The Sacred Isle Series
"Trembling I sit day and night, my friends are astonish'd at me.
Yet they forgive my wanderings, I rest not from my great task!
To open the Eternal Worlds, to open the immortal Eyes
Of Man inwards into the Worlds of Thought: into Eternity".
Verse excerpt from the work "Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion" by William Blake.
Written 1804-1820, with later additions.
When I looked back over this series of images taken in March 2022, I originally thought that there might be a few images that might spark my imagination enough to enable me to write some poems about my time there that evening. But when I started to sort through them I realised that there was enough material to form a series. The works could be seen separately but once I started to work on them it was as though the emotional content kept building to create a body of work that was meant to be together.
Each piece would add to the other, becoming more than itself, or so it seemed to me. As I viewed the selection of images I realised the beauty of this location was speaking to me but in such a way that the themes became universal, an exploration of our place in this world, in this cosmos. Our lives are not just personal experiences, they become enacted out on this mighty stage of creation, where this landscape started to reveal an eternal story of us all.
These images were taken on a beautiful evening in March, on my way home from another location. This winding road in East Sussex in the UK has always been a beautiful way home for me, calming my mind before I get to my final destination. But the 'shortcut' often ends up being longer than the original session I went for at a different location! The views along this road are so captivating and on this particular day, the sunset was extraordinary.
I stop the car in various favoured spots I know and I wait. The rewards are often the ones where you think there is not enough light to even take the shot, and it could be said that these types of shots are indeed, a gift from the universe.
I hope you enjoy this series as I decided to place this on a separate page. Gradually I will add to this series from the session of photographs I took that evening.
Ab Aeterno
Heaven On Earth
Heaven On Earth
Do not wait for heaven
For it is all around you all the time
Many cannot see it
Their eyes are hooded
And their minds closed down
Heaven is not behind a secret veil
You are living in it
Paradise is laid out before you
If you would only release your bindings
And let the truth shine now
Open your awareness
Allow yourself to see
That this earth is full of heaven
Layers of beauty weaved together
With gold and silver threads
Creating glory
Just for you and me
Photography and Poetry
By Shelley Turner
Archangel
Dedicated to the Reverend Roger Leslie
With fondest affection and deepest gratitude
Photography and Poetry
By Shelley Turner
Archangel
You asked me
What would it be like to meet an Archangel
One of God's Warriors
And I wondered would we survive the experience
Being placed near God's right hand
In the presence of an eternal soldier
Deciding our fate
Maybe with a gesture
An arched eyebrow
An agitated wing span
I suspect there would be an indulgent impatience
Of dealing with lowly creatures
That show repeated defiance
In spite of the infinite patience of their master
It would be easier to smite us into oblivion
But that is not the ultimate plan
One that the Angels have to adhere to
Despite their personal frustration
But occasionally compassion arises
And intervention is not unknown
The path of the universe is a rocky one
There is this element of chance within it
A safety net
In case things come totally undone
A seed may be planted
But what grows might surprise everyone
This is the beauty of creation
Of letting things flow
Despite the bad choices of His earthly children
The Archangels know
His will has to be done
In heaven as well as below
Burning Love
Burning Love
When the Holy Spirit visits
Everything is aflame before your eyes
The bushes still burn
Like they did for Moses
But are not reduced to ash
For they are afire with glory
Of a quite different kind
All of nature is exalted
And it is as if your feet
Do not touch the ground
The air is the song
And you are the notes
The sound is transcendent
An unknown melody
That you want to hear all your life
There is no separate self
You have become pure energy
Part of the covenant of creation
That each of us brings to the story
Of a Genesis reborn and alight
Photography and Poetry
By Shelley Turner
I Am Falling
Photography and Poetry
By Shelley Turner
I Am Falling
I am falling like the Angels
Falling, falling down
I am falling like the Angels
Deeper into a darkened world
There can be no restoration
Because once it has all gone
We will have lost you
All of you
Lowered and cowed
You will have gone
Pulled from this shroud
I am falling like the Angels
There is no resurrection
Not this time
Not even for the lowly
Weak or the bowed down
Is it too late to hold a light up
Before all grace has gone
Michael on my right
Gabriel on my left
Uriel in front of me
Raphael behind me
Holy Spirit above me
Holy Light all around
Archangels protect us
As we all fall into the night
Endlessly calling for you
But now all such cries
Are without sound
And we are falling
Out of sight
Out of mind
Down into the ground
The Ark
The Ark
The Ark reaches over the heavens
Every morning and each evening
The Angels are protecting us
With each new dawning
And for all our tomorrows
Their wings reach over the skies
Reminding us that they hold us in trust
For when we might need them
To rescue us from ourselves
And to guide us right to them
When we are ready to call
The Ark holds the earth
In a winged embrace
A constant vigilance
And a covenant of love
Held steady while this world lasts
Beloved by the One
And a Saviour for all
Photography and Poetry
By Shelley Turner
The World Of Angels
Photography and Poetry
By Shelley Turner
The World Of Angels
The world of Angels
Knows no barriers
In the Holy of Holies
Looking back from the other side
All of creation is before you
From beginning to end
All at the same time
God's story is laid out
In a never-ending book
A picture on the reverse of the veil
Where the truest of visions
Are those seen
Looking back from deep within time
You have to place yourself there
Unravel your spirit
Feel yourself unwind
To understand you have to be present
At the beginning
Before you can even comprehend
The ending
Many layered and revolving
Seen from the inside
The journey continues
And you never tire
Beauty becomes joy
And love is the meaning of life
In the flowing river
That nourishes the garden
You always wanted to grow
So travel further up and further in
And you will never die
Because you have left
All the cold worlds far behind
And proved to yourself it was never a lie
You have truly immersed yourself in the beauty of your beloved Albion, Shelley. Thanks for the uplifting images and words.