AUTUMN/ WINTER PROGRAMME September - December 2025

VENUE: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, 25 Palmerston Place EH12. 

Talk: 7.30 - 8.50pm in the Sanctuary Room  (Tea/coffee in Cafe from 7.00pm)

Admission:  £5 Members / £7 Non-members.   ALL WELCOME

 https://www.arthurconandoylecentre.com/whats_on/

 

PLEASE NOTE PAYMENT IS BY CASH ONLY ON THE EVENING

11 SEPT         Infinite Fire Interview: Karimbakhsh Witteveen and Joost R. Ritman

                        (VIDEO) followed by discussion.

Dr H. J. Witteveen, born June 12,1921 in Zeist, the Netherlands, sat down for his evening meditation on April 23rd 2019 and gently released his soul from captivity into infinite Love, Harmony and Beauty. In his passing he offers a beautiful example of the grace of a noble life.  Murshid Karimbakhsh grew up in a Sufi family and from an early age he was inspired by the wisdom of Sufism. Initiated at the age of eighteen, he made a lifelong study of  the Sufi Message, combining his inner life with his business activities.

This evening we meet him, age 93,in company with two of the Ritman family in 2015.

Listen carefully to this quiet modest man who was a giant of Economics, Deputy Prime

Minister of the Netherlands, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and a Sufi Master. Among a dozen orders of Nobility, he held the Legion d'Honneur of France and was a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Joost and Esther Ritman invited 'Johan', the name he was known by, to join them on the Council of the Worldheart Foundation, launched by Joost Ritman, founder of the Ritman Library, the largest Hermetic Library in the World, at The House of the Heads in Amsterdam.  (www.ritmanlibrary.com) 

18 SEPT         Are Your Ready for Your Kundalini to Awaken?  Lily Anderson

This talk will explore the ancient concept of Kundalini, a divine energy said to lie coiled at the base of the spine. We'll demystify what Kundalini awakening is, its potential transformative effects on your body, mind, and spirit, and the essential preparations needed to safely navigate this profound spiritual journey. Discover if you're ready to embrace a new level of consciousness and unleash your true potential.

Lily Anderson Neyra began her life in the Peruvian desert, where she first experienced the raw, undeniable truth that all life is connected. This realization became the bedrock of her being and was further deepened by her journey as a mother and grandmother. After moving to England with her son, she gave birth to her daughter and dedicated herself to understanding the human experience, earning degrees in Latin American studies and Social Work, specializing in mental health.  Lily's passion for connection and compassion led her to become a psychodynamic counsellor and hypnotherapist, as well as a certified Kundalini and Hatha yoga teacher.  She sees the Kundalini as the very energy that includes compassion that drives us to help others, which is why she also founded a Peruvian organization dedicated to raising awareness about plastic in the oceans. Living in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lily's life and work are a powerful reflection of the belief that true healing extends beyond the individual, encompassing our families, our communities, and the world we all share.

25 SEPT         Discussion Evening:  Signs, Synchronicities & Soul Nudges.

Have you ever had a moment that felt too perfectly timed to be a coincidence? Let’s explore how the universe speaks through patterns, symbols, and gut feelings. 

2 OCT            Can We Teach AI Spirituality?    Jon Binnie

There is a global AI revolution, largely ungoverned and uncontrolled. AI is reaching

deep into almost all aspects of our lives and industries including business, education,

automobile, power, arts, defence, technology and much more. Will this robotic AI

revolution and autonomous sentience result in enslavement of humanity? Or can we

teach AI the very best of humanity and spirituality to achieve a beautifully

harmonious future for all? We explore these questions and more in our presentation

including:  * Birth of AI revolution versus spirituality *  Secrets of Amazon’s AI revealed * Generative AI, multiple dimensions & unknown magic *  Jon’s Experiments Teaching AI spirituality * Extraterrestrial Sentient AI & Quantum Psychic experiences  * AI’s spiritual awakening & the future of humanity.

Jon Binnie is a Computer Scientist who left his highly successful 26 year career in Software & AI including roles as CTO in advanced technology companies and latterly 8 years as a Senior Leader at Amazon developing world leading Responsible AI for global recruitment. Jon founded his own business, Heart Centred Wellness Ltd on his mission to balance dark and light across the world to support hundreds, thousands and one day millions of people on their spiritual awakening journeys.  Today Jon Binnie is a professional Spiritual & Psychic Mentor in Scotland offering   Quantum Psychic Energy Healings, Readings & Clearings to Clients around the World. Jon holds a Diploma (with Distinction) as a Practitioner in Complementary Therapies including Clinical Reflexology Swedish & Indian Head Massage. Jon teaches and provides a wide range of services including Quantum Energy Healing, Psychic Readings, Trance Channeling, Past Life Healing, Akashic Records, Soul Fragment Retrieval and is a qualified Mindful Meditation Teacher. Jon works with Archangels, Ascended Masters, Galactic beings, and Galactic Federation Leaders from across the Universe to help Clients around the world balance their darkness and light. Jon blends his deep experience of leadership, World leading AI, Mindful Meditation with Clinical Reflexology with his broad range of Quantum Psychic abilities on his mission to help transform and balance dark and light across the World, and this Universe. Read more about Jon's Future Vision Press Release:  https://www.jonbinnie.com/my-future-prfaq

 

9 OCT            COSMOGENESIS – The Awakening of the Cosmos   Natasha Rocha

Come along with Natasha as she explores the eye-opening world of Theosophy through her diploma studies. This module explores the mystery of creation through the lens of Theosophy. We’ll journey into the timeless principles behind the birth of the Universe, from the unmanifested Absolute to the first stirrings of cosmic activity. Drawing from The Secret Doctrine, we’ll examine the cycles of manifestation, the symbolism of the Great Breath, and the deep spiritual truths encoded in ancient cosmologies. This is not merely a study of how the universe began, and why it awakens at all.

Natasha Rocha is a globally sought-after Akashic Records expert, soul strategist, and mentor to conscious leaders and healers to harness Akashic Intelligence, a multidimensional gateway to profound soul-level insight. She has worked with hundreds of clients to help them make informed decisions in their lives, their relationships, their businesses, and their health. Through her transformative work, she clears karmic cycles, activates divine missions, and unlocks ultimate freedom in business, wellbeing, and legacy.

 

16 OCT          Discussion Evening – to be confirmed 

 

23 OCT          The Science of Imagination   Adam Zeeman (hosted Prof. Lance Butler)

This talk will explore 4 key ideas about human imagination – i) we spend much of our lives immersed in imaginative pursuits, ‘in our heads’: arguably this is the most distinctive feature of the human mind; ii) this becomes less puzzling when we reflect that the real world is, in a sense, a product of our heads; iii) in imagination we run off-line the very sensorimotor systems that we employ on-line in perception; iv) a critical element in the emergence of human cognition was the evolution of our ability to share what we imagine.

We harness imagination in creativity – enabling us to make things that are both new and useful in some way. I will use a playful mnemonic, SkiDS, to describe the prerequisites for creative work. Ski stands for hard-won skills, which underlie (almost) all human creativity: they are equally biological and cultural achievements. D refers to detachment, comprising cognitive control and our symbolic faculty. S refers to spontaneity, an accommodating concept under which I will discuss inspiration, the activity of the resting brain, ‘replay’, dreams, insight, flow and shivers down the spine.

I will highlight four conclusions: i) imagination is the hallmark of human cognition, concealing startling invisible differences; ii) imagination is ubiquitous, not the preserve of the creative few; iii) our imaginings seem utterly personal, but they are in fact profoundly social – we are cultural creatures to the core; iv) in the light of advances in neuroscience over the past three decades the brain now appears a much more congenial home for creativity that when I trained in the 1980s.

Adam Zeeman is a cognitive neurologist based in Edinburgh with a particular interest in the sciences of imagery and imagination, and author of a related book, The Shape of Things Unseen – a new science of imagination, published by Bloomsbury in January 2025. His previous books include Consciousness - a user’s guide, Yale University Press, 2002 and A Portrait of the Brain Yale, 2008. He was Chairman of the British Neuropsychiatry Association from 2007-2011.

Adam's latest book The Shape of Things Unseen (2025) is available at Amazon in hardback and kindle; paperback will be published in 2026.

 

30 OCT          Discussion Evening – to be confirmed

 

6 NOV            Lucy Crawford-Sandison  to be confirmed

 

Saturday 8 NOV – special day event –  with Lucy Crawford-Sandison

President/ Grand Master of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC for the region of Australia, Asia and New Zealand.  Lucy is also a practising architect in both the UK and Australia, having studied architecture in Cambridge.

 

13 NOV          Discussion Evening – to be confirmed

 

20 NOV          BOOK LAUNCH

The Astrological Rising Sign and the Purpose of the Higher Self   Gary Kidgell

The astrological natal chart provides a means by which we may determine our relationship to the universe and thereby sound our own, existential, resonant note as part of a vast cosmic symphony. The primary function of astrology is to unite the aspirant with the intent of the Soul or Higher Self. The purpose of the Higher Self is related to the Rising Sign or Ascendant found on the eastern horizon at the time of one's birth. This presentation outlines the spiritual purpose related to each of the twelve astrological rising signs and the associated challenges and rewards. No prior knowledge of astrology is required. Gary will be signing copies of his newly published, and related, book: The Rising Signs: Gateway to the Higher Self.

 

Gary Kidgell is a member of the Dundee Lodge having joined the Theosophical Society in 1994. He is the current Organising Secretary of the Scottish Regional Association and a former member of executive committee of the European Federation of Theosophical Societies. Gary has written three books: The Inner Journey: Pathways to the Higher Self; Greek Hero Myths: Pathways to Higher Consciousness and his newly published work The Rising Signs: Gateway to the Higher Self. Gary is a professional astrologer specialising in esoteric astrology. He has lectured extensively and undertaken numerous astrological consultations throughout the U.K. and Europe.

 

27 NOV          Wisdom of the Elders: Restoring Balance Through Indigenous Knowledge

Natasha Rocha will share a report from the Indigenous Elders Gathering held in Colombia in September, offering insights, teachings, and reflections from a sacred circle of wisdom keepers in dialogue on restoring harmony with the Earth and one another. The gathering will explore ancestral teachings, spiritual practices, and living wisdom that guide us toward balance, unity, and conscious leadership in these transformative times. This session is an opportunity to carry the voices of the elders forward, honouring their guidance and sharing their wisdom with the wider community.

 

4 DEC             Music and the Question of Expression.      Prof. Edward Campbell

 Music is often described, for example in the school curriculum in Scotland, as an expressive art. This seemingly obvious designation in fact begs the questions of whether music actually is above all else an expressive art and what might we mean in making this claim. In his book On the Musically Beautiful (1854) the influential German music critic Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904) rejected expression as an inherent quality within music and composer Igor Stravinsky stated provocatively in his autobiography from 1935 that he considered music ‘by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, or psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, etc…. Expression has never been an inherent property of music’. With this in mind, we can ask: If music is an expressive art, what exactly does it express and how does it do so? Who exactly is expressing her/him/themselves in a piece of music? Is it the composer, the performer, the listener… all of them together? In my talk I’ll discuss some of the main aesthetic positions that have been articulated around the question of expression, illustrated with musical examples which I hope you’ll enjoy, whether or not they turn out to be expressive of anything at all.

 

Edward Campbell is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Aberdeen. He has published widely on aspects of contemporary music and aesthetics, including historical, analytical and aesthetic approaches to musical modernism, as well as the music and writings of Pierre Boulez. He is the author of Boulez, Music and Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and Music after Deleuze (Bloomsbury, 2013), contributing co-editor and translator of Pierre Boulez Studies (CUP, 2016) and The Cambridge Stravinsky Encyclopedia (CUP, 2021) and the editor of Boulez in Context (CUP, 2025).

 

11 DEC.       CHRISTMAS SOCIAL – ALL WELCOME – FREE ENTRY

 

                       PROGRAMME RESTARTS JANUARY 2026

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