must read posts on creativity, psychology, the dark night of the soul, and more…!
Last time we looked at Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus and the destruction that ripped through Europe in the 1940s. Europe was rebuilt over the following decades and the American empire rose to dominate the world. But the destruction and nihilism that Mann described in his novel didn’t go away. The spiritual sickness is still with… Continue reading Exploring Faust in the 21st Century
It looks like we’re in the Apocalypse, spinning happily (or not) in the eye of a storm we’ve brought on ourselves. Apocalypse comes from a word meaning to uncover or reveal, and is also linked to the idea of lifting a veil. But what is being uncovered? What is being revealed? We’re living through the… Continue reading Notes on Apocalypse – WTF is going on?!
As I mentioned in the Soul post, we tend to see soul and spirit as the same thing, but this isn’t the case. It might not seem important, but if you get them mixed up, it can cause confusion and problems in your spiritual practice. So in this post, we’ll explore these differences and why… Continue reading The Difference between Soul and Spirit
It might not feel like it, but we’re a lucky bunch. We’re living at a time of great upheaval and confusion when everything we’ve known is crumbling under our feet. Why is this lucky? Because we’re the ones who get to decide how things turn out. It’s the choices we make today that will determine… Continue reading Active Hope and the Spiritual Revolution: Stories of Our Time
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and this year the focus is on why people struggle to thrive with good mental health. Instead of looking at why people get ill, the Mental Health Foundation is asking how we can cultivate good mental health and thrive rather than just survive. They’ll be publishing a report on why… Continue reading Mental Health Awareness Week wants to know why you’re not thriving
There’s a weird recurring search term that pops up on my stats occasionally, so I thought it was time to investigate. In amongst queries for dark night of the soul symptoms and astrological mythology, you get this: “who are you jessica davidson” Not the most interesting thing to be Googling, and I should know. So… Continue reading I’m not the Jessica Davidson you’re looking for
My muse is a shapeshifter. She’s indiscriminate: a divine whore and angelic trickster up to her knees in mulch and butterfly cocoons. She’s in sunshine and dogs and fleeting thoughts and pain. She isn’t something other than me, but I can’t control her. She is my daemon, my guide. She would also like me to… Continue reading Musings on the Muse
I was always odd, the resident freak or weirdo in any situation. And then I became a sound engineer. As a woman, that makes me exceptional. There aren’t many of us, so when I heard about Laura Marling’s latest project, Reversal of the Muse, I gave a cheer. It’s about time there were more ladies… Continue reading The Only Girl: the search for female sound engineers
Mindfulness is everywhere these days. With the number of books and apps and courses available you would think we had become a nation of bodhisattvas overnight. The positive effects of mindfulness are widely known and aggressively advertised, but the practice doesn’t work the same way for everyone, and it can actually make you feel worse.… Continue reading The Hidden Dangers of Mindfulness
“Mindfulness of Breathing, monks, cultivated and regularly practiced, is of great fruit and great benefit. Mindfulness of Breathing, cultivated and regularly practiced, brings to Perfection the four Foundations of Mindfulness. The four Foundations of Mindfulness, cultivated and regularly practiced, bring the seven Factors of Enlightenment to perfection; the seven Factors of Enlightenment, cultivated and regularly… Continue reading What is the real meaning of Mindfulness?
“Mindfulness is the skill of thinking you are doing something when you are doing nothing. One of the good things about mindfulness is that you get to do a lot of sitting down. Sitting down is good for the mind because so much positive energy is stored in the lap.” – The Ladybird Book of… Continue reading The Dark Face of the Mindfulness Craze
Earlier this week we looked at the process of feeding your demons, which is a way to make friends with your shadow. In this post we’ll dig deeper into the various types of demon you might find skulking in the darkness of your worst fears. But first, what is a demon? In this practice, demons… Continue reading Shadow Companions: Types of Demons
Jessica Davidson 