SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: Consciousness

“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 18, 2018 + #Silenti, Celtic Christianity, Consciousness, guided mystical walks, Spirituality

The Stone and the Pilgrim (1)

by Steve Tanham

Late Friday afternoon, 14th September. A group of travellers arrive in Bamburgh, Northumberland. Their intention is to invoke a landscape. The meeting place is one of the hotels in the village of Bamburgh, but the first destination is that liminal place: the beach – and what a beautiful place it is… The beach here sits between two worlds, yet is part of both. The … Read More The Stone and the Pilgrim (1)

September 13, 2018 + #Silenti, Child of Light, Consciousness, enneagram, esoteric psychology, Gurdjieff, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye School, Spirit, Spirituality

Principles of Fire (6): A Tribe of Two

by Steve Tanham

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” Rumi Jalaluddin Rumi was a 12th century Sufi mystic, whose approach to the ‘real’ was remarkably modern. This should not surprise us. Anything spiritually true will have that immediate and familiar ring about it – the sense of a homecoming, … Read More Principles of Fire (6): A Tribe of Two

September 9, 2018 + #InspectorSunday, Consciousness, Stream of Consciousness

Inspector Sunday

by Steve Tanham

The cat’s sudden appearance had startled Sunday. It took him a few moments to adjust; then he realised that the creature had been looking out of the window and not at him. Sunday followed the feline gaze and found that a huge angel had broken loose from a high cloud and was expanding as it fell to Earth… “Mow ” said the cat, suddenly … Read More Inspector Sunday

September 6, 2018 + #Silenti, Child of Light, Consciousness, enneagram, esoteric psychology, Gurdjieff, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye School, Spirit, Spirituality

Principles of Fire (5): A Tribe of One

by Steve Tanham

They who set out to discover the twin meanings of the word ‘self’ must walk a certain path. The route to the deeper, real self lies only in the journey through the everyday self. Without this study – and its consequent effects – there can be no personal transformation. We have to learn to look at ourselves with intensity if we are to begin … Read More Principles of Fire (5): A Tribe of One

August 30, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School, Spirituality, Stream of Consciousness

The Old Man and the Tower

by Steve Tanham

There was and is a tower, a tall, dark tower. One day, a fugitive – ragged but not lost – came to this tower. The tower stood beside a wild sea, which constantly washed its face with spray. Day after day the sea would send clouds of cold spray high into the air, where some of the droplets splashed onto the thick, crystal windows … Read More The Old Man and the Tower

August 26, 2018 + Consciousness, mystery, Spirituality

Inspector Sunday

by Steve Tanham

Sunday decided to investigate the house; it felt partly familiar, but altered… Curiously, he did not feel threatened. Besides, his only hope of getting back lay in locating the redhead. Turning into the hallway, he came on the giant teeth, which, although fixed to the wall, seems to bar his passage… ©Stephen Tanham

August 23, 2018 + #Silenti, Child of Light, Consciousness, enneagram, esoteric psychology, Gurdjieff, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye School, Spirit, Spirituality

Principles of Fire (4): Essence and Reunion

by Steve Tanham

Continued from Part Two of this topic In previous posts, we have seen that how we view and interact with the world is conditioned by how our egoic self has developed; from oneness with Mother in the womb, through birth as an independent entity, to the reactive adult whose life mirrors that of a suit of armour, grown, protectively, over the real and eternally-new … Read More Principles of Fire (4): Essence and Reunion

August 21, 2018 + Consciousness, Mystical poetry

The Call

by Steve Tanham

The artefact that calls, beyond its place Is known in other ways As though another race ➰ Its builders, bold and true To ancient lines Invisible Within our times ➰ Write upon the unfelt Eye of a duration Beyond Our concentration ➰ Responding eye is small In mute obeying Call To unknown destination. ➰ ©Stephen Tanham

August 16, 2018 + #Silenti, Child of Light, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Fear, Higher Mind, Spirituality

Principles of Fire (3) essence and origin

by Steve Tanham

Part One It is unusual to be able to say definite things in the teaching of spirituality, and yet, with essence, we can… We can say three definite things: that Essence is our life; and that everything that is not essence is reaction and the history of reaction. We can also say, as did the ancient alchemists, that essence is not an idea, not … Read More Principles of Fire (3) essence and origin

August 9, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Higher Mind, Spirituality

Principles of Fire (2) belief-faith-knowing

by Steve Tanham

Continued from Part 1. Before me on the table is an electrical device. It needs a new battery and to do that I have to remove the cover. The small screw holding it is of the type that requires a screwdriver with a cross-head. My mind is intrigued that this illustration of ‘knowing’ has come into the ‘now’, but it has, and I’m grateful. … Read More Principles of Fire (2) belief-faith-knowing

August 2, 2018 + #Silenti, #writephoto, Belief and Faith, Consciousness, Higher Mind, Spirituality

Principles of Fire (1) A faith in belief

by Steve Tanham

The three Directors of the Silent Eye – Sue Vincent, Stuart France and myself – are usually the nucleus of a monthly ‘management’ meeting held at a friend’s house in Manchester. We have begun a process of reviewing the core principles of what we teach and under whose ‘guidance’ we create the four workshops held each year. I highlight the word guidance, above, because … Read More Principles of Fire (1) A faith in belief