Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage: a journey of the soul and the body, a unique combination of inner and outer experience fusing together step by step, mile by mile, through thirst and hunger, pain and exhaustion, joyfulness and determination.
Pilgrimage: you hear a call that cannot be denied – perhaps it began as whisper twenty years earlier, perhaps it began as an ear-splitting shout a week before. Soon or later, you feel compelled to respond. You make plans to go on pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage: a setting forth, a leave-taking from the familiar, from familiarity. A trip into the unknown, both interior and exterior. A moving away from what is known into what is unknown but longed for.¹
These were the first words I read in fellow pilgrim Elyn Aviva’s book, Following the Milky Way: A Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. Re-reading them again and again, I am struck by the resounding truth of these “definitions” of a pilgrimage.
I am a pilgrim. I walk sacred pilgrimage paths and labyrinths. In particular, I walk the "Celtic Camino", a path that is intimately connected with the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage path that traverses Europe to Santiago de Compostela, a town in the remote region of northwestern Spain.
I first heard of the Camino when Shirley MacLaine’s book, Camino, dropped off the shelf into my hands. As soon as I started to read this book, I knew that I wanted to walk the Camino - some day.
Some day became one day for my 50th birthday. I walked and traveled my first pilgrimage in 2009. I have now walked different legs of the Camino/Chemin 3 different times, in 2009, 2010, and most recently, in October 2012.
In 2009, I walked the last 170 kilometers of the El Camino de Santiago, through Galicia, the Celtic area of Spain. I was blessed to walk with Sue Kenney, a pilgrim and author of My Camino and Confessions of a Pilgrim. From Sue, I learned how to lead without leading. A paradox, isn't it? Sue is a master at leading, always calling on each of us to find our own inner leader and experience the truth that we each walk our own Camino, whether we walk alone or in a group.
The greatest gift from the Camino was a reawakening to my longing to return to England, my birthplace and home of my family. This past June I spent a month in southwest England, and in particular Cornwall. I was blessed to walk three pilgrimage paths over 3 weeks ~
I also walked on my own for the first time in Cornwall, and in doing so, tapped into a deep well of inner knowing, clarity, strength and courage.
These, and so many other gifts, are available through walking a sacred path to sacred sites, whether you walk alone or with others, whether your travel abroad or experience the sacredness right here in your own community.
I'd love to share with you the opportunity to experience these gifts for yourself!
What if it's time for you to walk your path...now?
Pilgrimage: you hear a call that cannot be denied – perhaps it began as whisper twenty years earlier, perhaps it began as an ear-splitting shout a week before. Soon or later, you feel compelled to respond. You make plans to go on pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage: a setting forth, a leave-taking from the familiar, from familiarity. A trip into the unknown, both interior and exterior. A moving away from what is known into what is unknown but longed for.¹
These were the first words I read in fellow pilgrim Elyn Aviva’s book, Following the Milky Way: A Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. Re-reading them again and again, I am struck by the resounding truth of these “definitions” of a pilgrimage.
I am a pilgrim. I walk sacred pilgrimage paths and labyrinths. In particular, I walk the "Celtic Camino", a path that is intimately connected with the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage path that traverses Europe to Santiago de Compostela, a town in the remote region of northwestern Spain.
I first heard of the Camino when Shirley MacLaine’s book, Camino, dropped off the shelf into my hands. As soon as I started to read this book, I knew that I wanted to walk the Camino - some day.
Some day became one day for my 50th birthday. I walked and traveled my first pilgrimage in 2009. I have now walked different legs of the Camino/Chemin 3 different times, in 2009, 2010, and most recently, in October 2012.
In 2009, I walked the last 170 kilometers of the El Camino de Santiago, through Galicia, the Celtic area of Spain. I was blessed to walk with Sue Kenney, a pilgrim and author of My Camino and Confessions of a Pilgrim. From Sue, I learned how to lead without leading. A paradox, isn't it? Sue is a master at leading, always calling on each of us to find our own inner leader and experience the truth that we each walk our own Camino, whether we walk alone or in a group.
The greatest gift from the Camino was a reawakening to my longing to return to England, my birthplace and home of my family. This past June I spent a month in southwest England, and in particular Cornwall. I was blessed to walk three pilgrimage paths over 3 weeks ~
- the Saints' Way - a 30 mile path through the land of my grandparents in mid-Cornwall
- St. Michael's Way - or as I lovingly call it, the "Cornish Camino" across the narrowest section of western Cornwall
- Mary Michael Pilgrims Way, from Carn les Boel at Land's End to Lostwithiel and Restormel Castle, the site of my spiritual home.
I also walked on my own for the first time in Cornwall, and in doing so, tapped into a deep well of inner knowing, clarity, strength and courage.
These, and so many other gifts, are available through walking a sacred path to sacred sites, whether you walk alone or with others, whether your travel abroad or experience the sacredness right here in your own community.
I'd love to share with you the opportunity to experience these gifts for yourself!
What if it's time for you to walk your path...now?