Hello again,

autumn is finally here, and with it a sense of grounding and balance, before it is time to journey inwards again. During our last meeting, two days before the autumn equinox, I gave a talk about Paganism, Goddess Spirituality and spiritual work in prisons. I spoke primarily about my lengthy personal journey into this spiritual path, and also offered some general information about the Divine Feminine in religion. In addition, I talked about my training as Priestess of Avalon in Glastonbury, the Pagan Wheel of the Year, and how I practise my beliefs on a daily basis through writing, sacred drama, ritual, ceremony, and prison work. We had a good attendance at the meeting, and a lively, stimulating discussion ensued after the talk.

Our next meeting is on Thursday 19th October at 8 pm at the usual place, with local Kundalini Yoga teacher Harpal Heer talking about this transformational body/mind/spirit system. We will also do a short yoga set with her, in order to experience the powerful energy of this form of yoga directly.

On other news, some of you might have already heard about the Inspiration Network, a new group meeting in Leamington Spa. According to their website, 'The Inspiration Network is a non-profit making group created to bring you high quality speakers and events at affordable prices, locally.' The first meeting is taking place this evening, at 7.30 pm, and features a speaker on NLP. You can find out more about them and further meetings on http://www.theinspirationnetwork.org.uk.

One of our most recent attendees, Clay Lowe of Ascent ( www.ascent-experience.com), will be running a hypnosis practice group at Seventh Wave on 25th October from 7-9 pm. If you are interested, please contact him on clay@ascent-experience.com or book directly at Seventh Wave.

On other exciting news, I have become the Pagan representative at WDFF (Warwick District Faiths Forum), a new Multi-Faith group aiming to make a positive difference to living in harmony in Warwick District through mutual understanding and co-operation between Faith groups. I attended a recent meeting, where we discussed strategies on how to create more tolerance between different faiths. Exciting projects are to take place in the near future - there is talk about arranging visits to various faith centres, producing a Faiths Calendar for 2007, and launching a Faiths Festival for 2008. In addition, I am planning a Holy Wells Procession, Sacred Drama and general multi-faith town event for the Summer Solstice 2007, in line with the Peace Festival. More information on this is to follow.

Another thing to look out for in the community is the Forgivenness Project, brought to Leamington Spa by Rev. Clive Fowle and storyteller Dick Leith, amongst other people. This will be launched with a national week-long exhibition at the Healthy Living Centre in Old Town on 18th November.

As Samhain is looming, so is our Samhain Temple of Transformation event (see last post) at Trinity Hall. We are all busy rehearsing the Sacred Drama, and it promises to be an exciting evening. If you need directions, or have any questions about the night, please contact us on spiritnet@tiscali.co.uk

That's all for now - I leave you with a 'thought for the day', which Beth kindly forwarded to me.

Spiritual AwarenessSpiritual awareness (soul-consciousness) is cultivated through deliberate practice and only those who have understood the need for this kind of true, inner, self-respect will make the effort. Difficulties will arise to test your resolve for self-upliftment - physical illness, relationships, memories of the past, and so on. Yet with patience and introspection, you will come to see how these very tests are the means to strengthen your spiritual identity.