In more ancient times (and, still, considered to have validity by some who work as healers)both physical and mental illnesses were recognised as emerging out of any of four very different origins. In ancient Greek mythology (which, often, carries more truth in it than some religions, Asclepius ( a son of Apollo) was the god of medicine; and whose daughters followed in his path.

I was thinking about this, as I wandered through Epidaurus, set in one of the smaller valleys of the Peloponnesus, where lies his shrine. And how I’d got here from what an insurance company had given me, for my pains, having had my hand damaged in a car accident. His Sanctuary, surrounded by the awesomely beautiful landscape (feeling so familiar) still retains its original powerful atmosphere: and, since its dedication, in the 2nd Millennium BCE, is one of the best preserved monuments in Greece.

“Being Struck Down,” in those times, had more to do with retribution from the gods (in a kind of divine justice) or (perhaps) from demonic forces. Maybe a Sorcerer was involved.. and these three being considered, before being put down as ‘natural causes.’ If you were REALLY unlucky then ( and heaven help you!) it could be all four. Whatever, they had a way of accommodating every prognosis.

Initially, for ceremonial healing practices, Epidaurus was to develop into the most influential therapeutic healing centre, in the ancient world, offering free treatments to all who managed to survive their long and arduous journeys. Some might say that the journey, by itself, was a part of the process. When I lived on the Island of Skye I learned of a man (suffering from a chronic muscular degenerative illness) who had walked (as much as possible, given the terrain) around the whole of its perimeter (a distance of close to 400 miles)with the intention of healing himself. Which he had: which just goes to show that, when the Mind and the Body are properly aligned with their intentions, anything is possible.

So, how did it begin, this Business of Healing?And, indeed, just what is the purpose of Human Suffering, when so much is at the root of ignorance, social structures and from various shenanigans? Well, get ye to the books helves, to read Homer’s ‘The Iliad,’ and ‘The Odyssey’ where (interspersed between those epic battles) can be found information about ancient Greek medicine: and so reminiscent of the leaps that modern medicine has made out of battlefield agonies.

And, here, I’m reminded of the inspiration coming out of the unbearable grief borne by Greek warriors, at their homecoming, and witnessing of so many absences. That had been when one of the goddesses had offered measures of Opium, so that they might forget, for while. In a modern context, so it was that the Poppy became a symbol of Peace.

And, if you continue reading, you’ll discover references to the descendants of Asclepius (The Asclepiads) who had inherited his divine healing powers: and who (as ‘demiourgio’) were to offer apprenticeships, in their medical schools. It was from one of these, on the Island of Kos, that Hippocrates (to become known as ‘the father of medicine’) emerged, and to create the memorable oath to be voiced by aspiring doctors:

“I swear by Apollo the Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, to my ability and judgement, this oath and this indenture.”

Now, consider this: should it, also, be an obligatory one for all who work in the pharmaceutical companies, making such vast sums from sources so far removed from the natural world?

At Epidaurus, the sick had to undergo a Ritual of Purification, and to spend time in an inner sanctum, where they would await a vision from the god; and a healing process best suited to their recovery.

The Museum houses many records of healing (some of which may not appear as convincing as others) but, as some seem to have suffered mental distress and hysteria, who is to say they hadn’t been much helped by the psychotherapies on offer? Over time. this place of compassionate (and entirely free) centre had grown into a large complex of guest houses,baths, gymnasiums; and sanctums that offered relief from all kinds of trauma. Isn’t that what medicine should be all about? For the love of it, and not for profit? And, isn’t it about time, we went back to how it all began?

As I stood, thinking about all of this, among the vibrant ruins that, still, resonate with its magnificent and inspirational history, there was a sudden flurry of wings from above; and a loud cry from a Raven. “Ah!”said our guide.”That is the Mother of Asclepius, still looking after her son’s Sanctuary.”

A Magical Bird!

Many myths and legends are recalled in many different ways, by many different cultures but they, still, hold to an essential truth. Which, for me, are beautifully summed up in the words of Joseph Campbell:

“It would not be too much to say that myth is a secret opening, through which the inexhaustible energies of the Cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation. Religions, Philosophies, Arts, the social forms of primitive and historic Man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic, ring of truth.”

And if (as Joseph Cotton said) “The Mind is capable of Everything,” the only Thing we have to do (be it building, or being healed) is to do what William Wordsworth said: “To Begin, Begin.” Which, sometimes that means going back to the ‘Beginning’ of Things, in earlier times; and to create a better version, out of that original vision.

It was Nicola Tesla who spoke, for many of us when he said: “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” He also said that ” The day Science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress, in one decade, than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” And by ‘Science,’ he meant those who seek a truth (which, in earlier times, when religion held sway, would have them being put to the stake) and not the manufactured theories that keep them safe from the criticism of their peers.

Energy, Frequency and Vibration: therein lie the cruxes of healing the dissonance in the Soul, the dis-ease in the Body; and an inner sense of damnation in the Mind, generating a mental reaction. This is what I brought back with me, from Epidaurus: all over the World are the ruins of sacred sites, once dedicated to healing and awaiting their regeneration. The Big Thing about Change is that it doesn’t have to take generations for that to happen.

And here. in the words of Socrates is something that more of us need to take on board: “Know Thy self: the unexamined Life is not worth living.” For, in those who are fearful of doing just that, lie the roots of what ails them.

The wisest of words don’t have to be uttered by philosophers, but by those who have walked their talk and, for me, these summed it all up: “You either do it, or you don’t do it: and, if you choose not to do it, nobody else is going to do it for you.”

To Begin, Begin. That’s when Things change!

I have a memory, from a long way back of lying in my pram and looking up at the Moon; and thinking (yes, I DO remember thinking) that, whatever my Life was going to be all about (this time around) as long as I could keep seeing Her, then all would be well.

But, even then, with the knowing that, sometimes, it wasn’t going to be.

It was my father who pointed out some of the Stars in the night sky: the Milky Way, the Plough (with its mysteriously other name of the Pleiades (representing Seven Sisters) and Sirius; and this getting me back to a knowledge of Astrology, long buried in my memory.

This amazing star cluster, which can be seen from most parts of our worldly globe, has been regarded with a particular significance since the most ancient of times; and with myths originating in most of ancient cultures. Rites, accompanying Halloween, originated from the Druids who believed the veil, dividing the Quick and the Dead, was at its thinnest at midnight. Nowadays, and following on from manufactured religious systems, these (and SO much more) has been vandalised, misinterpreted and manufactured into self-serving rituals, bearing little relevance to Spiritual Truths.

What is missing from so very much in our lives is a Sense of Awe for the incredible diversity in the Universe, and an Awareness of being given the gift of a Life, to explore the reasons for being here.

Rodin’s statue of ‘The Thinker’ is, unfortunately. not one that will resonate with every one of Us, even if they got an opportunity to stand in front of it. Thinking is something that each of Us has to grow into, develop, and trust that it will get us to as truthful a place as we can, in one lifetime.

I don’t know who first said: “When we think a thing, the thing we think is not the thing we think we think, but the thing we think we think we think.” But they touched on something very important in why we think the way we do: and the need to examine what we might have taken on board from the opinions of others, the manipulation of the thoughts of others; and not trusting our own (and very personal) need to get to the heart of The Thing.

And that’s why looking up to the Moon and the Stars is a very good place to begin.

The investigations into the ancestry of ‘celebrities,’ has led to a growing interest in sites advertising our own historical connections, albeit more brief and not, necessarily, linking us to ‘personalities,’ unless we undertake further research. Nonetheless, getting to know who we are is, probably, the most important task we will ever pursue in a lifetime: and. Socrates’ dictum: “Know Thy Self: the unexamined Life is not worth living” are, probably, the most memorable words he ever spoke.

For me, they were the ones that sparked my enduring interest in Astrology, and Reincarnation: as well as the pursuit of the meaning of the four dreams that ‘haunted’ my childhood. And, even though I’ve taken many a course, it is more from my self-taught studying that I gained the most knowledge-mostly from diving deeply into challenging circumstances to the point of going where some angels ‘might fear to tread. ‘ And duly noting that ‘stubborn’ and ‘wilful’ are, sometimes a by-product of ‘determination’ and ‘tenacity:’ and this down to the fact that my present Life Path Number is Eight, and much about tying up Karmic loose ends, and being guided by the hard-won lessons from past ones.

Having watched a Zoom presentation by Mark Gober, and intending to buy his book ‘An End to Upside Down Thinking,'” it consolidated my own, on out-worn Paradigms, still being accepted and taught in Universities: and the total acceptance of ‘holy’ books that, still, so dominate Religions. In this 21st Century (but with so many more preceding it) and those who question them, regarded as ‘heretics,’ there’s even more research that should be brought into the light about just WHO WE ARE, as HUMAN BEINGS, getting down to a serious study of our unique composites and a shift towards a greater Consciousness. It’s as much a personal voyage of discovery as a collective one, because every one of Us has to make it, before We are reading to move on, and through.

Those incredibly complex strands of the double helix transmitting genetic information contain many more mysterious connections, still to be unravelled, and I’m thinking that Astrology is one of the ways in which it may be encoded so that we may access the Whys and Wherefores of the How we got to be Who we are. Yet one more Reason to live long enough, to get more Answers!

Well, it won’t, if The Fates have anything to do with It- the It that will be the Story of your Life- as they go about the spinning, allotting and destined end days woven into your uniquely personal web.I was a baby, lying in my pram,and observing a spider begin to work on the bridge thread of its web, just before it started on the meticulous weaving.of an incredibly beautiful design. And that was when I had my first Thought: “So, that’s how we do it.” When I was around four years old, sitting opposite my grandmother, in front of a warm fire, she had suddenly said: “What are we going to make of you?” And that was when I had thought: “What am I going to make of myself?”

When I was Five, and watching the marvelously complex film, ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ I’d become intrigued by the way the images that were being carried to the screen,in a narrow swathe of ;light from the Projectionist’s space, and being transposed ‘the right way up;’ and thinking: “So, that’s the way They do it!” For me, that meant our stories had somehow been created from Somewhere Else, and we had come here, to live them, in the World. When ‘Dorothy’ sang her song: “Somewhere over The Rainbow,” came the a strong feeling that ‘back there,’ was Home. Sorted! I had no truck with Sunday School, after that.

Actually if Clotho, Lachesis and Atrophos are doing their work, properly, what’s for you won’t pass you by: even for the gods, because Fate defines events as being ‘inevitable and unavoidable.’And I’ve thought, quite a lot about this. over the years as I wandered among the threads, making choices that seemed casual enough, on their surfaces, but so very influential to where they led me. Even the slightest difference in the time we do things, a sudden decision to have a coffee in a different cafe, a crossing of a road, at a different point, spotting something that seems very significant, in an advertisement, or missing our usual bus; they are all part of the grand design: and all to be understood, when we see it laid on the wall, as if it was a tapestry, composed of experiences and their memories.

Every so often, as I was growing up, I’d find myself feeling rather like someone sitting on a fence, watching the World go by, and wondering what it was that was going to make me make a move? And with this, with my Intuition hovering about me, waiting for the Message. That was to come, when I was sixteen coming up to seventeen and (by following its navigation) led me through the experiences that my Inner Voice ‘told ‘ me that wouldn’t. necessarily, bring me a lot of happiness but, from which I’d learn a lot, and become a ‘better person.’ A tall order, for one so young, but one that I took up as a major project. If I’d known, then, how long it would take (and been able to see what emotional impacts they would would bring) I think I would have demurred. As it was (and is) I have them to thank, for making me the ‘Me’ I am, today.

The Big Thing is, of course, that when we have come to our relinquishing of a life ‘this time around,’ we’re going to have to take another personality on board, in future ones: so where does that leave the other ones? I got an inkling of how that might work, when I took myself to a three-day workshop on ‘Soul,’ in Sedona (led by Mitchell Gibson) and imagined that Souls actually create the kinds of individual personalities that serve their purpose of understanding what it’s like to be a human being; a bit like laying many different eggs, and us ‘hatching’ them, according to our own karmic needs. Right now, that’s enough for me to think about but (I dare say) in future lives I’ll be off on a modified tack, when Soul has created another of It’s ‘Me’s.’ I’d recognised four personalities as different personifications of former ‘Me’s,’ in the dreams I’d had, as a young child; but it was harder to do that in the two part life regressions I’d investigated, via another consultant. Still, that has been no problem when I’ve felt a strong sense of connection to particular places, ‘knowing’ that I’ve been there, before; but not knowing who I’d been, then.

I’d begun to teach myself to read, at the precociously early age of Three, to get at what I considered to be the ‘necessary information,’ for understanding what Life was all about; and I have to thank my Dad for giving me the money for the many books that I’d found, as we wandered about the Markets, on Saturday mornings. In this way (although I was some way off, in their understanding) I discovered books by Plato, Encyclopedias, and various Philosophers: and, for the most part, feeling more ‘at home’ with what the more ancient ones were passing on (particularly Plato and his mentor, Socrates) which, naturally, had led me into Ancient Greek Mythology so that (after many years, when I finally managed to get to Greece) it was, truly, a ‘Coming Home’ experience for me.

We’re in What If territory, here, if we consider what designs are necessary for each individual, coming to a new life, then Clotho, Lachesis and Atrophos have as much authority (and artistry) as any; for they hold the records of each and every one that we have lived-and what we have a need to address, in future ones-and could well be in cohorts with Soul, Itself.

Another big question is: ‘How do we know if we have a Soul connection?” I’ve borrowed this from checking out Soul’s connection to the Fates but it, surely, fits into the whys and wherefores of my either choosing, or not choosing, to take a relationship further, on a very personal level. ‘You can feel a significant change in your inner landscape, which often reflects in your outer circumstances. They change your life on a very profound level; and (as you interact with them) you sense that you’ll never be the same again.’ And you KNOW.

In 2013, I KNEW that I would never,ever put my Self into any of those, still outstanding, spiritual challenges I’d taken on board when I was sixteen, coming up to seventeen:and that information was coming from the depths of my Soul. There’s no gainsaying there won’t be others, as I make my (hopefully) merry way into future ones: but (also from It’s depths) is the encouragement that comes from gaining the strength that I could have achieved in any other way. Something to think about, when You next fill your glass with wine: Salute all the One’s who made You, who You are, now.

Because I began to have four dreams, when I was four years old, and which repeated themselves every so often, until, I was around nine, a study of Past Lives was to become one of my pursuits in this one: as well as Astrology and Divination. But, first, I had to work through the ‘unfinished business’ indicated by the brief fragments of myself as four different women, in four very different lives.

Three of the dreams involved three different men.The fourth one was concentrated on the ‘Me’ I was then. When I was sixteen, coming up to seventeen, I got the signal that began the long journey towards their resolution. It was to take fifty seven years, before that mission was completed. And, believe me, I never, ever, want to take up that kind of challenge, ever, again.

Then again, I’m so very glad I did because just as my inner voice had said (when I re-met the first man in the first dream) “Well. You have a choice. You can either walk away and have the kind of life, most people would think of as a ‘happy’ one: or you can stay. You won’t always be happy, but you will learn a lot; and become a better person,” by taking the latter one, that’s exactly what did happen.

A major part of that decision had been to keep a promise I’d made, in the last moments of one of those lives. Actually, every one of those lives had been about keeping promises but, when I was making the last one, I’d known I was going to regret it: and that’s exactly what was to happen, in this life. ‘What’s for you, won’t pass you by,’ is an old saying that carries many grains of truth.

If you check out Dreams and Past Life Memory/Psi Encyclopaedia you’ll discover some excellent sources which will lead you to others. What I experienced were ‘flashbulb memories,’ with each of them seeming to be a brief clip from a longer reel. Each of them ran like a silent movie but, when words were being spoken, I somehow picked up what they had been, as though I was reading from sub titles (except for when I’d been given a choice) when they’d come, loud and clear from my Inner Voice.

And, as that Inner Voice is transmitted on a very different frequency from everyday thoughts, clearly identified by its authoritative tones, there’s no quibbling about it’s importance. When I was around seven years old It used to suddenly ‘take over,’ and begin to issue advice (through me) to someone I’d found myself close to. Not the kind of thing you’d expect from a seven year old and. always a surprise to me. Looking back, I’m thinking it was a practice run for the psychic work I was to do, in the future: but not before I’d had to work my way through that ‘unfinished business,’ as a very necessary apprenticeship.

And by listening to it, as I found myself struggling through some very dark territory, It was to give me some very necessary navigation.

“People may doubt you, but never doubt your deep, inner, call; inner voice, and inner strength.”

Amit Ray

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it by living someones else’s.”

Steve Jobs

“TOLD YOU SO,” Sincerely, Your Intuition”

Intuition is the Whisper of the Soul

I heard the Voice of mine, as I was born and, intermittently, until It let me know I was about to Go It Alone. “Every one of You has to do that, from time to time ” It said, “but when you need Me, I’ll be here.”

And so it Was.