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"I used to say,
'I sure hope
things will change'.
Then I learned that
the only way things are
going to change for me
is when I change."
Jim Rohn
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Forthcoming Events
3 March
Evolutionary Consciousness:
exploring vision, connections
and challenges of our time
with David Karchere and
Don McGregor
Wrekin Forum Southern Region
at Hamblin Hall, Bosham,
Chichester, West Sussex
Contact Carol, 01243 576634
carolduncan8hl@btinternet.com
10 March
3rd Rother and Hastings
Regional Round Table
with Mary Jo Radcliffe and
Ian Mowll at Bexhill-on-Sea
Contact Marie, 01424 214327
maelmi40@btinternet.com
12 March
Wrekin Forum Reflection Day
at Douai Abbey near Reading
Contact Jenny, 0118 986 6987
jennycuff@aol.com
7-10 April
Into Christ Consciousness
Easter Gathering at Findhorn
Contact 01309 691653
www.findhorn.org
21-23 September
Annual Round Table
at Hawkwood College, Stroud
Further details to follow
Contact 01452 830033
office@wrekintrust.org
Local Groups
Reading Meditation Group
Earley, Reading, RG6 4HB
Contact Shirley
Buttercup Connections
Fortnightly Wed evg meetings
7 for 7.30 pm in Great Malvern
For information on programme
please contact 0787 204 8988
Regional Forum for Contemporary Spirituality, Learning & Development
at Mangreen, Norwich
Contact Naomi, 01508 570444
trust@mangreen.co.uk
www.mangreen.co.uk
New Vision Lightworkers Group
meets at Hamblin Hall, Bosham
near Chichester
Meets monthly, Saturday morning
Contact 01243 572109
Wrekin Forum Spiritual Cafe Group
held in the WholeHealth Building of
The Fold, Bransford, Worcs,
1st Wed of each month
Contact Claire, 01886 884888
clairemcdonald62@msn.com
The Magic Cafe
Junction Cafe, Blackpill, Swansea
1st Thursday monthly, 7 pm
Contact Jacqueline, 01792 424857
or 077654 05263
jacquelineirisdaly@hotmail.com
Cafe Spirituel at the Hydro
Meets at 2.30 pm on the last Friday of every month at the
Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne.
If this sounds interesting and you would like to come and join us, why not give one of us a ring:
Brighton: Susie, 01273 719087
Seaford: Marian, 01323 894965
East Dean: Richard, 01323 422280
Eastbourne: Loni, 01323 734809
Eva, 01323 503965
Dallington:Penelope, 01435 830258
Experimental Spirituality Group
meets in Stroud, Glos
For further information contact
James D'Angelo, 01452 413220
jamesdangelo@blueyonder.co.uk
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WREKIN FORUM ASSOCIATES
For a listing of some of the events planned by associates of the
Wrekin Forum, please click here.
Forthcoming Events are also listed on
the Wrekin Forum website,
www.wrekinforum.org
_____________________________
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Dear Friends
Today is the darkest day in the turning of the year. It is amazing to contemplate how each year we live through the time of darkness and decay, yet know within us that Spring will surely come and that the light will return in a cosmic rhythm that persists beyond our little lives and personal concerns.
What do we experience during this time of hibernation? Do we take the opportunity to let go of outer busyness and withdraw into the ground of our being, to make contact with our deepest roots which at the same time connect us to all that is? Do we feel a sense of something gestating deep within us, waiting for the Spring to bring forth new growth? Some say that the seeds of the new are sown through intentions which are taken deep into the heart and allowed to be nourished by a marriage of love and will.
May our true Christmas gift to ourselves and others be the willingness to serve the greater purpose which is working through us in order to bring about the next phase of growth within the human family.
With love and light
Carol
connect@wrekinforum.org
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"What is happening is not The End of History,
but The Beginning of a New Era;
not The Death of Modern Society,
but The Birthing of a New Civilization."
Neale Donald Walsch
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Message from Janice
Each of us is on a transformational journey of expanding consciousness. It may be that life's challenges have given us new insights as we have striven to overcome them. Maybe we have received more intimations from other levels of being - angelic, inner guides and teachers, friends or family that have passed. Maybe we have found deeper levels of love, of light, of wisdom bubbling within ourselves.
Each of us together at our recent Round Table - 'Evolutionary Consciousness and the Soul of the World: the Anima Mundi' certainly found at least one more step.
One for me was during the Gaia Constellation work when our representative of western mind stepped forward and then, on her knees, said to the fragile feeling representative of the Earth - "I am sorry, truly sorry for what we have done". It felt like a turning point in our evolutionary story - a bit like the prodigal son returning at last to the 'Father's Home".
The other was during the presentation by Ian Skelly on the deeper aspects of HRH Prince of Wales' passion for "Harmony". What came through for me was both an example of courage in the face of both public and family criticism and also a deeper insight into the much quoted logion 22 from the gnostic Gospel of Thomas - "When you are able to make the two become one, the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, the higher like the lower ..... then will you enter in".
Janice Dolley
info@wrekintrust.org
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"If people are encouraged to immerse themselves in
Nature's grammar and geometry - discovering
how it works, how it controls life on Earth,
and how humanity has expressed it in
so many great works of art and architecture -
they are often led to acquire some remarkably deep
philosophical insights into the meaning and purpose
of Nature and into what it means to be aware
and alive in this extraordinary Universe.
This is particularly so in young people
and the results of such immersion
are as heartening as they are surprising.
They help to point to the changes in thinking
that we need to make to achieve
the wider vision of a Sustainability Revolution.
Essentially it is the spiritual dimension to our
existence that has been dangerously neglected
during the modern era -
the dimension which is related to our
intuitive feelings about things."
HRH The Prince of Wales
"Harmony"
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 Filling the Void - Meeting the Needs of our Young People
In response to the riots and disturbances which took place in London and other cities during August, a joint meeting was held in October by the Wrekin Trust and the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. This brought together a panel of people working with spiritual understanding in the fields of education, the youth service, young offenders, and others, to focus on the background and behaviour of children and young people involved in the disturbances.
The objective was to address ways in which we might jointly contribute to any emerging national or governmental working group, and endeavour to influence future policy to give greater prominence to the spiritual dimension of the personal and social development of young people.
A joint statement was prepared (click here) as a starting point for a range of possible further steps, including consultation with groups of young people, joint working between organisations, an approach to government, etc. Your help would be appreciated in bringing this to the attention of your local MP or any other contacts who may be able to influence policy decisions in this crucial area. |
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"What is needed here is
not a revolution on the ground,
it is a revolution in the mind."
Neale Donald Walsch
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Honouring the Elders
As part of our celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Wrekin Trust, we invited a group of "Elders" to join us in London on 4 November and share some of their wisdom. We had the pleasure of spending time with some of those who were present from the earliest days when Sir George Trevelyan started the workshops and courses which made the Wrekin Trust a forerunner in the field of spiritual education in this country.
In addition to hearing a recording of Sir George, we also enjoyed an interview on DVD with Ruth Nesfield-Cookson, who was Sir George's secretary and worked closely with him to start the Wrekin Trust as an independent organisation after his retirement from Attingham Park.
A sincere thank you to all those who put in so much work in the early days - we are delighted that the Wrekin Trust is still here after 40 years, still seeking to "further the spiritual awakening of humanity".
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"The truth is you don't honor the ancestors
by looking back.
You honor the ancestors by imitating their courage.
You don't say what did they do in 1960, or
what did Francis of Assisi do in the year 1200?
You ask what would they be doing in the year 2011?
Would they be as controversial and as wild and
off-the-edge in our time as they were in theirs?
Of course they would be!
This is what made them memorable.
They were all called.
We're all called to this kind of greatness today,
because our species is slipping, and the
whole ecosystem is slipping with us,
and we don't have the luxury of
putting other people on pedestals.
We have the responsibility to roll up our sleeves
and to go to work with whatever talents
we've been given, whatever communities
we've gathered to encourage us, and
whatever artists and spiritual leaders
there are to inspire us and to
kick us off of our couches."
Matthew Fox
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Holistic Spiritual Companions
Our friends at the Mangreen Trust near Norwich are starting a new Spiritual Companions course in January for those who are seeking both to deepen their own spirituality and learn how to accompany others on their path.
There is a free taster day on Saturday 21 January, followed by the first day of the course on the Sunday. There will be a total of 7 weekends during 2012, followed by 3 further weekends for those seeking accreditation.
For further information please contact Naomi Duffield, 01508 570444, trust@mangreen.co.uk, www.mangreen.co.uk |
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"As long as our own happiness is all we're seeking,
we'll never awaken the depth of spiritual passion
and conviction required to propel us into
genuine transformation.
That conviction can only arise when we realize
that the spiritual path is not about us -
but about participating in something
far greater than ourselves."
Craig Hamilton
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Creative Currents
While the Wrekin Trust was originally founded to further spiritual awakening in Britain, in these days of electronic communication we find that we are having increasing contact with like-minded souls in all parts of the world. Please click here for an international newsletter sent to us by a friend of the Wrekin Forum who lives in Norway.
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"You must not lose faith in humanity.
Humanity is an ocean;
if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,
the ocean does not become dirty."
Mohandas K. Gandhi
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Marriage - a letter from Harry Underhill
Will marriage be the way forward in our pursuit of Evolutionary Consciousness?
The "Sacred Marriage" has been described as: "a mystic union of opposites that enables the initiate to move out of a dualistic ego-centric experience and enter into a unitary field of perception in which he/she is no longer separate but part of a cosmic web of energies... This blissful integration of opposites requires a departure from all that has gone before... a leap of consciousness, abandoning the entire conceptual framework through which we have formerly viewed reality"*. (Nicholas Mann, Philippa Glasson: "Avalon's Red and White Springs" 2005)
Well - that's a lot to ask! Perhaps the first step for us in Wrekin may be to reduce our left brained activities of talk and conferences (our traditional "conceptual framework") and to turn more to the right brain's skills of insight and inspiration beyond words, in the stillness of ecstasy ("standing outside oneself"), being drawn into the Divine? Is this the higher consciousness we are looking for? What creativity might be born of such a marriage?
H.U.
30.10.11
Thank you, Harry - we have been working on developing Wrekin events into much more participative experiences, so that just such a marriage of left/right brain is encouraged. This was the pattern of the Transforum in March 2011 and the Round Table in September, and there will be more to come in the Christ Consciousness Conference at Findhorn at Easter and other events during 2012. Watch this space!
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"If you are trying to do something genuinely new,
you have to be a pioneer,
you have to be a change-agent.
In order to contribute to
creating the future,
you need to be aligned
with the very edge of evolution.
Otherwise, you are going to be following
the beaten path, living out the patterns that
have been formed by countless others."
Andrew Cohen
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Calling All Book Groups
The second edition of Sheila Ward's book 'Towards Wisdom' has now been published, subtitled 'Elders exploring Life Experience to create a Future of Hope', and with an introduction by Ursula King. The book explores the meaning, variety and significance of love and is based on her own life experience and that of older women who have attended workshops/retreats for 'Women Exploring the Second Half of Life' over the past twenty years. www.sophiatree.co.uk
Sheila is so concerned about the society into which our grandchildren are growing up that she is offering free packs of six or more books to any reading group of elders who would be prepared to read and consider. She says:
These books are intended to be used by a reading group of older people. They do not aim to teach or disseminate knowledge - rather the reverse. It is hoped that they will find resonance and awaken memories among members of the group so that they may more easily elicit THEIR OWN WISDOM.
If you know of such a group please contact : sheila.ward@sophiatree.co.uk |
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A Portal for Creation
"Each and every one of us is potentially a portal for
the energy and intelligence that created the universe.
You have a human body and a human personality, but
from a certain perspective these are merely sheathes
through which the cosmic creativity can shine.
From the vantage point of the creative process,
your human form, your personality, with
all the particulars of your own history,
your personal relationships, and
your life circumstances, is a
vessel for an infinite process
that is trying to go somewhere.
How conscious are you of this?
How conscious is any one of us
that in this very moment the
cosmic process that produced us
is now dependent on us
to take its next step?"
Andrew Cohen
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The Spring issue of News&Views
is due out in March 2012
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 in this newsletter. Details of forthcoming events may be displayed on our website and/or in an attachment to News&Views.
Please note that items must be received by 1 March
at the latest for inclusion in the next issue.
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Courtyard Lodge, Mellow Farm, Hawcross Lane
Redmarley d'Abitot, Gloucestershire, GL19 3JQ
01452 840033
info@wrekintrust.org |
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