Inspiration in an ancient landscape

Pilgrimage on Iona to Columba's Bay

As I write this, I am sitting in the attic room of a B&B in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. My high windows overlook the harbour where I'll leave from very early tomorrow morning to cross The Minch on the ferry, to get to mainland Scotland. The sea is calm and pink in the light of the setting sun. The wind changes here by the hour. Yesterday the wind was so strong I could have spread my arms and flown across The Minch. Parents had to hang on to their children!

I travelled last week to Iona to attend a pilgrimage/retreat led by John Philip Newell, author and poet who is internationally acclaimed for his work in the field of Celtic Christianity,

The island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland, is the symbolic centre of Scottish Christianity. In 563 AD, Columba, with thirteen followers, landed at the south end of the island, at St Columba's Bay, to establish a monastery. Since then the island has always been revered as a holy place and over the centuries, it has continually been reinvented and reconstructed as a centre for pilgrimage.

John Philip asked what we hoped to take away from Iona. Some said they wanted to look again at their Christian faith in a new way through the earth-based tradition of Celtic Christianity. Some were pastors or ministers. One was a nun, another a monk. Some came to take the time to consider their spirituality. I said that I had come to gather in the light of Iona-not simply the physical light, but the peaceful, quiet spiritual energy there-and take some home with me.

Columba's Bay

I felt the blessing of the land, not only in the quiet, contemplative peace I found there, but also in the stones. Heart-stones. I went to Iona two years ago for a week-long retreat called Quiet Week. A couple of people on the retreat found heart-shaped stones. I loved them and made an effort to find my own. I combed the beaches without any success. This year I made no effort and found heart-shaped stones wherever I walked. It was like the earth was offering me blessings one after another. I found at least 15 of them which I then began to give away. I continued though to find them wherever I walked and so began to take photos of them.

My journey has continued onto the Isle of Lewis where I've spent the past week. My friend Mary and I spent time with the famous standing stones at Callanish. They are Lewisian Gneiss, probably the oldest rock in the world at 2.8 billion years old. Interestingly, it's the same stone that is on Iona. No one knows the date the Callanish Stone Circle was constructed-perhaps 5000 years ago-some say before Stonehenge.

We travelled the length of Lewis and Harris, marvelling at the way the sun moved through the clouds to shine on the treeless, peat bog-covered hills.

Light on the hills of Harris

I am going away from the Hebrides having gathered in some light, feeling more at peace having spent time in this ancient landscape where you feel the power of the wind, the sea and the rock.

"In the gift of this new day,

in the gift of this present moment,

in the gift of time and eternity intertwined

let me be thankful

let me be attentive

let me be open to what has never happened before,

in the gift of this new day,

in the gift of this present moment,

in the gift of time and eternity intertwined."

John Phillip Newell

Sounds of the Eternal

Liminal Time

The word liminal comes from the Latin, limen meaning threshold. an in-between place, a place of transition, a time of waiting and not knowing. Dawn and dusk are considered liminal places. Crepuscular animals, like foxes and coyotes are most active at this time of day, a time that is considered a magical time in Celtic spirituality and to Indigenous people which is perhaps the origin of their designation as tricksters. As I write this, the northern hemisphere has just passed the vernal equinox, where day and night are of equal length.We are in a liminal space between winter and spring right now, unsure if we will have one more storm or snowfall before spring finally settles in. We're also in a liminal place as we live through this pandemic with the anxiety and discomfort of not knowing. A time of great transition for the entire world, wondering what we've learned from this and what lessons we'll carry forward. Author and Fr...

Lessons that Stone Walls Teach

Dry stone wall in the Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland I've just returned from teaching a Workshop in Wild Places class in the Burren in County Clare, Ireland. Writing this post, I'm reminded of another post I wrote after visiting Inishmaan, the middle of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland several years ago. Stone walls crisscrossed the island in tight webs like a fisherman's net. I wrote then that the web of stone walls made me think of the idea of putting limitations on our painting as a way of exploring more deeply and how walls give limits against the limitless. You can read that article here. As our group hiked in the Burren with our guide, Marie McGauran we learned that the walls are stronger because of the holes in them. The wind can pass through. The oldest stone walls, estimated to be 3500 years old are at Skara Brae, a Neolithic site in Orkney. Most walls were built in the 18th and 19th century, marking areas of private ownership and resultin...

I Can't Wait to Travel Again

I miss travelling! I’ve always loved to travel especially to wild and remote places but living on an artist’s unsteady salary, I’ve learned to find inexpensive ways to travel. Several years ago, I discovered artist residencies, which provide accommodation and small studio spaces. These are available to artists all over the world, some of which are free depending on acceptance of your application, others cost a small amount. I prefer ones that are remote but provide accommodation to a small group of artists rather than just one person. The interaction with artists from other countries is a stimulating, enlightening and enriching experience. St. John's Newfoundland 2019 After I’d been teaching painting classes for several years in various parts of Canada, the US, as well as in Sweden and Iceland, I had the idea to combine m...

Janice Mason Steeves

Search This Blog