About Theolyn

Theolyn Cortens is an author, poet and scholar. Her childhood was spent in the Oxfordshire countryside. Her family lived in an isolated, rural situation – perfect, she says, for a natural mystic. She has lived for many years in Oxford and London, but presently lives in Wales with her husband of many years, Will Shaman, musician, illustrator and author.

Theolyn’s family were anti-religion, but her aunt and uncle had books on Theosophy and astrology, which she discovered when she was nine years old. When she was fourteen, Theolyn realised there were other religions apart from the Church of England Christianity she learned about in school. For more than half a century she has been exploring many spiritual and religious traditions. When she learned Transcendental Meditation in 1974, Theolyn had a startling and life-changing spiritual illumination that provoked her to study spiritual experience with the Alister Hardy Research Centre in Oxford and, later, in Wales. For several years, Theolyn attended Quaker meetings, but the angelic realms were calling and, after studying kabbalah, Theolyn converted to Liberal Judaism in 2007.

Theolyn studied Art and Dress Design at Hornsey Art College. For several years she ran a dress design business, specialising in silk wedding dresses and ballgowns, which were sold in Harrods and Liberty’s of London. She also studied English Literature and Philosophy for her First Class BA Honours, and qualified as a teacher. In the nineties, she lectured in community and adult education for the WEA and Ruskin College, Oxford. Her research into Angels in the Kabbalah gained her a Master’s degree with Distinction, and she was described as a ‘superlative candidate’. She has given papers at academic conferences. In 2017, Theolyn put her Ph.D research into angel experiences to one side, in order to focus on her fiction writing.

Several years of academic research into angels led Theolyn to write a number of books about angels, which have been translated into many languages. Some of her work is based on channeling messages from angels and other invisible entities. Theolyn is also well known for her spiritual development, meditation and healing courses. Her unique contribution in these areas include the Zera Meditation system and the Shefa Healing modality, both of which have brought positive results for practitioners and their clients.

Theolyn started writing stories and poems when she was at school, and was awarded prizes for essay writing. Her short stories have won prizes and some of her poems have appeared in a women writers’ anthology alongside Carol Ann Duffy, Fay Weldon, Penelope Shuttlecock and U.A. Fanthorpe. She reads her poetry at open mike events.

Theolyn describes herself as a mystical explorer. She is very willing to guide other people who want to explore the depth, breadth and height of their inner kingdoms. All Theolyn’s courses, stories and poems are underpinned by her personal mystical experiences and her academic exploration of ancient spiritual traditions. In particular, Shefa Healing and Zera Meditation rely on maps of consciousness found in Jewish Kabbalah.