Awen – the ancient and modern super-power

Posted on Jul 19, 2022 in Spiritual living, Uncategorized

In the Celtic bardic tradition when a poet was filled with Awen – divine inspirational flow – they weren’t just acting as a messenger of the gods. As they spoke or sung those exalted words there was a very real sense that they took on the being and essence of what they were recounting. They were bringing it to life.

I find this idea incredibly encouraging in these times of tumult and uncertainty. As always, I and many others like me are asking, what can I do? As just one person, alone?

The Dawn of Everything: a book for now

Posted on Jul 6, 2022 in Book reviews, Spiritual living, Uncategorized

I posted about how The Dawn of Everything was blowing my mind on Facebook, but I really think it merits a bit more time and attention so here we go.

It’s written by archeologist David Wengrow and anthropologist David Graeber, so that’s two of my subjects of fascination combined for a start. But it ventures far beyond just another history book, literally, because it questions all the deep-rooted assumptions popular history has taught us about how human society developed.

We all know the story, and I’m guilty of buying into it too from what I’d read previously. In humanity’s early days we were peace-loving hunter-gatherers living in idyllic small groups.

The life cycle of stars

Posted on Jun 24, 2022 in Poetry, Spiritual living, Uncategorized

Here’s my poem inspired by the life cycle of stars, which for me echoes the incarnation of the limitless light of the soul into the density of a human body: as above so below. I love gazing up at the night sky, and I’m lucky that we live in a place of low light pollution so they’re often astonishingly clear (when the Welsh rainclouds are taking a night off anyway)! I think that at a cellular level, literally, we recognise our origins out there in the vast expanse and we gain a sense of belonging, hope, and perspective through seeing our place in this cosmic context.

A Thrutopian evocation; the way through

Posted on Jun 8, 2022 in Poetry, Spiritual living, Uncategorized

As an essential aspect of my grounded spiritual work, I’m passionate about living in harmony with the more than human world. I’m currently on a journey with other writers called Thrutopia, in which we’re investigating how we can write a path to a flourishing future. Our media is flooded with dystopian visions because in these challenging times of climate change and social disruption it’s just too easy to imagine a disastrous future.