Nikki Dake heads to Platres for an unusual experience
ONE Saturday morning at the end of February I found myself wending my way up the Troodos mountains. Pausing on my journey, I delighted in the pastel anemone drifts against the spring green of the foothills; the clumps of asphodel which the Ancient Greeks believed grew in the mythological Elysian Fields, where heroes enjoyed a new life after death.
Having communed with nature, I was well in tune with events to come at the Blissful Awakening weekend retreat to which I was headed, except for one small problem. The timetable listed Palmistry and Prophet workshop after the lunch-break and it’s here I confess I’ve always been, if not exactly scared, certainly very wary of any fortune telling and most especially the Tarot cards.
The retreat had been organised by Lindsey Patroklou (whose partner describes the events as ‘being away tree-hugging’) and Suzanne Mitchell-Egan – a highly experienced complementary therapist from England. Over the years, these fascinating weekend workshops have been held in a variety of locations.
Before I get to the palmistry, I’m captivated by the geo-pathic stress energy lecture, followed by a workshop using dowsing, crystals and kinesiology. The latter I know, having taken a Touch For Health course, but dowsing and using crystals to reveal elemental truths was new to me. All 20 ‘retreaters’ experimented with each discipline, revealing sometimes an almost childlike glee when results far exceeded expectation. I found I could not only dowse for water, but also locate a beer!
After lunch: the prophet workshop, stage set with a giant palmistry model. My mind is by now pretty open as to what I may learn and, surprisingly, I’m almost alone in being able to supply the true meanings of Occult, Arcane and Esoteric – all important and often misused words. Occult actually means hidden knowledge, nothing to do with wicked spirits; Arcane – ancient wisdom and Esoteric, from the Greek esopheros meaning inner: knowledge that comes from within.
Suzanne moves on to the giant palm: I’m comforted by the facts that Hippocrates used palmistry as a clinical aid; that Scotland Yard used palmistry back in the early 20th century before fingerprinting. Working with Carol, I share palms, life-lines and life stories. How easily one makes wonderful, rewarding contacts at this event!
And so to Tarot. It comes from the 13th century, I learn: we all select a card and, sitting in a circle, the meanings are revealed – some of them immensely related to this weekend’s experience. The gathering encompasses a wide variety of people, from people in retail to those in the airline business; from retirees to a vivacious young property developer from northern Cyprus. The Tarot cards lose their mystique for me; or perhaps it’s me that gains respect for the Tarot. They are to play a large part in this weekend.
The next card I choose is The High Priestess; I’m to use a Tarot worksheet to list my feelings about this card, the person depicted. She’s beautiful in an Aubrey Beardsley sort of way and she sits with her feet on a crescent moon. She’s grasping a scroll – but so inscrutable. Is she holding or with-holding information? I also have prompts: does she evoke memories, hopes, plans, desires or fears? When called upon to present my thoughts, I am stunned at how near to the card’s actual meaning I’ve been drawn. My final card is delivered to me in an envelope: I’m to sleep on it and see what I dream.
As it happens, I don’t dream at all. My card is The Star, but there are no memories in the morning. Hardly surprising perhaps, as we completed the afternoon with a wonderful restful meditation from a little known Hawaiian discipline, Aka Lani, and I followed this with a bottle of wine shared with new friends over a dinner sparkling with lively conversation.
Day two and the sounds of the waterfall and the birds outside my bedroom window make the best start to the morning; the sun floods in, I am ready to ‘walk with the elements’. Is it tree hugging time? Actually, if you want to hug a tree, you don’t have to go far: the hotel has fir trees literally sprouting out of the infrastructure.
After breakfast, we head off towards the Caledonian Falls, silently taking in the atmosphere, the sounds and smells of the woodland. Halfway, we link hands, we send messages of healing to the world and we meditate in our own chosen personal space. Mine overlooks the stream as it cascades down the valley; a pair of great tits visit a nearby tree and trill out their simple song; a brilliant yellow butterfly hovers just above the spray of the falls – altitude surely too high for a Brimstone? Tree-trunks are mottled like leopard-skin, sunshine dapples the bark. Sublime. Photography has always been a way for me to explore more meaning in nature, so my camera is an acceptable part of the meditation exercise.
And Lindsey? Well, of course she’s been tree hugging! To say she admits to having had a conversation with an 85-year-old tree called Henry might make her seem slightly dippy, but she’s very far from that. A therapist with very positive skills, Lindsey has a thriving Beauty and Holistic Centre, The Sanctuary in Pafos, started 10 years ago.
Wet-footed, it’s back to the hotel, having shared our thoughts on the return walk. I’m reluctantly heading down the mountain to a lunch party in Peyia; the others continue with analysis of their Tarot-inspired dreams in Psychic Dynamics and a Golden Atlantis meditation. The Retreat was programmed to end with a ‘clowning around and laughter workshops’ but such was the calibre of the day, Lindsey commented later: “We didn’t need to do the laughter workshop as everyone was so relaxed after the final meditation. We worked on opening the third eye and heightening ones senses so it was an emotional afternoon but very positive.”
Positive, yes! Inspirational, undoubtedly. My mind is still musing on Khalil Gibran’s verse: ‘And in the sweetness of friendship, let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures.’
l
Suzanne & Lindsey have planned two more retreats this year: one in June for those unable to attend the February venue and another in October, planned for Pissouri. For more information contact Lindsey at the Sanctuary or on [email protected]
