In this issue we wanted to explore the theme of relationship, but not just any relationship, we were interested in the experience of those rare and profound relationships that change our lives. They may or may not be explicitly spiritual in nature, but they reach us in the depths of our soul and often dramatically impact our lives.

To help us better understand the nature of deeper human relationships we naturally turned toward Stephen Cope the author of Soul Friends: The Transforming Power of Deep Human Connection. Ariela Cohen spoke with Stephen about the challenges of isolation and loneliness that so many suffer from in the modern world. Then Jeff Carreira spoke with Stephen about that magical soul spark, or what Stephen calls 'mystical resonance' that sometimes ignites between people.

Olivia Wu also wrote an essay that shares how her childhood reading of an ancient classic of Chinese literature had given her a model of what a true spiritual relationship could be.

We also asked the members of The Mystery School to contribute writing about their own stories of transformative relationships in their lives and we are including some powerful pieces that show how significant the influence of another human being can be on our lives.

Our featured artist this month is Judith Marsden whose painted mandalas vibrate with mysticism and magic.

We hope you enjoy the issue