Nature Spirits
1. Tell us about your new book Nature Spirits: the Remembrance.
My mission throughout the book is:
(a) To explore the link between the material world we perceive with our five senses, and the super-sensible world inhabited by nature spirits, elementals and angels.
(b) To describe the interaction between these worlds in easy-to-understand language and imagery.
(c) To place the relationship between nature spirits, elementals and human beings in an historical context.
(d) To pull back the curtain of ridicule, fear and cynicism surrounding this subject.
(e) To emphasise how important it is to rework our bond of kinship with the inhabitants of the super-sensible world as we enter a new phase in human evolution. The nature spirits are waiting to be reunited with an awake and aware humanity.
(f) To show that matter does not define space – the formative forces and super-sensible beings that inhabit space are what define the myriad shapes and forms that make up our physical universe.
(g) To offer meditations and exercises for people to practise in order that they may connect safely with the Spirit of Place in their own locality.
2. When did your interest in spirituality begin?
I have always preferred the fluid, emergent, mystical nature of the imagined world to a full-on interaction with the competitive, material world; but it would be correct to say that I began my present spiritual path quite late in life when I discovered Anthroposophy at the age of 33.
3. You are a singer-songwriter, so at what age did you realise you could sing and entertain people?
My musical career started when my mother gave me a Spanish guitar at the age of 13 and showed me how to play her favourite Bob Dylan songs. Peter Gabriel, Donovan and David Bowie were the heroes of my early teens. These three quintessentially British master craftsmen were my inspiration and my aspiration; they fired my imagination and awoke my nascent musical intuition. To participate in a beautiful song - whether to listen to it, compose it, or perform it - is to step out of the demands of linear time and approach the essence of who we really are. You can listen to my albums at www.susanraven.com
4. You regularly give talks to people on the ether and the elemental beings in it, so what is the best feedback you have had from one of these talks?
The best feedback is to see people's faces break out into broad smiles of recognition and relief when they hear this subject discussed openly, in a logical, scientific way, as well as a spiritual way. Many people feel an affinity with the elemental world, and they sense a wave of joy when they have their experiences validated by others.
5. For those who are not spiritually minded, how can they enjoy this book?
The first two chapters speak to the more logical and scientific mind, and they include quotations from, and references to, the work of some of our most enlightened and inspiring scientists – including Dr.William Tiller, Amit Goswami and Dr. Paul LaViolette to name but a few. In these chapters I link the dynamics described in quantum physics to the formative forces described in spiritual science - it is the same expression of life in motion, using different vocabulary.
6. Is spirituality something that you devote yourself to or something that comes naturally?
In order to gain spiritual insight into the super-sensible world, an aspiring seer has to commit to regular periods of meditation and contemplation. He or she also has to commit to an almost warrior-style discipline regarding the quality and morality of their thinking, feeling and willing. Some people are born with advanced faculties to see into the spirit world - I have to work at it!
7. When did the work of Rudolph Steiner come into your radar?
I have studied the works of Rudolf Steiner since 1993 and I never cease to be astounded by the absolute clarity with which he speaks of the spirit world. He was both a scientist and a seer, and he used his scientific training to speak with utter precision about what he perceived in the super-sensible realms.
8. You have spent the last 14 years of your life in mid Wales studying this, what has been your greatest discovery?
That all life is a great dance of mutual reciprocity!
9. Who else has captured your interest in this field?
Dorothy Maclean of Findhorn, the biodynamic viticulturist Nicolas Joly, and the alchemist Dennis Klocek.
10. What is next for you beyond this book?
I will continue to hone my ability to see into the super-sensible realms and to communicate with its inhabitants. I will do this by following my own self-styled path in the uplands of mid-Wales, and I hope to continue to learn from advanced seers like Dorian Schmidt, Frank Burdich and Patrick MacManaway. I will also be recording a new album - many of my new songs are a celebration of the elemental kingdom.
For further information about Susan Raven visit her website.
Female First Lucy Walton