The Summer Solstice

Fairy Houses

Have you ever seen a real fairy house? Not the ceramic ones you purchase, but a real fairy house made from natural elements? Well, now you can build your own miniature magical abode – the perfect addition to your garden. Revealed in FAIRY HOUSES for the first time are the step-by-step instructions for constructing exquisite fairy houses, explained by master fairy house architect, Sally Smith.

From her home on the edge of the Adirondacks, Smith has been creating one-of-a-kind fairy residencies for years. She uses natural artefacts such as butterfly wings for stained-glass windows, twigs for window frames, and birch bark for walls. Smith reveals her building secrets in FAIRY HOUSES. Readers begin their fairy house project by flipping through an inspiration gallery, deciding what kind of house they wish to create and considering where in nature they’ll put it. From there, readers learn about building materials (found and natural), on-site fairy house construction, how to light a fairy house and how to incorporate stonework into the design. All of Smith’s secret tips and techniques are then showcased in a series of step-by-step photos, making fairy house creation easy. The ones featured in FAIRY HOUSES were designed especially for this book and are meant for longer-lasting installations.

With this book, fairy houses move beyond “cute” and into beautiful nature-woven works of art. When you’re through, you’ll find yourself in an enchanted land where a Lord of the Rings-esque mood is magically evoked.

This book is illustrated with 350 colour photographs

Osho – Awareness, The key to living in Balance

One of the greatest spiritual teachers of the twentieth century will help you learn how to live in the present moment in Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance.

Underlying all meditation techniques, including martial arts—and in fact underlying all great athletic performances—is a quality of being awake and present to the moment, a quality that Osho calls awareness. Once we can identify and understand what this quality of awareness is, we have the key to self-mastery in virtually every area of our lives.

According to great masters like Lao Tzu or Buddha, most of us move through our lives like sleepwalkers. Never really present in what we are doing, never fully alert to our environment, and not even aware of what motivates us to do and say the things we do.

At the same time, all of us have experienced moments of awareness—or awakening, to use another—in extraordinary circumstances. On the road, in a sudden and unexpected accident, time seems to stop and one is suddenly aware of every movement, every sound, every thought. Or in moments that touch us deeply—welcoming a new baby into the world for the first time, or being with someone at the moment of death.

Awareness, says Osho, is the key to being self-directed, centered, and free in every aspect of our lives. In this book, Osho teaches how to live life more attentively, mindfully, and meditatively, with love, caring and consciousness.

Osho challenges readers to examine and break free of the conditioned belief systems and prejudices that limit their capacity to enjoy life in all its richness. He has been described by the Sunday Times of London as one of the “1000 Makers of the 20th Century” and by Sunday Mid-Day (India) as one of the ten people—along with Gandhi, Nehru, and Buddha—who have changed the destiny of India. Since his death in 1990, the influence of his teachings continues to expand, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of the world.