(all images by Kate Kennington Steer) There’s a certain Slant of light,Winter Afternoons –That oppresses, like the HeftOf Cathedral Tunes – Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –We can find no scar,But internal difference –Where the Meanings, are – None may teach it – Any –’Tis the seal Despair –An imperial afflictionSent us of the AirContinue reading “a certain slant of light”
Tag Archives: seeing
hallowing sight
(all images by Kate Kennington Steer) I ignore all the ridiculousness around Halloween, the dressing up, the tricks and treats, but I do quietly celebrate the three days of All Hallows, All Souls and All Saints. These days form the bridge from October to November, signalling the beginning of the end of Autumn light andContinue reading “hallowing sight”
Autumn Equinox: gathering gold
(all images by Kate Kennington Steer) As a photographer and visual artist I sub-consciously take note of the level, type, angle, and colour of light throughout the day, month, season, year. Yet in the past few months I have been trying to be more attuned to my feelings about the changing light rhythms that makeContinue reading “Autumn Equinox: gathering gold”
I am green
(all images by Kate Kennington Steer) As I mentioned in a previous post for Godspace written in 2016, I have long been fascinated by and inspired by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), not least because despite her struggles with persistent ill health she was a writer, a composer, a scientist, a preacher, a prophetic visionary, andContinue reading “I am green”
what is it?
(For those of you who didn’t catch this first time around on other social media platforms, this post was originally published by Godspace on 5.8.20 as part of their season on the theme of ‘Uncertainty’. I apologise it has taken me so long to post here!) (all images by Kate Kennington Steer) I have lived with uncertaintyContinue reading “what is it?”
Lughnasadh season
Since writing at Beltaine, and then again at the Summer Solstice, the colours of fire have continued to dominate the photos I have received and the watercolour doodles I have painted. Hot pinks, oranges, violets rise up, and vermillion and scarlet find their place in this inner glory-blaze. This year, somehow for the first time,Continue reading “Lughnasadh season”
standing still for solstice
(all images Kate Kennington Steer) I am drawn to light, of all kinds, in all shapes. I am pulled towards the symbols and manifestations of the Great Light. And yet, paradoxically, through chronic ill health, I am often dragged into the most shadowed places within. The darknesses of depression are a constant companion lurking notContinue reading “standing still for solstice”
we each hear in our own language (Acts 2.8, Pentecost 2020)
How do I hear the Holy Spirit speak to me? In soughing grass, in crashing wave, in a child’s cry, in an elder’s laugh? In sunlight on my lifted face, in moonlight on my crumpled bed? In an urgent prod that begins in my gut and lies heavy on my solar plexus? In another’s singing,Continue reading “we each hear in our own language (Acts 2.8, Pentecost 2020)”
furled fire (a Beltaine Birthday Blessing)
Every year I wonder whether to write something to mark Beltaine, the Celtic feast which celebrates a cross-quarter day in the year’s wheel, the end of the dark half of the year and the beginning of its half of light. I celebrate the waxing of the arc the sun’s path makes across the little sliceContinue reading “furled fire (a Beltaine Birthday Blessing)”
psalms for passiontide: Easter Sunday Psalm 66.5
Whether it be in revisiting the victory song that is Psalm 118, or hearing the legends of exile recapped in Psalm 105 or 66, all of the Psalms the Lectionary nominates for Easter Day invite us to: Come and see what God has done (Psalm 66.5 NRSV) These psalmists also agree that all God’s deedsContinue reading “psalms for passiontide: Easter Sunday Psalm 66.5”