JOHN IN EUROPE - JOHN'S CRETE Journeying into the Lands of the Goddess

GoddleFub and a tiny green planet on the edge of an amazing galaxy

2011-09-22T04:08:00.000+03:00

I've just posted a little bedtime story

on the Christal Temple blog.

Can be read here

Enjoy!

John

The Flowers of the Beauty of Summer, the Mexican Gulf Disaster and God's Power in us

2010-07-04T14:38:00.001+03:00

I've just published a blog post

on the Christal Temple Blog

with a music link.

John

Here's the music itself (by CV Stanford ......)

Ascension Day

2010-05-13T00:39:00.001+03:00

I've written a post on Ascension Day

over on the other blog.

Orthodox Ascension icon

Here's the link.

Blessings

John O

Eyjafjallajökull and the Navy...

2010-04-20T10:39:00.003+03:00

Interesting what a volcano can bring in its wake ...

To all our yesterdays
(and tomorrows, wherever they may be!)

Blessings

John

PS I've written about how I believe this eruption may give us wisdom
on the Christal Temple blog

Picture from Wikipedia

Yearning

2010-03-08T03:31:00.006+02:00

Hi!

I've posted a new post on the Christal Temple blog
about Yearning.

It takes up my childhood experiences of
being part of the Anglo-Catholic community
in England 50 years ago.

This is the first of a few posts taking up
what we are approaching as the world now changes
in the run-up to "the end of an age."

I have found it useful to look at our times now
in this strange, in-between world-gone-awry
in relation to the gifts that the members of the
old Anglo-Catholic wing of the Anglican Communion
have given through their visionary service
and their longing to "do it better."

Here is the link:
http://christaltemple.blogspot.com/2010/03/yearning.html

Blessings

John O

In Alignment with God

2010-02-24T00:27:00.006+02:00

I came home the other day
late in the afternoon
and as I went towards our altar
I was struck by how
the two candles were flickering
in complete unity with one another.

There is a candle at the back of the altar
(actually it's a "battery-candle")
in front of a picture that is said
to be a probable likeness of Jesus/Yeshua

and another at the front
which is a "prayer-candle"
for some special intentions at present.

What came to me was a picture of
the soul of the person in prayer
being so aligned with Everything
that the whole Divine Work and Joy
were permeating all of her
at every level, body and spirit.

I've just been in our mini-chapel at dusk
and saw another pattern between the flames -
they were moving in and out of "alignment"
in a kind of dialogue with each other.

I was struck by a further metaphor.

The candles, being battery-driven,
have individual batteries in them -
a metaphor for how we can see ourselves
each powered as by independent sources
and when we flicker in unison it can feel
as though it's more by happenstance
than by design.

But the batteries in our candles are
actually re-chargeable, and powered
by the same source.
I saw the play of coming in-and-out
of our connection to one another, and
how it is still about the ultimate resting
in a Source larger than ourselves,
and how we are an integrated part of
the Light that plays within us.
Without our light the play of light
cannot be, yet without the Source
there is no play at all!

And I saw how, when we allow ourselves
to be powered by the Source, then
we shine brightly in our own Light
and there is Life in abundance and Joy
and playfulness!

Dare we conceive of our own healing
as God playing in us for Joy?
Like Instruments of Divine music
open to being played with every fibre
of our being?

Where wouldn't the world we inhabit
be then?!

Blessings

John O

Not Just hidden in the Mountains

2010-02-01T17:09:00.003+02:00

Sometimes even I can see the spirits of
Light, Life, Wind and Water
dance together in the cold sunlight
of the North American winter.

Watching this awesome sculpture being made
was like participating in magical dance!

Yes, I was inside in the warmth watching,
protected from the cold wind and able to see
the Wonder of Creation without feeling the cold!
Perhaps this is cheating, but allowing myself
to cheat opened me up inside - because
my body let go of its perceived need for protection!

The Mountain Q'ero of Peru often do their magick
at low temperatures and seem to be unmoved by
the cold surrounding them.
Perhaps it is time to learn a little of their skill!*

Blessings

John

(* Don't tell anyone I said this though!)

The Wheel of Life?

2010-01-20T19:53:00.014+02:00

... in motion?

(from a half-cold day in the Big Square/Stortorget in the centre of Malmö)

Enjoy!

John

Turning Torso on a cold day!

Into the night

2010-01-15T00:09:00.000+02:00

Airports at night are curious places.

As though the madly-rushed journeys

that take place during the day give way

to a strange world of suspended activity

and "other-worldly" journeys of those

lost and delayed in transit between places.

Waiting....

waiting....

It has been in these places of waiting

that I have had the privilege to be close to

the "between-places people of the night"

and had meetings and nearness which have

moved, surprised and deepened me.

Sometimes almost no words have been said.

Just the movement of being close as people

have dropped off to half-sleep, squashed

on awkward airport benches designed for

quantity of sitting rather than lying-comfort!

Surprise, as someone realizes that their legs

have just involuntarily (?) kicked me or

as another one's head has slipped on to

my shoulder - it felt so honouring!

Sometimes I have found myself in a

many-hour long dialogue of deep transition

where sorrow has been turned into joy,

dread into trust, hopefulness and love.

In these moments I have come to love

places I before had thought of as dead -

these vast rooms for travellers have been

turned into temples of holy meetings and

of the openings of souls and

the bringing forth of Joy!

When I reflected upon all this,

I understood that I could not really

have met these spaces or these people

unless I had been prepared to change

in my own inner life.

So what came first?

Did I change/was I changing within

before my journey, before these meetings?

Or were these meeting there to change me

so that I could be a catalyst in the changes

which I was privileged to be part of?

I cannot tell.

All I know is that what I experienced

showed me how there can be joy in

the most "unlikely" places - and that

ministering to one another is not just possible

but wonderfully productive in places where

"normal reality" is already undone!

I thought my nights-between-flights

would be tiring and meaningless, and yet

I've found great peace and meaning in them!

There is a real joyful inner smile in me

each time I think of what I've experienced.

Waiting at airports will never be the same!

Blessings

John

Everything weaving in together!

Travelling the skies of the world

2010-01-05T15:53:00.001+02:00

There are many reflections I have had

during the past few weeks of travelling.

On meetings in the middle of night
at airports, where people are waiting.

On how things change whilst we are "away"
and how the changes reflect the changes in us.

On coming "back" or "home"
and on how we discover the many different ways
we can do this.... inside and out.

And
on how different places can ALL
be HOME as reflections of ALL of
who we are inside
and how this encourages the courage
within us to be ALL of who we are.

More soon!

blessings from a blurry-eyed
John

Happy Christmas

2009-12-25T13:34:00.001+02:00

May your lives be blest!

John O

Goddess Waters

2009-12-05T16:22:00.000+02:00

There are so many gushing waters here.

Invigorating the fields and terraces

and giving the base for Life here

in the drier periods of summer.

The wisdom of the body....

2009-11-18T13:00:00.000+02:00

When I look at something like this

and see mountain and sea views like this

and meet dragons on a mountain path in the sunset

then I know that physical wisdom is also Divine....

How awesome and how easy!

John O

PS May the GREEN go with you!

Spring in the Fall

2009-11-12T16:50:00.001+02:00

The birds are singing.

The grass is a verdant green

The mountains are spectacular

... after the torrential rains

... and the thunderstorms

... and the wind

... and the birdsong

from birds resting during their migration

especially when the sun shines

after rain and storms

this place is AWESOME!

Here there are "two" springs, one now

and then one just after winter.

And spring is my favourite time of year!

What a wonderful gift!

More soon

John

What is Truth?

2009-11-06T14:30:00.001+02:00

Sometimes in life
there are choices which
test one's inner courage
to be able to go beyond
whichever current paradigm
one had become comfortable with.

For me, in days gone by, I felt held
in the security and hope of the Christian faith -
a faith which I had not just been brought up in,
but which I had actively made my "baseline."
Admittedly I had huge doses of rebellion,
especially around matters of physicality -
how we express ourselves in the body through
sensuality, sexuality, "appropriate" relationships,
our attitude towards money and giving to charity,
and the way Christians embrace the "need for war"
(especially at this time of year) in what seems a
total contradiction of what Jesus is recorded as
having taught in the Sermon on the Mount -
but most of me accepted the traditionally "received"
and taught Truth as being near-enough God's
and therefore good enough to be mine as well.
(It helps to believe the "Company Mission" if
one is going to be working for the company -
in my case over 22 years as an organist/music director
in various versions of the church in N Europe.)

When total chaos enters one's life, "self-evident" truth

is often one of the first casualties, and the ensuing

emptiness is not easily integrated into whatever is

suddenly being experienced. When this "happened" to me

I hated and loathed it - it took me a very long time to learn

to begin to accept and honour the emptiness within!

But perhaps the most challenging thing for me to feel

was the notion that I had actively chosen to

go through the wormholes of existence - that this hell
was not something which I was a victim of, but rather

the stockpot I had myself put together in order to find

ways of living which resonated better with who I am.

More challenging still was really to be able to feel that

these new ways, these new paradigms of existence and belief

were not cosmic absolutes, but merely waystages on

an unending journey of Divine co-creation through me

with everything that exists (as the Matrix films showed.)

It's still challenging and this seems to get stronger.

Why? Probably because being the absolute chooser

doesn't engender any lasting "outside" feeling of

"God-given" security - and my cosmic-home-seeking

inner child has resisted choosing insecurity for a long time!

So, here I am on the island of Crete, as someone who

is perceived as an "alternative therapist/healer" and

probably someone who believes in new-age maxims like

"Everything is all one" or "It's all the same" or

"Inner Peace and Joy and Ease are the only way" or

"What you resist persists" or "Love is all there is" or

"There is nothing outside you - it's all within " etc.

I haven't really deeply questioned these assumptions -

I may have complained about their over-simplification, but,

(a bit like earlier in my life not questioning the parts of the

New Testament which didn't impinge on my personal life,)

I had never been brought face to face with anything where

my life course seemed to depend on my willingness or not

to live these tenets in action, AND how much I really believe

that they are "right" for the situation I now find myself in?

And the question comes ...

What do I now choose?
and

If I choose one particular form of action,
what meaning do I consciously invest in this process?
Is there a sacred path involved for me which
may look from the outside as "less-than-holy"?

More soon.

Blessings

John

Back into the lands of forgotten time

2009-10-28T20:12:00.000+02:00

Today (after coffee, of course!)

we walked from the village of Souda

- a place surrounded by mountains -

up a dried-up river bed which is part

of the European footpaths network

and up to a high plain, where we found

this ancient tree.

and then on to the next valley overlooking

the ancient ruins of Lessos.

The rains of the past few days

have brought out the mountain flowers -

they are amazing!

.. nestled in crevices and spreading colour everywhere.

We returned to Souda for lunch

just avoiding the next downpour!

With all the sun interspersed with rain

there were rainbows everywhere.

Rainbows have a habit of telling me where "home" is to be

Was this a sign?

Blessings

John

PS Yes, lunch!

Singing to the pilgrims

2009-10-19T23:54:00.006+03:00

Some of you may have walked long pilgrim distances

along tracks to sites like Compostela de Santiago.

Journeys of the soul which can give unexpected gifts.

Late this afternoon, three of us decided to walk

up the mountain, past two minute churches

and visit the cave of the Holy Fathers.

We're talking 3 km here, not

hundreds and hundreds of miles.

We didn't take the map (which also serves

as a menu at the local Alpha-Kafenion!)

since we felt we knew the way.

Oh, how we were misguided!

The further from home we got,

the less certain we were of where we were

despite the rather rusty signposts

to the cave we were seeking,

seeming to point to at least

2 different directions at once!

Finally at one point where the signpost could be seen as

pointing anywhere from straight on to straight up (to Heaven?)

I asked my inner voice "Where now?"

"Straight on!" it said, and so "on" we walked.
Very doubtfully - we were supposed to be going
up and here we were going decidedly down!

A local man was walking towards us, walking stick in hand.

We understood he was asking us where we were going.

"Caves?" "Yes!" we said, and he walked with us

back from where we had come, and then

walked with us up the track where the signpost

really pointed. I wondered,

"Why did my voice say Straight on!?"

I caught a few words - "It's late in the afternoon!"

and then after a while he stopped and pointed

his stick at the winding path we should now follow -

a kind of labyrinth up the mountain-side

through gorse and wild flowers and

multi-coloured bits of stone and rock.

We thanked him and he was about to go -

I was still holding his hand -

when he began to sing a pilgrim song.

I felt tears welling up inside as the music

of hundreds of years of orthodox tradition

were sung to me face to face from this old man.

(I learned later that he is the local "kantor."

Now I understood why we were sent

straight on!)

We never quite made it to the caves.

We were too late in the afternoon,

and there were too many newly-erected fences

to keep the sheep and goats out.

(Were we the sheep and goats?)

We would have been walking long past

nightfall.

But the man's song has stayed with me,

filling my bones with music passed down

from age to age and now sung to me.

We arrived back in the village

and the cafe was full of people celebrating.

Ouzo has seldom tasted so good!

Blessings

John

The view over the Lybian Sea

2009-10-18T10:02:00.001+03:00

I admit it.

There are many days to tell stories about...

and I haven't written them here, yet...

yes, they are half-written, and

yes, they'll be here in a few days' time.

But to show the beauty now, here's a view

from where I'm sitting, drinking mountain tea

and listening to birdsong, goats and dogs...

A bright blue sky, 20 degrees (C!) or so

and a sense of wonderful peace.

And now it's time to go down the windy road

and do some shopping - groceries and things...

(and maybe watch the gang playing beach volleyball)

And when the practical is done,

then come the reflections...

I'll keep you posted!

John

PS Lunch!

There were the trucks with the food and the landing staff....

2009-10-16T20:30:00.007+03:00

... but where was the plane?

.....note the bits of wheels on the tarmac!

My mother taught me to arrive extra early
when the occasion was extra important.

I thought catching the plane was extra important,
and anyway the winds were cold in Montreal,
so I caught an earlier train to Dorval,
(where one gets the air connect bus)
and found myself unexpectedly in a short but deep conversation
with a fellow traveller who was going to witness
a member of his family doing a Vision Quest.
It was something new for him,
and he was open and really excited.
We had shared a little about
what happens when a very controlling society
breaks down and people rebel against the
spiritual and religious paradigms which
have held the old society together -
how the spiritual depth can so easily
be thrown out with
the conservatively religious bathwater!
He was so obviously saddened by
the lack of ensuing depth in life!
It was refreshing to talk about deep spirituality
with a total stranger.

At the airport, we bid each other blessed journeys.
I was very early. I was through the gate
in a matter of minutes - no line-up, no queue at all!
They had written at least 3 hours early
on the e-ticket - I was four-and-a-half!
I didn't hurry, but eventually found a corner
to watch the gate and see the plane arrive and dock.

It seemed like an eternity as I sat there.
After a long while, others slowly joined me.
I hadn't looked at the time but it seemed late.
Looking round I saw I was surrounded by passengers
waiting in the waiting space, but no plane came.

Airport trucks arrived, the baggage came,
waiting for the other passengers to arrive
but no plane.

And we are still here, still waiting...

This journey is obviously very very important.
I wonder why!

John

The signpost ....

2009-10-14T04:44:00.000+03:00

......says it all!

And here, in Nova Scotia,

somehow we have managed to manifest snow tonight!

Just before the morning of leaving ......

Snowflakes are so fascinating ....

especially from behind the window

of a train.

Or high up in the mountains

above the olive groves,

far, far away.

Who knows what the night will bring?

Perhaps it will be like Ireland.

Watering the night away.

Welcome!

2009-09-27T17:42:00.003+03:00

This is where you can read about my pilgrimage in Europe and in Crete 2009/2010.

Watch this space!