An interview with Shani Oates, Maid of The Clan of Tubal Cain.
In the Isle of Albion midlands, in the shires around Derby that gave birth to D.H. Lawrence the landscape and taverns throbs in memories and history. As we walk the countryside Roman and Saxon remains abound everywhere as we walk the limestone caves at Cresswell Craggs where mound and hill is covered with archangels who drapes the landscape in celestial breath with their golden petals. Here we also find numerous burial mounds from the Bronze Age and quite a few stone circles. It is a magical land, vibrant with blood and memory. Derbyshire is also where the botanical genius Erasmus Darwin (yes, Charles’s grandfather) was born and founded here the Lunar Society and gave the world books like ‘The Botanic Garden’ and ‘The Temple of Nature’ – books many have unfortunately forgotten. This is also the haven of Shani Oates, the Maid of The Clan of Tubal Cain – and it is here in the comfort of her own enchanted garden that we find some time to speak of her, art, visions and forthcoming books.
Q: So far, you have published the acclaimed books, Tubelo’s Green Fire (this book will be published in Portuguese 2012) and The Arcane Veil on Mandrake of Oxford. Both books have been and continue to be praised as important contributions in the literature that discusses traditional witchcraft. Your new book, The Star Crossed Serpent, is quite different from your two earlier books as it is composed of articles both by you and Evan John Jones, could you tell me a bit about the background for this book and also tell me the reason for the book’s title?
Certainly; this work is a living Testament to a man very much in the shadow of his mentor. He was happy to be so, but is more deserving of recognition for the impetus and manna by which the stream flows so freely today. John presented me with a manuscript in 1998, compiled for a joint project with an American publisher. This fell through but was soon picked up and produced by Capall Bann which was edited by Mike Howard as the popular ’The Roebuck in the Thicket.’ Almost everything of esoteric value occurs in 7 year cycles, and so, as John taught us for seven years living, we have worked tirelessly upon them for seven more years, expounding upon and evolving them to a deeper level, having a unique significance to both its foundations and its eventual completion. To that end the original MS written by John has been restored, supplemented by John’s own teachings to us on certain points of relevance within the MS. And which forms the first volume [of three].
The second volume mirrors the first in that it tackles the main topics raised by John in the first volume, but written from the Clan’s current understanding gleaned from experiential immersion in that work and from deep and prolonged exposure to it. Therefore, it expresses the influences that have forged our evolution aligned to and through the Egregore. Additional material highlights profoundly influential topics raised during research and praxis of the tenets of CTC, including fascinating perspectives regarding time and belief and how this factors into our congress and egress on all levels.
The third volume in this trilogy concerns the restoration and interpretation by myself and the Clan’s current Magister of the correspondences between Roy Bowers and several of his contemporaries. These are again supplemented by gnosis both received and mentored, promising a renewed understanding of this remarkable resource and insight into the Craft of the latter century.
The Title concerns a vital insight gifted to Robert Cochrane quoted in dedication within the Trilogy concerning as it does the internal mystery of the avatar. Specifically, it refers to symbolic form – the mask which reveals truth through concealment and the lie through considered expression. All things emanate from and return to the One.
Q: I must say that it is quite dazzling, how this book is different from for instance ‘The Roebuck in the Thicket’, even if it is evidently that this book and your book have used much common material, why is this you think?
My answer to this question is alluded to in the first, above, concerning as it does the original and unpublished material excluded from the Capall Bann format. To that end, The Star-Crossed Serpent departs significantly from The Roebuck in the Thicket, having an entirely unique perspective, written by the former Magister and edited sympathetically by myself, the current Maid. Such work engaged by initiates of a sworn tradition will diverge significantly from those writing beyond those hallowed bounds. The ‘Work’ may not be intellectualised, it must be worked and fed by the stream; this same stream in turn, nourishes all who become influenced by this process. The work is thus restored to its original status, given a narrative aligned to its tenets of faith, interpreted according to the veil of its Mythos and articulated in the vibrant spirit of a living tradition.
Q: Likewise, the rituals in the book have a distinct different feel to them than what we find in the book Jones wrote with Valiente, Witchcraft - A Tradition Renewed – it is almost like the material you are presenting reveal a more direct and traditional Craft mystery, what are your thoughts on this?
Taking up the thread of the first two questions, we shift back and forth until the warp and weft unite their purpose and intent – lo, we see revealed a curious image, the presage of imagination, the matrix of anamnesis, now animate. Through art is arte revealed; through work is the Work received. Each symbol declares intent, a mere snippet of the whole; each piece a puzzle unsolved, that is until the key be found. Disguised, masked, preserved, shrouded in mystery, obfuscated by generality, the rumble may yet be discerned, the vibration held under the breath as mind grasps a word all too quickly lost to the minefield of the mundane. Was this a test then, or something other? Was this a master stroke? Yes and Yes! A pause, precious, before the pearl may shine. Kairos determines all. Layer upon layer falls away as needful reason surrenders to reasoned need… this fleeting moment alone writes the passion, steals the thunder and sparks the lightning – this moment, the word speaks…
Q: From time to time I hear people referring to the Clan of Tubal Cain as ‘Cochranian Wicca’ and similar attempts to label and define the nameless, what are your thoughts upon this?
Many are those comments, whispered divergently upon savage winds, countless are those errors, perpetuated by thoughtless repetition. But we need only ask, Is this true? What is this? Why is this? But to whom do we ask? Do we ask even a Master of one trade advice on those apprenticed to another? Terms given are rarely sought and where used to bane when ‘hael’ would be meet’; rather ask of its brethren, being versed enough to answer absent of malice, sans glib tongue. Wicca? Implausable! Cochranian? Incomprehensible! The whole is more than the sum of its parts. One mind does not the tradition found; one mind does not the tradition evolve. No point of contact, no principle of praxis shares the mind map of ‘Wicca’, both serve well their own streams, both serve well their unique causalities. Neither serves the other. They are as distinct as they are contra. The complexities expounded by others in this regard express small comprehension and/or great projection of a supposition, a proposal unfounded in experience. What may be fairly said of its articles of faith may surely be proffered only from this side of the Castle? Those beyond its moat may peer grudgingly through the grizzled portcullis at fleeting images that pass, only to speculate upon them. Yet from the crenellated towers we may see within and without – poised in that brief liminality we shift into both at once, walking in no-mans land, the wanderer, the pilgrim, one eye fore, and one aft. Pushed by ancestral virtue, we are equally pulled by the call of spirit, by divine measure we traverse the narrow thread, strung upon Wyrd, the map of life and death.
Q: Another element that seems to make people creative in terms of meaning is that The Clan of Tubal Cain is also known as the People of Goda, could you define this in a few words?
Roy Bowers said: “what do witches call themselves, they call themselves by the name of their god’s. I am Od’s man, since in me the spirit of Od lives on.” Shunning many of the restrictive and self-limiting titles given and used by followers of the Craft, Roy Bowers strongly maintained a more ambiguous term. He goes on to refer to himself as a Pellar, a‘member of the People’ who formulate their families and Clans described in terms of specific deities. They are the nameless folk, nebulous and shadowed, discreet guardians of what he also refers to as the ‘Faith.’ Goda is in the sense of the Clan, a priesthood. It is Anglo-Saxon and has several forms, godi being just one other. John [E.J.Jones] was quite adamant about this matter, asserting the need for clarity regarding popular confusion and misunderstandings generated from beyond the kenning of the Clan itself.
The full and proper title, as written and spoken by both Roy Bowers and E.J. Jones is: “We are ‘the People of Goda, of the Clan of Tubal Cain.” In other words: “We are those of [who belong to] the priesthood of the Clan of Tubal Cain". Roy Bowers wrote extensively on the subject of ‘Truth’, to which he affirmed its quality as eternal and the intrinsic link between that premise and the concept of ‘the People', of whom he asserted: “So we come to the heart of the People, a belief that is based upon eternity, and not upon social needs or pressures – the ‘witch’ belief then is concerned with wisdom, our true name then is the Wise People, and wisdom is our aim.”
Q: In the Star Crossed Serpent Fate or Wyrd is a constant theme, and s I see it, both in your and John’s texts it holds vital keys, can you expand a bit upon this?
Wyrd is effectively divine Providence, but perhaps It is appropriate here to quote John directly from one of his own articles published in ‘The Cauldron’ explaining the fundamental Cosmology of the Clan through the teachings of Roy Bowers. John said "In the beginning the universe was a place of immobility, stillness and frozen non-existence". For "universe" read "cauldron" and then the concept goes on from there: "In the beginning the Cauldron was still, no motion, no matter, no energy. Then the Godhead decreed the Primal Movement and the surface of the cauldron started to move. With this movement came the start of time, no longer was it asleep buried in the bosom of duration. With this primal movement time began and Fate began and the spirit of humankind started its long climb from the mud to the stars. Fate shaped the Old Gods and the Old Gods and Goddess in turn shaped us and held out the helping hand needed to lift us above the slime of the Primal Movement."
John goes onto say that,
“Superficially the Clan Cauldron resembles the Celtic one in that it too is concerned with life, death and rebirth amongst its many other attributes. A lot of the basic mysticism and symbolism was based on rather obscure and odd strata of what could loosely be described as [very] early Thulist material. On one level of knowledge we had a Cauldron based on the Celtic belief in a vessel that had the power to restore life to the dead and on another we had one that symbolised the beginning and end of time and existence. Cochrane publicly admitted that the Cauldron Mythos of the Clan was nothing more than a synthesis of the old Anglo-Saxon mythology of the Norns - the three Cave-dwelling sisters who watered the roots of the World Ash with water taken from the cauldron -combined with the Celtic myth of the Cauldron as a vessel of life and death. But instead of seeing it in the same clear cut way as they did, we considered it to be the vessel or instrument of Fate and therefore something that we as witches must triumph over. When we eventually do, Fate, the single name of the Gods stops and the cauldron becomes still and the Old Ones are defeated. The human spirit will then become a truly free being and as one with the Godhead.
It is in this seething, restless ever-moving Cauldron that past, present and future, all being one and the same thing, are found. We sprang from it and will return to it in death to await rebirth. That is until the time comes when we are able to face down Fate and death itself is conquered and we become as the Old Gods themselves. On a higher level, Roy said that “Fate as symbolised by the Cauldron is the cradle that rocks the infant spirit within it, sending it forth into life to grow a little in both understanding and wisdom and reclaiming it in death to await for rebirth. Magic and inspiration will eventually triumph with both Fate and the cauldron becoming still.”
So the prominence of Fate as that which underpins and guides all is clear and why John’s original title for his ms was ‘the Castle and the Cave.’W
Q: Another element that seems quite important in the book is the Old Covenant and the Old Gods, but here also veils of mystery are accompanying the words spoken of the covenant, in what lays the importance of the old covenant?
With the instigation of Kingships in the ancient world, the relationship of a ‘People’ with their deities has been covenanted through the priesthood creating an inviolate bond. It is important here though to realise the role of a Tutelary deity invoked within such Covenants as being distinctly beholden to those dedicants of that Covenant. Tutelary deities are specific patrons chosen as guardians for the People and sets the contract by which a ‘Law’ [code of ethics] is established. This formulates a family or Clanship wherein those deities become overarching Father figures linked through actual or perceived ancestral provenance. A prime example of both a tutelary deity bound through a Covenant to a People may be found in the Old Testament in the form of Yahweh. The New Testament replaced that Covenant with one founded through the Khristos. For the Clan of Tubal Cain, the history of its People determines the importance of a henotheistic appreciation of the old gods invoked and revered by them whilst adopting a monolatrous relationship with a titular and tutelary deity of prominence through The Covenant. In turn this generates a quite unique and Clan specific egregore vital to its evolution within a bonded Fate.
Q: I think the two articles concerning The Poisoned Chalice are the most provocative ones as here we are touching mortality, death and poisons – it is our ‘challenge to Fate’ as John refers to it, can you deepen the meaning and importance of ‘the poisoned chalice’?
Without taking away the impetus of revelation from both John’s in the first volume and then my own in the second volume regarding the poisoned chalice, I may say only that it was seen by Roy Bowers as the ultimate challenge, the final crossroads if you like in the argosy of the soul’s discovery of itself and its true purpose. Choice, free will, even belief itself is offered up: ‘out of time, out of place’ to resolve the dichotomy of existence. It is the final Initiation upon the weary road, of the wanderer seeking solace in gnosis gifted along the way and one that many choose not to engage. All matters of philosophy, theology, devotion and belief are shaken by Fate’s crossing in the Cup of Revelation – The Poisoned Chalice.
Q: It is quite amazing to see how you are building bridges from John’s material to your own in a way that generates a timeless feeling of continuity – can you tell us a bit about this process?
We were certainly put to ‘work’ through John’s idiosyncratic mentorship that established vital ingress to the Clan’s mysteries and through the Covenant its deep connections to ancestral wisdoms. Insights and epiphanies continue to inform us in the wake of his departure into spirit. A plethora of notes, letters along with those of Roy’s form the core within the Clan burgeoning archive. These continue to yield clues and validations within the context of Clan praxis as taught and clarified first by John and now by spirit through the guidance of the Egregore. The vitality of this informing genius evolves daily, progressing and accelerating our congress with both the form and force of the ‘Work.’ Such illuminations inculcate the passage of the word from mentor to mentor to mentor in harmonious succession, maintaining the Truth of the Mythos and the tenets of the Covenant. At the heart of it, the family are One, in time and space, and the legacy is a living organism, fed by the stream itself.
Q: Other articles I think would be interesting to hear you telling a bit about would be the chapter ‘Brimstone & Treacle’, as here you are touching upon the more diabolic aspects of the Craft, can you enlighten us about this?
This chapter was devised to express the historical factions that have informed the practical elements of the Craft and the attendant superstitions pertaining to them. Yet even these reveal and conceal the mystic thread alluded to in the title. The following extract taken from that chapter sets the purpose of it in terms of a context and rationale:“Through the folktale medium, we may trace the metamorphosis of the devil, from his role as trickster and buffoon, a social caricature whom one could enlist and then outwit, to infernal diabolist and triumphant stealer of souls, before finally resuming his semi-burlesque persona in post 18th century folk tradition. Additionally, in support of this, an abstract study of the devil’s distinctive role at large, serves to reveal his innate adversarial force, the context of which overshadows all localised and idiosyncratic variations of folk custom.” Valiente wrote her own summation of the Craft as being a “religion of the dispossessed and the outlawed” emphasising a commonality to Romany beliefs regarding the main deity ‘Tubalo’ to the ‘Deval’ or ‘Duval,’ reflected again in the coven Master/Magister, particularly in the sense of an embodiment of Virtue.
Creative progressions in the perception of this singular personage are essential to understanding how we in the real world may view the substance within our ‘Craft’ and how we may relate that to our faith or belief system. It was I felt, a necessity of fact to explore and thus eradicate the falsities of perception and misapprehensions all too common within even the Craft today. Far too many ‘demons’ are built upon incorrect or prejudiced polemics, if un-checked, these pursue the psyche to its self-destruction through disillusionment and despair of a negative ego. Perceived ambiguity of his primal role as ‘agent provocateur’ feeds the fear in the dark theology of our evolution. So, this title was carefully chosen to reflect the journey of the soul, through what is sometimes a traumatic catalyst for expansion and evolution, this being the intent and purpose of our Craft.
Q: Also, I must say that your biographical essay about Roy Bowers is done with ruthless honesty where you present the man and the myth with warts and all – I am sure few would dare o do what you have done in this piece of writing, could you tell us why you felt it was important to give such honest account of his life?
To speak honestly of even those we love dearly is to honour their own path in the fullest sense; if we deviate from that, our disservice to them, their work and our own progression within it, is unimaginable. Again, many misconceptions permeate the public arena, such that general opinion is not simply ill-informed, it generates and perpetuates further falsehood into all connected with the life and work of this remarkable figure. The fact that he was most certainly ‘touched’ by some divine genius should not infer his life was infused with grace, nor that he lived [in the again common perception] as a saint. His truth remains just that. His insights are not dependent upon alternative presentiments, and anyone even remotely fascinated by his work, should look to that, and mind the man as ‘human’, flawed, in err..just as we all remain until our ascension through such psychopompic works affords us that all too illusive ‘Grace of the Rose’ RB sought with a passion so many who read this will find impossible to comprehend. To then recognize our humanity, is the first step towards apotheosis in the truest sense. Of the principle of ‘Truth’ itself, Roy Bowers declared it to be utterly “ruthless,” obliterating as it does, all illusion. “Once we deviate from the search for truth, then our works are nothing, our lives as the winter winds….truth speaks for itself…..before and beyond the grave….”
Q: The Star Crossed Serpent comes off with a scent of Oak, Ash and Thorns – and I feel it can be interesting if you say something about their importance for the Craft of Ol’ Tubal.
Both Roy and John refer to these trees as the ‘Three Mothers’ a divine triplicity fundamental to so many pagan ,occult and Gnostic understandings of this unique singularity within a “complex philosophy”. As Creatrix, these woods offer the expression of the ‘word’ [of gnosis] through three divine elements of creation, being Air –Ash; Oak –water and Thorn – fire. From these all matter is animated with these spiritual composites which are not to be confused with the four main material elements of earth, air and water that are feminine [making the willow, birch and ash to make the broom or staff] and fire [of alder for the keppen rod] which he deemed masculine. The aleph, mem and shin, as divine elements veil their triune unity as Fate. Known better as Wyrd in our Northern regions, this is the all encompassing directive of and within all existence, by which our attachment facilitates ingress and egress to her mysteries, greater and lesser that hone and anneal the wayfarer towards the realisation of their place in Her matrix of destiny of life death and wisdom. “Though black with the works of darkness, She is absolute [ruthless] compassion. She is the ‘Alba Guiden,’ the fair Muse whose inspiration captivates all within Her thrall. Though we do not succeed in the material world, at least our eyes, our hands and our voices are raised in inspiration to honour our Lady, for I would foreswear anything of the flesh except Love, and that is what our Lady gives to us.”
Q: Another important element amongst many Traditional witchcraft families is found in the importance of Cain, Lucifer and the Triune God – how are these elements understood by you and within the Clan of Tubal Cain?
Cain or Qayin is Our tutelary deity, Tubal Cain, is described by RB as the ‘Hairy One’ [the unknown spirit of Pan] with each wayfarer a ‘fool’ and child of the Hairy One. He also describes him as the holder of the mysteries, the gatekeeper, indicating that He, like Qayin is also in service to some higher principle beyond themselves. Compelled to explore further His attributes for myself, I was gifted one image that encapsulates the profound moment Qayin received both mark and exile. Above his brow, three curling flame-like strands suggest the fire-brand of shin, the triple fire and triple horns of this eponymous and eternal wanderer (in the sense of eternal seeker). I perceived ‘Pashupâti, Lord of the Animals’ poised and crowned with magnificent (lunar) bulls horns, stag antlers (stellar) and goat or rams (solar) horns in composite effulgence as the glorious ‘Trimurti’.
It has ever been humankind’s obsession, since the loss of our ante-deluvian status, to study the dynamic between ourselves and the animal kingdom. Horned beasts portray other subtle mysteries intrinsically linked by association within a given context. Typically, the noble Stag suggests the way of solitude and purity, the psychopompic guardian of the mound from which Gwynn ap Nudd, the fair and bright hunter rides out; the Ox is a symbol of fortitude and service to others, agriculture and prosperity; the Bull is of the Heavens, the eternal father/creator, ‘Hu Gardarn’ in Welsh mythology – ‘Old Brazen Face’ of medieval folk rites, of less importance in England where his symbolism became transposed to the boar; the Ram is fleet, alert and epitomizes leadership, virility and warrior-ship (Mars and Thor).
Ithyphallic and horned imagery, popular throughout the bronze-age shifted with the stag and bull into the Iron-age ram and boar. Across Northern and central areas of Britain and in Ireland and Europe, tribal leaders and their guardian spirits (genii loci) were popularly portrayed naked sporting the horns of their tutelary totem. Thus we seek to ‘know’ those atavistic potencies within selected individuals, inspired to re-instate that original and primal unity. We believe the ‘fall’ is a philosophical metaphor that refers to the loss of individuation, of connectedness, from whence the ego grew exponentially through knowledge of ‘good and evil,’ concepts that are merely polarisations of comprehension divergent from the harmonic centre. As a tri-functional metaphysical condition of Edenic status preceding later dualisms, it avoids their consequent pitfalls. Who Lucifer is and how He is known to us would herein negate the cumulative expression woven into the text of this volume. Suffice to add only that he is indeed ‘the Star-Crossed Serpent, the axial point of the dark of night, risen upon the evening star.
Q: There is a couple of other elements I would like to ask you about as well sister. One is the rather strong Nordic presence in this book, that was less prominent in earlier writings by or about Roy, an Odinic impulse born by Fate as I see it, why is that?
‘Time’ is the office of revelation, and fate the presumption of expression.’ Perhaps it is more that in my own recent offerings, I have sought to further reveal more of the Northern European [both Germanic and Scandinavian] principles alluded to within all works by the Clan’s former Magisters’ – Roy Bowers and E. J. Jones. In veiled hints and subtle art, they masked this virtue where now they find a greater depth of expression. Emphasising their importance and fundamental vitality highlights an increasingly overlooked core ethic in favour of lapwings the work may otherwise all too easily suggest. Dormant seeds, silent clues now grow, nourished by a healthy vibrant stream, invigorated by the work, the forge of anamnesis and the fulfilment of one’s argosy. Where these are and what they affirm will be clarified throughout all three volumes of the Star-Crossed Serpent paradigm.
Q: The other element that made me curious is that towards the end of the book rosaries seem to make part of the Clan of Tubal Cain’s Craft, can you tell us some more of this.
Ahh, simply put, the personal rosary found in the cord, replicates the compass round, or the nine knots of necklace as Roy Bowers refers to it. It is a dynamic link to the Rites engaged and the contemplations thereafter upon the reception of the Muse. Rosaries are again flagged by both Roy and John in their own works among the tools of arte for the serious practitioner on any mystical path. They underscore repeatedly, the importance of the nucleus thriving within the conclave of a cultural faith. Dual-faith is best served by absorption and adaptation of all means available for exploration and expression of one’s Faith through arte under such guises as requisite. The link here expounds perfectly the sincere principles enforced within its function from invocation to mediation, and from Hekate to Magda and the Shekinah.
Rosaries as devotional aides focus and discipline the ardor and stamina of any wayfarer, witnessed in their use for thousands of years within arcane and enduring faiths. They become the ladder, the merkavah and so much more. The symbol of the rose, both red and white to those who follow a Luciferian Gnostic path is a sacred correspondence with Tutelary deities, numbered appropriately, often for ‘Venus’. Following the transit of Venus allows us to circumnavigate the ‘Round of Life’ given by John and Roy as the pentagramatic: Birth, youth, love, maturity, wisdom, and death. The rose is multi-dimensional, a sacred jewel of faceted brilliance; where bound in knots and aligned to stellar cosmologies, its purpose is manifold – the mystery of mysteries ..and yet the star of all revelation..we fail in so many things to properly impose the value or purpose of iconic telesmata, no expression may ever touch upon the personal gnosis gleaned through devotional usage.
Q: Finally, I would like to ask you if you think the witch has a purpose, responsibility or mission in our world. If so, what would that be?
This question is one that I believe is entirely subjective and which have no significance to others, all of whom follow their own star and rightly so. The mission is one of gnosis, but here Roy cautions us, reminding us that this is not enough, to know truly, he advises that we offer ‘service’ through Her to others. In this way, we fulfil our own Wyrd and shine the lamp for others to take up, not follow – for no-one may tread another’s path, nor walk in their shoes; but they may readily take up the light and become another beacon for truth in a dark world. This is no way negates the gnostic premise that we each bear own responsibility, for this path and its trials become the forge of Ol’Tubal. Roy adds that to take up such works condemn us, that in fact Truth is poisonous to a humanity which prefers the comfort of illusion and the crutch of superstition. If I may I should like to end this Interview with a selected passage from one of Roy’s letters that has been a constant source of inspiration to me now for two decades….
“Obviously, one has to replace anything that one takes out, but how this is done is usually one of the deep secrets. The Christians use Divine Love as the input and output, but that is rather a matter of speculation, since disinterested service is rarely without pitfalls. The essence of all magical undertakings is balance, without it anything and everything seems to happen. You and I [Bill Gray] have a basis for some disagreement here… from what I gather the qabbalists regard nature as being limited to a cyclic phenomena with limitations upon the actual scope of phenomena. Witches would disagree philosophically with this concept, saying Nature is, and that whatever man is, so is Nature, since Man and Nature, like Beast and Nature are one and the same thing. All known relationships, and many ‘unknown’ ones, are to be found within natural laws. The ‘super’natural never comes into it. The planes are extensions of the Dark Side of the Moon; where nature ultimately fails is that Nature is illusion as we see it, rather than how Nature really is. What a magician of any school would describe as transmutation is in actual fact just an increasing perception into the deeper aspects of ‘Nature’. All mystical perception is based upon the fact that we go to God, not that God comes to us…there are as many ways of seeing god as there are creations of God, and each individual creation is the Totality, the Hand that Writes as well as the Writing. What is lacking is the perception….”
This then is our mission, our purpose found...
... and with those words the wind brings the overpowering smell of a thousand roses towards us and we get lost in the timeless eternity in Nature’s own temple in this Garden of Circe’s own delights...