SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: Consciousness

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

July 19, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, Neolithic, Solar Year, Spirituality

An Orcadian Diary (4): The Light of the North

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

July 12, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Mystery Schools, Spirituality

The Feather

by Steve Tanham

There was a feather on his pillow when he settled down to sleep that last time. He had no idea where it had come from. If it was time to die, so be it… Always the same beginning to the dream; the swim to the hidden beach on the Greek island, the beautiful sun blazing down on his naked body–far from the world he … Read More The Feather

July 5, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye Workshops, Spirituality

Castles of the Mind (2)

by Steve Tanham

Continued from Part One As the group walk through the arched entranceway to the interior of the castle, a new feeling emerges: one of ‘being in it, together’. The transition from outer to inner space of the newly considered ‘organism’ of the castle brings with it other changes of perspective. One of these is that a process – that of the weekend, itself, has … Read More Castles of the Mind (2)

June 28, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye Workshops, Spirituality

Castles of the Mind (1)

by Steve Tanham

Like the best of ideas, it begins with a partly-seen ghost, the glimmer of an edge of something that will work…. Ideas are great, but, unless something is practical and consistent on the day, its value is limited to fuelling a ‘greater’ idea that will be. And then the right idea expands, filling out, not linearly, but with emotions that billow like a spinnaker on … Read More Castles of the Mind (1)

June 21, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Consciousness, Spirituality

Patterned in Dorset (4)

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)

April 12, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Mystery Schools, Spirituality

The opened palm

by Steve Tanham

“I only know how to ask…” Probably the last thing she said to me, so many years ago. Age took her, then. But the memory of the touch of her mind and heart is a wonderful one. So gentle, so nurturing, and yet so very full of purpose… “It’s a precious thing, to be allowed to nurture another.” Another memory. “It demands everything … Read More The opened palm

March 1, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Esoteric Meaning of Myth, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School, Spirituality

Dwellers in Towers

by Steve Tanham

A recent trip to the beautiful Northumbrian coast threw up a chance visit to Preston Tower, one of a type known as a ‘Pele Tower’ – a fortified place of refuge for well-to-do families, built during the times of the ‘Border Reivers’ – armed family gangs who took the law into their own hands in these often un-policed borderlands between England and Scotland. In … Read More Dwellers in Towers

February 22, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Higher Mind, Silent Eye School, Stream of Consciousness, Will

Of one mind?

by Steve Tanham

To be of ‘one mind’: it’s an expression we don’t hear a lot of, nowadays, though it remains available to us in the language. Historically, it was used to describe an intensity of opinion, or – even stronger – belief, that something was so important that several key figures united in a single ‘front’ of solidarity behind whatever was being endorsed. Perhaps our vision … Read More Of one mind?

February 15, 2018 + #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Gurdjieff, Mindfulness, Silent Eye School, Spirituality

Identified flying object

by Steve Tanham

One of the key understandings in mystical thought is the idea of identity. Words morph their meaning over time, and identity is a classic case. We might think of the police knowing the ‘identity’ of a person they want to speak to. We would find it in fashion magazines for both genders in the context of a garment to reinforce our identity in line … Read More Identified flying object

February 8, 2018 + #Silenti, Castles, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School

Broken village

by Steve Tanham

The beautiful Northumberland village of Etal, one of a local twin, has a fine ruined castle; but this blog is not entirely about castles… The picture above is the castle at Etal. It was constructed in the middle of the fourteenth century by Robert Manners, a Norman descendant. It consists of a residential tower in the ‘Pele’ style; a gatehouse and a corner tower … Read More Broken village

February 1, 2018 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Fear, landscapes, Silent Eye School

Castles of the mind

by Steve Tanham

Do we have ‘castles of the mind’? Traditionally, ancient castles were built where there was trouble… Do we have the equivalent in our minds and emotions? Have we, over the course of our lives, built up strong fortifications with which to repel those intrusions which, as children, we considered frightening? The foundations for such things can begin very early, and be formed of some … Read More Castles of the mind