'My heart is burning with love'

My heart is burning with love

All can see this flame

My heart is pulsing with passion

like waves on an ocean

my friends have become strangers

and I’m surrounded by enemies

But I’m free as the wind

no longer hurt by those who reproach me

I’m at home wherever I am

And in the room of lovers

I can see with closed eyes

the beauty that dances

Behind the veils

intoxicated with love

I too dance the rhythm

of this moving world

I have lost my senses

in my world of lovers

Rumi

Reproduced here are the words of Rumi, a Thirteenth Century Sufi mystic. If you were to describe such an intoxicated state to a psychitrist you would be at risk of detention under our Govenment endorsed Mental Health Act. You may be deemed a danger to society or yourself. If any of the great historical figures from the spiritual story of mankind were to raise their heads from the sea of souls and declare thier presence, they would be detained, viewed with suspicion and derision. It is strange is it not that a person who recognises the divinity within them and feels ready to become a beecon of Love is likely to find them selves in psychiatric care while the insanity of our civilised society which polutes and destroys all it touches, is seen as sane, rational and reasonable.


Which of these do you feel is true Madness?

Long ago, a certain Chuang Tzu dreamt he was a butterfly— a butterfly fluttering here and there on a whim, happy and carefree, knowing nothing of Chuang Tzu. Then all of a sudden he woke to find that he was, beyond all doubt, Chuang Tzu. Who knows if it was Chuang Tzu dreaming a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming Chuang Tzu?

Clearly there's a difference. 

The Canary: A Journey through psychosis by Jeff Malderez

The Canary tells the story of a young man experiencing psychosis and his journey back to consensual reality and hope. It is written in an engaging style and can make you laugh, wince, or cry - sometimes on the same page. Jeff Malderez gives us a vivid picture of how it feels to go through what he now thinks of as a 'spiritual emergency'. Jeff's story identifies aspects of the environment which might precipitate sensitive souls, like the miners’ canaries, to suffer such emergencies/crises. He concludes with messages to fellow 'canaries', those involved in the care of people in psychosis, and young people who could be creating an environment for themselves in which such crises might occur.

About the Author

Jeff Malderez was born in 1978 and, after having lived abroad most of his life, went to university in 1997 to study psychology. In 2000, he started experiencing severe panic attacks and the onset of acute psychosis. This journey took him through many mystical and spiritual adventures throughout the city where he lived and, more importantly, in his mind and being. Not only does Jeff have a BSc in psychology and two post graduate certificates: one in mental health art group facilitation and another in psychological therapies, he has also worked in the adult mental health field in England for the past eight years.

He wishes to publish this book, his first publication, for the benefit of others undergoing similar experiences and help them reframe their experiences into a more helpful and ultimately, he hopes, a more meaningful framework. Appealing not only to this group of people but also to academics, professionals and the wider public, he hopes that this book can help de-stigmatise the nature of psychosis and help to dispel some of the myths surrounding it.

To buy

Jeff's web site  http://www.jjmalderez.com/