You turn to take in the landscape… This magnificent place, where the natural features are as spectacular as the Neolithic discoveries, lies between two lochs surrounded by a natural amphitheatre.
Category: ancestors
The City and the Stars (3) – The City on the NessThe City and the Stars (3) – The City on the Ness
A ten-minute journey from Stromness, on Orkney, lies an ‘isthmus’ which recent excavations have shown to contain one of the richest archeological concentrations in the world… It is nothing less
The City and the Stars (2) – Skara Brae’s Ancient HousesThe City and the Stars (2) – Skara Brae’s Ancient Houses
Skara Brae’s modern story began in 1850 when a violent sea-storm tore off the layers of grass, sand and soil that had covered what appeared to be two ancient and
The City and the Stars (1) – Skara BraeThe City and the Stars (1) – Skara Brae
With the Pictish Trail weekend a long car journey and a boat ride behind us, we had awakened in Stromness to the early morning of an overcast Orkney day –
Interlude ~ Auld AquaintanceInterlude ~ Auld Aquaintance
We were back at Avebury, after a longer absence than we would have chosen. Without the pandemic, there would have been recce trips and a workshop here already this year…
The Old One and the GatekeeperThe Old One and the Gatekeeper
Part One The Old One crested the rise in the road and turned to look back at the land he had loved. If all went to plan, it would be
Primitive Minds…Primitive Minds…
* “We will never know what they thought, what they were trying to achieve.” But we still have the sun set and the sun rise… Participate in only a few
The Flickering PresentThe Flickering Present
I’ve taken a lot of photographs during the past ten years, but none of them like the one above. Taken at Castlerigg Stone Circle, near Keswick, in December 2018, it
Horseman in the MistHorseman in the Mist
The lovely town of Cassel, near Lille in Northern France, is shrouded in mist – the same mist that had accompanied our first ever visit to the World War One
Whitby Weekend: The church at LastinghamWhitby Weekend: The church at Lastingham
It was only a few miles to the final destination of the Silent Eye’s weekend in North Yorkshire. We were heading for St Mary’s church at Lastingham, the final resting
Fear and Love in the High Peak – (2) “I want a posset!”Fear and Love in the High Peak – (2) “I want a posset!”
The first visit of the Silent Eye ‘Rites of Passage: Seeing Beyond Fear’ weekend was to the Derbyshire village of Eyam (pronounced Eem) – The Plague Village. Our family has
Fear and Love in the High Peak – part oneFear and Love in the High Peak – part one
It’s not the best of photo resolutions, but the above image says it all. Briony saluting the Derbyshire landscape in her own way at the end of three days of
The Cycle of LifeThe Cycle of Life
The approach of the autumn always makes me reflect on the nature of life; in particular the way the mysterious essence of life takes form and shape, ‘living’ for a
Hidden Avebury: Seeking the UnseenHidden Avebury: Seeking the Unseen
Almost everyone knows of Avebury, the great stone circle within which a village was built. A World Heritage site and one of the most incredible sacred complexes of prehistory, it
Only a Horse and a SwordOnly a Horse and a Sword
We become habitual in our thinking. It’s a good idea (and fun) to play little games with our mind to help us look at things differently. One of these is
The Creature on the Beach Beyond ThoughtThe Creature on the Beach Beyond Thought
It lay there, head in the sky, gazing at the radiance. Its tail was still in the ocean of thought, the gentle waves urging it back where it belonged… The
‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Circle…‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Circle…
* As the weekened progressed we were to work our way around ‘the limbs’ of an elemental pentagram. * Two sites from the region were given over to each element.
The Way to Dusty Death?The Way to Dusty Death?
We were in Ulverston, Dean and I. We’d just climbed the famous ‘Hoad’ – a tall monument on the top of a tall hill that looks like a lighthouse… but
Gilgamesh descending (9)- final partGilgamesh descending (9)- final part
And now you will want an ending… Like day gives way to night, though there is no single point where we could all agree that it was either… Like the
Gilgamesh descending (5)Gilgamesh descending (5)
And now we must move swiftly, as the king’s heartbeat quickens with purpose. Again, he watches the Fate Dancers… and begins to see the depths of what they do. These
Gilgamesh descending (2)Gilgamesh descending (2)
I enter the temple at the head of the twin columns of the Dancers of Fate. Those of the kingdom enter behind their King in silent reverence as we pass
The What of Life (2)The What of Life (2)
I want to like you, she thought, loudly. Please don’t spoil it by picking on science in a stupid, fluffy way… but don’t stop challenging, either… find the villains… She
The What of Life (1)The What of Life (1)
She was sitting in the front row – the car had mysteriously failed to start for the first five minutes of the would-be journey, as though projecting her future to
Getting there…Getting there…
January…and the clock is ticking down to spring. Work that has been going on all year now changes gear. It began in earnest last year, with a research trip to
Why not?Why not?
One of the joys of working with the Silent Eye is the people you get to meet. Not all of them are part of the School; most follow their own