London-Psychic

Twinings Tea Shop

I have warm feelings towards the Twinings Tea Shop on The Strand. It has been on the site since 1706 and is purportedly the oldest tea shop in Europe, if not the world. The shop sells fine dried tea from around the globe by weight. Worth popping in to see the diversity on offer. If you can't afford to buy by weight, they have pre-packaged tea and gift boxes at supermarket prices.

Twinings Shop
216 Strand
London WC2R 1AP
Telephone: 0844 3245000 or 0207 353 3511. 

Directions: It is exactly opposite the Royal Courts of Justice.  Nearest tube is Temple, on the District and Circle lines.  Simply walk straight up the road to Strand from the tube station, turn right and you'll find the shop in about 300 yards.

http://shop.twinings.co.uk/shop/Strand

Spirit Release

I was recently informed that I had an 'attachment' and was advised to seek expert assistance to help this lost spirit go to the light. Normally hesitant to take these kind of directives too seriously, this statement was made by someone whose professional work I respect. So, out of the blue, I was prompted to delve into the previously unknown world of spirit release.

I came across the kind and very affable Dr Alan Sanderson, a consultant psychiatrist, hypnotherapist and spirit-release therapist, as well as Founder of the Spirit Release Foundation. Though Alan freely admits no psychic ability himself - other than an aptitude for the I Ching - he uses regression techniques to talk his clients and their attachments through the stages of spirit release.

The idea of a clinical psychiatrist immersed in the world of spirit seems a little incongruous and I was curious to know how he ended up there. It seems that in the 1990s, after discovering what was at the time a very unusual hypnotic technique, spirit release (as pioneered by American psychologists Edith Fiore and Bill Baldwin) proved very effective in Alan's clinical practice. To someone trained in the bio-medical tradition, this was an amazing revelation. Alan eventually introduced ‘spirit release’, not without controversy, to the treatment of NHS patients at Fairfield Hospital.

Leaving the NHS in 1997, Dr Sanderson founded the Spirit Release Foundation in 1999 with the aim of bringing professional acceptance to ’spirit release’ and related treatments. It has grown to over 190 members world wide and it's Council includes many professionals of standing both within the spheres of conventional medicine and the more unorthodox world of alternative health.

My experience of spirit release was both comforting and other worldly. The longer-term effects of the Spirit Release work have yet to be measured, but I've just had my psychic check up and passed with rainbow colours.

For more information:

Spirit Release Foundation
http://www.spiritrelease.com/home.htm

Article on Spirit Release attachment and human health:
http://www.spiritrelease.com/review_spiritrelease.htm

 

HANDS @ Wellcome Collection 26.11.10

We sense, manipulate and communicate with them. These amazing appendages are essential to the human world we create and our impact on it. Can you imagine a society without hands? They are a central part of being human, and we don’t often stop to consider how extraordinary they really are. Celebrate these vital parts of our bodies across four floors of Wellcome Collection on this month's Friday Late event - HANDS - 19.00 on Friday 26th November 2010. (I will be giving demonstrations upstairs in the spooky Medicine Room - hope to see you there!)



HANDS EVENT - from 19.00 on Friday 26th November 2010:

    * Revel in the mystery of hands with palmist Amber Garnet.
    * Try out some nail art - and witness neuroscience illusions!
    * Get dexterous with games from different eras.
    * Enjoy installations by local young people and artists.
    * Try out a surgeon’s tools - steady your hands!
    * Explore handwriting with a palaeographer and graphologist.
    * Play a piano and see your digits up close.

This event is FREE, drop in anytime from 19.00. Some talks and performances will be ticketed.

Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE, UK
T +44 (0)20 7611 2222
F +44 (0)20 7611 8258
E info@wellcomecollection.org

For more information, visit: http://www.wellcomecollection.org/

Map and directions

Psychic London: Palmistry @ Wellcome Collection

I registered at the Wellcome Library today to access some of their Medieval manuscripts on palmistry and palm reading today. The Collection includes a fascinating collection of rare books. You can search for items online, then the helpful libarians dig them out for you and keep them until your visit (up to two weeks). It helped that the assistant librarian I spoke with is a 'physiognomist' (physiognomy is the name for the 'study of the face' that was - along with palmistry and astrology - an intregral part of medicine until Victorian times).

Above: A copy of the world famous La Buona Ventura by Michelangelo Caravaggio, as held in the Wellcome Collection.

Wellcome Library
(Part of Wellcome Collection)
183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE, UK
T +44 (0)20 7611 8722

http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/

Psychic London: Herne Hill Rainbow

My friend Vicki has just emailed me this photograph of the magical rainbow she saw when looking out of her bedroom window south over Herne Hill, London, one day in August 2010.

© Amber Garnet London Psychic 2010

Psychic London: House of Lords and King Arthur

Above photo courtesy of Parliament UK website

I visited the House of Commons and the House of Lords in Westminster, London, this morning. During my tour of parliament, which began in the Harry Potter-esque Great Hall (below), I was shown the beautiful paintings of the legend of King Arthur (above) adorning the Queen's robing room in the House of Lords. (This is the room where the Queen changes when she gets ready for the state opening of parliament.)

 

As the House of Lords was the symbolic centre of the former British Empire I was surprised to find these ethereal mythical archetypes here. Yet when the Houses of Parliament were rebuilt after the disastrous fire of 1834, Arthurian themes were chosen to decorate the walls.

Apparently, the Arthurian myth enjoyed renewed popularity in Victorian times and the paintings are inspired by Thomas Mallory's book Death of Arthur, published in 1486. It has been suggested that Victorian Arthurian legends resonated due to their nostalgic commentary on a lost spirit world, the fragility of goodness, the burden of rule and the impermanence of empire - all themes for Victorian members of parliament on their own 'road to Camelot'.

Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed beyond the Great Hall but if you would like to arrange a 75 minute tour of the House of Commons and House of Lords, contact your local MP.

For more information on the House of Commons or House of Lords, please visit:
http://www.parliament.uk/

Spiritually Curious MeetUp.com, London

Meetup.com is a website that helps groups of people with shared interests, plan meetings and form clubs in communities around the world. It is the world's largest network of local groups: more than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day.

The website is easy to use for group organisers as well as people who want to expand their social activities. You can sign up for email notifications about new groups starting in areas of interest or those meeting near to you (- whether its Reiki share, psychic development, dowsing, or just eating pizza!).

Psychic, author and broadcaster Becky Walsh has just returned from two years living in the States and is running a Spiritually Curious London Meetp Up from 7.00pm this Friday 17th September 2010 at Buddha on a Biycle, Covent Garden. She describes it as both a 'home coming' and an introduction to other aspects of her work. To join her, visit her Spiritually Curious London Meet Up page for details.

To join MeetUp.com and search for MeetUp groups: www.meetup.com

Becky walsh's Spiritually Curious London Meetp Up, click here.

Alternative Spirituality London

 

Alternatives is a Monday night series of lectures (and weekend workshops) held at the progressive church of St James in Piccadilly, London. The church was built by Christopher Wren and lies on one of the ley lines emanating from Westminster Abbey (according to London ley line expert Chris Street). It has become a enduring centre for discussion and well-known platform for developing thought on spirituality, creativity, wellbeing and self development, attracting renouned and world-standard speakers.

Alternatives also offer a range of podcasts from visiting speakers which are free to download via it's website. I was alarmed to see the first speaker listed in the podcast series at J. Z. Knight, who became famous in 1980s channelling Ramtha - a spirit who allegedly lived on earth 35,000 years ago. I have my own reasons for feeling this woman is a little suspect (- not least because it's hard to take anyone's views about spiritual enlightenment seriously when they have plainly had such extenstive plastic surgery). However, don't be put off by this introduction, the podcasts are an interesting think-tank to dip in and out of when you need a break from ordinary reality, and there are some worthwhile voices in there (Lorna Byrne, Julia Cameron, Starhawk, Marianne Williamson, to name a few).

For more information on Alternatives, visit: www.alternatives.org.uk

More information on the work of speakers mentioned above:

• Lorna Byrne - www.lornabyrne.com
• Julia Cameron - www.theartistsway.com 
• Starhawk - www.starhawk.org
• Marianne Williamson - www.marianne.com

Regent's Park Rose Garden, London

This is a beautiful fragrant haven in the middle of the City of London. The best time to visit is now when roses are in full bloom. But hurry, in a few weeks the petals will begin to fall...

More information on Regents Park, London.

Amber Garnet London Psychic © 2010

Mind Body Spirit Festival, London

This six day London festival brings together 200 of the world's leading teachers, musicians, artists and holistic businesses in an environment designed to support personal development. Workshop leaders include Judy Hall, Diana Cooper, Stuart Pierce and Dr David Hamilton, and there are 87 free live stage performances, concerts and meditations.

From 26th-31st May 2010 at Royal Festival Hall, Victoria, London SW1P 2QD. More information.

Psychic London: The Atlantis Bookshop

This bookshop is like a wine that has matured quietly in a dark dusty cellar. You have to seek it out but when you look carefully enough you find rare treasure inside. Obscure and discontinued esoteric books sit alongside the new. This bookshop is a bit of a heavy-weight for serious students of the occult and it has an intellectual air about it. Established in 1922, apparently it was was patronised by such notables as Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner. If your are interested in history you can also pop across the road to The British Museum and round off your day in the impressive Great Hall.

The Atlantis Bookshop, 49 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LY. Telephone: 020 7405 2120

www.the atlantisbookshop.com

London water waste

Spiritual-types who profess to care about the natural world must surely question whether attempting to purify their system with mineral water is worth the environmental costs. The waste plastic produced by this booming industry amounts to approximately 200 billion bottles each year. Aside from disposing of the empty bottles, the environmental issues include manufacturing and transportation.

I am waiting for purified water vending machines, where customers bring their containers, to catch on world-wide. A number of companies, among which are a number of North American supermarket chains, have vending machines that dispense purified water into customer's own containers.

Ethical communications agency Provakateur took on the bottled water industry with it's 'Tap campaign' (left) a couple of years ago, but it seems to have ran out of steam despite the press attention it garnered at the time.

In the meantime, I recently found Belu mineral water in a 'biobottle' made from corn - not oil! The company has reduced and offset all it's CO2 emissions and gives all profits to water projects worldwide. The bottles, which can be commercially composted back to soil in 12 weeks (roughly a million years faster than traditional plastics), are sold in a new co-operative supermarket, The People's Supermarket, based on Lamb's Conduit Street near St Ormond Street, London. For other eco-mineral water stockists, see www.belu.org. You could also try Life mineral water from the Pembrokeshire Hills, www.lifepurewater.com.

 

Findafountain is working to make drinking water accessible to everyone and runs an online 'water fountain directory' listing all the water found locations across London. To find your nearest fountian, visit: www.aquatina.com/findafountain.html

What is spirituality?

Above: Helix Nebula 'Eye of God'

I've always had ambiguous feelings about using the word 'spirituality' as its meaning is so nebulous and subjective. I've categorised my blog posts under 'Spirituality' because that's what I assume people will search under. However, there is no definitive meaning of spirituality that I know. 

I've been reading a fascinating book recently about how we subconsciously chose life partners who mirror the bahaviours of our parents so that we can repair the damaged parts of our selves. Dr Harville Hendrix, the author of the classic 'Getting the Love You Want' (Simon & Schuster, 1988), tries to define spirituality thus:

"When I use the word spiritual I am not giving the word its most common usage. I'm not talking about going to church or following doctrines of a particular religion or attaininga rarified state of mind through meditation, fasting, or prayer. I'm talking about a native spirituality, a spirituality that is as much a part of our being as sexuality, a spirituality that is a gift to us the moment we are conceived, a spirituality that we lose sight of in childhood but that can be experienced again in adulthood if we learn to heal old wounds. When we regain awareness of our essential unity, we make an amazing discovery: we are no longer cut off from the rest of the world. because we are cut off from the miracle of our own being, we are free to experience the beauty and complexity of the world. The universe has meaning a purpose and we experience ourselves as part of  a larger whole."

Dr Harville Hendrix: Getting the Love You Want (Simon & Schuster, 1988)

What do you think?

London Psychic Loves A Polite Society

Is it a sign of ageing to value good manners, common courtesy and good customer service? After having earnt the nickname 'Granny Garnet' amongst friends I was beginning to think my ideas on politeness and the treatment of others were out-of-date and perhaps a little trifling. I wondered if I was joining the ranks of those who talk about 'the youth of today' in surly and digruntled tones. But it isn't the youth of today that's the problem with London. People of all ages can be just plain rude.

I toyed with joining The National Campaign for Courtesy (formerly the Polite Society) which has been running annual campaigns to stimulate good manners across Britain since the 1960s. This seemed a little stuffy until I realised how many people are still interested in the positive 'effects' of good behaviour and kindness to our fellow human beings.  The success of the 29-day Giving Challenge for example - a global movement with over 10,000 members in 42 countries - shows that the concept of good manners and giving for giving's sake is still popular.

We all have our bad days and it's not always easy to be polite in London. However, should it ever become a political contender, here's a few of the things I would hope the National Campaign for Courtesy bans in it's manifesto:

1. Litter dropping.

2. Spitting (loudly or not) in the street. (- Though I don't have the same problem with burping, strangely).

3. Not giving up seats for the elderly or infirm on public transport.

4. Men who are only friendly to women when they dressed up to the nines (and blank them at all other times).

5. People who do not acknowledge or say thank you for gifts sent/posted/given.

6. Queue jumping.

7. People who are regularly late without apology.

8. Shop assistants who do not smile or look at you when serving.

9. People who do not say thank you when you have stopped in the street to give them direction.

10. People who do not return things borrowed.

On a positive note, I have noticed that what you give out you almost immediately get back. So, if I'm in good spirits the world smiles with me, doors are held open and I get into the most interesting conversations with the assistants on Oxford Street.

For more information on 29-day Giving Challenge visit: www.givingchallenge.ning.com

For more information on: National Campaign for Courtesy, visit: www.campaignforcourtesy.org.uk

Psychic London: Christopher Wren and Hawksmoor

 

Nicholas Hawksmoor was a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren and was involved in a church-building project as part an Act of Parliament of 1711 which required the building of fifty new churches to serve the new populations on the fringes of London. By 1731 when the programme drew to a close, Hawksmoor designed 6 of the 12 completed churches, one of them being the imposing Christ Church Spitalfield (above).

Sir Christopher Wren was responsible for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral (left), completed in 1710. The locations of Hawksmoor and Wren churches and monuments are shrouded in mystique and said to be linked to an intricate pattern of ley lines and sacred geometry criss crossing across London.

Hawksmoor's six churches are:

• St Alfege's Church, Greenwich
• St George's Church, Bloomsbury
• Christ Church, Spitalfields
• St George in the East, Wapping
• St Mary Woolnoth
• St Anne's Limehouse

For a Google map showing the locations of the six Hawksmoor churches, click here.

For more information on London's energy lines and sacred geommetry, try Chris Street's new book The Ley Lines of London, Earthstars Publishing (20 Mar 2010).

For more information on Christ Church Spitalfields, visit: www.christchurchspitalfields.org

For more information on St Paul's Cathedral visit: www.stpauls.co.uk

A London Psychic's Book of Shadows

I find journal writing can be a useful tool for self-expression, understanding, remembering deams, recording predictions (I Ching/Tarot etc) and drawing down ideas. I found a very kitsch 'Book of Shadows' whilst browsing in Watkins Bookshop and decided to upgrade from my usual Moleskin Paperchase diaries to a fully-fledged blank-paged grimoire with a black cover and rather chocolate-boxy gold lettering (above).

It's a great record for all the above things. I particularly use it for my own personal readings so I can refer back to see how closely the prediction matched my final state of being. It's handy to have by the bed on awaking for dream recording too. I did a blitz on spell-making over the new year period and recorded all the new information I had discovered about the ingredients and their qualities, correspondances, magical tools and rituals so my Book of Shadows is starting to take on a little of the look of Gerald Gardner's original (below right).   

I must admit I'm a only a part-time practising hedge witch with limited knowledge about the work of Gardner, Crowley etc. Yet I have been very inspired by Hedge Witch by Rae Beth - "The original hedgewitch" - (published by Robert Hale, 31 Aug 1992) and A Witch Alone by Marian Greene (Aquarian Press, 1991), who both support the idea that anyone can find their natural magical powers by working alone (as opposed to being part of a coven). As Marian Green's book explains solitary witchcraft is: ..."a solo branch of magical heritage: the path of the story-book wizard, the wise woman, the hermit, the folk healer, the Druid or the shaman. Working alone, they connect deeply with nature, follow the patterns of the sun and moon, and feel the changing energies of the year's turning cycle."

Psychic London: Treadwells Bookshop

Treadwells Bookshop is a warm-hearted curiosity in the heart of Theatreland, London. Its shelves host an assortment of Wiccan, earth magic, paranormal, occult and folklore books, as well as tarot cards, hand-made candles, spell ingredients and all the paraphernalia you would need to become a practising hedge-witch. Though the stocks have been a little low on certain visits which can be frustrating, I like to think this is due to their products popularity rather than any slackness on the part of the shop's order book. If in doubt, phone ahead. The owner, Christina, is somewhat of a figurehead in the magical scene and she has given many interviews on the Wiccan faith to broadsheets and radio programmes alike. Treadwells' events are fairly priced and imaginative; combining serious esoteric knowledge with a sense of humour and parody. There's an inspiringly eccentric mix of courses and workshops ('Healing with Herbs, Seventeenth-Century Style' anyone?). It's hard not to like to this shop.

Treadwells Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Telephone: 020 7240 8906

Open: Noon-7pm, seven days a week.

www.treadwells-london.com/

Winter Solstice Yule Celebrations

I made some decorations for my winter solstice Yule celebrations. The base of the wreath was from coat hanger wire and I collected the leaves and berries from my recent visit to the country. I also decked the kitchen and living room with mistletoe bought from my local market. A nice touch, inexpensive, and fun to both collect the materials and put together.

Amber Garnet London Psychic © 2009

Free Meditation @ Inner Space, London

 

Inner Space is run by the spiritual organisation Brahma Kumaris and it's London venues provide an oasis' of calm from city life. Each venue provides free introductory level courses on Meditation, Positive Thinking, Self Esteem, Relaxation Strategies, Time Management, Creative Meditation, Empowering You at Work and Values in the Work Place. They also offer a range of free talks and lectures.

Locations include:

Inner Space, 36 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9AB
Inner SpaceTempleton House, 33-34 Chiswell Street, London, EC1Y 4SB

For more information on Inner Space, visit: www.innerspace.org.uk

For more information about Brahme Kumaris, visist: www.bkwsu.org

Psychic London: Mysteries, Covent Garden

 

I understand the Mysteries esoteric shop, on Monmouth Street near Seven Dials in Covent Garden, has been going for several decades and, while other such shops have come and gone Mysteries has remained. Perhaps it's on a ley line?

It's an interesting place to browse with a range of crystals, books, smudge sticks, tarot sets, dream catchers and other mystical paraphernalia and nick-nacks. If you need a 'same-day' readings this is a good place to start as they have various readers on site seven days a week.

Mysteries, 9-11 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9DA. Telephone: 020 7240 3688.

For more information, visit: www.mysteries.co.uk

Psychic London: Watkins Bookshop

After over 100 years of continuous service to the public, Watkins Bookshop claims to be the oldest surviving bookshop in the world specialising in the occult, mystical, esoterica, mind body spirit, new age, metaphysics and related subjects. (Watkins Bookshop moved to it's present site in Cecil Court off St. Martin's Lane 1901.)

Stepping into Cecil Court is a little like stepping into a Sherlock Holmes-style scene and the surrounding shops support the street's antiquated feel. A couple of years ago Watkins ran into financial problems and temporarily closed. It is reassuring to know that it was rescued from the administrators as it would have been a great pity to have lost this little gem.

Watkins Bookshop, 19 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ. Telephone: 020 7836 2182.

For more information, please visit: www.watkinsbooks.co.uk

Psychic London escapes: Vision Quest, Pyrennees

Anybody can have a spiritual experience when spending a few days alone with just a tent and nature. Yet what particularly inspired me was a need to overcome a fear of being alone in an isolated location through the night.

On the first night there were sounds like aeroplanes coming in to land and lots of flashing lights. I felt like I had unwittingly wandered into a scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but then realised it was a massive electrical storm coming over the valley. Over the next 5 hours (until 4am) branches fell off nearby trees and the resident horses of the adjoining fields ran up and down excitedly in the dark. Had to keep switching my torch to make sure the tent wasn't about to get trampled. This along with the lack of food (water only diet) contributed to a rather trance-like state the following day. I had always wanted to spend a night camping all alone and dared myself to do it, but by second night I was too tired to be scared of the shadowy gloom. By third morning I was almost too weak to stand so lurched back to base at 8am for a cup fo tea and some coconut macaroons.

A great book on how to create your own Vision Quest is Denise Linn's Vision Quest (Ballantine, February 1998).

Friendly horse.

Was it an eagle or a buzzard? It was very large and kept swooping me as I stood still in the field. It had young nearby so was on the defensive. As it swooped past me I felt wind on my cheeks and there was a whooshing sound.

Woodland path leading back to base. My love affair with trees continues...

Photography by Amber Garnet London Psychic © 2009

London Psychic escapes: Hampstead Heath

What better way to reconnect with a sense of spirituality than to sit under a tree or get lost in acres of common land stuffed with trees, brooks, and quiet patches with no sight or sound of modern development? Saw this distinguished (ie. old) tree today on ancient Hampstead Heath, London.

Hampstead Heath's 790 acres has a number of distinct historical areas, including "Boudicca's Mound", an enigmatic raised circle of trees where, according to urban legend, Queen Boudicca (Boadicea) was buried after she and 10,000 Iceni warriors were defeated at Battle Bridge. It is unclear where this slightly outrageous myth (and name) stems from as drawings and paintings of the area apparently show no mound (other than a 17th century windmill.) Others speculate that the mound is on an intersection of psychic energy, much like a ley line junction. Therefore people gather here quietly on special pagan days to burn sage and watch the movements of the sun. Whatever your feeling, the heath should be treated with respect. It has secrets to share if you have ears keen enough to listen.

For more information on Hampstead Heath, London, click here.

Amber Garnet London Psychic © 2010