Thursday, May 21, 2009
Be The Change: Connecting Glastonbury Tor & Miamisburg Mound. May 17th 2009
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948)
We would then read The Song of Mother Divine http://www.findhornpress.co.uk/ http://www.suesaraswati.com/ and follow this up with a 20 minute silent meditation. Tammie planned to finish by playing a recording of Jame's Twyman's song "Be The Change". Jimmy agreed to sing it live for our group. Well that was the plan...... but as I said at the time: if you want to make god laugh, tell her your plans!
See, we really were there, all of us... and one other person.
Finally it was about 3.29 and the rain was stopping. Across the Somerset levels we could see bright weather, sun even, as the cloud retreated. Beloved John held a brolly over me and two others held onto a copy of the Emissary Wheel (laminated fortunately) that I had in my bag. We huddled together and I began with some opening mantras. I then managed to hold a copy of the book The Song of Mother Divine in my freezing hands and I began to read. Quite spontaneously, and very beautifully, the Beloveds began to join in so that each time I read a statement they chipped in with "I am loved" and then they repeated closing statements after me. It really was beyond beautiful, I can't really find the words ...
You've heard of the expression "Warriors of the Light"? Well this is the Marine Corps. These guys are tough!
Miamisburg
" WOW !!! The experiences from this connection have exceeded my wildest expectations. As we called in the directions and the Elements you could strongly feel the presence of energies being invited to join our circle. This was the third time that I have been led to read Mother Divine at this sacred site. The words seem to resonate with the vibration of the mound .Much has happened on the Miamisburg land ,especially to our Native American brothers and sisters.The mound carries the resonance of the Divine Feminine, nurturing Love. Through all that has transpired there, it is Love. Then we meditated and imagined merging the mounds, just feeling the connection with the Beloved community to be the change, that we want to see in the world.
I`ll share my personal experience of Peace with You. Right away I saw the grid ley lines lighting up as one sacred portal led to another and they branched out until the grid was golden.Then I grounded into the core of the earth and intended for my roots to travel to the Tor.It looked like I was in a kaliedescope of colors with elementals of many types zipping all around and some of the trees were ornate with golden entrances .It was like a celebration was going on....At one point I was sitting on a white horse looking out over the mist at the merging of the hillsides.The two became one so naturally and effortlessly.I saw three aspects of myself that no longer serve me climb aboard a small ship and sail away into the ethers. I feel like I had a nice healing and opening up of the throat chakra.We closed by holding hands and joining hearts and taking in the song "Be The Change" by James Twyman .I am Grateful and humbled by this experience......Love," Tammie
"I was privileged to be a part of the Peace Connection Experience on Sunday, May 17, 2009, to connect the sacred mound at Miamisburg, Ohio to Glastonbury Tor in UK. As part of my meditation, I asked spirit to give me a message about the meaning of these beautiful mounds and here is the answer that I got:
The mounds were constructed to focus energy in certain places on earth; to connect the grids of energy to each other so a communication could be established on the inner planes. There is an electromagnetic frequency specific to each earth mound that identifies its location and its specific purpose. Each mound has its own resonance and as they connect one to another a magnificent symphony of tones is produced through which that, if one is attuned to receive these tones, messages are transmitted; information from the higher realms is readily available if one is able to attune to the specific frequency. Humans are evolving to the point of being able to discern what messages are being transmitted. This higher frequency can only be received through specific attunement given only to those who are living through love."
Respectfully, Claire Kramer, Florence, KY
"The meditation with Tor and Miamisburg’s Mound I saw an infinite amount of fairies and daisies. As I connected with the 2 mounds I felt myself spinning out into space above the earth connecting with the planet and her energy. All day long I felt the strong connected energy and even lay awake that night pulsating with streaming energy.
I felt a healing and shift with my digestive system and my throat charka and sensed a downloading of healing information on the mound. I also saw Merlin on the steps of the tower. Light and Love," Helen
"Thank you for inviting me to experience the wonderful mound merging energies.That was an experience i won't soon forget.the peace and tranquility, the comfort and blessings I felt were phenomenal.Knowing Kwan Yin was there, feeling her presence... the smell of fresh flowers...I've been riding that wave for a coupla days!!Thanx again, Tammie... and to ALL who were present with us!! " Beve
"I had a great sense of peace while meditating at the mound I envisioned stone steps going up a rown stone tower..just peace, warm comforting peace"
Deb H.
Thanks to everyone who joined in!
Many blessings
Mahatma Gandhi political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948)
Glastonbury Tor & Miamisburg Mound
Early in 2008 Tammie Stair http://www.tammiestair.com/ told me that while she was at Miamisburg Mound she had had a vision of the tower on the top of Glastonbury Tor. She feels they are sister mounds. We decided that it might be a really great experience if we worked with groups in the UK and USA to connect the two sites energetically. It took a while for the time to be right be finally we got it together at the weekend.
I was with a group from the Beloved Community, led by James Twyman (who were on retreat in Glastonbury at the time) and Tammie was with her group in Ohio. Tammie and I spoke on the phone before hand and decided on what we would do on the day. The plan was to be on top of our respective sites at 15.30 hrs UK time which is 10.30 hrs for Tammie. Both of us would begin by connecting with the elements and the Divine in our own ways.
We would then read The Song of Mother Divine http://www.findhornpress.co.uk/ http://www.suesaraswati.com/ and follow this up with a 20 minute silent meditation. Tammie planned to finish by playing a recording of Jame's Twyman's song "Be The Change". Jimmy agreed to sing it live for our group. Well that was the plan...... but as I said at the time: if you want to make god laugh, tell her your plans!Glastonbury
Jimmy organised it so that the group would first visit the Chalice Well at Glastonbury http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/ and then would carry on to the Tor to be at the top and ready to go for 3.30pm. The weather was grey, chilly, wet and windy. I had been up to the Tor the day before and knew that whatever the weather in the town, you need to multiply it by a factor of 10 to know what it will be like at the top of the Tor. It can be wild up there. So I was wondering how we were going to deal with whatever nature was planning to throw at us.
Jimmy led us off to the Tor a little early I thought, it was only around 2.00pm. But I supposed he had some plan in mind and anyway he was way ahead of me, up at the front of the group. So I plodded along at the back chatting to Beloved Craig who I hadn't seen for ages and who had joined us just for this peace connection.
By the time I got to the top of the Tor it was around 2.35pm and the wind was whipping and howling around us. It was difficult to keep on your feet and made worse by the ridiculously large amount of cow-dung underfoot. Where had all that come from? .... Well, yes I know where ... but what I mean is, it was as if every cow in the West Country had recently been up there with some sort of bovine coach-party. One of the Beloveds went flying and had to be helped back to her feet and the rest of us were clinging to each other in order to avoid the same fate. I was really wondering how we could hang on until 3.30 and then some. Then Jimmy looked at me expectantly and asked me what I wanted to do? Errr..... OK. What exactly ....? Err .... ? I thought he had something up his sleeve for the next 50 minutes ... So it transpired that Jimmy was one hour ahead of the rest of us. In other words he thought we were late, that it was 3.40. Oh dear. "Why didn't someone tell me?" He asked. "Well we all thought you had a plan Jimmy..."
I'd just like to point out that this photograph was taken by me in gale-force winds and at great personal risk. The group are standing in the only sheltered spot at the top of the Tor.
So what to do now? It was perfectly obvious that 25 + people could not stand huddled together in that same spot for another hour or so. Jimmy decided to make our part of the connection right then and spontanously spoke about that, acknowledging all the groups and individuals that would be joining us as well as Tammie's group. He gave us a quick acapella rendition of "Be The Change" and asked everyone to keep their hearts open for the connection and to be aware, wherever they were at 3.30pm. Then a very bedraggled group began to disperse back down the Tor. It was now around 2.55pm.
See, we really were there, all of us... and one other person.I thought perhaps I might return to Abbey House, where the Beloveds were on retreat and where they had built a beautiful Emissary Wheel. I thought I might sit around the wheel at 3.30pm (in the warm and dry!) and visualise us on top of the Tor and perform the ceremony Tammie and I had agreed upon. However I had not reckoned on the tenacity of some of the Beloveds! They would not hear of such a sissy old cop-out. At the top they were and at the top they would stay until the agreed time and weather do your worst - which, obligingly it did.
So in the end 10 of us stayed, complete stars all. After a brief excursion to see the egg stone on the side of the Tor we battled through heavy, horizontal rain, back to the tower to wait for exactly 3.30. By now I was soaked to the skin and we were huddling together like moorland sheep. It was really too wet to take out my camera but I managed to get a quick snap of Beloved Ingrid, as she was snapping us: how those umbrellas were staying up I cannot fathom
Finally it was about 3.29 and the rain was stopping. Across the Somerset levels we could see bright weather, sun even, as the cloud retreated. Beloved John held a brolly over me and two others held onto a copy of the Emissary Wheel (laminated fortunately) that I had in my bag. We huddled together and I began with some opening mantras. I then managed to hold a copy of the book The Song of Mother Divine in my freezing hands and I began to read. Quite spontaneously, and very beautifully, the Beloveds began to join in so that each time I read a statement they chipped in with "I am loved" and then they repeated closing statements after me. It really was beyond beautiful, I can't really find the words ...We stood for a while in silent meditation, the energy was incredibly powerful, Beloved Craig later described how he had a joyful, humming feeling in his heart chakra. Despite the cold and the wind I could have stood there for ages. Then John's umbrella blew inside out and he sort of flew backwards which seemed to bring our meditation to a natural conclusion! I chanted some closing prayers and then other Beloveds chipped in with various prayers. We had the Lord's prayer in Aramaic (which is completely different from the Lord's Prayer we are all familiar with) we also had the Peace Prayers and a beautiful prayer led by Craig. I stood with my hand over my heart basking in the beautiful energy. It's amazing that it was so powerful given the battle we were having with the wind.
You've heard of the expression "Warriors of the Light"? Well this is the Marine Corps. These guys are tough!
We descended the Tor via the rear path. The sun was now shining and the wind dropping. Soon we were out of the wind entirely. Beloved Ella called to me to stop. We all stood and basked in the extraordinary feeling of peace that now surrounded us - it really was special. It felt to me as if something had descended upon us. The fields around us were vibrant green and the buttercups were ridiculously yellow, like a Van Gough painting. For the first time we could hear birds singing, it was as if we had stepped into the Garden of Eden itself.
Miamisburg
Tammie's group were in place on time. It was windy but sunny... how nice for them ;0)
They did have their own challenges but I'll leave Tammie to tell that story herself.
I spoke with Tammie on the phone on Tuesday and she told me that the connection was the most powerful experience of her life. One of her group - a very experienced lightworker - said that it was the purest Divine Feminine energy she had ever experienced, including Machu Picchu. So I have decided simply to post below all the feedback that I received from Tammie:
" WOW !!! The experiences from this connection have exceeded my wildest expectations. As we called in the directions and the Elements you could strongly feel the presence of energies being invited to join our circle. This was the third time that I have been led to read Mother Divine at this sacred site. The words seem to resonate with the vibration of the mound .Much has happened on the Miamisburg land ,especially to our Native American brothers and sisters.The mound carries the resonance of the Divine Feminine, nurturing Love. Through all that has transpired there, it is Love. Then we meditated and imagined merging the mounds, just feeling the connection with the Beloved community to be the change, that we want to see in the world.
I`ll share my personal experience of Peace with You. Right away I saw the grid ley lines lighting up as one sacred portal led to another and they branched out until the grid was golden.Then I grounded into the core of the earth and intended for my roots to travel to the Tor.It looked like I was in a kaliedescope of colors with elementals of many types zipping all around and some of the trees were ornate with golden entrances .It was like a celebration was going on....At one point I was sitting on a white horse looking out over the mist at the merging of the hillsides.The two became one so naturally and effortlessly.I saw three aspects of myself that no longer serve me climb aboard a small ship and sail away into the ethers. I feel like I had a nice healing and opening up of the throat chakra.We closed by holding hands and joining hearts and taking in the song "Be The Change" by James Twyman .I am Grateful and humbled by this experience......Love," Tammie
"I was privileged to be a part of the Peace Connection Experience on Sunday, May 17, 2009, to connect the sacred mound at Miamisburg, Ohio to Glastonbury Tor in UK. As part of my meditation, I asked spirit to give me a message about the meaning of these beautiful mounds and here is the answer that I got:
The mounds were constructed to focus energy in certain places on earth; to connect the grids of energy to each other so a communication could be established on the inner planes. There is an electromagnetic frequency specific to each earth mound that identifies its location and its specific purpose. Each mound has its own resonance and as they connect one to another a magnificent symphony of tones is produced through which that, if one is attuned to receive these tones, messages are transmitted; information from the higher realms is readily available if one is able to attune to the specific frequency. Humans are evolving to the point of being able to discern what messages are being transmitted. This higher frequency can only be received through specific attunement given only to those who are living through love."
Respectfully, Claire Kramer, Florence, KY
"The meditation with Tor and Miamisburg’s Mound I saw an infinite amount of fairies and daisies. As I connected with the 2 mounds I felt myself spinning out into space above the earth connecting with the planet and her energy. All day long I felt the strong connected energy and even lay awake that night pulsating with streaming energy.
I felt a healing and shift with my digestive system and my throat charka and sensed a downloading of healing information on the mound. I also saw Merlin on the steps of the tower. Light and Love," Helen
"Thank you for inviting me to experience the wonderful mound merging energies.That was an experience i won't soon forget.the peace and tranquility, the comfort and blessings I felt were phenomenal.Knowing Kwan Yin was there, feeling her presence... the smell of fresh flowers...I've been riding that wave for a coupla days!!Thanx again, Tammie... and to ALL who were present with us!! " Beve
"I had a great sense of peace while meditating at the mound I envisioned stone steps going up a rown stone tower..just peace, warm comforting peace"
Deb H.
Thanks to everyone who joined in!
Many blessings
Sue
Friday, January 02, 2009
My Trip to Elaiohori November to December 2008
Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights!) from my recent trip to Greece when I was there from 10th November to 12th December.
Part One
Monday 10th Nov 2008
12.00 Arrived at Athens airport. Took bus from right outside to bus station. At bus station got coach to Mani via Kalamata.
I was very worried about this journey as I suffer from motion sickness sometimes so I was concerned to get a seat at the front of the coach. Although I felt extremely claustrophobic at first – listening to a very amusing podcast helped here – I was actually fine, even over the mountains. The trip turned out to be very easy and extremely cheap.
19.30 Arrived Stoupa, Mani. Dragged my (VERY heavy) cases – full of decorating equipment – along the sea front to the only open bar. There I met with our friends Sophie and Richard. It was a warm, one might even say, balmy, evening. Sophie and Richard took me up to Elaiohori, leaving me at Katharina’s house – the house I had rented for the month.
Tuesday 11th Nov
In the daylight took a look around our house, Villa Stepeni. Interested to discover that of the list of completed jobs we had been given only one had actually been completed, plus one was just being started.
Removed the protective cover from the car and was very pleased to find that the car started very easily, I had been worried that the battery might be flat. Took a very deep breath, checked over all my documents for the one-hundredth time and drove to the local police station in Kardymyli. I needed to get a resident’s permit in order to be abl
e to complete the paperwork needed for us to legally become the owners of our car. On our last trip we bought a lovely little Kia Picanto from the car hire company we were using but had been unable to transfer the registration documents into our names because we needed a resident’s permit to do this. The only place to get such a permit is the local police station. The policeman who does this (there is only one) was not interested in doing it for us on our last trip. So now I needed to find a different approach. I checked my documents again (3 copies of passport, actual passport, five passport-sized photographs) I rehearsed what I would say: “Please can you help me …” I practiced crawling on my hands and knees and various positions of supplication. I’m pleased to say it all worked. He took all the information he needed and told me to come back on Thursday at 10.00am. RESULT! Well, actually. I didn’t allow myself to celebrate on account of the fact that there could still easily be some sort of difficulty. Greek bureaucracy is awesome. Even the simplest thing seems to require a sheaf of paper the size of a telephone book, every page signed and stamped (most important that it is stamped) plus information about your parents and 100 copies of your passport. Unbelievable.
From here I drove to Kalamata (about 40 mins away) and went to the two cathedrals of DIY: Practiker and Idea (known locally as “No Idea”). Here I bought all the decorating equipment and paint I needed to get started.
Wednesday 12th Nov
Started to actually work on our house. I began the enormous task of sanding the walls of the upstairs room. Dirty, heavy and unpleasant work. I began to realise how big the room is. Later our Greek neighbour Eleni appeared to ask me to come over for some food. I finished sweeping up the dust and then spent an hour sitting and eating with Eleni and Grigory – the former horrified that I was still not eating meat. How could I possibly be eating properly? Also she had prepared a rice dish with integral chicken and had had to hurriedly remove the chicken from my portion. This left me with the challenge of eating rice with chicken juice, hmm. But they are very kind, generous people and it was a joy to see them. I was having some trouble with the language though. I was a bit out of practice, especially as I have not been able to afford to attend the Greek evening class here in the UK. I found that I was having great trouble in getting any words out of my mouth at all. I confess this was a little discouraging, as I have been learning this language for a very long time.
Arranged to take Eleni and Grigory to the olive oil factory (owned by my friends Fritz and Burgi ) the next morning on my way to the police station to pick up my resident’s permit.
All this time I was trying to get in touch with Leta. Ah dear sweet Leta. How that name resonates for me. She was the lady who would enable the transfer of the registration document from Auto Union to me. I confess to being uneasy that we had handed over our money but were not the legal owners of our car. So it was not a good experience to be unable to raise Leta on the telephone for a couple of days. I managed it eventually. I don’t think I can bear to record the weird odyssey she led me on for the rest of my stay – and still going on the last that I heard. A job that, even in Greece is fairly simple, became the most complicated and drawn out process you can ever imagine. Have no dealings with this lady. She is very nice and sweet but the lights are on and no body is in. Leta, Auto Union Office, Pylos, Messinia, avoid.
Coming Soon in Part Two:
Martin Ate My Car!
Part One
Monday 10th Nov 2008
12.00 Arrived at Athens airport. Took bus from right outside to bus station. At bus station got coach to Mani via Kalamata.
I was very worried about this journey as I suffer from motion sickness sometimes so I was concerned to get a seat at the front of the coach. Although I felt extremely claustrophobic at first – listening to a very amusing podcast helped here – I was actually fine, even over the mountains. The trip turned out to be very easy and extremely cheap.
19.30 Arrived Stoupa, Mani. Dragged my (VERY heavy) cases – full of decorating equipment – along the sea front to the only open bar. There I met with our friends Sophie and Richard. It was a warm, one might even say, balmy, evening. Sophie and Richard took me up to Elaiohori, leaving me at Katharina’s house – the house I had rented for the month.
Tuesday 11th Nov
In the daylight took a look around our house, Villa Stepeni. Interested to discover that of the list of completed jobs we had been given only one had actually been completed, plus one was just being started.
Removed the protective cover from the car and was very pleased to find that the car started very easily, I had been worried that the battery might be flat. Took a very deep breath, checked over all my documents for the one-hundredth time and drove to the local police station in Kardymyli. I needed to get a resident’s permit in order to be abl
e to complete the paperwork needed for us to legally become the owners of our car. On our last trip we bought a lovely little Kia Picanto from the car hire company we were using but had been unable to transfer the registration documents into our names because we needed a resident’s permit to do this. The only place to get such a permit is the local police station. The policeman who does this (there is only one) was not interested in doing it for us on our last trip. So now I needed to find a different approach. I checked my documents again (3 copies of passport, actual passport, five passport-sized photographs) I rehearsed what I would say: “Please can you help me …” I practiced crawling on my hands and knees and various positions of supplication. I’m pleased to say it all worked. He took all the information he needed and told me to come back on Thursday at 10.00am. RESULT! Well, actually. I didn’t allow myself to celebrate on account of the fact that there could still easily be some sort of difficulty. Greek bureaucracy is awesome. Even the simplest thing seems to require a sheaf of paper the size of a telephone book, every page signed and stamped (most important that it is stamped) plus information about your parents and 100 copies of your passport. Unbelievable.From here I drove to Kalamata (about 40 mins away) and went to the two cathedrals of DIY: Practiker and Idea (known locally as “No Idea”). Here I bought all the decorating equipment and paint I needed to get started.
Wednesday 12th Nov
Started to actually work on our house. I began the enormous task of sanding the walls of the upstairs room. Dirty, heavy and unpleasant work. I began to realise how big the room is. Later our Greek neighbour Eleni appeared to ask me to come over for some food. I finished sweeping up the dust and then spent an hour sitting and eating with Eleni and Grigory – the former horrified that I was still not eating meat. How could I possibly be eating properly? Also she had prepared a rice dish with integral chicken and had had to hurriedly remove the chicken from my portion. This left me with the challenge of eating rice with chicken juice, hmm. But they are very kind, generous people and it was a joy to see them. I was having some trouble with the language though. I was a bit out of practice, especially as I have not been able to afford to attend the Greek evening class here in the UK. I found that I was having great trouble in getting any words out of my mouth at all. I confess this was a little discouraging, as I have been learning this language for a very long time.Arranged to take Eleni and Grigory to the olive oil factory (owned by my friends Fritz and Burgi ) the next morning on my way to the police station to pick up my resident’s permit.
All this time I was trying to get in touch with Leta. Ah dear sweet Leta. How that name resonates for me. She was the lady who would enable the transfer of the registration document from Auto Union to me. I confess to being uneasy that we had handed over our money but were not the legal owners of our car. So it was not a good experience to be unable to raise Leta on the telephone for a couple of days. I managed it eventually. I don’t think I can bear to record the weird odyssey she led me on for the rest of my stay – and still going on the last that I heard. A job that, even in Greece is fairly simple, became the most complicated and drawn out process you can ever imagine. Have no dealings with this lady. She is very nice and sweet but the lights are on and no body is in. Leta, Auto Union Office, Pylos, Messinia, avoid.
Coming Soon in Part Two:
Martin Ate My Car!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Latest Trip to Greece
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sue.saraswati/VillaStepeniDec2008#
I will be recording my adventures soon. In the meantime take a look at the latest pictures taken by me on Dec 9th 2008.
More soon!!
Happy New Year everyone. xx
I will be recording my adventures soon. In the meantime take a look at the latest pictures taken by me on Dec 9th 2008.
More soon!!
Happy New Year everyone. xx
Monday, August 11, 2008
Greek House Latest
We've just returned from Greece. The house is looking good. At the moment the electrician is busily rewiring. Already the property is unrecognisable from the house we purchased 2 years ago. We are hoping to be able to offer it for rental next year and perhaps even invite a group out in the autumn of 2009. We have decided that rental will be available to people we know or people they have recommended only.See the latest pictures here:
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Visit to Eliaohori May 2008
N.B. To see latest pictures (taken June 18th) follow this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/sue.saraswati/HouseJune2008The House.
Nothing could have really prepared me for the shock of how I found the house when I arrived! For two years it had been unchanged and then suddenly.... well you can see in this photo. Notice the new stonework though on top of the kamara (the arched entrance). That continues from the new room that has been built on the side of the house and forms some of the veranda. The second photo (below) was taken from under the lemon tree that you can see behind the guy bending over in the first photo.
Here you can see the beautiful stonework on the new room. The flat roof of this room carries the veranda around the side of the house and enables lovely views over the gorge below the house and the surrounding mountains. The guys were working incredibly fast. When I arrived they were finishing off the walls of this room. When I left the roof was on and I could walk around on it. Here is a photo (below) taken from the veranda/roof of the extension.
The Neighbours
I have to confess that, as much as I love them, I was not looking forward to encountering the neighbours at the beginning of my visit. This was simply because I knew that my first sight of the house would be a shock and I did not relish the prospect of having to deal with anything else at the same time. Eleni and Grigory are delightful people but they speak no English and I knew they would want me to sit with them and talk for a while. As it happened the gods of house renovation smiled upon me. The most unlikely thing happened, Eleni and Grigory were intially nowhere to be seen. Only on my third visit to the site did Eleni appear. By now I had flipped over from hoping to avoid them and was beginning to worry about where they might be and if one of them was ill. Happily all was well and soon I was sitting on her terrace with some of her home-made pastries struggling along in my rudimentary Greek. But where was Grigory? Apparently he was out the back killing a goat. OK .... This was actually a big event and Eleni's daughter Sophia and husband Yanni soon arrived from Kalamata in great excitement. Not something that happens very often here in Kingston Upon Thames.
Later in the week I went for a walk and bumped into Grigory on his way to tend to the goats (the living ones that is). I took this photo of him. He insisted I follow him to an amazing viewpoint looking down the valley and over the distant mountains.
Where I Stayed
Before I left for Greece I emailed the Mani-Sonnenlink centre which is on the next mountain to our village. I was lucky enough to link up with the lady who runs the centre, Burgi Blauel. She offered me one of the studio appartments, as no seminars or retreats were organised for that time. This turned out to be truly wonderful. Burgi and I met only briefly, as she was off to Austria during my stay, but we got along famously and I could see that the centre would be very good as a residential centre for groups. Remarkably I also learned that Burgi's husband Fritz ran a regular meditation-type group on Thursday evenings and I was invited to attend during my stay. I duly went along and was astonished and delighted to discover that it was just like being with my own group here in Kingston! Really amazing parallels.
The Party
Some friends in the village of Pyrgos, close to our village, were having a house warming party and I was invited to attend. Their house has been renovated and designed by the same team that are working for us. Because of this I knew quite a few of the folks at the party.
The hi-light of the afternoon was the arrival of the local preist to perform a ceremony of blessing. This is a beautiful Greek tradition for a new house. A special table had been laid out for the occasion and the priest arrived with an entourage of helpers. He began to read from a prayer book, speaking very quickly and occasionally breaking off in order to turn through 360 degrees.
This went on for quite some considerable time. Suddenly the preist stopped and began to stagger and sway, he did not look well. A chair was called for and he sat. He complained of a stomach upset possibly to do with some eggs he ate for breakfast. Gamely he was soon up on his feet again and carrying on. Speaking even quicker, now with a certain edge of desperation. The assembled company were now transfixed. Was he about to have a heart attack? What kind of a portent would this be for the new house? He stopped and leaned forward on the table. I was sure he was about to vomit. He sat down again and we all fussed around him. Once again he gamely got to his feet and carried on. Finally, mercifully, he got to the end of the ceremony. When I told this story to Grigory the next day (while I was giving him a lift in my hire car) he thought it hilarious and suggested we use a different preist for our house-blessing!
At the end of the ceremony (Phew!)
N.B. To see latest pictures of our house (taken June 18th) follow this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/sue.saraswati/HouseJune2008
g h
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Work Begins in Eliaohori
At last work has started on our house in Greece. Amazingly it is almost exactly 2 years since we first saw the property. I believe we saw it first on May 25th 2006.
Around the 22nd/23rd April Jamie, our architect, met up with Taki the builder and Roland the electrician at the house. Jamie was expecting to be having a pre-work discussion with them. However when he arrived he found that work had already started and was progressing fast. He took these pictures.
I feel very odd when I see that something that has been in my head for so long is now actually being realised. We really are doing this! Of course now the exchange rate GBP v. Euro is hideous and only getting worse. Property prices are falling fast and the cost of our renovation has increased in all possible ways. We must be crazy. And yet, oddly, it all still feels very much the right thing to do.
Around the 22nd/23rd April Jamie, our architect, met up with Taki the builder and Roland the electrician at the house. Jamie was expecting to be having a pre-work discussion with them. However when he arrived he found that work had already started and was progressing fast. He took these pictures.
I feel very odd when I see that something that has been in my head for so long is now actually being realised. We really are doing this! Of course now the exchange rate GBP v. Euro is hideous and only getting worse. Property prices are falling fast and the cost of our renovation has increased in all possible ways. We must be crazy. And yet, oddly, it all still feels very much the right thing to do.
I am exploding with creativity at the moment and have created an ideas book for the house. One of my better ideas is to incorporate labyrinths into the design as much as possible. I have one concrete finger-labyrinth that I will use, possibly as a wall tile or I may lay it horizontally somewhere. I intend to source more labyrinths and also create some myself. I want to have them all over the house and garden. I love the idea of people discovering them all over the place. I don’t know if there will be enough space to mark one out on the ground but if there is I will do this too. Labyrinth House! Very appropriate for Greece I feel.
My worry at the moment is that the builders have torn off the door to the wall cupboard that you can see in this photograph. This may seem
like a trivial thing, but it is a very special door. The cupboard –which we call the Gecko Cupboard, because of the sweet little Gecko that lives/lived there (I hope he’s escaped OK) - has been in the house for a long time. It fills in an old window opening. Since at least the 1940’s various people have autographed the inside of the door. It is a wonderful sort of visitor’s book. But what have the builders done with it? Jamie promises that nothing has yet been thrown away and that he will get them to retrieve it from wherever they have thrown it. I hope so. I am still waiting to hear. A great example of what can happen when you are not around to keep an eye on things. I had requested the cupboard be left intact but obviously this was forgotten in the frenzy of tearing everything down.
I am off out to Greece on the 18th May. I wonder what I will find?
Friday, March 30, 2007
Earth Day
Here is an email and some totally awesome pictures that I recently received from Tammy Stair one of the Peace Experience group:
“Hello Sue,
My name is Tammie Stair and I have been a part of your distant Peace workshop since it began. Infinite Blessings for All that you do!
I live In the U.S in Ohio. The Great Serpent Mound and many other mounds are in my area. My guides asked me to place a 12 Chakra Lotus Heart grid
in the egg at the mouth of the serpent. They then showed me what the energy would look like releasing from the ground once the earth chakra was activated. I attached some pictures of the event if you would like to see. There are very many orbs that came in as the grid was being set up and during the ceremony. The picture by the tree is of the earth energies releasing.
We will gather on our Earth Day, which is April 28th at 1:00 Eastern time at the Miamiasburg mound for the honoring of the Sacred Earth. If you are interested in having the group join in we would love to have you. A Huna group from Hawaii and another amazing group from Australia will be joining in also. Peace and Love, Tammie Stair"
Let’s Join In
I think it would be lovely to co-ordinate a meditation with these groups. So I will be tuning in on April 28th at 13.00 hrs Eastern time (or 18.00hrs London).
