urthonamag

A walk that ends in bluebells

Eversden wood is an ancient managed woodland in South Cambridgeshire. Rather than carpets of bluebells as in Hampshire or Somerset the insouciant flowers hide between ferns and saplings. Full text of blog post with photos

Longing for the swifts

High summer approaches. For me this time of year is very much associated with that most aetherial of birds, the swift. I’m waiting eagerly for them to arrive. Remembering sitting in the garden at peace on summer afternoons; looking upwards into depth upon depth of blue, where the screaming swifts are seen looping through theContinue reading “Longing for the swifts”

Orc in the fires of hell

I have just updated our website – let us know what you think of the new look. The featured image is now Blake’s engraving of Orc in the fires of energy, from his book America a Prophecy.

URTHONA Buddhist arts magazine

Explore art & culture from a Buddhist perspective Welcome to Urthona magazine, taking its name from William Blake’s zoa or archetypal spirit of the creative imagination Urthona blends a Romantic concern with inner and outer spiritual freedom with the insights of the Buddhist East. Click on MENU items above for online features on Literature, ArtContinue reading “URTHONA Buddhist arts magazine”

New post: a major essay on ambivalent faith and doubt in the poetry of Geoffrey Hill

‘Unction and Slaughter’ Faith and Doubt in the poetry of Geoffrey Hill by Ratnagarbha (Ambrose Gilson) READ FULL POST

The only Megalith in Essex?

This standing stone was spotted just outside Hatfield Forest, north east Essex. Although it has clearly been set up by a farmer just outside his farmhouse as an interesting feature, the stone itself does look very old and extremely weathered. It is some kind of conglomerate with many small pebbles ingrained in the rock. SurelyContinue reading “The only Megalith in Essex?”

The Old Straight Track

Stourbridge Common – tracks to nowhere, the iron bridge, memories of the fair… Stourbridge Common is the nearest piece of semi-rural land to where I live in Cambridge. It is only a five minute cycle ride away but on dark winter afternoons it can take on an epic doom-laden appearance… The straight track across itsContinue reading “The Old Straight Track”

Watercolour is alive and well

Some fine water colour paintings by Buddhist artist Sudhi S. Pooniyil. He finds inspiration in the village life of his native India, as well as scenes in the UK. More on his website at https://sudhispooniyil.com

Backstreets of academe

Some recent sightings in the backstreets of Cambridge, not exactly dingy but not well heeled either. Raffish encounters with odds and ends… Golden tunnel to nothing good

Littoral Fringes of the New Forest

Many of us would like to have a corner of the earth with which we have a special connection. But I suspect I am not alone in finding myself pulled in two directions: there is the place where I was brought up, on the fringes of the New Forest and the edge of the largeContinue reading “Littoral Fringes of the New Forest”