I love the smell of cordite! I’ve just been out on rifle practice with the wonderful guys who run All Cannings small bore rifle club. The Kings Arms in All Cannings is one of the few pubs in the UK which still maintains the tradition of having a proper rifle range. There is much tradition to do with this which has almost been forgotten in this country in an age of paranoia. It’s almost like taking a step back in time here and I would guess that the guys who try to keep it going despair with what they see happening to this land in which we live.

I certainly share their sentiments having moved back from Reading in recent weeks. I made a move to Reading with the intent of finding better work and this was the case but I quickly realized I couldn’t possibly enjoy working in such an area. The scale of degradation I witnessed there since I was last there 15 years ago shocked me. Despite New York style exhibitionism by police forces in Reading, criminal elements are without a doubt in control. I am informed that this is commonplace in towns across the UK, and I am also reliably informed that this status quo is in fact permitted by the authorities as an easy way to manage it. Never mind! It’s nice to be back in All Cannings where there is some semblance of humanity where one can at least communicate reasonably with others. And I’m back in crop circle land!

I was chatting with a very spiritual lady on Sunday and we both agreed on the observation that things seemed awfully quiet at the moment. It seems there is an eerie lull in worldly things and a feeling that something is afoot but we can’t put our fingers on it. I do wonder if it is even possible to put the finger on things anymore as world events are moving so fast; almost too fast for the mind to handle sometimes!

Certainly today has felt weird for me; even the spam email scumbags seemed to have taken a day off! Normally my inbox is full of the red messages marked for blacklist but today there has been next to none. Even the weather around here seems to be speaking a message in the wind blowing through the trees, and I also had a comment from one of my dear old customers saying this wind was not normal for this time of year around here. I go along with the Native Americans who speak about the wind having a story to tell if we are willing to listen. Nuff said.

In browsing the alternative news sources I found one thing, which should it be true, means we are on the brink of an acceleration of things in this world. If it is true then people need to know about it because there could be someone out there who could make a difference. What kind of a difference I don’t know. It’s a silly question but why is an issue as serious as what is happening with Pakistan not being reported in western mainstream press? Only the other day I felt driven to make a comment on the BBC website warning about not underestimating the intentions of the Chinese and the Russians with regards to US adventures in the Middle East and now I see these reports.

It’s worth pondering this as well – “What could cause 59.5% of Chinese to view Osama Bin Laden as a heroic “Anti-American fighter” as reported recently by Phoenix TV in China?”

Whatever people think of Bin Laden I do not attempt to defend him at all – I do not defend anyone who considers the murder of another human being as being a valid option in this life, I just ask the question “Why do people around the world have different perceptions of him?” I’m more interested in asking questions than trying to give answers from my own head.

I’d like to include a comment made by Nigel, a local Cannings chap who I respect immensely for his feelings – “Andy, what are we to make of those who wish to restrict by barbaric means the rights of women in the Arab world?”….. We talked somewhat about this but I shan’t report here on that now. Suffice it to say I agree with him.

Nigel is ex military, and I expressed to him my respect for the military – I was trained in parachuting by a fantastic bunch of guys from the Royal Green Jackets and they are the salt of the earth. When my Dad broke his leg they looked after him and looked after me too. I could tell a whole story over that but maybe that’s for another post?

Whenever I write about these things I do so not from a standpoint of trying to be glum about things but I come from a point of recognizing that we need to be informed and our mainstream media is doing us a grave injustice on that score, and the BBC is at the forefront of this problem. We are being lied to very sadly. I have had several examples where I have left reasonable comments on the BBC website and they have been censored. Do we have freedom of speech???

Anyway, enough of my ramblings on a Monday evening apart from sharing this photo of some lovely tourists from Germany who have just had some great times at the Kings Arms entertained by our illustrious host Barney! .

This is what matters to me most – that we can meet wonderful people from around the world and engage together! Only yesterday down the King’s Arms we had a group of five Japanese tourists visit and it was a pleasure to chat!

I was somewhat saddened last year by the way many people got sucked into the low energy bickering on the subject of crop circle hoaxing, in my view, missing magical factors which were still happening. Many were on their travels investigating crop circles for the first time and I witnessed their dreams, hopes and expectations being dashed on finding out that people were actually making crop circles. If this has happened to you I would just say consider this – In the words of a wise old friend of mine many years ago, “Everything in life is a double edged sword”.

Since the mid 90′s the predominant edge of the sword being swung has been the one of disinformation, debunking, hoaxing etc. As one of my favorite figures, Eckhart Tolle would say, “The tendency is to get lost in mind streams over the whole thing, missing valuable lessons”. The other edge of this sword is gentler, more subtle, and is perceived not through rampant thinking, but through sharpened awareness. Receptivity in the moment is the key. The Universe freely gives answers to our deepest questions but we must be ‘present in the moment’ to receive them, otherwise they will fly by like clouds in the sky and we will miss them.

The crop circle phenomenon affords a fantastic fast track training ground for all of this. If we didn’t practice the art of stepping back from the mind streams we risk becoming embroiled in a lot of unpleasantness. Magic and beauty is surely happening in the fields and hills of Wiltshire but requires of us a certain state of being in order to experience it – in essence, one of stillness and receptivity in the moment.

I was browsing through photos of crop circles from years gone by and felt a deep sense of gratitude for the personal gifts the Universe has given me throughout my years of questioning. Many people have shared with me their own personal stories and I invariably sit there listening to them with goosebumps on my arms. The quest goes on for each and every one of us, and truth is being realized – but it is not likely to be broadcast on the television screen!

I would like to comment here about one other thing which saddened me last year. A degree of vitriole was aimed by one or two people towards veteran crop circle researcher Lucy Pringle. One accusation is that she is in it for the money. I can utterly refute this allegation, having come to know Lucy fairly well over the last three years or so. Lucy is a lovely lady with a heart of gold and does what she does because she passionately believes in her scientific research. She does NOT make a lot of money from it, in fact she spends a massive amount on scientific testing and flying in order to bring us her beautiful photographs. Lucy’s archive of crop circle images, open to free viewing, goes back to 1990 and is a tremendously valuable resource for all. So come on guys, you may not agree with all of Lucy’s views, but please give her a break this year.

I wish a happy 2011 crop circle season to you all!

I returned to the formation at around 10:10 am and took some ground pictures and some video shots with my Canon powershot A560. These can be viewed here. I uploaded the wrong video so it’s a bit long winded but will give an idea of how the formation appears on the ground. I hope it’s helpful to those who cannot visit the site. I’ll try to improve my filming skills in due course! There were many broken stems and scuff marks on the crop and it appeared rather untidy compared to other formations.

As is always the case with me, I am interested in the synchronicities, odd events and bigger picture surrounding crop circles, no matter what their origin is. I had something peculiar happen when I entered the All cannings formation – two sets of brand new batteries packed up in my camera.

I met Bert Janssen and we had a very interesting conversation regarding the bigger picture. Bert is doing some exciting work, about which, you can find out more on his website www.cropcirclesandmore.com

All the crop circle researchers are amazed at how many formations have appeared so early in the year. There’s great excitement about what’s to come!

For those who decide to visit All cannings and the Vale of Pewsey, and require food or refreshments, there is a great local pub – The Kings Arms. They have their own website – kingsarmsallcannings.co.uk