Agnus Dei

"It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge; The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The past month has been full-on: photography, quantity surveying and watercolours - with the car failing the MoT and a long weekend in Pembrokeshire thrown in for interest.  I managed to finish most of my latest business commitment by Thursday night, so decided to follow up a synchronistic lead and attend The Shamanic Lands gathering at Llandrindod Wells.

Great idea - but without transport, a ticket or place to stay I had a few things to arrange.  I'd made no plans - I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish the business in time -  so by 9am I'm on a bus and hoofing it across town to hire a car for the weekend.  That done I get back home to finish off the business project and by lunchtime I'm booking my ticket for the event, with somewhere to stay fixed up by 3pm.

It's a lovely afternoon drive up the Wye valley past Builth, just over 2 hours - I'm not in any rush - and by 6.30pm I'm heading out of my farmhouse B&B for the local pub for a meal and a beer - Wye Valley of course.  As I was leaving the pub I was waylaid by a woman out walking.  There followed a fascinating conversation on spiritual pathways through life, a fitting beginning to my weekend and a warm-up perhaps for what was to follow.