About Christine Folan
Christine began work in the jewellery trade, opening her first shop when she was twenty five.
She ran a successful business for eighteen years, during which time she brought up two delightful sons.
In her forties, Christine sold her business and trained for four years to become a qualified counsellor, training in psychotherapy, integrative counselling and transpersonal psychology. After qualifying, she worked as an independent therapist, focusing primarily – among other things – on women’s work.
During this time, Christine started a women’s weekly support group which ran for nine years. Discovering The Gospel of Thomas bought a deeper aspect to Christine’s personal journey and her work.
Why I wrote the book
Having lived a conventional life of work and family until my middle years, a need grew to explore the deeper issues of life. Unable to find authenticity in traditional religions, I seized an opportunity to join a month-long spiritual retreat in Australia. This professed to be a retreat to discover the True inner Self, present in all people but hidden behind layers of convention and custom.
This experience had a profound and challenging effect upon me as I daily witnessed hypocrisy and falseness. And so, a pilgrimage towards my Truth, a truth that I could completely trust, began. I wanted no other's opinion, no other's "learned" interpretation. I needed to discover Truth for myself.
My quest began with The Gospel of Thomas, one of the many gnostic texts discovered in 1945 in the Nag Hammadi desert.
My interest in this particular piece of ancient writing lays in its complete originality. Carbon dated to approximately 199 AD., it had remained untouched by clergy, by priests, by scholars, by Kings. The only interference The Gospel of Thomas has suffered is the necessary translation into English.
It was to this unadulterated piece of spiritual writing to which I turned following my month-long sabbatical in Australia. I believed that, if I could find the deep meaning held within the text of the Gospel of Thomas for myself, then I need not rely on any other's "learned" interpretation. This has been my quest for the past twenty years and which I am now making available to others who seeking their Truth.
Qualifying as a Therapeutic Counsellor, An lntergrative Psychotherapist and a Transpersonal Psychologist further enhanced my perception of the True Self, the unique and often well-hidden person that we each are meant to be.
"Everyone, I believe, has a contribution to make in life, whatever their calling happens to be. If spiritual understanding is your life's quest, you need no other person to teach you. Your inner Christ awaits your awakening interest and your commitment to discovering your truth".
Christine Folan
Ian rees
Author of - The Tree of Life and Death: Transforming the Qliphoth