Messages from Dolores

2004

From Dolores
posted June 2004

Dreaming to Some Purpose - Colin Wilson (pub June 10th )

Many biographies are written to either praise or condemn the subject and require a lot of research. Most autobiographies on the other hand are written to bare one's soul and require courage and what my Jewish friends would call Chutzpah! For my money Colin Wilson’s autobiography has both, and to add spice to the whole thing there are moments of high drama and some great laughs. He has spared us nothing of the ups and downs, highs and lows of his life, or, for that matter his strengths and his flaws. He seems to attack life demanding that it gives him reasons for living it to the full, when reading it I felt he had lived several lives in the space of just one.

No one reading this ‘warts and all’ account of the life of this extraordinary man can fail to be struck by a) his self honesty and b) his sustained belief in his own ability to succeed. Gifted with an inquiring mind that won’t let up and an insatiable curiosity about the world around and within him he has changed many lives with his books on a variety of subjects so wide as to beggar belief. He was labelled one of the ‘Angry young men’ of his generation, but I disagree. He was not so much angry as determined to make the world sit up and take notice of him. We live in an age when many are able to go to university…and waste there time there. Here is someone who should have had that chance and didn’t get it, but who went on to prove that you don’t need a degree to succeed.

In his autobiography he holds nothing back, nor would we want him to do so, for by seeing how he sees himself we can see ourselves more clearly. He holds up a mirror to the dark and light aspects of his soul and… says it softly, revels in both sides of his nature. He doesn’t like it when he is wrong, but he will admit it. That alone is worth an epitaph!! He speaks frankly of the struggle to keep an even financial keel throughout his career. Contrary to public opinion writers seldom make enough money to live on.

The book is packed with anecdotes about famous people, (there are precious few he has not met) often with a tongue dipped in a little vitriol, the book then veers off into amazing insights into the works and minds of Husserl, Maslow, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and Jung, as well as those of Auden, Elliot, Isherwood and their like. Along the way he has made enemies and trodden on toes but one gets the feeling that such things will not cause any loss of sleep. The human mind and its un-awakened potential is a recurrent theme throughout the book and one he has pursued most of his life, along the way taking in the Occult, Right and Left Brain, Atlantis, Sacred Sites, Television series, and University Lecture tours. Don’t forget the music, this is a man who can listen to a recording and tell you not just the name of the soloist, but who is conducting, and all without looking at the label!

When I read his first book The Outsider I found I was not as alone, or as crazy as I thought. For the first time I was able to believe in my self. To write a book like this, you have to know yourself very, very, well. To publish it you have to have a lot of faith in yourself. Colin Wilson has both. In my workshop and seminars I offer lists of writers I think will make my students and supervisors think, not just superficially, but in depth. Colin Wilson has always been in the top ten of that list which will take you from Historical Biographies to the Paranormal, from science fiction to hair raising trips through the minds of serial killers and books on aspects of sex you never knew existed.

This book is intelligent, caustic, enterprising, philosophical when things go wrong, funny, occasionally sad, often heart warming, daring and wise. It will at some points shock you, then make you see the funny side of it. I revelled in it. Throughout the whole book runs a golden thread, and her name is Joy Wilson. Without Joy I suspect we would never have had as much of Colin Wilson as we have been privileged to have. He writes of her and her unfailing support with a quiet affection that hides a deeper emotion.

A complex man who has lived a complex life. Read it, and when you have finished ask yourself this. Have you lived as fully as this man, and if not, why not? Get out there and buy it.

Jerry Knight, who passed into the Realm of Light on June 11th 2004

There are some people you only have to meet once to recognise and know you are in the company of someone you have known many times before.

Jerry was one such person. He brought with him into any room, any workshop a feeling of warmth, wisdom and old fashioned charm and courtesy. To work with him was an experience, to talk with him was to feel enfolded by his inner grace, to have known him was a blessing. He has left us with so many memories, let us treasure them and share them.

There is an old story I would like to share with you that was made to say about Jerry.

A man left this world and went to heaven, he was given a white robe to wear adorned with just a very few pearls here and there. As he walked the golden streets of heaven with an angelic guide he noticed many wearing robes of great beauty, covered, encrusted with precious stones, diamonds, rubies, saphires, emeralds, and pearls.

He asked his guide:"I have tried to be a good man all my life and hoped to be rewarded in Heaven. But my robe has just a few pearls, while some here go dressed in garments covered with gems. Why?"

The angel turned and smiled at him and said: "Every gem on their garments covers the stain of a sin, a sin repented and so hidden. You have led a good life, you do not need gems, the few pearls on your robe tell everyone that you have few sins to be forgiven".

Dear Jerry, I think that your robe may have just a very few, very tiny pearls ... because you were human, and we must all expect a few to adorn our robes... but you, dear and much loved friend, will be among the few who do not need a gem encrusted robe.

Rest in the Light, and know that you also rest in our thoughts and hearts.

Dolores and SOL worldwide

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing into the Summerlands of Lady Circe, the loving,wise, and charismatic Lady and leader of many Covens on the Eastern Seaboard. Lord Orion of Foxwood Temple in Laurel Maryland sent the news today.

She trained Lord Orion and through him many others came to know her and work with her and under her guiding hand. Her heart was always open and full of laughter. She always have words of comfort, wisdom, and knowledge for those around her.

The world is darker for her passing, for every death, no matter how small diminishes us all. But the legacy she leaves behind will thrive and grow and others will take on the Light she lit for them.

To all of those who knew and loved her the SOL offers sympathy in the loss of a great Lady, and we offer our love to comfort you in your loss.

Dolores and Michael and SOL

Dolores and Michael and the SOL offer their sympathy to the peoples of America on the passing of their former President Ronald Reagan. He was a man who has left his mark upon history and when he was called to the highest office in the land he gave of his best. No man can do more than that. May the Light enfold him and comfort those he has left behind.

Dolores and Michael and SOL

Many thanks to everyone who refrained from filling my desk up with emails and letters while I was away. It made such a big difference not to return to a big back log. I had a wonderfully restful time in Scotland with Elizabeth Fox and we have begun work on the third Ritual with Purpose.

Some news for you:

Herbie Brennan (author of Astral Doorways, Magical use of Thought-forms, Faerie Wars)

Herbie's Faerie Wars has been voted the top seller for Teenage reading in the USA. The sequel The Purple Emperor is on its way... and the Third book is now being prepared. Bloomsbury have been advertising it on the London Underground and buses...and the first book is now out in paperback. See Bloomsbury's Web-site.

Much love to everyone
Dolores