On the Colourworks Teachers’ course in England at the end of 2005 several people asked Melissie when she would be coming to England to teach Colour 3, a powerful workshop incorporating Colour and Numerology, Colour and Astrology, and Colour and the Kabalah. To which Melissie replied: “Hmmm. I think you’ll have to come to me!” So the seeds were sown for a trip to South Africa, birthplace of Colourworks.

Months later a group of committed individuals came together to share in what would be an extraordinary gathering. From Scotland, England, USA and South Africa, 17 intrepid souls made their way to the tiny dot on the map that is Stanford, near Cape Town. The course itself was 5 days of colour magic. Most of us spent more like 10 days or two weeks - some even more - soaking up the colours, sights and sounds of Africa. This was far more than a workshop. This was a veritable ‘happening’!

When, on the last night we were together as a group, Melissie said to me: “So, Erica, as the scribe of the group, it will be interesting to see what you come up with when you write about this trip” I smiled and replied, ‘”Yes, won’t it!” At the time I simply had no idea how I would even begin to encapsulate what had happened in a few paragraphs. I just knew the words would come at some point. At 4.30 the following morning they began to flow. Awakened abruptly from my deep sleep I began to write…

Eons ago, a group of souls agreed to meet on a rocky, sunny point at the tip of a vast conflicted country to release a point of light into the universe. These souls knew that when the time was right, when the Earth was ready, they would gather together to ignite a beacon in the world, to act as way-showers for the New Earth. And so, in September 2006, these souls fulfilled their contract. Came together to bring a blazing light to a deeply divided country and to learn and grow and heal themselves in the process.

Each of the participants had a part to play, all added to the collective pot of cosmic soup. Without any one member of the group, it would have been incomplete. Together they learnt about manifesting, about transformation, about new ways of being. They pushed each other’s buttons in order that they might discover their blind spots and overcome them. They discovered aspects of themselves they had not known before, they awakened in themselves latent abilities and talents, and most of all they shared their light with each other and with the Earth. They inspired each other, cared for, nurtured and supported each other. Listened, laughed and cried together.

The information they received on the workshop was not so much about their minds, but about ‘getting it’ on an energy level. It was truly about the energy behind the information, rather than the information itself, fascinating and enlightening though that was. Whatever the group thought this workshop was about, it clearly was about so much more than they could have imagined. This was not about adhering to a timetable or indeed ‘achieving’ anything. This was about throwing pebbles into the water and watching how and where the ripples took them. Time expanded, contracted, became fluid. A day flew like a minute, so enjoyable was the time together. An hour felt like a day, so intense was the information and energy exchanged.

And then, when it was done, the group departed, having formed indelible bonds. Stanford, dare I say it, will never be the same again. And nor will we.

In this issue we bring you news and stories from the South African trip, and some very exciting developments. What I only realised as I compiled this issue was that all the topics we decided to include this time are perfectly interlinked…Read on and enjoy!

Autumn Blessings
Erica

We invited Colourworks Teachers and Therapists to South Africa for a Colour 3 workshop and sightseeing. The Americans wanted an itinerary, the Scottish asked whether they needed vaccinations and the English asked about the weather. We soon realised that concerns over weather conditions, potential death by a mosquito and any planning was a waste of energy. Africa runs on African time and responds to impulses rather than schedules. That meant we often went to bed not knowing quite what the plans were for the next day. Such an adventure - not to mention processing our control issues!

Now Stanford on the West Coast is usually a dusty and quiet little town. Hennie’s bar and restaurant with its plastic tablecloths but excellent food was kept busy, his traffic light shone green most nights (indicating that he is open of course). Pennie’s hotel which looks like something from an ‘Out of Africa’ movie set was also turned on its heels with late night braai’s (barbeques), movie watching and general attendance at the well stocked bar. The Hadeda Lodge, named after a weird looking bird, was decorated in the style of ‘Cleopatra meets Tarzan’ - four poster African beds and large luxury black square baths. Everyone, including those that rented cottages, had views over the magnificent Overberg mountains and forests that hug Stanford.

Being at the base of Africa is a powerful opportunity to release patterns; there the transformation happens instantly. There sits the ‘Cape to Cairo’ route, the link between Egypt in the North and the Cape in the South. Stanford has 7 ley lines running through it, which also accelerates the healing process. On the workshop students were taken to the next level of conscious colour work, they explored the links between colour and numbers and the link between the Colourworks planetary bottles and their natal charts. Students had their own personal Soul bottles made for them and the colour combinations chosen mirrored them so perfectly. From the Kabalah the group discovered the Tree of Life and its connection to planets, colours, archetypes and numbers. Ancient knowledge re-remembered that once integrated, reveals the secret to stepping into cosmic consciousness, a space where you know who you are and can manifest anything. Powerful insights led to another level of information coming forward from within the Colourworks system, slowly revealing its hidden knowledge as we evolve with it.

The sightseeing trips added another dimension to the trip. From watching a new born baby whale and its mother swimming past the rocks so close that if you jumped in the water you would land on their backs, to coming face to face with the female white rhino baby (the first to be born in 200 years in the Western Cape); somehow these two special experiences should have been enormous enough to integrate, but there was more. Getting up at 5am to catch a morning safari drive and the first thing you see is a rainbow, then a giraffe, then buffalo, more rainbows, zebra, springbok, eland, lions, birds - an endless stream of African species so close you could almost become them. Cheetahs that actually allowed us to touch them and in return only tore two shirts! Then a visit to the top of Table Mountain. Normally this process is difficult with half day queues and poor visibility. Not for us. It was clear and balmy and quite beautiful. Then onto Simons Town for a visit to a crystal factory and wild penguin watching. There was a drumming night, dancing to a marimba band, beer tasting, wine tasting, candle factory, snoek braai, hectic shopping and so much more, but why don’t you come and experience it for yourself next year! Just one thought, bring very little in your suitcase otherwise on return you will end up weighing luggage in at 36kg!!! Oh boy did I pay!

PS: A huge thank you to the support group for this trip. Our chefs Teresa, Chris-Louis and David, then Hettie, Zelda, Anna and Dr Pepler.

Very, very, very happy to have had this experience. Lots of revelations, but the main exciting development is that so many people on my travels round Africa since the course, have come to me for a chat about their situation, and have taken Colourworks on board as the life-line it really is. I have had the most wonderful experiences of trust and opportunity opened up to me here.

There were several instances of release for me during the workshop - some after using the bottles and some as a result of the visualisations we did. All were both powerful and wonderfully empowering. There was so much energy and so much security within the group that my real Self knew it could let go of some of the stuff I had allowed to cloy my energy since childhood. Thank you all so much for this opportunity.
Pam Cannon, Yorkshire, England

The trip surpassed my expectations by miles. For me it was about my own self-belief and my ability to manifest. Two of the many highlights were being so close to and feeling so connected to the whales and also feeling very privileged to have the chance of being beside fully grown cheetahs and having one purring in my ear and licking my hand.
Elma Melville, Edinburgh, Scotland

What a wonderful trip it was, the picturesque scenery, wide open spaces, bright colours and friendly people. It was a great privilege to be on the workshop with such a talented group of people from around the world. To be in the place where Colourworks started, seeing bottles being made and packed for shipment around the world brought home just how powerful Colourworks is and what an exciting future is in store for us. The trip has left me with very special memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Val Stirling, Leceister, England

The Colour 3 class in SA was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! First was the incredible bonding with the people involved with Colourworks. I feel as though I have found my true family! Second was the visceral connection with the animals and elements. On several occasions, I felt SA downloading information into me through the birds, the wind, the earth, the sun, the ocean, the whales and the other wild animals we saw on safari. The elements and raw wildness are very strong there and I feel much more closely connected to the bottles now that I understand the energies in which they are created. I am eager to return as soon as I can and soak up more of the wild African energies!
Anne Tooley, North Carolina, USA

Two of the participants on the South African course followed up their Cape experience by going to Egypt, moving from the southernmost tip to the northernmost tip of Africa. During the South African workshops the group had worked at releasing vows with great intent. Melissie asked Pauline and Jean to take bottle number 33 with them to the temple in Carnac to finally close the vows for the group and all humanity.

Bottle 33 (Love and Magic - Pale Pink/Rose Pink) has a powerful connection to Egypt. In 2005 a Scottish Colourworks therapist took bottle 33 to Egypt and it exploded. During the South African workshops another Colourworks teacher ordered 33 bottles of number 33 to take with her on a sacred pilgrimage to Egypt.

Pauline said: “Placing bottle 33 on the central altar at the temple of Carnac was beyond words. At the entrance there is a very large collonade of huge pillars, hundreds of them. They lead the way into the main temple. The energy here was fantastic and it brought me to tears. Just at the right moment a man came up to Jean and she asked about the sacred place in Carnac. We were just outside and he said it was this altar which was a great block of stone with carvings on it and around it. Jean and I explained what we were going to do and he said that it would be very special for both Egypt, Carnac and for the world. He then disappeared. Jean and I poured the oil from bottle 33 all over the altar and around the base. It was funny, all the hundreds of tourists just disappeared and we were alone in this area. To me this act represented forgiveness and unconditional love so that in pouring the oil I and others could move forward in a new energy - letting go with love. To me it felt like a powerful manifestation of joy.”

As a footnote, this bottle also exploded in Korea. Melissie's reaction to this was 'we love it right' and it is this energy that heals the places where we are stuck, issues to do with control, manipulation, rule by fear etc. The energy of 33 is very much about bringing back the love, healing all the issues around the abuse of power which happened in Egypt and Atlantis. It’s very much a bottle for our times as we come into conscious recognition that the old type of power is no longer relevant. Now is the time when love is the true power.

During the workshop in South Africa we had a very interesting insight. It started with Moira presenting me with Doreen Virtue’s new oracle cards which include one card that is simply called God and the title of the card is Love and the picture is a blazing yellow light. That set me thinking about a thing that has had me pondering for a long, long time now. I have often scrambled pink and yellow and thought that maybe that is just something I do, but it is beginning to make more and more sense. My mother certainly mothered in a yellow rather than a pink way. She was all about power and not so much about nurturing in a gentle, frilly, pink way. What I am now, at this advanced old age, realising, is that growing up in deepest darkest Africa, maybe frilly pink parenting would not have saved our lives. We needed her terrorist activities to get us out of there.

So yes, we have my personal confusion about yellow and pink, but as we move towards real partnership between the sexes, maybe we have to acknowledge that female and powerful is a very real thing and finally safe. Then we realise that if we see Father God as yellow - the neutral colour - then Mother God would also be yellow and as both aspects of God are love, then love is yellow! Pink was maybe the colour of love as a second prize. If girls had to be sugar and spice and all things nice, they had to be pink, and at least that was the colour of love. Yet love has always been the power in the Universe and that has to be acknowledged as a very real power. Not frilly and candy-floss but shiny and bright.

The thing that made it suddenly clear to me was the fact that in the Kabalah Tree of Life, the sun is at the heart centre of the tree (Tipharet). That centre is called ‘beauty’ in the old translations but the new concept is that it is the centre of cosmic consciousness. So the heart centre is the centre of cosmic consciousness, which again takes it into a place of power rather than the kind of love we associate with pink.

Pink has unconditionality built into it, but if you are unconditional and unconscious it leads to abuse. If you are unconditional and conscious it clearly becomes a yellow thing, as yellow is the colour of intellect and mind and consciousness. Yellow is also the colour of the solar plexus and if you look at the fact that the umbilicus attaches you to your mother before birth - the source of life - you can also understand that it is the centre that attaches you to your connection to the Divine - your spiritual life force. Try and breathe your ‘I Amness’ into your crown and it gives you an instant headache, but if you breathe it into your solar plexus it fits and calms you down. Your body recognises that as truth and as its real place in the physical. We have always known that love is the true power in the universe but maybe that was so intimidating that we had to sugar coat it with pink. Now we can face it head on and claim our Divinity by stepping into the yellow and recognising that the pink was simply a stepping stone along the way. And so in Colourworks, where we begin to turn traditional colour teachings on their head and say things like “the paler the colour the more enlightened the event”, we are also now ready to make a statement with conviction that “yellow is the new pink!”

As I write it’s September 2006 and I’m looking at my gorgeous new daughter who we have called Sophie, a name derived from the Greek meaning ‘Wisdom’ - and somehow so appropriate for the little old soul staring back at me. Tracking back 9 months, I knew that Colourworks would assist me through my pregnancy. What I hadn’t appreciated was how my experiences of it would change during that journey…

The first instance involved Coral Angel. I sprayed it around my room the night I conceived and I’m convinced that I was helped in this respect - we had been trying for a good 6 months, and I had just started to think that perhaps the time wasn’t right, it wasn’t meant to be etc. Then surprise surprise, here I was at 39, pregnant again with my second child - just when I’d let go of the idea.

The first trimester of my pregnancy proved difficult. I struggled with morning sickness, including during the Colourworks teacher training course. I used Pink Angel, which helped, and noted that the main essential oil bottle I was drawn to throughout the course was C8 - Higher Crown Chakra (Pink/Magenta), a bottle designed to promote pregnancy, create a loving space for a new soul, and the birth of something new. I also had a strong link with C12 - Heart Chakra (Lilac/Pink) - the ‘unconditional love’ bottle - somehow appropriate for motherhood!

As my body grew heavier and bigger I noticed with interest that although I still loved the appearance of the essential oil bottles, the ones that I was pulled towards using were the spritzer essence bottles- somehow I craved their light and ‘fizzy’ energy - in direct contrast to how my physical body was feeling.

For me, two star bottles stood out during this time, the main one being Blue Angel - and I craved this big time! I sought out its comfort and protection, its purity and lightness, as well as the delicateness of its colour, which seemed to match the preciousness of the child within me. I was aware of its connection to Mother Mary, the ultimate maternal figure, someone selfless and calm, a presence I had never experienced before. I was also aware through this bottle of Archangel Michael - a more familiar friend, and one who cloaked me in his protection.

As my due date approached (and then passed) I became impatient to see my baby and wondered which bottle to use to help get things moving! The one I was drawn to was Gold Dragon, which I bathed in, and as I was doing so, became aware of the following message which I record here as I wrote it down:

“A gold mine - the child within me precious treasure, the ultimate gift that the earth can bestow, but the child is at the bottom of this rich deep mine, needing to be brought to the surface. The mine representative of the birth canal, the walls of which embodied by mother earth - wise and loving beyond our understanding - the child carried to the surface supported by her, nurtured from her - one of her children. Throughout the depths of the mine, the shining light from above guiding the way, pulling the new life to the world above.”

Two weeks overdue, I went to bed that night knowing I would be taken into hospital the following day, and the baby induced and born in a hospital that was not my first choice - too interventionist and clinical for my liking.

I lit a candle and sprayed both Coral Angel and Lilac Angel and asked for their help. I also did some Buddhist chanting and had a dear sister-in law chanting for me that night. To my complete amazement I awoke at 1.30am with contractions and fourteen hours later produced my baby girl via a water birth, totally naturally in the place of my first choice. I look back and am still astounded at how it turned out. I know I was surrounded by spiritual help that night.

As a postscript, nine months earlier Melissie had given me a Colourworks reading, and told me that the new baby had a strong Atlantean energy - how funny that this child was born so unexpectedly under water!

During the first few weeks after labour I used the Water essence to help with the baby blues - it helped release my tears, and relieved the trauma of the pain of birth.

Now I am mainly using Red Angel - it seems to give me energy to cope with the ordeal of sleepless nights. When I look at my child sleeping, however, I thank God for her, and for the help I was given via the Colourworks system.