The Song in the Silence

from the website of the Glastonbury Reception Centre

Our interactive talk last Thursday was entitled ‘Word, Vowel, Cycle, Harmony’ and delivered to us by the Silent Eye School of Consciousness as part of a series of six talks that are running throughout 2014. This was the second talk. Sue Vincent – the fiery red-head of the team delivers her thoughts on the evening.

The Glastonbury Unity Candle

It is something akin to stage fright perhaps; no matter what logic dictates, there is always that nervous moment as you wait to see if anyone is going to turn up. As Steve Tanham and Stuart France had prepared the room there was little more for me to do but sit quietly with an eye on the door. With over half an hour to go, it looked like being a long wait. But we needn’t have worried. The evening began with the arrival of a poet I have long wanted to meet, followed by old friends of the School. Then slowly the circle filled and a room full of people waited for the talk to begin.

As always, Morgana introduced the evening, and introduced us also to the Glastonbury Taize singers, whose monastic chants grace the Abbey every Friday morning. That the group had been drawn to come by the title of the talk, sacrificing their practice evening to join us, was wonderful and gave an extra reason, were any needed, to make the talk a good one.

The Singers kindly agreed to begin the evening for us with a chant; such a gift to have that sacred sound fill the room with beauty! From that moment the subject of the evening, the Song in the Silence, came alive for those who were there.

The circle joined in opening the space with Light. For the Silent Eye this is important; a reminder that all is sacred and can be consciously seen as such, from the most mundane of tasks to the highest Working. It set the tone for the evening, where the subject we explored showed the inherent harmony in the song of life itself.
Steve is our master presenter. Years of experience within the business world, AMORC and the Servants of the Light have honed his skills for explaining complex concepts in an understandable and entertaining way. From a circle to the geometry of the Vesica Piscis, so familiar in Glastonbury, Steve presented the group with a visual guide to the unconsidered aspects of the way in which we speak, communicating with sounds that are born of inherent harmony.

Now this is all very well… but it is engaging the intellect only and we are beings of more than mind alone; understanding is born when all levels of being are brought into action. So we passed out paper and geometry sets and for the next twenty minutes Stuart showed the group how to construct the Vesica for themselves and how they could see in practical terms that inherent harmony develop. This engages the body, creativity and emotion and at one point, as the harmony became visible on paper, I heard ‘Wow!’ from one of the musicians.

We began the second half with a short meditation then continued our exploration of harmony and sound, for the harmony born of the circle is woven through the roots of life itself. By the end of the evening we had shared much, our own stories interwoven through a shared journey towards understanding.

For Steve, Stuart and myself the evening was wonderful. It is always a joy to visit Glastonbury; we had felt welcomed and, as we raised a glass in the local pub with a number of those who had shared the evening with us, we began looking forward to the next talk in June when we will present a symbol that has become much misunderstood… the Enneagram.

For now, however, our focus is firmly on the event ahead, as the Silent Eye annual weekend workshop in Derbyshire begins on the 11th April and it is all hands on the deck of the Hawk as the final flurry of activity begins, creating the ritual drama that will take our Companions on a journey of imagination and intent from a science fiction setting to ancient Egypt and beyond. Once again we have Companions flying in from across the world to join us for what promises to be a spectacular weekend… and the final countdown has begun.

We of the Silent Eye would like to express our gratitude to Morgana West and the Glastonbury Reception Centre for their efforts and work to ensure that the Glastonbury talks are both a success and a joy. Thank you.

Sue Vincent
Director
The Silent Eye School of Consciousness

Please visit the Glastonbury Reception Centre Website for their full programme of talks and events, or The Silent Eye website to learn more about the School.