowel Syndrome Sinus problems Headaches Water infections Cystitis Asthma

Alison offers reflexology sessions from her base in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Call 01977 799693 or 0787 656 1132 for more details.

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Seichem Master and complementary therapist Alison Holroyd reveals the mysteries of the ancient healing system of Seichem.

eichem is a powerful hands-on healing system which was practiced in the temples of ancient Egypt long ago. An Egyptian word meaning a person’s ‘God Energy’, Seichem is known to be at least 2,500 years-old and was mentioned in the same sutras (ancient teachings) as Reiki, by the Buddha of Healing. It was thought to be channelled by the priests in ancient Egypt - but it also has a strong Buddhist connection: the Buddhist monks were thought to have used the symbols for meditation. Over the millennia it was gradually forgotten until it was re-discovered by Dr Mikao Usui in the late nineteenth century. Dr Usui was the dean of a small Christian university in Kyoto, Japan. When he was asked one day how Christ healed, Dr Usui could not provide an answer. He travelled to the United States where he studied a theology degree – but still he found no answers. He pondered the relationship between Jesus and Buddha which made him wonder if the teachings of Buddha would give him any clues - it was then that he returned to Japan to study in the Buddhist monasteries. But his research led him to the discovery that Buddha could only heal the spirit alone – Usui decided to learn the Sanskrit language to enable him to read the Tibetan scrolls. These gave him the intellectual answers he needed but not the physical skills. His next sought advice from an abbott at AnZen Monastery. They meditated and both decided that Usui should fast and meditate for 21 days. He ventured to Mount Kuri Yoma, where he gathered 21 stones to act as his calendar and settled down to face the East. On the final day, Usui prayed for an answer. It was then that he saw a flicker of light coming

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towards him. The light hit his third eye and split into a million rainbow-coloured bubbles which slowly turned white. Each bubble contained a symbol which passed slowly through Usui. His digestion of these symbols attuned him to the healing energy – hence the re-discovery of Seichem and also Reiki – the earth-based healing energy. Seichem is a healing system which incorporates the 3 elemental healing rays of fire, water, and air/spirit. The fire element is represented by Sakara – a tingling feeling through the hands which works on the body’s aura. The water element is linked to Sophi-El, which opens the heart to love and feel compassion. It also enhances psychic awareness, increases intuitive abilities and is perceived as a gentle pulsating coolness. The spirit and air element are combined to form the Angeliclight energy. It is felt as a light, cool breeze, and helps to heal both the throat and third eye chakras. It also helps raise the link between healer and angelic realms, thus aiding contact with angels, guides and higher beings. The energies can work either individually or together, depending on the person being healed. Would-be healers must be attuned to the energy by a Seichem Master, who opens a channel in the student through which the energies can flow. It is recommended that would-be students are first attuned to Reiki before they attempt the more powerful Seichem. The energy helps promote personal and spiritual growth in those attuned to it, and can even increase and heighten psychic awareness. An excellent form of stress-release, it also works as a wonderful preventative treatment which helps keep the mind, body and spirit in top condition. Alison teaches Seichem and also offers treatments from her base in Pontefract. For more details call 01977 799693 or 0787 656 1132.

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by Margrit Coates the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no 1 animal healer.

here is a lot of information around about chakras in humans but not everyone is aware that chakras exist in animals and birds too. Pet owners can help their animals through an understanding of the animal chakra system and how healing energy can be channelled through them. There are, however, fundamental differences between human and animal chakras, the main being that humans have seven major chakras and animals have eight.

Key chakra Location: Shoulder area. Can help: Human/ animal relationships. Letting go of past traumas (emotional and physical). Activates all the other chakras.

Heart chakra Location: Centre of the chest and across the upper back. Can help: Sending love to the animal, grief and sadness, re-homed pets and horses, shock both physical and mental.

Crown chakra Location: On top of the head between the ears. Can help: Head/face injuries (never touch directly in this case, hold the hand above the head), back problems, skin/fur/feather conditions.

Solar plexus chakra Location: Across the abdomen and middle of the back. Can help: Release of emotions, behavioural issues,tummy upsets, the liver, working dogs.

Brow chakra Location: Forehead just above the eyes. Can help: Communication, sending thoughts to the animal, stressed animals.

Sacral chakra Location: Across the pelvis. Can help: Back and hip problems, the reproductive system, the liver and kidneys, rebalancing the whole body.

Throat chakra Location: Under the jaw and back of the neck. Can help: Expression, animals that have been denied company, mouth and throat problems.

Base or root chakra Location: At the top of the tail. Can help: Excitable animals, after shock, re-homed pets, separation, weaning.

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As far as I can find out I was the first person to notice this and therefore I have named the eighth chakra the ‘ Key’ or Brachial Major Chakra (found over the shoulder area). Since writing about chakras and my discovery extensively in my book Hands on Healing for Pets, I have been contacted by people who also have a specialist interest in animal chakras, saying that they too have noticed this energy centre. One of them, a vet in Australia will be writing about the ‘ Key’ chakra discovery, and how she too found it, in her forthcoming book solely about animal energy centres. Another major difference between animal chakras and human ones is that in animals they are bigger and brighter in relation to body size than in people. This is because animals are more connected to the universal source of all life and the universal intelligence, whereas humans are affected by many factors that create energy disturbance including lifestyle and stress. Chakras emit light, and meridians crisscross and intersect with them so therefore everything is interconnected. Hands on healing is very beneficial at keeping chakras in our pets balanced, as is veterinary acupuncture (because this works on the meridians which intersect the chakras). I believe that any pet or horse who has had an injury or surgery should have either one or ideally both of these treatments to help the body recover as quickly as possible. The emotional side of things should not be overlooked either as where there is any physical ailment or trauma there will be an emotional link. Animals are the same as us in that they too get depressed and upset when they have had an accident, surgery or feel below par. I cannot stress enough therefore that pets and horses in this situation should be offered a holistic therapy to help them including any of the following - hands on healing over the chakras, acupuncture and homeopathy. The only one of these three that

brings in energy from the universal source is healing, the other two work on re-balancing the energy that already exists within the body. In the clinic that I am involved with we offer the whole package for pets and horses as well as veterinary physiotherapy so that all aspects of wellbeing are catered for. As with people, when an animal is depressed, depleted or ill, the chakras will mirror that state of affairs and we can scan over the body with our hands to detect this. Many people find it difficult to detect chakras in humans when they hold their hands over their bodies but can easily pick them up in animals. This is because animal chakras are more in tune with the cosmos, and another good reason why it is good for us to give healing over their chakras. The ‘Key’ chakra plays a particularly special role in this cosmic attunement in that it connects human and pet/horse together on a spiritual level, and it is the chakra of transformation. Many times when I have asked a client to place a hand over this on an animal and send love to him or her, a huge surge has followed releasing both from much unhappiness and negative energy. The colours of the seven commonly known chakras are well documented and when I discovered the eighth major animal chakra I also had to uncover the colour and planetary influence of it. There followed a period where I did a lot of soul searching and meditation with cats, dogs and horses to come up with the answers. The colour is black and the planet is Pluto. I write in depth about this in my books and to how the revelation unfolded. This information too has since been confirmed by other chakra experts. Chakras

exist with all creatures that have a vertebrae, but energy flows through all living creatures, and non-living things too for that matter (eg rocks, crystals and wood). We are all connected as part of the whole and chakras, whilst containing an individual energy signature for each human, pet, horse, bird etc, link us all together like a giant system of invisible threads reaching out and wrapping everything together. In larger animals such as cats, dogs, rabbits and horses, the chakra points can easily be found by holding a hand or fingers over them, whereas in smaller animals and birds they are more difficult to detect. I suggest with these pets simply give healing to anywhere on the body, as this will reach the whole body on all levels in the same way and flow through the chakras. Simply hold your hand or fingers above the chakra points and send loving thoughts. Healing from the universal source will then flow through you to help on whatever level is possible. Advice must always be sought from a vet for any problem with pets and horses, and hands on healing should be used alongside any orthodox treatment needed, not instead of it. Margrit Coates is a registered healer and partner in a clinic offering natural therapies for animals. Her partners are a homeopathic vet and a veterinary physiotherapist. Margrit is the author of 2 groundbreaking books on animal healing, and a CD of animal healing music.

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Seed Moon Esbat ritual

pril is here and this month we will see a great show of birth and growth all around us. So this month, we need to blossom and perhaps spread our wings to encompass new interests. You could do this by simply joining a group of like-minded people; taking a night class; going out with friends that you haven’t seen for a while; or perhaps trying to find new love. Bring flowers of vibrant colours such as reds and yellows into your home and feel the warmth slowly return to the earth and your life.

Georgia

As this month has no Sabbat (one of the eight rituals that make up the Wiccan Wheel of the Year), so we’re going to perform a ritual to celebrate the full moon. This type of ritual is known as an Esbat (‘minor celebration’) and involves the worshiping of the moon’s phases. Some witches celebrate each phase: from waxing (when the moon grows from new to full) to full, and waning to new (when the moon decreases from full to new), whilst others simply celebrate the full moon. Though there are only 12 calendar months in each year, but there are 13 full moons. So in a single month of the year, two full moons occur; which means extra powerful magic! The Esbat for the month of April is named the Seed Moon and marks the time to sow your seeds for the coming year. Ask for help in things you want to start or that need to grow such as a new business, a school project or the courage to bring about change in your life. Remember that we never ask for more than we need and we should never impose upon the free will of another person.

Seed Moon Esbat Spell You will need: 1 white candle; 1 red candle; 1 pin; 1 small piece of cloth; 1 charm: this will vary depending on the type of spell you choose to cast. It could be a coin for a money spell, a pen for a spell to help with written or school work; or perhaps a business card or letterhead to represent a new business in a good luck spell. If the weather permits, perform your ritual outdoors, - if not, choose a window from which you can see the full moon. Take the pin and on the white candle, inscribe words that describe the things you need to

help you to achieve your goals. For example: more time to yourself; a helping hand from friends; extra money; or inspiration. On the red candle, inscribe all of the things you can do to accomplish these things: work harder; watch your money; or spend less time daydreaming. Place the candles in front of you, with the white candle on the left and place the charm between them. Now light them. As they burn, visualise all of your dreams coming to fruition and see the months of the year flowing past, seeds growing into plants and then flowering until in your mind’s eye, a year has passed. When you’ve finished your visualisation, recite this chant (or words that apply to you): White candle bring me strength, Red candle bring me passion, Charm bring my dreams to life. Full moon join them on this night, Harm ye none, so mote it be. Now blow out your candles and after placing your charm on a plate or bowl, so that you don’t burn or mark anything, pour the wax from both the candles onto your charm. Let the charm and wax cool, then wrap them in the piece of cloth. Keep your charm close to you to keep the energy strong. Bury the candles in the garden or put them away and don’t re-use them.

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What is the name of April’s full moon Esbat?? Send your answer, name and address to: Vision Amethyst Dowsing Pendulum Comp, East Cottage, Willingham Road, Market Rasen, Lincoln, LN8 3DX by April 21. Sponsored by www.forthewitchinyou.co.uk If you have a question write to me, Georgia, at the Vision address or email me at covencorner@empyrealltd.co.uk Please remember that I may not be able to respond to all your letters, but I will try to cover all your subjects on these pages.

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a i g r o e Ask G Lost Love

Ask Georgia

Dear Georgia: I have been missing a lover for more than four years now. I only have my memories and a card from him. I can feel he deeply misses me too. The only way to meet again is by chance. Do you have a spell or magic for that? Sonia, London. Georgia says: A lost and found friend spell works a treat. During the waxing moon (when it grows from new to full), on a Wednesday, write the words below on a piece of paper. Hold it in your right hand and recite the words over and over until you’re happy that your message has been heard: When you hear my heartfelt plea, Friend of mine return to me, Cross the land or cross the sea And harm to none, so mote it be. When you’ve finished, go outside and burn your piece of paper. Once the flames have safely died, ensure that the fire is completely out and then let the ashes blow into the air and your message be carried away by the wind. TIP Remember that your friend will only hear you if they’re meant to come back. Though you may pass to the universe a message of what you want, this may not be what the universe wants for you.

Bad Habits

Dear Georgia: My ex-partner, whom I still care for, has severe breathing problems, and at 46 he has been told if he doesn’t stop smoking he will be dead in five years. Is there a spell to help him stop? Rosalyn, Cheshire.

Dear Georgia: I was turned down by my local council for a transfer as they told me I was housed well enough for my needs; I disagreed and became a little depressed. One day while cleaning the kitchen I found an old key. I have no idea where it can from, it felt like a token left for me to find. I charged this key with energy and visualised it getting me rehoused. Also, every time I felt I was slipping into a depression I would pick up the key and imagine myself opening the front door of my new house. A month later, I applied again and this time I made it onto the transfer list. I am still waiting for a property to become available but I am sure it was down to the key some positive visualisation. Victoria, via e-mail. Georgia says: Sometimes to make magic we need nothing more than hope and belief, and you’re living proof of that. I hope your house comes to you very soon and we would all love to know how your situation progresses, so please keep in touch. Tips Be patient, spells can sometimes work in hours but at other times they can take weeks, months and even years. Tell us how spells have made a change in your life, and each month the prize spell wins a personalised spell kit from For The Witch In You to the value of £49.99. For more details www.forthewitchinyou.co.uk

Georgia says: It really has to be his decision to quit smoking. You can help him with a banishing spell. Obtain as much printed literature about smoking and quitting as you can. Get two of each as you’ll need to make two piles of the information: one for use in your magic and one to be given to your ex-partner when you’ve completed your spell. We’re going to use knot magic for this particular spell. You will need: 1 8-inch yellow ribbon to represent healing; 1 cardboard box large enough to fit the leaflets you have collected; Enough earth to fill your box; The spell below written on a piece of paper; Your printed literature. Cast this spell on a waning moon. Make six evenly spaced marks on your ribbon. During your spell tie six knots in the places you’ve marked, starting at one end. Six is the number of the sun: representing new birth, and fresh starts. Sit for a while and read your literature, think about what you want for your ex-partner. When you’re ready, recite the spell six times: Smoking from my friend be banished, be gone; Leave him to recover and now grow strong; With my love I tie these knots today; That his cravings may leave him and pass away. Place the leaflets and the ribbon in the box and cover them with the earth, place the spell on top of the earth and close the box. Now give the other pile of literature to your ex-partner; show him that you’re there to support him. Put the box somewhere safe. Once he has definitely kicked the habit, bury the box in the earth. TIP If he hasn’t stopped within one month, on the night of the full moon, place your box under its light and ask it to fill the box with energy again until your spell comes to pass.

The witches’ kitchen

Each month we’ll bring you tips on herbs and their magical and healing properties for you to build up your own witches’ kitchen.

Parsley Parsley is believed to help soothe skin conditions such as eczema and acne (digested in food rather than prepared as an emollient). Parsley is also supposed to aid fertility and passion. Witches use parsley in protection spells and charm pouches.

Vision 3

Vision’s no-nonsense astrologer James Christie looks into how the Egyptians shaped our view of the cosmos.

lthough astrology was not invented in Egypt, the Egyptians certainly refined and developed the subject, and were indirectly responsible for creating the foundations of the modern astrology that we use today. On a recent trip to Cairo I met up with Dalgenny Hussein in my quest to shed light on this ancient culture’s fascination with the stars. By day he is a curator in the papyrus department in the Egyptian Museum, by night he is one of the city’s busiest astrologers. I met Dalgenny at one of his favourite cafes in the heart of the old bazaar where we drank copious cups of thick Turkish coffee, smoked a neverending shisha pipe, and enjoyed a very long conversation on the subject of Egyptian astrology. The earliest references of man looking to the heavens for guidance stem back to around 4000 BC when the Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia. They mark the first recorded example of a people who worshipped the sun, moon and Venus, and considered these heavenly bodies to be gods or the homes of the gods. They also worshipped other gods, but when it came to making predictions, these were based on the tri-partite positioning of the sun, moon and Venus. The predictions in question would be restricted to weather patterns and the foretelling of natural disasters and although this had nothing at all to do with astrology as we know it today, the Sumerian system did contribute to the evolution of modern astrology with the design of a crude calendar and identification of the basic cycles of the known planets. They were the first people to divide the year into 12 months based on the moon’s 12 cycles during a year.

Babylonia and Assyria The beginning of real astrology can be seen with the rise of the old Babylonian period during the second millennium. The Babylonian’s took what had been handed down from the Sumerians, added to it and focussed on the wellbeing of the kingdom and the long line of kings - it wasn’t until circa 1300 BC that individual horoscopes began to be cast. The Assyrian invasion of Babylon (729 BC) changed the shape of astrology once again, and while the astrologers of the day concentrated on the welfare of the state, there was plenty of scope for personal involvement. An astrologer in Assyria held the highly regarded rank of priest – if he

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predicted correctly he was well rewarded, but if he was incorrect he faced disgrace and decapitation! To their credit, the Assyrians created a consistent and accurate calendar, and more importantly they created the first star maps and the first records of the constellations. Given the geographic position of Egypt in relation to Mesopotamia and the tempestuous and bloody history of the latter, it is little wonder that for two millennia there had been a constant stream of refugees moving westwards into the Nile valley. By the time Egypt emerged as a great nation, most of its indigenous population could trace its ancestry back to Sumeria and Babylon. Thus as early as early as 3000 BC Mesopotamian astrology was being assimilated by Egyptian culture and by 2000 BC it had evolved into something significantly more sophisticated. Again the emphasis was placed on the welfare of the kingdom and the king (pharaoh) but with the Egyptians working on a three-season year based on the flooding of the Nile (pre flood, flood and post-flood) and a twice-yearly crop harvest, the system of Babylonian astrology became stretched to accommodate Egyptian needs and idiosyncrasies. Egypt’s own pantheon of Gods and its own version of creation found their way into the system – along with the idea of astrology as a tool of magic. While the Egyptians placed an uncommon degree of importance upon the sun, personifying it as Ra (The Sun God) or Atun (The sun disc cult symbol of the monotheistic religion inspired and forced upon the nation by Pharaoh Akhnatun circa 1380 BC), they were not slow to pantheonise other key heavenly bodies, the most notable of these being Sirius, which was seen as the ‘stargate’ to the heavens and an eternal afterlife. Unlike today’s astrology whereby we allocate one whole calendar month to a specific star sign, the Egyptians doubled this process up to create 24 very odd and uneven time frames within the year, governed by 12 god energies.

Above: An ancient Egyptian star chart circa 2800BC from the time of Tuthmosis III.

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The most major upheaval within the framework of Egyptian astrology came with the invasion of Alexander The Great in the third century BC. Alexander spread the Hellenistic way of life as far afield as the borders of India and this golden Hellenic age was to last (overtly) until the middle of the second century BC when Rome over-ran the eastern Mediterranean (and covertly through until the establishment of the Coptic Christian church circa 100 AD). The Greeks were primarily responsible for incorporating mythology into astrology and, more importantly, translating everything written on the subject over the past two thousand years into classical Greek! In 331 BC Alexander established the city Alexandria, and with its famous library, it became the greatest centre of learning in the known world. Incorporating the two disciplines of astrology, the ancient Egyptian and the modern Hellenic, this knowledge was available ‘on tap’ to everyone who made the pilgrimage - Romans, Macedonians, Syrians, Chaldeans etc. After the fall of the Roman Empire Alexandria managed to hang on to its position of prestige for a while, but even with the inevitable decline of Alexandria and the infamous sacking of its library, enough had been done to impress astrology into the consciousness of the world culture at large. By this time individual astrologers were writing treatises and works of research that are still in existence today. While it is true that modern astrologers are influenced by the Islamic Arabic astrological renaissance circa 900 AD, it must always be remembered that this discipline of the subject is based firmly on the Hellenistic Egyptian disciplines and all that fell before it. There can be no doubt that we owe the Egyptians a great debt for the development and refinement of the art over a two thousand year period and it is most curious to recognise just how much this ancient civilisation influences our everyday lives in our present 21st century. Granted, this “influence” may be a little obtuse and confusing, but it is there, and not just in the occult influences of the tarot and aromatherapy (not to mention architecture and the science of mathematics), but even in the little day-to-day things such as how we drink our tea and how we speak our language.

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What is your Egyptian starsign? Read on to find out...

Jan 1st-7th and Sept 1st-7th were influenced by The Nile and if you were born in those periods you were seen to be a calm and devoted pacifist, dedicated to house and home. Jan 8th-21st and Feb 1st-Feb 11th were governed by Amon Ra, and these people were seen as steadfast and loyal. Good lovers, life-givers and natural leaders. Jan 22nd-Jan 31st and Sept 8th - Sept 22nd were ruled by Mout, a god that granted great materialistic wealth and commercial success.

Feb 12th-29th and August 20th - 31st were ruled by Geb, a deity which promised an engaging personality and represented those who were bright and at one with the arts. March 1st-March 10th and Nov 27th-Dec 18th were governed by Osiris, which gave you a fiery and fragmented personality and yet one who was capable of great sacrifice for the benefit of others. March 11th-March 31st and Oct 18th-Oct 29th, and also Dec 19th-Dec 31st were governed by Isis, which gave solidarity of purpose and a great nobility of thought. April 1st-19th and Nov th 8 -17th were governed by Thoth, who represented an enterprising and adventurous risk-taker with an interest in the occult.

April 20th-May 7th and Aug 12th-Aug 19th were ruled by Horus, who promised a sparkling personality, intense will and intelligence. May 8th-May 27th and June 29th-July 13th were governed by Anubis, heralding clever and compassionate but deeply inhibited people. May 28th-June 18th and Sept 28th-Oct 2nd was ruled by Set, which brought forth perfectionists who were prone to anger. July 14th-July 28th and Sept 23rd-Sept 27th, plus Oct 3rdOct 17th were governed by Bastet which boded well for balance and harmony and provided the natural healers of the pantheon. July 29th-August 11th and Oct 30th-Nov 7th were ruled by Sekhmet, and these people were telepathic and highly observant souls who wasted little time on the minor issues of life. June 18th-28th were jointly ruled by The Nile and Amon Ra; Nov 18th-26th were jointly ruled by The Nile and Thoth. Turn to page 63 for James Christieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s April horoscopes......

Images ÂŠ The James Christie Archive.

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21 Mar - 20 Apr

April forecast

much more stable emotional base burgeoning throughout the month of April will give you the opportunity to make a few giant strides forwards, not only in the emotional aspects of your life but also encompassing a number of other ambitions and priorities. The first week of the month will be geared towards affairs of the heart, while the second week may see you having to concentrate on the needs of children and younger people in your family group. One younger male in particular may cause some concern by his over hasty and highly impulsive actions. April 14th through to the 21st will see you having to exercise a great degree of restraint and patience, and if you have got any negative or critical thoughts in your head, you’re best advised to keep them to yourself. Travel aspects while enjoyable could be something of a drain on your finances, and there may well be one very necessary journey (not necessarily overseas or Visionacross Astrology Ad2 26/1/05 water) coming into focus 10:55 aroundam the 20th or 21st.

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Cash & career: During the last seven or eight days of April you need to be on your financial guard and some careful budgeting beforehand could serve you very well indeed. Excessive spending, especially if you’re splashing out on other people or are trying to impress other people could cause some late month panic! It has to be said that this is more applicable to gentlemen of the sign, and as for the ladies, let me just say this – please try to avoid lending anybody any money (especially a male friend or relative) for that which you give as a loan may easily be construed as a gift. On the work front the period between the 14th and 21st may see some necessary changes to routines and regimes, and even though you might not be overjoyed by this, stick with it and go with the flow. Try not to get too stressed out and if you’re skipping meals or not sleeping very well, regard this as a real problem and treat it accordingly. Relationships: Even if there is a Page degree1of tension and uncertainty during the first few days of the month, this is

something that passes by the 5th or 6th, at which time you will enter a very pleasing and gratifying chapter of your love life – a period where the purely carnal and sexual energies coalesce quite beautifully with deeper spiritual energies of love, trust and affection. Some travel aspects between the 18th and 22nd will have much to do with your romantic frame of mind, but it is perhaps during the last days of April that you reach something of an all time high. You could be on the receiving end of expensive love tokens - engagement rings and wedding plans are by no means out of the question, and certainly you should be on the receiving end of a tremendous degree of emotional reassurance from a partner who is busting a gut to please and impress. The greatest threat to your enjoyment of all this attention and adulation will be your own feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty – try to accept what is being offered with an open heart. Also, be a wee bit on guard about following advice from a close friend they may look at you through eyes of envy.

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21 Apr - 21 May

April forecast

here are some very contradictory might appear to be selfish in the eyes of aspects associated with Taurus others close to you. during April. If you’re busy and Cash & career: By the opening occupied, if you feel that you are days of April you should have a much achieving something and moving towards clearer idea of where your career and a specific goal, if your social life and sex working life is taking you over the next life is half-way satisfactory and if other couple of years. There is a mood of people aren’t too pedantic about telling determination and confidence here and you what you can and can’t do – then although cash flow should be quite high April should be a rather splendid month in your favour, you’re not going to be in encapsulated by a mood of buoyancy and the mood to overspend. Reserve and expectation. conserve is the energy that sits most But… if none of the above aspects seem to comfortably on your shoulders, especially apply to you then April could be a bloody when you look at some of the expenses awful month interspersed with black you know are coming up over the next moods, massive clouds of frustration and couple of months. Having said that, you one or two really quite nasty arguments. may be shelling out quite a large capital It depends on other people and their sum between the 7th and the 14th – but attitudes and the best thing you can do to this seems to be something of an help yourself is to stay as calm and as investment rather than any kind of positive as possible. frivolous spending. It would appear that One of the problems here may be a you’re certainly going to acquire fundamental lack of understanding in the something of significant importance for hearts and minds of other folk close to your money. Also anything to do with you. They think they know you, but I learning foreign languages may have a suspect that they don’t know you nearly subtle influence on career pathways at as well as they think they do. Carrying this time. The artistic and creative side of over from the previous month of March the Taurean nature serves you extremely Vision Astrology Ad2 26/1/05 am Page there is an ongoing necessity 10:55 to find more well1 at this point in time, even though quality time for yourself, even if this there will be some criticism of your

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artistic efforts by people who haven’t nearly as much talent as you have. Relationships: You will be looking for ways to bring about some definite changes in the pattern of your most important emotional relationship, and providing there is half a degree of co-operation here from a spouse or partner, April should be seen as a happy and progressive month. Things might not be so productive if you meet with suspicion and a lack of co-operation, but your challenge here is to be patient and persuasive. Avoid the sledgehammer tactics of direct confrontation, especially around the 7th and again around the 18th to the 22nd. There is a Taurean tendency to bully people into submission, but this simply will not do – mainly because it won’t work. Tact and diplomacy will get you much further. The fact that you might be in the throes of a degree of domestic chaos caused by home improvement, extensions or building works may have something to do with your restless mood of irritation, but that’s no excuse for taking your frustrations out on those nearest and dearest to you.

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22 May - 21 June

April forecast

here are some personality issues coming to the surface during April to do with leadership and who wears the trousers. If you don’t like the advice you are being given from a close third party, rather than digging your heels in and just saying “no” in a very stubborn voice, come up with a better, alternative plan. And if you can find one, that’s fine, go for it full steam ahead – but if you can’t, it might not be a bad idea to follow someone else’s lead, even if it’s only as a means to an end. There will be some friction on the subject of domestic spending – someone wants a new car and someone else wants an expensive holiday and sorry, but there’s not enough cash or credit in the kitty for both – and if common sense cannot prevail here, then a hard compromise will have to be reached around the middle of the month. Gemini parents (mothers in particular) may feel some special concern for two younger people (one of each sex) who are going through a very difficult period in their young lives. Be there for them when you’re needed, Visionbut Astrology Ad2 your 26/1/05 10:55 try not to poke nose into their am business until asked.

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Cash & career: Quite a difficult month on the work scene with the biggest single problem being a bad case of boredom. There’s not a lot of stimulation from colleagues, who if anything tend do drag you down by their general malaise of apathy. The first week sees office politics having some disruptive effect while the second week brings a degree of resentment when other people (especially if they are bosses) put upon your good will and take you too much for granted. Week three sees a change of work routine when a mate or colleague quits or is sacked, and week four puts you in the position of having to work harder and carry an extra burden of responsibility, whether you want to or not! Cash aspects are not exactly exciting, but they are at least stable, so I suppose one should be marginally thankful for that. Lazy Geminis will tend to go with the flow of all this, moaning and groaning but not doing much about it, while more dynamic twins start making a few phone calls and looking in the job advert Page 1 of their local newspapers. columns Relationships: If April seems to

be a bit fraught and flat on the work scene, this is certainly not the case when it comes to your leisure time and affairs of the heart. I see April as a very exciting and exhilarating period for the development of new relationships and for finding a deeper sense of meaning within existing unions. Joint business ventures with emotional partners auger very well indeed, especially if there is property involved, and for some of you there’ll be a choice that needs to be made with regard to who’s bed you’re going to be sleeping in on a regular if not permanent basis. A negative energy creeps to the surface during the last seven or eight days when an old association from your emotional history turns up like a bad penny, and although this might have an unsettling effect upon you, just tell ‘em to get lost and carry on with the more positive business of leading and living your new life. It might be tempting to think you could pick up the strings of an old attachment, but, sorry guys, it just ain’t gonna happen.

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22 June - 22 July

April forecast

pril promises to be a busy month, always straightforward with things but alas, not always calm and frequently running against schedule. It tranquil. There are many (some won’t always be clear what you’re might say too many) disparate energies supposed to be doing and who you’re and events tugging at you that you won’t supposed to be doing it for, and there’s always recognise the correct priorities the “too many chiefs and not enough and won’t always be able to see situations indians” adage printed on every page of from other peoples’ points of view. The the first couple of weeks. If you’re first few days of April will see you arguing self-employed or running your own with a loved one or partner on matters of company, I dare say things will be a lot principle that probably have no practical worse when you realise that there are application in your life at all and between simply not enough hours in the day to do the 6th and 15th children and younger all the things you need to do. Regardless people (one younger male in particular) of position, watch for a serious may have a very disruptive influence over breakdown in business communications family routines. By the 18th/19th your around the 12th/13th/14th and do not attention will be diverted into some assume the obvious… I’m getting feelings financial crisis, which will be little more here of computers crashing and major than a storm in a teacup, although I’ll postal deliveries being sent to Saint concede it might not appear to be quite Petersburg rather than Peterborough. As so trivial at the time. It is only when if you didn’t have enough problems, moving into the last few days of April, something attractive and sexy starts (23rd or 24th onwards) that you begin to getting in the way of your clear thinking feel a little more in control and there is business head during the last week of some relief and pleasure to be had at this April, and although you are certain to time in the company of like-minded enjoy the physical connection, it will be a friends, probably of the same sex as dangerous mental distraction at a time yourself. when you need to be very alert and on Vision Astrology 26/1/05 10:55 am Page Cash & Ad2 career: An eventful the1ball. month on the work scene but again not Relationships: If you are in a safe

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and stable relationship I really don’t think anything is going to change that situation over the next few weeks, although there will be some minor churnings of jealousy and insecurity coming to the surface from the 22nd or 23rd onwards. What is really more interesting, astrologically speaking anyway, are those people who are not in safe or stable relationship, because for these people April promises to be a month of radical change. Breaking unions will have broken by the end of the month. Decisions with regard to whether relationships are to be continued or terminated will have been made by the end of the month. Regardless of cause, there will be a greater degree of sexual confidence prevalent by the end of the month, and perhaps more importantly, there will be the birth of a new sense of liberty and hopefulness – a brighter trend of optimism, and a few higher notes of laughter and merriment. Because something changes in your headroom between the 23rd and the 30th you can bet your last brass farthing that something changes (very much for the better) in your bedroom!

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23 July - 22 Aug

April forecast

pril promises to be something of a confusing and contradictory month for the majority of lions out there but one thing is for sure – it will not be boring! Attention bounces backwards and forward between your emotional life and your professional life and the dividing lines between these two aspects will frequently become blurred. The first week of April will be dominated by some feelings of set-back and rejection which could actually make you feel very low and lost, but there is a distinct change of energy around the 7th which puts you very much in the limelight when it comes to cash and careers boosting your confidence and kicking you out of your lethargic emotionalism. Week three (filtering in around the 20th /21st) brings a far greater degree of romantic and domestic warmth and there could be some very special celebrations either being planned or enjoyed in this six or seven day period. Now this is where it gets a bit Visioncomplicated, Astrology so Ad2 bear 26/1/05 with me. If10:55 you aream male, during the last seven or eight days

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of April you are going to come up against a formidable female with very strong traits of feminism who could really scupper and bugger a number of plans and ambitions, and the opposition she represents should not be taken lightly. If, on the other hand, you are female (or gay) you are destined to overcome a major obstacle posed by a male with strong MCP tendencies. Cash & career: Cash flow and work load should be very high (although also slightly erratic) between the 1st and the 8th but as you move up and onwards through the second and third weeks of April you should be feeling much more in control of your business and financial affairs. Do watch out for the tendency to try and do too much too quickly in the period between the 17th and 21st – this is a four-day hiatus where things must be allowed to fall into place in their own time and in their own way. During the last few days of the month the competitive side of your nature will be much to the fore as you face a number of Page 1 challenges – but with a great big smile on your face.

Relationships: April 1st to April

6th/7th could be a very low-key and moody week wherein you will feel hurt and upset by the treatment meated out by a lover or partner. This seems to have been caused by misunderstandings and a lack of communication, and I don’t really see it as being a major relationship changing issue. Certainly by the second week of the month things are back on an even keel once again, even if it is you who has had to swallow some pride to bring about this state of affairs. You may still be feeling a bit hard done-by on the inside, but it is very much to your advantage not to let these feelings show. Forgive, forget and carry on as normal. Emotional moods become critical again around the 22nd or 23rd when, still smarting from the set-back you sustained in the first part of the month, you will feel that you have to make some stand on a matter of pride and/or principle. This is not a good idea, but if someone is criticising you for your lack of openness and compassion you might quietly want to point out that it always takes two to tango.

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Vision 3

23 Aug - 22 Sept

April forecast

here’s an old saying… “the higher disappointment between the 1st and 7th they fly the harder they fall” – and will be compensated for by the help and if you’ve been flying high assistance provided by a third party throughout March, then there could well between the 8th and 22nd. There will be be a bit of a crash on the cards for the some changes to work routines between first week in April. 15th and 24th as you change your Don’t worry too much, because things long-term focus, and there should be always happen for a reason, and if the some very good professional advice on reason in this case is the strength shown offer from an older colleague or associate by someone who picks you up after the who’s “been there and done that” in their fall, creating an ongoing situation history, enabling them to speak with the whereby you are able to look at that authority of some first-hand experience. person with far greater respect and You may be in a rush, but you’d be just understanding, then it proves the point of plain daft not to heed the advice that is the other old saying that “God works in being given at this moment in time. If the mysterious ways”. advice is coming from a member of the April is an important month for coming opposite sex, your cynical side may to see things in your life as they really wonder if there is some kind of hidden are, not just as you might like them to be, agenda… I have to say that I don’t think and if that energy swells to encompass there is, but even if I’m wrong and there people as well as things, then so much the is, I really don’t see it doing you any better. The second half of the month sees harm at all. you untying a few knots of inhibition and Relationships: This should be a restriction that have subtly held you back very good month for affairs of the heart, Vision Astrology Ad2of years. 26/1/05 10:55 am Page 1 over a number providing you can maintain a degree of Cash & career: Some adversity or self discipline and keep your head out of

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cloud cuckoo land. If a loved one is offering you all that you want and everything that you need, especially in the first week of April, for God’s sake, do not look a gift horse in the mouth! Take what is on offer and be delighted and satisfied. Then, once you’ve got what you want, do not try moving the goal posts or change the rules of the game so that you can get an extra bit more. That extra bit will be forthcoming anyway as a matter of course, so you really don’t have to blot your romantic copy book by asking for it. Take heed that there is a danger zone between the 13th and 19th, which is a period during which you could unwittingly make a partner feel as though they are being used and taken for granted. Bloody silly to go down this route if it can be avoided, so I’m telling you now so that you can avoid it! If there are some financial pressures coming to the surface within the last few days of April, don’t keep this situation to yourself. As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

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23 sept - 23 Oct

April forecast

pril is a path-working month which takes you to a safer place of solvency and emotional security, but in transit there are likely to be a few storms that could be wearisome on the way. In the first few days of the month there will be a marked lack of support from those nearest and dearest to you, which will put you in position of having to make difficult choices… do you do what you want to do but do it alone, or do you not do what you want to do and end up feeling trapped and resentful? It’s a no win situation compounded by events that start coming in around the 6th or 7th when you try your best to do what is right for other people and then realise that you can’t do right for doing wrong. The mood shifts to one of anger and aggression on or around the 14th and the third week of April will bring more than just a few showers into your domestic life. Yet none of this is without point or purpose and much greater clarity is found in the period between the 23rd and the 30th when you will find yourself making or re-making important decisions with a Visiontremendous Astrologysense Ad2 of 26/1/05 10:55 self-confidence andam determination.

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Cash & career: Someone will be

“messing you about” on the work scene during the early days of April – nothing serious, but it may push you into re-evaluating a number of collegiate friendships. Domestic circumstances may make it difficult for you to concentrate at times when you need to have your wits about you, and in particular may I draw your attention to the 13th through until the 19th when you are going to have to be on the financial ball especially if, in any way, you are responsible for handling other peoples’ money. A brighter energy pervades from the 22nd or 23rd onwards when someone who has been a constant thorn in your side gets their comeuppance and is removed from your sphere of influence. Hard cash aspects also improve during this last week as your work efforts are noticed and duly noted by an older person of great authority. Relationships: If in some respects April is a bit of an awkward month, this trend certainly does not carry over into affairs of the heart. On Page 1 the contrary, this is a very bright and positive few weeks for emotional

relationships and a whole host of physical delights. In particular the period between the 8th and the 15th will be an excellent time for (a) resolving a few ongoing problems in a relationship or (b) embarking on something new and adventurous that does not have any negative history hanging on to its coat tails. True, there might be some degree of emotional tension during the first week of April, but this tension is soon to be released, and indeed to everyone’s advantage. A specific word of gentle warning here to younger female members of the sign – watch out for a man who is trying to buy your time and your attention with what he’s got in his bank account and remember that there isn’t any such thing as a free lunch. Having said that I don’t think that any man can be criticised if he chooses to spend his money to impress someone he wants and desires. While a suitor’s motives cannot be questioned (there are no hidden agendas here) it has to be said that your response to what is on offer may be questionable.

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Vision 3

24 Oct - 23 Nov

April forecast

hile it’s true that there might be of you being much more in control, not a lot of hard work ahead for you only of your own body but also of your own mind. throughout the month of April, Cash & career: April will be a this should be seen as a pattern of better month all round where work challenges rather than a pottage of routines and career ambitions are problems. I suspect that the first half of concerned. Even very early on in the the month with see you concentrating on your head, switching to “follow your heart month you’ll recognise that you are getting a lot more recognition and mode” about halfway through, on or th th co-operation from other people which around the 14 or 15 . While the last week of the month may be very important makes your working life much more enjoyable even if it doesn’t put an extra in the great game of love, I think that the th million quid into your bank account. week before, say between the 14 and st Developing that theme, if you were 21 , there are a lot of things happening thinking of asking for a promotion or a in the hearts and minds of other people which cannot fail but to have an influence significant rise, then this is probably not the best month to go in pursuit of these over your own thoughts and feelings. quests. If they come to you naturally, That third week is also significant that’s fine, but don’t go putting other because of reunions and peace offerings people under pressure by presenting in long standing disputes. This might them with options they might not want to simply be an old friend apologising for a contemplate at this precise point in time. past transgression, or on a more serious In any case, someone else’s sudden note there could be involvement with rd departure from the work place will create lawyers and beurocracy. The 23 th its own opening for you, so just make through until the 30 is likely to be the sure you’re waiting in the wings and highest key section of April when your Vision Astrology Ad2 26/1/05 10:55 am Page 1 all of your lines. know social life and your sex life enjoy a major Relationships: April will also be a boost of activity coinciding with a feeling

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much calmer month in all affairs of the heart, especially when you come to realise that what you can’t get from one source you can quite easily get from another. This is not the time to mourn the passing of the old, but rather to celebrate the coming and the birth of the new, and your natural Scorpionic romanticism should serve you well at this time, opening you up to new ideas and fresh ways of thinking. You can’t go back and undo what has been done (and if there is seemingly an opportunity to do just this during the last few days of the month, be very careful and circumspect and avoid this temptation like the plague) and it would be far more advantageous for you to concentrate on where you’re going rather than moping about where you’ve been. Some long and boring road journeys could give you a bit of quiet thinking time, and anything to do with motorcars has also got a key link to the conduct of relationships, especially if the back seat of that old Ford Corsair has to serve as a bedroom, or if not that, just a place where you can have some privacy.

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24 Nov - 21 Dec

April forecast

hile the very last week of April offers the most interesting astrological aspects - suggesting overseas travel, plans being made with regard to property, a vast improvement to your social life and lots of good omens for all dealings with children including pregnancies and births - the first three weeks of the month look like being rather tiresome and yet at the same time full of suspense when things don’t happen on schedule and a number of longstanding arrangements may have to be changed or cancelled at the last minute. Oddly, although you might normally trust your intuition to a very great degree, following “head plans” and “common sense pathways” serves you far better at this chapter in time, and especially in all financial dealings between the 2nd and the 13th during which period there will be some financial setbacks or major expenses that you hadn’t budgeted for. There is likely to be some upset during the third week of the month caused by a headstrong (and possibly very attractive) Visionyoung Astrology Ad2 gets 26/1/05 10:55 female who herself into a am mess – and drags a few people into the

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frying pan with her to enjoy the party. Cash & career: There is an inevitable “carry over” effect from some of the events that have been the highlights (and lowlights) of March. Legalities and involvement with red tape is a constant situation, and while in no way threatening, it could take up too much of your time and become something of a recurring nuisance. April 7th through to the 21st will be a heavy period when you get bogged down by routines and may well find that you have to work some extra hours late into the evenings – something which is not likely to generate instant popularity with other members of your family. You need to avoid becoming run-down and over-tired in this period so kindly monitor your energy levels and be just a little bit sensible. The energies change quite dramatically in the period between the 24th and the 30th and it is in this time slot that you get a burst of fresh mental energy and there should be the birth of at least one brilliant money-making idea. Page 1 Relationships: A better month than some where emotional relationships

and affairs of the heart are concerned, but if you are to capitalise on the momentum generated by changes falling into place during the very first days of April, you do need to stick to your guns and follow your own initiative rather than listening to the opinions or following the advice of other people. If you are looking for a partner to provide a sense of direction and leadership you may well be a bit disappointed, but only because they are looking to you to provide the direction and leadership, and as it would seem to me that you are better equipped than they are, I hope you’ve got the common sense to get on with it. Expensive presents during the third week could have you counting your pennies in the last week, but against that, any money spent on bringing some fun and excitement to relationships and anything involving travel, seems to me to be money very well spent. Even so, during that period between April 23rd and 30th we are more likely to see you sitting at home by the fireside rather than burning the midnight oil at wild parties.

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Vision 3

22 Dec - 20 Jan

April forecast

who outstay their welcome. Capricorns n many ways April brings a sense of peace and healing; you’ll find yourself who work from home will be particularly in the firing line here. looking back over the last few years and realising that you’ve come much Cash & career: This could be further along your pathway than you first quite a tricky month wherein you have to thought. Old wounds may be do some ducking and diving in an remembered but at least the scars will attempt to do three things at once and be have healed over – or if nothing else, be in half a dozen places at the same time. in the process of healing. Papers, Lack of support or a bad attitude from a contracts and semi-legal documents business partner or work colleague won’t associated with your past will need your make things any easier, and whether you attention in the first week of the month, like it or not, more and more and the flourish of a signature will take at responsibility is likely to get heaped upon least one weight off your shoulders. your shoulders. However, if you can take Health aspects (including mental states of a positive point of view, these situations mind) will be highlighted between the 7th allow you to shine through, and you will and 14th and I wouldn’t be surprised if find yourself well placed to impress a few you were doing some hospital visiting in key people who may have rather more this second week period of the month. confidence in you than you have in Watch out for an unexpected – and yourself. Make a point of not mixing perhaps not entirely welcome – reunion business with pleasure during the first some time around the 18th and make a week, and be aware that something to do real effort to hold your temper if someone with property or business premises will rubs you up the wrong way. The period dominate the period between the 7th to st th between the 21 and 30 highlights a the 21st. Certainly cash flow will be very degree of tension in domestic situations high in this two-week period. Unexpected Vision Astrology Ad2 26/1/05 am Page 1 and opportunities pop up out of caused by unexpected guests 10:55 or friends offers

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the blue around the 24th or 25th - grab them with both hands. Relationships: There’s many a true word spoken in jest, and although you might think that someone is playing with you or having a bit of joke, behind the joviality there is a deep degree of seriousness. If you can be aware of this it will give you a much deeper insight into a partner’s (or prospective partner’s) motives and methods of persuasion. April will be a romantic month in many ways insofar as affairs of the heart will be uppermost in your mind, but there is some confusion concerning other peoples’ needs and expectations and you won’t always get clear signals as to where they’re coming from. In a male/female conflict between the 22nd and 30th the masculine energy will carry the day, which might be good news if you’re a Capricorn gentleman, but maybe not quite such good news if you happen to be a Capricorn lady! The issue of argument here is not what should be done – there is total agreement on this point – but the way in which something should be done.

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21 Jan - 19 Feb

April forecast

general overview suggests that April is going to be a very financially motivated month with the accent clearly on careers and commercial efforts. There is an odd dichotomy insofar as minor gains fall into place with the drop of a hat, but more major long-term ambitions necessitate a greater degree of preparation and patience. A partner may take you to task around the 10th, criticising you for putting your job before your home, and while you’re not going to fly off the handle, you will be more than a little hurt at the injustice of this criticism, especially as the one who is making it benefits greatly from your career efforts. A major purchase between the 13th and 20th may raise a few eyebrows, but there is something here that you are determined to have no matter what it costs – and therefore the latter part of the month may well see some developing links with bank loans and finance companies. This probably will not go down well with a lover or partner who advocates patience and caution. VisionCash Astrology Ad2 26/1/05 & career: It will be10:55 a very am moody period during the first few days

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when you look at all of the things you want and then count up all of the cash you’ve got to get them with and realise that there is one hell of a shortfall. There’s a very positive aspect here though that comes to the fore loosely in the second week of the month where there is the birth of an absolute determination to get more, have more and do more. You’ll be pulling in a few favours and at the same time exploring ways of improving and enhancing your income, possibly by taking on some extra curricular activity out of normal working hours. Journeys in connection with business that take you to the seaside may well turn out to be significant little cogs in a big wheel and a few “wet” lunches towards the end of the month will go to prove that it isn’t always what you can do that counts, but who you know. A letter (okay, could be an email) from a personal friend that you’ve not had much contact with over the last 18 or 20 months (watch for this between the 14th and the 18th) could have some interesting Page 1 connotations, but not without business some risk - proceed with care.

Relationships: There may be a few goodbyes and farewells falling into place this month that could quite easily cause a few tears – but could just as easily generate some new feelings of freedom and excitement. April is certainly a month for treading new pathways and travelling into unknown territory with regard to all relationships and affairs of the heart. Travel aspects and holiday romances will have roles to play in the first couple of weeks with some very steamy nights of hard hedonistic sex, but it is in the period between the 15th and 30th that some rather more sober decisions with regard to the sanctity and the direction of relationships will be made – and probably in an atmosphere of divided loyalties and perhaps just a wee bit of guilt. Tired and weak relationships may fail at this time, while paradoxically, strong relationships seem to strengthen – albeit in the face of some challenge and adversity. Interference in your private affairs by parents or older people who think that they know what is best for you is extremely unhelpful at this time.

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Vision 3

20 Feb - 20 Mar

April forecast

Cash & career: There will be pril will be quite a liberating some frustration (and maybe a little month wherein a number of concern) in the opening days of April obstacles that have littered your when you review your finances and pathway for the last couple of seasons realise that you don’t have quite as much begin to be removed: doors that have as you think you should have. remained stubbornly closed begin to This is likely to send you scurrying creak open and there is a mood of through old bills and bank statements to optimism as you see your way free to find out what’s gone wrong, and I get the make some real progress, and maybe impression that there could be a even take a couple of shortcuts. By and significant cock-up with a bank coming large there will (for once!) be a mood of to light at this time which may take you co-operation and good will emanating one or two weeks to resolve. from other people close to you, and It will be resolved and in your favour and rather than holding you back, they seem to be encouraging you forwards. Certainly you might want to put in a claim for some kind of compensation. From a April is a period wherein long-term goals career point of view, April contains no and ambitions come a few critical steps dark clouds – cash flow may be high, but closer and this is a productive period for as I said before, this is budgeted cash the fruition of long-term investments. flow, and you do seem to be getting Stocks and shares, insurance policies and something of worth back for your cash. It pension plans all have a role to play in the scheme of things. There seems to be a is, perhaps, in the period between the 23rd and the 30th that it might be a good large chunk of money being spent around th st idea to exercise a degree of restraint and the 14 to 21 – but I suspect this is avoid impulsive words and actions. something you will have budgeted for, Relationships: Quite frankly, and therefore it should come as no great surprise. Indeed, the purchase of pleasure April could be quite a stormy and Vision Astrology Ad2 be 26/1/05 10:55 am Page 1 unsettling month in affairs of the heart products could extremely enjoyable, when emotions run high and tempers are and it isn’t even your birthday! Call 0906

frayed by frustration and someone else’s inability to understand some of your hopes and expectations. Between the 1st and 6th you may be so heavily preoccupied with work routines that you fail to notice the gathering storm and therefore may find yourself ill-prepared for a major argument which erupts around the 7th or 8th which is a time to remain as cool and as calm as you can measure the weight of your words. A little bit of cooling off time between the 9th and 14th may cause some moodiness and depression while you lick your wounds and contemplate some of life’s many injustices, but there is a major shift of improvement falling into place around the 22nd or 23rd which enables you to communicate with other people more easily, and more importantly, enables them to communicate more easily with you! This is not an easy time for relationships, but if your heart is in the right place, relationships can be changed, re-charged and significantly improved – albeit, not without some genuine effort and good will. Travel aspects can bring healing energies to troubled hearts.

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by Clare Sheridan

Competition

Following in the tradition of their previous albums Eternal Egypt and Immortal Egypt Phil and Hossam have returned to Cairo to create a new celebration of Egypt’s enchanting musical landscape. Vision has teamed up with New World Music to give away 25 copies. To enter, simply your name and address on a postcard to: Enchanted Egypt CD Competition, Reference Code V0305, New World Music, Harmony House, Hillside Road East, Bungay, Suffolk, NR35 1RX, by April 21. For further information and a free catalogue, contact New World Music on 01986 891600, or visit www.newworldmusic.com.

Enchanted Egypt CD by Phil Thornton & Hossam Ramzy (New World Music £10.95) If you’ve ever fancied trying your hand at belly dancing… this is the ideal music for it! Phil Thornton and Hossam Ramzy have collaborated for the third time to transport listeners to a world of crowded bazaars and desert roses. A concoction of instruments including the Nay (a reed flute), the Aud (a direct ancestor of the Lute) and the Mizmar (a double reed woodwind instrument), these haunting sounds add a depth to the music. The first track, Apostles of the Interface, starts with a funky beat and the Nay adds that special authentic Egyptian touch. The second track, On the Desert Road to Alexandria, is perfect for belly dancing with its energetic beat and its harmonious vocals. The acoustic guitar is also used to great effect on Zaiellas, and the drums pack a punch on Enchanted Egypt 2. At the Temple of Rameses the Great conjures up images of what it may well be like to stand before the imposing structure itself. There is even a surprising hint of a techno beat to On the Transit of Venus which intermingles with a soothing melody to add an ethereal quality to the track. It takes you on a fascinating journey into an ancient and mysterious land.

Fairy Secrets by Alan and Linda Parry (O Books £4.99) This gentle introduction for children to the world of elementals is a joy to behold with delicate illustrations to light up the pages. Part of the Fairy Wisdom series of children’s books, this takes young readers to an ancient land full of wonderful creatures. Fairies, elves, brownies, dwarves, gnomes, water fairies and pixies are all present and correct in this fluid, rhyming tale. The notion of karma is also explored so youngsters can learn from an early age that whatever you do will come back to you. Perfect bedtime reading. Instant Enlightenment by Barefoot Doctor (thorsonselement £10) This bitesize book is a bible as far as positive affirmations go. The Barefoot Doctor has written 108 bitesize blessings to help readers see things from a new angle. He explains that 108 is a sacred number and thoughtfully dedicates the book to his readers. He gets across the message that thoughts have energy behind them – thus what you give out, you will receive back. In fact, every space of this tiny tome is full of love. He blesses people with such wonders as: ‘the splendour, power, and glory of your own true self’; ‘backbone’; ‘loving whatever’s happening’; ‘integrity’; ‘the power to create the rest of your life from scratch’; and most importantly, ‘the perfection of imperfection’. It lifts the spirit as well as exercises the funny bone, as often the Barefoot Doctor doesn’t take things too seriously – isn’t that the joy of life?!

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Medicine Woman III: The Rising CD by Medwyn Goodall (New World Music £10.95) This is the third and final chapter in the Medicine Woman CD trilogy. This celebration of the power of the goddess in all women isan empowering journey. This is a soothing blend of profound pan pipes, tinkling bells and subtle beats. The resonating acoustic guitar in Faith adds a poignant touch and Sherpo mingles electric guitar with acoustic to conjure up Latin American undertones. This is an uplifting and inspiring CD which invokes spiritual calm. Releash the goddess in you!

Terry Oldfield’s Underwater World DVD by Terry Oldfield (New World Music £14.95) Many people buy fish and aquariums for their peaceful effect on the home – but there’s no need for that expense with this release, and we’re not talking goldfish! This beautifully photographed DVD is an underwater adventure melding Terry Oldfield’s soothing music with Matt Haling’s mesmerizing marine photography. It really is like stepping into another world. Stare in wonder at whales, colourful coral, and gasp in awe at a cacophony of sea life such as starfish, squid, and sea urchin. Terry Oldfield’s accompanying tracks include De Profundis, Illumination, Down To Earth, Eyes of the Goddess, Spirit of the Rainbow Serpent, and Wings of the Morning. Taken from six of his albums, the subtle sounds of pipes, flighty flutes and calming piano swell with the schools of fish and drop with the fine sea foliage. A tranquil treat from the comfort of your sofa – watching the fish will take on a whole new meaning!

Recommended Dawn Breslin’s Power Book: 7 Steps to a Life Makeover (Hay House £6.99) Life makeover books are ten a penny these days….but Dawn Breslin’s new release is a book with a difference. Ten years in the making, this book was born out of Dawn’s own personal experiences with self-doubt, negativity and lack of self-esteem. Split into 7 sections, readers can work through each chapter at their own pace. It works on the basis that everyone deserves the basic premise of joy and happiness – a bid to help us all rekindle that joy we felt as children, before life weighed us down. The beauty of this though is that you don’t necessarily have to read every chapter – it completely depends on what stage you are at - but don’t worry, there are sets of questions to help you determine this. Each chapter is divided into real-life personal stories, the problem, the consultation, prescription, check-up, and further help. Learn how to boost your self-esteem and change thought patterns; refrain from perfectionism; don’t numb emotions and miss feelings; let the past go; get over guilt; bust through fears and soul revival. Obviously all of this takes time, but Breslin’s simple and straightforward prose helps the reader work through the chapters and problems with a realistic goal at the end of it. There is also a comprehensive range of further resources listed at the end of the book if extra help is needed. Time to make that change!

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Send your events to: Day Tripper, Vision, Amadeus House, 6 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds, LS25 1EQ or email editor@empyrealltd.co.uk Every Tuesday evening: Informal drop-in therapist networking event, The Holistic Experience, 8 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds. 7 - 9pm. An information exchange and networking for healers. Admission £2.50. Call 0113 286 4048 for more details. Every Wednesday evening: Anxiety & depression support and self-help group, The Holistic Experience, 8 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds. 7 - 9pm. Admission £2.50. Call 0113 286 4048 for more details. Every Thursday evening: Buddhist meditation, The Holistic Experience, 8 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds. 7.30 - 9.30pm. Admission £4. Call 0113 286 4048. Every Saturday: Spiritual awareness & development circle, The Holistic Experience, 8 Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds. 5 - 7pm. Admission £2.50. Call 0113 286 4048. March 26: Hopi Ear Candle Practitioner Training Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £85. Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for further information. March 27: Indian Head Massage Practitioner Training Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £85. Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for further information. March 27: Celestial Healing Tarot Course (3 days), Lincoln/Sleaford area. Held over 3 Sundays. 10am-4.30pm. Price £60. For more information visit www.celestialhealing.co.uk. E-mail celestialhealing@lycos.co.uk or call 01526 320506. March 28: Aqua Cleanse Detox Practitioner Training Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £750 (includes equipment, web advert, and therapist referral system). Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for further information March 29: Celestial Healing Spiritual Development Course (30 hours – 3 hours per week over 10 weeks), Lincoln/Sleaford area. 6-9pm. Price £50. For more information visit www.celestialhealing.co.uk. Email celestialhealing@lycos.co.uk or call 01526 320506. April 1 – April 3: Colour Light Therapy Introduction (prerequisite for Colour Light Therapy Practitioner training) with Charaka, near Swiss Cottage, London. The course is in conjunction with the School of Awakening and starts at 9.30am on April 1 and finishes at 5pm on April 3. £299 per person non-residential. Contact Shirley Millar on 0208 527 1025 for more details or visit www.schoolofawakening.com

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April 2: Learn to work with Angels and Angel Cards Course, Ipswich, Suffolk. This 3-day course continues on April 9 & 16. £80. Contact Debz on 07753 637897.

Cumberland Place, Marble Arch. 5 – 7.30pm. £35 (paid in advance). For more details call 020 7723 0544, visit www.iacworld.org or email London@iacworld.org

April 2/3: 2-day Colour Breathing Practitioner Training course, Buckinghamshire. £395 (with Colour Breathing Practitioner teacher Jane Ferguson). For more details email info@colourbreathing.com or Jane.g.ferguson@talk21.com

April 10: Tai Chi & Qigong for Beginners One-day Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £75. Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for further information.

April 2/3: 2-Day Colour Breathing Practitioner training with Alison Bourne, Dorking/Horsham. £395. Venue to be confirmed. For more details email info@colourbreathing.com April 2/3: International Academy of Consciousness (IAC) Consciousness Development Program (Module 1), 45 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch. 1 – 6.30pm. £95 (paid in advance). For more details call 020 7723 0544, visit www.iacworld.org or email London@iacworld.org April 3: Mind, Body & Spirit Event, Quality Hotel, Whitney Way, Boldon, Tyne & Wear. 10am-5pm. Free talk at 1.30pm. Admission £2.50 (children under 16 free when accompanied by an adult). Therapists, readers and stalls. Call John or Ann on 01609 770225 or 0776 614 5353. April 4: Astral Travel as a Tool for Personal Development - free International Academy of Consciousness (IAC) seminar, 45 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch. 7.30pm. For more details call 020 7723 0544, visit www.iacworld.org or email London@iacworld.org April 5-8: IAC Consciousness Development Program (Module 1), 45 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch. 7 – 9.30pm. £95 (paid in advance). For more details call 020 7723 0544, visit www.iacworld.org or email London@iacworld.org

April 13: Monthly PSI club meeting at the Tap and Spile, Monkgate, York. Meetings held every second Wednesday of the month. Come and meet like-minded people for an informal chat and gathering. Keep up-to-date on local events and news from the ghosthunting world. Admission is free (but you buy your own drinks!). April 16: Hopi Ear Candle Practitioner Training Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £85. Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for further information. April 16/17: Mind Body Spirit, Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Meet local Colour Breathing Practitioner teacher Dr Birinder at The Magik Thread Stand. For more details email info@themagikthread.co.uk or info@colourbreathing.com April 17: Indian Head Massage Practitioner Training Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £85. Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.healinglodge.co.uk for further information. April 18: Astral Travel as a Tool for Personal Development – free IAC seminar, 45 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch. 7.30pm. For more details call 020 7723 0544, visit www.iacworld.org or email London@iacworld.org

April 9: Yoga for Health and Relaxation one-day workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £75. Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www.yogatuition.info for further information.

April 18: Aqua Cleanse Detox Practitioner Training Workshop, Willow Lodge Healing Therapies, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 10am – 5pm. Price £750 (includes equipment, web advert, and therapist referral system). Call 0845 226 3132 to book or visit www. healinglodge.co.uk for further information.

April 9/10: 2-day Colour Breathing Practitioner training (with Colour Breathing Practitioner teacher Josephine Chatterton-Pratt), Humberston, Near Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire. For more details email info@colourbreathing.com

April 19/22: IAC Consciousness Development Program (Module 1), 45 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch. 7 – 9.30pm. £95 (paid in advance). For more details call 020 7723 0544, visit www.iacworld.org or email: London@iacworld.org

April 9/10: Colour Breathing Practitioner training (with Practitioner teacher Linda Rogers), Walkford, Christchurch, Dorset. £395. For more information email info@colourbreathing.com

April 23/24: Ancholme Leisure Centre, Brigg. Meet local Colour Breathing Practitioner Teachers Yvonne Mackle and Debbie Harrison at The Magik Thread stand. Listen to the benefits of Colour Breathing. For more details email info@themagikthread.co.uk or info@colourbreathing.com

April 10: The Mechanism of Psychic Phenomena Course, IAC, 45 Great

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