Open Views
Issue 15
S.B. - the last four years
By SICA Britain Chair Mairi Store
A
s my term of office draws to
an end at this year’s Nation-
al Congress, I thought that
this was as good a time as any to
give an overview, as it appears to
me, of what has happened to SICA
Britain during the period I have
been its Chair.
Prior to becoming SICA Britain
Chair in 2006 I had from 2001 to
2005 served on National Council as
Committee Councillor and I was
aware of the growing feeling that
Subud should be present in the
world. I also felt that Subud Britain
was very lopsided. I likened Subud
to a human being. The right arm
was Susila Dharma, the left arm was
SICA, the right leg was SES and the
left leg Subud Youth. I felt the head
and torso were Congress or in its
absence the National Council Trus-
tees and Executive and the blood
was the latihan, represented by
helpers. In those years, in Britain,
representatives of Susila Dharma
and the Youth usually came to Na-
tional Council, representatives of
SICA and SES hardly ever came to
National Council. During that pe-
riod I also broke my left arm at the
shoulder and realised how the rest
of my body tried to compensate for
the injury, and although I could get
by, I was not nearly as efficient as
when my left arm was working as it
should be. I then tested for myself
how was Subud Britain at that time,
and how would it be if all its wings
were working to their full capacity.
I was blown away by the result and
decided to apply for the position of
the then vacant SICA Chair.
When I got the job, I was sud-
denly shocked to discover that I
didn’t actually know what SICA
was or what its purpose was, let
alone the job of SICA Chair. I in-
herited £500 and almost nothing
else from my predecessors, so in a
way I was lucky to start with an al-
most blank canvas. The first two
months I spent reading everything I
could lay my hands on of what Ba-
pak and Ibu Rahayu have said about
SICA and came up with the follow-
ing definition, purpose and aims.
SICA is the force of life expressing
itself and manifesting outwardly
originating in the jiwa and is found
in all aspects of life including edu-
cation and training, health and fam-
ily care, interfaith and multicultur-
alism, music and the performing
arts, visual arts, architecture and
design, writing and film. Its purpose
is to enhance life and the aims of
the SICA Britain organisation at
this time was to become more ac-
tive, to act as a window of Subud to
the world at large and to make
money for Subud Britain and SICA
International. My role was to act as
a co-ordinator, encourager and fa-
cilitator.
That was the vision I presented
to National Council at the first
meeting I attended as SICA Chair
along with a plan to make it a reali-
ty. The vision is still in place, that
plan was scrapped long ago. One of
the things I have noticed is that peo-
ple seem to enjoy working on
projects rather than the basic essen-
tials. At the moment I am having a
remake of my garden. ‘Preparation
work is going on, money is disap-
pearing fast and all I have seen for
weeks now is brown earth. How-
ever I do know that when this prep-
aration is finished and the plants go
in, they will have a much better
chance of surviving than if the
plants had gone in without the prep-
aration. Likewise with SICA. I give
special thanks to Henry Rogers,
who has been our Treasurer for the
last 3 years. SICA has proper ac-
June 2010
counts – I inherited 3 or 4 years of
SICA accounts on a scrap of paper.
Communications is the next bit
of preparation I think is a priority. I
have had mixed results with this. A
presence on the web I have spent
nearly 4 years struggling with due
to my own intense dislike and lack
of understanding of anything to do
with computers. However, never
fear, it will come in the end. On the
other hand, perhaps one of the most
successful things for SICA occurred
when in January 2008 this paper
appeared in its present form with
the SICA Britain emblem on its
front page. I take no credit for this
paper. All that goes to Lance and
his team and to all who have con-
tributed, and to the North Region
who allowed their regional paper
Pennine Views to metamorphose
into Open Views. (By the way we
still need an art subeditor to replace
Jim Williams. Perhaps one of our
Continued on page 2
As the pile of his unsold draw-
ings mounts up, is Drew des-
tined to become the latest
Subud artist to be seduced by
the influence of the material
force into thinking they have a
talent which in reality they do
not possess?
1
 Continued from front page
younger members might like to take
on this job – it is not very onerous.
If you do, please contact Lance, de-
tails on back page.) It is an invalua-
ble source of communication for
SICA and almost all members I
have spoken to have praised it, al-
though I am aware that many have
never read it or even heard of it.
Other highlights over the 4 years
have been my own two guided
walks in London in 2007 when I
proved to myself that SICA can be
self-funding and can make money
for Subud and therefore should not
be asking Subud for money. Also in
2007 there was the very successful
Art Exhibition at the Thank You
celebration at Ascot with its public
off-shoot at a gallery in Chertsey a
few miles away which was organ-
ised by Jim Williams. Then there
was the Art Exhibition in Bristol
last year, the Arts Festival in Lewes
over Easter organised by Stefan
Freedman and the Arts Extrava-
ganza again organised by Stefan
and Lucy Houbart at Loudwater last
July. Then last September there was
the Open House event, where those
houses which did open felt the ef-
fort was worthwhile. All these
events attracted members of the
public who were interested in who
we were and what we did. At our
Congresses over the past few years
there have been various art and
song writing workshops run by Em-
manuel Martin, who also ran the
SICA Vision Song Contest for the
last two years, there have been po-
etry workshops and writing work-
shops, and informal gatherings for
various different types of people
such as writers, performers, artists,
etc. Finally Oliver Waite produced a
film “A Year in the Life of Subud
Britain” which was shown earlier
this year in New Zealand.
My biggest failure, I think, has
been my total inability to communi-
cate and be heard about the impor-
tance of acting under the umbrella
of SICA. Latifah Taromina (new
International SICA Chair) in her
article on SICA revisioning (see
Www.subudworldnews.com/
WSAand go to SICA) sums up the
point I have been trying to get
across very nicely when she says...
“These public events do something
2
The Quomps on Solstice Day
The summer breeze makes aspen poplars
pitter-patter in the Priory Gardens, and
lazy smack of river on the hulls and prows
provide a prelude to the little crowd
that’s gathered in an atmosphere of
placid expectation, waiting for the band.
It’s warming up; the band removes its
jackets of maroon with discreet black cuffs.
White shirt sleeves disappear inside the horn
and tuba bell. Resourceful wooden
clothes pegs pin the music to its stands -
it’d never do to let the score escape.
And now the tuning-up has started:
three silver mushrooms bloom their oompah.
An outlaw tizz of cymbal in premature emission
is silenced with a look. Conductor in pink tie,
white linen, clamps his baton like a rose between
his teeth, while marking an important note
upon bar twenty-four.
Onlookers’ faces blend, free of expression,
but the listening is intent. The sun has
clouded over; no-one notices. The music
glides to One Moment in Time whose
slow, clasping spell lifts the pliant audience
elsewhere, then lets them go so gently,
to play out with a massed brass fanfare,
clarion magnificence of rising perfect fifths.
Alison Orlowska
Sept. 2009
else, especially when they are done
in the name of Subud International
Cultural Association. They give the
name value. They help us build a
public track record that can in turn
empower SICA to better help our
members while giving us the cachet
we need to enable SICA as an inter-
national organisation to be connect-
ed, affiliated and accredited to the
main cultural government and non-
government stakeholders. We need
that value. Subud needs that value.”
It is my personal opinion that SICA
Britain will never achieve its true
potential and balance the Subud
body referred to above unless and
until our members support it with Working in harmony with the
deeds and actions rather than lip- vegetable force, headwear de-
service. I wish SICA Britain well signer Prunella displays the
for the future. fruits of her latihan!
So long for now

By Lance Edwards
S
ome while ago I promised to
add my contribution to the
ghost stories which members
had sent in, so here it is.
Shortly after joining Subud, my
friend (and eventually brother-in-
law) asked to test with the helpers
about whether his house was
haunted. He lived with his father
and sister over a Chemists shop. I
had been there once or twice and
found the living room to be dark,
cold and depressing, but haunted?
The testing appeared to show
that the place was indeed haunted
and whoever it was seemed to want
to suck the life blood out of my
friend. His sister said that if she
tried to clean or tidy the house all
the energy drained out of her and
further research indicated that a
vindictive old man had formerly
owned the property. Apparently, in
Winter he never left his bed, though
there was nothing wrong with him,
and made his niece do all the work
and wait on him hand and foot, until
he died. Neighbours had said that
he had never rested in his grave!
We referred to him as Pie Face.
Eventually a group of helpers
went to the house to see if they
could exorcise this being. They did
latihan there but Pie Face didn’t
want to go! He seemed to enter one
of the helpers and the rest did their
best but it seemed like stalemate.
Then they started laughing at him
and he couldn’t stand that (a useful
tip should you be in a similar
situation!) and he departed. It
turned out that the same week this
exorcism was carried out, the very
elderly sister of Custard face finally
died.
Now, I cannot vouch for the
accuracy of all this, since I wasn’t a
helper and wasn’t there. All I can
say is that when I visited the house
again I was struck and amazed at
the change in atmosphere. Light
streamed through the window and
the atmosphere of gloom had
noticeably lifted. Moreover, I was
warm!
Some time later, when I had
started going out with my friend’s
sister (i.e. Lydia), she moved into
an attic room, in a Rudolf Steiner
settlement where they had a grand
piano she could practice on for her
College entrance exam. I used to
walk over every evening to see her.
The people there were delightful
and we both came to love them.
I remember on one occasion, in
that very room with the piano,
trying to explain to Lydia about the
latihan. It seemed to me I was
explaining it really well, yet she
seemed to get more and more
grumpy. Suddenly I was literally
struck dumb, presumably by the
latihan and couldn’t speak for some
time. Afterwards she said that if I
had gone on she would never have
joined! A warning to all those who
would like to dragoon new mem-
bers into Subud or to advertise it!
Well, she did, of course, join,
but she found that she had a
problem with the room she was
staying in. She kept having dreadful
nightmares in which the doors of
the built in wardrobe flew open and
something dreadful came out. I was
most concerned about this and, with
naive enthusiasm, tested by myself
about this phenomenon. It was
indeed terrifying and, full of
concern for Lydia’s safety, I rushed
over to see the people of the house
in order to try to explain to them
what was wrong.
Being in a spiritual movement
themselves they were both horrified
and mortified that anything of this
nature should or could take place in
their house. It was true that Lydia’s
predecessor in the room had been a
schizophrenic, but nothing of hers
remained in the room. It had been
cleared out and cleaned thoroughly.
The only thing in the cupboard was
a piece of string which the poor
woman had tied across as a hanging
rail for clothes. It was strangely
knotted at the ends and difficult to
remove, but removed it was. There
were no more nightmares. Only
now have I learned from Lydia that
the woman had committed suicide,
Editorial
one of two people to do so while in
the care of the people of the house,
who were following Steiner’s
teachings and trying to help all
those who came to their doors. No
wonder Bapak warned us not to try
to deal with or open such unfortun-
ate people if a group didn’t have the
strength and professional knowl-
edge to deal with them adequately.
If you have an interesting Subud
experience to relate I should be
pleased to hear from you.
Finally, I must, on your behalf
as well as my own, thank Mairi for
the efforts she has made to make
SICA relevant to our lives. Without
her wish to have a magazine this
would still be only a northern
newsletter. I hope by now Open
Views is reaching everyone who
potentially wants it, but I have my
doubts. Despite the large increase in
circulation much of the material
still originates in the north. I know
that everyone is busier than ever
with their lives, but I am sure that
there is much of interest waiting to
be written by members in the south.
In particular, I would welcome a
youth aspect or page in Open
Views. We need to bridge the gap
between the elderly majority of us
and the younger members, who it
must be said mostly live in the
south. Here in the north there is a
real danger of the latihan being
snuffed out as we, one by one, are
being snuffed out!
To end on a more cheerful note,
below is a nice prayer which might,
who knows, help to keep your
homes free of ghosts...
Home Life
A home is a place of loving care;
A home is a haven, a place to
share.
Give us, dear God, your presence
there,
That each may submit their gift
so fair.
Roland Store.
3
Mining the Archive
Selected by Robert Millard
A
nd if the final hour comes, if it is time for you to
die but you have not achieved what you hoped
for, then because your soul has been awakened,
because your inner feeling has begun to be cleaned,
those processes will keep going. So you do not need to
worry that you are too old and have missed your chance,
that you have run out of time. Your soul that is now
awake, your inner feeling that has begun to be cleaned,
will keep working until you get what you need for your
life. Bapak has heard that many older people have asked
whether there is any way to make up for lost time,
because they are old and will not live in this world much
longer. That is why he is telling you this...
...Therefore, what is important is to be aware of the
spiritual training of Susila Budhi Dharma when you
work, when you go out and you are out and about, when
you are at home while you eat and sleep. You need to do
this because the latihan is not the kind of training where
you need to use your heart and mind, all you have to do
is get used to feeling it, get used to receiving it. At the
same time, you should continue to use your heart and
mind in the usual way to meet your needs in this world...
...But never feel that [the latihan] is difficult to do,
never look on it as a burden, for it is there when you see,
or hear, or smell, or eat, or feel, or touch something.
Clearly, what you receive, what we call the Subud lati-
han, is now present and active in every part of your body.
If you have that attitude you will not feel burdened,
because doing latihan is not like following a teaching,
where if you do not study you will forget how to do it.
The latihan is not like that: you do not need to study how
to do it. You just need to make sure that when you are
about to sleep, when you are about to go out, when you
are about to eat, that you remember the greatness of God
and that you quieten yourself and subdue your emotions.
You will soon feel - even though faintly - that in every-
thing you do you are always accompanied by the power
of God, that you are always accompanied by the will of
God, which, as Bapak told you, is the will of God that is
present in every member of your body, in every part of
your being.
But do not go around doing latihan in the same way
that you do in the latihan hall. You just need to feel your
latihan...
...In fact, by doing latihan, although you must not
involve your heart and mind when you do latihan, it
turns out that because you do not involve them, your
heart and mind get healthier. They become healthy be-
cause they are kept out of your innermost feelings, your
inner feeling. In consequence, your inner feeling as well
as your heart and your brain, your emotions and your
thoughts, are restored to health; they come to life...
...Why does this spiritual training involve making
movements that he describes as alive? Because that is
how it should be - something that is right is something
that is filled with life. It is obvious. Even thoughts that
4
are filled with life are good. Automatic watches that are
filled with life are good. If it is filled with life it is good.
That is how it is. And that is why this spiritual training is
training to be alive.
In fact, the term ‘spiritual’ is not the right term to use.
However, there was no other way to describe this train-
ing; there was not another term that fitted the nature of
the latihan. When Bapak called it ‘training to live’
[people asked], ‘What does ‘training to live’ mean? Why
do we need to train to live? We are already alive aren’t
we, so what do we need training for?’ So Bapak had to
change the name to ‘spiritual training’.
The correct term is ‘training for human life’. That is
why every part of you is brought to life. Once the whole
of your inner feeling is alive, it goes without saying that
anything that is alive can feel its own nature. For exam-
ple, if you were dead you would not feel anything, but
you are alive, so even if a mosquito lands on you, you can
feel it. So when every part of you is alive - when your
eyes, when your seeing is truly alive - you will be able to
sense what is right or wrong.
‘Oh, my seeing is motivated by the desires.’ You
sense it.
‘I am seeing this under the control of the animal
forces.’ You sense it.
‘I am seeing this under the control of the vegetable
forces.’ You sense it.
‘I am seeing this because I am thinking about A or B
or C.’ You sense it.
So, once the whole of your inner feeling has been
brought to life you will be able to feel your true nature.
Then you will be able to tell what is right for you and
what is not, which part of you is noble and which is base,
and which part of you is your true individuality.
You will know the true way to behave.
You need to know that in order to be able to discard
or rid yourself of your dirt, of your mistakes. And if you
can complete that process, later on when you come to die
the angels will not need to inspect you; you will not need
to go through ‘Customs’. There will be no need. When
you show up [they will say], ‘Ah... just go through,’
[gesture]. You will have already been inspected. Before
you die the angels will have checked you out, you will be
clean. This is what this latihan is for - it has come from
God; it is God’s help.
[Bapak’s talk to men and women, New York, U.S.A.
18.5.1967.]
Sub editor wanted
Could you assist me by taking on the role of sub edi-
tor for the Insight (visual arts) page? A few hours
work every 2 months gathering material on Subud
artists. What could be more exciting? Phone Lance.

Fardijah Freedman writes about Stefan Freedman
O
ne of the huge pleasures of
writing these articles for
OV (note to my potential
successor) is the possibility of talk-
ing at length with such interesting
and lovely people. This month's ar-
ticle is about one of the very best.
Stefan Freedman is known to many
of us. He travels the world with his
"World Dance" and many of us will
have come across him at congresses
and other gatherings. I last saw him
at a group latihan in Ipswich - typi-
cally he had brought along loads of
food for everybody.
Stefan was born on an Israeli
kibbutz, of Russian and Rumanian-
jewish ancestry, and his parents re-
turned to England when he was 10
months old. He describes his family
as typically "Jewish": warm, colour-
ful, artistic - his mother sang, his
grandmother played the piano -
sometimes neurotic!, humorous,
close and protective. He still keeps
in touch with many relatives in Isra-
el, and I asked him about his Juda-
ism. For him it is the warm culture
"Yiddishkeit" described above; and
it has called him to feel involved
with the conflicted peoples of the
Middle East - more of this later.
(Incidentally, despite the surnames,
Stefan and I are not related. My
husband's greatgrandfather adopted
the name as a protection in 19th
century Poland, Stefan's family al-
ways had it)
A Musical View
"Doron" as he was then, grew
up in Hackney. Music was always a
part of him, but, as the "shy intro-
vert" he then was, he did not con-
sider a performing career. At 17, he
was looking for "something spirit-
ual with no guru” and came across
John Bennett's “A Spiritual Psy-
chology” in the Hackney Public Li-
brary. He was intrigued by several
footnotes which mentioned Subud,
and he followed it up. In 1970 he
was opened in the old Subud Hall in
Monmouth Road, West London.
He then went to university in
Norwich, to study anthropology and
Social Sciences. He is lovingly re-
membered in the Norwich group as
one who "brought the group to life"
- including installing in 1971 the
first-ever group noticeboard (rather
controversial at that time!). As a
young graduate he worked as a
school teacher, a social researcher
(on accidents at sea) for the Tavis-
tock Clinic in London, a maker of
pinewood tables and a peripatetic
music and dance teacher. Some eve-
nings he and our present National
Chair Paul Gawen, worked in Har-
vey Peters' off-licence in Barnet, N.
London to raise funds for charity.
Harvey now owns Glansevin (all
these connections go back a long
way! )
Here something comes in that
has been characteristic for Stefan's
work life. He has often been doing
something quite successfully, and
then experienced a growing sense of
constriction. In each case, he ex-
plained, he fought the impulse to
change jobs with all his willpower,
not wanting to give up something
concrete (and waged) for something
nebulous. But eventually would
“step into the void". At that point
and only then could the next phase
manifest itself.
One particularly vivid episode in
this oddyssey, something that is
happily remembered by people who
were around at the time, was the
"Sunshine Express" - songs and
games for children - created by Ste-
fan in partnership with Maurice
Baker. It carried on for 4 years tour-
ing schools and theatres, and even-
tually came to an amicable end.
Maurice, while working as a school
teacher, continued to develop his
inimitable songs, stories and crafts
for children and is now also per-
forming his new songs (for adults)
in Newcastle folk clubs. Many of us
still have those little yellow cas-
settes called Krazy Kreechers,
which our grandchildren are now
giggling and bouncing about to.
Ater 10 years in Subud, "Doron"
kept getting inconvenient prompt-
ings that he should ask for a new
name. He was fond of his old name
and reluctant to disappoint his fam-
ily but it was becoming like a fur-
lined straitjacket. It was soon after
adopting "Stefan" that he received
two great gifts: firstly, a career that
enabled him to keep challenging
himself and developing; secondly a
soul-mate who was later also to be-
come his work-mate! He was at a
Subud social in Norwich, where
he'd come from London to entertain
the children during the daytime and
lead circle dancing in the evening.
Bethan, a single mother with 3 chil-
dren attended, and they met again at
the UK congress and at a Subud
holistic weekend. After about 6
months they realised that this was
something deeper than a pleasant
acquaintanceship - and they have
been married 23 years and have a
grandson!
But not only is this a happy mar-
riage, it is an amazing team. Bethan
is a dancer, Stefan a musician (and
dancer and choreographer) and to-
gether they have explored tradi-
tional dances and created new ones,
using contemporary as well as tradi-
tional "world music". "Shoots as
well as roots", he says. Stefan's dis-
tinctive and prolific choreography
wins him worldwide acclaim. He
and Bethan are invited, and invited
to return, all over the world. Stefan
says "It is like a family, or a com-
munity, totally multicultural and
multi-faith, transcending language
Continued on back page
5
Looking at - Logs
A day in the life of narrow boat enthusiast Chris Leah
I 've been away looking at logs,
and that means there's some real
boatbuilding in the offing at
last. It's been such a long job to
build up the organisation so that
this would be possible. It all hangs
now on the wonderful work that
Fiona, our development worker, is
doing. We have all digits crossed
for a funding bid that she's made to
restore "Hazel" and use her to give
holidays to people recovering from
depression etc. We should know
next week if we have the money. In
the meantime I'm starting to make
preparations.
One of the difficulties of wooden
boatbuilding is finding enough
good, big logs. Most sawmills can't
cut the lengths that we need. I had
heard about a sawmill near Grimsby
in Lincolnshire so I decided to go
and have a look. I decided to go by
train and bike as I prefer to travel
that way, it reduces the carbon foot-
print and, if you book in advance,
it's cheaper.
Early on Monday morning I en-
joyed cycling down the towpath the
5 miles to Manchester Picadilly sta-
tion. Just as I turned into the station
approach I heard a psssssshhhough
from the back wheel. The tube had
gone, not just a puncture but a great
split. Not a good start to the trip. I
decided to take the bike with me on
the offchance of finding a bike shop
in Grimsby and, after a while spent
relaxing and watching trains come
and go, I loaded myself and the re-
dundant bike on to a Transpennine
Express unit bound for Cleethorpes.
Once we were clear of the urban
sprawl I could enjoy the Pennine
scenery as the unit growled up the
gradient through Chinley then
through a tunnel and rattled down
the Hope Valley. Just think, I could
be stressed out on the motorway!
Past Sheffield I was in less fa-
miliar territory as we threaded a
mixture of countryside, town and
post industrial wasteland, all the
while playing spot the canal as we
paralleled the Sheffield and South
Yorkshire Navigation. Mr Wadd-
6
ington’s light blue barges hove into
view a time or two, though sadly
not in use.
The train rumbled on to a bridge
over the wide muddy banked Trent.
A steel narrowboat was heading
upstream on the first of the tide.
Soon we were in Scunthorpe, with
its unfashionably grim industry,
then riding out over the Humber-
side plains.
As the train slowed into Grim-
sby Station I grabbed my useless
bike ready to quickly exit the pneu-
matic doors and lock it to a bike
rack, then, following directions for
the station staff, headed quickly
through a pedestrian area to the 'bus
station.
For some reason 'bus routes and
schedules form a body of arcane
knowledge only known to a secret
society of regular users. By relent-
less quizzing of various acolytes of
this order I managed to work out
that I needed the X1 Humber Flyer
from stand D, but the complex
charts required to ascertain the
times of the flyers were mysteri-
ously absent. Eventually a 'bus
driver cracked under interrogation
and admitted that the relevant
charabanc would depart at a quarter
to.
This gave me time for a short
walk to the old docks, where a
trawler with scabby paint was ber-
thed alongside the fishing museum.
Grinning guides in sou'westers were
poised to show the sadly absent
public around their ship. Ahead of
her lay the "Lincoln Castle", a fine
big paddle steamer that used to be
the main link to Hull before the
construction of the Humber Bridge.
Now she is beached on a sandbank
in the silted dock. Had I time I
would have liked to look round the
museum.
The rather down at heel appear-
ance of the vessels reflects the diffi-
culty in getting funding for floating
heritage. Also in the dock were two
wooden fishing boats, one sunk and
one listing drunkenly, illustrating
the even greater problem of getting
funds for anything wooden. In con-
trast the museum building was a
modern, high quality structure
which I'm sure contains lots of well
funded audio visual whizziness.
Back at the 'bus station the
steamer's wheeled replacement,
with a remarkably cheerful driver,
was soon flying me out of town into
the countryside, to deposit me at the
delightful village of Keelby. Fol-
lowing directions given by a helpful
passenger I completed the 10
minute walk to Somerscales saw-
mill, just as most people were go-
ing out for lunch.
Luckily the receptionist stayed at
her post and, with a refreshing lack
of safety overkill, suggested that I
look round on my own, but be care-
ful. I strode towards the log piles
and was soon perching atop them
pacing out logs and assessing their
planking potential. They have some
amazingly big logs there, up to 40
feet long. Usually it's hard to get
more than 20 ft (about 7 metres for
metric readers). Underneath the
good logs were others that had rot-
ted beyond all use, so long had they
been in the pile. The log piles
seemed to go on for ever and I ex-
citedly trotted about, searching for
the perfect boatbuilding log.
Between piles ran black muddy
roadways rutted with the tracks of
the machines used for moving the
logs. As I crossed them the mud
came to the tops of my boots. I
moved to the corner of the stacking
area, stepped confidently into a rut,
and suddenly found myself up to
my knees in soft black ooze.
Chuckling at my predicament I
pulled myself out and decided to
avoid all ruts in future.
The log shifters appear to in-
dulge in some kind of sport that in-
volves hitting life expired vehicles
with huge logs, perhaps some kind
of giants’ cricket. At least, this is
how it seemed from the amount of
totally smashed cars that lay on the
margins of the field.
With my perambulation of the
Continued on page 7
 Continued from page 6
huge log stacking area complete, I
returned to the office. The boss had
returned, gone looking for me,
given up and left again. However,
Danny, his son, was available and I
took him to some of the logs that
interested me. I asked about price,
whilst firmly gripping a large tree
trunk.
Prices have gone up recently,
but not too much. The bigger logs
command a premium, but this has
to be balanced with the fact that
there is normally less waste on a
bigger log.
I asked about the market for
oak, boatbuilding being a pretty mi-
nor outlet. Danny told me that a lot
went for oak framed houses, not
restorations but new build. Appar-
ently there has been a boom in this
form of construction recently,
which might explain the price rise.
Another factor is that British Water-
ways have gone back to using oak
for lock gates. A few years ago they
were full of the joys of Opepe, but
this Ghanaian hardwood is not sust-
ainably grown and environmental
considerations have now swayed
them back to using native oak. I'm
glad that awareness of rainforest
destruction is now having a real ef-
fect, even though it means that our
timber will be a bit more expensive.
"Have you seen the sawmill"
asked Danny. I hadn't, so he show-
ed me the most sophisticated saw-
mill I've ever seen. Under remote
control from the safety of a glass
cabin a log was quickly fed through
the sawblade, guided by a laser,
pulled back, rotated, then fed
through again for another cut with-
out pausing to draw breath. The
mill was only installed about 18
months ago and Danny was obvi-
ously proud of it. It can only cut up
to 25 feet though, longer logs will
have to use an older, but still im-
pressive, machine alongside. This
one can cut up to 50 feet.
We strolled back to the office
and Danny had to leave to attend to
other business. Accepting a cup of
coffee, I sat and admired the unu-
sual office. Though it is clearly a
modern building it contains no
MDF or plastics. The walls are bare
brick, the beams oak and everything
else made of proper wood (except
the computer of course). It was
heated by an elegant glass fronted
woodstove and furnished with taste-
ful antique chairs and sideboard.
Coffee finished, I set off back
towards the village. As I walked
down the lane a huge lorry, loaded
with logs, headed for the sawmill. I
was feeling peckish and explored
the village a little in search of suste-
nance. Amazingly, I had a choice of
grocers, and a separate post office if
I needed it. I entered a mini super-
market and chose one from a wide
range of pork pies, then walked to a
bench opposite the 'bus stop to sit
and consume it.
With my hunger banished I
crossed the road to await the Hum-
ber Flyer. First a school 'bus arrived
and disgorged its young cargo.
They walked past me staring fix-
edly into their palms which con-
tained mobile 'phones and computer
games. The flyer arrived, this time
driven by a woman with incredibly
red lipstick, and whisked me back
to Grimsby.
There was more than an hour to
wait for the train as my cheap ticket
was only valid on the 18.48 service.
I walked to the old docks again and
considered having a look at the
modern port in the distance, but I
decided it was too far. If my bike
was serviceable there would be no
problem. Back in town I followed a
waterway that was presumably once
navigable but is now cut off by a
pumping station. I imagined Keels
and Sloops lined up alongside the
brick warehouses bordering the wa-
ter, men toiling to unload their car-
goes.
As darkness fell I returned to the
station and reclaimed my bike. I
enjoyed watching the comings and
goings of passengers, then suddenly
remembered my camera. I had
brought my new digibole camelode
with the intention of photographing
logs, but in my excitment I com-
pletely forgot. To make up for this
omission I photographed the
Cleethorpes to Barton on Humber
railcar progressing through the sta-
tion.
Soon my train snaked into the plat-
form. I loaded up my bike and
found a seat. As we grumbled off
into the night I took out my 'phone
and started to make arrangements
with volunteers for the next couple
of days and send out texts to remind
people about the forthcoming recy-
cling trips. My impression of the
day was one of the consummate
friendliness of the people I had met.
Suddenly I was jerked forward
from my seat as the train made the
most abrupt stop that I've ever
known on rails. The guard hurried
forward into the drivers cab, then,
after a while walked back. A pas-
senger near me asked what was
wrong. The guard’s reply was biz-
zarre. He said "I don't think there's
anything to worry about because the
driver hasn't spoken to me, if he
does speak to me then it will be a
serious situation". With that he tod-
dled off to the back of the train.
After what seemed like half a
geological era the train crew con-
ferred again in the cab, then we
moved up to the next signal, where
we stopped for the driver to 'phone
the signalman (why don't they have
radios?) before restarting our jour-
ney.
Later the guard announced what
had happened over the .p.a. system.
It seems that some foolish person
had dashed across the line in front
of the train, so close that the driver
couldn't be sure that he hadn't been
hit. This meant that he had to walk
back along the track until he was
satisfied that there was no corpse
lying by the line, hence the long
delay.
As we raced into the blackberry
black night I had an idea. I rang
Dave the driver. Dave is a volunteer
who loves driving and has taken
charge of the society's van. As I
guessed, an extra trip to meet me at
Stockport station would be no prob-
lem for him, and so I was able to
avoid the chore of pushing my bike
back up the towpath from Manches-
ter.
After Doncaster I began to doze
and, though I recall Sheffield, I
didn't properly regain consciousness
until Hazel Grove in the Manches-
ter suburbs. Dave and his wife, Ann
Marie, were waiting in the van to
drive me to Ashton, where I check-
ed that the boat's pumps were work-
ing properly before going home.
7
Garden Gleanings
Mark McElroy on Gardening up-the-wall
T here are many beautiful
plants to cover walls, fences
and pergolas and to add to
the beauty of any garden. Most
need support and the main consid-
erations for this are the height of the
plant, its strength of growth and the
type of support needed - for exam-
ple whether the plant needs to be
tied to the support or has tendrils
that grip it. Some simply grow
against a wall and need no support
at all.
Climbing roses are a must for
any garden but also very commonly
planted: I shall not consider them
here. For me, one of the most strik-
ing wall shrubs is Actinidia kolo-
mikta `Arctic beauty` a twining
climber with leaves of green, white
and pink in May and June. It grows
slowly to a maximum height of 12
feet so will not romp up a wall or
fence beyond a reasonable pruning
height. Rather ordinary later in the
year, its late spring appearance
raises my spirits like the sight of
early daffodils.
Actinidia kolonikta
It needs a sunny wall/fence and
support. Male and female forms are
needed to obtain the tiny edible
fruits of this Northern hemisphere
form of the kiwi fruit.
For a difficult north-facing posi-
tion few early-flowering self-cling-
ers beat the climbing hydrangea H.
petiolaris. Slow-growing and toler-
ant of almost any soil - even rubble
if it is fed - this climber will grow a
foot every two years. It flowers in
May and for the rest of the year of-
8
fers a support for twining plants
such as clematis and honeysuckle.
The climbing honeysuckles,
Lonicera, are twining plants need-
ing support of trellis or other plants.
In variety they give a colourful
and fragrant display, with varieties
covering most of the year for flower
and scent. They make a glorious
sight covering a tree stump. Being
forest climbers they like semi shade
as well as full sun - and some will
grow to great heights. Pruning out
flowered wood after flowering
should keep the more vigorous in
check. Many are evergreen or semi-
evergreen. Commonly seen are; L.
fragrantissima (white: winter/early
spring); L. Tellmanniana (orange:
late spring); L.periclymenum
`Serotina` (purple:summer) or
`Graham Thomas (white: summer);
L japonica `Halliana` (white: sum-
mer). As an aside from climbers, L.
purpusii is a semi-evergreen shrub
with the advantage of very fragrant
white flowers/yellow anthers in
early spring, ideal for a position
close to a door or garage for a whiff
of the summer to come as you leave
the house.
An excellent evergreen wall
shrub coming into flower at the
present time (late May) is the Cali-
fornia Lilac – Ceanothus. Our plant
is C. thyrsiflorus with deep blue
flowers in abundance. It is now
fifteen feet tall and grows against a
six-foot fence but with no other
support. It needs a sunny site but is
otherwise unfussy. There is a
ground cover relative-variety re-
pens. Yet another evergreen, Itea
ilicifolia, is a beauty, producing its
dark green, glossy foliage and very
long catkins – up to a foot long of
small green-white honey-scented
flowers – in late summer/early au-
tumn on a sunny/semi-shaded wall.
Among the more exotic climbers
available to gardeners and a must
for any south-facing wall are Pass-
ion flowers. These are tendril
climbers and need support of any-
thing that allows the tendrils to
grip. Most are frost-tender but I
have found P. caerulea to survive
cold winters on a south wall. Its
amazingly intricate flowers in late
summer-autumn are often followed
by orange fruits which are not to be
confused with the delicious fruit
from P. edulis which grows in hot
climates. The flowers are said to
symbolise the death of Christ. The
five sepals and five petals represent
the disciples without Judas and Pe-
ter. The double row of coloured fil-
aments represents the halo around
Christ's head – or else the crown of
thorns. The stamens and flattened-
headed styles represent the wounds
and nails. The tendrils resemble
whips that were used to scourge
Christ and the lobed leaves resem-
ble the clutching hands of the Ro-
man soldiers.
The one wall we have in our gar-
den is clothed mainly with ivies –
Hedera helix `Buttercup`; H.helix
`Goldheart` and H.helix `Glacier`.
These self-clinging plants do not
give showy flowers but do have
showy foliage; offer nesting sites
for birds; are evergreen; and, along
the top of the wall, deter cats from
stalking nesting birds. `Glacier` is
one of the small-leaved varieties
which cover fences well. Of course,
some of the climbers mentioned
above may climb through the ivy
foliage. As a warning, though, the
more colourful ivy may spoil the
overall view of a border if it does
not form a suitably-coloured back-
drop to permanent shrubs and per-
ennials. However, H.helix ‘Butter-
cup` forms a stunning back cloth to
the `Smoke bush`, Cotinus cog-
gigria `Royal purple`.
No list of climbers would be
complete without reference to Cle-
matis varieties. These can be found
to flower in almost every month of
the growing year starting with the
C. montana and C. armandii in late
spring. Clematis like sheltered are-
as, but for more exposed situations
C. Alpina or C. macropetala are
safe bets. For an evergreen, the long
leaved, C. armandii is a beautiful
Continued on page 9
 Continued from page 8
and vigorous plant flowering in
spring. Its flowers are white, star-
shaped almond-scented clusters
which appear in April. Unlike most
clematis, which are not heavy and
require not too substantial support,
C. armandii needs a strong trellis or
a bulky body like a shed or pergola
to grow on. It prefers a sheltered
position in sun or semi-shade and
can be pruned immediately after
flowering to keep it in check.
Clematis armandii
Many shrubs can be grown
against a wall/fence and be pruned
to a vertical dimension. For spring
fragrance in a sunny place, the small
white flowers of the evergreen Os-
manthus delavayi are unbeatable;
whereas at the year-end, and for its
winter catkins, but rather dull ever-
green foliage, Garrya eliptica de-
serves a mention. It will grow in
northern shade and needs no sup-
port on a wall/fence. If grown in full
sun clematis will use it as a support.
Osmanthus delavayi
Lance Edwards visits Rhuddlan Castle, N. Wales
I n my youth I was passionately
interested in castles, symbols of
my introverted and defensive
nature. To my wife ruined castles
mostly evoke the oppression of the
majority by the few. She is right, of
course; they are like the concrete
pill boxes from the second world
war. However, there is more to be
said about them.
Firstly, because of their sheer
size they tend to come under the
heading of ‘architecture’ rather than
mere ‘building’. Rightly so, because
their designers had to evolve com-
plex defensive plans on a huge scale
and a good castle, like the stream-
lined fuselage of a deadly jet fight-
er, can be beautiful as well as
frightening.
Like church architecture, they
evolved and by the end of the 12th
century the Normans had built huge
stone castles in every place of stra-
tegic importance. These usually in-
volved a series of walled and tow-
ered areas which had to be won, one
after the other, before the final
stronghold (‘Donjon’ or ‘Keep’)
could be gained. This might be a
freestanding stone tower or a circu-
lar stone walled enclosure on top of
an older earth mound. Three hun-
dred years later the development of
gunpowder and artillery rendered
the castle obsolescent and at the end
of the Civil War most were irrepa-
rably and deliberately made inde-
fensible.
The apogee of Castle as well as
of cathedral building occurred dur-
ing the reign of Edward I in the late
13th century. Known as ‘the Ham-
mer of the Scots’ he was also pretty
good at hammering the Welsh. With
the help of French architects he
built royal castles all round the
Welsh coast. Most had access from
the sea so that a royal army could
be shipped in to relieve a siege.
Based on knowledge acquired
abroad during the crusades, most of
these Edwardian castles were built
on the ‘concentric’ plan. There was
no Keep as such, though one tower
might be larger than the others and
Insight
be capable of holding out on its
own, such as the Eagle Tower at
Caernarvon. Usually, however, as at
Harlech, the principal gatehouse
served this purpose, containing ac-
commodation for the constable as
well as a whole series of defences.
The intention of this type of cas-
tle was to provide equal defence on
all sides. An inner rectangular
courtyard, ‘ward’ or ‘bailey’, had
high walls of great thickness pro-
tecting a large dining and sleeping
hall, a suitably large kitchen, as
well as private and ceremonial
rooms for the King, Lord or his rep-
resentative built around the sides of
the courtyard. Large projecting
rounded towers at the corners of
this inner bailey, and sometimes
midway between, enabled cross-
bowmen to command the space be-
yond. Double towers with a heavily
defended passage between formed
gatehouses, often on two opposing
sides of the inner bailey. A lower
wall, parallel to the higher one, with
its own towers and gatehouses sur-
rounded and protected the inner bai-
ley from siege engines and mining,
while the whole was surrounded
with a rock cut ditch or a wet moat
with turning bridges in front of the
gatehouses which could be further
protected by smaller fighting areas
or ‘barbicans’.
Rhuddlan was one of the earlier
Edwardian castles in Wales. In the
picture you can see the twin tow-
ered gatehouse at one corner of the
inner bailey; a second gatehouse
occupies the opposite corner leav-
ing just two more towers required at
the remaining corners to complete
the inner defences. The grass killing
ground or ‘lists’ appears between
Continued on back page
9
“It’s your age”
By Matthew Jack
O
ver the years enough pat-
tients have relayed to me
this response from their
medical attendants for it to have
stuck in my mind, and it’s a dep-
ressing reflection of a healthcare
system destroyed by bureaucracy
and government and blinkered by
an almost totally allopathic app-
roach to treatment. The manage-
ment of ill health should begin with
empowerment of people whereas
remarks such as this only demoral-
ize.
When I lived in York, many
years ago, my uncle, terminally ill
with bowel cancer, was referred to
the Professor of Surgery in Leeds. I
accompanied him. It was apparent
nothing practical could be done to
help, but Professor Goligher’s
empathy, patience and kindness left
us with an astonishing glow which
remained with us on the journey
back to York. One could comment
that the consultation accomplished
nothing lasting, but then what if my
uncle had seen someone obviously
stressed and overworked and had
not received, in effect, such a
benediction. He certainly came
away with empowerment at some
level.
In a Subud context, healing
sometimes occurs in a fashion so
mysterious that we are often aware
of it only retrospectively, and
sometimes more low key things
happen too. A patient of mine had a
minor stroke; the weakness resolved
within a few days, but he smoked
15 plus a day and I felt strongly that
there was more mischief to come
and that I must do my best to help
him get off them, so I dropped in at
his house to reinforce advice
already given.
A few days later he came to see
me and to report that, the day after
my visit, he had bought a packet of
cigarettes, but then, looking at the
packet, thought “what do I want
with these?” Thereupon he threw
them away. The significant thing
was that he was astonished at his
own behaviour.
10
I am rather preoccupied with the
possibility of regrowing damaged
joint surfaces. I recall being told as
a medical student that a particularly
crude surgical procedure was
carried out, probably in the 30’s, to
relieve the intractable pain of
advanced osteoarthritis of the hip -
this involved simply opening the
upper thigh and sawing through the
femur a few inches below the joint.
The pain relief was as effective as
the procedure was brutal. When the
patient could eventually stand, the
lower bone end would ride up
amongst the muscle and eventually
a ‘pseudarthrosis’ would form, with
limited ambulation aided by a
crutch.
Surprisingly, x-rays of some of
these cases taken a few years later
would show that the femoral head
and socket had healed and
remodelled - simply presumably by
being relieved of the body weight.
At some stage we were taught as
students that joints can’t repair
themselves. Strictly speaking this is
true, but this is probably only
because they can’t be relieved of
their task if their owners remain
active, and immobilizing them, as
for a fracture, would only cause
irreversible stiffening. They
certainly try very hard - when an
osteoarthritic knee is opened for
surgery all the repair processes can
be seen, splatted to the periphery of
the joint, whilst the central most
directly weight bearing area is
denuded of cartilage and is bone on
bone, the chondrocytes (cartilage
forming cells) are busy round the
edges of the joint so that spikes of
new bone (osteophytes) are visible,
proof that, however inappropriately,
the repair process is alive and well.
As we get older some tissues
age faster than others, but the order
of this is very individual and no
doubt the nature of our activity in
life causes our bodies to prioritise,
so that it is increasingly recognised
that people mentally active in their
youth are likely to remain so if they
keep up their bridge matches,
crosswords and (now) sodoku. It is
interesting that, contrary to long
held beliefs about the brain’s
inability to heal, modern scanning
techniques reveal that it is in fact a
very dynamic organ, and whilst it
can shrink following concussion it
can regenerate and regain its normal
bulk and function and, indeed,
respond visibly when a new
unfamiliar and taxing activity
(learning the piano) is undertaken
later in life. Brain scans readily
show up the plaques of multiple
sclerosis and these have been seen
to disappear during remissions or in
the event of cures of the disease.
There is no doubt that the
human body, when allowed time to
adapt, probably contains more
‘failsafe’ mechanisms than anything
dreamed of by engineers or
physicists, and probably more than
any other species. The range and
degree of biochemical malfunctions
seen in chronic fatigue syndrome
often bears little relation to the
degree of disability of patients,
some of whom, having decided they
cannot or dare not or must not, go
under and become bedridden,
proceed not to do so; and
investigations show that their
bodies have learned to ferment,
rather than oxidise, glucose. Mind
over matter indeed.
Subud’s Melinda Jackson
demonstrates the calming
therapeutic effect knitting can
have on the animal force
 Some time cradle time
A charming short story by Philip R. W. Harrison
G
wendaline reclined in her
garden patio, bathed in the
sunlight of a new day. She
had spent an hour or so with her
writing and now, with two cups and
coffee pot at the ready, she paused,
waiting to share the morning’s tran-
quility.
A car door closed and Gwen
could hear quick, familiar footsteps
approaching round the side of the
house.
“My beautiful... My adorable...
My Gwendaline,” greeted her moth-
er, kissing her on the cheek. Her
mother specialised in entrances,
both vocal and statuesque, a habit
she acquired from amateur dramat-
ics and membership of several local
operatic societies.
Over the years Mrs Doran had
been in a string of amateur produc-
tions - Noel Coward’s ‘Bitter
Sweet’, Ivor Novello’s ‘King’s
Rhapsody’ and ‘Annie get your
Gun’, ‘The Mikado’, etc., etc... All
in the local High Street Royal Thea-
tre. Also numerous plays in church
halls, as well as amateur weekend
acting competitions in schools and
colleges. It had been a happy, artis-
tic pastime.
Mrs Doran glanced at her mar-
ried daughter’s fine, trim figure.
“Any news my dear?”
From day one, Gwen’s mother
had been asking ‘any news’ over the
last two years. Recently her
mother’s voice carried a desperate
insistence. When and if the time
came, Gwen decided, she was going
to tell her mother in her own special
way.
Gwen poured out the coffee and
smiled. She tapped her writing pad -
“the news, mother dear - the news is
I think I have a story line ready.”
“Really, indeed,” her mother
sighed, adding “have you noticed
your neighbour’s car sticker next
door? It reads ‘Our grandchildren
are so much fun, we wish we’d had
them first!’”
Gwen took up her writing pad
without comment, mildly irritated.
“I have a young couple here in my
story line, as a matter of fact. He is
Roger, a handsome generational ac-
countant and she is Maureen, a fine
beauty who runs her own art gallery
in town.”
“How nice,” her mother encour-
aged, “we could do with some
‘generational’ prospects I am think-
ing, dear. Now look here, Gwen,”
she continued, “there does not seem
much point in your father and I liv-
ing in the area. It is two years,
Gwen, two years and no sign of
grandchildren on the way. Now I
have first refusal on a charming hill-
side cottage with two acres away in
the Lake District, would you be-
lieve?”
“It is stone built, has a large
porch with bench seats each side
inside where your father can read
his morning paper. By the solid oak
door is an iron bell pull handle with
several small spring bells a’ tin-
kling.”
“The roof has four fat chimney
pots glazed with colourful pixie fac-
es. There is a long garden like an
apple orchard and between the trees
is a bright, ornate old gypsy cara-
van. It has fancy curtains and lan-
terns galore, all ready to gallop
away. Then, flagstones in the scul-
lery, a water tub at a corner of the
cottage and a back yard hand pump
for well water! What an opportunity
for your old mum and dad.”
Gwen put the empty cups back
on the tray. “You know what they
say, mother,” she responded. “The
opportunity of a lifetime occurs in
the lifetime of the opportunity! Any-
way, this Roger and Maureen are
looking for their first house. Roger
favours a small flat, but Maureen
wants to rent something bigger in
the country to start with. In the
Westwood maybe.”
“They visit the estate agent and
are given five or six town flats to
view. They spend a whole weekend,
brochures in hand, arguing and
shouting at each other in empty
rooms. The smaller the flat, the
more heated their words,” Gwen
explained
“A lovers’ tiff,” Mrs Doran sug-
gested.
“Not a tiff. They part in anger,
mother. Roger’s firm sends him
away to Australia to do a two
month generational review for the
government and Maureen’s art gal-
lery suffers fire damage. Everything
is breaking up and Maureen does
not know what to do with herself,”
Gwen declared.
“She thinks of phoning Roger,
but decides against it, as it would
interfere with his work. Then there
is the fire damage insurance and
repairs to deal with. And the Subud
Association meetings in the gallery
will need an alternative venue to be
fixed up for the time being. Mau-
reen shows the damage to Margaret,
the association helper, who sees
how upset she is and suggests a
clearing exercise and some testing
together,” Gwen continued.
“In testing Maureen’s relation-
ship with Roger, Maureen receives
a rocking motion with both arms in
cradling posture. A baby to cradle,”
Gwen lilted. “What do you think of
it so far?”
Mrs Doran chuckled, shaking
her head. “I feel I know your Mau-
reen as well as I do yourself. And
another thing, what is THAT Mar-
garet doing in your story line?
Come to think of it, I have changed
my mind about the Lake District,
my dear. I do believe sometime
there’ll be cradle time.”
Mrs Doran picked up the coffee
tray. “You stay where you are,
Gwen, and rest. I’ll do these and I
think I’ll have a look round Mother-
care this afternoon.
Be righteous in adversity
The long arm of adversity
On fulcrum of necessity
Prizes out from cosmic role,
The need to serve the human
soul.
Roland Store.
11
 Continued from page 5
or national barriers" and bringing an
immensely meaningful unity for all
who take part. This may sound
strangely like a description of Sub-
ud, and Stefan experiences the in-
ternational network of people who
enjoy dance and music from many
lands as spiritually inclined, open-
minded and in tune with the aims of
our own Subud association. Can I
refer you to their website,
www.worldance.org, for more
about the sacred and life-bringing
nature of their work. (From my very
limited experience, I find that the
high quality of the music integrates
the various aspects.) It is so differ-
ent "dipping a toe in" when the mu-
sic is convincing and beautiful in its
own right.
Stefan marvels, chuckling, "I
never expected to find a wife who
would work with me - the most I
had hoped was to find someone
who would put up with me!" Their
cultural holidays and festivals in
UK, Greece, France, Holland, Isra-
el, Belgium, Canada, USA (and this
year, Brazil) have developed organ-
ically. Now they are moving in a
new direction. They are developing
the areas of dance, song and group
facilitation for people experiencing
conflict.
Music and movement have well-
documented qualities which can be
applied in trauma relief. Dance and
music, well-orchestrated, is cathar-
tic and opens the heart, so can be
used to complement dialogue in in-
tercultural forums and peace-build-
ing. Stefan is particularly passionate
about addressing the needs of com-
munities of the Middle East. He is
involved in "Windows for Peace"
who publish a magazine in which
Palestinian and Israeli children
(including those in occupied territo-
ries) are allowed to describe very
frankly their lives, hopes and con-
cerns. Windows' latest UK project
is bringing Palestinian and Israeli
children together with well-trained
dialogue facilitators in the neutral
and safe surroundings of Edinburgh.
(Many of us will remember the
Lebanese and Israeli Subud sisters
being able to dance together in As-
cot after a week's work with Dor-
othea Rogers and others.)
Over the years Stefan's has
pitched in with Subud committee
and helper work. His most relished
roles were entertainments and child-
rens camps. Recently he coordi-
nated a WSA executive team
project looking at ways for Subud
to become a better learning organi-
sation and improve its interface
with the public. With this aim he
initiated two Subud-hosted arts fes-
tivals last year at Lewes and Loud-
water groups. The events
successfully brought the public and
Subud members together in a fes-
tive atmosphere.
So - here is someone very spec-
ial. But when you are with him he
makes you feel special too! Here is
someone who really "walks the
talk" and lives his latihan.
Recipe
Simple chilli
con carni
1lb lean minced beef;
2 garlic cloves, crushed;
1 onion;
4 sticks celery;
1 green pepper;
2 large mushrooms;
all these vegetables finely
chopped.
a little sunflower oil.
1 can chopped tomatoes;
1 can red kidney beans,
some dried chilli flakes.
Heat oil in non stick fry pan;
add meat and chopped vegeta-
bles. Let the veg. soften and
the meat brown. Add tomatoes
and kidney beans and dried
chilli flakes. Allow to finish
cooking. Serve with boiled rice
and a salad.
This recipe is very tasty and
sustaining.
Ismutijah Davis

Continued from page 9

the inner bailey and the parallel
lower outer defensive wall, the
foundations of which can be seen,
though the ramparts, gateways and
turning bridges over the outer ditch
have all long gone. In addition A
postern or watergate leads down
protected steps to the nearby river.
Such a castle, with its skeleton
defence force much increased dur-
ing troubled times, would be capa-
ble of dominating a large area of
countryside, since no invading or Phyllis wouldn’t mind her husband’s spontaneous late night latihans
rebellious force could afford to just if she didn’t have to have the coffee ready for him afterwards...
ignore it.

Edited and produced by Lance Edwards, 44 Hawarden Road, Hope, Deadline for inclusion in next
Flints. LL12 9NW. Tel. 01978 761349. E-mail: L.L@btinternet.com issue: 27th July 2010

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