Inula Austin Soul Growth

In the UK, November is the month of Remembrance, specifically associated with Armistice Day, which is commemorated on Sunday 11th of November. This was the date that the powers involved in the First World War finally got together and signed a declaration to end that conflict.

I first remember being aware of war as my parents watched the Six O’clock news each evening. Iran and Iraq were arguing over things I have no way of comprehending as an adult, let alone as a small child. Then came The Falklands War and news reels filled with burning Royal Navy Ships, fighter jets flying low over land that looked green, beautiful and not unlike the countryside around me.

As I grew up, The Cold War and ever present threat of nuclear annihilation haunted my dreams. In my teens came the first Gulf War, then the Bosnian-Serbian War….a second Gulf War…

As I got older I began to notice a pattern. War, death, THEN diplomacy.

It became increasingly obvious to me that all wars ended when those in charge finally agreed to sit down with one another and hash it out.

This is an over simplification of course.

If we venture back to the end of the Second World War, most people will tell you that ended with the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

I doubt that we are ever party to the actual truth of these things. I am certainly sure that history as it is taught in schools and universities world wide is a doctored and heavily redacted version of reality.

War has never sat well with me. I’ve always been able to see that there are two sides to every conflict and that both sides always feel that they are in the right. Unfortunately it only seems to end after many lives have been lost and only then do the diplomats seem to come together.

How horrendous that is.

It seems as if human lives are worth nothing in conflict. It’s has always appeared as though the tally of bodies has to reach a particular number before the men with briefcases turn up and begin talking. It may be argued that if the diplomats were the ones going to war on the front lines that perhaps diplomacy would happen sooner.

I have never liked the duality of war. The glaring obviousness that some lives are worth more or less than others.

As a Medium I can tell you outright, that this is simply not true.

All life is precious. Every life contains the spark of the Divine Spirit and this includes animals too.

In his wonderful book based on his own research into Spiritualism and the continuance of life beyond so called physical death, Lord Dowding recounts seance experiences where men who were killed in action during World War II returned to tell their own stories.

Dowding became one of the leading proponents of Spiritualism and Mediumship after serving as Air Chief Marshal in the Battle of Britain and losing many young men (whom he fondly referred to as his ‘birdmen’) under his command.

His book ‘Many Mansions’ (written 1943 and published by whitecrowbooks.com) contains page after page of first hand testimony of the human tragedy and cost of war. It is a book that I would recommend to everyone.

From Sailors whose ships were torpedoed to Soldiers fighting in the swampy jungles of the Far East, there are first hand accounts retold by the service personnel themselves, from their new lives in the Spirit World.

Why the white poppy?

In Britain most people associate the day of Remembrance with the British Legions Red Poppy. These are sold for small donations on shop counters up and down the British Isles. The British Legion is akin to the US Veteran’s Association and provides help to family’s of Military Personnel injured or killed in conflict (or on exercise). It also provides a place for ex-personnel to gather and socialise.

I am happy that these organisations exist and as I have Service Personnel both past and present in my family, I feel that they do serve a purpose.

Unfortunately I feel that the Red Poppy Appeal has only ever commemorated the military and with its usual pomp and ceremony, annual gatherings at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London and parades of Personnel in Uniform, I believe offers only a narrow view of what ‘remebrance’ should mean.

We live in an era where we are all more aware than ever that it is not only military personnel who lose their lives in conflict.

War displaces people by the millions. Civilian lives are lost, children are orphaned and maimed, families end up in refugee camps, houses, towns and cities are destroyed, livelihoods and lives are devastated.

I do not agree with only shining a spotlight on ‘our brave heroes’ in times of remembrance. We should never celebrate or glorify war and militarism in any way.

As we evolve as a species, humanity must move away from conflict and killing towards far more peaceful means, greater understanding of each other and what it means to have Life.

The White Poppy was first worn as a symbol of remembrance and peace in 1933. They were originally made by the Co-operative Women’s Guild in an effort to hold true to the key message of Remembrance Day, ‘Never Again’.

The White Poppy represents remebrance for ALL victims of war, challenging militarism and making a commitment to peace. (You can find more here http://www.ppu.org.uk)

Growing up I didn’t know that there was an alternative to the British Legion’s Red Poppy (chosen to represent blood shed by allied forces in the fields of Northern France and Belgium during the First World War, where the poppies grew afterwards.)

Now I know that there is an alternative, I shall wear a white poppy with pride every year as I pray for peace and understanding for all peoples of this beautiful earth.

xoxo