[From Andrew Collins' website]

WHAT IS PSYCHIC QUESTING?

If found in the Oxford English Dictionary, 'psychic questing' would be listed as 'using intuitively inspired thoughts and information for creative purposes, be it the exploration of history, the search for hidden artefacts or simply the quest for enlightenment'. It can begin with a strange dream, a visionary experience or an overwhelming compulsion which prompts the person to embark on a sequence of discovery. This often involves uncovering confirmatory facts, visiting sites and places revealed only by intuition and communicating with perceived external forces and influences through either meditational practices or magical processes. Often this takes the form of contact with a so-called genius loci, 'spirit of the place', or site guardian, which provides information in order that the quest might continue on to the next level. However, psychic questing does not have to involve outside exploration. It can simply revolve around archive research or just further magical or psychic experiments which all help the quester to gain a better idea of what they need to know.

In Tibetan Buddhism psychic questing is known as the Terma ('hidden treasure) tradition, and whole books have been written on the processes involved and past great achievements in this field. Those monks who become involved in Terma hunting are known as Tertons ('treasure finders'). However, similar methods of discovery have been used for thousands of years by enlightened individuals all over the world. There are many recorded instances of holy men or women being inspired to find hidden relics (e.g. Joan of Arc), occultists using necromancy to find buried treasure (e.g. John Dee and Edward Kelly) and psychics being brought in to uncover archaeological remains (e.g. Frederick Bligh-Bond).

Meonia fore Marye

The modern revival in psychic questing began in October 1979 with the discovery by Andrew Collins and Graham Phillips of a short steel sword of unusual design, bearing the copper-plate inscription 'Meonia fore Marye' on its blade. It was found behind the dry-stone foundations of a footbridge at a place called Knight's Pool in the English county of Worcestershire As the weapon also bore a monogram at the base of the hand-guard which resembled the personal insignia of Mary Queen of Scots, it was felt that the sword had been cast originally in the late eighteenth century by supporters of the exiled Stuart dynasty of British kings. However, the example in question was, it seemed, a copy cast in Victorian times, very possibly for use in pseudo-masonic ceremonies.

The discovery of the 'Meonia Sword', as it became known, was followed just days later by the retrieval of a seventeenth-century brass casket in which was found a small cabochon stone in green agate. This was located by Graham alone at a spot on the River Avon, not far from Knights Pool, known as the Swan's Neck, so named because it resembles a gigantic swan reclining into the landscape (as seen from nearby Bredon Hill). Since Graham, Andrew and their colleagues believed that the swan was a secret code-name for Mary Queen of Scots, they became convinced that the 'Green Stone', or 'Meonia Stone', had once been in a finger ring worn by Mary Queen of Scots. After her death, they felt it had passed into the possession of Robert Catesby, the leader of the so-called Gunpowder Plotters, who with his co-conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, was caught attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 4 November 1605, hence the British tradition of Guy Fawkes' Night. Thereafter the stone was concealed in the Worcestershire landscape by Humphrey Packington of Harvington Hall, a Catholic sympathiser, where Andrew later found that a legend concerning the existence of the stone had lingered through to the last century.

Gradually, over the years, an intriguing story emerged to explain the origins of the Meonia Sword and its accompanying stone. Through psychic work and historical research Graham and Andrew developed a mystical lineage, known as 'the Heritage', which began with the fall of the pharaoh Akhenaten and ended with the revival of ancient Egypt in occult circles during the late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries.

Over the years many more artefacts would appear under mysterious circumstances, including six more swords, all identical to the first. The seven swords were brought together for the first time by Andrew and his friends in August 1992. It is a story told in part within Andrew's book The Seventh Sword (1991), and in Graham's work The Green Stone (1984). Andrew has since gone on to work with a number of what he terms 'direct information' psychics, and is now considered to be the pioneer in this field. Since the early 1980s he has run a group which specialises in developing psychic faculties called Earthquest. This he runs from his home town of Leigh-on-Sea.

Questing Conference

Prior to 1998 the Questing Conference was billed as the Psychic Questing Conference, since it contained lectures in which the speakers spoke of how their historical work had been inspired originally by intuition, dreams and psychic work. However, as the alternative history field became more popular it was necessary for authors such as Andrew Collins and Graham Phillips to strengthen their cases for an alternative history of the world by excluding any references to psychic work. Thus the whole air of the lectures changed, and Andrew agreed that it might be better to drop the 'psychic' element from the conference's name.

Yet at the Questing Conference 2002 it was felt the right time to reintroduce certain elements of psychic questing back into the conference, which is why Andrew asked some of the country's leading exponents of the subject to give presentations which might help people better understand this important subject.

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

Andrew Collins is accredited with having coined the term psychic questing in the 1980s, and has written various books on the subject including The Sword and the Stone (1982), The Black Alchemist (1988), The Seventh Sword (1992) and The Second Coming (1993). Other key books on the subject include Graham Phillips' classics The Green Stone (1984) and The Eye of Fire (1988), Bega and The Sacred Ring by Alex Langstone (1992) and The Sun and the Moon: The Hill and the Well by Michael Smith (1997). All of these books are non-fiction, but read like supernatural thrillers.

Check out the Psychic Questing Library section of this site for the "core texts" of Psychic Questing. Many are out of print but keep an eye on eBay where they are often auctioned.

More importantly go along to the annual Psychic Questing conference (QuestCon). Full details are on the Andrew Collins website (see the Web Links section of this site).

Although much of this site takes a light-hearted tone, it should always be remembered that no psyche-intensive activity is free of danger. My personal belief is that Psychic Questing should be approached with caution, preferably with the assistance of an experienced guide and is not recommended for those of a nervous disposition.

However, this view is not universally shared and for a different slant I reproduce an excerpt from an interview with Daniel Pinchbeck by Greg Taylor of The Daily Grail (see Web Links section of this site for links to both).

GT: But what about the 'dangers' of the Astral Plane - as Dion Fortune says, just because a voice speaks from another plane of existence doesn't mean that it is good-natured and omnipotent. How does the 'novice' approach neo-shamanism? Is it essential to have experienced guides?

DP: The only thing you can do is use your intelligence and intuition to separate good information from bad - not just in regard to Astral entities but in politics and life. All the occult writers strongly caution against giving up your will to any "Other," no matter how glamorous or seemingly wise. I am not sure, however, that anyone could do worse than George Bush, and the directives of any Astral Entity are likely to be an improvement over CNN or Hollywood.

It can be good to have guides but they are not always available and life is short. Some psychonauts are proponents of the "heroic dose," but I am not really one of them. I think there are advantages to starting with smaller amounts and getting used to the space before diving in to some massive experience of ego-explosion. I think that most people will know when or if they need guides. It has also become a problem in modern society that we always feel we need "professionals" before we can do anything for ourselves. I know people who run all over the world chasing shamans and lamas and that seems a bit ridiculous to me - a form of spiritual consumerism.