On January 5th 2024 my dear sister will finally be given a public place to rest at Romsey Abbey, 9 years after her passing, as we unveil a bench for her.
I first started writing this 2 weeks ago after I was dreaming about the concept of time all night which at times meant I transcended time - probably because I was due to give a talk about it the following week.
As I stepped out of time, my dreams went to my sister; although the years pass my bond deepens not diminishes. She was one of the most authentic beings you would ever meet.
Once in a dream in Mexico, I saw that there were two languages in the world. The language of the mind, the rational mind. This is the language which is used by our business people, politicians, academics, scientists and leaders. There is also the language of the heart: the language used by the artists, the musicians, and the bards.
From a young age my soul resonated with the mysterious language of the heart. I revelled in creative writing and poetry in my teenage years. It was Mystery which drew me to the poet Basho and my love affair with the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan), and then the Land of the Morning Calm (Korea) and beyond.
But to succeed in this world, one had to become conversant and expert in the language of the head. I even went to Kings College Law School to become an advanced practitioner in it! Until the soul vetoed that at the end of my second year. But after my studies and love affair with Japan, I jumped into international finance and the commercial world and had to practice the language of the head again, at least during my working days.
But back to the dream. I could see all these great artists paying homage to a great spirit, and a delightful music like the elixir of life - the one song behind the song. It was a spirit not unlike the Force in Star Wars. Something which permeated everything and everyone. Birds are the traditional messengers from the heavens. And birds of all types - from eagles to owls - flew in unison symbolising that unity behind all the world’s religions and people: a creative intelligence some might call the Creator. Symbols of all the great religions and philosophies - including the Taoist yin-can, the Christian crucifix, the Hindu Om and more - were also floating in the sky around the flying birds.
The bards were there, not entertaining us like some of the entertainers of today’s dying civilization but dancing and singing and pointing us to that divine spark which is in all of us. My sister Rebecca was there guiding me though this journey. She had heard the one song like so many. She was telling me to live that song. Our modern day secular society overreacted to the power of the Church, and has thrown the baby out with the bath water. The greatest artists of antiquity have always felt that they were a channel for something bigger than themselves, whether it was God or the Muse. And I now feel it is the time of the artists and poets to help lead us out of this valley of death in which humanity finds itself today.
"Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness."
— Alice Walker
The photo above is the last photo that was taken with Rebecca, when I went to see her in Manchester at the end of a business trip to the UK.[The last night I spoke to her one on one was when she was in hospital the night before giving birth to Isabella. Yeh I like Isabella as well as Bella. Rebecca said that she better have a formal name, not just Bella, in case she became a lawyer or something!]
90 days after she passed away, I was in a temple in Korea following a Buddhist ceremony for her. I had this intuitive feeling to walk up a nearby mountain. She was very present to me that day. One of the last things she ever said to me was “write your book. You’ll be a good writer”. This was present through everyone who I encountered that day. At the top of the mountain the trail was closed off by the military and I started talking to a Korean man who was lost. He had been educated in religion to follow the footsteps of his father who was a pastor. The previous week he had quit that life to become a musician. During our conversation he abruptly asked me whether I was a writer.
Then after getting off the mountain I entered a subterranean bookstore in the historic part of Seoul. In a scene which echoed the movie ‘The Matrix’, a bespectacled man was sitting at a table reading a book. As soon as I entered he said, as if he had been waiting for me, “Good afternoon. Are you the author?"
And then when I returned to my hotel room I had received an e mail from a publisher who had been reading my weekly posts on Dow Theory Letters saying she really appreciated my style of writing. She said that I should consider reading the Ringing Cedars of Russia series of books and asked whether I had considered writing a book. Strangely enough, the book I was pondering writing had echoes of that series, which is even clearer today now that I am nearly finished writing it.
It really was as if my sister was calling to me from the other side of the veil: telling me to increasingly step into my artistic side. Although Becci was a singer and musician, she took a career turn and joined the police. She loved the people there, but it was completely out of character and we always wondered whether she would return to her artistic roots. I think the baton - no pun intended! - was passed to me now. This morning I spoke to a research on ADC (or after death communication) who had countless stories like this.
As we approach the event at 11am at Romsey Abbey on 5th January 2024 I wonder whether she will speak to me again.
After I wrote [most of] this blog, I was talking to my mum about our premonitions of Becci’s passing - which might not be widely known. As she felt close to us a beautiful rainbow appeared from the balcony and I knew it was time to announce the event.
Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. Love all the messages you received and more importantly, that you listened.