One small area of the church garden has taken on a particularly special spiritual significance. What began as an ordinary afternoon of gardening led to an unexpected experience involving moss-covered stones, a being called Bantomin and what has come to be known to us as our Healing Portal.
It Began with Two Moss-Covered Stones
Jill and her husband David have been helping to look after our church garden, gradually transforming areas which had previously become difficult to maintain because of brambles and thorny bushes.
One day, while David was planting bulbs, Jill found herself drawn towards an area at the back of the garden which she had not really explored before.
She noticed some stones covered in beautiful green moss. Although the ground was rough and difficult to reach, something made her want to climb down and collect them.
Jill had the intention of creating a little fairy garden. We imagined it becoming somewhere that children visiting the church could enjoy, perhaps incorporating a place where someone could put their hands on the wood, make a wish, leave a worry, say a prayer or quietly ask for healing.
Jill thought the moss-covered stones would make a beautiful natural carpet around this area. She placed two pieces there and thought little more about it.
What happened two weeks later gave those seemingly ordinary actions an entirely new meaning for her.
Watch: The Story of Bantomin and a Healing Portal at Church
A Message from Bantomin
Jill regularly has spiritual development sessions with her friend Laura. One time, during the healing, Laura suddenly became aware of a presence she had not encountered before. She perceived him as a kind of “Moss Man”, associated with green, earthly energy.
The name she received was Bantomin.
Laura began to channel a message, describing Bantomin as an “earthly guardian” and one of many such beings. According to the message, his role was connected with grounding, development and maintaining a deeper connection with Mother Earth.
Then came something particularly significant to Jill.
The message referred to Jill having been allocated a special place and specifically said that she had “needed to touch”.
Jill had not told Laura about climbing into the difficult area of the church garden, finding the moss-covered stones or moving them to the fairy garden.
It was only when the message referred to the Moss Man, the special place and the importance of touch that Jill remembered what she had done just two weeks earlier.
A Portal for Healing
The message went further.
Jill was told that the special area could be used as a portal through which healing could be directed.
In particular, the message suggested that when tragedy occurs somewhere in the world, the space could be used with intention and prayer to send healing towards a particular place, person or situation.
It also described creating a circle around the area and using incense, prayer, intention and gratitude.
For Jill, this transformed her understanding of the little corner of the garden. What had started as a gardening project and a fairy garden had become somewhere she regarded as spiritually significant.
Today, when Jill visits the area, she sometimes lights incense and spends time quietly in prayer and meditation. She gives thanks for the church and the garden before directing thoughts of healing towards people in need, situations around the world and the animal kingdom.
As Jill explained:
“I take some quiet time to sit and send prayers through the portal. I ask for blessings for the church and gratitude for the portal being in our church grounds. Then I’ll sit and send healing to the world, all those in need, and the animal kingdom.”
Healing Beyond the Church Garden
An important part of Spiritualist healing is the understanding that prayer and healing intention are not necessarily limited by physical distance.
Someone does not necessarily have to be physically standing in the church garden to direct their thoughts and prayers through it.
For those who connect with the idea of the portal, it can therefore become a focus for distant healing – somewhere to visualise when sitting quietly at home, during meditation or when praying for somebody in need.
Likewise, when the garden is accessible, the area can offer somewhere peaceful to sit, reflect and experience the tranquillity of the church grounds.
We hope in time to add a bench nearby, making it easier for visitors to spend a few quiet moments there.
Nature, Healing and Spirituality
Perhaps one of the loveliest aspects of this story is how naturally it developed.
Nobody set out to create a Healing Portal. We were simply restoring the church garden with an old tree stump being transformed into something children could enjoy, two moss-covered stones which caught Jill’s attention and a series of spiritual experiences which followed.
We now approach the Church garden with a greater awareness of its spiritual significance.
That does not mean everybody who visits needs to understand or experience the space in exactly the same way. Spirituality is deeply personal. Some may experience a sense of energy or connection there. Others may simply appreciate a peaceful corner of nature in which to sit, think, pray or remember someone they love.
A Place for Prayer and Healing
Healing has always been an important part of the work of Thundersley Christian Spiritualist Church.
Our Healing Portal has now become another expression of that tradition – a focus for prayer, positive intention, gratitude and our connection with the natural world.
When there is suffering in the world, we can sometimes feel powerless in the face of events much larger than ourselves. Prayer and healing give us an opportunity to stop, acknowledge that suffering and consciously direct our compassion towards those affected.
And when we ourselves need a little peace, the garden can remind us to become still for a moment, reconnect with the earth beneath us and open our minds to the possibility that there may be more around us than we ordinarily perceive.
What began with two moss-covered stones has become a very special part of our church garden.
And the story of Bantomin and our Healing Portal may only just be beginning.
