SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: mystical travel

Writing without the other hand to steady him was hard, but the other was clamped on his thigh, holding back the flow of blood. The words on the vellum were like the wanderings of a dying bird… he smiled at the thought, despite the pain. Through eyes filled with hot and salty water he read what he had written: ‘They came at the end … Read More Two journeys, one destination (5) : blood and stone

October 1, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Christianity and modern mysticism, Consciousness, mystical travel, Photography

Two journeys, one destination (4) : two sides of the hill

by Steve Tanham

On the second day of the Silent Eye’s ‘Pictish Trail’ weekend, we are beginning in what is, for me, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Portmahomack is a small fishing village on the north side of the Tarbat Peninsula. It’s an hour’s drive north from Inverness. I’m at the end of the pier, gazing out across the deep blue sea towards … Read More Two journeys, one destination (4) : two sides of the hill

September 24, 2020 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, Christianity and modern mysticism, Consciousness, mystical travel, Photography

Two journeys, one destination (3) : the mystery of the Picts

by Steve Tanham

(Above: the view of the neighbouring Inverness Castle from the steps of the museum) ‘The Romans were frightened of them…” I remember reading that the week before our Scottish workshop and being astonished. I knew the Picts had created some of the most mysterious stone carvings I had ever seen. But fearsome warriors? Weren’t these enigmatic people simply farmers? We were in the Inverness … Read More Two journeys, one destination (3) : the mystery of the Picts

January 23, 2020 + #Silenti, Mindfulness, mystical travel, Photography, Politics and Power, Spirituality

The Sun, the Lion and the Ashes

by Steve Tanham

We are in northern France, visiting relatives that were only re-discovered three years ago, after an eighty years gap… My paternal grandmother was the youngest sister of an elder brother (also Stephen) who survived the horrors of WW1, married a French girl and eventually settled near Calais. When France was overrun, the Nazis wouldn’t allow Stephen to take his family back to England and, … Read More The Sun, the Lion and the Ashes

November 14, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Christianity and modern mysticism, mystical travel, Silent Eye Workshops, Winter Solstice weekend

A prospect of Whitby (3) – Touching the Sun

by Steve Tanham

There’s something ‘monumental’ about planning to be high on the vast moorlands of the North Yorkshire National Park at the end of the first week in December. Yet that is exactly what we’ll be doing on the Sunday morning of the ‘Keys of Heaven’ workshop on the start of the workshop’s final day – weather permitting. If it doesn’t, there’s a plan B… Bridges … Read More A prospect of Whitby (3) – Touching the Sun

October 31, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Christianity and modern mysticism, mystical travel, Silent Eye Workshops, Winter Solstice weekend

The Moment that Teaches

by Steve Tanham

Most people who venture into the mystical encounter it before too long – that momentary sense of the world dropping away and an intense silence taking centre stage. In that silence is a new perspective which does not belong to the subjective, reasoning consciousness. I think of it as the ‘moment that teaches’. It is to be sought after as though it were gold. … Read More The Moment that Teaches

October 29, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Christianity and modern mysticism, mystical travel, Silent Eye Workshops, Winter Solstice weekend

The Landscape that Teaches

by Steve Tanham

When we were creating the Silent Eye’s mentored correspondence course, we envisaged a three-year journey through a mental, emotional and spiritual landscape which would evolve as the Companion’s learning and depth of ‘being’ increased. This landscape was to be internal – an active, meditative experience, whose presence would extend into the daily life as learning of true cause and effect deepened, and different aspects … Read More The Landscape that Teaches

October 17, 2019 + #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Christianity and modern mysticism, mystical travel, Silent Eye Workshops, Winter Solstice weekend

A prospect of Whitby (1) The Abbey at the centre of time

by Steve Tanham

The title’s cheeky… Bram Stoker created Count Dracula of Transylvania and had him come ashore at Whitby in a ship named The Prospect of Whitby. We’ll not be talking much about Dracula in our coming weekend workshop; we’ve got enough to contend with considering the truth… There are many ways to approach the centre of Whitby, but only one to truly approach its heart… … Read More A prospect of Whitby (1) The Abbey at the centre of time

July 16, 2019 + #Silenti, Belief and Faith, Consciousness, Higher Mind, mystical travel, Photography, Silent Eye School, Spirituality, Travel and people, Travel and Photography

‘Burn after visiting…’

by Steve Tanham

He sat in the old cinema in Bolton, clutching the arms of the once-silky, faded red seat as John Barry’s James Bond theme started, accompanied by the huge screen showing the dark grey rifled barrel of the would be assassin trying to shoot our hero… and being killed by a turning 007, whose gun, though smaller, was quicker. The ‘ladies’ gun’ Beretta said it … Read More ‘Burn after visiting…’

February 5, 2019 + #Poetry, #Silenti, Consciousness, Mystical poetry, mystical travel, Spirituality

Blue Europa

by Steve Tanham

Through ancient winter streets I trod My collar tight and scarfed below In February’s Ghent, where waits For travellers who’ve seen it all, a shock: A vivid blue on winter water show ➰ Reminding us that in this place Though old beyond our knowing Is found a will of restful blue A lesson, then, for those whose fear And hatred is their only growing … Read More Blue Europa

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

November 28, 2017 + #Silenti, Mystical poetry, mystical travel, Silent Eye School

On Golden Decks

by Steve Tanham

On golden wood bedecked in yellow Is love of ochre gained from you? A fantasy glimpsed on old posters A space where poor children are few ⦿ From a farther place now you are calling Lost on the seas, uncharted, not gone Your home somewhere richer and darker with meaning Not glossy or gaudy nor stone ⦿ Let me sail down to Rio within … Read More On Golden Decks