Soul – is that a scary word for you? I know lots of people are freaked out by the Big G (both the word and the concept of God) – just because of previous associations with the church, which they’d rather not make. I sense that soul is tarred with the same feathers for many until they learn that the word ‘soul’ is a convenient way to picture a part of you which does not die but which carries on in some form after death (the ‘people’ to whom psychics might be relating) and then reincarnates and carries on its merry way.

In case you’re having difficulty with the notion of life after death, whether the vehicle be named ‘soul’ or otherwise, I’ll point you in the direction of a new column we are commencing this issue, called ‘Two of a kind’. Two vibrant healers, Carmel Bell and Melissa Hocking, are interviewing each other. We couldn’t stop them talking of course ;-), and as the column is new, we’ve indulged them – I think you’ll enjoy what they have to say, despite its length. Now the reason I’m suggesting you read that column is that you’ll read how Carmel was dead for 47 minutes (not during the interview). She (one of her non-physical bodies, and likely her soul or at least orchestrated by her soul) was able to contact her husband lying in the bed next to her now dead body. Had she had no soul, nothing other than a physical body, she wouldn’t be here today. Heaps of people do accept this notion, especially amongst our readers, but there are some who have bad associations, as I said, and sometimes they need a bit more proof. It is hard for logic to work when emotions cloud our reason, isn’t it?

Trust and fear – two biggies for us when we do get caught up with life’s dramas. They are explored in the reader round-table. I hope you too are enjoying the reader round-table experience. Do drop us a line about that and also consider contributing.

Sadly this issue we are missing Jost’s article on the three treasures. His clinic is too busy for him to be able to provide an article a month it seems – so we might have to wait two months between them from now. We’re also missing Raym’s column, ‘Urban shaman’, and also mine on ‘Navigating two worlds’ – they will also be back next issue. (Oh, that is, as long you do your part and send me a question to answer.) Indeed all our columns go better with contributors!

Soul plays quite a part in this September issue. Paul Perfrement shows so many deep and wonderful means by which we can aid the healing process for our soul in his article about caring for the undefended soul. Derek Ellard gives us a lovely visualisation of water for meditating, and at the same time amuses and delights us with his wordsmith skills. Chip Richards, another wordsmith extraordinaire, opens our soul’s desires for us, to bring concepts from head to heart and beyond, transporting us into deeper levels of experience in life. Dr Darren Weissman explains his method to help our soul awakens to its authentic expression of its truest self. I tried it the other day and it is really good – deceptively so – and very quick and easy. Sounds like a recipe. Actually I summarised it in point form so that you can follow the method easily, after you’ve read it fully in the body of the article first to get the nuances, of course. So, yes, there is a recipe there for you, but the effect will be much more long-lived than a soufflé, though hopefully as light and breathtaking as the best chef’s.

Do you agree that everything happens for a reason? Have a look at the article called, ‘Nothing is wasted’ by Noelle Sterne. Give her exercise a go, and I think you might be convinced. Sometimes we get our heads too far into the recipe or even the soufflé mix itself, and we cannot see what we’re creating. I know. I do it all the time. I’ve just been as ‘sick as a dog’ while creating this magazine and wonder why I created that hard job getting my dish into the oven. In 21 years I’ve never had ‘flu like it, and definitely not coinciding with the production week. I can see that I should have given up and gone to bed for one day early but did not, and as a result I just got sicker and sicker. I’ve had some ahas already, but I’m confident that they will keep coming for a while yet.

Carmel Bell, now alive and well, mentioned to me that she discovered while she was dead that we’re meant to be happy and carefree here in this life, but we get caught up in the drama of it and forget to be happy. Going back to my soufflé analogy, it’s perhaps that we panic that the soufflé doesn’t rise like it should, or one side seems to have a dent in it, and we focus on that. If, instead of worrying about the appearances or the mechanics of the dish, we’d have stopped and eaten it when hot from the oven, we’d have all been delighted with its flavour and would have felt quite content. The lesson? Remember to keep life in perspective and have a laugh at the dents.

With love

Elizabeth Jewell (previously Elizabeth Stephens)