I remember my opening thought was ‘how am I going to convey the size and beauty of this place with mere photographs!?’ I had never heard of the Gouffre Géant
Shooting the FairiesShooting the Fairies
I’ve always had an open mind on the reality of ‘fairies’ – earth elementals to magical folk, and a very real presence to many in our woodland, and particularly landscapes with streams.
Structures of Organised LifeStructures of Organised Life
Some structures strike you immediately as a ‘model of life’. It’s not that they are exact, or even comprehensive, but somehow they reflect an … Structures of Organised Life
Bigness…Bigness…
Some landscapes are just so ‘big’ – in several ways – that you can feel your self being drawn out from your body and into them. There to ‘fly around’,
The Last PieceThe Last Piece
The power of the jigsaw Can only come through When all the pieces Are correctly aligned. What seemed academic Is revealed as the key To a higher understanding… ———- ©Stephen
Conversations with a LizardConversations with a Lizard
I’m having a conversation with a lizard. Nothing to be alarmed about, the lizard is only in my head – quite literally, in fact. As Homo Sapiens developed over the
A Challenging BeliefA Challenging Belief
Our use or not of the word ‘believe’ reveals much about our deepest opinions and concepts of meaning. I can say that I believe that the awful weather we’re having will shortly
The tantalising potential of instinctive energyThe tantalising potential of instinctive energy
We are ‘head people’. By that I mean that our lives are driven by our heads; by thinking, by brains. We are born vividly experiencing, but our life in society and
The Mystery of Intelligent Inner FireThe Mystery of Intelligent Inner Fire
There is a mysterious fire within the human being. All of us have it, and it’s waiting to serve us … but in most, it is left dormant. The Alchemists named it
Darkness and her brotherDarkness and her brother
We often hear the phrase, ‘there’s always light and dark’: two things that stand in polarity – opposition, even – but do we ever stop to let the mind and
Norse notes in an Irish songNorse notes in an Irish song
(📩 650 words, Travel musings, photography, a five minute read) There’s something defining about the tall wooden figure facing off across the busy harbour-front road with its opponent: the icy
Being nothingBeing nothing
(📩 1100 words, a ten minute read, the mystical journey) We are so simple, and yet so complex. The simple is what we are; the complex is what we take
Where the rocket fuel is (2) : amazing structuresWhere the rocket fuel is (2) : amazing structures
‘Our life-force begins its journey with the instincts.’ Hearing that stopped me in my tracks. It was so exact, yet, at the same time, so counter to what I would
Where the rocket fuel is…(1)Where the rocket fuel is…(1)
We could liken ourselves to a tall rocket, layered into functions. At the top would be the most sophisticated ‘computer’ the world has ever seen – the human brain. Below
Long Naked DivisionLong Naked Division
Stark, naked, the long cold night of winter Draws my will to live in shapes Whose beauty lies in number, Unseen to hands that touch My rough and dusty bark…
Trailing clouds of gloryTrailing clouds of glory
(Above: the southern tip of Grasmere Lake, one of Wordsworth’s favourite places. The February colours will change, dramatically, soon…) It’s February; cold and wet, now… But in a few month’s
Structures of UnfoldingStructures of Unfolding
(📩100 words, a one-minute read) The sky lit bright with promise The dark earth sodden and soft The tree – the form returning life will use to shape itself. Like,
The touch of experience (3)The touch of experience (3)
(📩700 words, a ten-minute read, final part) In Part Two, the ‘Apple’ became a friend that helped us quieten the mind’s focus on concentration (of things) and created a ‘light
The touch of experience (2)The touch of experience (2)
(📩740 words, a ten-minute read) We were last seen staring at an apple; an apple that had become the enemy… The ‘habitual mind’ had objected to our creation of a
The touch of experience (1)The touch of experience (1)
(📩740 words, a ten-minute read) To enter a process of mystical training is often considered an intellectual experience, with limited connection to everyday experience. In practice, the opposite is true.
The liquid depth of JanuaryThe liquid depth of January
Meanwhile, over at Sun in Gemini… https://suningemini.blog/2024/01/14/the-liquid-depth-of-january/
In the world but not of it (3) : True to TypeIn the world but not of it (3) : True to Type
Not ‘typing’ in the sense of my fingers tapping across this keyboard. Something else is conveyed, here: the idea that although we are each a unique example of walking, talking
Signing off for 2023 – Happy Christmas!Signing off for 2023 – Happy Christmas!
With this post I’ll be signing off for the rest of 2023 and the first week in 2024. I’m sure we all need a recharge, and I find the festive
SoddenSodden
Sodden, like a soldier’s backpack hauled across the final freezing mile. The face of one determined To outlive, within an icy smile. A green chord, stroked arpeggio Denied its solemn