My best friend believes in fairies. It sounds weird I know. For the longest time I didn't even realise that she did. I was so closed to the idea that I couldn't fathom that she, a completely sane woman, could truly believe something so absurd. Fairies are fantasy, they are make-believe. I still believe this but I now do realise and acknowledge that my best friend believes in their existence.

When I tell other people they laugh, usually quite heartily. When I tell children they think I'm trying to trick them. I see their eyes dart about as they ponder what I say, wondering if I'm trying to tell them that because my best friend believes in fairies, fairies are real, or whether Aunt Cathy just has a nutter for a friend. They all quickly come to the same conclusion – Aunt Cathy has a nutter for a friend.

But my friend is hardly a nutter, she sees things quite clearly and gives advice that others pay through the nose for. She is creative and intuitive. This isn't an aspect we tend to nurture as healthful but with the increasing popularity of Oprah Winfrey, books like 'The Secret' and Eckhart Tolle's 'A New Earth', Bermudians are learning the importance. The importance, that is, of changing the way you think, creating the life you want in your mind, in your thoughts.

This is powerful stuff. What you believe, what you create in your mind and envisage, is what will happen to you.

Locally my best friend and I, together with her adult niece, took a six-week Inner Sanctuary Training course with Bermudian Deryn Siggins. The course was ideal for the three of us because it forced us to use the visualisation techniques being taught.

Watching Oprah for an hour is quite different from truly working on technique. Similarly, the book, 'The Secret', lies next to my bed where I often read it then fall asleep. It's as if I read it to expose my mind to the philosophy and I don't really put any of it to practice. I don't believe I'm alone in this regard but in Bermuda, where do you go for the hands-on in this stuff?

Well once a week on a Wednesday evening the three of us met with Ms Siggins and together built and/or strengthened our inner beings. We learned how to access and recognise our spirit and then how to use it to our benefit.

Our manual described it as follows: "The Inner Sanctuary is the sacred space where your own loving spirit cleanses and purifies and transforms the structure and quality of your thoughts and feelings, shares your heart and soul's purpose, restores your vital life energies, answers your many questions, frees and strengthens your creative expression."

It may sound too new wave or psychedelic but having taken the course back in May, I have had time to experience some of its effects. I do have to remind myself, but I can bring into being that which I want. It really helps when my best friend is around because she immediately points me to right thinking. I cannot say to her "Oh, I don't know what to do? Or "I just hope this doesn't happen'', and these were typical of my pre-Inner Sanctuary Training mindset. "Cancel, cancel," she says with an urgency that could physically scare the previous sentences away, and then she reminds me to alter the thoughts to what I want.

When I do it, it really does work and it's amazing. It feels like magic. I'll give you an example. It was hot and my feet hurt so I decided not to bother to make the walk to The Gazette to give Tricia Walters my camera to fix. But I really wanted her to look at it. I was just up the road at L'Oriental Express. I stood there on the corner and said to my husband: "I really do want to give this to Tricia", Then, Tricia turned the corner.

I will confess that I did have great difficulty with the training because it relies heavily on visualising. I actually cannot visualise. I recognise I shouldn't say 'cannot', but it's the most accurate way to date to describe my deficit in this area.

The training started with each of us visualising a field, which in one area was filled with flowers which turned into people who love us. Watching the flowers change you can see the faces of friends and family and feel warm and loved.

I could picture a green field but that was it. I never saw flowers change into people.

Similarly another field had weeds and the weeds turned into people you have a problem with. I saw only a sunflower and I'm afraid of sunflowers (that's a completely different article) and it never changed into anyone.

As the weeks progressed so did the visualisation journey, taking us to a waterfall, then a church or temple and finally a lab where we created with imaginings of light that which we wanted to physically manifest.

Every morning I run my mind through the sequence, unable to truly visualise anything save the waterfall and the bench in front of it. I haven't created anything with the light rays because I want to be very sure of the details in whatever I make. Ms Siggins stressed the importance of being specific in these creations. She said if you're desire is to buy a house you may end up with an old place in desperate need of repair.

This is fine if this is what you want, but if by buying a house you meant something new, modern and chic, that's what you will need to visualise and create.

In the case of my best friend I wonder what she creates with the light. I dare not ask. It might be fairies but at least I won't be able to visualise them.

For more information on the Inner Sanctuary Course or any offerings by Deryn, call 735-9952 or email dhiggins@ibl.bm.