In the recent Deep Time project, fifteen people lived in a French cave without clocks, light or external communications, to test the effects of living as a group in isolation without any indicators of time. 

“I see, and when the eye is opened, all is Light.” 

Some years before the sad death of the Duke of Edinburgh on Friday, the Queen remarked that grief is the price we pay for love.  She was right.

Without love we are nothing.  Our soul and human purpose is to learn about love, to express love and to teach love.  Love is the essence of the Christ Consciousness and, until humanity understands and epitomises love, Maitreya, the Christ, cannot return to us.  Love is the cornerstone of the new civilisation of Earth, and it is fundamental to our future.

Love comes in many forms: it can be false, illusory, manipulative, possessive and controlling.  A lot of love is pledged for personal gain or opportunistically, empty promises hiding superficial desire.  Love is a word that is over-used and often misunderstood, for true love, the love of which I speak, is unconditional, and it may be that the Queen knew this when she spoke.

Unconditional love is selfless love, a love that is without ulterior motive, one that understands and forgives without condoning or being blind.  It is a pure love that may be felt by parents to their children, guardians to their animals, champions of Gaia to Earth, and that is felt by God to everything.  It is a beautiful love that enriches and nurtures, particularly when it is reciprocated equally rather than being one-way as it so often is in our human world of complex, uneven relationships.

This special love between two people equally is rare these days, but it may be that it was the basis for the unwavering partnership between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip over many decades, each giving much to the other and each honouring the other too.  It was something the public took for granted, perhaps, and only now as we reflect upon the life of the Duke of Edinburgh do we see the importance of their union and how it touched life far beyond the Palace.

Reciprocated or not, it can be a painful love.  We humans can be blind in recognising the nature of unconditional love, spurning it or otherwise hurting the holder – but the love goes on regardless, for it is unconditional.  Like the Queen, Prince Philip loved the people of Britain and the Commonwealth, and only now in his death are we learning of all he did to help them, which may be why there is so much sadness being expressed even by those who never knew him.  Despite vitriol and judgment thrown at him he did his best, and he did much.

When one part of a pure shared love breaks, as so often it does in our mortal world, the grief is heart-breaking in the one who is left, for the price of such love is high:  the void left may be covered over with time but it is always there like a constant ache.  In time we may be able to understand that the love is there still even without the physicality, and that there will be a reunion and resumption one day.

Yes, grief is a high price to pay for love, but the gift of the love that has gone before is priceless.    The Queen, in her wisdom and her faith, may know this and take comfort from it as she mourns.

I write to you as the Easter Full Moon prepares to comes into its climax this weekend and as the memory of a powerful March Equinox swirls around us still. 

The sad story of Sarah Everard, abducted and murdered as she walked through London last week, has raised many questions in many people and many memories in many women. 

All over my garden, wars are erupting over ownership.  Ducks, owls, stock doves and squirrels are arguing over the use of a barn owl box (the owl is winning) while blackbirds squabble about territory and dunnocks like many birds fight over mates and the best nesting place.  There is much noise, much activity and within it all a respect for the natural hierarchy of nature and of life which brings, ultimately, acceptance and settling.

Along with 2 million other people I watched NASA’s YouTube channel to witness the arrival of the Perseverence rover on Mars.  Millions others around the world watched this great event through other media, like me fascinated and awed by the immensity of the project and the linking of our human world with a mysterious planet that holds many secrets. 

Reminders of the mysteries of life and death are all around always, particularly now as the lively planet of communication, Mercury, is close and strong as he continues his backwards shadowy dance and Mother Moon is at her darkest as she awaits her new lunar birth.

As time races forward to synchronise with an Earth that spins ever faster, each day has a corresponding significance and each week is like an era in itself, challenging and teaching as it moves in tandem with the stars.

One of the hardest aspects of being human is having the courage to express ourselves for who we are and what we believe, while remembering the consequences of what we say or do.  Keeping the balance between being ourselves with freedom of expression and doing no harm is important; it is about liberty, awareness and wisdom.