The Long Shadow

The Long Shadow

Well Spring is officially here, the clocks have sprung forward and the evenings are suddenly brighter. There is so much excitement in the air and I know we should be leaping forward into the embrace that Mother Nature offers. With all I have learned about this archetype I know there should be no thinking, just jumping in. However, I have moved to Frome, a highly exciting and fast moving, spirited town and its political nature is pulling me back into my head. As we are constantly being dragged out of our hearts into our heads it so easy to fall into fear and events in the news have been certainly doing that.

I am constantly trying to come to terms with what Brexit will mean for us and it does take me quite some time to find an answer that fits. As I work at putting my new book out in the big wide world I know that my thoughts are always being pulled towards the bigger picture (if you’re interested in the astrology I have 5 planets in Pisces, the last of the signs and the container of all) and I know it is the bigger picture that will give us the bigger, more meaningful answers.

I am hoping to keep this blog short, for once, as I sense that my second book is going to be the complete exploration of this story and interestingly I wrote the bulk of it two years ago before Brexit was in my consciousness but as synchronicity always has it, it is all there. I just want to touch on my ideas here. As usual, nothing I say is new but I hope to present them in my book in a way that gives meaning and way forward from our place of pain.

In simple terms Brexit (as no one really knows what it will bring) represents, to me, putting up walls and splitting apart. As I constantly am working towards a world where we recognise that we are all one and nothing is separate from anything else, I know this is not the direction that makes sense. I have to understand that we are still going deeper into the darkness before we are ready to turn around to the light. 

As I listened to many of the speeches at the funeral of Martin McGuinness and was already aware of how my friend Jo Berry (daughter of Anthony Berry, the Tory MP killed in the Brighton Bombing, who now works for peace with the bomber) was speaking out her truth for peace and reconciliation, I know the story of Britain is a rich terrain from which we can learn much. 

I touch upon a story in my book ‘Journey to the Golden City’ which is based on ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho and I know this reveals so much. The idea that we have to journey away from our home, our hearts, to be able to see more clearly that everything we need was always there for us if we have the eyes to see it, helps us return to discover our whole truth. I know this is the lesson we are travelling on, but sadly too many of us are still on the outward journey.

In 2014 I wrote a play about reconciliation in Israel between an Israeli and a Palestinian couple sensing that the Israeli Government are simply playing out the pain the Jews are carrying on the Palestinians; the victim becoming the perpetrator - again, nothing new there. So it was necessary for me to view the story of Britain and I feel there is the same journey here. 

In brief, we can see our small island being constantly invaded throughout the first Millenia, after Christ. In revenge, we started flexing our muscles in the 12th Century with the Crusades over the Holy Land, then turned on the rest of the world in anger. The victim has become the greatest perpetrator but today we have no memory or understanding of why and we are just left with the anger. We do not see the wrong we are doing as we conquer lands and force them to live as we tell them and then wonder why they retaliate. As a Jew living in England for three generations I feel the burden of carrying all these truths within my ancestral lines. 

When Tebbit called for the IRA to stand up and be counted for their sins, I ask when are the British going to stand up for theirs, all 800 years of them. Having birthed a new nation with the same mindset in America, we are now creating a reality that is seen as the new civilised way to be, yet has no idea of what it is actually doing. Rulers who are crowned and lead out of fear and anger but refuse to look at themselves fully in the mirror.

If Brexit means we have to become a tiny country, from Great Britain to little England before we will be able to return home from our Alchemist’s Journey and fully awaken to our truth, then so be it. The hard journey always delivers the gifts in the end and hopefully enough positive and determined people will stay to keep the light of peace and love shining. 

ps I would like to add if that last phrase brings out the cynic in you, may be we need to question why these simple important words have been deemed ‘a cliche’ rather than an imperative.

Keys to our Hearts

The Keys to our Hearts

I have been away from my blogging site for far too long and am feeling the struggle to get back to the page. Having spent most of the last six months bringing my book and CD into reality I am only just releasing myself from this huge task as it reaches a state of completion. Not only that I’ve put my band back together again and had a new website built. Busy, busy.

I am so pleased with the end result and am now just looking forward to getting my energy into promoting it all. I say looking forward with a slight reticence as this isn’t my world but one I’m aiming to move seamlessly into.

All this seems very positive but behind all this I can feel the weight of the year that has passed. My partner and I suffered so much loss last year and if there was a time when we didn’t have personal loss it seems that it was all around us. There was no time to draw breath between grieving one passing before the next hit us like a stone. It’s incredible how much this takes out of you when there seems like there is no reprieve, but working through the pain honestly aways brings a silver lining. 

If it felt there was too much to deal with personally then nationally and globally the political and social changes have also been breathtaking, and not at all in a good way. However, I know that this is a personal and judgemental view and so needs deeper investigation.

There is so much to be grateful for and the joy of living in such an exciting town as Frome in such an exciting country keeps me buoyed. The shadow and light that seem to be emerging in all areas of life is incredible and keeping the faith through it is so important. To me this is the crux of the matter. While so much around us seems to be crumbling this, I feel, is our opportunity. If we are going to create a new way of living based on love and trust then we have to be loving and trusting even in the face of adversity. Well, actually the face of adversity is exactly where our love and trust works best. It is easy to love and trust when we are surrounded by the good things in life. The challenge is to honour all that we encounter, however scary they might seem. That does not mean we have to like it but if we feed it with our fear, (like the dark planet in the film 5th Element) it amplifies its shadow side. The best way to remove what we no longer need in our world is to send it love, to shine the light on it so it transforms itself. 

Now the first book in my trilogy has been published I am looking, after a little rest, to begin my next book. As the first “Journey to the Golden City” gives us the tools to work towards understanding our world with a broader sense of the wisdom available to us, the second will look into facing our shadow. This is an imperative and unless we embrace the necessary work we will be bringing our shadows with us as we replace the old crumbling edifices with our new, or rather we will not be able to pass into a new way of being whilst we are still clinging to our shadow.

As my friend Seb reminded me, the Hubble telescope needs to be spotless to reflect the perfect images we want from deep space and this reflects the spotlessness we have to create in all corners of the deep space within us all, to move forward.

It is my intention to continue through this year without judgement as we attempt to extract ourselves from Europe and watch the USA descend into chaos. I am a Piscean so a little chaos is never bad if we are going to find order from it. Getting angry is ok as long as you transform the energy and do something positive with it.

I am very excited to have begun working with the Restorative Justice community. To me this feels like such a positive way to deal with our judgement, our pain and the way we meter out justice. It is such a huge issue in our society. 

Finding a way to bridge the divide between the differences in the way we perceive our culture should be is vital. Creating the communication and trust so we don’t view people with different opinions as enemies or lesser than ourselves is a necessary step on our journey towards living in peace and harmony. Who doesn’t wish for that?

This beautiful painting was a birthday card from my sister. Terry, who also created the artwork for my book and it fills me with confidence that we all have the right keys to open our own personal doors to freedom from pain and conflict. If you’re feeling we’ve lost them I would like to say that maybe many have just temporarily mislaid them. I am trusting that they soon will be found as I am ever the optimist.