Portal to the Dreamtime

By John Koch

The way you tell your story is fascinating and detail-oriented making your readers feel they were actually there. You share an eye-opening account of the gift that you have. The experiences that you and your friends have is something totally new. It shows a painful and very hurtful recount of what man has done to environment and who (or what

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Dec 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781648957222

John Koch

John Koch graduated from Melbourne University in 1958 with a degree in engineering. Soon after purchasing a 223 acre property close to Melbourne, he became aware of numerous artefacs and ceremonial sites used by the original indigenous inhabitants. He also became aware, as did many friends and visitors, of the presence of aboriginal spirits. Some could see them. Charles could hear them speak.Wharumbidgi introduced himself as guardian spirit of the sacred site. He explained that he lived on the land about 400 years ago. He was instrumental, with the help of ascended masters, in the creation of a Portal for the purpose of releasing aboriginal spirits who were stuck in the fourth dimension astral plane. This followed the devastation they experienced after the arrival of Europeans. The higher frequency dimension to which they moved they called the Dreamtime.

Book preview

Preface

I was born in 1935 and was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and Melbourne University. I worked as a structural design engineer until 1976. I then began a consulting business specialising in the design and construction of pole-frame houses. This type of building appealed to me because it is based on the simple engineering principle of columns and beams, two of the principal components of building structures. I also saw it as being architecturally versatile and environmentally sound. I started by building a house on my 223-acre property during my spare time, and I moved there with my family in 1981.

The question has been asked of me, why was I the person who came to be working with spirit in the way I have recounted here? Firstly, I was not the only one, for there were dozens of people involved from time to time, many without whom the events I have related would not have been possible. I was, however, the constant factor in the proceedings. I owned and lived at the property where most of the events took place. It was my yearning to live close to nature that took me there.

This particular piece of land had special geomantic properties, which I have attempted to explain in the early chapters. It was also recognised as being special by the Wathaurong Aboriginal people prior to European settlement. So really, the land was the most important ingredient. I feel sure many people could have filled my role. I happened to have certain convenient skills, I was available, and I was willing.

Over the years, I was given many psychic readings, and they consistently indicated that I was an old soul who had incarnated many times on this planet. There were references to past life connections, but I prefer to place little importance on such matters as I see them as being speculative and unable to be substantiated. What matters is who we are in our present life. I do think our souls gather knowledge or intuitive awareness as a result of diverse experiences that could not be accumulated in a single lifetime. I also think it is the older souls who tend to be more sensitive, closer to nature, and less materialistic.

One might say I qualified to play my part in the events described in this book because of certain character traits. Although raised as a child in suburban environments, I always sought to spend as much time as I could playing in the park, exploring pockets of bushland, and swimming in rivers and in the sea. As I grew older, I spent as much time as I could camping, bushwalking, and surfing. Eventually I became determined to move to the country, and that led me to the land I called Oasis Anu Ta. I aspired to a simple life, living with a loving family, growing my own fruit and vegetables, and caring for the land.

I liked driving fast cars and playing competitive sports. I loved adventure and exploring new places and new ideas. In work and play, I would look for alternative ways of doing things, not caring too much about what other people thought. Having a logical and curious mind, I sought to understand what was going on around me and make sense of it all. Books like John Bleibtreu’s The Parable of the Beast and Ken Carey’s The Starseed Transmissions had a big impact on me. One day while contemplating my priorities in life, I suddenly realised that all that mattered was love and truth. That brief moment changed my life. It was like opening a door to another world. Within a few days, I became aware of the Findhorn community in Scotland and their work with spirit, particularly the nature spirits. My real journey through life began, and nothing was ever quite the same again.

As explained in chapter 17, I recognised that I was gifted with an ability that was essential for me to do the things I did. I was clairsentient. I could feel energies, like places of earth power and collective human emotional output. I could sense the presence of spirits, and in the case of astral spirits, I could feel their pain or their joy. I had very strong emotional feelings when there was something important I needed to do. Sometimes these feelings were so strong, they caused me considerable emotional discomfort, and I could not ignore them. Sometimes I had to ask to be shown what it was I needed to do, and the answer came quickly, sometimes from a thought, sometimes from a book, sometimes through the words of a friend—in many different ways. As soon as I knew what to do, the pain would go. It was my inbuilt guidance system, and it was absolutely essential for the work I had to do.

Others with complementary psychic gifts were brought in to help. Spirit prompted them, and they followed their inner guidance, not knowing where or why. Their clairvoyant and clairaudient abilities were essential for the unfolding of the Plan. Sometimes they did not know they possessed these abilities until they arrived at Oasis. It was all a team effort, orchestrated by our individual spirits and by angelic beings whose wisdom and love were awe-inspiring. That this could happen in such a way is a validation that we are all connected, and the connection is spirit.

What took place in the story I have related in this book is just a small part of what happened. I could have written it in many different ways, but I chose Wharumbidgi and his portal as the background story because I felt people could relate easily to this simple but wise being. He touched on many themes that I consider to be important. Charles, as his channel, had no prior knowledge of the things that were spoken. He trusted Wharumbidgi enough to allow him to use his body. For Lee, Charles, and myself, Wharumbidgi, the Dreamtime spirit, was a dear friend.

I ask the reader to maintain an open mind and to see what the possibilities are, even though they might appear unfamiliar and outside one’s own experience. Be free of the limitations of the past. Allow your consciousness to soar and explore new realms and to find your own truth.

Introduction

The Dreamtime is thought to be a mythological concept on which the indigenous people of Australia based their stories of creation. It was part of the knowledge that they passed from generation to generation for thousands of years. In their legends, it is generally understood to be a place far, far away in time when the great beings and warriors of creation lived on the earth and in the sky and their wondrous deeds impacted on the earth and on the creatures of the earth, forming the world as we see it today. European logical mind, although generally not disrespectful of such legends, tends to either relegate them to fantasy or perceives them as a primitive analogy for explaining natural geological and evolutionary processes. But what if the Dreamtime was real and still exists, that there is such a place, only we have forgotten where to look for it and how to see it? Could there even be some valuable knowledge disguised within those legends?

For three ordinary Australians of European descent, during a period of several years, the Dreamtime became a reality when they were befriended by a Dreamtime spirit called Wharumbidgi. This is a true story in as much as the events described in this book actually took place, but whether or not Wharumbidgi and his friends and the Dreamtime are real is up to individual readers to decide for themselves. There is no absolute proof that the words spoken by Wharumbidgi and other discarnate entities are the truth, but nor can they be disproved. As you will see, the evidence in support is very convincing. Furthermore, there is a very profound reason why these events took place. Rather than being isolated events, I began to see the connection between them. Over several years of putting together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, I realised that within the total picture, there is a powerful message that concerns us all.

In life generally, we know certain things are true because we have experienced them or because someone we believe has told us they are true. That knowledge forms the reality in which we live, and our experiences are shaped by our beliefs. For example, the reality of a primitive cave dweller would be very different to that experienced by a twenty-first century sophisticated city dweller because each has a different knowledge base. It is not so difficult to see the different realities created by different religions and by different cultural or social groups. Sometimes conflict occurs between groups, especially religious groups or cults, when one group perceives their beliefs as the only truth, and they have an obligation to their god to ‘liberate’ others by enforcing those beliefs upon them.

People within a similar social context can experience realities that are quite different to what others experience. Those who live in an expanded reality will have a broader range of experiences simply because they are open to them, and metaphysical phenomena may well become part of their normality. In such an expanded reality, manifestation and synchronicity are understood to be natural processes, and everything at the personal level is perceived to have purpose. Conscious interaction with spirit can occur, but more often it happens subconsciously. There is just an awareness that it happens. It is the power of human consciousness that enables us to create different realities through our different belief systems. The main theme of this story is about what can happen when spirit is consciously included into reality.

Although I am presenting some personal views quite forcefully, it is not my intention to persuade others to accept my beliefs for I am not entitled to do that. It is my hope, however, that the writing of this book, because of the nature of the events and ideas described within it, will be helpful for us all to gain a better understanding of the Aboriginal people and the world they once lived in as they understood it. Of particular relevance is the inclusion of spirit within their reality and the implications of that, not just for them but for us all. It can help us gain a better understanding of the world that we all live in ourselves. Before we can do that, before we can properly understand the world outside us, we must learn to understand the world within us.

The universe is constantly evolving. In the world we live in, change is occurring very rapidly at the present time. We are witnessing huge technological advances that bring promises of a bright new future. At the same time, many people are being killed and injured as a result of cultural and religious conflicts that seem impossible to resolve. Social and environmental issues affect almost everyone. The pursuit of wealth and power is so endemic and so extreme that it threatens our survival. However, if we can learn to understand who we really are, we will realise it is within our capacity as individuals and as creative beings to bring about positive change.

There is a dimension to this story that goes well beyond the connection that was made with Aboriginal spirit. The events that took place were extraordinary in themselves, one might even say miraculous as they often defied the laws of physics. Why did these things happen, and what was their real purpose? Certainly not just to entertain me and my friends. They convinced us of the reality of spirit and of the power that spirit has to influence our thoughts and our actions, but I believe there was far more to it than that. I believe it takes us to the very core of humanity’s dilemma in our ongoing battle between good and evil. It takes us back to man’s entry into duality as symbolised in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve partook of the fruits of the tree of good and evil. That was our choice aeons ago, to become separate from spirit, separate from God. We did this by totally immersing ourselves in a material reality in which spirit was largely irrelevant. But we also gave ourselves a way out. In the tantalising world of polarities, we retained the ability to experience emotions and to be discerning. Duality incorporates free will, and it enables recognition to occur and comparisons to be made. As such, it is a powerful tool for spiritual growth. It became only a question of how long it would take to realise that separation is really disempowering, and that ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are illusions, real only within our chosen belief system. Even the concept of ‘good’ implies its polar opposite, but in the greater reality, there is only ‘What Is.’

Those of religious faith might not agree, but in most cases, religions prescribe a god that is separate, one that is outside of ourselves. That god, we are taught, is to be revered, whilst we should see ourselves as sinners. Rather than being told to draw on the love and the wisdom that is within us, we are given rules and rituals to follow. Rather than empowering us, religion can have the opposite effect. Now we have the opportunity to change that, to return to that which we are truly designed to be—the sons and daughters of God. If we see God as ‘All That Is,’ that there is nothing that is not of God, then we have a god that is inclusive rather than exclusive. We become empowered.

The events described in this story are true, and they provide considerable evidence of the existence of entities that are outside the familiar reality of the material world. These entities or units of consciousness do not require physical bodies, although the ones we are primarily concerned with here have, at some time, been associated with human form. Although they are now discarnate, they are still as real as we are, only we cannot touch them and most of us cannot see them. They are able to react with us in subtle ways and even influence our thoughts and behaviour. Sometimes they are able to communicate verbally with people who are sensitive and open to that experience.

My friend Charles is such a person. In my case, I can feel their presence when they wish me to. Their communication with me occurs in subtle ways, and I am guided by those ones who I have learned to trust. We can do these things because we ourselves in truth are spirit, and it is because of the very nature of spirit that we are all connected. Many of us feel disenfranchised, powerless, and alone. The separation that we feel is largely due to our lack of understanding of the spirit realms.

The indigenous Australians were a race of people with a profound philosophy of life that makes conventional Western attitudes and spiritual awareness look primitive by comparison. For a racial group to survive for well over forty thousand years without significant change means that they were probably the most successful human society ever to exist on the planet. They saw the spirit in all things, including themselves. Their connectedness was through spirit, and they demonstrated that through their love and respect for the Earth Mother. They didn’t see the offerings of the Mother as resources; they saw them as gifts, and they gave thanks for what they received. Each tribal group had a person who was seen to be particularly gifted with the ability to connect with spirit, and he or she was consulted regarding important decisions that had to be made from time to time.

The Australian Aboriginal people lived in quite a different reality to that of the Europeans who invaded their land. The story of Wharumbidgi and his portal is a word picture of that reality and explains why it has been so difficult for them to adapt to European ways. They must have found the behaviour of these newcomers very puzzling and disconcerting. In discussing Aboriginal beliefs and customs, I am presenting them from the perspective of the reality in which they lived as presented to me by the spirit of Wharumbidgi, a man who lived well before the arrival of Europeans. It should be appreciated that this information is based almost entirely on the discourses that took place with Wharumbidgi and not on any anthropological or historical research and is therefore not claimed to be totally historically accurate.

Wharumbidgi is a discarnate Aboriginal spirit who lived in his physical body about four hundred years ago. The information presented is largely based on a series of conversations and related events that took place between July 1994 and April 1997. Within these conversations, Wharumbidgi gives us a glimpse of the simplicity of the lifestyle of a small tribe of Wathaurong people who inhabited an area along the Werribee River near what is now the town of Bacchus Marsh. Although their life was simple and their needs few, they were sustained by a wisdom extending far beyond the mental levels at which our so-called developed societies function. In matters such as social ethics and ecosystem sustainability, they provide a model for the rest of us to rethink our values. Their knowledge of plants and other natural substances provided them with not only food but impressive healing abilities. Their use of ceremony and ritual created a bond between themselves and their environment, an environment which they loved and respected because they knew that within and beyond the world of matter lay the world of spirit.

Their lives were a balanced reality of both matter and spirit, enabling them to live fully in the present moment without the need to project from a fear-based perception, freeing them of the insecurity of having to plan and control their future. They had no need to manipulate their destiny with artificial concepts such as economic growth and competition. They were proud of their skills and achievements, but with a pride that transcended ego for each had his role, and all were respected for their individuality and the part they played. Far from being perfect, they accepted each other’s weaknesses and respected and supported all members of the tribe as equals. In their understanding of how to live harmoniously with each other, they offer us a key to our successful survival as a species. They knew spirit, and in spirit they saw love, and because of that, they were non-judgemental, enabling them to practise unconditional love amongst themselves and with their environment.

The Aboriginals recognised spirit in the earth, in the plants, the birds and the animals, in all things, and they saw that spirit as the same spirit that was in themselves. They celebrated their at-one-ment through their rituals and their daily activities. All of nature was sacred and respected. They gave thanks to the spirit of the kangaroo when they speared him for their food; they gave thanks to the Earth Mother who sustained and nurtured them. Where white Australians see animals, Aboriginals see creatures. Where white Australians see resources, Aboriginals treat the abundance of nature as gifts. Where violence is an uncontrolled part of the white Australian psyche, the only violence this particular group of Aboriginals accepted was prescribed by law within their system of social justice.

The Aboriginals were aware of the spirit of the land as a psychic reality, and we can learn from that. It was their awareness of spirit that enabled them to live very successfully for over forty thousand years, an extraordinary achievement by any standards. Imported European culture, with its patriarchal attitudes and growing dependence on technology, set out to impose its rigid perspectives on what was perceived to be a godless land. This aggressive endorsement of materialistic values, coupled with denial of spirituality other than that prescribed by the church, has wrought devastation on the environment and the Aboriginal people, both physically and psychically. Any culture that subscribes to a belief system that denies the inherent relationship between matter and spirit is in denial of fundamental aspects of itself, and imbalance becomes inevitable. The forces that link the human world with the natural world are rendered inoperative. The system may appear to work, for belief creates reality, but is this the reality we really want? When we look closely, we see massive environmental degradation coupled with a myriad of social problems such as drug use, sickness, anxiety, poverty, and aggression.

These problems are symptoms of a deficient belief system which results in an imbalanced society, one that is not in good health. In fact, as technology advances and the earth’s resources are increasingly exploited, the symptoms seem to be spreading like a cancer. In attempts to isolate the problems and treat the symptoms individually, we make little impact because we fail to see the root cause of all the problems as interrelated and stemming from a corrupted or inadequate belief system. The uncomfortable symptoms that manifest in a diseased body have only one purpose, and that is to draw attention to the need for healing. It is the suppression of our spiritual nature that has created social and environmental imbalance and which has led to the problems that confront us, and it is these problems which are calling us to reassess our beliefs and our values.

Australians are a reasonably united and resourceful people with a broad social fabric woven out of many racial backgrounds. In two hundred years, we have created a wealthy vibrant culture with a sound economic infrastructure and an enviable lifestyle centred mainly around our coastal cities and towns. However, it has come at a cost. In our efforts to establish ourselves in what our forebears perceived as a harsh environment, we have destroyed two-thirds of the country’s native forests and related ecosystems, the water in our creeks and rivers is no longer drinkable, much of our wildlife has disappeared, and the indigenous people who inhabited the land for over forty thousand years have been decimated. Now as we enter the third millennium, there is a strengthening of the national conscience, which recognises the need for healing. One form in which this is happening is in the efforts to achieve reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Reconciliation occurs when two estranged parties come together and agree to respect and embrace each other’s differences. Understanding, mutual respect, and forgiveness of perceived wrongdoings are the essential ingredients. Most non-indigenous Australians have never even met an Aboriginal person, and when they have, they have often been given reasons to be unimpressed, so it is safe to assume that these ingredients are often lacking from the non-indigenous side. Given their disadvantaged state and current political paternalism, the Aboriginal people have little incentive to forgive, so they have much ground to make up as well. I am hopeful that by portraying them in their original environment with their culture intact, it will build some sort of platform which will engender greater understanding and respect for Aboriginal people generally. Also, sadly, they need to rediscover respect for themselves.

It has been estimated that when the British arrived in Australia in 1788, the indigenous population was somewhere between 750,000 and 1,250,000. By 1900, there was about 75,000 Aborigines living in Australia. Of those who disappeared, it is estimated about 20,000 were directly killed, and the remainder died as a consequence of disease, forced dispossession from their lands, and profound social and cultural destabilisation and demoralisation. One of the worst affected groups was the Wathaurong people, who lived in a large region west of Port Phillip Bay where much of the early settlement took place. Like the Tasmanian aboriginals, there are no known living descendants of full pedigree. Such massive intrusion shattered their collective spirit and psyche to a degree from which it was impossible for them to recover.

Looking beyond the inevitable spread and impact of European culture, it is interesting to speculate on whether there was a deeper underlying purpose in their demise. They are not the first indigenous culture to suffer a fate of this sort. In most cases, it has happened where the indigenous cultural belief systems and related consciousness were unable to evolve further, and so as determined by their greater soul wisdom, they chose to withdraw or meld with the dominant race.

There was something in their culture, which on the one hand was part of what sustained them for thousands of years, but on the other hand was cause for their demise. Their level of self-realisation was quite high as a result of their acknowledgment of a spiritual reality, but their motivation to evolve, not just materially but spiritually also, was limited. With a cultural system that worked well, they saw no need for change.

The forces that drive our universe are dynamic, and everything in it is cyclical and evolving. The Creative Force seeks to know itself by infinitely and eternally expanding itself. Humanity’s part in creation is to constantly explore, adapt, and evolve towards our destiny of realisation of godself. Sadly, there have been many pockets of humanity that have attained a high degree of spiritual knowledge, but have chosen to go no further. Generally, those societies or cultures have been isolated from the rest of humanity for geographical or political reasons, unable or unwilling to share their knowledge.

It is the isolation of true spiritual societies that has preserved their integrity, but has also restricted them. The ultimate destiny of humanity is for the whole of humanity to achieve, and no single isolated culture can achieve on its own what lies ahead for the whole human race. Nor can humanity fulfil its destiny without embracing its totality. There can be no ‘pockets’ left behind to evolve independently. The Australian Aborigines, like so many other lost indigenous cultures, made the painful soul choice to bow out and blend with the predominant culture to help facilitate the fulfilment of the greater destiny. Quite a sacrifice! Apart from being an isolated culture, the Aboriginal people also had certain specific customs and beliefs that prevented their growth, and we will be looking at some of those during the ensuing conversations with Wharumbidgi.

Spirit is in all of us, seeking to find expression if only we would acknowledge it. In humanity’s search for answers to our survival, there can be no solutions that fail to embrace the totality of who we are. A complex piece of machinery, or a biological system for that matter, cannot operate to optimal efficiency when some of its component parts are missing, misshapen, or out of balance; it will shake itself to bits. So it is with the complex organism we call Earth.

The impact of European culture ripped the heart out of the Aboriginal soul. They were almost totally disempowered physically, psychically, and spiritually. When they died, their crippled souls were unable to progress beyond the astral plane, a dimension of reality in which everything appears as it does in the physical world, but where there is no body, no solid objects. It is an in-between world, a holding station for souls to gather and reflect on what they left behind. They can be locked into the astral indefinitely by grief, anger, or despair, emotions which are fear based and are carried by the spirit after physical death. This is a potentiality available to all people, not just Aboriginals, but in their case, their anguish was so great that their energy became like a black cloud over the continent, pulsating that energy and its emotional power down to the living people. The ancestral spirits from earlier days, so revered by the people on the earth, were powerless to help them.

The background theme of this book is the story of how a portal was opened for the release of the disempowered Aboriginal spirits, and it touches on the implications that it has for this country. It is presented as factual, but it is not to be taken literally for many of the events described took place on a plane of reality unseen and unfamiliar to most of us. Language and words are a product of linear time and space and are therefore inadequate for accurately describing realities that exist beyond the limitations of our material world. The words spoken by Wharumbidgi were channelled by Charles and recorded on cassette. They were spoken in English, not Aboriginal language, but the words used and the pronunciation were not unlike the way in which many Aboriginals speak. When spirit channels through a human being (known as a channel), concepts or images are presented which are filtered and translated into words by some aspect of the channel’s consciousness. The resultant transmissions are almost inevitably simplified, descriptive, and comprehensible versions of the original images. The phenomenon is able to occur because at the refined level of consciousness in which authentic channelling takes place, there is no separation between the broadcaster and the receiver.

Channelling is by no means a recent phenomenon, although it has many detractors who perceive it as a fringe ‘new age’ activity. Much of the Christian Bible was channelled, and the Koran is said to have been given to Muhammad in a single session. In fact, many, if not all, inspired writings throughout history were influenced by spirit. A great deal of information is currently being channelled by people around the world, and the constant message is that humanity is approaching a shift in consciousness. Sometimes channelled transmissions are quite devious and can be misleading, for not all entities who speak through channels have good intentions, and not all channels are competent and discerning.

In reading this book, or any other channelled work for that matter, the reader needs to make his/her own personal assessment and not rely on other people’s opinions, for what seems right for one person can seem very questionable to another. Each of us can only identify with that which resonates within our individual psyche. Our history books are full of accounts of persecution of enlightened people by fearful and dogmatic regimes. A good rule of thumb with channelled material is to observe within oneself the feelings that the words evoke as they are heard or read. If they touch the heart, they can be trusted. Lee and I, and others associated with us, found Wharumbidgi’s energy during our sessions to be very loving indeed.

In support of the authenticity of Wharumbidgi and the conversations we had with him, there were a number of physical events that took place in synchronicity with the spoken transmissions. An extraordinary example was the ‘corroboree’ we held on the riverbank at Wharumbidgi’s request. He predicted the Dreamtime Council would come. On the night, five clouds suddenly appeared and moved towards each other to form a ‘stick man’ dancing in the light of the full moon, both arms raised high. Wharumbidgi told us later it was Lalinga man, the signature of the Dreamtime Council. The event is described in detail in chapter 6.

Many people have heard Wharumbidgi’s voice speaking to them, even when they had no previously knowledge of him. People who came to visit the Sacred Site of the Sleeping Serpent often reported that they had seen Aboriginal spirits present. The descriptions they gave were always the same.

Wharumbidgi is the guardian spirit of the old Aboriginal sacred site at the land I called Oasis Anu Ta. He had been around for a very long time, but I was not aware of his presence until I met Charles and Lee.

The author with aboriginal friend Gnarnjarraha

Chapter 1

Preparing the Land

I purchased the ninety-hectare property at Parwan in 1973. Two years earlier, I was inspired to move from the Melbourne suburbs to a rural environment after I came across an incredibly beautiful four-hundred-hectare property on the New South Wales south coast. The land was for sale at a very low price, and a few days after I had inspected it, I decided to sell my house in Melbourne and buy it. I rang the agent, who told me it had been sold, and the purchaser had doubled the asking price and put it straight back on the market. I could now no longer afford to buy it, carry out necessary improvements, and live there without regular employment. I found two friends who agreed to buy it in partnership with me, and we met at Peter’s house for dinner and to sign the contract. Then something went badly wrong, and Peter and I decided that the third person was unsuitable and that we would go ahead without him. Peter insisted on negotiating a better price, but after twelve months of negotiations, we were unsuccessful.

I looked at another piece of land in the area. It was smaller and not quite as beautiful, but it had frontage to a river estuary with a short walk along the sandy shore to the beach. I camped there for the night, but it was a sleepless night. I could feel an energy that was very unpleasant. I don’t know what it was, but it was enough to drive me away. I returned to Melbourne, wondering why everything I did to try and buy land was blocked. It was some years later that I suspected spirit had something to do with it because my destiny lay elsewhere.

I had recently divorced and was with a lady friend who suggested we jointly buy some land in the country to use as a weekend retreat. The first advertisement to catch our eye in the real estate section of the newspaper was the Parwan property. We drove straight out there, stopping briefly to get directions from the estate agent. The gate was locked, so we climbed the fence and walked about half a kilometre, then stopped in awe as we gazed from the edge of a very steep escarpment down into a spectacular gorge through which flowed a wide tree-lined river. This time I felt good energy, and I knew it was the right place.

We both agreed to mortgage our houses as it was much more land and more money than we had intended. We emptied our wallets at the estate agent’s office and signed the papers.

A few days later, my friend phoned me to say she was pulling out and that she did not want to continue the relationship with me. She said it was not anything I had done, and she couldn’t explain why she felt that way. Spirit manipulating again?

I had to make a quick decision on what to do about the land. I decided to sell my house, rent somewhere, and build a house at Parwan in my spare time.

The land at Parwan

View from the top of the escarpment

In early 1979, I became interested in a small community at Findhorn in Scotland. Three people with successful professional backgrounds went through difficult circumstances and found themselves living in a caravan park on the edge of the North Sea. They had been receiving channelled communications from spirit entities, including nature spirits, during meditation. Following their guidance, and despite the initially barren soil, they established an astonishing garden of vegetables and flowers that attracted worldwide attention. I linked up with a small group of people in Melbourne who shared that interest in Findhorn. They were looking for a weekend retreat, so I invited them to stay in my partly built house.

It was a clear night in March. The stars shone brightly as they often did in the dry autumn nights away from the city lights. At about 10.00 p.m., we went outside, and there was not only stars lighting the night sky. All around us there was light, white light, building up randomly from different locations on the horizon, sweeping across the sky, moving and changing, a symphony of light.

After walking up the hill to get a better view, just ahead of us was a stand of mature grey box trees. The whole area was encompassed by a dome of light. None of us had ever seen anything like it before. We walked in amongst the trees and held hands in attunement to nature as they did at Findhorn. Jim was standing next to me, and suddenly his whole body started shaking. After half a minute or so, he stood up still and straight, then began speaking in a voice so loud it might have been heard miles away. For all of us, it was our first experience of channelling. The words were clear and compelling. They spoke of the special nature of the place and that we were drawn there for a purpose.

We were inspired by the experience and agreed to continue to meet there every second or third weekend. Always we went at night to the same place which we called the Grove, recording the messages on my small