View From The Big Hills

Margaret Lumley Brown was one of the finest trance medium’s of the 20th Century. However, for me her most important life experience was her training, service and work with Dion Fortune’s Society of the Inner Light. While I am fortunate enough to know people present and deceased who worked with her, I never met her and am often left with a feeling that she would have been a great person to have had round for a cup of tea and a slice of cake! Alas, I never had that chance. She corresponded with Arthur Conan Doyle and some other notable figures. Fortunately Gareth Knight has published some excerpts of her poetry, psychic experiences and “communications” in his book “Pythoness”. The “communications” have the strange depth and resonance that are typical of contacted work. It remains a long standing wish of mine that one day her work will be widely and publically available by book or the internet for seekers to enjoy and ponder. Following a short excerpt in “Pythoness” Gareth Knight has rece...

"You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters." Bernard of Clairvaux - Epistle, French Abbot, Saint and Co-founder of the Knights' Templar Rule

Somebody recently asked me what was the correct way to pronounce a particular letter in Classical Greek. There was a difference of academic opinion on the letter in question. My response was that I don't much get concerned about the correct pronunciation of classical greek, latin or hebrew. The intent and meaning behind it should really be the paramount focus and concern. If I had more time to spend on research I may hold a different view - but I don't! In terms of esoteric working, it only becomes a real problem when there is such an extreme difference in pronunciation that other participants in your working don't recognise what you are intoning or saying. That's pretty rare.To make a illustrative comparison, a Geordie will still understand a Liverpudlian accent in 99% of cases and vice versa. Somewhat surprisingly the discussion reminded me of my Gran. Let me elaborate. My sister and I went to different schools. She went to a state school while I went to private...

As 2009 draws to an end and 2010 begins, many of us may be inclined to think on matters such as Time and Change. Below is a beautiful Hermetic text my old friend Tony Willis flagged up which seems more than apt for contemplation with this coming shift into a new year. The Hierarchy of Creation Atum creates the Cosmic Mind. The Cosmic Mind creates the Cosmos. The Cosmos creates Time. Time creates Change. The essence of Atum is Primal Goodness. The essence of the Cosmic Mind is permanent sameness. The essence of the Cosmos is beautiful order. The essence of Time is movement. The essence of Change is Life. Atum works through Mind and Soul. The Cosmic Mind works through immortality and duration. The Cosmos works through turning and returning. Time works through increase and decrease. Change works through quality and quantity. The Cosmic Mind is in Atum. The Cosmos is in Eternity. Time is in the Cosmos. Change is in Time. ...

“The Heavenly Spheres make music for us, The Holy Twelve dance with us, All things join in the dance! Ye who dance not, know not what we are knowing.” - Gustav Holst, in a letter to Clifford Bax. Who can forget the first time they heard Holst’s stunning suite of music, The Planets? Whether it was as a child or adult, it is difficult to forget the immediate reaction to hearing the music, particularly the gargantuan “Mars.” Love it or hate it, it is magical, powerful and evocative music. The energy of “Mars, the Bringer of War,” is represented by a frenetic and unremitting march in 5/4 time. The orchestration of the piece is stuffed full of brass instruments giving the music incredible raw force and sense of movement. Kettle drums boom as they are beaten with the hard–ended sticks. The strings are furiously struck with the wood of the bows, producing a harsh and almost sabre-rattling sound. The music grows in size, energy and volume until it ...