SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: Ancient Landscapes

“Tell us about normal, Ben?” asks Dr Grey, looking like a man rejuvenated, as he glances sideways for approval from the silent Governor. “In your own words, of course…” I try to stay calm. The three people in the room are transmitting a mixture of emotions at me. I’m very sensitive to that. It’s probably what led me to study spirituality. You can’t always … Read More Ben’s Bit, part 14 – A Pruning of Normality

March 4, 2016 + Ancient Landscapes, Bakewell Jail, Ben's Bit, Doomsday series of books, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Ben’s Bit, part 13 – The White Hot Blade of Separation

by Steve Tanham

“And then there are the moments when the white hot blade of separation comes into your life, and everything changes. In the presence of such instantaneous power, you realise that the human view of transformation is impoverished by a lack of true experience at the edge, while your former life is separated from the now with a cut of such precision that it is … Read More Ben’s Bit, part 13 – The White Hot Blade of Separation

February 19, 2016 + Ancient Landscapes, Bakewell Jail, Ben's Bit, Doomsday series of books, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Ben’s Bit, part twelve – Cold Governance

by Steve Tanham

Ben’s Bit, part twelve – Cold Governance There’s something about the door that terrifies me. I suspect that it’s still unlocked. But I won’t try it to see. To try it would risk some fragile things. If it were locked and I had maintained my belief that Roger Sylvester, my new gaoler, being a good man, had left it open as a rebellious gesture against a system … Read More Ben’s Bit, part twelve – Cold Governance

February 5, 2016 + Ancient Landscapes, Bakewell Jail, Ben's Bit, Doomsday series of books, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Ben’s Bit, part eleven – Aspects of Power

by Steve Tanham

Ben’s Bit, part eleven – Aspects of Power “Ben, I’ve got some good news and some bad news…” The Governor of Bakewell Gaol is enjoying himself, but there’s a deadly edge to the calm exterior manner. We are sitting in the ‘interview room’. We being the redoubtable Dr Grey, looking smug; his sexy assistant, Miss Goodnight of the Heels – nee Golding, who is not … Read More Ben’s Bit, part eleven – Aspects of Power

January 15, 2016 + Ancient Landscapes, Bakewell Jail, Ben's Bit, Doomsday series of books, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Ben’s Bit, part 10 – Six Faces of Fear

by Steve Tanham

There is fury in Bakewell Gaol. Outside my cell, doors are being flung open, tables are being thumped and voices are raised in what serves as the interview room. Despite pressing my ear to the shuttered grill, through which Yellow Eyes often studies my incarcerated movements, I can never quite make out the details of the heated conversations. They wouldn’t be that stupid… How … Read More Ben’s Bit, part 10 – Six Faces of Fear

October 21, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, guided mystical walks, Silent Eye School, Spirituality, Winter Solstice weekend

Below and Above – Souls on a Hillside

by Steve Tanham

Friday, 4th December, 2015. A group of companions, some old friends, some just introduced, all made very welcome, meet in the comfort of a small hotel on the edge of a mysterious range of hills, the last outliers of the West Pennines. A short distance from the old mill town of nearby Bolton, the hillside above them is very different in character from the urban … Read More Below and Above – Souls on a Hillside

October 2, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, Silent Eye School, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Spirituality

The Lighted Life

by Steve Tanham

The Lighted Life ——- Gawain awakes beneath the tree That senses show has changed A star of dawn climbs bark and leaf And hovers in the cold, clean air Announcing greater changes lie beneath ——- A keening on the knowing breeze A darker taste upon the wind A fall of wispy, softer skies As kind October’s shorter days Play midwife games with knowing eyes … Read More The Lighted Life

September 26, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, Bakewell, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Ben’s Bit – Part … of a greater story

by Steve Tanham

It began with: “There is a wall and, across the dark room, another wall. I walk between them. Getting there – to the other wall – is the goal. What is in the middle is mere mathematics: five strides sees me across the old stone floor, and I practice so that my toe touches the far wall exactly on the fifth . . . … Read More Ben’s Bit – Part … of a greater story

September 15, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Mindfulness, Mystical poetry, Silent Eye School

Lost on the Horizon

by Steve Tanham

Don’t think that you have seen this edge before Don’t count the times your boots have walked and crunched upon its sands ——- Don’t try to catch the sleek caress of countless grains of dust Blown on a wind that never kissed your face before But now demands it must ——- And, walking tall, stare into space between the sky and land And suffer … Read More Lost on the Horizon

September 12, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, Bakewell Jail, Ben's Bit, Doomsday series of books, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Ben’s Bit, part 8 – The Shimmering Hand

by Steve Tanham

“I’m not your enemy, Ben …” Miss Goodnight looks calmly back along the line of my gaze which is focussed on the beautiful skin of her throat, where my second attempt to generate the flush of passion has just failed miserably. “I would really like to get to know you better,” she says, unconsciously running the capped end of her fountain pen over her bottom … Read More Ben’s Bit, part 8 – The Shimmering Hand

July 6, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, enneagram, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

New Frontiers

by Steve Tanham

For those kind souls who follow me on this blog. Many of you know that I am one of the three directors of the Silent Eye School of Consciousness. This site is for my own personal thoughts and comments, but also needs to provide good links to the Silent Eye, with thumbnail descriptions of what the School does. To add this continuity, I’ve made … Read More New Frontiers

June 20, 2015 + Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Silent Eye School, Summer Solstice