We were all tired; it had been a wonderful day, and the weather had been kind – which is not always assured in Scotland… The brain tends to switch off, which is no bad thing when you are in a ‘holding’ group and the whole idea is to engage a different (deeper, gentler, non-analytical) layer of consciousness.

The path was very straight and shaded with overhanging trees. I could sense the beginning of dehydration, and resolved to drink a little of our remaining water supply when we arrived at the wide path to the place of our workings. I voiced to Dean how good the route was; he chuckled.

” Straight and well-kept? Yes – It’s the old railway line between Grantown and Elgin…”

I laughed back. The tired brain reacts to defend the idiot it has become but I let the smiles play out, without response. The art of silent acceptance is a rare thing in a world where everything must be reacted to… but those moments can trigger a state where the outer self – the personality – is made quiet.

The timing was good… because, at that moment, the trees on either side ended and the world fell away. The splendour of the Spey Valley spread out below us like a detailed picture.

It was a beautiful surprise; and we could see why Eva and Michael had suggested it. The track that was the line of the old railway had led us to one of its highest viaducts, and this was to be the place upon which we would carry out our ‘Air’ exercises. What could be more perfect…

But beautiful locations often bring their own challenges, as we had found out when the well-researched and perfectly suited beach at Findhorn had disappeared at the high-tide! The challenge on the viaduct was the strong breeze, despite the otherwise warm and perfect day…

There is a well known saying that (to paraphrase) real life is what happens when you’re making plans for how you should live. One of the principles we emphasise in the Silent Eye work is the importance of being conscious of everything that is happening to us – whether important or seemingly trivial. Deeply significant movements in our lives can be mirrored in the small things of life. Humour is most definitely a feature of the spiritually-inclined life, as is the upsetting of perfect plans…

Like the wind on the viaduct… and ribbons. 

We had become quite skilled in the rapid assembly of our ribbon-based pentagrams. But five minutes of desperate ribbon-chasing later, we gave up and looked at Dean.

“Stones?” Our mock-exasperated expressions asked. When faced with the same problem in the dunes behind Findhorn beach, we had resorted to constructing the pentagrams by simply laying out five stones to mark the pointy bits. When you’re practised with pentagrams you can mentally pick out the paths that exist between them. Textured and coloured stones reflecting the attributes of each element (earth, air, fire, water and their summation – spirit) had been given to us in our first location by the River Spey on the Friday evening. Now, they were the only way of continuing our ‘elemental’ work.

As we laid them out the ‘breeze’ increased. By the time we had finished, and each of the pairings had recorded the other’s comments, we were ready to leave. We took a final look at the glory of the landscape below and headed back along the old railway line.

Our final action, prior to a group dinner back in Grantown-on-Spey, was to revisit the witches and for the ladies to carry out some more Macbeth ‘acting’; this time upon an actual ‘blasted Heath’. 

There comes a certain time in such a day when the ’rounded glow’ of a day well spent merges with the warmth of sheer fun. Give people in this condition a few bits of Shakespeare to enact – on a real blasted heath – and they will rise to the occasion. We smiled and laughed a lot. The ladies playing the witches were simply magnificent; and, if we were the only ones in the gallery, then that was enough.

Finally, it was time to head back to Grantown; but via a slight detour that would take us back along the shores of Lochindorb.

Sadly, the pre-booked dinner in Grantown-on-Spey allowed us no time to stop and photograph, even given the last hour of the sun against the stunning vista of the Cairngorm mountains in the south.

Lochinborb is home to one of the castles of the Wolf of Badenoch, whose life and works we were to encounter on the following and final day within the beautiful setting of the Spey Valley around Glenlivet – home of one of the most famous single malt labels… and so much more.

The sun was setting over the town’s buildings as we arrived back in Grantown-on-Spey and our traditional Silent Eye Saturday dinner. Food and wine were shared amidst much laughter and camaraderie. It had been a very fine day, despite the determination of the ‘mischievous’ spirits whose presence – like Macbeth’s witches – seemed ever present…

Would they play a part in our Sunday – the final day, and the setting for our departure and long journeys home?

To be continued…

Other parts in this series

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, this is Part Six

©Copyright Stephen Tanham

Stephen Tanham is a Director of the Silent Eye School of Consciousness, a not-for-profit teaching school of modern mysticism that helps people find a personal path to a deeper place within their internal and external lives.

The Silent Eye provides home-based, practical courses which are low-cost and personally supervised. The course materials and corresponding supervision are provided month by month without further commitment.

Steve’s personal blog, Sun in Gemini, is at stevetanham.wordpress.com.