Thursday, June 4, 2015

Reading Salon was a Success

I am writing my sixth novel, titled the Hidden Abbey. It is, of course, Visionary Fiction, which means stories with spiritual or metaphysical elements that are geared to offering the reader a shift in consciousness.

Last weekend, I joined a group of other writers, including those from my writing critique group "The Destiny Writers," to present a Reading Salon to an audience of nearly fifty interested readers from our Ashland hometown and surrounding areas. We were enthusiastically received and it gave us a wonderful opportunity to share our literary works in progress.



The following was the introduction to my reading excerpt.

The Hidden Abbey is set in Glastonbury, England and its mystical counterpart, the Isle of Avalon. It takes place in two different centuries – the 16th and the 21st.

In 16th century England, Marissa, a young priestess of Avalon, falls in love with Michael, the son of a wealthy English landowner. Michael will defy his father’s military aspirations for him to become a monk at the Glastonbury Abbey. As King Henry VIII sets out to destroy all of England’s 800 Abbeys and Monasteries (this is historically true), Marissa and Michael are torn from each other

Interspersed with this 16th century story is a story set in present day Glastonbury. Sophie, a cynical journalist, and Daniel, a photographer, are sent on assignment to cover the commemoration of the destruction of the Glastonbury Abbey. These two will discover that they are, in fact, destined to fulfill the star-crossed love of the priestess Marissa and the monk Michael.




Sunday, February 1, 2015

Imbolc




February 1st marks the ancient Celtic Festival of Imbolc. It is the herald of early spring, the time when lambs are being birthed and the first delicate white flowers of the Snowdrop bloom. It is the feast day of the Goddess Brighid, also known as St. Brigid.

Years ago, when I lived in Glastonbury I wrote a poem dedicated to Brighid, Goddess of smith-craft, poetry, and healing. My publisher placed copies in a friend's shop on the High Street in Glastonbury. After I had returned to the U.S.A. I was contacted by the German singer-songwriter, Miriam Carl Boluk. Miriam asked for my permission to use my poem as lyrics for her band's song dedicated to Brighid, on their upcoming album. The band, Cool Masala, released their album, featuring the song Brighid.

You can listen Here to the song Brighid, sung by Miriam Carl Boluk. It's a nice way to celebrate and honor Brighid on her feast day.



Brighid

Ancient Brigid
Mother of the Power of Love,
Triple Goddess of the three form flame,
Your perpetual light touches both the Heavens and the Earth,
and unites them

Hearts aflame with the passion of fire,
Where the metals of your smith-crafting
forge a new dawn.

May your perfectly temper our creations
with your cooling waters.
May your inspiration flow through us,
as we express our beauty.

May we continue to find you ever present,
as we heal and make whole
the planet and ourselves.

© Jodine Turner 




© The Goddess Brighid, Miranda Gray;
© Border by Courtney Davis from 'Celtic Gods Celtic Goddesses' by R.J. Stewart







Brighid/ Cool Masala          
(lyrics: ©Jodine Cognato Turner)                                    

I see you burning bright, Brighid
In my heart, in the heart of the world, Brighid

A flame that touches both earth and sky

Illuminating perpetually, dancing in the sun
Cooling in the waters, maker of smithcraft, midwife of love
Burning the coals to keep the heartfire alive





To learn how to make a Brighid's cross, the sun cross, visit the wonderful Mara Freeman's blog. Weaving a Brighid's cross is another wonderful way to celebrate Imbolc.

Brighid's sun cross.


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Visionary Fiction in Today's World





Visionary Fiction speaks the language of the soul. It contains all the elements of modern storytelling yet there is a deeper layer, an archetypal level. This level invites a reader to personally undergo the mystical inner initiations that the book’s character experiences. Visionary Fiction (VF) not only entertains, it embeds esoteric wisdom and paranormal experiences in story. It is an ancient art of storytelling – but a fairly new genre in the publishing world.

Often relegated to the genre of Fantasy, Paranormal, Metaphysical, or Spirituality, VF contains elements of all four. But the story line is more concerned with how the character’s internal experiences of paranormal events – such as visions, dreams, psychic phenomena, past life remembrances, or forays into uncharted planes of existence – are the unique catalysts for transformation. These types of non-linear occurrences run parallel to our everyday conditioned reality. VF allows the reader to glimpse a doorway into these alternate realities.

VF engages the reader in the worlds of the seen and unseen. It is a quest into the deeper mysteries of life - in story form.

Our Current Reality
We live in a world that operates under an imbalanced masculine-principle way of thinking. I am referring to the unhealthy attitude that produces greed, war, violence, domination, authority outside ourselves, and rational/linear thought to the exclusion of intuition and feelings. In general, society demeans the feminine principle of nurturance, receptivity, cooperation, emotions, our ‘sixth sense’ and intuition. I am not talking about gender when I speak about the masculine and feminine principles, but, rather, about ways of being and behaving. Both principles can act healthy or unhealthy; helpful or hurtful. In other words, you could say there’s an excess of unhealthy Yang, and a suppressed/restricted Yin. You need only examine the degeneration of our cultural institutions – the banks, church, the politics – to see that societal structures are crumbling under the effects of this imbalance.

I find it interesting that many ancient spiritual systems, such as the Hopi, Mayan, and Hindu, foretold a golden age. They predicted our current era in history as the transition point into this evolution of consciousness. As with all change, there is chaos and destruction before there is regeneration. This is simply the way our world works. If these ancient spiritual predictions are true, this explains the depth of turbulence we see and feel around us.

The Relevance of Visionary Fiction in today’s world

Humankind longs for a new story. A regenerative and hope filled rebirth. A world that joins the best that both the masculine and feminine principles have to offer. In the union of heart and head, and with wisdom, guardianship, and power that are infused with love, that golden age the ancients predicted can arrive.
One time honored way to open up to this alchemical change and explore humanity’s potential is through the vital act of storytelling. VF can rouse humanity’s new story – through story. The mystical encounters, paranormal abilities, and spiritual awakenings woven into VF provide the raw material for the transformation of not only the novel’s characters, but for readers as well. The invitation is to apply the embedded wisdom of the book into our own lives.

Yes, VF speaks the language of the soul. It offers a vision of humanity as we dream it could be. At a time where our world is going through so much tumultuous change, we need more Visionary Fiction.



A version of this article first appeared in the Visionary Fiction Alliance blog August, 2012