'The earth has music for those who will listen ...' William Shakespeare

Spiritual Harp for Soul Growth

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The Holy Island of Lindisfarne July 2016

The Isle of Iona

'Living From Essence'
with Spiritual Harp

In this newsletter :

Words from The Dene
'Holy Islands' Retreats

- Lindisfarne 'Holy Island'
- The Isle of Iona
Spiritual Harp for meditation and inspiration on these holy islands.

2nd August - 'Living From Essence' with the teachings of nature

Click on any of these 4 photos for shortcuts,
or scroll down to read 'Words From The Dene' and more...

One man and his dog …. A Celtic Meditation ....

It's a summer’s morning on the moors, with a soft, sweet scent of honey on the air. A brisk breeze from the north west makes me pull my scarf closer.

As I walk round the corner on the breast of the hill, the sound of a flock of sheep flies towards me on the wind.

Along the purple edge of the moor a farmer is on his quod, with galloping collie behind, sweeping a large flock of sheep into the field.

I spend ages just standing, watching the black and white collie running full pelt up hill and down dale, never running out of steam, always eager, and alert to the calls of his master.

I smile as I remember a TV programme I used to love, called ‘One Man and His Dog ‘ presented by a farmer called Phil Drabble.

Phil's face showed the marks of an open-air life lived close to the land. His cheeks always reminded me of ripe crab apples. I grew to love this weekly demonstration of the close relationship that can form between man and dog as they work the land together.

‘Come by’, ‘Lie down’ … I could hear the traditional commands shouted by the farmer to his dog, carried on the wind on this bright summer's morning.

The farmer swept across the moor on his quod like a ship in full sail, ploughing the rippling waves of heather and grass, his collie ever responsive to his commands, often pre-empting them with his own instinctive understanding of what was needed to guide the sheep home.

The ancient Gaelic prayers and blessings from the Carmina Gadelica came to my mind - those poetic and beautiful glimpses into a way of life of people who lived on the land, in intimate harmony with nature and all her elements

I thought you might enjoy reading this beautiful prayer in which a shepherd or shepherdess, calls on Brighid (also known as 'Bride' to the Hebrideans) who is intimately connected with the tending of the sheep and lambs, in the minds of the Celtic islanders of the Hebrides. Brighid - Celtic goddess and Christian saint - has her festival in February. It is called Imbolc, meaning 'ewe's milk', marking the birth of the first lambs.

Prayers like this one, would have been commonplace in the 19th Century and before, when it was usual to call upon the saints, the gods of old, The Great Mystery and Christ himself, for help with the tasks of everyday life.

The Herding Blessing

"I will place this flock before me,
Bride to keep them, to watch them, to tend them,
On ben, on glen, on plain.
To keep them from straying, to save them from harm,
From rocks, from drifts, from streams,
From crooked passes, from destructive pits,
Bride of the fair palms, guard thou my flocks."

Extract taken from 'The Carmina Gadelica' Hymns and Incantations, collected by Alexander Carmichael in the 19th century on the islands of the Hebrides, Scotland.
The painting is 'The Coming of Bride' by Duncan.

I thought too, of the process of meditation or contemplative practice, where the

flow of thoughts sometimes feels like those wayward sheep. With a momentum of

their own, they choose to ignore the flow and the wishes of their master - the soul

- and race in the opposite direction, away from unity and healing, towards the

hidden swamp, the boggy ground, where they will get stuck in a mire of their own

making, that could have been avoided.

And I was reminded of how the farmer and his canine companion, without judgement, though maybe some frustration, calmly take the necessary action to gently head them back on course

So maybe an alternative ‘Celtic’ phrase for the antics of our minds during meditation, would not be ‘monkey mind’ – but ‘sheep mind’.

This seems to me perhaps to be a gentler, and more indigenous, expression to name the natural inclination of our ego-driven thought processes, that can form such a barrier to our connection with ‘The Light Within’.

As I write these words, the sun shines down on the green valley and sweeping moors, and my heart stirs with the leap of the inner flame of The Beloved.

The Light is on, and in, the flowing waters of the beck. The Light within all things is never far from us ...

"Holy Islands"

Spiritual Harp Retreats 2016

Lindisfarne
'Holy Island'
Northumberland
July 2016
~~~~~~~~

Four days of sacred time and space, on the holy isle of Lindisfarne. We will:

Meditate with the music of the harp by the sea (weather permitting!)
Experience the peace of the harp played at sacred sites on Lindisfarne
Find inspiration from the daily spiritual practices of our Celtic ancestors

Places will be limited for this retreat. Find out more by clicking on the 'Lindisfarne' button.

Express interest - Lindisfarne 2016

The Isle of Iona
Scotland

'Iona Essence Retreat'

June 2016
~~~~~~~~

Five days of sacred time and space, when we will be held in the light and ancient spiritual energy of Iona, as we:

Meditate with the music of the harp on the seashore (weather permitting!)
Experience the peace of the harp played at sacred sites on Iona
Find inspiration from the daily spiritual practices of our Celtic ancestors

Places will be limited for this retreat. Find out more by clicking on the Iona button.

Express Interest - Iona 2016

Please Note: The number of places on these retreats are limited and tend to book up very quickly.

Spiritual Harp Group
'As above, so below ...'
In a focused group, sacred harp music supports us as we explore the deeper meaning of the changing seasons of our inner and outer landscapes.

As the wheel of the year turns, we also grow and change with the seasons.

Celtic spiritual teachings look to the wisdom of the land and her seasons, to help and support us in our soul growth.

We, in turn, can find deep wisdom and nourishment through connecting with the light of the Great Mystery, that shines within us, and within all of the natural world.

Soul music of the Celtic harp helps us open our hearts, and move into the inner landscape of our spiritual life.

SUNDAY 2nd AUGUST

ABUNDANCE OF HARVEST'

Connect with the creative energy and wisdom of the time of the first harvest.

Spiritual teachings with the Celtic Harp

Meditations for the Celtic festival of Lughnassad

In a healing space of peace, we become explorers of the hidden realms, seeking the hidden treasure of our true Essence. When we truly live from that place within us, we find a creative flow released into all areas of our lives.

In a supportive group of fellow-seekers, we can learn how to live from our 'Essence', that place of Truth and Light. Places will be limited for this day. To find out more and to book please click on the Button below.

Booking Form - 2nd August

Iona Essence Retreat 2014 - The wind plays the harp strings by the sea on Iona ....