I am starting to get just a little bit excited, tomorrow I travel to Lugo in Spain as I have been invited to talk at the 1er Congreso Isadora, a new venture aimed at respectful discourse and sharing of knowledge between different magickal and spiritual practitioners. I have chosen to speak on the Importance of Balance within our daily lives and in sacred ritual. I was rather hoping it might be Hekate free, but as per usual she has managed to sneak her way into the proceedings, I probably shouldn’t have expected anything else really seeing as the conference has been organised by a Torchbearer of the Covenant of Hekate and I think more than a few of the attendees are also members. I am so looking forward to meeting people who I’ve only ever had the chance to interact with online, I am sure its going to be the most wonderful experience. I am also going to get the chance to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long while, seeing that Lugo is only 120km from Santiago de Compostela, I intend to take a day and a rather long bus journey to Santiago and walk the last couple of miles of the Camino Primitivo.

I am a bit of a pilgrimage junkie and the energies that are generated by so many sincere souls all walking with a common spiritual purpose should not be sniffed at regardless of which faith presides over the act of devotion. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan or any other path, I believe that everybody should make at least one pilgrimage in their lives, obviously you can chose a destination that is meaningful to your own faith, you don’t have to be a complete spiritual floozy like me.

Anyway there is still time to book into the conference if you fancy listening to me talk about different energetic techniques and how to create your own. Details can be found either on the website:

http://www.portalisadora.es/congreso-isadora/

or through the Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/congresoisadora

Maybe I will see you there 😀

At Yule I had the distinct pleasure of being able to meet for coffee with a very talented lady and member of The Covenant of Hekate. An organisation that I have spoken of before here. The lady in question was Mima Cornish and we spent a lovely afternoon putting the world to rights, thinking about where our lives will take us in the coming year and how many of our activities seem to be influenced by our work with the Goddess Hekate.

One of the topics we discussed was a project of Mima’s which had recently come to fruition in rather a spectacular manner, as it was launched at one of the biggest Mind Body & Spirit events in the UK, which rather amusingly is held at Olympia. It is collection of guided meditations on CD which focuses on working with different aspects of “Our Lady Hekate”. I know this has been a labour of love for Mima and musician Paul Landry and so I was very honoured when as we parted she gave me a copy of her CD as a gift and I am even more delighted to give it a glowing review.

The CD is split into 4 tracks each one dedicated to a specific aspect of the Goddess. They are as follows:

• Hekate Soteria – The Saviour
• Hekate Phosphorus – The Light Bringer
• Hekate Einalia – Of the Sea
• Hekate Chthonia – Of the Underworld

I like that all the meditations are drawn together in a central location around an image of the Goddess, with repeating phrases in each meditation, that allows moving in and out of the different meditations to occur easily and smoothly. The symbology of the rose garden and the Alkamenes style multifaceted statue gives a Graeco-Roman feel to the meditation but I do not think that this detracts from the overall experience if you are a hard core Hellenic.

Also the continuation of the rose symbology in the form of an offering to the Goddess during each mediation also is reminiscent of the ancient practise of hanging a rose as a sign of privacy and secrecy and harkens to the old idiom of “to know, to will to dare and to stay silent” which I am sure will appeal to many; as will the thought that Mima has put into the symbology of each aspect of the Goddess during the meditation.

From a more practical point of view the sound reproduction is excellent, and Mima’s voice is very gentle and calming and her words are well enunciated. The imagery she creates is enough to build a picture without being too detailed or prescriptive, allowing the listener to genuinely have their own experience.

I’ve immersed myself over the last few weeks using this CD as the basis for my meditations and I can heartily recommend it to anyone either beginner or old hand. So support a fellow Hekatean and go buy one right now!

Who are Mima Cornish and Paul Landry?

Mima Cornish is a healer, an artist and Oracle living in Cheshire. She has been working through artistic trance and meditation for a number of years and was recently inspired to produce this collection of guided meditations about the Goddess Hekate which can be purchased from her website : www.hedgerosehealing.com

Paul Landry is an independent musician and composer of new age and ambient music. His collaboration with Mima is sensitively done providing an excellent backdrop for her spoken word. All Paul’s work is available on CD or downloadable from: www.newagemusicgarden.com

Cover and Artwork is also by Mima Cornish and the packaging is made from recycled materials.