by Steve Tanham
Every July, for the past few years, the lovely and ancient Lancashire seaside town of Heysham (He-sham) has been invaded by Vikings… They come in their hundreds, bearing their weapons, tents and tools… and with their families. They sweep in from the ‘sea’ and set up camp on the grassy hollows of the playing fields, where their fires soon fill the summer air with … Read More Vikings Invade Heysham
by Steve Tanham
We could be in any of the great cathedral cities of Britain. If someone took off the blindfold and asked, we might say Salisbury, York, Lichfield or the wonders of Durham Cathedral. The latter is significant, because they who built Durham came here to add their skills… We are in the capital of Orkney – Kirkwall (reference ‘F’ in the Northlink Ferry’s map, … Read More An Orcadian Diary (4): The Light of the North
by Steve Tanham
He did not know how many were up there… Centurion Calogerus stared at the edge of the plateau above him. The vast hill-fort rose from the chalk lands below in what appeared to be a series of grassy layers. There were no walls that he could see. This would be quick… As the dawning sun of the year’s longest day crested the edge of … Read More Patterned in Dorset (4)
by Steve Tanham
The lovely little town of Cerne Abbas holds a secret that is easily missed. The idyllic streets, some with intact architecture from hundreds of years ago, are a delight. Although well-visited, it feels relaxed. The local people are friendly – something we have found throughout this gentle county of Dorset, filled with villages nestling into green and flowing hillsides. It’s the morning of day … Read More Patterned in Dorset (2)
by Steve Tanham
Continued from Part One And now we should go back to an older time – a much older time – to flesh out the story of the islands of Orkney, north-east of the Scottish mainland. The man in the picture is Gordon Childe. It’s 1927. He’s the newly-appointed Abercrombie Professor of Prehistoric Archeology at the University of Edinburgh. The photo shows him emerging from … Read More An Orcadian Diary (2) Before History
by Steve Tanham
To find that time and circumstance Had placed us in an isle of fertile space Where others led us to a place A ring wherein the sky and earth would quarter meet There is no sense of wonder deeper Than that of being ‘brought’ and left To gaze as heavens’ hands caress the land and sea And consciousness completes the longing three Strange markers … Read More Rings of Sky and Earth
by Steve Tanham
The Riddles of the Night weekend, created and hosted by Sue Vincent and Stuart France, reached a dark crescendo on the Saturday night. By dark, I mean the kind of physical blackness that comes with an early December trip to the middle of an ancient site at nine in the evening… After the all-consuming (Saturday) daytime visit to Robin Hood’s Stride, and the nearby … Read More Riddles of the Night (4) – Leaving the Temple
+ #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Consciousness, Silent Eye School, Silent Eye Workshops
by Steve Tanham
A bastard’s bastard, he would never know that he carried the blood of the Templars in his veins. That was only speculated after his death; being proved, later, by the researcher who followed his short life. He did it because he was a runner… Hardship was the key; hardship and the words his cruel companions at the parish school carved on his leg with … Read More Riddles of the Night – Templar Shadows (3)
by Steve Tanham
Never look back! It’s an adage that makes a lot of sense. It also characterises a certain stage of mystical development – a point at which the aspirant comes to realise that the only place of reality in our lives is within the moment; and that our history is simply a container that has conditioned how we react to experience. A skill-maker, certainly, but … Read More Never Look Back?
by Steve Tanham
We normally take a week’s holiday at this time of year. Our Silent Eye’s main event – the April Workshop in Derbyshire – is a result of a year’s intensive preparation by the organisers and some very concentrated participation by all those present. This year’s ‘Feathered Seer’ workshop worked very well and Sue and Stuart’s posts cover it in some detail, as per my … Read More South of the wall (1)
by Steve Tanham
In response to Sue Vincent’s Thursday photo prompt. All the Darkness – #writephoto What the hell, he muttered. And it was the equinox, after all. He’d thought that he would give this one a miss; but then came the drive to his mother’s house and the usual time-slip as the joys and labours of caring took far more time than they should. Sometimes, he would drive … Read More All the Darkness – #writephoto
by Steve Tanham
In response to Sue Vincent’s Thursday photo prompt. Well Hung – #writephoto It had started that most miserable of days, when, sodden with the constant June downpour, he had lost his way and found himself in a dark valley. Ahead of him was the strange hill. The second he saw it the hill reminded him of the head of a bird of prey. But, before … Read More Well Hung – #writephoto
Sun in Gemini 
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