James Bennett, born 1949, grew up in a tiny village on the North Downs, England. Bennett found a lifelong love of words, poetry and thinking outside the box. He went on to study English Literature at Cambridge University in the turbulent mind-expanding late 1960's. Bennett took to Buddhist meditation, Jungian Psychology and the Sufi Order International. After graduating 1971 he travelled with Sufis to the Glastonbury Fayre to attend that epic festival of music and spirituality. There he met the publisher of this book who invited him to move to Edinburgh, Scotland, to help run Gandalf's Garden Seed Center, a mystical discussion center that accepted all insights. For there Bennett's interest in dream led him to Dr. Winifred Rushforth, a pioneer in dream groups, who combined a Jungian perspective with eclectic spirituality. Bennett then helped in the creation of the Salisbury Centre, that still offers meditation, yoga and tai chi, crafts, dream groups and the study of mystical writings from all religions. Bennett next felt drawn to psychotherapy. To gain a solid background in a helping profession he entered a two year intensive Social Work graduate program at Edinburgh University, 1974- 1976. Bennett then worked as a psychiatric social worker training in family systems therapy. Next while working at a psychiatric hospital he also studied psychodynamic therapy, the human potential movement, and attended workshops with Bly, Meade and Hillman of the Men's Movement. In 1982 he came to USA for a certificate-training program in Gestalt Therapy in Boston, MA. There he met his current wife Judy and settled there. After working for seven years in a Boston Addictions Treatment Centre, Bennett became an independent practitioner with a licensed private practice in Arlingto. MA. Bennett has maintained a passionate interest in dreams, mythology, eco-psychology, archetypal psychology and male psychology, and this book has emerged from the disparate experiences of a searching life, in an attempt to understand his and our place in the wider universe of which we are a part.
David Kidd was born 1945 in a tiny village on the Pennines, West Yorkshire, U.K. As a child loved drawing. Along with Rock n Roll and CND Nuclear Protesing he excelled in Applied Math and Drafting, so started University in Engineering. But a cerebral aneurism bleed reduced his math abilities and speech, so he switched to Edinburgh College of Art instead and settled on Graphic Design. Graduating BFA in 1970 he was hired by educational book publisher Blackie&Son, and later became head book designer for W&R Chambers. That being the turbulent mind-expanding late 1960's, Kidd was guided to try meditation with the Sufi Order. And later he met Muzz Murray who asked him to host Gandalf's Garden Seed Center, a mystical discussion center. In 1971 he travelled with the Sufis to the Glastonbury Fayre spiritual festival. There he met a like-minded stranger, James Bennett, and invited him to help run the Garden and help lost young people find the light Then Kidd's son Jez arrived, so he had to look for a paying job. He found one doing Point of Sale Advertising, but that was a strange and he yearned to get back to Books. And in 1978 he did get back in, as book production studio manager at VAP, Oxford, then Medicine International; illustrations for Antiquarian Book Monthly Review. But spiritual life was not working, less and less made sense, he got depressed but fortunately met old Sufi friends who had moved on to the Beshara school for intensive esoteric education. Kidd found studying theology not only settled all his problems but there he met his wife. They moved to USA, San Francisco Bay area. There he studied computer publishing and produced educations books for the largest publishers in the world. After the 'quake of 19991 he moved up to Portland, OR, and learned website technology. The advent of on-demand printing made it finally possible for Kidd to found his own publishing company, Goldenaer, striving to maintain clear communication of concepts and to deliver attractive solutions.
