November 1 2000 Issue 1 ORDER OF WANDERING PEACE POETS, Castle of the Muses, Craigard, Carrick Castle, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland PA24 6AH.
Telephone: 01301 703053 - Mobile: 07500 238523

Email: iipsgp@educationaid.net.

EDITOR'S NEWS
BY THOMAS CLOUGH DAFFERN

This is an update of the OWPP page, commenced in August 2004 by Mary Napper.
IIPSGP and the OWPP is now at a new base in rural Powys, itself a source of poetic inspiration, resonating as it does with the bardic traditions of Wales. Following a major move in August 2003, the institute's main library was established at Ross Gallt, near the small town of Llanfair Caereinion, traditionally the home of Einion, the father of the great Taliesin. A supplementary library of work by women poets in English, gifted to the institute thanks to the generosity of one of its members, is based over the border in Shropshire.
In 2000, IIPSGP's Director was fortunate indeed to be invited again to the Struga Poetry festival in the Macedonian Republic, funded by the British Council. This annual festival is an important gathering of poets from all over the world and it was directly involved in the formation of the OWPP, which was established there in 1998. Thomas read publicly three of his own recent poems: The Mission of Utnapishtim, Underground Notes Towards the Resurrection, and Za Orfee (For Orpheus). This last poem was written during the festival, along with 20 others - as usual he found this a very creative time for his writing and some new work was launched here with many new writing ideas etc.

Thomas writes: "After spending 5 days in Yugoslav Macedonia, visiting various sacred sites, monasteries, crossing the beautiful waters of Lake Ochrid by boat, I travelled down to Greece proper and stayed in Thessalonika, the second largest of Greek Cities. From here I took a bus and car trip to Mount Olympus, as far as Stavrou, which is the highest point a car can take you up Mount Olympus. I meditated and prayed for world peace in the hills above Stavrou in the evening starlight on behalf of all fellow poets and mystics worldwide and thought of all those whom I love and hold dear, and all those toiling masses whose lives are so difficult throughout the world. I asked for an audience, psychically with God - and guess what - I met nature ! Profound, elemental - rocks, cliffs, trees, clouds - and the beginnings of a thunderstorm - immense and wonderful.

In Struga this year I have again spoken with poets from many countries about our peace education work and the role of poetry and the arts in advancing a peace culture and received much support and pledges of cooperation, from Estonia, from Israel, from Rumania, from Serbia and elsewhere. A list of new members and friends involved with the OWPP as a result of Struga 2000 is enclosed. There is also a video recording available of highlights of the Struga poetry festival this year.

Further steps were taken towards a major conference in Galilee in Israel on the theme of ancient spiritual wisdom and the Goddess teachings and their relevance for peace in today's Middle East. Several poets were there from Israel who were interested to get involved.
Tragically, since these discussions took place in August 2000, the whole situation in Israel and Palestine has erupted in an orgy of violence. My diagnosis is that the political and military leaders who are trying to sort out the declaration of a Palestinian state on terms which will be acceptable to both Israeli and Palestinian public opinion, are consistently failing in this task because they are leaving out peoples' emotions, peoples spiritual and psychological and cultural identities. in the view of the OWPP peace is more than simply drawing lines on maps, and agreeing which soldiers should police which checkpoints in which uniforms. It is about deep healing, deep soul education, deep spiritual transformation towards the light of peace. In the Zohar, the esoteric commentary on the Torah which established the nature of Jewish mysticism, it is stated that "the innermost name of God is Peace, and that he who fights against peace fights against God" (Zohar Numbers 176 as quoted in The Challenge of Shalom ed. M.Polner and N.Goodman, New Society, 1994).
These are difficult times in Israel and Palestine and our hearts and, minds go out to all our friends there; we urge the political leaders to consider giving a space for the poets and mystics of all traditions (Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Bahai, Secular, pagan etc.) to be invited to play their role in the healing and peacemaking process. The OWPP certainly has the connections and means to do this, and if the fighting subsides, we still intend to convene an international gathering on the culture of peace in Galilee at a later date.

A similar gathering is also planned for Macedonia, which is more likely to provide a peaceful venue than Israel, as follows:

BALKAN GODDESS GATHERING ON PEACE CULTURE AND THE ARTS

To celebrate the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the Decade following - The International Institute for Peace Research and Global Philosophy and collaborating institutions are planning to convene a special conference addressing the following themes:

Literature, God and the Goddess - who made all the texts anyway ?
The Fine Arts: the divine feminine in painting and sculpture
Drama and the stage: from Dionysus to the modern era - Goddess traditions and the stage
Poetry and the saying of the unsayable: from magic to verse and back again
The novel and the image of the Goddess in world literature
Sexuality, love and the Goddess of fertility
Music and the Muses: the celebration of harmony and the work of healing
Political economy of enlightenment: sending Marx back study Democritus said about the Goddess
Religion and the metaphysics of peace under the inspiration of the 9 Muses and the Goddess
Peace and conflict resolution research and the Goddess of Peace
The ancient archaeology of the Balkans and the Goddesses of Old Europe
Greek/Macedonian/Slavic/Alban- ian/Islamic identity: how about trying a new track to heal old wounds ?
Linguistic diversity and the Goddess of speech
Goddess, Gods and inspiration in European culture and mythology: The Muses, the Camenae and their equivalents - time to honour the ancient wisdom again ?
Male and female archetypes and religion in literature, the arts and theology

To become involved please contact: in the Balkans, Irina Pavlova, OWPP Balkans Office, Kozara Street, 42, 2, 6th floor, Skopje, 1900, Macedonia, Tel. 99-38-1-(1) - 125003, fax 99 38 (9) (1) 370 040

Irena Pavlova is a Macedonian poet, who was present at the Struga Festival 2000 and has just published her first collection of poetry. She would welcome contact from anyone interested in assisting or participating.

The following poets who have recently joined the OWPP are hereby welcomed into our ranks, and their work recommended to existing members. It is our current ongoing task to put together a full membership directory of all formal members (for internal circulation only) and this work should be completed in the next few weeks. (Please note: the attached membership numbers are simply the designated order of joining OWPP).

104. Andreas Ehin from Estonia, Andres is a master poet interested in matters philosophical and spiritual as well, particularly in the relationship between ancient pagan cultures and esoteric Christian thought. He read his poems in Struga in a sort of Druid chant, which was most impressive to hear.

95. Saviana Stanescu,- Saviana helps run the National Museum of Literature in Bucharest and coordinates a programme there on the "Muses in the Museum". Her poetic output includes "Making Love on the Barbed Wire" and "Of Muses and Other Housewives"

96. Mary Napper, Mary manages the Museums Service in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England - the home town of Charles Darwin, and where Sir Philip Sidney, the English poet, went to school; she is a painter and musician as well as an accomplished poet.

93. Desmond Tarrant, Poet. writer and novelist, who has taught in UK and USA. Author of 'James Branch Cabell: The Dream and the Reality' (1967) and of many poems, stories and articles. His first published novel is 'Priceless Souls.' Desmond supports the Ongoing Romantic Movement and using science imaginatively as the basis of a new spiritual synthesis.

103. Ozlem Erturk, Ozlem is an accomplished poet is Turkish and is able and willing to act as a bridge between European poets and intellectuals and the Turkish scene. She speaks excellent English.

102. Nurit Zonchi, an Israeli poetess and sage, who expressed a wish to help IIPSGP and OWPP with organising a special IIPSGP conference coming up in Galilee on ECOLOGY, SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF PEACE: VISIONING TOGETHER MIRACLES OF HARMONY AND HEALING FOR THE MIDDLE EAST - this was scheduled to take place in Autumn 2001 but now everything depends on the current violence being abated. Our analysis is that all sides are fighting and frustrated and fearful precisely because they are alienated from their primordial genius, from the flash of mystical vision which existed in the ancient Goddess cultures, and has since been fragmented into patriarchal alphabeticised religions. (See the Goddess versus the Alphabet by Leonard Schlain for this perspective)

101. John F Deane, John is a familiar friendly face to international poetry gatherings and a well published poet from Ireland who is currently Secretary General of the European Academy of Poetry, which is a highly prestigious body of famous poets from throughout the continent (unlike the itinerant OWPP). One of his latest volume of poems is Christ with Urban Fox (1997, Daedalus) which includes the poem "Shekinah, Old God of Tents": and the verse: After the first, terrible death, there have been / too many more; we set out again / seeking peace; we set out again / as often as our hope demands it, not knowing / whom we may meet along the way."
Which neatly sums up the situation for the OWPP itself !

100. Katarina Jovcevska, President, The Writers Association, Kumanovo, Macedonia, Katarina is a young poet who has recently published several volumes of her writings. She also writes lyrics for contemporary pop music and would like to correspond with people with similar interests elsewhere.

8. Jennifer Hilde Borchers - Jennifer works in the United Nations Headquarters and is President of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council's Society for Enlightenment and Transformation, and organises weekly meditation group meetings affiliated with the United Nations headquarters. Her published poetry books include Facing Myself, Reflection with Dream and Past Lives and Psychic Readings

49 - Madelon Rose Logue, 'Black Sheep', 3868 Centinela Ave. no.12, Los Angeles, CA 90066-4431, USA. (no.49) A fine poet from an international and multi- religious background, who publishes the magazine 'Black Sheep' and is working on her first novel.

50 - Brother Joel Bernasor, Mindanao, Philippines, Bro. Joel A. Bernasor ( Pen name Vittorio Salamanca) Catholic Centre Campus Ministry, Tibanga, Iligan City, 9200, Lanao del Norte, Mindanao, PHILLIPINES A poet, political science graduate, former member of the Justice and Peace Commission and now a Catholic missionary, Brother Joel is a good contact for anyone following the task of peacemaking in his part of the world.

51 - Bruce Barnes, Poet; first published collection 'The Love Life of the Absent Minded' ( Phoenix Press 1993 - ISBN 0 900852 17 8 ) Also anthologies, magazines and competitions.

53 - Rooke, Sarah Sarah is a Druidess, Priestess, poet and dancer, who would like more contact with members of OWPP.

63 Rev. Dr. Reward D.M. Simbeye, Universal Alliance Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa Dr. Simbeye is the Co-ordinator for Peace Activities for the Universal Alliance and very keen to hear from OWPP members and to network especially with neighbouring African countries.

64 - Deal, Ian, Ian is a poet, member of the Partners Writing Group, supporter of the Ongoing Romantic Movement and editor of the quarterly magazine 'The Word'.

65 - Mwalewela, Dativa Lucas - Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa Artist and thinker

94 - 94 John Robert Litzenberg, pen name Graybeard Dances from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; as a wired up poet, contact him via the email on litzenberg@earthlink.net
jlitz@coplan.com
Personal websites:
Pan's Land of Mirth :)
http://members.tripod.com/pansland/
Muses and Mystics: A Crossroads for Pagan Musicians
http://pub5.ezboard.com/bmusesandmy stics - D'Conqueroo: The Creative World of John L. - http://members.xoom.com/litzenberg\
The Secret Undertown Ministry: A Guide to Reality for the Culturally Schizophrenic
http://members.tripod.com/litzenberg
John is someone who filled the full application form over the email and stated among other things the following:
"My most profound revelation has been an embodiment of the Carl Sandburg poem, Choose: "The single clenched fist lifted and ready, Or the open asking hand held out and waiting. Choose: For we meet by one or the other." My experience has been that whatever the situation or place, an open heart, a warm smile and a kind word do more to open the door to peace and understanding that any other things. Another thing that I have learned is that while it may be helpful to communicate in and understand the local idiom, it is not necessary to talk down to anyone. In fact, it is quite often detrimental to do so. Finally, I have learned a two-fold lesson: if you are ready to learn, you are already a teacher; and apathy is death; life is thought, movement and growth. My primary focus is for a return to earth-nurturing, harmonious and peaceful relations between all peoples. This includes, but is not limited to, fostering of religious tolerance and acceptance, elimination of racism and bigotry, a turning away from nationalist and capitalist interests towards a more egalitarian and universal brotherhood of humanity.
Well said John - welcome to OWPP !

107. Rene Wadlow, editor and publisher of Transnational Perspectives, living in Geneva, Switzerland, Case Postale 161, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland. Rene hopes to mention the OWPP in his amazing magazine which is one of the oldest still around promoting rational ideas of global federalism but not forgetting he cultural aspect of this vast task, given that a mere legalist approach has so far failed dismally. He would agree with Denis de Rougemont, who established the European Cultural Foundation at the time of the beginnings of moves towards the European Community, because he felt that the cultural aspect of peacemaking and reconciliation is a vital part of peacebuilding between nations and peoples. Rene represents this continuing legacy of De Rougemont and all those visionary world federalists who are unhappy to leave the vital issue of world governance merely to the politicians !

108. Jaishankar Hill, Rotondo Int. 21,
Via Cialdi 24, Civitavecchia, 0053 Roma,
Italia. Jaishankar visited the old base from the OWPP at Bredon Hill and used to live in Malvern, but has now relocated to Italy near Rome from where he has written to join to OWPP. He was initiated into fire worship by Visnu Datta Misra (Haidakhan Babaji's former high priest in India); he is a member of the International Haidakhandi Samaj in India and UK and of the International Yogic Fellowship. He has sent us the following poem to include in the newsletter:

The toils of living drove me in,
the joys of giving eased my sin
and yet I could never really believe
in the world as separate from God.

The labyrinth mind of creation
tortured me to the point of desperation
Until She came, in shining splendour,
a Goddess sublime, a holy defender,

Bestowing freedom by her grace
her name was whispered to my ears
BY a scripture of modern years
and as year after year passed
I realised her voice was my freedom.

Repetition of her name
would end my identity
and free me from the insanity
killing my illusory self
so that I may really live
in the simple majesty
of surrender and service...
Haidakkhandeswari Mata Ki Jai !
Om Namah shivajay !

109. Rowena Stone,37 Watling Street,
Leintwardine, Craven Arms, SY7 OLL
or via The Forest Garden, Highwood Hill, Rushbury, Shropshire, SY6 7DE, Tel. 01547 540306 Mobile: 0788 1694414 - A Buddhist, mystic, pagan, mother, "believer in the very small vehicle of ordinary thing", Green activist, treasurer of Pagan and Druid Rights and Services, and Council member to IIPSGP and the Global Green University. Currently organising seminars for the GGU on the Welsh Marches. Friend of the late Robert Hart, Forest Gardener, he left his estate at Highwood Hill to her in his will and she is hoping to continue his pioneering work for peace and an ecological sustainable lifestyle at the site. Currently there are disputes with other people also resident there which the MMMS is trying to sort out peacefully through mediation. Please pray for the success of this situation for the benefit of all concerned. Rowena also helped as a volunteer at the Stonehenge Truth and Reconciliation peace mediation in Stonehenge on June 21 2000, where the pagan and Druid and hippy community was allowed back in to celebrate at Summer Solstice for the first time for 15 years. She manned the gate handing out PADRAS leaflets in the pouring rain all night, meeting up with old friends. Congratulations and please accept the OWPP Heroine of the Year award !

110. Dr Maharaj Guru Kumari of Tripur . Dr Kumari is the daughter of the former Maharajah of Tripuri State in North Eastern India, which used in times past to be much more extensive than presently and included much of what is now Bangladesh. It was at her ancestral home in Tripuri that Tagore read his first public poem as a young boy, and her family were sponsors and Patrons to Tagore and the other great poets and intellectuals of Bengal. She has led an extremely active life of service over many decades, working tirelessly in the field of arts and cultural promotions, and is on friendly terms with numerous internationally known musicians, artists, dancers and performers. She herself is fluent in Sanskrit and numerous other languages and composes poetry which reflects her own spiritual outlook on life as a renunciate Hindu nun.

97. Neringa Abrutyte is a young published Lithuanian poet now living in Greece who attended the Struga Poetry Festival in 2000; Neringa attended Struga with her husband Sotiris Souliotis who is an expert linguist and they expressed interest in helping the Multilingual and Multifaith Dictionary of Peace and Philosophy as far as Lithuanian and Greek terms are concerned.

98. Toma Binchev, Sofia, Bulgaria - Toma is a Bulgarian poet with many books published, including collections for both adults and children. His previous volumes are Words (1979), Open Sea (1987) The Hour (1994), Free Sonnets (1997/1998), The Sea in Blue (2000), Numbers (2000) - he has also edited an anthology 101 Bulgarian Sonnets in 1999.

99. Milan Orlic, Serbia; Writer, poet and philosopher, Milan edits an important journal in the context of Serbian and Yugoslav life and letters, called Sveske: Literature, Art, Culture. He is himself a published poet and author with a deep knowledge of Yugoslav cultural politics and the philosophical heritage of this part of the world, which knowledge he wishes to share to help further the cause of peace. the recent electoral victory of Kostunica and the demise of Milosevic from power is only the first step perhaps towards a gradual cultural renaissance of the Yugoslav peoples, and hopefully there be a general outbreak of peaceful relations between those cultures which once were at peace within the context of the Yugoslav Federal Republic for many decades, then were taught to hate a kill one another cruelly in the past decade or so, and which now once again perhaps can begin to remember that actually they have loved one another all along ! Milan certainly will be continuing to assist the recovery of this "memory of love" through his publications and writings.

POETRY NEWSFLASH - OCTOBER 2000
Allama Prabhu

The UK is experiencing a time of unprecedented flooding and storms at the tine of going to press. Experts agree this is directly due to Global Warming patterns which is in turn caused by our reliance on the fossil fuel economy. The Global Green University has issued a press release stating its view of the interconnectedness of these problems and the potential solutions, available in full on request from the OWPP office. Other countries have also experienced increased flooding (China, Bangladesh, central America, Japan) and the situation seems likely to get worse, not better. the long term solutions are there however, as is made clear in our press release. The following poem seems appropriate for this time therefore. It was originally written in Kannada, a Dravidian language from South India as a Vacana lyric by Allama, one of the greatest of the Virasaiva poet saints of South India, alive during the 12th century, who experienced enlightenment following a protracted grieving experience after the death of his young wife. He subsequently spent his life wandering and teaching and composing poetry; once, the great leader of the Siddhas, Goraksa, came to visit him, and challenged him to a magical duel, by inviting him to try to cut his body with a razor sharp sword. To play along, Allama took a swing, but it bounced off the diamond hard body of Goraksa. In return, Allama invited Goraksa swing at him, and to Goraksa's amazement the sword passed right through his body and out the other side, leaving Allam totally unharmed, Allama having surrender himself to pure spirit. Goraksa became one of Allama's friends. (Penguin Classics, Speaking of Siva)

Poem for A Time of Great Flooding

If it rains fire
you have to be as the water

If it is a deluge of water
you have to be as the wind

If it is the great Flood
you have to be as the sky

and if it is the very Last Flood of all the worlds
you have to give up self

and become the Lord

OWPP NEWS
Thomas Daffern gave a series of lectures in his new location on the Welsh Marches in Montgomery and Shrewsbury; tape recordings were made of these talks so feel free to request a copy: There are a series of talks in Brighton, Sussex, on the general title of A CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF SUSSEX PEOPLE; a series in Shrewsbury looking at the CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF SHROPSHIRE, and one on the CULTURAL HISTORY OF WALES. All three courses include much about the poetry of these three extraordinary parts of the UK, including talks on Thomas and Henry Vaughan, George Herbert, Sir Philip Sidney, Wilfred Owen, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Waldo Williams, Siegfried Sassoon, Kipling, Iolo Morgannwyg Taliesin, Myrddin etc.
How about your setting up such a series of talks or meetings in your own locality on the cultural, intellectual and poetical history of the great and noble writers of your area ? Please write in or email requesting a template for how to go about setting up such a series of talks. If you live near a cultural flashpoint region, like a frontier, say between two different cultural, linguistic or religious communities - then we would encourage you to set up a series looking jointly at the great poets and writer and cultural figures of both communities, and hold the talks strategically somewhere in the middle ground between the two communities. Organising such talks will involve doing some research into the key figures on both sides of the cultural gap, but that can only be a good thing, surely ! This is the principle being followed in the Welsh Marches, with talks on either side of the border of England and Wales, which used to be a very bloody border for over 1000 years, with innumerable massacres and killings, but is now a place of peace and great cultural creativity. The premise of the OWPP is that other similarly troubled border regions of the world could in time become similarly peaceful and transmute their physical violence into cultural co-creativity.

Any members of the OWPP who are passing through the Welsh Marches are very welcome to come and visit and stay and make use of the reference facilities we have here. The Institute is now housed in a peaceful small farmhouse in the Welsh countryside.

If you intend to communicate or visit with other members of the OWPP, please feel free to write or contact them using the enclosed addresses; we hope to have a complete membership directory available before too long. Remember however that the information contained is this Newsletter is intended for internal circulation only among Order members - so please honour the confidentiality of those who have joined. If you have a friend who wants to join, then get them to fill in the application form appended to this newsletter and they can get in touch with us directly.

Please feel free to get more poets in your region / country / organisation involved and informed about the work of the OWPP - the more people who join and support this radical vision of advancing peace through the cultural energy of the Word the better ! We would also appreciate suggestions as to where we can receive funding support, both for the global administrative headquarters (in Wales) and also for regional work of the OWPP in different countries, and between different countries.

THERE IS MUCH TO BE DONE - with conflicts still underway in so many regions of the world - and the OWPP believes that poets, in the broadest sense of the word, have a tremendous contribution to make. Let us continue to work together therefore towards our stated goal: a peaceful and secure world in which all people have access to education, happiness, meaning, purpose, in freedom and safety from all fear and intimidation; a world in which not only does every country have enshrined a "Freedom of Information Act" but also a "Freedom of Wisdom Act". That'll be the day....

Finally, remember that the work of OWPP depends on its members - so please do write in, with copies of your latest publications, poems, essays, news of poetry events taking place in your part of the world etc. please remember that as a small charity we rely totally on donations and membership subscriptions so anything you can afford to go towards the cost of our work would be appreciated. In the next issue of this newsletter we intend to carry an International Calendar of Poetry Festivals so please make sure your own region and country are covered.

POET IN THE CITY is the name of a project organised by the Poetry Society to place poets around the UK as poets in residence attached to various schools and communities; can you think of a location near you where you might be able to serve as Poet-in-residence ? feel free to suggest it to your local council and to mention your membership of OWPP. What about a Poet in Motion , attached eg. to NGO's or organisations involved in the peace movement or other related causes ?

MACEDONIAN CULTURAL AND INFORMATION CENTRE has organised a web site which details the work of OWPP and other related projects of the IIPSGP; access this via The Director of the Centre in Skopje, Macedonia, is also serving as Coordinator of the IIPSGP for the Balkans and we are working on a Culture of Peace Programme in the region, so if you are interested in Balkan cultural matters please contact: Ms Gordana Netkovska, (who is also a member of OWPP in her own right) at Trifun Hadzijanev 5/1, 91 000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, Tel. +389 91 172 305 Fax. +389 91 173 115; email: gordana@dial.pipex.com Gordana may also be going to Calcuta in Jan. 2001 to a Conference of Philosophers for Peace.

THE POETRY UK NEWSLETTER is a useful source of what's what in the poetry world, and what's more its free, from: Kelly Deacon, POBox 304, Peterborough, PE2 9NX, Tel. 01733 898102

PEACE AND FREEDOM is another poetry magazine which is dedicated to poetry, art and prose focusing on peace and related issues; available from: 17 Farrow Road, Whaplode Drove, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 OTS, email: peaceand freedom@lineone.net

SMALL PRESS GUIDE 2000 is a useful guide to the UK poetry publishing and magazine world, available via editor Kerry Pateman on 01733 898103.

NATIONAL POETRY DAY takes place in the UK on October 9 each year. Does anyone know why this day was chosen and how long this event has been going ? Do other countries around the world have a similar National Poetry Day and if so, when is it ?

MAKEDONSKI INFORMATIVEN GLASNIK is a poetry and general arts magazine published in Struga which carries information on the scene around Lake Ochrid; available from Ulitsa "Toma Pijade", Br. 30, 96330 Struga, Republic of Macedonia, Tel. 096 72 115 or 72 203. They would no doubt appreciate poems from abroad to publish.

THE POET LAUREATE is an honorary title in the UK and at present is held by Andrew Motion who is doing his best to liven up the post; do other countries have a similar tradition ? If so, please let us know and tell us who is your own country's current holder of the office, and also when the office was established. Apparently the Poet Laureateship in the UK was started by Charles 1, the King who later was beheaded in the English Civil War; he can't have been all that bad then; he also paid for the dilapidated Abbey on the Island of Iona to be repaired as a plaque on the Island proudly declares; Charles was actually a highly cultured individual who sponsored many poets, musicians and artists at his court; sadly his poetic advisors seemed lacking in a forward thinking peace poetice; maybe Charles should have started a Peace Poet Laureateship instead ! Maybe his namesake King Charles 111 will !

KENNETH WHITE the Scottish poet living in exile in Brittany, France, gave an excellent talk to the Human Ecology Centre of Edinburgh in October 2000 attended by both Thomas Daffern and Mary Napper of the OWPP. Kenneth addressed the asembled audoience on the subject of "Mind, Kind and Land" and he ellaborated fully on his notion of geopoetics, explaining in some details the intellectual heritage of his ideas. Something o fa tour de force, the lecture consisted of a broad brush overview of Western poetic and philoopshical culturen, outliongin his sense that the area of work poetics needs to be concentratin on in today;s world concists of a more rigorous attention tot eh details of nature and the urgent needs of Gaia as the archetypal locus of all poetic reverie. dismissing as mythological the normal religious appeals to divinity as the salvation vehicle for mankind, White sketched out a different strategy inspired by Neitszche, Rimbaud and Pelagius, in which human effort and active intelligence must needs collaborate synergistically with whatever divine grace for transfoormtation may be lurking out there in the ethers and available to us poor mortals. Basicaly optimistic, White's exposition was unfotunately curtailed due to time limitations and sadly he was not really able in the time allowed fully to expound all that you felt he had to say about the power and duties of poetics in today's fractured world. He was informed after the lecture in full of the formation of OWPP and invited to get involved.

SEAMUS HEANEY received th Wilfre Owen Poetry Award at a ceremony in Shrewsbury on November 3 2000 in the famous Adamas Ballroom of the ancient Lion Hotel in the town. Thomas Daffern and Mary Napper attended and listened intently to the dicussion which took place live on stage between Seamus and Robert Hutchins, former Chair of the Wilfrid Owen Society; over 400 people listened as Seamus read from a selection of his work including the recent translation of Beowulf. Prioir to the reading Thomas had sharedw tih Seamus new of the formation of the OWPP and invited his support and partidcipation and the responsibiltiy of poets for advancing peace also came uip in discussion during the quetion and answer session after the readings were comnpleted. Heaney explained that he had been greatly incpuired and moved by Wilfred Owen since discovering his work asa schoolboy. He also quoted approvingly "The End of Art is Peace" by the Catholic poet Coventry Patmore and answered a question as to the responsibiotiy fo pets for peacemaking in situations of political and religous conflicts, such as the Middle East, by saying thay yes, it woul be an excelletn idea if poets tried to do more for peace, bnut that it would requirre the polktifians to actually listen to them, and this was unolikely to be feasibl;e unless the politicians in question had an actual taste for poetry. Seamus Heaney aslo said he had been in toufch with the Sdtruga Poetry Festival and was hoping to attned the even in August 2001 as an honoured guest.

THE ORDER OF WANDERING PEACE POETS

The Order of Wandering Poets was founded in August 1998 at the International Struga Poetry Festival, in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, arising from work in poetics underway in many countries worldwide. We believe it is time for the voice of poets world wide to be heard, in order to create bridges of cultural understanding, beyond all political, economic and religious factions and ideological and ethnic and nationalist conflicts and selfish interests. Through poetry, and the fellowship of the inspired word, through music and song, and through the study of the world's diverse poetic traditions, we believe that peace and harmony can be restored to earth, and that we can pull back from the brink of the collective follies affecting our current century and generation. The catastrophes of World Wars One and Two, the follies of the Cold War, the ongoing dangers from nuclear weapons and from terrorism, the increasing religious and ethnic violence in the world, the continuing poverty of many parts of the world, while elite circles bask in obscene affluence - all this is an affront to the ethical and spiritual beauty, to the moral aesthetics of the inner world order about which inspired poets from many cultures have immemorially sung and written.

The Order defines poetry in the widest possible way: meaning the creative arts of the Word in general, believing that poetry is the primal form of inspired communication, conveying the sense of inner spiritual harmony which exists in the cosmos - thus our definition includes the sacred arts in general, drama, literature, fine art, spirituality, theology, religious worship, criticism, prophecy, bardism, magic, theurgy, ritual, dance, inspired philosophy, and all acts of creative joyism.

The OWPP believes that so many of the world's ongoing intractible conflicts, in which whole cultures, nations, religions and people are fighting each other mercilessly have to do with the suppression and distortion of memories, the refusal to hear the pain of the other, while at the same time being obsessed with the sufferings of one's own clan or group. Conventional political leaders continue to posture and rattle their sabres, but seem incapable of really healing the situation. All too often they seem to be in the pay of the arms manufacturers who actually benefit from conflict, as witness the arms corruption scandals of recent years.
We believe therefore that it is time for the poets of the world to stand together and raise their combined voices in inspired warning and guidance, to give hope and vision and courage to all those working for peace and social and civil justice, for an end to persecution, oppression, poverty and violence of every kind. The poets of human culture have often had to endure life on the edge: unknown in their own time, they may come to be appreciated only in retrospect by later generations. The OWPP believes however that a "Society of Living Poets" can be more powerful than a "Dead Poet's Society". In the present crisis of the world, with its violence and injustice, its social breakdown, poverty, crime and disease everywhere - we are calling all poets, all miracle workers of the Word, to unite in brotherhood and sisterhood, whatever outer name we are known by. Membership is by invitation or by application; membership involves a commitment to work for peace through ethical means, and for the ending of war and violence and social injustice. There is no membership fee to join the Order as such, but donations for administrative purposes are welcomed, at the discretion and according to the circumstances of the individual concerned, particularly in order to receive the Order's miscellaneous publications. To join the Order please complete the enclosed application form and return it. Your name and address may be circulated to other Order members to facilitate networking. Members are also asked to report on poetry events, publications, festivals etc. in their respective parts of the world.

PROPOSAL TO THE UNIVERSITY OF KUMANOVO
Given the extreme urgency of the humanitarian crisis beginning to affect Macedonia and Kumanovo in particular, it is requested that your Faculty of Literature, in collaboration with other departments, organise as soon as possible an academic symposium on the following theme:

LITERATURE ON A KNIFE'S BLADE: HEALING BALM IN A TIME OF CRISIS
Taking as its theme the quote "If your love is strong enough, you can make your bed on a knife's blade" (Traditional Rabbinic saying) this symposium will explore the way that poetry, literature, drama and the arts in general have responded to times of crisis in the past, as well as to situations of conflict and danger in the contemporary world.
In the Orphic tradition, Orpheus was seen as someone able to tame with the power of music, sacred song and poetry,, even the violence of wild animals, under the sacred inspiration of the Muses, Goddesses of inspiration and enchantment.
In all literary traditions there are equivalent mythologies about the power of language and inspired poetry for healing and reconciliation even at the eleventh hour.
The University of Kumanovo, at the epicentre of the crisis in Macedonia, urgently calls together all poets and true lovers of poetry and literature from all the diverse cultures of Macedonian society, Albanian, Slavic, Gypsy, Greek, Turkish, Serbian etc. and of every religious and linguistic background - as well as lovers of Balkan and Macedonian culture from further afield. Let us come together and celebrate what we have in common, using the sacred arts of poetry and literature, instead of what divides us !
This symposium will also celebrate the work of the Order of Wandering Peace Poets an international network of poets dedicated to peace launched at the world famous Struga Poetry Festival in 1999.
For further information please contact the two co-convenors of the Symposium:

Prof. Jagoda Tomovska,
Professor of Literature,
University of Kumanovo,
Branko Bogdanski Street, 67
300 Kumanovo,
Republic of Macedonia
email: jagtom@freemail.com.mk

Dr. Thomas Daffern,
Founder, Order of Wandering Peace Poets,
The Global Green University
Camlad House, Forden, Welshpool, Powys, Wales, U.K. Europe
SY21 8NZ Tel/Fax: 01938 580319
(m) 0788 1694414 Pager 01426 212912
Web site: www.macedonia.co.uk (peaceaffairs)
email: iipsgp@educationaid.net

Museum of poems for peace from around the world.