The Sevenfold Journey: An Autobiographical Study
Through the metaphor of the journey, the author invites the reader on a path of discovery as she finds meaning in the dramatic events of her own life.
From a magical childhood on the Cornish moors to overcoming adversity through a life-changing illness, Melanie uses the metaphor of a journey in seven stages, part autobiography, part study. Her story leads us to explore new ideas in a tapestry of language and imagery. Adapting to life in a wheelchair, this mother of three young children initially retrained as a teacher of dyslexic children and later as a counsellor. She went on to help establish therapeutic programs for adult groups, a training and therapy center.
Her study of the archetypal nature of the journey includes Rudolf Steiner’s concepts of Seven Life, becoming Learning Processes. Confronted with her own existential challenges, she discovers that courage and faith can access a source of help and support far beyond what she had dared to believe possible. Her story culminates in an imaginative paraphrase of the seventeenth century spiritual diary, The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz and seven contemplations.
This book is for all those who embrace their vulnerability to find the inner courage to meet life’s challenges.
C O N T E N T S:
Foreword by Laura Targett
Introduction
Overview
Chapter 1. Childhood in Cornwall
Chapter 2. The Crisis and Mystery of Illness
A Life-changing Event
Chapter 3. Seven Life and Learning Processes
Transpersonal Experience
Reframing and Acceptance
Life Processes – Learning Processes
Analysis through my reflections on the Seven Life and Seven Learning Processes
A Pilgrimage
Chapter 4. The Spiritual Archetype of the Journey
A Significant Tale
Seven stages of a journey’s archetype
Further reflections on Building Bridges
Names and themes of the three Pathways of Oasis
Summary
Conclusion
References
Bibliography
About the Author
About the Author
Melanie Taylor (b. 1955) attended Wynstones School, a Steiner Waldorf School in Gloucestershire, being fortunate in having Rudi Lissau as a teacher. After leaving school, she completed a BA (Hons) at Canterbury College of Art in 1977 and went on to marry and have a family. After a severe illness left her permanently disabled in 1993, she trained initially as a teacher, gaining a postgraduate diploma in Professional Studies in Education at the Dyslexia Institute in Kent in 1998 and later as a therapeutic counselor, receiving an MSc in Integrative Therapeutic Counseling from the University of Greenwich in 2006. She also audited the foundation year program and first year of training in psychosynthesis psychotherapy at the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London, between 2004 and 2006.
Between 2004 and 2016, she was invited to become a faculty member and presenter on a CPD Seminar for Mental Health, ananthroposophic training sponsored by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, designed to meet the needs of mental-health workers, social therapists, and therapeutic educators, subsequently held at Emerson College, Sussex.
Melanie went on to develop her own original programs in adult group work, especially designed for those in search of spiritualmeaning in their lives, many of whom were also living with chronic illness. These interactive groups, inspired by her studies and enriched by her understanding of Rudolf Steiner’s descriptions of the Seven Life Processes, also included storytelling and creative artwork. In 2010 and 2012 respectively, she founded and directed Oasis Group Facilitation, two training programs designed to promote succession. She was co-founder and executive director of the Elysia Therapy Centre in Stourbridge from 2012 to 2021.
Melanie has three children and eight grandchildren and enjoys painting, writing and being a grandmother. She is a member of the Anthroposophical Society, of the Christian Community, and of the Camphill Community.
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