Have a Spiritual Halloween

HalloweenI often think of Halloween as being a ‘festival’ that is highly celebrated in America, but according to statistics the UK spent in excess of £300 million in 2016 on things related to celebrating Halloween.

Perhaps it is not surprising as supermarkets and shops embrace the holiday and find new ways to entice us into buying fancy dress costumes and trick or treat chocolates and so on. No sooner have ‘back to school’ items been put away then the isles will be filled with a sea of witches’ hats, and all things black, orange and purple!

Of course if you have children you may need to embark on a few of these more commercial adventures, but perhaps you could also look at new and more spiritual ways to ring in All Hallow’s Eve, as many of the day’s origins are far more sacred in nature. (more…)

Mythical Unicorn

UnicornIf you are active on social media sites, you will no doubt realise that there has been something of a ‘unicorn fever’ building. From unicorn toast, to unicorn cakes, unicorn hair to unicorn nails… The current unicorn trends feature magical rainbows of pastel colours with a heavy sprinkling of glitter…

No doubt in the next few months for children the delight in unicorns will only grow further with movies like ‘Despicable Me 3’, featuring Agnes and her quest to find a real unicorn. The movie suggests that only those ‘pure of heart’ will see one… And for any adults that see the movie they will surely like the line “Life is like that, honey. You expect a unicorn but you get a one-horned goat.”

Mythical Animal

Although the unicorn is seeing resurgence in popularity the reality is that it has been a long revered mythical creature.

Often in pagan religions the unicorn is associated with or thought to belong to the moon goddess. It is depicted as looking like a white horse, but with a single horn protruding from the centre of its forehead. Its magical healing abilities were believed to derive from the horn.

The unicorn is long associated with purity, and it is believed that only those with an honest heart could tame it. (more…)

Home Again

Home Again - Reese WitherspoonIn Home Again Reese Witherspoon plays the part of a recently separated mother, whose friends encourage her to start dating. The trailer shows that at 5 months she thinks it is too early, but encouraged by her birthday (where she always goes a little bit wild), she falls for a much younger man. So young that he is carded at the bar!

Alice Kinney (Reese) is 40 years old, and is separated but not yet legally divorced, starting over in Los Angeles she is pushed by her Mother who is played by Candice Bergen to let out her guest house to three aspiring and young filmmakers, one of whom just happens to be the guy from her birthday…

Of course no Rom-Com would be complete without a twist, and in this film that is in the form of her estranged husband (played by Michael Sheen) re-entering the picture.

The film is released on the 8th September and you can see the trailer here: http://homeagain-movie.com/ (more…)

Finding Love

Searching for loveWhat to do and what not to do, if finding love is a goal for you this year…

Things to do:

Be You!

It is important that right from the beginning of a relationship you are authentic; you want to attract a partner based on your personality and your belief systems. It is natural that we want to put our best selves forward at the beginning of a relationship, but ultimately a relationship needs to be built on trust and honesty, and you want them to fall for the ‘real you’.

Love You!

It sounds corny but before embarking on a relationship you have to love yourself first, working on your own confidence, self-worth and self-esteem will lead to happiness for you. Once you are in a good place it is much easier to attract a partner that will find it easier to fall for you. After all you do not want to just settle for any person just to fill a void in your life. (more…)

The Strike Series

Holliday GraingerThe Books

J.K. Rowling wrote a series of detective books, under a pseudonym – Robert Galbraith, but of course in this day and age it’s difficult to keep a secret and it wasn’t long before people realised the identity of the true author. The books went on to critical acclaim, making the best-sellers lists.

The debut book is called Cuckoo’s Calling, followed by The Silkworm and then Career Of Evil. Rowling has recently been teasing her fans over the name of her fourth book in the series, with one person guessing the name correctly as Lethal White. It is believed that she is planning at least six more books in the series.

On her website for the books she explains why she wanted to write under a pseudonym: “To begin with I was yearning to go back to the beginning of a writing career in this new genre, to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback. It was a fantastic experience and I only wish it could have gone on a little longer than it did. I was grateful at the time for all the feedback from publishers and readers, and for some great reviews. Being Robert Galbraith was all about the work, which is my favourite part of being a writer. Now my cover has been blown, I plan to continue to write as Robert to keep the distinction from other writing and because I rather enjoy having another persona.” (more…)

Superstitions: Engagement & Marriage

MarriageNo doubt some of you will have had wedding invites drop through the post for this summer’s nuptial season…

But just what superstitions are there surrounding getting engaged and getting married?

  • In time gone by, where a couple met would have had an impact on the success of their union. For example, hillsides were considered to be very lucky, if that hillside was near moving water then that would make the situation even better.
  • Meeting in the heart of woods would mean a relationship would be constant forever, but conversely if Poplar trees were nearby then bad luck would be bestowed on the lovers.

(more…)

Wimbledon

Serena Williams Photo credit: Jimmie48 Photography / Shutterstock.comSerena Williams

Photo credit: Jimmie48 Photography / Shutterstock.com

Serena has dominated women’s tennis for quite some time, she is the world’s number 1 ranking player, having taken her 23rd Grand Slam title in January 2017 at the Australian Open.

In fact, keen fans worked out that it is likely she was pregnant when she got that 23rd title, having announced that she is pregnant and expecting an autumn baby.

Serena is 35 years old and is expecting her first child with her fiancé Alexis Ohanian who is a Reddit Tech Entrepreneur. Apparently, they have said that they would like to not know the baby’s gender until the birth.

Of course, her pregnancy has put a halt to her playing tennis for the rest of 2017, but she is said to already be making plans for her come back. Whilst many might have expected her to retire from professional tennis following the baby’s arrival, she is said to be keen to continue competing as long as she believes that she can challenge and ultimately win Grand Slams. (more…)

Superstitions: New Year

Happy New Year 2017New Year falls on different dates for different countries and religions. But in all cases there is a great significance on the fact that how it is started will be an omen for how the rest of the year will pan out. So not surprisingly there are a number of rituals that people follow at this time of year.

Do you do any of these?

  • Red envelopes are given to children in China as part of their New Year celebrations; the envelopes contain money and are seen as lucky. The activity is carried out to bring that child success and wealth in the coming year.
  • An old superstition is that something must come into the house before something leaves on New Year’s Day. This was often achieved by leaving a candle burning during New Year’s Eve until the next day. In those days the need for light, heat and cooking fuel for the whole year were paramount and so rituals focussed on achieving that.

(more…)

Superstitions

Black Cat SuperstitionIf I say ‘superstition’ the chances are you will immediately think of something that you do that falls into this category. Do you refuse to walk under a ladder? Do you stop in the street to pick up a lost penny, believing it will bring you good luck? Do you throw salt over your shoulder if you spill some?

The question is are you really superstitious? Do you believe something bad will happen if you don’t carry out these rituals? Or is it a learned behaviour and now just something that you do? (more…)

Collateral Beauty

Collateral Beauty Movie PosterUnusually for a big film with a star-studded cast there hasn’t been a huge amount of information released about the movie – Collateral Beauty, which is out in the UK on the 26th December, but from what I have read I think it is set to be a poignant tear-jerker.

Will Smith plays a once-successful businessman, having suffered a terribly personal tragedy; he falls into a deep depression. His friends played by Edward Norton, Kate Winslet and Michael Peña  rally around him, but even with their support and a passing of time he is unable to move forward. At this point with no clue as to what to do, he begins to write things down. He writes letters, but they are not too anybody, but are written in the abstract to things like ‘time’, ‘love’ and ‘death’.

The surprising twist in the film without giving too much away is that they write back! Helen Mirren plays death, Jacob Latimore is time and Keira Knightley stands for love… (more…)

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