Dear Musers,
I have decided that everyone might just enjoy throwing some things together and heading off to Lemuria for a few days. Fran, Winnie and Jane Tilton have been in Lemuria for days now and will no doubt raise their heads when they hear a noisy gaggle of chattering musers approaching in an old boat. I hope Jane thinks to tell Phil to bake up some extra things so we can relax with coffee and cappuccinos outside the old lighthouse.

Personally I am looking forward to wandering along the shoreline, searching for flotsam and jetsam to help inspire some mythological writing. Anyway, we do need to do some mapping and document more about the place.

I have this idea that it would be fun to do some archaeological fossicking and write up some anthropological findings. The eyes of the Green Man that Winnie met haunt me. I am determined to locate him while I am there. An old book I have about Lemuria has some interesting fragments that might start some of you thinking.

Lemurian Fragments

From Paradise to Taprobane
is forty leagues:
There may be heard the sound of
The Fountains of Paradise


The word Lemuria is not an ancient one, nor is it mentioned in any traditional legends. Its origin is geological and it came into being circa 1887. At the time the Darwinian revolution had swept science, and geologists and biologists were busy filling gaps in geological areas, creating the well known periods in the earth's history, such as Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cainozoic......

with wide eyes, I stepped off the rusty old freighter and onto the dock. There was a fresh stamp in my passport which was now neatly tucked into.....

I have an intense desire for knowledge, especially in the fields of history, culture, philosophy and science. Mysteries also intrigue me....

....at Dunhuang, a small desert town on the border of ....., a monk found a hidden library inside a cliff honeycombed with caves. The room had been walled up with bricks in the eleventh century to keep from falling into the hands of invading barbarians. For eight hundred years the books had lain there, preserved by the dry desert air and maintained in excellent condition......

Lemurians spoke no language....instead they used telepathy.....they lived in caves and holes in the ground....their homeland comprised of the Southern Hemisphere.....

wars grew between Atlantean's and remaining Lemurians.....

can be described as a beautiful tropical paradise.....

it is lush, with mountainous palm forests and empty beaches. Crystal clear warm water splashes on the clean white sand. The climate is equable and healthful, although quite humid...

.temperatures never get too hot or too cold and high winds are rarely encountered... a lotus land. I spent several days hitchhiking around, snorkeling among the reefs and swimming on the beaches....there are markets and bakeries, small cafes and small shops on the streets.....

we have seen how the life and light giving attributes of the sun were in early times used as the symbol to bring before the minds of the people all that they were capable of...

Naturally it was not for the benefit of the Lemurian race that the Lodge was founded. Such of them as were sufficiently advanced were, it is true, taught by the Adept Gurus, but the instruction they required was limited to....

Interested?????????????

Lemuria remains an uncharted land waiting to be mapped.

Be at the pier, with one bag and your pen and paper. The boat leaves soon.

Cheers Heather

Abandoned Buildings of Iceland
Nokkvi Eliasson has an amazing collection of black and white photography of abandoned farm houses in Iceland that fuels my imagination. When we travelled through Ireland in 2001 we happened upon an abandoned village out of Galway. The residents had all left for America during the 1950's leaving behind buildings that had crumbled and weathered with time, providing home to nature who moved in and redecorated. Check out Eliasson's photographs and sit meditating on these images. Write about...whatever comes into your mind.

Beating Drums
A number of events have grounded me, humbled me and bought me back to my copy of selections from the sacred literature of the world. The relentless beating of war drums, war itself, images of unspeakable suffering, have forced me to turn away from the electronic and print media and to dig myself more deeply into Lemuria, the interior castle I built as a place of retreat and sanctuary.

Sri Ramakrishna, one of the great figures in world mysticism taught that the divine could be realized within any of the world's major religions. To contact the divine it is not obligatory to participate in one of the world's religions. All you need to do is to go within.

When asked what is a product of Heather and what is a product of the divine it became clear to me that there are three major figures residing within the body of Heather Blakey. Ego has always been a dominant figure that cracks the whip and has retained a strong control over my life. Then there is quiet, gentle Muse who takes me by the hand, leads me within to visit a range of interesting people. Recently she took me to have morning tea with Mnemosyne, whose name means memory. Muse has shown me the cavernous regions of the interior, richly decorated with treasures akin to Aladdin's Cave. When I drink tea with Mnemosyne I drink from the well of remembrance and am infused with creative energy.

It was Mnemosyne who bid me to return to my well-marked copy of selections from the sacred literature of the world. I stopped to read Sri Ramakrishna’s words and the drumming of them beat more loudly than all the war drums. His words drowned out the subterranean buzz of the world’s media.

Dwell, O Mind within yourself
Enter no other’s home
If you but seek there, you will find
All you have been searching for
God, the true Philosopher’s Stone
Who answers every prayer
Lies hidden deep within your heart
The richest gem of all
How many pearls and precious stones
Are scattered all about
The outer court that lies before
The chamber to your heart.

The beating drums urged me to take action and to carve more quiet places within the labyrinthine halls of Soul Food; quiet places to retreat and to spend time within, time with your Muse.

These places are not of the world of fantasy. They are places with spirit, sacred places which I visited when I travelled throughout Western Europe and Scandinavia for six months with my muse and my husband in 2001. They are places where I was touched by a presence and inspired to go within, places where I sat with my pen and paper writing letters and journal entries.

You will be able to find these places in the guided imagery section at Soul Food and scattered throughout Lemuria and the House of the Muse.

Prepare to visit the tiny chapel inside the Basilica at Assisi; to walk the Sacred Way at Delphi; to visit the oracle at Dodona; to climb Mount Olympus; to ride the Royal Road to Iona; to catch a boat to Staffa; to visit Greig’s composing cottage in Bergen; to hug an ancient tree in Wiltshire; to dance amid the stones of Stonehenge; to walk onto the Isle of Avalon; to listen to the pounding ocean at Tintagel; to stroll in the quiet of Giverny.

For now take a rest from the world, safe from beating drums and step into the tiny chapel of Saint Francis. Meditate upon the altarpiece and take that journey within. You may be surprised at the treasury you find.

Mindful Writing Exercise
We can extend the practice of mindful awareness and spaciousness beyond the period of sitting meditation into your writing life.

Wake up in the ordinary activities of life by bringing your full attention to eating, washing the dishes, smelling the roses, walking. Choose a piece of fruit and eat it mindfully. Be aware of its look, smell and feel. Notice the way that your mouth fills with saliva in anticipation of its flavor. Be aware of each bite moving down your throat into your stomach. Enjoyment and gratitude are natural outcomes of mindfulness.

Choose any activity like washing the dishes or taking a shower and commit to doing it as mindfully as possible. For some people taking a shower mindfully, aware of their breathing and all the pleasant sensations, is an excellent morning meditation.

Then write.

Lemurian Abbey
When we spent nine weeks travelling in the United Kingdom in 2001 cloisters like this one at Salisbury Cathedral left me breathless.

I particularly loved the ruins dotted in tranquil, isolated valleys in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. We spent the most magical day following the Royal Road to Iona, off Mull, on the west coast of Scotland, where Kings were buried and the illuminated manuscripts were crafted. Thousands of feet had padded along the cloister at Iona, thousands had sat in meditation in the tranquil inner sanctum.

Story has it that a ruined abbey, laced with vines that have grown over its broken walls lies in a valley here in Lemuria. Returning travellers tell stories, told to them by the custodian, that it dates back to the time when the noble sisterhood of the Divine initiatiates lived and toiled the soil there. Gaurdians of the ancient teaching, these divine initiates gathered around the cradle of new infants destined to teach future generations....

Stimulate your imagination by visiting this virtual abbey and write a piece set in the Lemurian Abbey.

Doors and Gates of Lemuria - A Writing Exercise
Have you ever stopped to think about comparing your personality with that of a front-door?

Front doors come in an endless variety of materials, shapes and sizes. They include the dignified Cathedral door, the pretentious bank door, the revolving door, the forbidden door and the humble tent-fly. Front doors often acquire a character reflecting that of their owners. There is the furtive door, opened a cautious six inches; the sagging dispirited door with its air of defeat; the blatant door, quivering on its hinges to a blast of sound from the radio, the blank, tightly closed door; and the friendly open door, through which is transmitted pleasant, homely sights, sounds and smell - a snatch of song, or buzz of conversation - a glimpse of bright flowers in a sunny window, or the fragrance of a batch of scones, fresh from the oven.

Front doors have a lore all of their own. Receiving the key of the front door is seen as a token of independence. The groom carries his bride over the threshold and so it goes on.

Think of Lemurian doorways and where they lead.
Begin writing.

More Activities For Your Visual Journal
Create the door that represents your personality using bright kindergarten coloured squares and cover your next journal. Use the journal to reveal what you find when you walk inside.

Collect as many images of doors as you can find, create a collage and then walk through one of these doors into the house of a character in your story.

Sketch the front door of a home you lived in. Walk back in that door and write about your memories of that home.

Doors leave you cold! Try using gates instead. "Gates are such wonderful characters. They people our gardens in every imaginable way. Like people gates convey their own
individuality, expressing style, spirit and mood, which is the very essence of their being. Sometimes they are terribly grand, appearing a little severe - forbidding even - on other occasions they are warm and welcoming, artistic, entertaining, quiet, unassuming. Whatever, they make statements, suggest a sense of place, contribute to design, frame a pathway. Gates can be bold and purposeful, add wit and humour, instill a sense of magic and mystery, create a particular atmosphere or simply serve to add interest. Gates, symbolic of a beginning, an end. Positioned with authority and confidence, gateways can lift even the most ordinary setting into a realm of fantasy and delight."

What Is Your True Aura Colour?
brought to you by Quizilla

Sure! This is a silly game. But I like to think that it is acurate. I like to think that I am doing something to educate the masses and inpsire higher ideals. According to Quizilla this is my true aura colour. What was yours?