Neil was born in New Zealand and has lived most of his life in Canada. He now makes his home in Europe. He has studied at City University, London, England (archaeology, architecture and languages); The University of Western Ontario, Canada (economics, political science and philosophy); and Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand (zoology, geology and chemistry). Neil is an accredited practitioner and counsellor with United Centres for Spiritual Living, Denver, Colorado, and has a minister’s licence and Doctor of Divinity degree through The Emerson Theological Institute, California.