breathofgreenair

Dance of Light

Posted on March 23, 2016 by greenmackenzie

The air all around us is filled with dancing patterns of energy, drunk in greedily by our bodily senses, searching for clues about the world. Each one of our senses is tuned to receive different waves of energy from the air. The sound of a summer breeze brushing through golden dry grass. The taste of salty ocean air on our lips. The soft caress of the movement of the wind across our skins and the sweet scent of flower perfumed clouds. Sight however is the most powerful sense for photographers and artists, and sight relies on light waves dancing and sparkling through the air, and being absorbed by our eyes. The energy of the light is absorbed and reflected by all of the surfaces in the world around us, and this gives us the impression of not only light and shadow but of colour too. We weave the world from the patterns of the light energy being exchanged and difussed around us, and some of these patterns are wildly beautiful. They can uplift us and leave a smile across our lips and sparkle in our eye.

Other dances of light in air can change our mood to something more intimate or evocative. The power of the dance between light and shadow, can be very emotive, echoing times or places we have stood before. There are unconscious clues about the time of year and the hour of the day, whispered from the shadow pools, which can pull in memories and feelings. To capture this dance, is to catch the edges of the magic of memory and emotion.

The dance of light through petals and leaves is the dance of our planets life breath. The light glowing and reflecting off petals, paints a mesmerising, dazzling landing zone for flying insects, guiding them down into the flowers soft reproductive organs. Light is the instigator of this very intimate sexual dance between flowers and insects, as they brush closely with each other spreading their pollen love freely. While the light glowing through and absorbed into leaves, is the exchange of breath which keeps us alive. To see and capture the dance of light among flowers and trees, is to witness the secret heart of our living breathing planet, upon whom we all rely.
The dance of light in air, is a magical ever shifting feast for our eyes and our souls. Let your soul be swept away with wild abandon into the pools of light and shadow and the bold splashes of colour. Get lost among the enchantments and sparkle of light filled air, and if you’re really lucky capture a heart moving photograph to share with the rest of us. Life is all about the light, and the light is all about feeling.
This is the part 2 of my response to this weeks WP photo challenge, dance.

Find part 1, the Dance of Life, here.

Posted in elemental, spiritual, weekly photo challenge | Tagged dance, druid, earth, flowers, life, light, magic, nature, photography, postaday, shadows, spiritual | 69 Comments

Dance of Life

Posted on March 19, 2016 by greenmackenzie

All around and within us each day, the dance of life continues in its eternal movement and exchange. Life itself is movement and exchange, and from the smallest atoms within our cells, to the burning fires of the sun out there in the cold blue space of the universe, there is a constant waltz. To dance is to exchange energy from one state or emotion to another, through the dancing body. The dance of fire, realeases beautiful flame maned horses, from the cold dead wood of last years trees. Energy from the heart of the sun, captured and held within the tree, until it is released again as heat and light and wild dancing flames of light. To watch a fire, is to watch the dance of energy from sun to earth to sky again. Beauty and wild passion expressed in the flickering dipping flames.

To watch the earth greening each spring, as the fresh grass and flowers push up through the dark soil into the light, is to watch the dance of earth. Seeds sleeping dormant through the dark months of winter, release their stored energy into a wild burst of colour and form, flowing in a cyclic dance, which repeats it’s pattern year after year. The earth dances her energy into wild riots of green, splashed with the rainbows colours, before withdrawing to catch her breath beneath the soil. The earths dance is balanced in its wildness, with growth and decay each claiming their steps and shapes.

To watch the light filled air, ripple through the soft leaf cloaks of trees, is to watch one of the most powerful dances of air. The energy of the light, gathered softly and silently into the heart of the tree, is powering growth, and the release of oxygen. This quiet, unassuming dance holds the power of life and death for us and all the warm soft animals of the earth. This dance fills the air all around us with the energy and power which the very cells of our bodies need to consume to stay alive. Next time you watch a pool of light or shadow drift across your path, remember the dance you are witnessing.

The beautiful surging dance of the oceans waves, can sweep clean a shoreline, and carry in fresh nutrients and materials. Wave dances are a complex mix of erosion, corrosion and deposition. They can eat away or build up a beach, and reshape the coastal edge of our land. They can travel hundreds of miles across open oceans, carrying the transformed energy of the wind, the tides and movements between tectonic plates. The moons position relative to earth, has a powerful effect on the sea and her waves, and so when we watch the swash and backwash of waves on the shore, we are witnessing the dance and movement of energy from deep within the earth and from deep within the universe. Some of these seemingly simple dances of life which we can witness all around us each day, are in fact the visible signs of the workings of the fabric of our universe. Worth pausing to watch for a little while, the energies might even effect our bodies and our moods as we sit within them noticing. Perhaps we can release some of own stuck energies into the flow and exchange of these elemental dances.

Find more dances at WP weekly photo challenge.

Posted in elemental, mindfulness, weekly photo challenge | Tagged change, dance, druid, earth, energy, life, mindfulness, nature, postaday, science | 93 Comments

Dream Pool

Posted on March 16, 2016 by greenmackenzie

Winters clouds part ways

Lake maidens sparkling dream pools

Split open our souls

Posted in nature photo, poem, spiritual | Tagged beauty, druid, Haiku, lake, landscape, nature, photography, poetry, spring, water | 37 Comments

Stress Reduction: 5 Tips on Taming your Stress Monster

Posted on March 13, 2016 by greenmackenzie

Stress can be extreamly bad for us, emotionally and physically, and yet 1 in 3 of us report that we frequently feel overwhelmed by stress. There are many reasons why we should try to manage our stress levels, but often just when we feel most stressed and need to remember to do all those relaxing things which we know help us, we make poor decisions. Most of this isn’t our fault, it’s the way we’re wired, but knowing and spotting this can help to put you back in control of your stress levels. We can’t really stop getting stressed, but the main choice we have is whether to stay there, taking up residence in stress city for a few days or weeks, or whether to stop the cycle.

1. Noticing that we are becoming increasingly stressed is the critical step when it comes to managing our stress levels. Only when we notice how we’re feeling, do we have the chance to make some choices about managing the way we’re feeling. Mindfulness is my number one tip when it comes to stress control. Mindfulness means we are paying attention to how we are actually feeling, rather than how we wish we were feeling. Mindfulness brings us into an awareness of the body we are inhabiting, and the ways in which the world is affecting us. It requires us to move out of our minds and our desires, and into reality.

2. Once you have noticed and acknowledged that your stress levels are high my next tip is to stop and reflect for a moment or two. Is there something obvious which is causing you to feel more stressed than usual? Often we avoid thinking about the things which stress us, but this is a very important step in regaining control over your feelings. By allowing reflective thinking time, you can stop, take stock and amend your plans. You can become more real and honest with yourself.

3. My third tip, once you have become aware of your stress, is to increase the amount of pleasurable relaxing activities you make space for. At times of high stress and anxiety, time will feel very pressured. This isn’t always because we have any less time, but because of the stress chemicals which our body produces and the way our brains respond to these.Taking 5 or 10 minutes to do something which you know helps you to relax is a very good spend of time, even when you have convinced yourself you don’t have enough of it! Take 5 minutes to smell the roses, watch the birds or the clouds, listen to a favourite song or just blow some bubbles.

4. My fourth tip would be to try to schedule some time around the people, animals or places which help you smile and soften. Laughter really can be the best medicine when it comes to stress and anxiety. Nature can play a soothing healing role here. Get out into a green space and feel your happiness rise. Play in the garden, walk with the dogs or have a good chin wag with a friend and you will relax a bit. Children and animals are particularly good at this!

5. Lastly I would recommend shredding your ‘to do’ list. When stress starts to build its time to rethink our plans and commitments. This is about becoming adaptable to the reality of your life. We are not machines, and some days we will be less productive, because of all sorts of feelings and hurdles. Drop the pressure you put on yourself, just for now. There will be better days for doing many of the things on your list, but you can prioritise at times like this, and concentrate only on the things which really can’t wait till tomorrow. This requires quite a lot of self honesty, and is probably the step which most of us find the hardest. Let go, just for now.

Accepting who we are and how we feel, can be one of life’s biggest challenges. It’s even harder when things happen to us which we don’t like and didn’t plan. Feeling out of control in these ways will always leave us with heightened anxiety and stress. The choice we have is to begin to take control of our emotions and feelings again. These 5 tips will help you to take care of yourself, when you need it the most.

This was written in response to the one love theme photography challenge from WP.

Posted in mindfulness, relaxation, Uncategorized, weekly photo challenge | Tagged 5 tips, anxiety, health, life, managing stress, mindfulness, postaday, psychology, relaxation, stress | 54 Comments

Snowdrop Parade

Posted on March 9, 2016 by greenmackenzie

White virginal light

Held aloft in petal lamps

New life from old bones

Posted in green walks, nature photo, poem | Tagged druid, flowers, Haiku, nature, photography, poetry, snowdrops, spring, verse | 45 Comments

Tales of Kintail and the Five Sisters

Posted on March 6, 2016 by greenmackenzie

Follow me north and west in Scotland, through the Cairngorms and past Ben Nevis, and we will pass through Glen Shiel and onwards into the Land of the Three Sea Lochs. This is a boarder land which has been deeply contested for atleast the last 1,600 years. Watched over by the magestic Five Sisters of Kintail, the very earth here is steeped in myths, legends and history which swirl mist like with their echoes and whispers. The tales of this land have been woven from the clash and merge of atleast four cultures, each one rich and ancient in its own right. Within Glen Sheil the last battle fought on British mainland soil was settled, and the merger of the Scottish and English crowns was sealed for good. The mountains and rocks rang to guns, cannons and the cries of wounded and dying men, and their blood seeped into the heather clad soil. Spanish, Gaelic, lowland Scots and Angles and English soldiers clashed in the final climax of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s fight to claim his throne. The world shifted forever as a result of what happened in this seemingly remote Highland Glen in 1719.

Away in the distance at the head of the salty waters of Loch Duich you can see the blue-black silhouettes of the beautiful five sisters of Kintail. There are a few different legends swirling around their slopes, and my favourite involves the deep spells of the Grey Magician of Coire Dhunnid, who promised their aging father the King of Kintail, to preserve the beauty of the 5 sisters forever. These mountainous maidens have been waiting for thousands of years for their princely lovers to return and sweep them away into marital bliss. Being cast of stone their beauty is now eternal, they are immortal and blessed with marvelous gifts for all humanity. Like the Tibetan 5 sisters of Longevity, these mountain goddesses each bear gifts for humanity. Running from Loch Duich back inland towards Clunie, the first sister Sgurr na Moraich is the smallest at just 876 meters, and her name means the Peak of the Sea Plain. A grain and milk goddess she watches over the grazing animals and crops in the fields at her feet. Sgurr nan Saighead (929), the Peak of Arrows, is more of an Amazon warrior, sitting fiercely behind her sister and guarding the pass as it flows through to the sea loch of Loch Duich, and onwards towards Loch Long, Loch Alsh and the Isle of Skye. The central tallest sister is the sacred peak of wells and springs, Sgurr Fhuaron (1067), often veiled in clouds and familiar to the Culdee St Oran, she promises healing and divination. Sgurr na Carnach (1002), the Peak of Cairns or stones, holds ancestral memories, and finally Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe (1027) lying deep into Glen Shiel, the Peak of the Black Chest is the most dangerous, holding the secrets of life and death. Tread carefully if you climb their sides.

These images are taken from in Iron Age hill fort which lies beside the old high road out of Kintail. Looking eastwards along Loch Duish towards the 5 sisters and the pass of Glen Shiel, this has at times been the edge of the sea kingdom of Kintail, of Lochalsh, part of the kingship of the Lord of the Isles and the old clan lands of the MacKenzies. A wild place full of fierce warriors and strong maidens.

(Sgurr is pronounced Skoor, and is applied to jagged steep peaks. It’s Gaelic roots are though to lie in the Norse word sguvr, which means cliff)

(Shiel is thought to be a Pictish word for flowing fresh water)

Posted in ancient history, mythology, Plockton, Uncategorized | Tagged 5 sisters, clan MacKenzie, Glen Shiel, Highlands, history, Kintail, legends, mountains, myths, scotland, travel | 61 Comments

Amber Dreams

Posted on March 3, 2016 by greenmackenzie

Winters amber dreams

Brittle petals long since dead

Fleshed again with light

Posted in art, nature photo, poem, Uncategorized | Tagged beauty, dreams, flowers, Haiku, magic, nature, photography, poetry, verse, winter, writing | 52 Comments

State of Mind among Giants

Posted on February 28, 2016 by greenmackenzie

My life had become a pilgrimage on blistered feet, stumbling ever deeper into the dark half-forgotten wilderness. With each passing week the path beneath my feet became narrower and more rock strewn, and the familiar signs and landmarks receded. Less people and bigger mountains with their sudden harsh changes in climate and weather, became the pattern. I came in this ever harsher environment, more reliant on myself and my inner resources, until I found myself here, on my knees, beneath the jagged peaks of the Black Cuillin. Poised at the precipice of a tumbling waterfall, I felt everything about to change. I found scale and perspective in my smallness amongst this landscape of giants. All my earthly worries poured away over the rocks with the falling water, and I lay back among the heather and the moss, feeling the small warm pulse of my life. It was enough, this small life of mine. It needed no embellishments, and with a surge of relief I let go of the burden of striving. Here in the shadow of harsh black giants, I had found my softness, and it filled me up. I was enough just as I am.

The reflection of our state of mind out into the world around us can be surprisingly powerful, colouring our views and feelings. In a closed state of mind we wear blinkers which narrow down our view. We become surprisingly certain about what is out there around us. When we feel more relaxed and open, we can discover unexpected delights even in a world we thought we knew. Equally the world around us can powerfully shift our state of mind. For me, getting out into the towering mountains puts my life into a comforting perspective. I delight in feeling small, and in some ways quite powerless, living on this wild and powerful planet. I realise my place as a small warm animal among the wide web of life and nature. It frees me, and improves my state of mind no end.

This photo was taken among the Fairy Pools of Glen Brittle, in the shadow of the Black Cuillin, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

See more photographs reflecting states of mind at the WP weekly challenge.

Posted in nature photo, philosophy, Uncategorized, weekly photo challenge | Tagged Black Coulin, health, landscape, mind, nature, photography, postaday, psychology, scotland, spiritual, travel | 49 Comments

Swan Girl

Posted on February 24, 2016 by greenmackenzie

Feathers edged her dreams

Wove her world of golden threads

Despite life’s cruel pain
The statue ‘swan girl’ sits in a small park in front of Dunbar swimming pool in East Lothian, Scotland. Resting on and perhaps guarding what remains of an burial ground, she promises stories, but gives none away.

See my previous post for more historical facts about Dunbar.

Posted in ancient sites, mythology, poem, Uncategorized | Tagged art, dreams, fairytales, Haiku, history, magic, mythic, poem, scotland, statue | 33 Comments

Ancient Dunbar

Posted on February 22, 2016 by greenmackenzie

Sitting away to the far east of East Lothian, is the remains of a very ancient fort and port, which has been at the heart of power struggles for almost 1,000 years. Its strategic position at the mouth of the mighty Firth of Forth, from where access by sea to the capital Edinburgh was controlled, was both its making and its undoing. Nowadays it is a quiet almost forgotten backwater, but in its day this castle was host to a great many battles and sieges, and played host to the infamous Mary Queen of Scots on several pivotal occasions. Leaving the old market at the heart of the town, you can turn down towards the harbour, moving from Georgian elegance into the familiar red pan tile roofs which scatter both sides of this wide estuary.

The salt air catches on your lips and the air fills with gull calls, mixed with the wild crash of waves on gnarled rocks. Each step down towards the harbour leads through unpeeling layers of history, which seem to push in vying for attention. To the right a huge and very ugly modern swimming pool dominates the skyline, and with its views out across the cliffs and over the Firth, it must be one of the most scenically placed pools in the country. I know it’s just the latest layer of human occupation, but I do feel sad thinking of the ancient graveyard which lay below. Rescue archaeology of the site uncovered hundreds of medieval cist burials, before the pool was constructed in the late 1980’s.

It is thought that occupation of this site reaches right back into the Brythonic past of this land. This might have been the port which served the Goddodin royal fort of Trapain, which is clearly visible from the headland. Part of the ancient British lands known as “The Old North” in the oldest known poetry of these isles, there are tales as old as time told of the heroic fighters, generous gold clad kings and magical Druids who once lived here. Their stories whirl in the wind and waves, whispering long lost secrets from the crumbling sandstone walls.

Tales of heroic maidens, like Black Agnes, who held out against invading armies, and of Lords with nicknames like ‘Blackbeard’, spiral out on the sea breeze. The fortunes of the town have risen and fallen with astonishing pace over the centuries, sitting as it does in one of the most contended pieces of land in the country. Meanwhile its less heroic and dramatic inhabitants have continued to go about their lives, walking the old cobblestones, tasting the salt spray in the air and hearing the gulls singing their tales into the wild North Sea winds. Castles like Dunbar may rise and fall over and over, but life goes on shifting and changing often in smaller less obvious ways, which never make it into the magical tales we tell.