Pilgrimage
"Pilgrimage" is a word that you hear occasionally these days. It's part of the vocabulary of those who are turning away from religion and toward spiritual journey as a guide for the "seeking" desire that is in us all. There was a time, at least in my growing up, that we used the word “pilgrimage” in relation to Islam. We heard of the Muslim duty to make a trip, at least once in a lifetime, to the holy city of Mecca. Elaborate and captivating rituals were and are performed there regularly. The seeker hopes to have a special encounter with the Holy. Perhaps Mecca is a "thin place" where the divide between our awareness of life and the spiritual realities that are beyond our immediate awareness is thin and permeable. Those thin places provide a more discernible contact with God. In some religious perspectives such a pilgrimage is not only encouraged but even required. And in other religious traditions, such as Christianity, similar pilgrimage is encouraged but not raised to the level of requirement.
Why is it that pilgrimage is encouraged and sought? I certainly cannot speak on behalf of Islam, but I can speak a bit regarding the Christian tradition. The human heart seems to be designed for Holy encounter. We seek it in many ways, some destructive and some life-giving. There is an impulse deep within the human soul that feels the call to return "home". We seem to know that we are from Life and are destined to return home to perpetual and reimagined Life. As Christians we speak of this impulse as an awareness of our origins within God’s very being and we are drawn to return to God’s essence of Life and Love.
In any tradition, there are locations that hold the story of the spiritual journey, teachers, sacrifices, and eternally significant events. In the Celtic tradition, we add the idea of "thin places" where, for many, it is possible to sense a deeper and more immediate encounter with the Divine and the way of Spirit. Some of these sites are locations on the map of human history. Other locations are places of magnificent natural beauty both large and small. And some very special landscapes hold silence and solitude in a manner that encourages peace and calm and thus usher us into the presence of God. Each individual seeker may have places that enchant the heart and are worthy of regular visitation. And, as a community, we often agree that there are locations that hold potential for divine encounter in ways that are strong and compelling.
In the Celtic tradition, there are historical locations that have been sought out for centuries and millennia as assisting the human soul and life in the quest for God. These places are numerous. Two prominent examples are the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland and Holy Island (Lindisfarne) off the northeastern coast of England. These are sites of monastic settlements in early Celtic Christian history and the place where this beautiful tradition was practiced in its fullest expression. Pilgrims have been visiting these sites for thousands of years in search of inspiration, silence, and the many ways that we encounter the Holy.
Another island that serves as a foundational pilgrimage destination is the island of Inishmore off the west coast of Ireland. This island was home to many of the earliest Celtic Christian teachers who shaped the practices and teachings of this way of faith. This rugged and breathtaking island, battered by the Atlantic Ocean as it surges with all of its power upon the land, was home to several of the most influential souls who fashioned the beautiful intersection between older Celtic traditions that organized themselves around natural cycles of nature and the Christian story of God’s presence and unparalleled love toward us all. It is, in part, from this island that this unique manifestation of the Christian perspective emerged into the world. The island is literally strewn with ruins and the memory of this magnificent quest. Seekers have been journeying back to this remote place of unparalleled beauty and history to sit quietly in the hope that they too will be blessed with inspiration, imagination, and unique encounter with the Spirit.
Although far from being required, pilgrimage to places such as these call forth sacrifice, effort, and seeking from the pilgrim that orient the heart toward things that truly matter and provide for meaningful life. Christians, and seekers from all traditions, have always sought out and journeyed toward these hopes and possibilities. The effort, planning, and anticipation shape the soul and celebrate the human impulse to return "home".
The Celtic Center is honored to assist you to make the journey to the island of Inishmore. On our pilgrimage together we learn of Celtic Christian history and seek both community and solitude as a refuge from the tumultuous world in which we live in order to find a moment of peace and inspiration that strengthens us for a life within the Spirit. If you would like to consider joining us please click on the link below for more information. And if this is not the land that your heart is urging you toward then may you find that inspiration in whatever form it needs to take so that you can discover the calm and lovely space that your soul needs for its restoration and encouragement.
