Barbara Meiklejohn-Free AKA Morningstar Hawk Woman - "psychic shaman", Buxton UK

[mysticknt]

blank lakota drums being sold then painted by english man

http://uk.geocities.com/yuri.leitch@btinternet.com/GA_SPIRITDRUMS.html

[Barnaby_McEwan]

He would be in Glastonbury, wouldn't he? I say nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

They're imported by Barbara Meiklejon-Free, a 'shaman' who works the circuit entertaining gawkers - sorry, seekers - at various 'fayres' with her demonstrations of mediumship and 'Native American flute' stylings.

Her site. Beware bad music and broken links. She's based in Buxton, Derbyshire, (isn't that up near you?) though claims she's Scottish. Then again she also claims to have met a Highland Seer called 'Swain Macdonald' when she was twelve. My, how romantic!

[mysticknt]

yes yu right there Barbara (no show) does have a shop up in Buxton
she also using the name Morningstar Hawk Woman and is friends with Brooke Medicine Eagleand has connections with Odell Borg not sure about him but i know he a flute maker
I just found out Barbara is being called no show because of her habit of not turning up when booked in at a show
will be interesting to see if she turns up to two moots i attend where she has been booked to give a talk

[Scott Brainard]

Odell Borg is a flute maker in Arizona, IIRC.  I've played a bit on a few of his flutes, they have a very good, pleasing sound.  Some have raised objections over the way he makes them (on a lathe).

--Scott

[nemesis]

Interesting person

according to her bio

I was born and grew up in the Highlands of Scotland. I was first aware of spirit when I was three years old. I saw a native American Indian standing at the foot of the bed, he touched the ceiling he was so tall. Later in my life whilst in the USA, I went into a Native American trading post in New Mexico and walked up to his picture. His name is Touch the Clouds. This lead me to an amazing journey over the past 25 years working with Edd Magaa, Eagle Man and Wallace Black Elk to name a few.

When I was twelve years old I met a man called Swain MacDonald - The Highland Seer, who became my spiritual father. With Swain’s guidance and help I learnt me all about spirit, nature and the land. I developed my understanding of the Celtic, Druid, Pagan, and Wiccan traditions, merging them back into the ancient wise craft earth traditions that have been around since the beginning of time. At the age of 17 I was struck by lightening and 17 years later I was given a lightening staff by the a Hopi Elder who did not know I had been struck earlier in my life (or did he?).

I have worked with many of the indigenous cultures from around the world; the Native Americans, Elders and Wisdom Keepers from the Amazon and many other ancient and wise tribal people. When Swain passed from this life, he betstowed the honour of Highland Seer on to me. I feel priveledged and proud to carry this amazing lineage. Now after 38 years of working and experiencing all theses amazing journeys/travels, I have combined all that I have learnt, through the oral traditions (I am dyslexic) into an integration of the ancient ways of Seership , Shamanism and Earth Wise traditions.

I take Mediumship, Psychic abilities, Shamanic Healing, Rebirthing, Soul Retrieval, Past Life Regression, Rites of Passage, combining them all together in my readings and raising them to new levels of awareness inorder to help people become aware of who they are and why they are here. I also take people on guided site visits to Egypt, South America, the USA, Hawaii, and many other places to meet the native people of theses lands, to gain an understanding first hand the way they live close to the earth and listen to the teachings of Mother Earth. I have worked at the Arthur Findlay Collage at Stansted as a course organiser and workshop leader and I at the College of Psychic Studies in London. I have my own shop in Buxton which sells all my favourite tools of the craft, wonderful clothing from around the world and from which I also do private consultations.

I am a Singer, Drummer, Flautist, Dancer and Storyteller – all of which I employ in weaving the ancient craft of the Shaman, Seer, Mystic, together as one.  We all carry this ability to work on all levels of awareness and intuition to heighten our gifts and talents. It is our natural birthright and it is time to reclaim it!

source:
http://www.barbarameiklejohnfree.com/about/

My attention was drawn to this woman as she keeps on popping up on the FB friends lists of various "tantric masseuses", "sacred sexual healers" and other dubious individuals involved in the arena in which newage cults and the sex industry merge.  She is also FB friends with many people involved in pseudo-shamanism and neo-paganism.

Her FB page is here
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003368783887&ref=pb

Given her FB connections with significant numbers of extremely dodgy people and also with neo-pagans I checked out the workshops she is offering and, surprise surprise we have

REAWAKENING THE GODDESS
Deep within each of us is an intense call to reawaken ourselves to our feminine spirit which has been asleep for thousands of years. Many of us have looked for the right person to come along to ignite our passion, but when we come to the realisation that it is not ‘outside’ but ‘within’ ourselves then we become empowered to really understand and awaken to our true selves. The result is our gifts and talents flow effortlessly. Now is the time for your journey, one you have been waiting on, for deep inside of you is a calling to discover yourself; to know your real name, to sing your spirit alive, to dance yourself into bliss and joy, to laugh until your heart is full of love and life, to smile and set the world alight with your passion and fire, to look deep into the windows of your soul through the eyes of trust and understand that you are beautiful, unique and special, because there is only one of you in this entire Universe. The Goddess resides in you.

In this workshop we will be looking at the myths and legends of the Goddess, and learn how we can welcome this beautiful energy into our every day life, through dance, song, music and poetry - all you need is an open heart for you already know her. It is she who moves you into the dance, she is the music of your life, it is time. All drums, flutes, dance skirts, and music will be provided.

source:
http://www.barbarameiklejohnfree.com/workshops/reawakening-the-goddess/


The text looks familiar to me, although with less emphasis on "bliss" and sexuality than on some similar workshops.  The photo of the "Goddesses" appears more neo-pagan than, say, Osho or some other pseudo-tantric school. 

The FB connections to so many people involved in the sex industry, some with THB connections, concerns me greatly.  It may be that this woman is just a run of the mill plastic shaman who is naive about the THB connections of many of the people on her friends list.  Given the significant numbers involved I find it hard to imagine that she is naive about their involvement in the sex industry, even if she is naive about the THB.   IME I think it is fairly common for many people involved in these cultural groups to consider themselves as liberals and "open minded" people who support the idea of "sacred prostitution" but who lack an understanding of the exploitation and abuses involved, including the THB aspects. 

So, in conclusion, I am not really sure what the situation is with this woman but I am concerned about a few things and would appreciate the opinions of others.

she is also mentioned briefly on this thread
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=403.0

[Defend the Sacred]

Wow. Humble, isn't she? Throw all those different cultural traditions into a blender that way, and any value from any of them would be destroyed... chopped up beyond all recognition. That's if you believe she ever learned anything from anyone legitimate, or were old enough to have mastered even one of those traditions, let alone a dozen of them. Maybe she's mastered time travel, and was able to go back in time and spend a lifetime as someone from all those different cultures! 

I think this photo sums it all up, though you may have to be signed in to FB to see it:


And here she is cashing in on the fears and misinformation around 2012: http://www.barbarameiklejohnfree.com/residentials-and-travel/egypt-2012/

She is selling, "Death of the Self, Rebirth of the Spirit" ceremonies.  Anyone reminded of James Ray? For this gig she is claiming to be a "High Priestess of Isis". I wonder if she'll tell the Egyptians that. I'd like to see what happens then...

Note Airfare to Egypt and "extras" not included:

"Per person in double £1250.00 (single supplement £300.00)
£500.00 non refundable deposit required to secure a place - availability limited to 20 people. Balance to be paid on arrival in Cairo with travellers cheques.

"If booking both trips and paying before 31st of August total cost of both trips is just £2,000 pounds a saving of £150!"

Are people really dumb enough to pay this person $3174 for ceremony?

[Defend the Sacred]

I think the info in that other thread is pertinent, so am merging the threads.

[Sad-Old-Druid]

Ms Meicklejohn-Free is hired to hold a ‘sweat lodge’ at the Quest Natural Health Show at Newton Abbot (Devon, SW England) racecourse (bizarre!) which is to be held  on 12-15 July 2012. Quest is charging £25.00 for the ‘sweat’. See page 16 of their downloadable programme.

The organisers of Quest deny there is any ethical issue around cultural misappropriation. They admit they do not have an ethics committee, and they ‘do not discuss ethics’ (quote) within the organisers’ office.

They refuse to discuss with enquirers any ethics which may arise over any of the events within the festival. They refer such enquiries, for example into the qualifications or entitlement of Ms Meicklejohn-Free to hold a ‘sweat lodge’, to Ms Meicklejohn-Free herself. The Quest organisers have stated that they ‘fully trust’ (quote) people hired to lead events at the Quest weekend.

A press release to local and national news agencies will follow, together with a statement of the issue to the owners of Newton Abbot racecourse. The latter are entitled to know about the James Ray deaths in Sedona ...
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=2380.0
... and thus to prepare for defence in Law in the event of death or injuries to participants on their property.

The Quest website is www.questuk.co.uk , and their phone number is [international code for UK] +01392 580889.

Page 12 of the programme gives biographies of the people hired to lead Quest events. Ms Meicklejohn-Free’s bio says she is ‘synonymous with integrity, authenticity and vision’.

[nemesis]

From BMF's FB wall

Hello dear Sisters and Brothers.

This is grandmother Jean who is a cherokee medicine woman. I am blessed to be in her life and work with her in the native ways. This picture was just taken in Taos over Easter. The pueblo at Taos is a sacred place where the men, and boys prayer in the sacred Kivas beneath the earth. Many people are not aware that there are many all over our beautiful planet praying for the peace, balance, and unity of all. Never for one second ever feel you are alone. Know that around this sacred earth, men, woman and children are prayer for all of us. One prayer, one, heart, one voice together. Namaste

then in the comments section under the photo

Thank you yes grandmother Jean is a very special lady works with crystals and is an incredible drummer and she is 74
So now I know at 74 I will be doing the same lol xxxxx

source:
http://www.facebook.com/barbara.meiklejohnfree.5

Also, that Questuk.co.uk festival in Newton Abbott appears to have some extremely dodgy people involved with it connected to the Red Tent movement.    

Also, re the quest festival, you can see an html version of the PDF file here
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:cugAdmZMWB0J:www.questuk.co.uk/2012programme.pdf+%2201626+260090%22&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgeZtJOHpBRjqIQykki5_X41swwiWclHndDXzeF60kCbBnhntZqddsjYLm9NahqXZT4sk6HbABj99Aje4yK4ZAPL6vDbV41GxIZnWeJpXszVaG95UKVsCblV4o1BLVrkF3rV05p&sig=AHIEtbR_YH1L4V1396aSi5sCf4OFIDJyRg&pli=1

Please note that also included on the PDF file, but not on the website, are the following activities:

Medicine Wheel Teachings
Sacred Indian Dance
Shamanic Power Animals
Tantra
Family Constellations

also if you scroll further down

This year we are delighted to welcome The Red Tent – a sanctuary space open all day with a programme of meditations and sacred work suitable for aged 13 and above.

 

aged 13 and above!!

WTF

the Red Tent activities are organised by some people called the "Wood Sisters"
http://woodsisters.co.uk/wp-content/themes/WoodSisters/about.html

but include, according to the quest website, the involvement of at least one "priestess" who works as a "sacred sexual healer" and who has one foot in the world of the sex industry (including many THB related contacts) and one foot in the "wimmins" and feminist (I would say pseudo-feminist) neo-pagan scene.

I will send details of my concerns to the mods later today

I also notice that if you scroll down to page 12 on the Quest festival PDF file you can see that someone called Mala Brinsden is running a Burlesque taster session

Her FB page is here
Claire Mala Brinsden
http://www.facebook.com/clare.brinsden

Her friends list is bursting with pseudo-tantrics, "sacred sexual healers" and newage pimps and pornographers.

Well, along with all the fabulous children's activities this is definitely an event for all the family *sarcasm*

[Cheesy Little Life]

The Quest festival organisers have been in discussions with Health & Safety officers from Teignbridge District Council.

They have come to an agreement that Ms Meicklejohn-Free’s ‘sweat lodge’ event is to be cancelled.

‘Outside contractors’ to the festival are apparently responsible for their own integrity, safeguards etc –
the organisers have made a disclaimer of any responsibility.

Ms MJ-F was ‘unable to comply with the necessary risk assessments’ for her event.

[Defend the Sacred]

That's good to know. Maybe we can get other pay-to-pray plastic sweats shut down by calling in the agencies responsible for Health & Safety in that jurisdiction, citing the James Ray deaths (and other deaths) as precedents.