Hello again,

our last meeting took place last Thursday, 18th May. Guest speaker was Vivienne Little, Director of Seventh Wave Wellbeing, where we hold our meetings. Vivienne presented us with a fascinating account of her spiritual journey, which started over forty years ago.

Talking about how she came to set up Seventh Wave Wellbeing, something she describes as a 'physical embodiment of a dream' and an 'inspiration from beyond', Vivienne explained that she didn't realize she had this vision until she had created it - as is often the case when spirit guides us!

What I found most interesting was what Vivienne calls her 'Dark Night of the Soul' experience - a state of depression and unhappiness she lived through until she had an experience that she spent the rest of her life until this point understanding and developing. During one night, when she felt exceptionally wretched, she decided she would try prayer. This was a strange thing for her to do, because she was essentially an agnostic, but the subtle response she received to this prayer was to change the course of her life forever. She said she literally 'saw the light' and suddenly understood what life was about. What followed were three months of intense synchronistic events - and although she was not completely 'cured' from her depression and unhappiness, she never hit rock bottom again and her new-found spirituality has served her to this day as a 'blanket'.

I find it really interesting that most spiritual people I speak to have had some Dark Night of the Soul experience such as breakdowns, depression, trauma etc at some point in their lives which either initiates or deepens spiritual awakening and development. Having experienced a particular strong and lengthy 'Descent into the Underworld' myself last year, I can only say that these experiences - if embraced and seen as lessons rather than obstacles - can accelerate one's spiritual development immensely, akin to a 'crash course' in self-development and symbolic understanding that change the course of one's life forever.

Thanks again to Vivienne for delivering such an inspirational talk.

The rest of the evening was spent networking and to round the evening off, I led a guided visualisation.

Our next meeting will take place on Thursday 15th June at 8 p.m. at the usual place - see you there! Speaker will be announced nearer the time.

The bountiful Beltane altar at our Beltane Temple of Sensual Delights

Hello everyone,

Beltane is upon us and I hope you are all delighting in the joyful spring energies. Some of us had a fantastic time at the Beltane Temple of Sensual Delights on Beltane Eve in Birmingham - with much dance, ritual, performance art, food and general loveliness. For those of you who would like to carry the dancing earth energy further and deeper, Mandy is running her Barefoot Boogie this Sunday (7th May, and every first and third Sunday of the month) at St Columba's Hall in Moseley from 7-9 pm. For further information, ring her on 0781-4593571. Watch out for further Temple events in the near future.

The last WSN meeting took place on 20th April. I arrived rather 'train-lagged' after spending a fabulous and transformative time at the Findhorn Foundation - three intense days with Caroline Myss -, so the meditation that Richard led to start off with was just what I needed. He led us into a lovely and gentle journey which was deeply relaxing - my only regret being that it didn't last longer! After some general chatting and networking, the lovely Juliet presented us with a talk on Feng Shui. According to Juliet, 'Feng Shui is an ancient art and science first developed some 6000 years ago. It is the study of people, places and time, and how the energies of each interact. It is the practice of harnessing these forces of energy to benefit your well-being. Feng Shui can potentially improve your health, wealth and relationships by seeking a state of harmony and balance.'

The systems Juliet uses are the East-West System, and the Nine Floating Stars. The East-West analysis determines the home's and the occupant's favourable and unfavourable directions. It locates the most productive areas in the house. The Floating Star analysis uses the five physical elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. These elements will be used to enhance the movement of chi (universal energy) in the house.

It was an interesting talk, and as Juliet did my as well as Beth's Feng Shui, we can wholeheartedly recommend her!

Our next meeting will take place on Thursday 18th May at 8pm, and guest speaker will be Vivienne Little, who runs the Seventh Wave Wellbeing Centre. She will talk about her work and background at the Centre, and how she decided to launch this fabulous place. This time, we will close the meeting with a guided meditation. See you there!