On Friday we went to visit my aunt. Who runs an alternative centre in East Sussex. The courtyard of her house boasts a circular mosaic, thirty feet in diameter. It's the property's birth chart. The library houses thousands of books on world religions, spiritual guidance and new ways of being. One of the first things we did was stand in a circle and chant the Hindu om. "It sounds like a thousand voices, doesn't it?" she said. And it did. Many years ago I spent a weekend at the centre with UFO hunters. The highlight was a man who claimed to speak to aliens. As we sat there, he went into a trance. Making connections on several planes he passed on fantastically useful messages. For example: "It is cold here." The food was terrible too. This time round there was no cooking. "We're going out for lunch," said my aunt. Curry. In what appeared to be an Italian trattoria. Delicious. We then returned to her homestead for chocolate cake and strawberries. As we munched happily, she said, "I'm going to tell you a story." And quoted, word perfect, Tennyson's Lady Clare. We started off sniggering. By the end, the girls and I were spellbound. My aunt is 81. "She doesn't look any older than some of your friends," my eldest said on the way back. It is true. Maybe there's something to be said for communing with the gods in a rural idyll:-)