Being of Earth

American Buffalo, roaming in abundance on the Spirit Plains, and European Bison, hanging on by a thread in Wildlife Parks, are the Stars of this book. Taking place in the world of everyday and in less concrete realities, the story focuses on the relationship between Bison and Humans that has been ongoing from Neolithic times until the precarious present. Feeling their loss and finding solace in their company, the narrator, in a stream of consciousness narrative, which is, literally, out of this world, records a mystical, metaphorical vision of the Earth and its inhabitants. Choosing to turn to the Ancestors for help to find meaning in the modern world, where humanity itself hangs on by a thread, leads to an 'optimistic' conclusion; humanity is now the abundance that will carry life, as the Bison did, into the future. But this time there could be a different outcome because we can influence our destiny, two words that, with a little re-arranging, become 'our density'. Colours are important in a world of visioning and twenty-four colour images are included in the text to bring the colours alive. There are diagrams and interpretations of the medicine wheel and introductions to the teachings of Beautiful Painted Arrow, Joseph Rael, but the book is not in any way didactic. If you love to think about life and consciousness there will be something that will entertain you in this book and that is surely the purpose of story telling. I was born on a farm in Suffolk, England, just after the second world war. I was sent to boarding school at the age of ten. I went as a child willing to please: I left as an angry teenager determined not to conform. After school, I worked in Repertory Theatre for a few years, then, deciding on a career change, I retook my A-levels at Cambridge Tech and went on to Lancaster University, getting a BA in English and Classics. Work on my PhD was interrupted by my having a baby, and, bringing her up on my own, I started to make soft furnishings to create an income for us. I thought it would be a temporary job, but it was twenty-five years later that, quite suddenly, I found it necessary to reassess my future. It was not a choice, I suffered unexplained but short-lived bouts of severe pain, I was unnerved, and doctors could not find anything wrong with me. Feeling very alone and desperate, I decided to look for solutions beyond the physical. Somewhat sceptically and with a multitude of issues about all things spiritual, I joined a spiritual healing group. Through that group I met my first teacher, Alexander. It was a great surprise for me because, after boarding school, I had no respect for any type of teacher, but it was like someone threw a switch in my head and the lights came on. It was not long before I closed my business and moved from North Yorkshire to the north of Scotland where I still live. I am the author of several books covering exceptional experiences in altered-state work, experiences which can be loosely categorized as 'mystical', 'shamanic', and 'spiritual', when, in fact, they are quite accessible ways for anyone to find help and healing from sources within themselves. My books are a tribute to the miraculous experience of being alive, of having a body that houses an identity that has the ability to expand space and time in the search for personal awareness. I am indebted to Alexander for introducing me to Beautiful Painted Arrow, Joseph Rael, the source of the visions and teachings that help me to explore the hidden crannies of consciousness. Joseph writes that there are two aspects to reality: 'ordinary reality and extra-ordinary reality'; my present interest is mainly in the extra bit! I support his visions for a peaceful world, I run a couple of websites: www.peacechamber.co.uk; www.somethingdoeshappen.co.uk and I am an editor of the quarterly for students of his work, the Seeds of Peace newsletter.