Secret Gardens, Mantras and Monsters

Leura is one of the prettiest Blue Mountain villages and Spring is the perfect time to visit, when the mountain air feels enchanted from the cherry blossom and jacarandas trees. As I said in my previous post, we’ve recently introduced our daughter to The Secret Garden book and film and so we enjoyed a family day out at the Leura Garden festival. A few photos below.

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We came away with plenty of ideas for our Secret Garden journal. Definitely a must in my Secret Garden is gatepost rabbits.

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A wishing well, sacred bells, Madonna figures and a drystone wall.

 

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I’ve been working on my current book, another mystery novel set in Tasmania. So far the characters are materialising beautifully and all the twists and main plot seem strong. I’m at the stage where I want to find out what happens and how it evolves which is the best place for me to be in. When I haven’t been writing, I’ve been catching up on reading. I’m working my way through the large pile of books in my TBR pile. I’ll do a separate post on a few I enjoyed over the holiday break.

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Along with my family I completed a course at the Transcendental Meditation Centre in Sydney. The TM centre is located in the striking AWA building in the CBD in York street. The communications tower was designed in 1937-1939 by architects Morrow and Gordon. It has a geometric art-deco design and also features symbols of communication such as a winged Pegarsus. The tower has been featured in the movie The Matrix.

 

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I’ve been meditating regularly for many years now but have always been intrigued by TM and the effects on the creative brain after reading David Lynch’s Catching The Big Fish (highly recommended book on creativity and abstract thought).

 

I’ve only been practising for a couple of weeks, but it has exceeded my expectations on how deeply you can transcend in twenty minutes. I was surprised by how effortless and easy the process is. I’ll write more on meditation and the effects on my creativity when I’ve been practising TM for a few months.

 

In Australia, we have celebrated the seasonal Beltane, but being Scorpio and fascinated by death and transfiguration, I view the 31st of October as the Day of the Dead – we enjoyed All Hallows at a friends in the inner-west suburb of Tempe.

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I volunteered to walk the children around the streets for a couple of hours which was surreal and dreamlike. In the darkened streets I passed witches, zombies, a live python, and excited children claiming the streets on the night the veils are thin and mayhem rules.

 

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Thank you for visiting me. Please share this post if you know of anyone who would be interested.

In Love and Light,

Josephine

5 Responses

  1. Vanna November 14, 2014 / 9:07 am

    Hi Josephine,

    I love the beautiful pictures from Leura, and also love that you know why you were celebrating All Hallows, and understand the meaning behind it rather than just going along with the marketing craziness that it has become. Vanna x

    • Josephine November 14, 2014 / 12:40 pm

      Hi Vanna, I saw you this morning crossing the road with your husband and I think a car nearly hit you, but you were laughing, bathed in golden light and it just made my hectic morning to see you shining. xx

      • Vanna November 17, 2014 / 8:59 am

        That’s lovely – I was oblivious to the car! Vxx

  2. Clare November 19, 2014 / 9:46 am

    I adore Leura too.

    Intrigued to find out more about TM!!

    Clare x

    • josephinetalepeddler November 20, 2014 / 11:36 am

      Thanks Clare, I will do a future post and let you know when it’s up. Still early days but I can see a huge difference in being able to deal with stress. I’ve done a lot of meditating over the years but TM really does make you dive a lot deeper. Hopefully I’ll catch the big fish as David Lynch says 🙂 Hope you are well. xx

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