by Steve Tanham
I remember the moment, a few years ago, when Stuart – one of my co-directors of the Silent Eye – said to me: “And that’s it, vanished in an instant: all that work about to be packed up, filed away and forgotten…” He was referring to the hour at the end of our annual workshop during which we tear down the props, pack the … Read More A Magical Roundabout
+ #Silenti, esoteric psychology, Mystery Schools, Silent Eye School, spiritual turning around, Spirituality
by Steve Tanham
If we wish to make a voyage into the self, we need a set of tools, with which to: a) Investigate, as objectively as possible, what this ‘me’ is doing. b) Create a space; a different part of us, that our growing and real consciousness can ‘live in’. These may initially sound somewhat forced, but that is only because western language, with its notional … Read More Candle in the mind
by Steve Tanham
At Winter’s end In lows of March A friend said: watch the crows It’s fanciful, he said But wise, and came from one who knows. ⦿ Far below the nest that swayed, I wandered With streaming eyes to field beyond Where two dark shapes Carved the air on frozen pond. ⦿ Mere hair’s width from the icy death A swooping, chasing joy A courtship … Read More Enduring Crows
+ #Silenti, Consciousness, Esoteric Meaning of Myth, esoteric psychology, Silent Eye School, Spirituality
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
+ #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Higher Mind, Silent Eye School, Stream of Consciousness, Will
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?
+ #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Gurdjieff, Mindfulness, Silent Eye School, Spirituality
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
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
by Steve Tanham
The tree in Winter Its life-trail etched against the sky reveals what we cannot Who stand below and try — To see within How we became this shape This pattern in the now And asking how — Did we result in this? Our branching tale of history Concealed in layered thoughts And wrapped in finery —- We would Be dead and left to rot … Read More The Tree in Winter
+ #Silenti, Ancient Sacred Sites, Celtic Christianity, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Fear, landscapes, Silent Eye School
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
by Steve Tanham
What does it mean to have ‘free will’? It’s a phrase that is used very casually, as though it carries an identical meaning to us all. It’s particularly important if you want to pursue a path of mystical self-development, since the whole idea of ‘will’ is a central concept of work on the self. What is will? We take its very existence for granted, … Read More Reflections on free will
by Steve Tanham
We meet up for a bowl and brew When winter days are short And darkness fills the edge of hours And shortens lives too far apart 🔻 The muddy Collie, winding stairs Are worth the sodden ball and park The panting dog with coursing blood Now flops, no more to chase and bark 🔻 I leave the table free for you While shaking … Read More Nook by Stairs
by Steve Tanham
It’s a tough one, this. I love technology and I have a lasting belief that it has brought us a lot of good… but a nasty feeling that we are touching some of its ‘dark edges’; brought on, not because of the technology, itself, but because of the motive for profit and dominance inherent in the power that a few mega-companies wield. Such companies … Read More The Time Vampires
Sun in Gemini 
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