December, 2020

 

 

Hello December as the year now closes in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November is what I call the ‘pit’ of the year; especially the last two weeks as the leaves fall and the rain rains.

 

     

 

A time a meteorological disturbance. Still, on fine days, I get out into the forest.

 

Sometimes the forest seems on fire:

 

   

 

 

Spectacular skies as well. Sunrise and sunset one day

 

   

 

 

A very large Beaver Moon in November: we are now looking for the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter on 21stDecember. The first time this has happened for about 800 years.

 

 

 

 

All this talk of rural-ity and the skies brings to mind special types of music for this time of year. Lord of the Rings by Bo Hansen, which has become a classic. It reeks of misty moors and things that live there. An evocative piece.

 

 

 

 

 

I have also been listening to some beautiful Georgian choir singing:

 

 

 

 

And, still into medieval polyphony:

 

 

 

 

 

It is reputedly a time of year when the veil between the material and spirit worlds is at its thinnest. It certainly feels that way in terms of dreams, premonitions, intuitions, etc.

I have been catching up on my pagan studies care of various writings from the Boscastle Witchcraft Museum Journal. Some very interesting accounts of the way we have negotiated with nature – both visible and invisible:

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhat continuing the mood of things unseen, I have also begun The Black Notebooks from C G Jung – an extraordinary account of one’s man’s exploration of his subconscious and what it may signify for us all:

 

 

 

 

 

I have also been reading the fragments of Heraclitus: simple lines loaded with ‘points of seeing’. One of the great tragedies of humankind is their amnesia. All this was known but then….’forgotten’.

 

 

 

 

 

A little light reading as well: popular thriller writer Robert Harris and his latest: The Second Sleep. It is based in 1468 when a young priest goes to administer the funeral rites of another priest who has just died in an accidental fall. He describes a medieval world of village life and the various characters – all very atmospheric. Then, the young priest is going through the office  and desk papers, etc. of the deceased. In one of the drawers, he comes across a small object about 2 inches by 5 inches. The front is made of glass and the back is a grey metal. However, inscribed into the metal back is an Apple with a bite taken out of it. What’s going on?…..quite….read on….

 

 

 

 

 

A little bit of artwork from me of my guitar for the forthcoming GC book publication:

 

 

 

 

 

I have also posted some new pieces concerning Bourdieu: one on his Metanoia – what is it? How do we do it?

The other on Bourdieu, language and literacy:

 

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/metanoia-and-bourdieu/

 

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/bourdieu-language-and-literacy/

 

 

 

So, as I write this on the second Sunday of Advent – two candles lit – I end with some words from Ronald Knox, which sum up the two sides of my relationship to this time of year: one Christian and one Pagan. They are both important, but I sense the Pagan one acutely as the year moves towards its completion and we look for birth of semtpi-eternal fire.  Also, me playing a Christmas carol – waiting, in expectation, for spirit to enter into us. 

 

‘Come, Holy Spirit, not with outward manifestations, not with tongues of fire, but silently, as the warmth of spring creeps into the barren earth: come into this cenacle of a human heart, and stir its dull airs with the breath of hope’.

 

 

 

 

Midnight Clear