Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2025 #251 i Odyssey Magazine

I am here to awaken love, one soul at a time. My life is devoted to igniting a wave of consciousness so powerful that it transforms the very fabric of this world. I envision a planet where love flows so freely that conflict becomes unimaginable, where hunger and poverty dissolve into distant memories. In this new earth, peace isn't just an idea - it is the natural rhythm of life. Joy and kindness become the languages we speak and sharing is our way of being. I dream of a world where children arrive in a field of pure love - a world that celebrates their light rather than dims it. A world that nurtures true intelligence over rigid intellect, that chooses generosity over greed. These children will grow unburdened by…

Decades ago, I was desperate to connect. I was a teenager consumed by angst and questions. As many teens do, we spent some late nights playing forbidden games like Ouija board, chanting and calling on ghosts. We scared each other out of our wits and it was all fun and games. One weekend morning, the rest of my family was busy with breakfast, swimming and laughter and I sat in a sunlit corner of my room with the Ouija board. Without the group of friends, the giggles and the theatrics, I just sat for a long time. I wasn't trying too hard, quite honestly, I was sitting. And the glass began to glide. My heart was pounding out of control and my entire body was on alert. I was terrified,…

This extract from my new book 100 Wisdom Wells – how to live an enlightened life in the real world. At 13, during a dark night of the soul, a peaceful inner voice asked me: “Choose a reason to live that is greater than the pain of being alive.” I chose to live for Wisdom. At 17, I was invited to teach and I've been teaching ever since. By my 30s, I was living my purpose. I had spoken on stages around the world, filled classrooms each week and my heart sang with the joy of doing what I loved. But money was still a nightmare. I cried often about not being able to pay all my bills. That twisted, knife-in-the-gut feeling of fear was too familiar. When a long-time…

JUST AS SOME smudging blends are designed to calm and relax, others energise, revitalise and stimulate. When feeling disheartened, unsure and in need of encouragement, or perhaps just physically exhausted and in need of energy, instead of drinking a cup of coffee, enjoy a herbal infusion or perform a smudging session with rosemary or resins from domestic coniferous trees for a warming, energising effect. Herbs and resins that revitalise and fortify improve the circulation; provide grounding, clearing and centering the mind; refresh; stimulate and wake up; provide a warming effect. common: angelica, elecampane, fir, hyssop, juniper, mint, mugwort, oak, rosemary, sage, Scots pine, spruce, thyme, verbena exotic: calamus, camphor, cardamom, cedar, cinnamon, cloves, copal (white), cypress, dragon's blood, elemi, eucalyptus, galangal, mastic, myrrh, nutmeg, sage (white) Rosemary and juniper are…

Frost's words linger like a compass, reminding us that choice is never just about a direction, but about becoming. Every path holds the potential to lead us to new discoveries, to unseen horizons and to facets of ourselves we might never have known existed. Spring is in the air. There's a subtle shift in the wind, a quiet stirring of growth and the intoxicating scent of blossoms on the breeze. It is a season that carries hope without demanding it, inviting us to step into possibility. Like nature, we are constantly evolving, shedding what no longer serves us, opening ourselves to what awaits us. Every choice we make - big or small - is a path we take. Some roads feel safe, familiar and well-trodden, while others appear lined with…

“Near the heart of Australia, from the parched dry plains of the Northern Territory, rises the biggest monolith in the world, the colossal Uluru, called Ayers Rock by settlers. The ownership of the rock was transferred to the Aboriginals of the area and it regained its Aboriginal name of Uluru, which means Great Pebble. Uluru is one of earth's great natural wonders. Consisting of mineral-rich sandstone, Uluru measures 2.4km long and 1.6km wide and rises up to 867 metres above sea level. Each feature of the rock has a meaning in 'Tjukurpa or Dreamtime, the traditional Anangu lore that explains how the world was created. The caves in the rock have been decorated with Aboriginal paintings and prehistoric art, some of which indicate such things as the whereabouts of water…

This year in September, we lost the physical presence of Jill Stevens, founder of this magazine. Jill's passing makes the transition to editor of Odyssey even more poignant for me. I'd travelled to Cape Town early this month hoping to meet her in person but sadly her health was declining quickly so that wasn't possible. Two days after I arrived, she made the ultimate change and left this earth to go on a different sort of odyssey. Seems she passed on the baton in a very big way, to me. The timing was quite something and, while certainly her death is a great loss, she was 91 years old and had lived an extraordinary life. She was loved fully and well. So maybe this change wasn't a bad thing. Maybe…

There's a rhythm to life that mirrors the seasons. Each spring, the world around us unfurls in quiet, radiant awakening. Buds break through the last vestiges of winter, the air smells of possibility and there's a subtle whisper in the soul, reminding us that life is always renewing itself. And yet, while nature effortlessly shifts into this state of aliveness, many of us are still wrapped in the frost of our own thinking, clinging to patterns that no longer serve us. I have spent decades exploring this dance between inner stillness and outer motion and one truth has become crystal clear: Wellbeing is innate. It is not something we acquire through effort, achievement, or self-improvement programmes. It is the foundation beneath all human experience, the everpresent spring beneath the layers…

Mercury is associated with the throat chakra and understanding the condition of Mercury in an astrological chart reveals glimpses into themes of the throat chakra. The same is true of the Sun and Moon and the third eye chakra. The more in-depth expression of a planet should also take into account its degree in the zodiac, house position and aspects to it. In our concluding article in this series, let's keep things light for the chakras. Mercury in Aries, reveals that there is a tendency to have rushed and fast-paced communication. 'I will do this.' 'Can this be done?' Words focus on action. There is a sense of impatience, bluntness and abruptness in the communication. Mercury in Taurus reveals a slower pace of speech. There is a sense of stubbornness…

Think of the world as a massive mathematical equation. It is based on laws and precise rules. At the core of this equation is Dharma. Dharma can mean many things depending on the context it is used in. We will focus on three types: Universal, Situational and Personal. They inform each other and build on the concept of Appropriate Response. Universal Dharma is based on the golden rule of non-injury. It is found in every religion, it may be called different names but is refers to not bringing injury to others. In Vedanta it specifically means not to injure another in thought, words and deeds. Across traditions it appears as: Christianity: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Luke 6:31) Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways…

“Animals are a window to your soul and a doorway to your spiritual destiny. Kim Shotola, Author It is with that childlike sense of awe and wonder that I find myself connecting with the natural world and increasingly being guided by animals and other members of our extended and loving non-human family. It's about observing, listening, feeling and being with my inner wisdom. What is happening here? What is being said? What could this mean? What action is called for, if any? Is this true for me? Recently I found myself in the Knysna home of animal communicator Kate Muller, sitting in an intimate circle with a handful of fellow seekers. We'd signed up for a one-day workshop entitled Wild Communion. Our aim was to enhance our connections with the…

“To all Odyssey readers, I share my HeartSoul journey with you, to acknowledge my ongoing process from wounded healer with depression, i.e. healer heal thyself, to freely blossoming healer-lightworker to help self and others. Dr Arien van der Merwe I've been the classic wounded healer/Chiron archetype coping with retinopathy, depression and stroke. I'm sharing my story with readers who might be (consciously or unconsciously) hiding symptoms of depression (a.k.a. inflammation of the brain) or disease from themselves and others, to become open about their mental, emotional or physical health challenges. Healing starts with awareness. Allow the broken pieces to guide you to wholeness, finding the light within you, that never dies. It is waiting for you, always. Integrate and accept the raw vulnerability with timeless strength, creating your heart song that…

My husband is very fond of telling me the “the only constant is change” and he usually has a “holier than thou” look on his face when he reminds me of this! He's right. Which is annoying when you've been with somebody for 30 years who knows that you personally struggle with change, especially when it feels unnecessary. I even struggle with tech updates, I often want things to stay the way they currently are, manageable, controllable and known. So, change in most forms has always been tough for me, Especially when the change feels like it doesn't really improve anything. When the change takes you by surprise, or is unexpected. When the change is decidedly unwanted, or feels too huge to achieve. Change often involves the unknown and the…

Smiling Souls finds its soulmate in Retreats in the Wild Now, the master of metamorphosis is at it again: Smiling Soul Retreats is merging with Retreats in the Wild, the platform owned and run by Namibia's African Monarch Lodges. While Brett will remain the facilitator and ambassador for Retreats in the Wild and also bring along many of his beloved collaborators, including former Springbok-turned-holistic-healer Joe van Niekerk, many will wonder why this change? Yes, this new evolution offers his community of consciousness explorers new destinations and adds gifted facilitators to the retreat portfolio, but there's more to it than that. Located in Namibia's panhandle, formerly known as the Caprivi Strip, African Monarch Lodges are the only lodges in the Bwabwata National Park, in the heart of the world's largest wildlife…