*** The cult of celebrity seems to have run mad over the past few years. Anyone can have their fifteen minutes of fame and if they can be sufficiently outrageous,
Category: magic
THEATRE OF THE MINDTHEATRE OF THE MIND
Once a month, on the evening of the third Sunday, the Silent Eye hosts a zoom-based get-together on the internet. People join us from across the world. The purpose is
The Marsh King’s Daughter: Blossom…The Marsh King’s Daughter: Blossom…
Hi-ho the Carrion Crow, bow and bend to me… * …There usually is. Perhaps one reason for the tale’s obscurity these days is its perceived, overtly, Christian message. This
being beingbeing being
I usually write it with a capital: Being. But strictly it is just another noun, so it’s fine as simply being. Except it’s not…because that devalues its importance. Being is
the mysterious ladder of lifethe mysterious ladder of life
If I asked you to name a famous ladder, it’s likely that something quite ancient would come up as the answer: Jacob’s Ladder. It was the subject of a dream
Seeking SpiritSeeking Spirit
“You could find something spiritual in doing the dishes,” said my friend, as if this was unusual. “He’s right. And although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it,” said Stuart, “ you
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
Half-seeingHalf-seeing
Image: ©️Stephen Tanham The spiritual teacher and philosopher Krishnamurti once wrote: ‘Recognition dulls the mind’. When I first read it, years ago, I disagreed with his proposition. Surely, I reasoned,
Land of the HeartLand of the Heart
This is a self-help exercise I developed recently. I call it ‘Land of the Heart’ It’s an exercise that involves the surrender of the small self that feels so much
Three Days of the Oyster-Catcher (Part 7 Final) Face to Face with MacbethThree Days of the Oyster-Catcher (Part 7 Final) Face to Face with Macbeth
We were standing in the car park near Drumin Castle. Dean was using the visitor map of the Glenlivet Estate to describe the day ahead. We were to begin by
‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Armchair…‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Armchair…
* 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.
‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Enneagram…‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Enneagram…
* 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.
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 5) – Stone in the SkyThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 5) – Stone in the Sky
You can’t miss Sueno’s stone. It sits on its own plateau, just off the old main road between Findhorn and Forres; now bypassed. You see its ‘hangar’ first, then realise
‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Whirligig…‘Aye’ of the Unicorn: Whirligig…
* 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.
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 4) – Sea and StoneThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 4) – Sea and Stone
I didn’t want to leave Burghead, not even for Findhorn; a place I’d wanted to visit for a long time. Burghead had filled me (many of us, I think) with
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 3) – A Pictish HeadlandThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 3) – A Pictish Headland
The Moray Firth is vast, wild and beautiful. Examined on a map it resembles a child’s geometry exercise in triangles, with the coast between its ‘origin’ at Inverness and far-away
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (1)Three days of the Oyster-catcher (1)
We were standing close to the River Spey in the grounds of Strathallan church a few miles from the centre of Grantown-on-Spey: one of the gems of the north-eastern highlands
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
Five Faces of the Macbeth HumanFive Faces of the Macbeth Human
Exploring the faces of the ‘human condition’ should be consuming our world at the moment. We might reasonably conclude that understanding the heights and depths of our shared experience, as
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 best day, ever” in Eden“The best day, ever” in Eden
They were watching me from the side of a steep bank that frames the inner edge of a huge surface of concrete which will soon be Eden North, replicating –
Into the Deep…Into the Deep…
* …Shiduri, the tavern keeper, sat, at the edge of the Great Ocean, her golden brewing-vat resting by her side. * Gilgamesh, whose heart was still full of anguish, strode