It's Not Too Late
by Hamish Miller
Penwith Press, PO Box 11, HAYLE, Cornwall, TR27 6YF. £10.95

Reviewed by Matt McCabe

Remember "The Sun And The Serpent"? Hamish Miller was one half of the writing team that put it together. Well, he's got a new book out. Where Sun and Serpent was a journey across the country following an energy line, "It's Not Too Late" is a journey through an incredible life; his life. Having grown up in the same Sussex village, much of the events he recounts from the seventies and eighties touched on my life as well. Then in 1986, having heard that he was up to something strange, that he'd possibly become a Druid, I found myself, on the day after my graduation from film school, in a car on the way to Cornwall to make a documentary about the man. What I experienced over those few days really change the course of my life. He talked about dying on the operating table, the death of his business, beginning a new life, dowsing, healing, earth energies etc; and I remember walking down from the Merry Maidens thinking "I've been in education all my life, but what do I really know?"

A year or so later, "The Sun And The Serpent" came out and proved to be a bit of a milestone in our understanding of our landscape. Where dowsers had previously taught themselves to ignore strange anomalous reactions, here was a blacksmith/dowser who had decided to explore what he was finding. It's strange to think that, back then, the idea of serpentine energy running through our landscape was NOT commonplace. In fact, to his credit, Hamish does not recount the abusive hostility he and his writing partner, Paul Broadhurst, received at the hands of 'straight-line' fans, who virulently objected to anything that encroached on their territory. (In "It's Not Too Late", he's careful to distinguish between Ley Lines and Earth Energy Lines).

As with any teacher in this tradition, I am not always in complete agreement. I sometimes feel that Hamish is part of an older generation that still seeks a higher authority, that seeking 'permission' from 'The Management' is not a sign of mutual respect, but rather like needing permission from the boss, or a 'higher authority' ie. a God. I'm very anti 'higher authorities', as I think it detracts from personal responsibility. However, I met up with Hamish earlier this summer, and to hear him speak is to allow yourself to be inspired by his enthusiasm. He is looking brighter and fitter that at any other time since my earliest recollections of him on a Sussex tennis court, a lifetime ago.

This book will be of enormous benefit to anyone trying to break out of the materialistic mind-set that our society imposes. It asks all the right questions; but rather than being a self-help guide, it is the account of a real life. It is thoroughly sensible, yet thoroughly challenging. The basic message is that, no matter your age, it is never too late to accept responsibility for you life, and the responsibility you have to the planet you live on.

(Sun and Serpent fans will be interested to know that there is a follow-up on its way!)