Gillian Monks

'Making Fairytales Come True'

Category: News (Page 1 of 2)

Falling Leaves

Virginia CreeperThe kindness and support I have received from friends, family, acquaintances and medical staff alike over the past few weeks has been a constant source of delight, wonder and amazement to me.

For those of you following me on this journey, I did indeed manage to lower my blood pressure sufficiently and my operation at Glan Clwyd hospital went ahead as planned.

That was on Monday, 20th September. I returned home the same afternoon, totally as high as a kite on the after-effects of the anaesthesia. After napping for three hours, I was then awake for twenty-five hours, planning my future, mapping out my winter and spring work schedule, even designing the cover of my next book and bopping around my bedroom in the golden autumn sunshine to the strains of favourite pop music from my young years back in the ’70’s.

Then I worked for three days over the weekend – admittedly at a slower, more considered rate… and then went down with a throat infection which has made me feel vulnerable and miserable with a stiff swollen neck, rough throat and cough. I hold my hands up. I should have paced myself better. Mea culpa.  Happy days!

Yesterday, I attended a consultation with my specialist at Ysbyty Gwynedd. The cancer has been successfully removed. None of the lymph nodes also removed during the operation had been in the least affected. All clear. Celebration!!!

But. There always has to be one, doesn’t there? There must always be some ‘governor’, criteria to steady and balance and help to slot everything into perspective. Mine, now, is that the cancer might still be lurking around and in my system somewhere, ready to dive in and stir up my life all over again when I least expect it.

I had already been informed that I would have to take medication – in the form of tablets – each day for the next five years, also take a course of radiotherapy, have regular yearly check-ups and mammograms. Now my consultant is advising me about the efficacy and wisdom of that other emotionally loaded little ‘c’ word… chemotherapy.

Some forms of breast cancer respond very well to chemo and shrivel and die at the mere suggestion. Others are completely unaffected by it. To discover which category my little ‘visitor’ falls into, some of the cancerous cells have now been dispatched, post haste, to a laboratory in California.

It will be about two months before any further treatment of the nasty invasive kind can take place. My task at present is to recover my health and strength.

In the meantime, I have other tasks to fulfil on other levels.

My heart goes out to all the many people who are currently undergoing or have in the past gone through the painful transformational challenges of ill health. It is tough in the extreme. Personally, I have learned to bless my physical body and the varying state of my health. It is a great guide, an all-knowing teacher and a source of wonderful experience and opportunity.

Right now, I have a great deal to process and work through on many levels, so none of you – even my nearest and dearest – might hear anything from me for a few weeks. I am absolutely fine, but I ask that you understand that I need this time and space – please do not take offense. I love you all dearly – and yes, that applies just as much to the reader who has only just discovered my blogs as it does to my closest friend and is not said lightly or glibly but felt deeply and sincerely by me. Love and gratitude – along with the inevitable accompanying sense of joy – is what my private, inner philosophy is based on.

You might come across me sat alone at the beach, or somewhere along a woodland path or out on the mountain side, but I shall be in deep communication with all that is around me and with all that is buried deep within me. I shall be full of love and joy. Rest assured that everything is just as it should be with me.

I might even post a few blogs during that time – I have some ideas which I would love to share with you all.

In the meantime, a huge ‘thank you’ to you ALL for your loving support. It is also incredibly humbling. I have verily floated on a warm sea of good will and loving wishes and it has been such a massively beneficial part of my experience recently – I cannot convey just to what degree I feel wonderfully blessed by you all.

With my love.

Inspiration With A Spring In Your Step

Spring In Your Step coverComforting and inspiring – seasonal poems, recipes, craft and gardening projects, celebrations, festivals and bits of history dotted among tales of modern life in Wales and an unusual childhood in 1960’s Lancashire. Read from cover to cover or dip into as the fancy takes you. An uplifting new approach to spring with timeless humour, poignancy and wisdom. Just what is needed to combat late winter blues and the challenges of Covid.

Give yourself – or a loved one – a treat. Perfect for Mother’s Day.

‘Spring In Your Step; Discover and Celebrate the Magic of Springtime’
by Gillian Monks

Buy from Herbary Books

Buy from Amazon

 

 

My Free Gift To You All

Nantlle Ridge in SnowI am offering the January module in the on-line digital cycle of Walking With The Goddess for free. It is my wholehearted gift to all those who might wish to complete or newly begin this exciting adventure. As the years turn and the 2020 cycle reaches its conclusion and the 2021 cycle just begins, this month appropriately features the goddess, Arianrhod, weaver of cosmic time and fate, who will help us to birth a new and better future. It also includes Dwynwen, patroness of lovers, who’s special day is celebrated at the end of January and who will help us to further develop our own capacity for unconditional love.

To register to receive this completely free information – which also includes an audio guided journey, one-to-one support and private Facebook discussion page – simply click on this link: https://www.earthwalking.co.uk/checkout?edd_action=add_to_cart&download_id=825

You will also find lots more information about the other eleven months/modules , which Welsh higher deities are featured, what topics are covered and how they can support and help us by clicking on: https://www.earthwalking.co.uk/walking-with-the-goddess/

I realised nearly a year ago that it was amazing synchronicity that I should decide to forge this new path in conjunction with the Celtic Welsh gods and goddesses of old just as the pandemic was first making its presence felt. Each month I have intuited and channelled what I have been told. Sometimes, as in the case of this month of January, this has delayed the writing and distribution of the module as I waited until the time felt just right and the information was ready to flow.

I wish all of you a year in which you will find connection and love. Only then shall we all be able to come together to heal and build a new and better world.

With my love.

Cast Your Bread Upon The Water

Gillian in drawing roomAround the turn of the millennium my family and I joined in with Operation Christmas Child, originated by a couple in Wrexham and eventually taken over by the charity Samaritan’s Purse. The whole concept is to decorate and fill a shoebox with suitable items for a child between the ages of 2-4, 5 – 10, or 11 – 14. Ideally the contents are a mixture of school items, toiletries and toys, destined for youngsters in war-torn zones or natural disaster areas… little ones who might have lost everything or have very little.

I encouraged my own son to put together boxes for boys of his own age and he had a lot of fun thinking about what a lad might like and how much he could shoehorn into the confines of a shoebox. Having only the one son, I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed choosing all sorts of little girly sparkly pretty things which, normally, I never got to even look at let alone buy. In the shoe boxes we sent out we were encouraged to also include a Christmas card with a personal message. I used to also stick in a photo of us all with my contact details.

As my son grew up and life got busier it was an activity which gradually fell into abeyance within our household and I have to confess that I had completely forgotten all about the shoebox appeal… until yesterday when I received a message from a young lady in Serbia. As a child she had received several shoeboxes over the years and faithfully kept the cards and messages which accompanied them. She tells me that the other day she was looking for something and came across the cards and decided that she would like to send her thanks.

To say that I was surprised to receive her message was a major understatement… but I am also utterly delighted, touched and humbled. How often do we reach out to others through anonymous charitable acts, never expecting to hear more about the recipients, let alone receive thanks. My greatest joy is that the little girl who was has grown into a beautiful, accomplished and highly educated young woman with a good job, living in a world which is infinitely better than the one she grew up in. Knowing that I was able, for even a split second, to help support and bring encouragement and happiness to that little one to help her on her way is far more thanks than I could ever rightfully expect. To be able to now put a face and name to one of these children is simply the icing on the cake.

This has truly been my very best Christmas gift!

And you can depend upon it that next autumn I shall once more be filling a shoebox. So far, in the last thirty years since the charity was started, 178 million boxes have been delivered to little ones in need.

Might I interest you in also participating in this enjoyable and very worthwhile activity?

Operation Christmas Child

Riding The Winter Skies

Sunset across field

In a couple of weeks it will be the Solstice – Midwinter is almost upon us! Belief in the Wild Hunt is widespread at this time of year. Here in Wales it is led by the King of the Tylweth Teg, Gwyn ap Nudd, who as psychopomp has a very particular function to fulfil. I invite you to sign up for the December Walking With The Goddess module and take your own guided journey with Gwyn across the winter skies.

Similarly, this months module gives you the opportunity to learn the functions of Mother Holly who, in similar fashion, guides her reindeer-driven sleigh through the frosty atmosphere. Both guided journeys are written out with the audio recording embedded within text so that you can experience the journey just as you wish. Mother Holly also helps to facilitate the deep healing of parental/family problems and rifts, especially where mothers and children are concerned. Try it and see – the support is provided to help you access your own innate wisdom, qualities and strength.

Just as importantly, whilst many Christmas activities are destined to be very different this year due to the effects of the pandemic, I encourage you to take this opportunity to completely re-evaluate your Midwinter/Christmas celebrations. To be truly authentic to your own beliefs and spiritual needs, whatever you participate in during Christmas should make your heart sing. If it doesn’t, don’t do it… or change the way you perceive and approach it. Hospitality, love, friendship, forgiveness and peace – everything you participate in over Midwinter should encompass at least one of these qualities, and if it doesn’t, scrap it altogether and do something else. If nothing else, surely the pandemic has taught us that life is too short to waste and opportunities to be out and about and to spend time with other people are far too precious to squander.

Lastly, I suggest ways in which you can embrace the Darkness of this time of the year and work with it rather than resenting and fighting it.

Give yourself a completely different experience and a real refreshing treat and come Walking With The Goddess this December…

Buy December’s module now: https://www.earthwalking.co.uk/checkout?edd_action=add_to_cart&download_id=771

More information: https://www.earthwalking.co.uk/walking-with-the-goddess/

I wish you all much joy over the Midwinter period and that you find deep healing and peace.

With my love.

It’s Here!

New Book Dress Rehearsal

‘Spring’ is not quite this large – it is just the perspective of the camera shot – but I promise you that it is a good read!

It is said that if winter comes, can spring be far behind? Well, for me, winter truly begins this weekend… and my third book, ‘Spring In Your Step’ will be published ten days later. And here it is! The proof copy (which is why it has that dark strip across its front cover) just to make sure that there is nothing else that needs doing to it before it goes to print.

The book takes us all from the cold, snowy, dark depressing days of January through the spring months to the very edge of summer and explains how the celebration of the return of spring has developed over the years – not only in the U.K. but in other parts of the world too, it is just another common thread which humanity shares – but contains loads ideas of how we may enjoy these often difficult days of bad weather when the light and warmth of spring and summer seems a very long way off. There are lots of examples of how we might genuinely and authentically celebrate and enjoy these first few often inhospitable months of the year and use them for planning and laying the groundwork for the rest of our year… which, hopefully, will literally give you a real ‘spring in your step’. Like every other season, it is not really what is happening in the rest of the world but how we choose to see it, and hopefully, my third book will help everyone to recalibrate their perception of the first season of the year and make the absolute most of these fresh young spring days of hope, inspiration and potential.

‘Spring In Your Step; Discover and Celebrate the Magic of Springtime’ can be pre-ordered now on https://herbarybooks.com/product/spring-in-your-step/

‘Dementia Diary’ – published 30th September

On the 30th September, my dear friend and fellow author, Ali Sinclair, has her first book, ‘Dementia Diary; A love story to the end’ published by Herbary Books.

Ali has produced a charmingly frank, honest, sensitive, and very personal account of one woman’s challenge to single-handedly identify and care for her beloved partner who develops frontal lobe vascular dementia and it makes remarkably compelling reading. It is interwoven with poems and diary exerts which encapsulate Ali’s emotions, humour, confusion and frustrations as their love and life together is increasingly tried and tested by Bob’s deteriorating health.

The brisk, lively pace of the narrative also refreshingly illustrates how and why it is perfectly permissible to feel fear, anger, and despair and how Ali often manages to dig deep and draw on reserves of patience, love and understanding. Ali hopes that in honestly and authentically sharing her experiences it might help others in similar circumstances.

I really wish Ali well with her first venture into the literary world. It took her a great deal of courage to re-open old wounds and re-read her diaries so that she could write her beautiful, touching and inspiring story of determination, tenderness and love… to the very end.

Ali Sinclair Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ali-Sinclair-Author-106303377845196

Join her for the book launch on Zoom, 5th October 7 PM! https://zoom.us/j/96659447639?pwd=R2hQd0lGM21aamE4YXNhSGVjdWJ1QT09

 

The Goddess Don

Lammas 2019Greetings !

I hope that you and your loved ones are still safe and well?

August is upon us and the start of the grain harvest. The seasons are turning and our challenging situation with Covid-19 still stalks us. But here we are. The sun is shining, the crops ripening and a different – but potentially very positive – future lies before us. A future which we can all participate in reforming and rebuilding.

This is the theme of Walking With The Goddess in August which introduces you to the mother goddess, Don. She will help you to identify and connect to elemental energy and encourage you to develop your own relationship with such an entity. Working with elemental energy, you will be able to begin to directly heal all that is amiss and broken upon our planet – including humanity itself. This you can achieve. It is not difficult or complicated or necessary to be gifted in some special way. You can begin today. Take charge of the future and become empowered in your own creation of an ecologically sustainable and harmonious new way of life.

It is up to you – the decision is yours – the way is found by unlimited connection and unconditional love to all.

https://www.earthwalking.co.uk/checkout/

With my love to you,
Gillian.

Glorious June!

Flowers for the goddessJune is here! A gorgeously inspiring month of flowers, light and beauty. With it comes a new module of Walking With The Goddess inviting you to blend and meld with the natural potency and energy of the Sun as we approach Midsummer, to experience a wondrously joyful dance with the Lady of Flowers, and to harmonise your wisdom and channels of connection with the Owl Goddess, Blodeuwedd.

You will also be guided to open your eyes, become more sensitively and intuitively aware and deepen your psychic abilities to understand what is going on around you in your personal, domestic world. And you will be encouraged to formulate a new future – reject a return to the out-worn ‘old norm’ and dream into being a vibrant new  normality.  This is a joyous, celebratory month and the activities of this module reflect the optimism and potential of an alternative bright future.

This is a fresh and totally original way of experiencing and interacting with ancient archetypal deity, both for the self development and the healing of our planet.

Click on the link  https://www.earthwalking.co.uk/walking-with-the-goddess/
to find out more. It only costs £5 and there is no obligation to fulfil any task or to continue. If you would like to discuss anything with me about the digital course, simply send me an email or message.

One way or another, I very much look forward to hearing from you!

Nearly There!

Our Mountain

My home mountain

This evening, I am celebrating. I have just finished writing the penultimate chapter of my latest book, ‘Spring In Your Step’! I have to say that I am quite glad to be done with Easter now, although I thoroughly enjoyed writing about it… all the beliefs, traditions and lovely foods which surround its celebration!

Finally I can move on to the end of April – and the end of the book – although I am already having ideas about my next venture which might be plunging into summer… or I might take a break and focus on something quite different… we shall have to see!

But for now, I am one happy little bunny!!!

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