Contemplative Inquiry

Today I’m on the English side of the Bristol Channel/Mor Hafren (1), in Weston-super-Mare. The tide goes out a long way at Weston, and this early morning image is not unusual. The picture faces in to Brean Down, memorably depicted in Dion Fortune’s occult novel The Sea  Priestess.

This is the first time I have been to the English west country coast for three years. It’s longer since I’ve been to Weston. This visit has some of the features of a homecoming. Crows on the beach are a familiar, welcome and well remembered feature.

I’m out early (6-7 am) and there’s limited human activity as yet, though I am glad to see some. At this time I find  a stillness here that includes the town itself, both as it meets the coast, and inland, as it begins to slope upwards from sea level.

I’m gradually reconnecting with a place I have known all my life, discovering how I and the town have continued to age and change. This is the first time I’ve appeared with a walking stick. I’m glad to find that I’m fine with walking on the beach. For me, Weston is a place layered with memory and changing perceptions and understandings. It has depth as well as extension. It’s good to be here.

(1) The names,  geography and something of the spirit of place are described at:

MOR HAFREN