Mycology

🎉 **Hey London & Southern England Childfree Friends!** 🇬🇧 📅 **Date:** last Saturday of the Month 🕖 **Time:** 15h/3 PM - Whenever 📍 **Location:** Mercato Metropolitano, 42 Newington Causeway, SE1 6DR I'm so excited to announce that even though I'm back in Portugal, the Londoners are keeping the childfree meetup momentum going—something I’m incredibly thrilled about! 🥳 **This is an ongoing monthly meetup without me physically present and run by y'all**, and I couldn't be prouder of our community! 👯‍♀️✨ **Event Details:** * 🤝 **Who:** This meetup is for **childfree individuals, meaning anyone who doesn’t have or wants kids**. It’s the perfect opportunity to find like-minded people, share stories, and build lasting friendships. Whether you're a local or just passing through, everyone is welcome! 🫶❤️ * 🍕 **What:** Dinner, drinks, and great company at Mercato Metropolitano, an iconic market in London known for its vibrant atmosphere, diverse street food, craft beer, and artisanal shops. With plenty of food and drink options, there’s something for everyone—**including vegan and vegetarian options!** 🍻🍽️ * 📍 **Where:** Mercato Metropolitano offers plenty of space for large groups, making it the ideal spot for our gathering. You can explore its variety of stalls or simply relax and enjoy the evening. [Website: MercatoMetropolitano](https://mercatometropolitano.com). * 📓 **Please Note:** The meetup is free, but you'll be responsible for any food or drinks you purchase during the event. 💸 * 🎉 **Why You Should Join:** If you're ready to enjoy a casual evening with people who share the childfree lifestyle, this is the perfect opportunity. Our meetups are all about having fun, connecting with new people, and building a supportive community. 💫💬 * ⏰ **Arrive & Leave:** Feel free to arrive and leave as it suits you. Come for the entire evening or just pop by for a drink—no pressure! 🍷✨ * 📱 **Join the WhatsApp Group:** Stay in touch with the group and make it easier to connect on the day of the event. It’s also a great way to keep the conversation going afterward. 🔗 (You just need jump on my email list and you'll get access to all the Unapologetically Childfree™️ WhatsApp Groups: [https://catharticcounseling.com/childfree-group-chat](https://catharticcounseling.com/childfree-group-chat) **Unapologetically Yours** 🫶\*\*,\*\* **Maggie Dickens** **Host of the Unapologetically Childfree Community + Podcast** **Instagram: @childfree_communities** 📣 🚨 **Important: Event Participation Agreement** This Event Participation Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into by and between Maggie Dickens, owner of the Unapologetically Childfree Community ("UCC"), and the Participant ("Participant"). By attending the event, the Participant agrees to the following terms: 1\. Disclaimer of Affiliation and Liability 1.1 No Affiliation with Third-Party Vendors: The UCC has no affiliation with third-party vendors at the venue. Participation in any activities or purchases from vendors is at the Participant's own discretion and risk. 1.2 No Financial Remuneration: No member of the UCC receives financial compensation from third-party vendors, and this is subject to change without notice. 1.3 Waiver of Liability: The Participant agrees to waive all liability and hold Maggie Dickens and the UCC harmless from any claims or damages arising from participation, including physical injuries, property damage, or financial loss. 2\. Voluntary Participation and Assumption of Risk 2.1 Participation is entirely voluntary, and the Participant assumes all risks, including any injuries or losses. 3\. Photography and Marketing Consent 3.1 The Participant consents to being photographed or recorded during the event for marketing purposes. 3.2 The Participant grants the UCC the right to use their likeness for promotion without compensation. 4\. General Provisions 4.1 The Participant is responsible for any costs incurred during the event. 4.2 This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement and can only be modified in writing. 4.3 This Agreement is governed by applicable laws.

Join our small, friendly group for the most exhilarating coastal hike in the South East - the legendary Seven Sisters! We have tackled this route dozens of times, and it never gets old. 🎄 Walk off those festive dinners, mince pies, and Baileys-based decisions… 💪 Get those legs ready for New Year’s Eve! Spaces are limited — come for the views, the laughs, and the post-Christmas detox! ✨ Route: Seaford to Eastbourne (train from London Victoria – 1.5 hrs) Distance: 22k Guide Fee: £10 Travel: Bring extra cash for a discounted group train ticket (approx. £20–25) #SevenSistersHike #DayTripFromLondon #HikingUK #CoastalAdventure #NatureFix #GetOutside #GroupHike

# 🍂❄️ LEAF Gathering🍻 Hello LEAF**🍂** (London East Asians & Friends) family! It's time for our monthly gathering, and this time we're cozying up in a warm pub for a lovely winter get-together. Join us for an evening of good company, laughter, and the chance to connect with fellow East Asians in London! **🌈 Who's Welcome** This event is open to all LEAF members and friends. Remember, LEAF is primarily for those with strong ties to East Asia: * People with East Asian heritage or roots * Those born or raised in East Asian countries * Individuals who have lived extensively in East Asia * Friends and family members of the above We welcome everyone with East Asian connections, regardless of gender, age, or sexuality. **👋 New to LEAF?** If this is your first event with us, don't worry! We're a friendly bunch and always happy to welcome new members. Look for the group with East Asian faces on our reserved floor! Feel free to approach anyone and introduce yourself – we don't bite! 😊 Please say hello to any of the organisers and we will be happy to introduce you to other people. Welcome to join anytime, don't worry about being late;-) We can't wait to see you all there! Let's create some wonderful winter memories together! 🍵🥟🎉

*PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MEETING POINT INFO* Join us for a stroll round Bloomsbury including info on its literary, musical & architectural history. A shortish, easy walk ending at a Wetherspoons! :) *MEETING POINT: EXIT GOIDGE STREET STATION (NORTHERN LINE, CHARING X BRANCH) & TURN LEFT ONTO TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD. A FEW SECONDS WALK UP ON THE LEFT IS A SMALL SQUARE WITH MURALS ON THE BUILDING BEHIND IT. MEET IN THE SQUARE. THE SQUARE IS ALSO JUST A FEW MINS WALK DOWN TCR FROM WARREN STREET STATION (VICTORIA & NORTHERN LINES)*

***A Cosmic Gathering Before the New Year !!*** You’re invited to a special **pre–New Year evening** where curiosity, conversation, and a touch of cosmic mystery come together. On this night, we’ll dive into the story of **3I/ATLAS** — the rare interstellar object currently passing through our Solar System — not as a dry lecture, but as an open, playful, and thought-provoking conversation. What is it? Why now? And what does it stir in us — scientifically, philosophically, or simply on a human level? Expect fascinating ideas, bold questions, unexpected connections, and plenty of room to think out loud, laugh, and wonder together. 🗓 **December 28, 2025** 🕖 **7:00 PM** 📍 **119C Stroud Green Road, N4 3PX , nerest tube Finsbury Park** The evening will have a **festive, pre-holiday atmosphere** with **Light** **New Year catering**, drinks, and time to mingle — a space where science meets imagination, and serious questions are allowed to be fun. Come for the gathering, stay for the dialogue, and leave with a spark of curiosity to carry into the New Year!!! 🎄🍾🎉✨💫🪐 For more info please call Elena 07428853358

Time is precious. Here we value non-boring chats and interactions that are fully engaging, soulfully enriching, inspiring, and leave you a bit wiser than when you arrived. In that spirit (mind the pun!), today’s fully hosted laid back social coffee chat will offer a perfect haven for the inquisitive & curious - those drawn to the mysteries of the universe, life and everything in between. A tasty caffeine infused fun afternoon of thought-provoking causal chats exploring spirituality/consciousness and related interconnected topics spanning **philosophy,** **neuroscience**, **parapsychology,** **cosmology** and **noetic sciences** over a mug of sweet coffee. Hosted by me - a former Reuters journalist & published empirical researcher exploring spirituality topics in pursuant of the "truth" since a teenager, there'll be no strict structure - a relaxed friendly space to openly chat, exchange ideas & experiences without judgement, but I'll preside to promote inclusivity and zone in on specifics to avoid people digressing onto unrelated tangents to ensure like all of our events - particpants derive maximum utlity and insights from attending. We’ll touch on everything from the limits of scientific understanding to exploring the unexplained using practical fun exploratory divination practices drawing on elements of **psychology, metaphysics, epistemology** and **statistical** **probability** of rare events as we do so. Whether you're a practicing "spiritualist", a curious skeptic, or just someone who loves deep conversation on **life’s big questions**, you’ll hopefully walk away more enlightened with some practical tips you can start applying and inspired to explore more! **Sample of conversational threads** might include: Are we mere organisms pursuing biological survival or does consciousness exist beyond neurons firing in our brains? What explains peoples' paranormal experiences? What would reality look like If our brains were limitless? Declassified CIA files show that as as well as mind control experiments, the US govt employed mediums and remote viewers. If all mumbo jumbo then why? Is Nirvana just a fantasy of deluded people? Does everything happen for a reason? To clarify - we define spirituality here as an exploration of consciousness, Donald Rumsfeld's unknown unknowns and undiscovered aspects of reality, NOT religion. After all, as my philosophy professor once rightly postulated to me: "If God created Adam, who created God Lucas?" Yep - that inconvenient flaw **debunks every fairytale religion** out there including the oldest religion of them all - paganism - so why is witchcraft still practised outside of **Hogwarts** today? I may also share the latest peer reviewed empirical evidence surrounding **paranormal** and **consciousness** phenomena. As well as illuminating chats to guide self-reflection, there'll be FREE Tarot & I-Ching readings, demonstrations of meditation method to activate super powerful gamma brain waves, and pyschic tests for a bit of fun, laughter & intrigue! **=== POTENTIAL CONVERSATION STARTERS ===** 1. Does consciousness survive death or is Cambridge Astrophysics Professor Brian Cox right in asserting if **ghosts** existed then particle accelerators at CERN would have already detected ghost molecules making Ouija boards kids play? Are Poltergiests 100% hoax? Brain scans indicate thalamocortical circuits in our brain (pathways in the parietal cortex & central lateral thalamus) drive **consciousness -** so how can spirit/mind live on after **brain death**? 2. Is **synchronicity/coincidence** simply randomness disguised in the eye of the beholder or can what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance" (quantum entanglement) explain it? 3. Given **neuroscience**'s infancy with much yet undiscovered - could mediation help access functions outside of our BAU alpha & beta brain wave states? Can **Kundalini yoga** to boost natural **DMT** (dimethyltryptamine) vs drugs like ayahuasca, mushrooms, LSD etc and if so by what mechanism? Do the artifically created neural signatures using magnetic stimulation observed during mystical experiences debunk them? Is the Maharishi Effect real? 4. Are clairvoyants and mediums just good people readers or are they really able to access time and space in non-linear ways? Is Tyler Henry the real deal or just faking it? 5. The laws of statistical probability, Drake Equation & common sense tells us there is other non-microbial life out there. So what explains the Fermi Paradox? Was that 1976 WOW signal aliens? How about the recent strange bahaviour of Boyajian's star or Oumuamua/Atlas interstella object that has just entered our solar system? 6. Could metaverse explain deja vu & reincarnation vs theories from the **psychology** literature (Mandela Effect?) or do we just live in a **simulation** as **Elon Musk** proposes? 7. **Stephen Hawking** once said: "The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities" If matter only manifests when observed as the double slit experiments shows, does that mean everything is consciousness? Does the discovery of *quantum superposition /* disappearing neutrons imply **parallel universes**? 8. Do **NDEs** result from neurochemical changes in the brain close to death or something beyond physicality? 9. Can photons omitted by our bodies explain auras that people see? 10. Could limits in our understanding of quantum physics, space and time explain paranormal experiences? 11. What existed before the **big bang** \- how do you get something from "nothing"? I believe our reality is the product of a black hole\. What you reckon? ***So how do we get to the "truth"?*** Both in my journalism days and applying the most advanced empirical research techniques in my client consulting work - it becomes clear the truth is often elusive. No matter how much we triangulate evidence - we can only provide part answers. "All models are wrong, but some are useful" George Box What we think we know and reality diverge leading to that great **paradox of knowledge.** And as the boundary between knowns and unknown converge, we end up with cognitive dissonance and more questions. In that spirit - every credible philosopher & scientist acknowledges - we'll never get to the complete truth but could **experimental methods** get us closer to it? A balanced approach guided by Immanuel Kant's pragmatism and Aristotle's deductive reasoning seems the most rationale framework here but are there any other methodologies? How about the **"spirituality"** toolkit? **=== RENDEZVOUS POINT ===** We will meet in the Penderel's Oak. *283–288 High Holborn, Holborn WC1V 7HP* zone 1 central london so very easy to get to. I'll be wearing a **Starwars identifier** and will share mobile hotline just before event start and table number/location Lucas - The Unenlightened Desperately Seeking Answers

**Fees & Charges effective 11 October 2025**: * Doubles Session Fee (2 hours): £11.00 * Late Cancellation Fee (4–24 hours’ notice before session start): 50% of full fee * No-Show Fee (less than 4 hours’ notice or failure to attend): 100% of full fee * ***Late cancellations or no-shows will also incur a fee, regardless of waitlist status*** **Payment**: * Full payment by online transfer is required no later than 24 hours prior to session or at time of booking. Unpaid booking will result in your spot(s) being released **with late cancellation fees charged** * No cash payment **New Bank Details** for **Saturday sessions** and **Sunday afternoon session (1400-1700)**: * Account Name: Jenny Cheong * Account Number: 38366355 * Sort Code: 04-00-04 * or use Monzo Link https://monzo.me/jennycheong?h=X9WpXF Please ensure that you use your **Meetup name** and the **session date** as **reference**. This is so we can match the payment to you...thanks. **About the session** Come and join LEBC for some badminton games at Chobham Academy. We play with feather shuttlecocks. This session welcomes all skill levels but is best suited for beginners, improvers, and intermediate players. The venue is approx. 10 mins walk from Leyton Station (turn left as you exit station and then make a right at Drapers Field towards Temple Mill Lane). If you're coming from Stratford Station, walk through Westfield towards Waitrose. Take the exit on the right called Celebration Avenue. Follow the road for several minutes and you will come to the entrance of the school on Temple Mill Lane which is on the right hand side. Still can't find it, call me on 07863 165824 If you are driving, there is NCP car park opposite the school. There are also places in Leyton area that you can park for free. Please check road signages for timings. Simple "If" Rules: * If you want to attend, you must RSVP * If you want to bring a friend you MUST RSVP for them * If you do not RSVP, you will be turned away Please respect the session limit, they are for your own good as over crowdedness means less games for you! **Important Note:** Event is for 18 years and above only to comply with Chobham Academy's safeguarding policy. You are responsible for your own safety and belongings. London East Badminton Club and Chobham Academy management are not liable for any injuries, lost items, or other incidents.

Weekly cycling club open to members of that club only. Membership enquiries to creativewellnesswon@outlook.com

Meet up fee £7 to be paid at the beginning of the meet up. Card or cash payments. Meeting at Mikis Paradise Cafe. Please bring your favourite Tarot deck.

Private Group. Closed to the Public Knowing ourselves and understanding our abilities is the first step toward wielding our gifts with control and accuracy. In subsequent classes we will verify and hone our talents with activities and discussion. These are hands-on workshops and participation is expected. The goal of our series will be to develop expertise in areas of particular interest such as mediumship, channeling, divination, healing and, etc.. Our ultimate directions will be determined by class members as we evolve. I look forward to sharing and discovering with you. - Cynthia

We are excited to host Guided Meditations on Sundays at 6 pm in our Ashram/Gallery/Home! !! !! Everyone wants to know what kind of God we worship and what kind of meditation we do. We worship the GOD that LOVES US! We understand that god is an energy and it lives in us as us. Our meditations guide others to actually experience that energy! xoxo We don't just talk about peace, love and affection, we experience it :) Also we are a home not a business, so we enjoy building community one friend at a time. We always build in time for people to mingle & develop friendships! xoxo Much Love, Frank Tennyson Namaste, Frank Tennyson http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/f/9/9/600_447824953.jpeg

First Sundays are free admission at Franklin Park Conservatory. Sunday, January 4th, is also the last day The Palm House will be open before renovations begin. Let’s meet, enjoy a respite from January weather, and wander the gardens. Free neanthe bella palms are available to guests, beginning at 10am, while supplies last. Afterwards, we can visit the nearby East Market (212 Kelton Avenue).

This is a time where players of all ages, and skill levels can gather and enjoy a nice Sunday full of Chess!

Monday December 29th at 6PM we'll be meeting up dinner at the Pies & Pints at Easton. Feel free to bring guests. Sandwiches run about $15 and large pizzas run $20-30.

Wild Ones: Annual Native Seed Swap January 10, 2026 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am Join Wild Ones Columbus for their annual native seeds swap. If you have native seeds to share, please label them with the Latin name and common name. The seeds don’t need to be removed from the seed head if you aren’t sure how to do it, but remove as much stem as possible. Bringing seeds is not required. Bring bags or envelopes to store seeds. Inniswood Metro Gardens 940 S. Hempstead Rd. Westerville, OH 43081 Phone (614)895-6216 This event will be held in the Greenhouse/Multipurpose Building located near the east end of the parking lot. Click here to see the Inniswood map. If you have native seeds to share, label each species with this information: * Botanical Name * Common Name Species we will accept: * Species native to our ecoregion (8.2.4) - Best * Species native to Ohio and surrounding states - Good * Straight species only - no cultivars. The seeds don’t need to be removed from the seed head if you aren’t sure how to do it, but don’t leave much stem on the seed heads. Please email the list of species to Mary May so we can prepare information for attendees. You can bring the seeds on the day of the swap, or we can arrange to have them picked up beforehand - just let her know in the email. If you don’t have any seeds to bring, no worries. If you are new to native plants or didn't have time to collect seeds, there are ALWAYS plenty from those that do bring them! We love to see "newbies" at our seed exchange! Also, remember to bring something to put seeds in such as envelopes, paper bags or containers.