I've always been interested in languages and the way they relate to each other. I've always been frustrated by the fact that I'm not actually very good at languages - I find I can pick them up fairly quickly in the early stages, and learn a little of a language quite quickly, but I've never succeeded in becoming fluent in any language other than my native tongue, English.

You will notice that each sephira on this site has its Hebrew name displayed. A study of the Qabalah necessitates at least a basic appreciation of Hebrew, because Hebrew to the Qabalist is far more than just a language. The letters themselves are considered sacred, and are imbued with meaning and power.

Click on the Hebrew icon below for a very brief introduction to the Hebrew language, and relevant links.

I’ve been interested in astrology since I was a child, and I teach it at the Bristol School of Astrology, which is also where I undertook my formal study of the subject. My study of astrology was triggered by my interest in the Tarot.

Click on the astrology icon below for more information about astrology, my chart, and relevant links.

Cosmology is, for me, a very spiritual area of science - the study of the Universe, and how it came into being. Modern science seems to be coming to the same sorts of conclusions as many spiritual outlooks.

Click on the cosmology icon below for more information about cosmology, and relevant links.

My first experience of meditation was quite inadvertent - I became a computer programmer. Sometimes, our normal notions of space and time break down when we're engrossed in something very "mental" - like doing a crossword puzzle, or writing a computer program. When I'm really engrossed in a program, I feel as though I'm "inside" the program, following the various paths. This "program space" is quite different from the three dimensions that we normally know and live in.

Greek philosophy had the concept of a "space of ideas" - that thoughts existed in a "space", quite separate from our space of three dimensions. Mathematicians use the concept of number "space", and we have the idea of "cyberspace" - first coined by the brilliant novelist William Gibson - to refer to the community of people connected via the Internet. If you're reading this over the web, you're in cyberspace. It exists - it's real. You can navigate your way round in it. It's space, Jim, but not as we know it. You have a "back" button on your browser - but there's no North or South, up or down.

When we meditate, we enter a different kind of "space". There are many different kinds of meditation space - and "Hod-space" is the world of ideas, thoughts and the intellectual challenge.

Think of a three-syllable word. Write it down. Now write down a dozen words that you associate with it, no matter how indirect the association is.

Look at the words you've written down and stare at them for at least a minute. Do any of the words look strange? Sometimes everyday words can suddenly look strange, and lose their meaning until your brain kicks back in again.

Pick out the strange ones and say them out loud, very slowly. Feel them forming in your mouth; feel your throat vibrate or your tongue hiss as you say them. Pick one of the words and say it slowly, twenty times. Feel the rhythm of the word as you say it again and again. Do you notice anything?

This is a very simple form of ritual - you have kept your brain active, doing something that is essentially meaningless. While the logical side of your brain follows the instructions and is kept busy, your intuitive side has time to listen, hear and generate some internal images for you.

As soon as you've finished the exercise, quickly write down any immediate impressions that may now be in your mind.