Mind Over matter

"The very act of thinking involves the redistribution of atoms, specifically the transference of mental information via mRNA (messenger RNA) in the neurons to protein chains at the ends of the dendrites where the new memories are held. Thus, the more a person uses his mind, the more protein in his dendrites and the more complex his brain. According to this view, 'all thought is psychokinetic' because the very act of thinking, by definition, involves a mental event being changed into a physical one: a thought becomes a memory, that is, mind over matter."

- Marc Seifer (1948 - )

"Gathered Light Magazine" - An Exemplary New Photography Magazine

A magnificent new photography journal has appeared, thanks to the efforts - better: thanks to the love and devotion - by photographer, writer, and editor, Micheal MacEoghain. It is called Gathered Light Magazine (GLM) and - as of January 2026 - there are five issues for all to enjoy. According to Micheal's Substack page, he explores the intersections of nature, healing, and conservation. From GLM, we learn that Micheal holds degrees in anthropology and art history, and has done masters work in music composition and underwater archeology. These sensibilities are manifestly obvious in GLM. Indeed, this is what separates this new magazine from what seems like a crowded field, but really is not. I can think of few other photography journals that so seamlessly blend art and photography, technique and vision, conservation, ecology, and even delves into psychology and healing. In short, calling GLM a photography magazine is a grave misjustice, since it offers so much more.

Except for the inaugural issue, each of the last four issues focuses on a single theme (Issue 2 = Ocean, Issue 3 = Inner Landscape, Issue 4 = Wildlife, and Issue 5 = Trees), but also includes a vast assortment of additional material that expand on broader subjects. GLM happily has two traits in common with one of my favorite photography magazines, Lenswork. One is that the photography itself is stellar, including a generous sampling of Micheal's own wonderful images. The other is that there are no advertisements, apart from a single "support our work" page nestled toward the end of each issue. So, Micheal, Kudos on an exemplary new magazine! 

Individual issues range in size from about 90 pages to 150 and are all free to read online - just follow the links that appear on the main page (pdf versions can also be purchased for 4.95USD). 

My recommendation? Right after you finish reading this blog post, grab a cup of coffee (or tea, or cocoa, or your favorite drink that you enjoy sipping for a long while), bring your laptop or iPad to whatever is your most comfortable easy chair or sofa, turn off all notifications, and just start reading. You won't regret it!

Mystery of Life

 "Beauty is the mystery of life.
It is not in the eye it is in the mind.
In our minds there is awareness of perfection ...
See perfection in every thing around
you.
...
All human knowledge is useless in art work.
Concepts, relationships, categories, classifications,
deductions are distractions of mind that we 
wish to hold free for inspiration.
...
Happiness is being on the beam with life
– to feel the pull of life."

- Agnes Martin (1912 - 2004)
Beauty Is the Mystery of Life

Beyond Form

"Thought defines the universe in geometric figures.

...

Those granted the gift of seeing more deeply
can see beyond form, and concentrate
on the wondrous aspect hiding
behind every form, which is
called life.

...

Only for those prepared to leave
their familiar life behind, will life
emerge in a new gown of continually
expanding beauty and perfection.
But in order to attain such a state,
it is necessary to achieve stillness
in both thought and feeling."

- Hilma af Klint (1862 - 1944)

Cloud of Unknowing

 "The universes which are amenable
to the intellect can never satisfy
the instincts of the heart."

- The Cloud of Unknowing

Absence/Presence

 "In perennial Absence you see mystery, and in
perennial Presence you see appearance.
Though the two are one and the same,
once they arise, they differ in name."

- David Hinton
The Four Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching, Analects, Chuang Tzu, Mencius

Hieroglyphic Apparitions

 "Every man's condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put. He acts it as life, before he apprehends it as truth. In like manner, nature is already, in its forms and tendencies, describing its own design. Let us interrogate the great apparition, that shines so peacefully around us. Let us inquire, to what end is nature?"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
Nature

The Mysticism of Numbers

"When a man counts one, two, three,
he is not only doing mathematics, he is
on the path to the mysticism of numbers
in Pythagoras and Vitruvius and Kepler,
to the Trinity and the signs of the Zodiac."

- Jacob Bronowski (1908 - 1974)

External and Interior Landscapes

"I think of two landscapes - one outside the self, the other within. The external landscape is the one we see-not only the line and color of the land and its shading at different times of the day, but also its plants and animals in season, its weather, its geology ... The second landscape I think of is an interior one, a kind of projection within a person of a part of the exterior landscape. Relationships in the exterior landscape include those that are named and discernible ... and others that are uncodified or ineffable ... the shape and character of these relationships in a person’s thinking, I believe, are deeply influenced by where on this earth one goes, what one touches, the patterns one observes in nature- the intricate history of one’s life in the land, even a life in the city, where wind, the chirp of birds, the line of a falling leaf, are known. These thoughts are arranged, further, according to the thread of one’s moral, intellectual, and spiritual development. The interior landscape responds to the character and subtlety of an exterior landscape; the shape of the individual mind is affected by land as it is by genes."

- Barry Lopez (1945 - 2020)

The Invisible Spirit

"Spirit selects its own photographer. 

All we can do is to be
open to Spirit.

...

For some reason I have a sense of 'mysticism.' ... The 'perilous world of the dream' is my most comfortable backyard. Since I turn everything to photography, I have tried to treat photographs in this same manner. Contrary to expectations I do not go for fuzzygraphs, I try to reach the dream, or the state of mind that is 'Visionary' ... From time to time various images in front of my eyes lift themselves up and beckon to me - I approach at their command - and make the expo sure, sometimes reluctantly, but always with such a complete projection of my mental state onto the object that it seems as if the object commanded and not myself. At this intensity I photograph. The result is a record of an experience between myself and the object. ... 'Mysticism' in photographs is a delightful idea, full of danger of overreading the visible elements, but perhaps intensely rewarding. I know its danger, and pursue it anyway.

...

...the invisible is made visible to the intuition,
the invisible organic, the invisible spirit."

- Minor White (1908 - 1976)