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1 week ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
I promised earlier in the year that I’d open up a conversation in our Temenos explorations about what’s often called ‘Celtic Christianity’ – the idea that the form of Christianity which developed in the Celtic countries as opposed to that which was dominated by Rome, is somehow different and, in particular, more nature-focused. This was a big…
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2 weeks ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
It’s getting on for a year now since we took our last foray into the world of the fairy-tale heroine and ended our months-long exploration of some aspects of her journey. (If you’re new to this Substack and missed those posts and discussions, you can find the full series here.) And as most of you will know, I’ve been busy ever since turning…
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3 weeks ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
I’m very much looking forward to Saturday’s Myth & Fairy Tale Salon, in which we’ll be talking about a story very close to my heart: the old Irish tale known as ‘The Romance of Mis and Dubh Ruis’. The story exists only in a shortened form, and in Irish; my version (which I wrote for If Women Rose Rooted) is based on an English summary of two old…
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4 weeks ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
This is quite a long post, as I want (as always) to offer you a proper perspective on the role that women play in the Grail myths and romances, as an antidote to those who so often present these stories simply as examples of the Hero’s Journey. This all derives from extensive research carried out during my MA in Celtic Studies so is both accurate and up-to-date.
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1 month ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
As I’ve found myself, this year, more focused on listening to conversations around spirituality – not just here on Substack but elsewhere – I’ve inevitably found myself asking myself a lot of questions about what I’m noticing. So I wanted to share some of those questions with you. Note: before I begin, I should perhaps say that I do clearly un…
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1 month ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
Read through for event/ conference news and reading/ Substack recommendations. This message is likely to be truncated in your inbox by your email provider (especially if it’s the dreaded Gmail …) so please click on the title to go through to Substack and read the Full Monty in your browser. And while you’re there, do join the conversation and leave a comment!Here, down by the river in the Beauteous Vale, the cuckoo has arrived.
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1 month ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
I’m looking forward to our Bealtaine retreat this coming Thursday, May 1, from 16.00 – 17.30 UK time. Please find the Zoom link below. The meeting will be recorded for those of you who can’t make it live but please come along if you can; these are always such rich and gentle sessions. You’ll find the recording embedded here in this post on F…
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1 month ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
Those of you who are members of The Hearth and following our Temenos threads will know Vanessa Chamberlin; we recorded a video conversation together last month, talking about women’s spirituality, especially in Judaeo-Christian traditions. Her Substack is called The Tuning Fork, and earlier this week she posted an article on it which struck me profoundl…
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1 month ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
Just over two years ago, we left a house in Wales that had always felt temporary (though we stayed in it for three years) to return to the north of England, inexplicably close to the Co. Durham coast where I was born and grew up and a place to which, in my wildest dreams, I never imagined I’d ever return. The home in Wales had been something of a crash-landing site, as we found ourselves racing against time to relocate back to Britain from Ireland in the face of the looming COVID pandemic.
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2 months ago | 
sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie
I admit that, for the past ten days or so, I’ve been stuck in a psychological doom loop. It comes from a combination of listening obsessively to an excess of news, caring too much, getting too old for all this shit, and being nibbled to death by ducks in everyday life. [British English alert: not literally. Metaphorically. It’s what happens …