“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit” –Aristotle It has not quite been the first quarter of the year I had planned for 2013. It was not, however, until last night when I was attempting to bake a cake that I finally got what has been bugging me for a while now. A month or so ago—24th February to be precise—exasperated by my life as a One Armed Warrior, I turned to my favourite oracle deck to pick a card that I hoped would inspire me out of the sticky physical and mental mire I was sinking into. The deck handed me the Cosmic Carrot, a card I have never seen before. It made me giggle. I do like alliteration; and carrots for that matter, raw not boiled.  I have to admit that while I love the divinatory purpose of the Tarot, I personally use cards for creative guidance and inspiration, having not yet found time to study them in the depth they deserve to be of more use to me. The first thing that struck me is that the Cosmic Carrot is the 28th card and 28 just happened to be [...]

Today I enter my personal Year 6: a year that represents the start of a change. Without even knowing this as a fact, I feel it intuitively. Last weekend I started a year-long Yoga teacher training course. With all the yoga, the Meditation and philosophy I will be learning over the 200 plus hours, a mind, body, spirit transformation is inevitable. If the last 18 months of ISHTA yoga practise are anything to go by, the next year is not going to be just any ordinary journey. ISHTA is both an acronym for Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda, but also the Sanskrit for individualised or personalised. In the last few months, I have felt that I am finally entering my own mind and body, the latter of which ironically is thinking quite seriously about a change of its own, but that is another story. As I spent the summer watching the Olympics and painting my flat, I reflected on this very strange sensation; that of contentment. It has been 11 years since I moved into my flat; 11 years of stories: drama, death, heatbreak, love, lots and lots of lovely godchildren, a niece, the longest [...]

Epiphany is my word du jour. It all started when I was explaining the importance of the 6th of January, or Epiphany, in the Italian calendar, as a day when La Befana fills the socks of children with toys or sweets if they are good or coal, onions or garlic if they are bad. My meandering mind then turned circuitously, via the origins and dual meaning of the word, to an epiphany of my very own triggered by a conversation about witches, witch crafts and covens.  In Italian folklore, La Befana is often depicted as an old woman or crone wearing shawl riding a broomstick, like a traditional witch. For Italian children, La Befana is like Father Christmas, coming down the chimney—explaining her sooty look. And just like children that leave food for Santa and his reindeer, Italian families will often leave a small glass of wine and some thing to eat for La Befana. According to local folklore, La Befana sweeps the floor before leaving.  There are a number of versions of the Christian legend behind La Befana, but one is that she was too busy sweeping and cleaning to join the Three Wise Men, [...]

As I ploughed through self help book after self help book trying to sort the wheat from the chaff on the personal growth shelves, I started to believe that my writing debut would be a book of self help in a minute for busy bankers looking for answers. With his book :59 Seconds, professor Richard Wiseman beat me by a second. The cover title nailed my journey to date in a second. The last few years have been moving from a place of thinking too much (a common trait among those of us with very long thin analytical fingers) and changing very little, to a place of Intuition and as professor Wiseman put it “Think a little; change a lot.” This book, a scientific approach to personal growth, is a one-stop shop of what I think are many of the main topics in the personal development industry, including creativity, relationships, sales (or persuasion as he entitles that chapter), Happiness, Stress, personality, parenting, attraction, motivation and decision making. Perfect for helping those New Years’ resolutions stick, whatever they may be. It is centred, grounded and it is very readable. I had I read it as my first book, [...]

The Mayan long calendar is ending but the world is not. The year 2012 has the power of the number five and, while it might be a roller coaster ride for some, five is all about change. The energy of the number five is about exploring the structure, says Colin Baker in his illustrated book on Numerology. Five is a number not constrained by convention; it sees new possibilities in existing structures and communicates them with enthusiasm, says Colin. Five is about being on an exciting voyage of discovery, which is very much in line with the dawning of The Age of Aquarius. On her Way Ahead tour, Shelley von Strunckel gave us an insight about what it will be like to live in The Age of Aquarius for the next 2,150 years. This is the era of the individual; the time of the alpha female (and the metro-sexual man); it is all about what you as a unique individual have to offer not who you know, says Shelley.  Last year I discovered the Alpha Female Club launched by a lady in the hedge fund industry doing a tough job during the day and a [...]

It is 11:11am on 11 November 2011. In Numerology, 11 is the master number of prophecy, vision and inner knowing beyond the need to know. “The number 11 carries the resonance of the spiritual messenger,” says Davina Mackail, shamanic coach and Feng Shui expert and master in the esoteric arts. November, the 11th month, brings inspiration to the world, which is the reason why I have chosen today to release The Life Detective from its protective bubble. The number 11 is composed of two masculine numbers that add up to two, the first feminine number. Eleven, which is seen as the union of the masculine and the feminine, is about speaking with inspiration. The Life Detective has been built as a place that people will find through Serendipity and Synchronicity when they start to look for answers, about the meaning of their life and role in the world; a bit like the door to Narnia. My Intention is that they find jargon-free place to explore the many tools, teachers and books that I have uncovered so that they feel safe and grounded to continue their travels in their own way. For me it is my vehicle through which I explore [...]

As I enter my personal year number five, where I am set to explore new possibilities, I am feeling unusually calm. Normally my mind races with the things I haven’t done, but this year I am feeling rather serene, despite the craziest September on record at work. Is it possible that all of this Yoga and Meditation that I have embarked on is making this Libran balanced? This new personal year is all about making changes, exploring different ideas, meeting new friends, and perhaps trying a new relationship, according to Colin Baker, author of Numerology. Sonia Ducie, author of Do It Yourself Numerology, says Year 5 is all about communication. This is a number that enables one to speak or write one’s mind more freely. This is further reinforced by Colin: “The more that [the words] carry the imprint of your own truth, the greater its impact will be.” Which ever way I look at it this is going to be a good year to let The Life Detective out of the incubator and see where it takes me. “Business endeavours can prove financially rewarding,” says Colin, but cautions, “If you do take risks on [...]

Mum turned 80 today and my niece, who turned eight a few months ago, gleefully announced that they were now both the same age. “What are you on about darling?” I asked, knowing she would have an amusing answer. “Zeros don’t count aunty,” she said with certainty. “Eighty is eight plus zero, which is eight, so the zero does not count.” Who can argue with the logic of an eight year old? Numerologically, she sort of has a point. When calculating Life Path, Expression and Personality numbers, according to Sonia Ducie, author of Do It Yourself Numerology,  zeros don’t count when doing the basic mathematics. But just because they do not have a value, does not mean zero has no meaning.  In An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper, zero is described as non-existence; nothingness; the un-manifest; the unlimited and the eternal.  The meaning of zero changes depending on the philosophy: in Taoism zero symbolises the void; while in Buddhism it is the void and no-thingness; and in Qabalism it is the boundless. For Pythagoras, zero was the perfect form and in Islam zero is the divine essence, according to J.C’s encyclopaedia.   A [...]

The other day as I headed off to what I thought was a business drink, I found myself at a local gathering of South Indian Brahmins. From just my surname they embraced me as if I were their own and proceeded to ask me questions about my father and his family that I absolutely no clue about. The funny thing was that the more names I threw out at them about family I had vaguely heard of, the more they knew who I was and where my father came from than I did. Today is dad’s birthday and he would have been would have been 76. As I sit here reflecting on this local TamBrahm community, I realise how little I know of dad’s life, his world and how and where he grew up. While I realise no good can come of regretting The Father of All Assumptions I know it has shaped my life for the last 10 years and its time for this cycle to end. This closely knit group with Tamil Nadu origins filled my head with stories of the types of people my family would have been and the fact that they would have been [...]

I never thought I would live to hear myself say that I love to play with numbers. In the mathematical format, numbers and I are like vampires and garlic. But when I discovered Numerology and the idea that you can play with numbers to give you a clue to personality, path and purpose, I was in my element. I first met Sonia Ducie, author of Do It Yourself Numerology on a day-long workshop at The College of Psychic Studies in 2009, but I had read my way through the Thorsons Principles of Numerology, which she wrote, long before then. Sonia, the daughter of a mathematician who would talk about mathematics at breakfast, started her love affair with numbers by mistake, she recalled when I first met her. Mistake or not, she has now been practising for nearly 20 years. For Sonia numerology is her way to connect to her psychic side. Most practitioners of the esoteric arts will use numerology as part of their divinatory practise whether they read palms, the Tarot, or are simply practising Feng Shui. According to Sonia, the power and energy in numbers is a fundamental force in the cycle of life. True or not, [...]