On Prophesies of "The Great Change" of 2012

Some while ago I came across a website called survive2012.com (I think). As someone who, in their everyday self, has some interest (albeit small) in the London Olympics, I thought this website might be something to do with a local protest group concerned with the impact of this event on East London. However, it turns out that some much greater event (or more likely many events) is prophesied for the year 2012 : the so-called "Great Change". I propose to explore what this might consist of in future blogs - not just this one (see links) - and thereby offer a number of possible scenarios, positive and negative, for The Great Change.

Incidentally, if anyone wants to send me any material relating to The Great Change of 2012, please do so.

Blog resumes with the Problem of Perelandra

Readers of my blog @ http://www.witchofworcester.wordpress.com/ (where I have been for several months now) will know that I am a great fan of C S Lewis's "The Cosmic Trilogy". However, whilst I veritably raced through the final volume, "That Hideous Strength", first, and then fairly swiftly followed this up with the first volume, "Out of the Silent Planet", I now find myself stuck on "Perelandra", (incidentally, the planet Venus in Lewis's cosmology), the middle volume of the trilogy. Central to this book is an encounter with "The Green Lady", but try as I may, I cannot "bond" with her or the book. Perhaps not all Green Ladies (amongst whom I would like to count myself) are from Venus : personally, I much preferred the Malacandrans (or Marsians) of the first volume.

This Blog is Relocating

Due to Gremlins (of a technical or censorship nature, possibly both !) this and my other blogs (see below) are relocating for a time to www.witchofworcester.wordpress.com.

A Princess For Five Seconds (& Maybe Longer)

When an attractive young man said "Hello, Princess" to me the other day, I was aware that an expression of surprise had registered on my face, and also on his as I drew nearer !

Nevertheless, the incident provided an opportunity for pleasant reflection. Had some fairy god mother waved her magic wand for me, thereby setting up a visual illusion, albeit it very transient ? I had, or so it seemed, become a good deal more than "Ten Years Younger" without extreme change to my appearance or apparel.

The truth is probably that I actually like a cold sunny snap of weather (I'm a bit of an Ice Queen in fact) and that my sometimes colourful clothes, which may look out of place on a dull day, give me a happy and healthy glow on a chilly one.

All this reminds me that there is a great deal of nonsense around the subjects of health and beauty, and that I shall be looking at these in future Janet Stone blogs, hopefully with good sense.

Troubles with Trolls

Having touched upon the subject of fairies and the elemental world in my last blog, I now want to talk about trolls. For those unfamiliar with this type of elemental, I will describe them by the quality of their energy, when negatively and positively aspected, from my own experience.

Some years ago - 1997 to be precise - I was managing a rather good area regeneration consultancy project, through my business, EPONA. So good was the project that a couple of other people thought they should have won the contract, and endeavoured to make my work difficult. One of these individuals, a white or, possibly mixed-race, woman had a quality of negative energy the likes of which I had not encountered before, and was particularly challenging for my consultancy client (incidentally one of the best local government clients EPONA has ever had). Nevertheless, the work proceeded well and was duly completed.

However, I was aware towards the end of the project that I too was feeling drained. One night, I dreamt that I was being chased by a female giant (big troll) somewhere in Iran, and managed to escape through a passage on a black horse. I awoke from what was a nightmare both stirred and shaken, but later felt quite relaxed and decided to do some household chores. One of these was to recycle several bags of bottles, and off I walked, placing the bags on the pavement in front of the re-cycling bins. At this point, two teenage girls came cycling along the pavement, knocking over the bottles and pushing me aside. I started to remonstrate, and took hold of the handle bars of one bicycle. The next thing I was being physically assaulted and started to retaliate.

At this point, what seemed to be an inner voice (but some might interpret as a spirit helper) told me to cease all retaliation.."otherwise this girl may stick a broken bottle in your face, or you push her into the road and in front of an oncoming car." So I stopped fighting, but the girl continued to hit me, although her companion attempted to discourage her. Both girls were probably african-caribbean or mixed-race, and when I asked for help from a passing black man, he just smiled. After a time, however, I attracted the attention of people in a nearby pub, and, about this time, the girls ran off. The police were then called and took me to the local hospital : not allowed, but they didn't want me to have to wait too long for an ambulance.

At the Accident and Emergency Department, I met a woman whom I vaguely knew. She was a gardener by profession and had a foot infection (her reason for being at the hospital). However, she - a white european - had recently been held up at knife point at a local cash point by an asian man. I found talking to her therapeutic, and was somewhat recovered by the time I saw a doctor, also asian. He confirmed that my nose was broken, and indeed my face was a big mess by now. I eventually took a taxi home, contacted a neighbour, who hailed from the Caribbean, and who was most supportive during my recovery. This recovery was surprisingly rapid, and once my nose was repaired, left me psychologically undamaged but, perhaps, spiritually wiser.

Since the time of my "attack", I have reflected quite alot on the subject of troll energy. In its negative form, this can take the shape of physical (and verbal) violence to people and property. However, although these "outbreaks" can, in various degrees, be shocking to experience - ie minor to major shock depending upon the circumstances - the "aftershock" soon disappears provided appropriate lessons have been learnt. These lessons generally concern the use of power by the victim of the attack, and her (I am speaking personally) understanding of the circumstances surrounding the attacker(s). However, this is not necessarily the end of the story, so I will take the subject up again at another time. It is also important to recognise the positive aspects of troll energy, which can include : teaching us who are friends really are; spontaneous generosity and helpfulness from strangers, and good advice from such people....

Synchronicity & The Elemental World (via bookcrossing.com)

Like everybody else, I am the product of my own tastes (character is fate and all that) for better and for worse. Last week, I had been pondering the limitations of my current reading, which, although wide-ranging, also tends to be rather "heavy" just now. What a pleasant surprise, therefore, to receive (metaphorically, but perhaps magically as well) a present from the fairies. The present in question is a rather good biography about Audrey Hepburn by Brian Paris (Publisher Orion) which I received from the fey-sounding "Nordie" via something called bookcrossing.com. More accurately, I found this biography in a smart little plastic bag in the street, labelled "FREE BOOK !". For those who haven't come across bookcrossing.com, let me explain, and then I'll come onto to the subject of "The Elemental World".

bookcrossing.com - http://www.bookcrossing.com/ - is a "scheme" whereby anyone can release an unwanted book "into the ether", and track its future readership (if they participate in the scheme). See their website for more details. The Los Angeles Times has described the scheme as "A phenom amongst readers with a taste for mischief and a touch of altruism", and perhaps this is also rather a good description of "The Elemental World".

Now along with pondering my taste in books (and more generally as well), and I have been reflecting lately on my interaction with what some people describe as "The Elemental World". Put simply this is the world (unseen by most, but apparently visible to some) of spirits associated with the natural elements : air, water, earth, fire...and ether). Fairies are the spirits most commonly associated with air, and can bring a sense of lightness, and sometimes luck, into the life of those they choose to favour (hence the expression "fairy favours"). Now Audrey Hepburn when asked to have describe her life in one word is said to have responded "Lucky !".
Lucky is also how I would describe my find, a positive syncronicity in fact, at a time when, as some of my other blogs may suggest, my taste is for rather "dark material", but that's another story.

Incidentally, I'll be reviewing "Audrey Hepburn" later, as she is something of a contrast to what we tend to think of much "celebrity" today : ie rather more earthy, even "troll-like".... but then even trolls in my experience, have their positive qualities....

The Politics of Middle Earth - Tolkien

This year, I'm hoping to explore "The Politics of Middle Earth". Whilst the starting point will be the work of J R R Tolkien, the exploration will consider the political context (if there is one) in the development of folklore, myth and legend in major works of literature. "The Politics of Middle Earth" is, therefore, something of a working title. The following review from one of Amazon's "Top 500 Reviewers" seems a good place to begin :

Prometheus "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews "Defending Middle Earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity" by Patrick Curry is an important book which attempts to take a look at the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and defend him from some of the attacks made against him by various critics. Critics have often looked down on Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and attempted to pigeonhole Tolkien into various unsavory categories. This book takes a look at Tolkien from an anti-modernist perspective, particularly with reference to his love for nature and the English countryside. The author emphasizes three aspects of Tolkien's works ("The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings", "The Silmarillion" is left out of this book for the most part) "The Shire: Culture, Society and Politics", "Middle-Earth: Nature and Ecology", and "The Sea: Spirituality and Ethics".

Tolkien, who was a deeply conservative and very pious man of the Roman Catholic faith, may be understood in terms of a "radical nostalgia" which surrounds much of his writing. Tolkien had a great love for the unspoiled English countryside, for the rural life untouched by modern industry, and for small business unencumbered by the excesses of monopoly. Tolkien also was a great lover of nature, his books include much on "tree lore", and he writes of the armies of orcs who are cutting down trees and destroying forests. Politically Tolkien was conservative, but also libertarian with a bent towards anarchy. Tolkien wrote that "My [Tolkien's] political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control, not whiskered men with bombs) - or to `unconstitutional' monarchy." Tolkien also wrote approvingly of the dynamiting of factories and power-stations, and wrote that he was no socialist, entirely rejecting planning as a harmful invasion.

Many critics have made various absurd allegations against Tolkien based on allegorical readings of his books, something he warned against. For instance, critics have called Tolkien a nationalist, a racist, and even a fascist for his praise of the English countryside. Others have claimed that for Tolkien, North is a sacred direction and that he was a nordicist, while the armies of orcs coming from the South represent various nonEuropean races. In addition, some have argued that Tolkien's use of the color white to represent purity and black to represent darkness and evil is racist. Another bizarre interpretation is a Marxist interpretation of the dragon as representing monopoly capital and the hoarding of wealth. According to this interpretation, "The Hobbit" may be read in terms of class struggle, with an alliance of the lower middle class (the Hobbits) and working class miners (the dwarves) against an evil monopoly. On the other hand, Tolkien has been repeatedly called an elitist, who emphasized pure Englishness - pastoral and cozy - against the rest of the world. These interpretations are particularly absurd in light of Tolkien's own specific warning against the allegorical reading of his books, and Tolkien's specific denial that he was an "Aryan" when asked to provide evidence for this by the Nazis.

More promising readings of Tolkien emphasize his love for the earth and for nature. In fact, Tolkien was particularly appalled with the chopping down of forests and the ruin of the countryside brought about through war and excessive industrialization. The author of this book places a special emphasis on these interpretations. With a coming global ecological crisis and the complete loss of transcendence brought on by modernism, scientism, materialism, and the New World Order, Tolkien's books may prove particularly pertinent today in their distinct anti-modernism. Indeed, in one interpretation, although rejected by Tolkien himself, the Ring may represent atomic energy. Although Tolkien rejected this, it is certainly clear that the Ring represents power and probably power over nature.

In terms of religion, Tolkien was a devout traditional Roman Catholic. Many have found a Christian interpretation for "The Lord of the Rings", arguing that the story shows the working out of the Christian virtues of humility and obedience, emphasizing the role that "small people" (i.e. Hobbits) may play in the world. However, others have found in Tolkien's writings a distinctly pagan, animist, or pantheist understanding. The pagan virtue of courage certainly plays no small part in the story. Tolkien himself was an expert linguist, who had worked closely with ancient and medieval Anglo-Saxon poetry, including "Beowulf" and Cynewulf's poem "Christ" (the inspiration for the term "Middle-Earth"). In these poems and sagas, pagan and Christian elements are blended together. In addition, Tolkien's expertise in languages may have led him to create the distinct Elvish tongues seen throughout his books. In particular, the pagan notion of reincarnation is not passed over by Tolkien, who incorporates these ideas into his elvish characters.

To understand "The Lord of the Rings" one must understand the role of myth. Indeed, Tolkien may have sought to create a unique Anglo-Saxon myth, combining pagan and Christian elements. Today, Tolkien's writings remain some of the most popular ever written. While this has caused many critics to scoff at them, the author of this book believes their popularity resides in the fact that they tap into something deeper within us that rejects modernity and its crises, including especially the ecological crisis. Tolkien's books have proven especially popular among those in the counter-culture. Perhaps this is because they speak to those who look for viable alternatives to the present day dilemmas of the modern world.