by Emma-Jane Cross   The wheel of the year soon turns to Imbolc. Ever so gently the land is awakening from its winter slumber and beginning to stretch its roots and shoots. Finally, even amidst a blanket of snow we can see the first signs of life, telling us that spring will soon return.   Imbolc is a special festival on the wheel not only because it is the festival that celebrates that winter is coming to an end, but also as its placement on the wheel denotes it as a cross quarter festival. Meaning it is a festival not dictated by the movements of the sun, but is a festiv ..read more

We are delighted to share with you Watkins’ 2024 list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People – spiritual teachers, activists, authors and thinkers that change the world. The list came out in print in the issue 76, Winter 2024 of Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine on January 11 and you can get a copy of this issue here or take out a full year’s subscription here. Watkins bookshop in London has been encouraging spiritual discovery and providing seekers with esoteric knowledge for over 120 years. In 2011, we started publishing the 100 list with the goal of celebrating the world’s li ..read more

by Kevin Walker   As a professional oral storyteller, researching, creating and writing a collection of Buddhist folk tales, was an exciting prospect. I have been telling stories for a living for well over twenty years but only writing since 2018.  My first book, also published by The History Press, is a collection of short stories entitled Queer Folk Tales and I relished creating and writing those original stories. Buddhist Folk Tales was a totally different project. Most of these tales are retellings of stories already told by one of the greatest storytellers ever known, Buddha him ..read more

by Emma-Jane Cross   The leaves are rustling. There’s a hint of ice in the rain. And the nights grow ever darker. The wheel is turning, the veils between the worlds are thinning and Samhain is drawing near…. Which also means that everyone is obsessing over pumpkin spiced lattes, and the desire to hibernate under blankets grows stronger each day. The wheel is definitely turning and nature is reminding us that we are well into autumn and moving on our way to winter. But before we get there Samhain comes on the 31 October, a bridge between the seasons, giving us a point of transition from th ..read more

by Jason Pack Is humour more like wine or more like a magic trick? Worded differently, if you are a comedy lover, is it better to know more about how humour works as then you can appreciate it more? Or, does knowing more spoil the wonder? Knock, Knock: In Pursuit of a Grand Unified Theory of Humour by William Hartston (2023, Watkins Books) is a fantastic and wide-ranging investigation of how humour works. Firstly, the book is a potted history of Western philosophical inquiries into the nature of humour. Secondly, the book attempts to synthesize its own universally applicable theory of hum ..read more

by Nick Kitchen   With the world going through much turmoil at the moment it would be expected that the vibrations of our Earth would not be as high as it should be. It would be a foregone conclusion that the whole of life on our Earth would also be under vibrating barring a few isolated life forces. We can see this visually in people and vocally as many of them struggle to cope with their general day to day living. Every bad news story that comes out in the media has an impact on a person’s vibration when they read it or hear or see it. This also has an effect on the vibrations of our Ea ..read more

By M.R. Osborne Pierre Fournié wrote his treatise titled What We Have Been, What We Are, And What We Will Become between 1775 and 1801. It was published in England, in French in 1801 and was intended to be the first of two treatises dealing with his metaphysical system. The second volume was never published, although a manuscript may have been written. The first English translation was published in 2022 and is available for purchase from Watkins Books in store or on-line. Fournié was born in Bordeaux in 1738. It was a busy city of some 130,000 people and home to the largest Benedictine Abbey i ..read more

by Richard Rosen   And in the home of the novelistThere is a satin-like bow on an harp.You enter and pass hall after hall,Conservatory follows conservatory,Lilies lift their white symbolical cups,Whence their symbolical pollen has been excerpted,Near them I noticed an harpAnd the blue satin ribbon,And the copy of Hatha Yoga. – Ezra Pound, from Moeurs Contemporaines V (1919) Hatha Yoga is an actual book, not a product of the poet’s imagination. I can say this with confidence because I have a copy, bought at a used book store for $15. Subtitled The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being, i ..read more

Sadhguru: Mental health is a sensitive thing… When it comes to physical health, unless you have some kind of infection that comes from outside, the rest of the ailments are all coming from within us. What is coming from within you, is it your responsibility? If your body is creating an ailment from within, is it your responsibility to fix it? Is it not true that any number of people who lie in bed like a potato till noon time are suffering from many ailments? They thought others are idiots who get up at 5 o’ clock in the morning and run, swim, play, or do something else. They thought they were ..read more

Author David Zigmond talks to Mind, Body and Spirit about his most recent book, Humanity’s Conundrum.   Mind, Body, Spirit (MBS): David, I’m struck by how this slender book introduces itself with a rather grand title … is that contrast deliberate? David Zigmond (DZ): Well not consciously so, but it’s not accidental either. MBS: What does that mean? DZ: Well, I wanted to write about big subjects but in a way that is light and clear. I want to share depth without density. So I’ve aimed for a smaller book that may engage many readers’ interest quickly and – hopefully – will hold it to the e ..read more