On other side of garden is another arched doorway set in old, red-brick wall. I touch rough wood of doorway which is warm with sunlight and door swings open. In front of me is a huge room, full of books and tapes and CD's, microfiche and odd bit of electrical equipment. The tall shelves stretch away to vanishing point on other side of room. I hear warm wooden floorboards sound under my feet as I cross room, enjoying way that afternoon sunlight slants down from tall windows creating pools of light and shadow amongst shelves, dilating and shrinking my pupils as I pass. But I'm not working here today.

Around tenth century in Europe - after so called 'Dark Ages' - women, original stewards of land (men did 'animal husbandry'), were dispossessed of it by new patriarchies of Church and State. This male hierarchy hid things they were most afraid of, namely fact that it is women who hold key to processes and powers of life. They took them as their own, decreeing laws about how we should behave to impose control and inventing 'original sin'. Allied to this there came a prolonged persecution of women, especially any of those involved in healing. Some sources estimate about 5 - 9 million women were destroyed across Europe during this persecution. Essentially role of women as healers and midwives was discouraged and 'home-making' and its many associated skills is still regarded as a 'worthless' career according to our primarily fiscal values based on GDP.

When a patriarchy takes over a matriarchy as a fundamental paradigm shift, one of main things that happens is that 'healing' and 'spirituality' are separated out as an instrument of control. The world of spirit and physic were separated and became even more so during great male 'Age of Reason' that began with Descartes and continued with Newton, tail-end of which many are presently clinging to in desperation and a degree of applied self-interest.

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) was a central influence on 17th century revolution that began modern science and philosophy. His 'Method of Doubt' was published in 1637: "I resolved to reject as false everything in which I could imagine least doubt, in order to see if there afterwards remained anything that was entirely indubitable".

The philosophy of 'Cartesian dualism' became part of our science, where mind and body are seen as essentially separate. The 'self', conscious being that is 'me' was seen as essentially non-physical. Misguidedly (it was not Descartes intention) this philosophy contributed to mechanistic and rational philosophy of universe adopted by our culture. Descartes was one of first people to suggest that phenomena could be understood by breaking them down into constituent parts and examining each minutely. His view of human body as a machine functioning within a mechanistic universe took prevalence within 'Age of Reason'.

"Consider human body as a machine. My thought compares a sick man and an ill-made clock with my idea of a healthy man and a well made clock".