Symphony of Peace Prayers

A group of Japanese visitors have come to Allanton for a Symphony of Peace Prayers, in which I was asked to take part. They only arrived in Scotland last night and had already had a busy day by the time I met them for lunch. After lunch, we did a flag ceremony, where the flags of every country in the world are held up and peace in that country is prayed for. Because the visitors spoke no English and some of us spoke no Japanese, everything was translated, which took some time. Dance, like music, is a universal language, however, and we all enjoyed learning two Dances of Universal Peace. They are off to Mull and Iona tomorrow and Findhorn and Aberdeen on Wednesday, after which they fly home.

I also met a Japanese artist who is staying at Allanton. He has just completed a lovely bamboo sculpture at Castramon woods, near Gatehouse of Fleet, and is going to be making another sculpture in the grounds here tomorrow. His name is Masao Ueno. You can see some of his work here