September 2023 – Sun in Gemini

I’d never heard of John Newton, until, walking along the gardens that front the beach at Buncrana, County Donegal, we came across an information board describing his links to the town via the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’. You may already have heard of this man, who could be described – at different times of his life – as both despicable and courageous. Glancing at the … Read More A Donegal Journey (2): The Amazing Grace of Lough Swilly

September 26, 2023 + #Silenti, mystical travel, Photography, Places and Prose, Travel and people, Travel and Photography

A Donegal Journey (1)

by Steve Tanham

The town of Buncrana lies in the far north-west of Ireland, in County Donegal: that part of the country that is on a line with Northern Ireland, yet is in the Republic. It’s long been our intention to visit this beautiful part of the ‘Emerald Isle’. Green it certainly is, and currently living up to its rainy reputation… But hailing from Cumbria, we’re no … Read More A Donegal Journey (1)

September 24, 2023 + #Poetry, #Silenti

The Last Tailor

by Steve Tanham

The clothes he wears are not his own They dressed the flesh to suit the dead With colours picked from nature’s prime And perfumes rare that round his head Entwine a crown of rule and law In broken pieces whispering of a thread ——- The white ones came and spun the rope That covered tailored blood and green And in his eyes they painted … Read More The Last Tailor

September 21, 2023 + #Silent Eye, #Silenti, Consciousness, Higher Mind, Silent Eye School, Soul

Notes from Explorers (1) – the nature and function of the soul

by Steve Tanham

On the third Sunday of every month, the Silent Eye hosts a Zoom-based discussion to explore one of the core topics of modern mysticism. This series of ongoing posts will feature a summary of each monthly discussion; of which this is the first. The talks are open to all, and we welcome new visitors to the group – whether you drop in to take … Read More Notes from Explorers (1) – the nature and function of the soul

September 19, 2023 + #Collie dogs, #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, landscapes, nature

Tidal salt-marsh

by Steve Tanham

The tidal salt marshes at Bolton-le-Sands – between Morecambe and Carnforth, on the Lancashire coast – are both beautiful and treacherous… The sea races in and fills the narrow channels, sometimes overspilling onto what seemed safe walking paths only a short time before. It’s easy to work your way to the sea through the maze of possible paths, only to find the tide has … Read More Tidal salt-marsh

September 17, 2023 + #Silent Eye, #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Lake District, landscapes, Photography

The waters of early autumn

by Steve Tanham

As a child, I remember being conscious of a few autumn days that had a ‘special gold’ in them. Walking the collie by the River Kent, I realised we were experiencing another. I looked down at the surface of the water and knew I had a short time to record one of the special moments that characterise such mellowness. ©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham … Read More The waters of early autumn

September 14, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Egypt, Spirit, Truth and Esotericism

Truth and her sisters

by Steve Tanham

Our modern age speaks glibly of the truth. We might even liken it to ‘knowing’ and entertain the idea that there is truth and Truth. The former would be a convenient or ‘conventional’ truth, a truth accepted as normal by the more prosperous world. But Truth with a capital ‘T would be an appreciation, a living understanding, and a state in which we could … Read More Truth and her sisters

September 12, 2023 + #Humour, #Silenti, Consciousness, Lake District, nature

The extra coffee

by Steve Tanham

My wife and her sister had just left to do some local shopping. I was set to take the two dogs – one ours, the other minded for two friends touring northern Spain – onto the nearby beach for their second run of the day. It was a prospect neither seemed keen on… My mind had registered the lowering sky … but only subconsciously. … Read More The extra coffee

September 10, 2023 + #Poetry, #Silenti

No gardener tends this sea wall

by Steve Tanham

No gardener tends this sea wall Of stone The beauty of these scavengers Of dust not loam And Rock as bed Is all their own A triumph of Being improbable. —— ©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham is a writer, mystical teacher and director of the Silent Eye, a journey through the forest of personality to the dawn of Being. http://www.thesilenteye.co.uk and http://www.suningemini.blog

September 7, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, enneagram, Higher Mind, Incarnation, Life and Death, Silent Eye School, Soul

Personality: friend or foe?

by Steve Tanham

When reading many modern books on mystical development, you might think that the personality was now viewed as negative; a foe to be overcome on the way to the real self. There is much truth in this, but it is incomplete and spoken from an ‘immature’ perspective. That partial vision of it misses the finest potential of what we have loving crafted of ourselves … Read More Personality: friend or foe?

September 5, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Family memories, History

Girl on a Motorcycle – Part Two

by Steve Tanham

Continued from Part One. I knew the line was coming… “And I never saw him, again,” said my grandmother. It was the story of grandmother’s eldest brother; a man deeply important to her, almost another parent – she the youngest sibling. There was a tone of bitterness there. My Grandmother had suffered a hard life. Her husband, my paternal Grandfather, had also survived the … Read More Girl on a Motorcycle – Part Two

September 3, 2023 + #Phoetry, #Poetry, #Silenti

The tranquility of oars

by Steve Tanham

I used to row whenever I could. I found the action joyful and loved the intake of extra oxygen surging around my bloodstream. The feeling of propelling yourself across calm water is a meditative experience filled with sensory delights: the ‘chump’ of the oars breaking the water’s surface tension; the accelerating prow’s quiet roar as it fights the clinging liquid, parting it like a … Read More The tranquility of oars