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"What the crisis is driving us toward is inner change,
a transformation into truly wise human beings,
no longer fettered by self-centredness.
It is driving us toward
a new perception of ourselves,
a new sense of purpose,
a new way of being."
Peter Russell
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Forthcoming Events |
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Wrekin Forum
1 April
Wrekin Forum Spiritual Cafe Group
meets in the Wholehealth building and
ecoCafe of the Fold, Bransford, Worcs
11 am - 1 pm, 1st Wed each month
4 April
Regional Round Table
Llewelyn Hall, Penllergaer, Swansea
25-26 April
Wrekin Forum Retreat
Douai Abbey, Berkshire
Regional Round Table
Sound Workshop with Jules Heavens
The Healing Centre
4 Arcot Street, Penarth, Cardiff
27 June
Southern Region Networking Meeting
Hamblin Hall, Bosham House, Bosham
18 September
Reflect, Retreat, Support Day
for Forum Local Connectors
18-20 September
Annual Round Table (RT9)
Hawkwood College, Stroud
Wrekin Forum Associates
The Mystical Marriage of the Soul:
Unveiling the Feminine Face of God
Day Seminar with Roger Woolger
14 March
Colour for All Seasons:
Spring - Light into Being
Day Workshop with Pamela Blake-Wilson
Centre Of New Directions, Tunbridge Wells
19 March
The Seven Rays and Esoteric Astrology
Afternoon talk, Bridgend
Kathleen Newburn
21 March
A Planetary Awakening:
Healing Ourselves and the Planet
Day Workshop, Swansea
Kathleen Newburn
22 March
A Planetary Awakening:
Healing Ourselves and the Planet
Day Workshop, Penarth
Kathleen Newburn
24 March
The Way of Fire
Afternoon talk with Kathleen Newburn
The Blackburn Theosophy Group
01254 54071 or 01282 422278
24 March
Sacred Bridge Holistic Cafe
Connecting Communities through Heart
7.30-9.30 Bridgend
25 and 26 March
An Introduction to the Seven Rays
and Esoteric Astrology (in two parts)
Two evening talks with Kathleen Newburn
The Sanctuary of Healing, Langho
28 March
The Way of Fire
Day Workshop with Kathleen Newburn
The Hayloft, Emsworth, Hants
29 March, 26 April, 31 May
The Foundations of Interdimensional
Living and Working
A monthly half-day course introducing the ideas of
Interdimensional Living - offering support for spiritual
development and the opening of the intuition.
Vince Dowse
Centre of New Directions, Brighton
www.lightcoloursound.com
2 April
The Magic Cafe @ The Junction
Blackpill, Swansea
Inspirational Voices Swansea
2, 3, 4 April
An Introduction to Esoteric Astrology and the Rays
- An Exploration of Self Discovery
Two evening talks and a one day seminar
Kathleen Newburn
The SunDial House Group, Sedlescombe
3-5 April
Mystics & Scientists 32
The Science of Happiness
and the Experience of Bliss
University College, Winchester
The Scientific and Medical Network
9 April
Creating Community Goodwill
Evening meditation meeting, Sedlescombe
The SunDial House Group
18-19 April
Awakening the Interdimensional Self:
The Practice of Interdimensional Consciousness
Weekend Workshop
Peter Goldman and Helene Harris PhD
Centre of New Directions, Tunbridge Wells
3 May
The Fundamentals of Sound Treatment - Part 1
A four-part Sunday afternoon course in the fundamentals
of sound therapy using musical tuning forks.
Vince Dowse
Centre of New Directions, Brighton
9-10 May
Sound Therapy Training using Musical Tuning
Forks with specific attention to Sound and Trauma
Weekend workshop with Peter Goldman
Centre of New Directions, Tunbridge Wells
13 May
The Soul of Humanity Evolves through World Crisis
Day Workshop with William Meader
Hamblin Hall, Bosham, Chichester
22-24 May
In the Image of God: You are the Divinity you Seek
Weekend Workshop with William Meader
Hawkwood College, Stroud
21-23 August
Beyond the Brain VIII
Self and Death - What Survives?
University of Kent, Canterbury
The Scientific and Medical Network
The Wrekin Forum is open to the exploration of spirituality and welcomes a diversity of views; the views of individual presenters are not necessarily those of the Wrekin Trust.
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Living with Change
A Support Group meeting every fortnight in
Central London with Dr Serge Beddington-Behrens
Starting 7 pm, Wednesday 25 March
We are living in insecure times. Many of us may feel
we need more support to be better able to deal with
the many challenges that are currently surfacing for us.
Serge Beddington-Behrens, MA (Oxon), PhD, a
Psychotherapist, Couples Therapist, and Spiritual Educator, has been facilitating groups and retreats
both nationally and internationally for many years.
His main gift is helping people bring more love, awareness, happiness and authenticity into their lives.
For further information, ring Serge on 07968 113075
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Not the Astrology Column
For a different perspective, why not take a look at Associate Anne Whitaker's website
From the Twelfth House
"designed to inform, support, entertain and inspire"
www.anne-whitaker.com
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Courtyard Lodge, Mellow Farm, Hawcross Lane
Redmarley d'Abitot, Gloucestershire, GL19 3JQ
01452 840033
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Dear Friends
After the dark months of winter there is a deep, almost primitive, sense of joy and relief as the hours of daylight lengthen and we approach the balance point of the Spring Equinox. This has always been viewed as a key time of the year, when the Sun enters the sign of Aries and starts a new journey around the zodiac. The Christian story tells of death and resurrection. The ancient alchemical tradition considered that this was the time to embark upon the Great Work of transforming leaden base material into gold, the philosopher's stone.
What journey of transformation are we embarking upon this Spring? What in our lives is leaden, a dead weight that needs renewing? Can we catch the energy and ride the wave of renewal that sweeps through creation at this time, releasing those things which no longer serve the soul's purpose? Can we see this happening within our personal lives, within our groups, within the global family, within the Anima Mundi, the soul of the world? What has to die so that it can be reborn?
As the March winds blow, let us build windmills, and as April brings showers, may they water our hopes so that they grow into sturdy plants and bring forth May flowers - and mellow fruitfulness in due time and season.
Blessings
Carol
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'Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day I can hear her breathing.'
Arundhati Roy |
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Message from Janice |
This week I went to a meeting of our local transition town (Newent No 145). There were 45 people there, determined to leave behind the 'Age of Stupid' (have you seen the film?) and co-create locally a new interconnected and sustainable culture. It was easy to identify the local connector who, with the support of her husband, is putting into action all she has learned from being a Buddhist and a yoga teacher. She shone with warmth, openness and directed will.
By becoming an associate of the Wrekin Forum each of us is indicating a willingness to be a connector of some kind for the emerging new culture that is just beginning to shine. Barack Obama is now calling for people to stand forth and help evolve the way ahead, but this doesn't necessarily mean that we all have to be activists.
There are three tools of creation: thought, word, and deed, of which the primary tool is thought - 'as a man thinketh, so is he'. Every moment each of us is creating reality by the vibrations of our minds and the loving energy of our hearts which follow the directions of the mind's leading. As increasing numbers of us hold a living, positive and connecting energy so the zeitgeist also shifts and across the world a higher wisdom and higher love will co-create the acceleration of consciousness so needed at 'this hour in history'.
The 'other world' is on the way; our task is to draw it down - as if tugging on the string of a kite - so that it becomes sufficiently visible and powerful that others find themselves drawn into its slipstream. Wrekin Forum associates are amongst those responding to the call of this task.
Janice Dolley |
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Wrekin Forum Retreat
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Deepening Spiritual Connection
"The enterprise is exploration into God"
Come and join other Forum associates for a weekend retreat on this theme at Douai Abbey near Reading from 25-26 April. It will be a time for inner and outer sharing, for personal and collective silence, for listening, for being, and for doing. There will be opportunities to deepen old friendships and make new ones, and to take part in a gathering of the spirit.
What, for you, deepens spiritual connection? Do you have a favourite piece of music, a poem, or a short piece of prose which you would love to share? Together, we can create a feast for the spirit. What would you like to bring to the table?
For further details and registration form, click here. |
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News from the Regions |
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The current focus of the work of the Forum is on building connections between associates in different parts of the country. A team of Regional Connectors is active in planning the development of Regional Round Tables, Cafes Spirituels, and Networking Groups which meet on a regular basis.
Southern Region Networking Group
This group meets several times a year at Associate Centres in Surrey, Hampshire, and West Sussex. On Saturday 14 February, our hosts were associate organisation St Michael's Church, at The Sanctuary, Ewell. The theme was Inner Connections Through Sound, and associates and friends enjoyed a wonderful day of sound healing with singing bowls and tuning forks. The next meeting will be on Saturday 27 June at Bosham House, the home of the Hamblin Trust near Chichester.
South Wales Region
Regional round tables are now being held regularly by groups in both Cardiff and Swansea, thanks to the sterling efforts of Regional Connector Sam Jarman. In addition, the Sacred Bridge Holistic Cafe has been started in Bridgend - an open-hearted spiritual community network, Connecting Communities Through Heart.
Your Region
Plans are afoot for further RRTs in other areas. Development Director Janice Dolley is working with associates willing to hold a focus in their particular locality, and we can offer practical support for contacting other associates and facilitating initial events.
Local groups need people willing to take responsibility for bringing together like-minded souls to meet on an ongoing basis. Just one person can do it, but a group of friends may also like to work together. The aim is for groups to become independent and run by their members after initial help. Meetings may range from Round Tables or Networking Groups of associates and kindred spirits, to cafe-style gatherings which are open to anyone interested in exploring spiritual matters.
A "reflect, retreat and support" day for Local Connectors is being arranged for Friday 18 September at Hawkwood College, immediately preceding the Annual Round Table weekend.
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Cafes Spirituels |
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"Humanity is now too clever to be able to live without wisdom"
E F Schumacher
As a way of supporting spiritual connection and the emergence of deeper wisdom, the Wrekin Forum is encouraging and supporting the development of cafe-style groups within local communities. These cafes may be started by an individual or a small group of friends, to provide a place where people can gather informally to focus on the spiritual dimension of life.
Several cafe groups have been running for some time, and details of some of these can be found in the Forthcoming Events column on the left. If you are running such a group, and would like it listed in News&Views, do let Carol know. connect@wrekinforum.org
A paper giving more information on Cafes Spirituels has been produced for those who might be interested in giving it a try in their own areas ( click here). It also gives a list of useful contacts. |
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A Message from Hawkwood College |
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"When the winds of change blow
Some build walls for defence
Others build windmills"
A Chinese proverb Richard Brinton of Hawkwood College has kindly given us permission to quote from his New Year message which appears in the 2009 Hawkwood brochure: I think many of us can be forgiven for having anxieties about what lies ahead, with the crystal balls no longer so clear on the best paths to take!
We need to pause in the midst of the turmoils, however, and realise that the route to confidence, security and hope for the course ahead lies not somewhere elusive out there - outside of our grasp - but rather within us. If we build inner walls for defence we may very well miss the opportunities for change and growth that come to meet us. And the organisational level will mirror the individual.
More than ever, times of uncertainty and change are a time for an investment in ourselves, in personal development, in our spiritual core, and in our own life-long learning. It not only gives us confidence but also courage to face the unknown and be ready for, even welcome, the changes ahead.
For the full text of Richard's message, please click here. |
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Book Review Corner |
AWAKENING CONSCIOUSNESS:
Selected Lectures of Sir George Trevelyan
Compiled by Keith Armstrong Godstow Press, Oxford, 2008
"Running throughout is his unquenchable sense of hope . . . His message of awakening consciousness rather than religious revival will surely resonate with a new generation of readers." ( more . . .)
Click here for full details of contents and order form.
Have you recently read a book that you would like to share with others? Why not send in a review to News&Views?
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"The human heart can go the lengths of God
Dark and cold we may be, but this
Is no winter now. The frozen misery
of centuries breaks, cracks, begins to move;
The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring.
Thank God our Time is now when wrong
Comes up to face us everywhere,
Never leave us till we take
The longest stride of soul men ever took.
Affairs are now soul size.
The enterprise
Is exploration into God.
What are you making for? It takes
So many thousand years to wake
But will you wake for pity's sake?"
A favourite passage of Sir George Trevelyan,
taken from the play "A Sleep of Prisoners"
by Christopher Fry
"If affairs are soul size, we can meet them
because we are soul size, too."
David Spangler
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The next issue of News&Views is due out in May
Whilst we regret that we are unable to undertake individual mailings on behalf of associates, we are more than happy to consider the inclusion of items of interest and details of forthcoming events in this newsletter.
Please note that these must be received by 1 May at the latest for inclusion in the next issue. | |
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