SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: Ancient Landscapes

April 4, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Consciousness, Dark Humour, Esoteric Meaning of Myth, esoteric psychology, Higher Mind, Journey of the hero, landscapes, Life and Death, Mindfulness, Mystery Play, Mystery Schools, Myth, myths and spirituality, Politics and Power, Spirituality, Truth and Esotericism, Understanding Fear

Dancing with the Ghost in the Machine

by Steve Tanham

If you’ve ever been involved with anything of an ‘amateur dramatic’ nature, you will know that moment: the protagonist, hated until the final few moments (when the greater picture is revealed) shuffles off, in rags, to his doom; and the shared and questioning silence longs for the gentle and poignant soothing that only the right music can bring…. Screech, click, screech, ping, wheeeeeedle…. . … Read More Dancing with the Ghost in the Machine

April 2, 2019 + Ancient Landscapes, Photography

Reelig Tall Trees

by Steve Tanham

The tallest trees in Britain are to be found in Scotland, a short distance from Inverness in a quiet valley that links the Moray Firth with the north-east shores of Loch Ness. Centred on a local peak called ‘The Aird’, the locally- celebrated ‘Tall Trees’ have been threaded with a series of walks of varying lengths. My wife, Bernie, is an horticulturalist by training, … Read More Reelig Tall Trees

March 5, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Christianity and modern mysticism, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye School, Spirituality

The Keys of Heaven

by Steve Tanham

The Keys of Heaven – The last journey of St Cedd It is the year AD 664. The coastal town of Whitby and its Abbey, under the control of the abbess who became St Hilda, are the setting for a Christian Synod – a court of doctrine established, on the face of it, to unify how priests cut their religious tonsure (gap in the hair) … Read More The Keys of Heaven

February 26, 2019 + #Poetry, #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Mystical poetry, Neolithic, Silent Eye School, Spirituality, Stone Circles

Long Meg

by Steve Tanham

Lady of the northern light Your stone too old to reach Offset with spirals on your flanks With children circled round your banks Give us the grace to see you teach And under stars approach your sight ➰ © Stephen Tanham Stephen Tanham is a director of the Silent Eye School of Consciousness, a not-for-profit organisation that helps people find a personal path to … Read More Long Meg

January 22, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Australia, Silent Eye School, Soul, Spirituality

The Wolf and the Setting Sun

by Steve Tanham

Like knowing thought inclined to action Creates ‘me’ when the job is done So must I trust the light That pulls me where the photos are To stand beneath the ancient wolf And howl at the setting sun ©Stephen Tanham

December 11, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, myths and spirituality, Spirituality, Travel and people, Winter Solstice weekend

Hands of the Future

by Steve Tanham

It was cold, very cold on that Friday… just five days ago. Across the road, people were trickling out of the railway station and along the busy main road through Penrith. Three hours from now it would fill with commuters both leaving and arriving in the Cumbrian town on the main west-coast line to Glasgow. But not yet… “Full Circle: Finding the Way Home’ … Read More Hands of the Future

September 27, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Spirituality

The Stone and the Pilgrim (5)

by Steve Tanham

We stumbled upon the Preston Pele Tower, fifteen miles south-west of Bamburgh, back in February, 2018. My wife and I had seen a reference to it on a noticeboard in a cafe some distance to the north. It’s quite hard to find; tucked away down a tiny country lane not far from the A1 – the main road through Northumberland to Edinburgh. We’d never … Read More The Stone and the Pilgrim (5)

September 25, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Spirituality

The Stone and the Pilgrim (4)

by Steve Tanham

“It’s as though… there’s something wrong with the horizon…” Barbara was speaking softly, giving voice to one of the defining thoughts of the day. Something wrong with the horizon, how true. Craster’s harbour was disappearing behind us, but the cut-up horizon was still far away. There is no other way to reach Dunstanburgh Castle than on foot; though, back in history, distinguished visitors could … Read More The Stone and the Pilgrim (4)

September 22, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School, Silent Eye Workshops, Spirituality

The Stone and the Pilgrim (3)

by Steve Tanham

“It’s all about tea-rooms, with you, isn’t it!” It was said some years ago, and there was anger in it – just a bit – but she was right. We both collapsed in a heap of laughter on each other’s shoulder a second later. There has to be humour in these weekends. They can be very intense – not by imposition, but by personal … Read More The Stone and the Pilgrim (3)

September 20, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Celtic Christianity, Silent Eye Workshops, Spirituality

The Stone and the Pilgrim (2)

by Steve Tanham

Rested, the group of pilgrims gathers on the Saturday morning beneath the vast presence of Bamburgh Castle. The castle was restored to its present glory by the 19th century munitions entrepreneur and inventor William Armstrong. Lord Armstrong bought it from the Crewe trustees in 1894 for the sum of £60,000 – a fortune then. He went on to spend a further one million pounds … Read More The Stone and the Pilgrim (2)

September 11, 2018 + Ancient Landscapes

An Orcadian Diary (5): The Broch of Gurness

by Steve Tanham

I was struggling with the height of the walls – 10 metres. I am distinctly medium in height; my two sons tower over me, at six foot, three inches each. But ten metres is a long way into anybody’s domestic sky; and yet that’s how tall the central stone tower of the Broch of Gurness was. The small cheeseboard (above) bought in Kirkwall, the … Read More An Orcadian Diary (5): The Broch of Gurness

July 26, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Celtic Christianity, Consciousness, Fear, mystical travel, Silent Eye Workshops, Spirituality, Understanding Fear

Pilgrims of blood and stone

by Steve Tanham

The blood: the Life that flows through us, taken in as breath, fresh each second, flowing out to be renewed in the world of nature; natural, given. The stone: the fixed structures we rely on to ensure persistence of that life-force made flesh. The riddle, the contradiction – the mystery… beginning with that most profound and persistent structure: the body… There is no more … Read More Pilgrims of blood and stone