James Carrington – Multidisciplinary Creative & Designer

Hi, I’m James.

I am multidisciplinary creative & designer.

I express my journey in art, photography, poetry and writing. However, I am an expert in none. I don’t aim to impress, only to share my journey. I hope you enjoy what you find here.

All work is my own unless otherwise stated, please contact me if you want to use any.

Creative Work

- I Am
  February 16, 2011poetryThis was inspired by the epic, ancient poems ‘The song of Amergin’ and ‘The song of Taliesin’. I have stood on the edge of a Forest and I could taste the sweetness of the passing seasons.I have heard the blackbird sing and I could feel the pride in his chest.I have swum in the waters and felt the minds of the salmon, great depths of wisdom, drawn from the endless places of the world.I have felt the horse as she runs across the fields, heart pumping, fierce and wild, like the blood of all Britons.I have heard the sword as it swings through the air, it’s song calling out for the neck, to take a trophy as our ancestors did,and I’ve felt the wings of the Heron upon my back, strong and elegant, noble and full of grace.I have sat with the adder, awaiting it’s prey, I’ve known the hunger of it’s vigil and the satisfaction of it’s meal.I have ridden with the sun and moon, gliding swiftly over clouds in the blue.I have eaten with the wolves, taking no more than a fair share for my part in the hunt, knowing true family.I have worn the guise of a bull and chased down the lion who threatened my young,and I have been the lion and chased down that very bull and devoured him as I would have his young.I’ve sat on the throne of a king and the chair of a god, I’ve dined with a queen and slept with a goddess.As a pauper, a minstrel and a mercenary I’ve lived, in many lands and many times,I’ve sat with the wisest and learned their lore, I’ve heard the prophecies of the lost,I’ve witnessed the deeds of both kings and cowards, tyrants and saviours.I’ve seen the legions of Rome swallow the world, only to be swallowed by what they spat out,I’ve seen the world covered in darkness and I’ve known the pain of loss but also the joyful seed of hope.I’ve drunk form the breasts of all mothers and I’ve borne every man’s child.I’ve been there when philosophers thought on the beginning and I have heard talk of an end.I’ve stretched my claws and spine like a cat, I’ve squatted like a toad,I’ve soared the steppes in an eagles belly and looked out from a stags eyes in the rut.I’ve caught salmon with the bears and I’ve been eaten by them too.It has always been this way, and it will be this way forever.I know this for I have seen the wheel as it turns, I have sat on each spoke just as I have the hub.I have danced on it’s rim and thrown myself from it’s edges only to be caught by the gentle hands of existence,and placed again in my rightful spot I find everything is complete.I am the fire in the head and I am always burning. James Carrington 2011... Read more...

Blog

- The Books that Inspire Me
  February 17, 2022blogI love a good book, especially an old, yellowed, second-hand one which smells of library, incense, tobacco and memories. When it comes to fiction, I love fantasy and horror, but when it comes to non-fiction, I really only read books on spirituality and history. There are four books which have inspired me in my own understanding of Philosophy and these are: The Kybalion Although it is very likely that The Kybalion is little more than a fraudulent account of Hermetic philosophy, the authors (or more likely author ‘William Walker Atkinson’, the publisher writing as ‘The Three Initiates’) created a very readable, very understandable guide to the seven principles of Hermeticism. It differs from ancient texts on the subject, such as ‘The Emerald Tablet’ and ‘The Corpus Hermeticum’ in that it does not use the dialogue method. Rather it reads more like the Tao Te Ching, a series of lessons on the concepts of each principle and a reflection on how they fit into our daily lives. The Spell of the Sensuous If ever a book could sum up the simple beauty of animistic thought in the modern world, this is is. Author David Abram beautifully flows between scientific reason and person experience with the divine nature of the world around us. His writing method quickly transports the reader into the places and experiences he recalls. The book is an attempt to help the reader regain a sense of alignment and connection with the natural world and the ‘other than human’ beings which inhabit. He does this by helping the reader shift their perspective to observe the world through other eyes. The Tao Te Ching Written around 500 BCE by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, this timeless piece is the core scripture in Taosim. The main goal of Tao Te Ching (also known as daodejing) is to lead the student away from trying to control the world around themselves and into an alignment with the natural flow of life. Taoism, like Hermeticism described in the Kybalion) as a philosophy could easily fit into any religious understanding as the Tao (‘The All’ of the Kybalion) refers to the totality of existence as the divine made manifest, and yet is far more than that and ultimately unknowable. The scripture has been described as the complete opposite to Plato’s writings, that rather than trying to learn the forms of existence, we should simply let go and align ourselves with our own journey. The Gospel of the Second coming A hilarious and completely irreverent commentary on Christianity from a modern perspective. Authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have created a new gospel written as a conversation with Saint Peter. In this brilliant book the dogmas and outdated beliefs of the bible are torn asunder and given new life. But here’s the trick, in no way does this book suggest that Christianity is wrong, in fact (at least from my own non-Christian perspective), it could be seen to strengthen the very core message which Christ was trying to impart; Compassion.... Read more...
- The Nature of the Journey
  February 15, 2022blogLife is a journey, for everyone. That journey manifests in different ways for different kinds of people and for spiritual people like myself, it can often become an ongoing pilgrimage. I am in love with life, I always have been. Not the quantifiable version of life, the getting of things and achieving of standards; rather the simple beauty in life. Cloud structures have captured my attention and caused me to stand awestruck and exhilarated far more often than anything man made. The simple feeling of the stars and galaxies wheeling overhead makes me smile. The opening of a flower or the power in a lion as she hunts; these things are life and I am in love with them. For me, life, the universe itself is divine. I have sought a name for that belief all my life but never found a single system which encompasses my beliefs. My recent experiences have made me appreciate these things more. The synchronicity of my previous life (the one I lived until a few days ago) meeting and informing my current life is magical; I would not be embarking on this next great adventure had I not learned Turkish. I would not have learned Turkish if I had not met my now ex-partner. I would not have met her had I not started playing an online game. I would not have started playing if I had not been furloughed from work. I would not have been furloughed if Covid-19 had not spread around the world. Everything, no matter whether it is good, bad or neutral, really does happen for a reason. The nature of a pilgrimage is that we completely surrender ourselves to the journey and that it will test us to our absolute limits, even beyond them. We often have a view that a pilgrimage is a nice walk to a temple. In fact a pilgrimage has no true destination, and even those sacred religious journeys which do end at a holy site could often be so dangerous that people died upon the road. A pilgrimage is meant to lead you to enlightenment, I think I have a long way to go yet! On this pilgrimage I have met monsters, I have met fellow travelers and I have met angels and every single one of these; good, bad or neutral, has given me a lesson to learn. I often feel a little dimwitted as I often fail to see that lesson and further along the road it is repeated, harder. On this road I have at times felt surrounded by people, cared for, worthy and loved, and at other times I have felt lonely, desperate and unable to progress. I have experienced and continue to experience the full range of human emotions, and there is not one that I regret having to have experienced for I can now see each of them, negative, positive, middling, to be the most beautiful gift of all. This is because they are life, they are how my human mind and heart interpret the richness and beauty and the horror and tragedy that is life in its completeness. Has God, Allah, Odin or any other form of the divine accompanied me on this journey? Yes, and at the same time no. Every single understanding of the divine is real, it lives in each of us; we feel the thumping rage of Taranis’ storms in our anger, we feel the compassion of Green Tara for those in need. Every single deity is an aspect of our nature and we cannot pick and choose which one we will settle on, life will always provide opportunity for them to change places. The universe itself is divine, in this, we are divine, our religions only express a few parts of our own divinity, force us to focus on one or two aspects. But we are infinite and cannot be described in such limiting, dogmatic ways. The divine created us and we create the divine. Who we are at any given moment is an outward reflection of how we are feeling and acting in accordance with the lessons we are currently experiencing. My life has been challenging, never so much as the last month. I have fallen from the lofty heights of what I thought was pure, unconditional love, to the depths of despair and suicide. I have lost every single part of myself and willingly gave myself to oblivion. And I wouldn’t change a fucking thing.Whoever you are that reads this, I welcome you, I thank you for sharing in my journey. I love you.James Previous Next... Read more...