Drop to your knees

Drop to your knees. Sink deep into prayer.

Silent whispers to something, or to someone, which is almighty. Powerful. Merciful.

In times of turmoil, exasperation and angst.

And in times of fervent joy, abundance and complete and utter gratitude.

The mystery that envelopes our lives and this very Unknown has us question the purpose; the rhyme and the reason to it all from time to time.

But then something happens – omens, signs and synchronicity happen - leading us closer to our desire and dream. Often masked and not always recognisable to the closed heart, but there nonetheless when we are ready to see, and I mean really See.

I’m talking about Alchemy. The idea of being connected and supported by the profound powers, which we often call Religion or Spirituality.

Recent travels to France and Italy reignited my intrigue in the Divine, the Universe, God – whatever label you prefer.

Churches and shrines, basilicas and venerable monuments. Historic paintings and statues of saints and priests, and a cross standing tall at the top of an insurmountable peak, towering over coastal towns below.

Etched into rock, messages to spirits, and at the base of alters, women holding photos of loved ones as they prayed in silence.

Everywhere I looked, I saw expressions of faith.

Faith in the Unknown.

Mother Nature

Sunshine filters through sky-high ancient pines. Shadows dance on the blanket of leaves below. The air is fresh and cool. There is a backwash of green, blue and brown hues, and in the distance - steeped in ash from eons before - stands a smoking peak.

I inhale and pause for a moment. This is special. This is really special.

All photos by Jason Di-Candilo @billthebadger

Born some 300,000 years ago, this beauty – the tallest active volcano in Europe, otherwise known as Etna – stands 3329m above sea level, with pride, with stealth, with honour.

She is powerful and she has a story to tell. She is the ‘mountain of the mountain’ as her name translates; a source of food, renewal and spiritual guidance for the Sicilians who speak of her with fondness and respect.

Standing in her presence, I can’t help but feel abundantly insignificant in the spectacle that is Mother Nature and there is real grace in that.

Walking in the heat, focused on not losing my footing on the unsteady volcanic rock below, our guide Ezio recalls his first eruption. “I was three-year-old and I was with my dad and our friend’s dog. The dog began to act oddly. He reacted before we knew what was happening, which signalled us to take cover.” This is one of many memories Ezio shares.

With the Africa and Europe tectonic plates continually clashing below the earth’s surface, earthquakes are frequent in Sicily, as are eruptions.

We walk some further and stop to marvel at the picture before us. The pines, which were so lush and green and alive some several hundred metres back, stand here bare. Skeleton outlines. Ghosts from the past. The soil is pitch black and there is no sign of life. 

We stare at the silhouette portrait. The deserted expanse. The empty space.

For the past five years, Ezio has been guiding scores of people up the slopes of the unbridled volcano, educating tourists and locals alike on the place he calls home.

“Etna is part of me. She is a huge part of my life and sharing her with people just makes sense,” he explained.

Farm to Face

The food you eat and bring to your face has been grown somewhere. On a farm most probably. But under what conditions?

Maybe on a small hobby farm, or maybe on a large plantation. Maybe its been laced in chemicals and supplements, or maybe it hasn’t. Maybe the stock has been feed, nurtured and fairly cared for, or maybe, on the other hand, it has been cruelly treated and harmed before it made its way to your plate and to your belly.

Two girls – best described as vivacious, young and scandalous at heart, and beyond dedicated to their vision – are setting forth to bring this conversation to light.

They are not on a mission to preach what is right or wrong. But they do want people to have the entitled choice to know where their produce comes from before putting it in their bodies - if they want to.

I met with Melodie Tyrer, one half of Farm to Face, at her apartment over looking London Fields in Hackney in London’s east for a Saturday morning brunch of poached eggs, roasted cherry tomatoes, blanched spinach and sautéed mushrooms. As Melodie stirred, seasoned and routinely tossed the ingredients with an obvious confidence and care for her creation, she traced the story of the project’s beginning and fast evolving big future.

Melodie Tyrer

Melodie begins…

“It all started when I met Georgia at a mutual friend’s dinner party in London last year,” she says. “We got talking and laughing and exchanged numbers at the end of the night, but I wasn’t sure when or if we would see each other again because she was living in Edinburgh at the time studying civil engineering” (Watch this video and meet the girls).