The Art of Enchantment, with Dr Sharon Blackie

6 days 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.

2 weeks 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 …

2 weeks ago | sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie

This month’s fairy tale salon, coming up on Saturday (April 12) from 16.00 – 17.30 UK time, will be led by the very wonderful New York story-witch Audrey di Mola. Most of you will know Audrey already; if you’re a new subscriber and don’t, please find her bio below. And the session will be moderated by Cathy Martucci. Please find the Zoom lin…

2 weeks ago | sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie

‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers –That perches in the soul –And sings the tune without the words –And never stops – at all –Emily DickinsonI was asked recently about hope. Is being hopeful a moral imperative? Is there a ‘language of hope’ that transcends mainstream religious rhetoric?

3 weeks ago | sharonblackie.substack.com | Sharon Blackie

Today, I’d like to some thoughts on a theme which underlies a number of world spiritual and philosophical traditions, but which again seems to have found itself a bit lost in much contemporary religious practice and discourse. I’ve been writing about all this for over ten years now, and some of these ideas appear in my books and courses, and …