This is the first in a series of experimental posts, which are drawn partly from my book ‘Everyday Alchemy’. I start today with an extract adapted from the Prelude to Everyday Alchemy, and I finish with a story of encountering a mysterious stranger in shadowy Amsterdam. This is a true account of something that happened to me the year that I turned twenty-one, and which I have kept private for many years. Is that enough to entice you to read on? I hope so!
Having acquired White Lead, do the work of women, that is: COOK ‘Do you cook supper sometimes? If so, you’re an alchemist.’ This usually produces a response of surprised delight, when I open a talk on alchemy this way. Many people are drawn to old alchemical imagery, as the psychologist Carl Jung pointed out, but …
We’re coming up to the Feast of Michaelmas, on Sep 29th. And as I have a couple of stories about St Michael to impart, I’m posting a week ahead of my usual schedule, in time for his feast day. Note: Part Two of my Christening Mugs Stories will now appear on October 10th St Michael …
Earlier this year, when my husband and I dived into the Castle Museum in Bude, to take shelter from the pouring rain, I discovered to my surprise that artist Pamela Colman Smith had also been a native of this Cornish town. ‘Pixie’ Pamela is best known for painting the Rider-Waite Tarot pack. It has enthralled several generations of Tarot users now – I first came across her vivid set of cards at the age of nineteen – but her own extraordinary life story has been little investigated until recently. Although she ended her days as a quiet recluse, she spent her early years as a traveller, a talented actress and singer, and a friend of famous composers and poets, as well as a hard-working and gifted artist. Her entry into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn triggered the collaboration with the esoteric scholar A. E. Waite, which led to the creation of the Tarot deck. She was also inspired by spontaneous visions which arose when she listened to music. This is just a brief resumé, and I invite you to read about her life and art in the current post.
The cracking of an egg – symbol of new life, and death of the old. From a humble decorated hen’s egg for Easter, to a cosmic egg from which hatched the Greek gods, it can both delight and alarm us. In my book ‘Everyday Alchemy’ I recount a turning point when I found myself suspended between life and death, and reflect on the ‘wake-up calls’ which reach us, perhaps from another dimension of existence.
Following on from the post about alchemy, and the role of Hermes as a guide and trickster spirit, I’m going to recount a story about meeting someone who fits that role rather well. This person was indeed a sharp-witted trickster, a glamorous chameleon, and a talented performer. The only thing was that at the time, I didn’t know it, and, probably, nor did he. Who am I talking about? All will become clear…
After this post, I will be having a break from Cherry’s Cache for a few weeks. I expect to resume in early May, and will post here when there’s an exact date fixed. If you are subscribed to the email notifications you’ll automatically be alerted when a new post goes up. And in the meantime, …
Part Four of A Writer’s Life I became intoxicated by poetry in my teenage years. At school, we plunged deep into the Metaphysical Poets, were thrilled by D.H. Lawrence, and learnt to love Wordsworth. I also craved more recent poets untouched by the exam syllabus. I managed to put together enough money to buy paperbacks …
This is how I came to write Princess Diana’s story, even though it was a subject way off my usual topics as an author. Producing readers for students of English also involved tangles with Henry James, homage to Jane Austen, and a surprising windfall with ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. I’m lucky to have had a varied life as a writer, and the ELT years were a surprising and rewarding phase in my work.
One of my most treasured experiences from my journeys to Russia, is that of meeting a practising Siberian shaman in the remote region of Tuva. This is an account of how he worked, and of my own session with Herel, and what I learned about this ancient tradition.
