Briana Saussy writer and founder of the Sacred Arts Academy in San Antonio, Texas has written an intimate, enjoyable and joyful guide to the art of creating spiritual rituals and ceremonies in your home. Making Magic is organised by technique and material. It makes the everyday rituals in our lives sacred and adds pleasure andContinue reading “Book Review: Making Magic by Briana Saussy”
Tag Archives: inspiration
No news of the affairs of men
In the age of omnipresent news and digital devices dominating our every waking moment, this poem by 18th century Japanese hermit poet Ryokan seems very relevant. No news of the affairs of men. How lovely to be without the news of the world. Whatever the news of the day, Ryokan sure as hell didn’t giveContinue reading “No news of the affairs of men”
The odds in favour of you being born were slim
“Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion times the size of the earth. The speck of dust represents the odds in favor of your being born; the huge planet would be the odds against it. So stop sweating the small stuff.”
The Empty Boat by Chuang Tzu
He who rules men lives in confusion;He who is ruled by men lives in sorrow.Yao therefore desiredNeither to influence othersNor to be influenced by them.The way to get clear of confusionAnd free of sorrowIs to live with TaoIn the land of the great Void. Chuang Tzu (300 B.C.)
Inspirational People: Tenzin Gyatso
“If we look at human history, we will find that a good heart has been the key in achieving what the world regards as great accomplishments in the fields of civil rights, social work, political liberation and religion for example. “A sincere outlook and motivation do not belong exclusively to the sphere of religion; theyContinue reading “Inspirational People: Tenzin Gyatso”
On silence and idleness
“Happiness is in the quiet, ordinary things. A table, a chair, a book with a paper-knife stuck between the pages. And the petal falling from the rose, and the light flickering as we sit silent.” Virginia Woolf, The Waves Time Moves Slow by Bad Bad Good “Nothing thicker than a knife’s blade separates happiness fromContinue reading “On silence and idleness”
Book Review: Awaken in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-discovery by Mark Coleman
Awaken in the Wild is a really great introductory book about the connection between mindfulness and the natural world. Published in 2006, it feels before its time in terms of the themes of overstimulation from technology and mindfulness. There are around 40 brief and themed sections in the book, with a short lesson and thenContinue reading “Book Review: Awaken in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-discovery by Mark Coleman”
Vladimir Nabokov on butterflies and timelessness
Vladimir Nabokov on butterflies and timelessness
The Enlightenment of Everyday Objects
In ancient Japanese tradition, when a treasured household item reaches the end of usefulness, it is given the proper funerary send off that it deserves. This unusual ritual harks back to two ancient philosophies. The Shinto Animist philosophy that all things alive or otherwise have a soul. And the Nichiren Buddhist philosophy that when aContinue reading “The Enlightenment of Everyday Objects”
Ancient Word of the Day: Grimmelings
Although similar to the gloaming, grimmelings is a slightly different natural phenomenon at both ends of the rotating sun’s traverse across the sky. Grimmelings – The first or last gleams of the day (Scots, esp. Orkney). From the Norwegian “grimla”, to glimmer before the eyes, to twinkle or blink. Also “grimlins”. Or “the harlot’s hour”:Continue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Grimmelings”
Content Catnip 
You must be logged in to post a comment.