SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: guided mystical walks

October 19, 2021 + #Collie dogs, #Silenti, Consciousness, English Lake District, guided mystical walks, Lake District, landscapes, Mystery Schools, Photographic techniques, Photography, Travel and Photography

Arnside and Autumn Pastels

by Steve Tanham

At first glance, it has something of the ziggurat about it. In reality it’s the final bit of Arnside’s Victorian pier, taken from a short distance back in order to include part of the famous viaduct – nearly 1600 ft – that links Arnside with Grange-over-Sands. Arnside has the kind of beaches that you’d rather photograph than paddle from. The sands around here share … Read More Arnside and Autumn Pastels

December 3, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (7) : the Standing Stones of Stenness

by Steve Tanham

The Standing Stones of Stenness are reduced in importance compared with their former status. But 5,000 years ago, they were the stone circle for the Ness of Brodgar spiritual city. Only later, in the period culminating in the deliberate act of self-destruction of the Ness of Brodgar structures, were these stones eclipsed as the ‘guide to the heavens’… (1300 words, a twelve-minute read) The … Read More The City and the Stars (7) : the Standing Stones of Stenness

December 1, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (6) : the twice-chosen

by Steve Tanham

To build something so sophisticated, so designed, as the Maeshowe Chambered ‘tomb’, would have required enormous dedication from the people of Orkney. Seen alongside the emerging splendour of the Ness of Brodgar ‘spiritual city’, you get a flavour of the total commitment of these ancient people to their task… (1500 words, a ten-minute read) (Above: The long passageway that leads into and out of … Read More The City and the Stars (6) : the twice-chosen

November 26, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (5) : ‘Structure 10’ Pyramid

by Steve Tanham

The more the Orkney archeologists uncover, the more it is certain that the settlement on the Ness of Brodgar was the hub of a dynamically influential and spiritual society, 5000 years ago… For example, what’s this pyramid…. yes, that’s right, pyramid? (1700 words, a fifteen-minute read) (Above: Illustration of Structure 10 by Kenny Arne Lang Antonsen and Jimmy John Antonsen) That can’t be right, … Read More The City and the Stars (5) : ‘Structure 10’ Pyramid

November 24, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (4) : The Ring of Brodgar

by Steve Tanham

You look at the landscape around you… This magnificent place, where the natural features are as spectacular as the Neolithic discoveries, lies between two lochs surrounded by a natural amphitheatre. You are encircled on all sides by the hills and the monuments that make up the heart of Orkney’s Neolithic World Heritage Site. Welcome to the Ring of Brodgar, in the valley of the … Read More The City and the Stars (4) : The Ring of Brodgar

November 19, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (3) : The City on the Ness

by Steve Tanham

A ten-minute journey from Stromness, on Orkney, lies an ‘isthmus’ which recent excavations have shown to contain one of the richest archeological concentrations in the world… It is nothing less than an ancient spiritual city, lost to time until the early years of this century. (1200 words, a ten-minute read) An ‘isthmus’ is defined as ‘a narrow strip of land with sea on either … Read More The City and the Stars (3) : The City on the Ness

November 17, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Astrology, Consciousness, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (2) : The Houses of Skara Brae

by Steve Tanham

Skara Brae’s modern story began in 1850 when a violent sea-storm tore off the layers of grass, sand and soil that had covered what appeared to be two ancient and completely intact Neolithic houses. For 4,000 years, they had been lost to history, having been mysteriously abandoned. (1000 words, a ten-minute read) The local landowner at the time was William Watt, who lived at … Read More The City and the Stars (2) : The Houses of Skara Brae

November 12, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Astrology, Consciousness, guided mystical walks, mystical travel, Neolithic, Photography

The City and the Stars (1)

by Steve Tanham

With the Pictish Trail weekend a long car journey and a boat ride behind us, we had awakened in Stromness to the early morning of an overcast Orkney day – The excavated and intact Neolithic village of Skara Brae was a few short miles away… (1300 words, a ten-minute read) We had not expected to be here at all. Visiting Orkney for the second … Read More The City and the Stars (1)

September 15, 2020 + #Silenti, Consciousness, guided mystical walks, Higher Mind, Mystery Schools, Photography, Places and Prose, Poetry, Scotland

Two journeys, one destination

by Steve Tanham

I remember listening to T. S. Eliot reading his poem The Four Quartets for the first time. The words held me spellbound: “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.” My wife and I had first travelled to Inverness four years ago, we came … Read More Two journeys, one destination

September 19, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Bakewell, Consciousness, Esoteric Meaning of Myth, esoteric psychology, guided mystical walks, Higher Mind, landscapes, Life and Death, Love, meditation, mystery, Mystery Schools, myths and spirituality, Photography, Silent Eye School, soul in body, Spirituality

Fear and Love in the High Peak – part one

by Steve Tanham

It’s not the best of photo resolutions, but the above image says it all. Briony saluting the Derbyshire landscape in her own way at the end of three days of the Silent Eye’s Tideswell-based workshop: Sue and Stuart’s creation; and a wonderful experience for the group of souls who braved the provocative title for the weekend… Rites of Passage: Seeing beyond Fear …and decided … Read More Fear and Love in the High Peak – part one

June 13, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Astrology, Belief and Faith, Castles, Consciousness, English Lake District, guided mystical walks, Higher Mind, Lake District, Magic, meditation, Mindfulness, Spirituality

The way to dusty death?

by Steve Tanham

We were in Ulverston, Dean and I. We’d just climbed the famous ‘Hoad’ – a tall monument on the top of a tall hill that looks like a lighthouse… but isn’t. There’s some important symbology in that, but we’ll return to it later. He was on his way back from Somerset to northern Scotland – the Glenlivet area of the North Cairngorms, where he … Read More The way to dusty death?

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)