SPIRITUALISM, CREATIONISM AND REFORM, SOCIAL HISTORY OR CONTEMPORARY CODE FOR COMMUNITY?

I was interested to read that the Natural History Museum had its 132nd anniversary last week. It is a truly remarkable building with its imposing Romanesque architecture. Construction began in 1871 & was completed in 1881. One can only marvel at the skill of the craftsmen & the sweat of the labourer who built this palatial edifice to life in its myriad forms, extinct or otherwise!
Apparently the museum is home to 70 million items in the fields of botany, entomology, mineralology & paleantology.
The museum has a well beaten track by schoolchildren over the years, a visit here is like the equivalent of entering Ali Baba's cave of treasures, the things one can learn here proffer a tantalising insight into the workings of life, the universe & other small matters! In fact what can be learnt here will be taken by the individual to the grave. A wonderful foundation for the growing mind & perhaps this is not just for kiddies,
there are many adults who would, no doubt, have well rounded lives if they could but realise that life is a continuum of evolving events that place us not at the centre of the universe but as interconnected to the thread of life itself.

The museum has been a constant backdrop in the scenery of South Kensington for the 15 years that I have been at the College of Psychic Studies. I expect it is a little different now, with its Darwin centre, gardens & sweeping external coloured lights....but not that much different.

I am fascinated by timelines & was intrigued by the fact that the museum & the College of Psychic Studies would have been birthed at about the same time. They are neighbours; the museum sitting on Cromwell rd which is literally a step away from Queensberry place, home to the college.

In 1884 the College started out in life as the London Spiritualist Alliance by William Stainton Moses, a cleric & spiritualist. It was a place of experimentation, debate & controversy, although various luminaries of the time would have frequented the building, not everyone approved of the side stepping away from the norms of christian worship.
Perhaps the most notable advocate of eternal life was Arthur Conan Doyle who was president in the 20's & did a lot for the bereaved by supporting the notion of the continuation of life after death.

Another champion of the cause was AR Wallace, also based at the college, a contemporary & peer to Charles Darwin. Wallace was not only an eminent botanist but was dedicated to socio economic reform.

Spiritualism sprang up from a thirst by the educated victorians who found traditional religious doctrine unacceptable but were not satisfied with the materialistic & mechanical view of the world that was emerging form C19 science.

There was a dissatisfaction with the church & its explanation of eternal life. At the same time Darwin (& Wallace) were proving the theory of evolution, natural selection & survival of the fittest.
In many ways that idiom transferred itself on to society & social Darwinism began. Creationism was becoming less credible & as a result the foundations of firmly held beliefs around direct action by God with the individual were being shaken.Victorians were opening up to one's status in life was not appointed by a wrathful deity, perched with pointed finger on a cloud William Blake style but from circumstance & choice.

Spiritualism was a natural vehicle for reform, mainly women. Notably, Victoria Woodhull & Achsa W Sprage (USA) & Emma Hardinge Britten (UK).
Their trance addresses were filled with putting the world to rights through sufferagacy & abolition.

It might be worth mentioning that Robert Owen 1771 - 1858 founder of the Co-operative society & socialist came to spiritualism late in his life & channelled the american president, George Washington.

It would appear that Spiritualism, although received with scepticism in many quarters, was a positive body of movement that earnestly worked to make sense of a changing world, it espoused equality& personal growth & accepted that there was more to life than met the eye.
It embraced the idea that relationships continue & love never dies., still a source of  both comfort & intrigue to this day.

Spiritualism as a movement still has a lot to offer to the modern  community. The 7 principles are still a bareable structure for life & the fact that someone can stand on a podium & connect others to ideas of divinity without wearing robes of office & awaken the sleeping to the energy of love, can only be a good thing & worth preserving & upholding.

So many have the skills to heal & can offer insights of the benevolent Great Spirit not for the sake of hinderance but for improvement, it seems only appropriate that the churches & centres make conscious efforts to bring these gifts into the wider community at large.

Many places do this already but there is still much scope, room for invention & imaginitive purpose.
Reform is not a thing of the past, evolution is in a constant state of flux. In these interesting times we inhabit, it is surely worthwhile to embrace the path of our forebears & bring these fine ideals into the modern age.

the 2 cups and love and war.

The 2 cups and love and war.

I have been intrigued by the 2 of cups for some time. I have learnt that when this intrigue happens there is something developing in my consciousness appertaining to the essence in the card.
The Universe is expressing a truth to me through my toolbox and I am ready to absorb the message.

In recent weeks this card has been popping up in readings for myself and for clients. I have also learnt that when cards repeat in such a way that there is something going on in the ephemeris that has an astrological connection to the card. Now I am no astrologer! However I am totally fascinated by the movement of the planets and the link to human activity. I have great respect for those that plot charts and can interpret the celestial goings on, so my interest is cranked up a notch when I realise that the appearance of the card is possibly influenced by planetary movements and am even more excited when it becomes apparent that Tarot is trying to teach of itself by imprinting the subtleties of this dynamic into my brain, indeed spirit!

Recently, I discovered that Mars and Venus were in conjunction with each other. Suddenly it began to make sense as to why our duo had been making themselves obvious.....
You see, it's not just the 2 cups that fascinates me but the imagery in the RWS deck that draws me in demanding of me to discover more. So I went on a journey, into the card, with this couple and we ended up in Babylon!

In the two's I see opposites, a need to balance out the tension or life force between these opposing factors that  will then create a healthy and sustaining regimen. In this card I can see how opposites attract.
I have found from experience that this 2 can herald the beginning of a new relationship or the start of a fresh new phase in an existing one.
There is harmony and healing, a sense of equality and leaving emotional woes behind. It denotes previous relationship misfortunes but this new chapter will bring emotional brevity and passion, fertility and creativity, on many levels.
The male and the female find their correct vibration, co-existing happily as they mirror each other, Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars, right?
Hence the excitement as with this thought in mind, it transpired that the same thing had been going on in the heavens......

But back to Babylon and the RWS 2 cups! The 2 serpents on the Labrys connect us to Hermes,(mercury)
these serpents were found by Hermes to be in mortal combat, Hermes seperated them with his wand, resulting in peace.
The winged lion is Ishtar, warrior Queen, her domain is fertility,war, love, sexuality and sex. Her dominion is over nature and its inherent oppositions, birth and death, peace and violence, animal and human.
Ishtar is also linked to Lilith, the difference being that Ishtar's wings are raised.
Those that followed Ishtar worshipped Baal, where sacred prostitution in the temple was all part of the rites.
There is something very earthy about Ishtar, blood sweat and tears. The Lion or Dragon is the familiar of Ishtar, giving the idea of sacred energy and protection.

This goddess also has the 8 pointed star, another attribution to Venus, as morning or evening star, we could possibly make a link to Lucifer here, as he was also known as the morning star and could explain why sometimes Ishtar has sinister connotations.

Then; I find myself considering the Star card and her relationship to the stars in the imagery, the portals of Istar perhaps, but that is a whole new blog......

So I can see from this overview of Ishtar, 2 cups and its symbolism that a whole drama is being played out in the skies and I am just an actor who shares the stage with Venus, Mars, Earth and Mercury, oh what a glorious dance....!

A desire for discussion about mythology and its ability to make sense of chaos emerges. The idea of the  human need to discover the world, indeed universe through archetypes becomes a source of intellectual intoxication resulting in spiritual food and a funny kind of memory awakens somewhere.

If knowledge be the source of inspiration as likened to a bottle of wine, then pour me a large one, anyone care to join me?

A country as a soul place, a reality we create.

I have come to believe that countries that we are compelled to set a footprint in are part of our inner design. We created an inner reality that is expressed in the physical by the places we go to & ultimately recognise as familiar.

I set out an intention that I wanted to travel with my work & little by little this beginning to manifest, my approach to which countries I go to is fluid. I go where I am sent, this may sound fatalistic, but I think that actually our 'un-conscious' mapped out this journey.

The stories that I read as a child had a profound influence on this process. The Arabian nights meet Hans Christian Anderson. Note:- Believe in the dreams of children, they will be our future.

I thought that North Africa & the Arabic countries would be my destination, indeed it was for a while. I learnt much. However it was to experience the history of the place, it's own psychic development, the creation of it's interior....Morocco, for example gave me the opportunity to explore great thinkers of the golden age which in turn put certain events & developments in consciousness on a timeline for me. I have subsequently been able to absorb this knowledge into my work & is a ceaseless source of interest, especially early kabbalists & the Sufi master Muyahiddin Ibn Arabi.

I also got the sense that Morocco was a father to me. A paternal guide that taught me valuable lessons in personal responsibility & Courage, honing my beliefs in life itself.....

So what of Finland? I have come to love this country, it's people & it's gorgeous scenery.

Mother Finland, a healing, nurturing place that gave me room to breathe & expand, that has supported my well stream of ideas & creativity, to fly out my big thoughts. I am forever thankful for that.

Our male/female aspects are not just two dimensional but resonate fully on so many levels, especially in how we connect to the heart of a country, have you ever had this experience ? What of the place, your spiritual, sacred place, where is that?

                                FINLAND, ON THE ROAD.

The road is moving, twisting & turning, pushing her way forward.

She will eventually come to the sea, there is no other place to go.

The eternal forest straddles the road.

She, dark & mysterious, tantalises you with her mystery.

At once both High Priestess & the Empress, drawing you in.

The road penetrates her.Deeper into her being.

He, seeking out the life force; invasive & bold, quick witted Magician.

His desire to exist re-shapes the landscape,

Cleaving out his identity until the symbiosis is complete & the road & the forest are one.

Wake Up Happy - A Path to Transformation   

Sunday 2nd September (10am – 5pm)     Venue: The College of Psychic Studies

Avril Price & Linda Cruse  (Special Event)

Have you ever wanted to change the world you live in, lead a more effective and authentic life, develop the confidence to listen to your inner voice, be more conscious of the community and culture you live in? Then this workshop is for you! Learn how to reconnect with your passion and purpose! If you have ever considered de-cluttering the ‘stuff’ in your life - all those things that distract you and pull you away from your personal potential - this event is for you. It will bring you back to your own authentic essence, thereby allowing you to explore who you truly are and ultimately become clearer as to your true nature and where you want to go on life’s journey. You will use many tools and techniques to bring about your own transformation. This dynamic, interactive day includes many practical exercises, meditations and visualisations to reconnect to your inner core and be part of the change of the bigger picture in the spirit of 2012. You will receive your own individual plan of action, tailored to your passion and purpose to deliver swift results.

Linda Cruse is a front line humanitarian aid worker whose experience of life & near death has given her a unique insight into the human psyche & prompted her to establish ' Be the change' academy, which uses the entrepreneurial skills & acumen of business leaders to assist in solving challenging real life problems in some of the poorest & most marginalised communities in the world.

Linda is the author of  MARMALADE & MACHINE GUNS. 16 countries, 12 years & 1 suitcase: one woman's quest to help disaster stricken communities back on their feet.

Avril Price has worked in the spiritual arts since 2001. She teaches personal & intuitive development at the CPS & abroad, including Finland, Turkey & Morocco. Avril also teaches Tarotstudies at the college, embracing the philosophy & practical application of Archetypal wisdom contained therein. Her years of experience as a tutor & consultant have given her an awareness of the human dynamic & the various processes that an individual undertakes through the journey that is life.

Avril's passion is understanding how life experiences underpin transformations: 'Through exploring our own life material, we become our own master.'

COLLEGE OF PSYCHIC STUDIES

16 Queensberry place

Sth Kensington 

SW6 2EB

investment. £65.

please call 0207 589 3292 to book a place.

College phone lines available from aug 15th.

It was Mahatma Ghandi that urged us to Be the change that we want to see in the world. It is one of those adages that will not wear down with time. 

Much has been said about the shift, collaboration, sharing & so on. I feel that we don't really know what that means.

I do believe that this year of 2012 is significant in so far as change is upon us & in many forms, although the snow ball has not stopped rolling, it is gathering momentum. It will be in later years that we will see the effects of this so called shift. So, We are still left with the question, what does that mean for us?

We are indeed interconnected, dependent on each other for so much & on so many levels. I have been in this field for many years. In the early days, spirituality was the denizon of the eccentric & the fanatic; nowadays everyone has some kind of thinking about what spirituality means to them & how we express that in our world is unique, no matter of our calling or occupation. I find this remarkable.

We are individuals amongst the web of interconnectedness & each of us have a part to play in the whole.

The time is right to consider what we could change about the world we inhabit. As we change our own world, we change the world at large. From the esoteric to the exoteric.

Not only that but as we improve on our game, we improve it for others........

There are no more armchair prayers to God, no more whispering in the dark making a plea bargain with the Great Spirit. This is the time for activism & it starts with ourselves.

Mohammed allegedly said that after him, there would be no more Prophets. Perhaps it is because we are our own Guru, our own master. Certainly the writing is on the wall.....we ALL have a bit of inside knowledge......the key to this could be the return to creative thinking.

Potential.....I have the sense that being our potential is fundamental to our existence, we live in hope that we have the skills, talents & resources to live an effective life. 

We must rediscover the passion for self discovery & grant ourselves the power to be authentic.

By shining our own light it gives permission for others to shine theirs. 

It is a kind of spiritual/social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. The being left behind because we didn't pay attention to personal potential is not an option!

When we explore who we are, when we desire to become close to our true essence, we become close to all that is. We reaffirm our place on the path of destiny & that voice which is longing, longing to be heard, is reconnected to the beloved.

CHIRON , 2012 AND THE REBIRTH OF THE SOUL.

I love sinchronicity, random coincidences and those moments of serendipity that are at once both pleasant and mind blowing as we observe the sign posts of life that encourage us to keep going as we might just be on the right path.

It was such a moment that I discovered Chiron. His energy had been emerging in my life in numerous ways. The name Chiron had appeared in magazine articles, conversations, recommended book titles and an astrology chart that showed his true nature as he hovered through my houses at a time of a diagnosis for breast cancer; all of these sign posts happened within space of a few weeks.

Intrigued, I began to ponder as to the relevance of such an astrological & mythical character, the inspiration I received procured a profound light bulb moment.

I am not an astrologer, so when I was informed that Chiron and Neptune are in Pisces until 2018, I have to take the word of the authors of the ephemeris at face value.
However, I understood that what was happening to me and the relevance of the presence of Chiron in my chart could also be happening on a global level.

Chiron is called the wounded healer as he was injured by an arrow that carried poison, Hydra's blood. Chiron, being an immortal, couldn't die so he roamed eternity looking for relief. ( He eventually did a deal with Prometheus which ended the cycle of torment!!) Because of this search, Chiron learnt a lot about the healing arts, he became healer and teacher to Achilles, Jason, Asclepius and Peleus.
The presence of Chiron suggests that we are also searching for relief from our persistent wounds.

Much has been said about 2012 and the evolution of consciousness. It begs the question what does that mean and how is it happening? I think that the influence of Chiron at this present time suggests that it is both a zeitgeist and an inevitability that we are exploring all that is not well with us and the planet. The crises that we find ourselves in personally and globally are possible vehicles for transformation.

By being alive now, we have signed up to experience this shift at this most auspicious time in history. Auspicious because we are clearing up history. We are opting to face the challenges of this time as we are capable of seeing the imbalances that have been created.
Never before in history has everyone, no matter their walk in life, had so much access to spiritual information and also the encouragement to act upon that information. We are learning that everything is truly energy.

As we spiral further into 2012 we are becoming increasingly aware of the disfunctional and dystopic. In a sense this has to happen. That gaping wound in the psyche is yearning to be healed. All that drives us into our own disfunction, all that we harbour in the unconscious that is painful and sad will float to the surface. Our every action and reaction will be to serve this wound until we equip ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically, so that we can seal this wound once and for all; by so doing we have taken a giant step on an evolutionary path that will promote wisdom through experience.

Understanding the nature of our wounding is paramount to our healing process. We can trace our dis-ease back, even to our ancestry, be it personal or cultural. The cycles, decisions and actions that lay buried in the layers of experience whose voices implore us on a daily basis to bring salve to the soul by recognising the hurts within.
By understanding we can forgive, by forgiveness we can let go, by letting go, we move on.

Corporeal intelligence will play a part in our growth. We live in societies that encourage self loathing and angst makes us to want. The body's wisdom is dismissed as we were and are conditioned to perceive nature as outside of our self...
Dis-ease is on the increase. Evolution gone awry. We subliminally punish the body for imprisoning the spirit. We see the place of matter, we can even relate it to ourselves but it's relativity to spirit....spirit is something ethnic, something that does not belong to us.
Our personal drive, the desire to function effectively becomes distorted, we cannot be on the path towards the Great Spirit as our tortured mind and bodies get in the way....consequently we believe that any kind of recognition of the divine within is for the wholesome, healthy and undiusturbed, all of these factors do not really exist......truth is we are all disturbed, in some form or another.
Psychic instincts create psychic events; the unfolding of our internal landscape to become that which shapes the exoteric.

Seperation is the deepest of wounds. I think all of us on some level experience this seperation, especially from the divine, psychologically and spiritually. By repairing this rift we become closer to source and the true journey of transformation begins. The end result being our splintered self  re-unites with our divine self in a very real and tangible sense.

Chiron tells us that to cure the body (ours and the earth's) we need to heal the soul. We are all karmically linked together and also karmically linked to the planet. Whatever we do to ourselves we do to the great mother and visa versa.
I believe that our journey here is one of the transpersonal, we are moving towards the higher self, cleaving a path from the lower ego, the nafs amara to the realms of quds or spirit. We are here to heal.
Chiron on one level shows us our ability to gather pain, enhancing every scar but also illuminates the conditions in which we can heal and be healed.

One could say that journeying with Chiron is part of the individuation process. At the same time we become aware of  what is good for us and we take personal responsibility for it. Our vulnerabilities and frailties become our guides bearing witness to our rebirth.
Part of that journey is the sojourn from head to heart, the challenge being that we can recognise pain without becoming it's victim.

Chiron until 2018? We either meet true healers or we become true healers.

BREAST CANCER AND THE CASE FOR CHIRON, WOUNDED HEALER.

It is nearly a year now since I received my initial diagnosis of Breast Cancer in the right breast. As one might expect it is a date that is etched firmly on my mind. Happily, I am through the worst, treatments have finished, the tumour has gone and I continue to stay well and accept the challenge of keeping well with all my heart as I am only too aware that there are those whose journey has a different result.

June 15th 2011; this was no ordinary date. I found myself sitting in a bare and comfortless room awaiting results of a biopsy. There is something psychologically manipulative about the rooms and their ambience relating to the stage of treatment one has reached, as your treatment intensifies and you have got your head around each stage of treatment, the quality of services and atmosphere seems to improve. Thankfully.

So, there was I, telling myself that there was nothing to worry about, yet all the while I had that sneaking suspicion that in fact I should be concerned, really concerned. In actual fact, the diagnosis on some level was not a total surprise; I had a feeling for a while that things were not right. My body already bore the affectations of a life well lived and was beginning to scream at me that all was far from well. I paid regular visits to the doctor for various tests that I insisted on having, which amounted to little more than a wild goose chase. The most helpful information I received at the time was that I had a vitamin D deficiency, which has been linked to Breast Cancer in some people. It has also transpired after talking to Oncology medics that it is not unusual for patients to have an insight into their cancer before the evidence emerges as a concrete fact.

June 15th 2011 is also significant as it was the time of the double lunar eclipse. I am certainly not an astrologer but even I felt that this diagnosis was doubly significant for me on a personal level because of this auspicious lunar movement.

In many respects that is all history now. However, the journey with cancer has been immensely powerful. It threw me smack bang into the middle of my own universe and all that I had been, was and could become. The scales dropped from my eyes and an intense healing began, a healing which was rooted deep in my psyche. I realised that I had become seperated, adrift from myself, what and who I represented and the integral divine essence that flows through each of us. The link to heaven and earth the same had become severed, the journey back to the beloved began in earnest.

It is not my aim to recount at this moment of the various layers that shifted and how the cancer shook my world in a way that was a terrible beauty all at once. Breast Cancer is not new. The picture is Rembrandt's Bethsheba and shows quite clearly her breast which appears to have all the markings of a cancer.
It bothers me enormously that Breast cancer is on the increase and one could summise that we are reaching epidemic proportions. My family and I were discussing another soul, a friend, who had just received a diagnosis quite recently. We were staggered to discover that between us we knew of  12 people in our collective address book who have or had been stricken with this dis-ease. That is a huge figure for just one bunch of people.

Nor is it my aim at this stage to discuss the implications of this disease on women and society, although I do feel that we are experiencing the incineration of the divine feminine and that Witch burnings still continue in a veiled and psychologically surreptitious fashion; this subject will no doubt arise at a later date, as it must.

Let's return to astrology. An astrologer friend of mine pointed out that not only was the date a lunar eclipse but also Chiron the wounded healer had shown up in my chart at the same time, this fact has fascinated me and my research into Chiron has amazed and comforted me. The time for karmic change was nigh!

Interestingly, Chiron will be about until 2018, my sense of it is that a massive karmic shift is happening, women are carrying this shift, the epidemic proportions that we have reached could well be a result of the presence of Chiron in the ephemeris tying into the shift in consciousness that we have attributed to 2012. This means that we must really look hard at how we nurture and are being nurtured and all that which this statement entails. Food, sex, work, relationships and self love all come under close scrutiny as well as repressed creativity and past hurts from significant people and life situations, including our relationship to the Great Spirit. The time for talking about the Great Spirit is over, NOW is the time us to experience the Great Spirit. If all of this be the case, then we are once more reminded that we are totally interconnected with each other and the planet we live on.

Chiron as a planet was discovered in 1977, orbiting between Uranus and Saturn. Chiron also seems to embody the principles of it's neighbours! Interestingly, at the time of it's discovery there was an emergence of  alternative healing therapies. We were ready for the archetype of the inner healer to be absorbed into our consciousness.

In Greek mythology, Chiron was a Centaur. He was also a teacher, musician and holistic healer. He received a wound from a poisoned arrow, Hydra's blood and didn't die as a result of this wound, but could not fully recover and was destined to live in pain. Personal suffering and the awareness that can be derived from it becomes central to the theme of the myth and planet Chiron and the re-emergence of spirit in one's life. As the immortal son of Kronos, he teaches us to fulfil our potential, leading to holistic understanding.

Close to our 50th birthday we can expect the Chiron return effect. The transit crosses over his position in the natal chart, a time of karmic realisation surfaces from the deep and the only way to go is forward. I was 51 at the time of diagnosis. Not everyone is going to go through an illness  to experience Chiron return, what ever shape or form it does take is appropriate to the individual and their karmic patterning. Either way it is a time of liberation of the unlived spirit through the knowledge that life is painful and we must strive to transcend. It is not our own suffering that we carry, but that of another and they carry ours. This is the interconnectedness at work, we are for each other. As we liberate ourself, we immediately liberate others, including Earth into the higher self.

It is my view that the repressed drive and creativity and the subjugation of the divine self resulting in a form of seperation play a part in the formation of a dis-ease. Once that is recognised and all that this notion entails means we can begin to clean up our act. The power of the Cancer journey and it really is a journey, is that it provides a platform to reach into our deepest and most hidden parts and heal all those hurts and anxieties that we have carried for far too long. I began to know love, true love at it's deepest level, it wasn't easy to get to that point, this love gave me the strength to examine my life and to ask life for life itself. Painfully sifting through all my 'stuff ' I realised what love is. For me love is knowledge, that knowledge we all have, to know without knowing, the action of gnosis in our .life, the gnostic self that we fail to recognise in the humdrum activities that we call our life. Love taught me compassion.

There is a sura in the Koran which tells us that 'The Lord sends sickness as a servant to bring us back to the Lord'. Our autonomy and independence through interdependence on each other and the Great Spirit is paramount to our well being and wholesomeness.

By searching for our own healing, we can learn how to heal others. We are the source of wisdom and healing for each other. It is through the expression of this wisdom that we also express the divine at work in both the esoteric and exoteric world.

I feel that life is a whole series of journeys. Each one a miracle in it's own right, each journey offers up a pearl from the bottom of our ocean, this pearl is the gift of experience, a validation to our footprints in the sand.....each pearl we receive is a celebration of our magnificence of being, the treasure within.

As Solomon said to Belqis; 'It is not the riches that you flaunt but the riches within that make you beautiful' .

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TASSEOMANCY, AN ART WORTH REVIVING?

I found myself thinking about all this talk of contemporary, modern mediumship, new paradigms in psychic development and the plethora of Tarot art and decks that are so widely available today. I considered how things have changed even from when I started professionally in 2001.
Word of mouth counted then, it was possible not to advertise, as in reality, if you were any good people would  beat a path to your door. The world of a psychic medium was still on the fringes of society which made it all the more compelling and development teachers were afforded a certain gravitas, a reverence and respect that urged you to emulate them.
Nowadays, with the advent of media mediumship, psychic commercialism and a way of life that has expanded   into an industry where competition for a profitable spot in the cyber market place is paramount to business survival, memories of putting cards in a post office window are filed in the quaint compartment!
The new age industry is alive and well and worth £47.9 million pounds a year, little wonder that the Fraudulent Medium act was repealed in favour of consumer law. Marx predicted that all small businesses would be absorbed by the wider commercial enterprises and vocational lifestyles would also operate on an entirely commercial basis.
In the UK, our predominant industry is the Leisure industry and the Spiritual market is very much a part of that, in this age of capital crisis and entrepreneurialism , it is little wonder that we are constantly seeking to wheel out new maxims, jargons and approaches to something that man has explored since time immemorial, the intuitive self and prophecy.......and who could blame us..
My great Grandmother Lizzie was a miners wife in South Wales, kept lodgers and a pit pony, grew all her own vegetables, Chickens ran about in the yard and she read teal leaves. I imagine that she was a vital part of a community where marriages, birth, work and death were key factors in the health of that community, where a little inside knowledge could be a positive boon in an ever expanding world. Lizzie's role would have been a significant one. Looking at her life, one realises that the part played by a local psychic in those times is fundamental to understanding social history and the various means by which people came together and expressed their commonality.
My Father tells the story of how when a lady from the town would come to call for a reading, he was sent to the shop for a quarter of Mazawattee tea. Apparently this was the best tea to use as it's leaves were large and flat. Upon his return, a pot of mazawattee tea was brewed, the Ladies would adjourn to the sitting room and my Father was ushered out to play whilst the Women drank their tea and discussed their agenda, after the tea was drunk, Lizzie would perform her skills as a Tasseomancer and read the patterns of the leaves formed at the bottom of the cup, in those days of a tight economy, barter was an acceptable payment, she would be regularly offered, a pat of butter, a bag of sugar or a sack of vegetables in return for her insights.
What is interesting here is that a consultation appears to be a social event. It would have involved a certain amount of animation & discussion. It is unlikely that Lizzie would have been pressed to prove whether she was talking to Spirits or not. Another thing which occurred to me is that it is highly unlikely that Lizzie would have had any knowledge of Chakras, Meridians, Auras and indeed any of the modern day schemata that we take for granted today.
There is something heart warming about Lizzie and her tea cups, a real sense of tradition and a love of people that emerges from her story, something as comforting as drinking tea itself.
In medieval Europe, fortune tellers originally would have used lead or wax to read the patterns. The Dutch brought tea via trade routes from China in the C17; by the C19 the Densham family from Plymouth were importing Mazawattee tea, maza is taken from the Hindi word maza meaning pleasure or fun and vatta is sinhalese for garden.
We get an idea here that tea crossed all social divides and lifestyles, little wonder that it was at the centre of a welsh mining town, a bedrock for all that was great and good for it's inhabitants, a way of life for Lizzie the Tasseomancer.
One wonders if there could still be a part to be played for such simple yet socially special interactions between psychic and client. I hope that as a new era dawns on the world we do not lose our innate sense of altruism & loving consciousness for each other.