What is Magic?

Home at last after two months travelling. We had a stand at the Perth Conscious Living Festival in September. What a great festival that is! Then we flew to Sydney for a few days rest before going on to Stockholm where I led participants through my Creative Trance workshops.

From Stockholm we travelled to the central Swedish town of Molkolm to give a three day intensive workshop based on my new book- What is Magic? Then we went to stay with our dear friends Sten and Michelle in their lovely house on the edge of the Faeire Forest in Goteburg.

From Goteburg we flew to London. From London we travelled directly to Glastonbury for the Avalon Faerie Ball and Festival where Helen had a stall. Back to London to stay with Frank and Gianne- two lovely people who have become very dear friends of ours. Frank is responsible in large part for the documentary that accompanies my book - What is Magic? We also met Mark who is the cinematographer on the doco.

I was lucky enough to meet with Jacques Fresco one of the leading futurists to influence industrial design and social engineering during the fifties, sixties and seventies. At 93 yrs he's still energetic, enthusiastic and inspired. He's a great conversationalist.

The we headed down to Cornwall for the Penzance Faerie Festival. We stayed with Ian ( aka Merlin the Mighty ) on Bodmin Moor- a magical place if ever there was one. From there we made our way to Glastonbury again to film segments and interviews for the doco and conduct a one day trance workshop at the Earth Spirit Centre.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the documentary and to all the wonderful people we met along the way. I've just scratched the surface of everything Helen and I got up to; so I'll tell some stories in a bit more detail in the coming days.

Home again

Kookaburras (genus Dacelo) are large to very large terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, which is onomatopoeic of the bird-call. Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call, which is uncannily like loud, human laughter - good-natured, but rather hysterical, merriment in the case of the well-known Laughing Kookaburra. They are generally not closely associated with water, and can be found in habitats ranging from humid forest to arid savanna, but also in suburban and residential areas near running water and where food can be searched for easily. ( With thanks to Wikipedia. )

Helen and I have been on tour in the U.K. and Sweden for the last month. I performed at the Faery Festival in Cornwall but kept it pretty quiet. I was also performing at Glastonbury Festival because I didn’t want too much attention this time. It was a trial run for next year and a chance to make a lot of contacts. Met Daniel Pinchbeck at Glastonbury. I love his work and ( in my spare time ) I'm devouring his latest book 2012- The Return of Quetzalcoatl. Now we’re back we’ve got our work cut out for us. The rest of 2009 is full on.

Exciting news- The trailer for our Sci-fi film is going to be filmed in the next few weeks. After years of work it’s all finally all coming together so fast my head is spinning. Helen’s working on the storyboard and we’re currently finalising the details. I’ll keep you posted here and Helen will also be writing about it in her blog.
In September we’re off to the Perth Conscious Living Expo where I’ll be delivering a keynote address. Before and after the festival I’ll also be giving full day workshops in Creative Trance and the Imagination. There’s more exciting news to come about Perth but I can’t tell you yet. You’ll have to wait a few more days.
Straight after Perth we’re off to Sweden we’re I’ll be co-creating a four day workshop with Ana Olivegren at the marvellous Ängsbacka community near Karlstadt. This workshop will involve an intensive experience of trance, meditation and creative imagining rounded off with two ceremonial sweatlodges. More on this soon. Helen and I were at Ängsbacka recently for their annual festival and we had a wonderful time. Our good friends Prem and Jethro ( Sacred Earth ) were also performing there and we all agreed it was the best festival we’ve ever attended. I can’t wait to get back.
When we’re finished in Sweden we’re off to the U.K. again to present our film trailer to interested parties in London. I may be running a three day workshop/sweatlodge in Glastonbury with Ana Olivegren and Paul Terrel in October- I'm awaiting confirmation. We’ll certainly be attending the Faery Ball in Glastonbury and the Faery Ball in Penzance.
Then we fly back to Sydney in time for the MBS in early November. Straight from there to Melbourne MBS. And in early December we’ll be heading to the first Conscious Living Expo to be held in New Zealand. Details soon.

We had a wonderful time overseas. We met so many lovely people and have made friends for life with quite a few inspiring souls. Thank you to everyone who opened their hearts to us and to all those who participated in our amazing adventure.

As joyous as all that travel was; it’s nice to be home again. The Kookaburras who watch over our valley came to welcome us home and it’s a joy to see them again. The one on my right arm is Brokenclaw; she’s the matriarch. Her mate, Noisy, is sitting on my left. London, Glastonbury and Ängsbacka were all fun, exciting places to be but nothing beats waking to the sound of these two birds laughing their heads off as the sun rises each morning.

More on our trip later. I’ve had a few questions from readers in the last few weeks which I’ll answer in the coming days. And I’ll be posting details about how you can follow the production of our Science Fiction film through Twitter

A letter to Helen

This e-mail arrived a short while ago from someone who'd read Blessing. Thanks very much for your kind words Samantha.

Dear Helen,

I have just finished reading your husbands book A Blessing and a Curse and really just wanted to say Thank you to you both for the honour of reading such an incredible, emotional and inspirational life story. I had never heard of Caiseal but saw your stand at the Melbourne Mind Body Festival recently and was overcome with emotion when I saw the portrait you had painted of him. A young man at the stall overheard me telling my friend that the picture made me “goosey” and that I found it beautiful and deeply moving. He asked me if I knew Caiseal and I said “No who is Caiseal?” He explained who both Caiseal and yourself were and that you had painted the picture. I then turned around admiring your beautiful art and saw the book on the table. I have worked with children over the years with Autism and have always found it such an honour. Those I have worked with have touched me deeply. I purchased the book (the last one) and the man told me that if I came back later Caiseal would sign it for me. I did and your husband signed it for me and we had a brief conversation. I have carried the book everywhere with me since and have told many friends that they need to read this story. I cannot begin to explain how it moved me and gave me the gift of a greater understanding of my fellow human beings. Somewhere inside it has also given me a more solid belief that life is a journey of learning and that if people who have experienced such horrendous acts of abuse and misunderstanding such as your husband can be so beautifully kind and optimistic then there is hope for light from the great sadness of cruelty to one another that exists in our world today.
Thank you to Caiseal and thank you to you for encouraging him to share his story through your love and support and for the memory of that beautiful painting you did that will forever give me goosebumps of emotion!

Yours Sincerely,
Samantha

Bring Back The Lions.

To “Anonymous”, the extremist christian bigot who keeps leaving cowardly comments on my blog. Your slurs are not ever going to be posted as long as you haven’t got the guts to leave an e-mail address and identity with your comments. I keep to this policy because I refuse to allow my blog to be used as a forum for slack-jawed, half-wits who can’t manage to summon any grammar beyond what they might use in a simple cell-phone text message.

I just can’t abide poor grammar- unless it's my own ;-).

It’s a shame. I’d love to expose your racist, homophobic misquotes from the bible ( note the small b ). Your slender grasp of that same document would be mind-boggling if I didn’t know you are from the U.S.- where it seems it’s perfectly acceptable to distort the teachings of the alleged christ into whatever shape the latest trend demands. At least you could quote accurately from the holy book you claim to worship.

I’m guessing your ill-conceived threats would give some of my readers a jolly, good belly-laugh. As long as they aren’t Jewish, Buddhist, African-American, Gay, Lesbian, Disabled, Autistic, Non-christian, Good or Compassionate readers. But surely someone would be tickled by your obviously home-grown perspective on religion.

Can anyone out there guess why christianity is the fastest declining cult on Earth?

Anonymous- When I read your first two comments this morning, I must admit I couldn’t believe what I saw. I thought you must be taking the p#ss. I gasped out loud. No-one could be that thick- could they?

Three points for you to consider-

1. The Prophet of Islam- Mohammad- never actually met christ on a mountain- or anywhere else for that matter. I don't know how you managed to mix this up in your mind. If christ lived at all, it was five hundred years before the Prophet. Perhaps you should take a glance at Wikipedia if you don't believe me.

2. American English is based on a different spelling system from British and Australian English. I write in Australian English because I’m Australian- not an American ( there are quite a few other non-americans knocking about the planet; in case you hadn’t realised).
Take a look at GoogleEarth. Australia is that large island in the Southern Ocean opposite Chile ( not Antarctica- the other one). So your diatribe about spelling mistakes only served to bring to light your profound ignorance. You are not the first American to complain about the spelling. My advice to you is; why not learn another dialect of English? You never know; it might broaden your mind- unless, of course, it’s already stretched to breaking point.

3. Your claims regarding the retribution which your god ( note the small g ) apparently has in store for me upon my eventual demise, hold no water whatsoever. I’m not a christian ( note the small c ). So I don’t believe in either hell ( note the small h ) or satan ( do I really need to explain this?).


To conclude- I didn’t bother reading your third comment of the day. All three have been consigned to the ether ( or hell, if you will ). The same fate awaits all future anonymous comments.

I expected my latest novel ‘Lady of the Lamp” would stir up some christians. After all, it’s about the way christianity was perverted by the Roman Emperor Constantine into the war-mongering, fear-cult that it is today. But I held some hope of receiving a few intelligent remarks/ criticisms from practicing christians.

* sigh *

Go on Anonymous. Let us in on your dirty little secret. Have some intestinal fortitude.

Tell us your name.

While we’re waiting for you to reply I’d like to quote a famous piece of graffiti that adorned a wall in Sydney for many years.

Bring Back The Lions.

Does anyone know who I contact to book the Colosseum?

New drums and a new CD

Helen and I are off to Sydney this coming week to attend the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival as usual. In the photo above are the drums I've built for this trip. I can't keep up with demand for the drums so I make a small batch each time we have a stall and pick up commissions at the festival. If you're interested in taking a look at my drums we'll see you between Thursday and Sunday next week ( 6th-9th November ) at our stand situated beside our Mongolian Yurt.

At the MBS Festival in Sydney I'll be launching my new novel- Lady of the Lamp and a brand new CD - the second in the Divine Passion series- Air. Come along and experience a performance of tracks from this CD in the yurt.
I'll also be running a full day trance drumming workshop on Tuesday the 11th of November. Bookings are essential for this workshop and may be arranged at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival. There's still a few places left.

More when we get back.

Some free books.

I've been in the recording studio and mixing the next CD for the last few days. This one, Air- in the Divine Passion series, is due to be launched at the Melbourne Mind, Body, Spirit Festival in late November. And it's coming along very nicely.

I was so busy I didn't notice that seven folks replied to the offer of five books. Well I've got one or two spare so, congratulations to Chloe, Ray, Gypsymum, Heather D, Michaela, Amiee and Raka13. If you post your address to my blog as a comment I'll send them off on Monday morning. Don't worry I won't publish your addresses on my blog.
I hope you enjoy reading my latest little story.

Above is one of the maps Helen and I worked on together for the book.

The Book has arrived.

Helen and I picked up copies of Lady of the Lamp yesterday afternoon. To celebrate we're going to give a free copy to each of the first five readers of this blog who respond to this entry. It won't be in the shops until the end of October so this is a great chance to get your hands on it first.

Good luck.

Lady of the Lamp

I’ve just emerged from a very long period where I’ve devoted myself to the completion of a new novel. This morning I sent the completed manuscript of ‘Lady of the Lamp’ to the publishers to be read through one last time before it’s typeset. That’s the cover at the heading of this article.
I put everything else aside to concentrate on Lady of the Lamp, so it’s strange to have suddenly completed it. This novel has taken an immense amount of time and effort but I’m sure it’s been worth it. Everyone who’s read it so far seems to love it.
It looks as though it’s going to be out in the bookstores in Australia at the end of September. We’ll be having a launch at Blue Angel Gallery in Melbourne and at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festivals in both Sydney and Melbourne in November.
Now I’ve got a few days to rest before Helen and I head off to Perth for the Conscious Living Expo. For details go to their website;
www.consciousliving.net.au/expo

We’re both really looking forward to going west. We haven’t been to that part of Australia before. In fact I've never been to a part of Australia that's in a different time zone ( Queensland doesn't count- they choose to be in a different time zone ). I’ll be holding workshops at the festival and manning Helen’s stall where she’ll have some of her magnificent portraits on offer. Perhaps we’ll see you there.
To take a look at some of Helen’s latest work go to;
Helen's website

After we return from Perth I’m putting the finishing touches on my second CD of original compositions in the Divine Passion series. I’ll be running another trance workshop in Melbourne on the 27th of September and then I’ve got yet another book to write.
After that we’ll be preparing for the Mind, Body, Spirit Festivals again.

As soon as we get back from Perth I’ll be giving out some free copies of Lady of the Lamp. I’ll announce the details on this blog then.

Caiseal Mór

Here's what it says on the back cover.

On the borders of the Forest of Keak a mighty warrior host of Templar knights are readying for battle. At their head is a ruthless warlord who has devoted his life to the Quest. Jean de Lusignon has travelled the world tirelessly searching for the Holy Grail. Now Jean offers an ultimatum to the noblemen who rule the forest. Surrender the Grail or every living soul within their woodland realm will be branded a heretic and suffer the consequences of a bitter war.

Prince-Bishop Arnulf calls a conclave in the Castle of Montsalvasch to prepare a desperate defence of the forest. But neither Jean de Lusignon, nor the Prince-Bishop are all they appear to be and both sides are busy conjouring spirits to do their bidding.

Meanwhile, out in the isolated fortress of Shelton Kayfa has had a terrible, prophetic dream that has left her deeply confused. As clouds of war gather to darken the woods, she immerses herself in a study of the Grail. At last she comes to realise only one woman stands between Jean and terrible awesome spirit of the Grail. She is the Guardian. Lady of the Lamp.

Two comments.

I’ve been away writing my next book so I haven’t had a chance to look at my blog or emails for a long while. Two comments were recently left on my blog which I’d like to reply to.

The first is from Steve321


I quote from your Brandubh page -

'This page is dedicated to the game I devised for my three series of novels- The Wanderers, The Watchers and the Wellspring Trilogy.'

You devised?

Are you some kind of medieval reincarnation?

Plagarist or just a printers error?
Steve 321


Well Steve, plagiarism is a hefty charge and one you should be careful about laying. You seem quite angry that I reinvented Brandubh. I’ve never claimed that my rules have any relationship to the ancient form of the game. The rules were lost a long, long time ago- even token research into this subject will turn that up.
When I was sixteen I went through a phase of obsessively inventing games to alleviate my boredom with school. I found a reference in an archaeology magazine to the finds of boards and pieces in Ireland and the theory that they might be versions of a game referred to in the sagas as Brandubh or Fidchell. No one can even be sure whether these gaming boards were related to the legendary Brandubh or Fidchell. The rules were unknown because no reference could be found in any ancient writings to them. The game rules were conjectured to have been part of the vast oral tradition of Ireland that simply died out. Intrigued, I set myself a task of making up a set of rules.
In 1994 when I wrote my first best-seller- The Circle and the Cross- I incorporated the game into the story. Since then I’ve had two U.S. based game publishers threaten to sue me for ownership of the rules which they claimed were in the public domain. This is simply not true. If I’d tracked down an original set of rules and used them, they would be public property. However, I came up with conjectural rules based on my own understanding and interpretation of the game. There’s no way of telling what those original rules might have entailed or even what the objective of the game might have been. When I pointed out that my publishers were obliged to support my claim on copyright for my set of rules; both U.S. based game publishers backed down and did not go ahead with producing their versions of the game. In short they saw my rules worked and wanted to own them so they could profit from the popularity of my books.
Steve, your email is very similar to an insulting email I had from one U.S. publisher. Are you trying to revive a commercial version of the game with my rules? Why not come up with your own? Why not research the game before you shoot your mouth off with silly misrepresentations? It’s just a game after all. And good luck making money out of it. As stated earlier anyone who uses my rules will be in breach of copyright and will be dealt with through the courts. Thank you for your comment Steve321.
The second comment I wanted to reply to was from Jo.

Hi,
What an amazing man you are. It's been a few months now since I finished reading "A Blessing and a Curse" I bought it because it was about autism and thought it might help me to understand my son better. I have also read most of your other books. I was absolutely overwhelmed by The Blessing and a Curse, you see I am a multiple and have read lots on this disorder everything having been written by therapists, who put me in a box and label me different and have a great desire to see me "normal". I am in my late 40's and has taken me a long time to accept my difference and be comfortable with it. Then I read your book and found that there are many things you have done that I too have done. I re created myself nearly 17 years ago, I see things in my mind and make them whether it be paintings, clothes or writings. Earlier this year I made what I call my playhouse, I use it as my workroom and it contains all the things I love and my work is creating beautiful things in my playhouse, I recently realised that my playhouse is similar to your stone fort. I am also reclusive working and studying from home, I only leave when I have too and normally never alone. I am told this is unhealthy. I tried one of your things recently when I had spiralled into chaos, and negotiated with several of the more dominant persona's and satisfied the needs of several all at once to get some control back into my world, it involved purchasing a shocking pink chair for the playhouse. It worked! Reading your story has been amazing for me, because I can recognise much of your story and experiences, and that some how makes me a bit more "normal".
And it's pretty awesome to realise that someone I have admired for sometime as a storyteller, is different in a similar way to me.
Thanks for that.
JO

I wrote my autobiography because a psychologist told me there were many folks like me walking around lost in the world. I wanted to point out that we can be ‘normalised'... that is; we can be forced/taught to appear normal but we never truly are. Conformity isn’t my strong point. Often my lack of restraint engenders anger in people who are less obsessive than me or jealous of my ability to focus ( see the first comment on this blog from Steve321 ). Since A Blessing and A Curse was published I’ve realised there are many more people dealing with dissociative problems than I could have guessed. I’m leaning toward the opinion that everyone is dissociative to some degree. Thank you for your comment Jo.

Big Dog

This is the Big Dog project- a new all terrain vehicle being developed in the U.S.. Eerie, uncanny and strangely lifelike. It sends shivers down my spine to see it slip on the ice then suddenly right itself.

It’s only half way through January and already it’s been a big year. Helen and I have been so busy. After a wonderful and inspiring break spent with friends over Yule and New Year we returned to a new life and a new house. I’ve been working on my next novel “Lady of the Lamp”- a Grail myth and it’s near to completion. It’ll be ready to go to editing by the middle of February. Then it goes into production for publication in Australia in May/June and the rest of the world about a month later. I’m very excited about this one. It’s more than ten years since I first wrote “The Tilecutter’s Penny”. Unfortunately for me at the time the people who ran my writing career felt that the content of Tilecutter wasn’t appropriate and might offend some people. It is, after all, not just a novel about the Holy Grail; it presents my own personal interpretation of what the Holy Grail was and is. I was forced to take the original manuscript back to the drawing board and expunge anything that was too controversial. Now I’m with a publisher who is completely supportive of my work and won’t be seeking to water the story down or cut anything they don’t personally agree with. I learned a valuable lesson with Tilecutter.
I woke up to the fact that I wasn’t free to publish what my heart told me to write. I discovered that some stories; stories that challenge the basic mythology on which or culture and society are based, will rarely be disseminated by large publishing houses; especially those which pander to a conservative or christian-supremacist agenda.
Last year I regained the rights to Tilecutter and decided it would not be published again- it was simply too painful for me to have to read it knowing that the deeper message and the true spirit of the story had been expunged and twisted. I decided, instead, to revive the manuscript I’d originally called “Lady of the Lamp”. The Lady of this Lamp had to be cut from Tilecutter. She has now come back with a vengeance and it’s a cracking good tale. The design above is a first draft for the banner of the Knights of the Raven who feature prominently in the tale. Advance orders may be made at amazon.com
Helen has been very busy with commissions for portraits, tattoos and sketches and we are blessed to have so many opportunities to work as artists and make a living from our passions. We’ve got new CDs planned for this year, a film, a couple of books and some very interesting journeys- all of which we’ll keep you posted about.

Our e-mail addresses will be changing soon due to the move so if you need to contact me try leaving a comment on this blog.

Moving on

Helen and I will be moving in the next few weeks- a very busy time and a huge change for both of us. But it's long overdue. By mid to late January we should have completed our transition to a totally new life. It's very exciting. So if you don't hear from me between now and then- don't worry. I haven't dropped off the planet entirely.

Some folks have tried to contact me by trying variations of e-mail addresses through my website. This won't work. I don't accept unsolicited e-mails anymore. I used to get a few hundred e-mails every week from fans but it just got too much for me to bear when a few people became scary. If you want to contact me leave a comment on my blog and perhaps I'll get back to you- sorry no promises at this stage. Maybe in the future I'll be able to open myself up again to e-mail contact but at this stage I'm still very spooked by some of the disturbing e-mails I've received in the last few years. Helen and I value our privacy so we're very, very careful.

My new CD Divine Passion- Rain Water is now available on the iTunes music store for digital download. If you have Apple iTunes installed on your computer simply follow this link to the iTunes store-
Divine Passion
or search the store with Caiseal Mor Divine Passion- Rain Water.

Until the New Year. Bye Bye for now and all the best.