Heading back to Mudgee, we stopped overnight in Narrabri, in the centre of New South Wales.

I went out at first light and took some shots with my little compact Sony RX100 MkIII –

I’m in Brisbane Queensland at the moment, where I’ve been doing some work for the university where I’m an Adjunct Prof…

I grew up in Brisbane, and my family lives there – brother, sisters, and mother. Jennifer and I have been staying with my youngest sister, Angela.

We had dinner together last night, and my mum came over. She’s 87, and as it turns out the dinner was a celebration of the publication of her new book – The Killer with Three Hundred Names. 

The book details a twelve year investigation she undertook to solve one of Australia’s most notorious triple homicides, committed over a hundred years ago. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) did a half hour profile on my mum last year, in a programme called Australian Story that features prominent Australians.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon if you’re interested –

The Killer with Three Hundred Names

This is her fifth book. In each book she’s solved a murder that dates back more than a hundred years.

My mum is remarkable.

Anyway over dinner we were talking about the intuition film I’m doing, and she told me how as a youngster – when I was two to three years old – I seemed to have some kind of communication with the spirit world.

it would happen when we were driving. I’d sit up in the back of the car, look ahead out the front windscreen and smile, and start saying: “Hewo…” (Hello)

And then up ahead a cemetery would come into view.

Evidently this happened many times, and it freaked out my mum and dad – because they could never see the cemetery. Often it was around a corner or over the crest of a hill – but I would sit up and smile and start saying hewo…

My mother said last night that at that age, I didn’t even know what a cemetery was. Much less anticipate it before anyone else saw it. Much less seemingly communicate with spirits.

She said that she and my father at the time thought it was “very strange.”

And then as I got older it stopped.

Of course I can’t remember any of this.

But in esoteric writings they say that a child up to the age of two or three often carries the wisdom and capabilities of past lives. But they disappear as you get older, and the patina of the real world begins to encrust those sensitivities.

A couple of people around the table said they had goosebumps as my mother was telling the story. This wasn’t some Halloween gag. She was simply telling me what she and my father had witnessed when I was young.

She said she couldn’t remember if I’d exhibited any other “tendencies,” but she remembered that vividly.

I came across this today as part of my research into intuition –

A quote from Pablo Picasso, from a series of conversations with the great Hungarian photographer, Brassai:

“To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing… When I find myself facing a blank page, that’s always going through my head. What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas.

Ideas are simply starting points. I can rarely set them down as they come to my mind. As soon as I start to work, others well up in my pen.”

I find this a fascinating way of looking at the creative process. And it’s a method I’m using in making my film on intuition. I’m following my intuition.

Here is a piece I recorded in Dharamsala –

The Process – 

For those of you who have been concerned, Julian Lord just emailed me to say that he’s now back at home, safe and well.

His lack of communication was a result of his phone being stolen.

But he’s ok.

Which is a relief…

It takes me such a long time to write a post for this blog.

A minimum of an hour, and usually more.

It may not look like it, because my posts usually read fast, right?

I hope so.

That’s what takes me the time – making the writing simple. Easy.

I don’t dash it off. I can’t. I’m not that clever.

I have to use craft.

And part of that craft is checking for typos. Typos bug me. They indicate a lack of attention to detail.

A sloppiness.

I let a screamer go through on that last post: Reading.

Third line.

All kids of books. Instead of All KINDS of books.

I went over that text, in review, several times. And I never saw it. Until I read it after I published it.

Maybe I shouldn’t write blogs at 4am…

I read widely. Always have.

I love books.

All kinds of books.

I read everything from Stephen King (a great writer) to Cormac McCarthy (a very great writer), from George RR Martin (read all the Game of Thrones books one after the other – have yet to see the tv series) to Dickens, who wrote the best book I’ve ever read – David Copperfield.

Perhaps my favourite contemporary book is Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, voted the Booker of Bookers – being the best Man Booker prize winner ever written.

The book is magnificent.

But when I decided to get serious about my spiritual development, and as part of my research into intuition, I made a decision to forego my usual reading habits and concentrate on more esoteric fare.

I don’t have time to read Donna Tartt’s Goldfinch and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Not both of them. It’s either one or the other. They’re both weighty tomes. And I simply don’t have the time. Whilst I do try and make each moment in my day count towards something productive, I’m not superhuman.

So here is what I’m currently reading, and what I have on my Kindle to read in the near future –

• Supernormal, by Dean Radin
• Jung’s Map of the Soul, by Murray Stein
• Varieties of Religious Experience, a study in Human Nature, by William James
• The Rig Veda, translation by Ralph Griffith
• Light on The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, commentary by BKS Iyengar
• The Divine Plan, by Sri Aurobindo
• The Bhagavad Gita
• The Holy Science, by Sri Yuteswar Giri
• Unveiled Mysteries – I Am Discourses; the Saint Germain series, by Guy Ballard
• Walking the Noble Path, by Thich Naht Hahn

There’s some heavy duty reading in amongst this lot.

And a bucketload of wisdom.

The Queensland University of Technology has asked me to continue on as an Adjunct Professor in their Creative Industries faculty for a further three years.

So this week I’ll be in Brisbane, holding a master class for film students, and judging the student “pitches” for their productions next year.

I’m driving up, and last night I stayed in Goodiwindi, a small country town on the border of New South Wales and Queensland.

I love Goondi, as the locals call it. It is a quintessential Queensland bush town.

This morning before sunrise I went for a walk with a new compact camera – the Sony RX100 M3. It’s a terrific little pocket sized camera, and if I were to walk the Camino tomorrow, it would be the only camera I’d take. Small light, and terrific images.

Here are some shots I took on my walk this morning:

The second of the two books on Vedic Astrology that I’m studying is a text book – a course – for those interested in becoming practising astrologers.

It’s very technical, and very complex.

And I find it absolutely fascinating.

The book is called: The Art and Science of Vedic Astrology – The Foundation Course. Written by Richard Fish & Ryan Kurczak.

The essence of Vedic astrology comes from the ancient scriptures that underpin Hinduism – The Vedas, in particular the Rig Veda, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali – which is the source of yogic philosophy and practise.

I’ll quote from the introductory chapters of this book, which looks at Vedic astrology in overview. Again, remember that the book is written for aspirant astrologers –

Vedic astrology is a spiritual discipline. It shares its roots with Yoga and Ayurveda. All three are sister sciences with one ultimate aim: to provide the proper structure in the physical world to allow the clarity of Self-Realization to flow freely into material creation.

Yoga provides physical and mental practices to tame the mind and the restlessness of the body. Ayurvedic lifestyle regimens harmonises the individualised mind/body constitution for optimal physical functioning. Vedic Astrology reveals the map and timing of habits and tendencies that may manifest in our life experiences. All for the purpose of elevating our awareness above the pull of the unconscious influences that can keep us bound to sorrow, grief, and repeated needless suffering. 

Vedic Astrology is best practised by a person whose awareness is clear and whose intuition is highly developed. To this end, yogic meditation and lifestyle, which facilitate clarity of awareness, is recommended. 

Mastery provides a means for greater Self-Awareness. The more one learns about the planetary movements through the heavens, and the relationship between sky and Earth, the more inclined one is to perceive that consciousness is a seamless whole.

The purpose of Vedic Astrology is to promote Self-Realization. It encourages awareness of one’s essence of being as superior to the transient phenomena with which most people identify, such as circumstance, personality and the body. 

It teaches, “Here are the trends of your life, the life experiences you sustain through behaving in the same ways repeatedly. If you keep living in the same way, here is an estimate of how your life will unfold. Now that you know the patterns, you can change them, because the patterns are not you.” 

The ultimate goal of Vedic Astrology is to reveal the manifest nature of reality, as it is, beyond hopes, dreams, or delusions. 

Okay – cut to eighteen months ago, before I walked the Camino. If someone had told me then that I would one day be writing a blog espousing the spiritual nature of Vedic Astrology, you know what I would have said to them? I would have said: “What’s a blog?”

If you’re interested, here are links to the two books:

This will be the last posting on Vedic Astrology. While I find it absolutely fascinating, I’m sure that most of you don’t. You probably think I’m weird taking it as seriously as I do.

But the more I read, the more fascinated I become.

Do I believe that a Vedic astrological birth chart can predict your future? Do I believe that the cosmos has an influence on each of us? Do I believe that there’s a sun behind the sun – the Central Galactic Sun – that controls all?

All I can say is this: it was only five hundred years ago we believed the earth was flat.

We know nothing.

As I begin to count down to my departure for the U.S., it’s pleasing to be able to report that the film continues to attract investment.

Another couple of investors came on board this week, and they join a growing list of people who are now supporting this project, excited to be a part of something quite unique.

The film is gathering a momentum which is becoming quite infectious.

After Dallas I’ll be meeting with a prominent distributor. I spoke to him on the phone this past week, and he wants to meet me in part because he said there’s never been a film made on the subject of intuition.

I know that. I’m amazed that intuition hasn’t been dealt with before in a meaningful way on film.

Where does Dallas fit into all of this? I really don’t know at this stage, because I don’t know what’s going to happen.

All I know is that I arrive into Dallas on the afternoon of November 23rd, the date the Indian astrologer told me was most beneficial for me, from a Cosmic Ray perspective, that is.

As per his instructions I’m going to catch the free shuttle into town, I’ll then ask around for a cheap motel, and make my way there, and then for the next fifteen days I’m going to dance the light fantastic with my Cosmic Rays!

The astrologer, Dr. Bhatt – a billionaire – and his equally rich friend Pradeep – have been sending me daily instructions on the free WhatsApp app. So already I have a list of things to do and people to see.

And these guys are well connected. Remember they count as their best friends Bikram Choudhury of Bikram Yoga fame, and Deepak Chopra.

So I’m not going to be lounging around in my dirt-box digs waiting for things to happen – on the contrary, it promises to be a very busy time.

Oh, and let’s not forget that I have to be open to staying for the next thirty days if really good things begin to happen, and then thirty days after that, up to a maximum of eleven years!

But for the moment let’s just say it’s fifteen days. During that time, we could well end up with a separate stand alone film.

If so, then I’ll call it THE TEXAS COSMIC RAYS EXPERIMENT.

So we’ll see.

Irrespective, it’s an exciting time coming up. Already I have interviews lined up with some terrific people – and so that four weeks looks like it’s going to be jam packed.

There’s only one thing that scares me –

The astrologer Dr. Bhatt said I have to make sure that I “expose” myself to the Cosmic Rays while I’m in Dallas. Remember this is in late November and December. It will be cold.

He said I have to lie in a banana chair each day for a minimum of thirty minutes, in my swimwear or underpants.

Now, that’s scary…

The more I read about Vedic astrology, the more intrigued I become.

I’ve been using two books for initial research: Astrology of the Seers: A guide to Vedic/Hindu Astrology, by Dr. David Frawley. And The Art and Science of Vedic Astrology, by Richard Fish and Ryan Kurczak.

Both books look at Vedic astrology from a western perspective. The first book does so in overview, and is regarded as one of the most authoritative texts on the subject. The second book is more technical, and quickly becomes very complex – but is equally as fascinating.  Let me run through it in broad strokes –

From Frawley:

“Astrology is the original science or system of knowledge devised by human beings. – through which the ancient rishis, or seers, were able to comprehend the structure and movement of the universe. It was the science of fate or destiny, used for understanding events on earth, which were seen as originating in the heavens. Astrology shows the cosmic source for the forces working in any field of endeavour.”

“The spiritual cultures of Egypt, Babylonia, India, China and Mexico were founded on the cornerstone of astrology.”

“Time is the original power that rules the universe; all things originate through time. The world is time, and the creation and destruction of the entire universe is present in any moment. The laws of time structure all things.”

“The gods are personifications of time. The first gods of time are the Sun, the Moon and planets that direct the movement of time through this solar system. The gods of the planets are the gods of time. The planets reflect the powers of the cosmic intelligence that rules all things through the force of time.”

“According to modern science, time is not a mere empty continuum. It is a force field determined by the gravity of the objects within it, the foremost of which for us are the Sun and the Moon. The planets possess large magnetic and energetic fields. Though the planets appear in the distant sky, their energy fields are present on Earth, responsible for the formations of the earth life, and our own bodies and minds.”

“Each planet in its orbit both gathers in and gives out forces, transmitting a particular wavelength of energy necessary for the order of the solar system. The movements of the planets determines the nature of the different phases in which we live. It sustains the forces that direct the play of our lives.”

“The Earth, by the movement on its axis, determines the day. The Moon, by its orbit around the earth, determines the month. The Sun, by the earth’s orbit around it, creates the year. As lords of time, the planets are lords of karma, or destiny. We are living in an ocean of cosmic influences transmitted by the planets.”

“The book of life is the book of time, which is the book of the stars…”

 That’s a little starter. I’ll keep posting excerpts from both books –