About John & Hilary
Hilary James & John James
We began our inner journey in the late '60s. From the mid-70s we attended many courses and workshops, we meditated and studied the great classics. Later we studied sandplay with Dr Patrick Jensen and Breathwork with Ahara Bhakti Carisbrooke of the Living Water Centre. We give special mention to the spiritual work of Pat and Betty Yates, and in particular Hilary attended the last workshop Elizabeth Kubler-Ross gave in Australia and the last by Baba Ram Dass. We Honour our Teachers.
We went to America to study Voice Dialogue with Drs Hal and Sidra Stone, and Essence Retrieval created by Dr Hamid Ali. The inspiration and healing we received over these years of deep personal development prompted us to repay the gifts we had received by opening our own centre in Leura in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. We have honoured our teachers below.
Hilary James has a BA and Grad Dip in Transpersonal Psychology. John, among a long list of qualifications, is a PhD and also earned a Grad Dip in Transpersonal Psychology.
Throughout our liveswe have travelled extensively for long spells. Living in other cultures (Europe, West Africa, Bali, US, etc) has given us a deep understanding of the variety of issues that face all people of all persuasions. Our deep interest in the past gives us an equal understanding of the cultural, racial and historic issues carried everywhere.
We honour our many teachers here.
In 1994 we were interviewed for the ABC program COMPASS. From this Marg Garvan made contact with us, which led five years later to a partnership that obtained VETAB recognition of our work.
We moved to this property in Hartley Vale in 1996 and opened The Crucible Centre. There we expanded the psychotherapy and sandplay training courses we had been providing at Leura. You may read more on our history here.
John encapsulated his core understanding of the inner journey to wholeness and individuation in Notes to Transformation, a little book with a deep wisdom on how we may live better and fuller lives. Some years later he wrote a description of the energetic nature of the universe, on which all our soul work is based, called The Great Field. Click here to read more on The Great Field with some extracts.
John James is a PhD and a world authority on gothic architecture. He is widely known for running soul and spirit workshops on medieval labyrinths all over the world. For his personal site click here.
John was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for "For service to architecture as a practitioner, educator and historian, particularly as a leading scholar on French Gothic architectural history" in January 2008.
We have been in the forefront of the responsable movements to curb global heating and the increasing pollution of the planet. John has lectured extensively on this since the 1980s, and in 2006 published a web site to bring consciousness to our growing global predicament, as you may read here.
The ever-present threat that hangs over humanity does not go unnoticed, though most often only unconsciously. People are more anxious, more easily depressed, and become more violent and less compassionate. To some extent this is an unconscious reaction to the threat to our existence. We cannot remain untouched by what is going on around us.
The saintly priest, Bede Griffith, wrote in the 1990s that:
"Realistically there are three possible outcomes to our predicament. The first is that the human race, seeing what a disaster it has got itself into through its own folly, will fall on its knees, ask for help, receive it and be suddenly and astonishingly transformed. This is highly unlikely. Human beings change slowly, and even in desperate circumstances cling to their pride and ignorance.
"The second possibility is that the human race could prove so addicted, confused and stubborn that it continues on its suicidal course until the bitter end and destroys itself and a large part of nature. There are days when this appears likely, but this for all evidence the contrary is, I do believe, an illusion.
"There is a third possibility for the future, and this I am inclined to believe is the one both most likely and in the end most helpful. I believe that the very depth and extent of our crisis is calling forth an unprecedented force of transformation and healing that, if we can align ourselves with it, can not only help humanity survive but also transfigure it. I came to this understanding through a profound shattering, almost to death, that opened through grace into a far more abundant life than any I could have imagined."
If only we could share this vision with you, and embolden and strengthen you to match, even surpass, his profound understanding. What we need now is a Compassionate Resilience, so that we are ready to deal with whatever the world will be bringing us. Our solidity in the face of the turmoil that is coming is vital. Only then can we fulfil Bede's positivity for the future. Read here for more on resilience and compassion.
for more information on our methods,
for a map on how to get here, and for how we plan the day.
A testimonial "…. I barely have words to allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to you. I have done quite a few workshops with you now and each time I leave feeling amazed and grateful for the time I spend with you. Your presence in my life is something I hold to be sacred. I feel safe and totally trust you as I go through this journey. I feel so blessed that my soul has brought me to you - and I shudder to think where I would be if I hadn't trusted myself to come to the Crucible. I want to honour the work you have done in your journey, your teaching, your gifts and your love."
HONOURING OUR TEACHERS
We honour our teachers, and their lineage. These include all the great mystic teachings that hold the promise of heaven here on earth, whether we call it samadhi or nirvana or enlightenment. These include the Sufis and the teachers of the Central steppes of Asia, Buddhism, Christianity and Zen. In particular we wish to honour in respect and gratitude:
Our loved and most revered teacher and friend, Ahrara Bhakti Carisbrook, who popularized breathwork in Australia and adapted it to bring through the transpersonal and spiritual levels. She introduced fundamental work around the Inner Child and the pleasure principal that supports all resistance. She has led the way in the Soul work that connects us with our Selfhood. She has trained many hundreds of people in Transpersonal Breathwork and connected modalities. We have worked with her since 1984, and continue to follow our own inner journey through her wisdom and understanding.
Jalal-ud-Din Rumi, poet, mystic seer and inspirational teacher of the ecstatic, whose soaring paeans of praise for all that is greater than us, is more explosive and unifying to the Source and passionate for life than any other. He lived in Turkey in the thirteenth century and if you want to know him read Andrew Harvey's The Way of Passion. I have included quotes by Rumi at the bottom of most pages.
Carl Gustav Jung whose courageous personal search into uncharted spiritual and psychic areas has reshaped our views of the unconscious (both personal and collective) and of the awesome power of the basic archetypes. Without Jung's systematic investigations and extraordinary lucid insights much of what we received from the east could not have been so easily integrated into Western thought.
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff who taught us that human life is lived in a waking sleep. Only the supreme effort of acquiring a responsible witness and an honest consciousness can lead to a worthwhile life. He showed that all authentic spiritual traditions can support each individual's quest for wholeness and meaning.
Eiizabeth Kubler-Ross who showed such courage and compassion against professional medical resistance in initiating us to the heartful nature of death and dying.
Baba Ram Dass, American author of our first guide book, Be Here Now. His caring and sensible approach to life, his constant honesty about himself and his search for the truth, has inspired us from the first time we connected with him in 1969.
Drs Hal and Sidra Stone, who created the technique of Voice Dialogue and were key influences on us starting our first workshops in 1989, and who honed our skills in working with energies and energetic nodes.
Pat and Betty Yates, of Port Macquarie, highly regarded spiritual healers whose lives are dedicated to removing unwanted spiritual entities. Their work has been seiminal in our personal development and in understanding the nature of the soul.
And deeply in our hearts, the grace of Satya Sai Baba whose inspirational and loving presence inspires all that we do, and through whom we connect for our wisdom and intuitive abilities.
Behind all these great teachers lie the greater and unfathomable forces and powers that align with the consciousness of the universe - in short, the God-Force that is our soul's journey. I discussed this from a modern perspective in The Great Field.
For more on the Transpersonal, or read Chapter ten in John's Notes to Transformation.
I bow to you, for the dust of your feet Is the
Crown on my head
And as I walk toward you
Every step I take is a blessing.
My heart cannot wait to speak of this ecstasy
The soul is kissing the earth, saying
O God, what a blessing!
....... Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
for more information on our methods,
for a map on how to get here, and for how we plan the day.