Pilgrimage and Sacred Land

Pilgrimage and Sacred Land BY PEGI EYERS Take your time, pace yourself, there are healing powers within and without. Spontaneously, these words spring to mind like an ancestor chanting, as I walk the curves of the labyrinth on the side of a windswept hill. The stone-set triskele pattern that my partner and I designed recalls our Celtic origins, and fills me with the triple joys of heritage, our home in the Otonabee watershed, and the panoramic scenery stretching for miles in all directions. Accompanied by birdsong, sheltered by branches and the chiming of leafy hearts, entering the labyrinth is to find a zone beyond normal time and space where cares and worries are left behind. And however the magic works, I always leave the winding trail with a new feeling or direction, and sometimes, with the answer to a question I don’t remember asking. Part of my gratitude for having daily access to sacred space is the knowing that stone circles, and the experience of them, is part of a much older tradition. For millennia, humanity has gravitated toward unique locations in the landscape that evoke a timeless mystery, such as hilltops, rock formations, ancient forests and natural springs, and we have marked the presence of the living numina in the land with unique creations such as earthworks, mounds, medicine wheels, spirit roads, shrines and megalithic stone circles. Like a mythic geography or “psychogeography,” the origin stories, folklore and person/place resonances important to our culture are anchored in these landmarks, so beloved to heart and home. Tracing the stone-built path of a home labyrinth, or just wandering intuitively in the wild, are all ways to return to our inherent belonging within creation, and can be rites of passage that link us deeply to our own soul and the soul of the land. It’s good to stay in one place (!) but we can also pull up roots and give in to our impulse to wander, following the timeless tradition of exploring distant lands rich in metaphor and meaning. Today, the pilgrimage tradition is becoming increasingly popular, and geomythic “adventure travel” resonates with the universal human need to celebrate our winding road to self-discovery. Outside of the demands of modernity and linear time, our days spent “wandering in the wilderness” with treks to ancestral sites or historic markers heightens the senses, shifts our everyday consciousness, and enriches our connectivity. Well-travelled historic pilgrimage routes are found worldwide, such as the Pilgrim’s Way from Hampshire to Canterbury in England, tracing St. Patrick’s footsteps in Northern Ireland, or the renowned long-distance trail El Camino de Santiago in Spain. And at sacred sites such as Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Chalice Well, Avebury Complex, the springs of Sulis at Bath, Newgrange, Neolithic Orkney, the Temple of the Pythia at Delphi or the Lasceaux Caves in France, we can feel the ancient energies of the world come alive. In the same spirit of our Ancestors who roamed the mountains making personal pilgrimages and honoring cherished cultural markers, making our journey today can be demanding but inspiring, and the trip a profound act of reverence and rebirth. Our yearning for something deeper, more transformative and more reflective is fulfilled by visiting sites of antiquity, or by discovering new places rich in natural wonder. As an extension of biophilia, “topophilia" refers to our affinity for the spirit of place, and our geomantic ability to hear the magical call of sacred sites and sacred land. Each destination has a distinctive magnetic vibration that can be experienced as calming or grounding, or inspire us with epiphanies, visions or deep healing - and all give us the great joy of experiencing the natural energies of the world. Closer to home, to commune with the numina at sites sacred to Turtle Island First Nations, such as Chaco Canyon, Cahokia, the Black Hills, or the medicine wheels of the Great Plains, is to bond with the beauty of the Earth, and those who live in deep connection to Her. We may be fortunate to have access to sacred sites right in our own backyard, and to discover a powerful rapport, as I have with the Rice Lake Serpent Mounds or Kinomagewapkong (Peterborough Petroglyphs) in Michi Saagiig Nishhaabeg territory. I have come to know that sacred sites are transformational gateways that evoke ancient memory, and restore the healing power of the Earth Mysteries. In Celtic mythology, sites of beauty and thresholds of magic are called “thin places” where the visible and invisible worlds come into close contiguity, and our task has always been to seek them out for our deepest inquiries, epiphanies and soul connections. If we are receptive enough, we can still experience an exchange of messages with the resident Ancestors or earth spirits! Whether we are on pilgrimage to trace the founder’s footsteps from an ancient wisdom tradition, visit a local shrine, or simply wander through an amazing place in nature, we must leave behind the gadgets, distractions and psychic noise of modern life. Wilderness sojourns, fasting, vision-seeking, dreamwork and introspection are all powerful ways to receive the blessings of sacred sites, and our experiential time on the land can be enriched by these ideas, evocations and recommendations: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Arrive in a spirit of reverence and in a receptive frame of mind, and be open to the unexpected! Embrace the solitude and silence. See how the site, park, trail or monument fits into the wider ecotone of Earth Community. Remind yourself of any teachings or Indigenous Knowledge that you know about this place as you explore. Open your total sensory awareness – what do you see? What can you smell? What can you touch (if possible)? How do you feel? What do you sense? Stroll around or sit in place, and just “be” - sink your roots deep and let the atmosphere, beauty and feeling of the area wash over you. Be in the “now” - release the linear left brain world of modernity, calm your mind, and embrace a relaxed state of cyclical thought and being. Focus on entering “timeless time” and open your “mythic mind” by imagining how this place was important or symbolic to the ancients, and try to see and feel what they would have seen and felt, and what was most meaningful to them. Evoke your gratitude and respect for the earth spirits of this place, and the ancestors and their living descendants, who may be sharing their wisdom teachings and cultural knowledge with all visitors. After a time, you may receive answers to direct questions or unstated inquiries, distinct messages felt or known, other associations, insights, impressions, epiphanies, songs, dreams, visions or synchronicities. Psychic experiences or visionary states are possible in proximity to concentrated earth energies, and inexplicable events may occur, like unusual sightings of animals or other creatures, otherworldly sounds, flickering lights, orbs or other phenomena. Spend time in contemplation and meditation, or by art journaling create a written and visual record of your insights and experiences. Sacred sites can be places of spontaneous ritual or rites of passage – trust and embody these impulses as much as the space allows. Let the location inspire you to discover earth-centered practices such as rewilding, wildcrafting, plant spirit medicine, or charting the bounty of the land. If allowed by the keepers of the site, collect a small stone, piece of bark, leaf, greenery, pinch of earth or other natural object(s) to take home, and keep them safe in a special box or container. With gratitude and reverence, establish the bond in your heart to this special place, as it will be a sacred relationship that will sustain you, and to which you can always return. Once we have fully experienced the energy and enlivenment of a special landscape or place, the sacred bond never leaves us. To deepen our geomantic connection and the miracles we have found, spending time with the natural objects we have collected (our “nature found” memorabilia) will continue to evoke sacred space and the memories that we hold. My treasure collection from Serpent Mounds ~ plant material, feathers and a green pen. Preserving the essence of that wonderful day! Nature is the lens through which myth, magic and mystery appear, and another exciting and joyful facet of exploring sacred land is to build brand-new sites, such as contemporary earthworks, temples, cairns, sculptures, standing stones, spirals and stone circles. An eclectic diversity of new labyrinth installations have appeared in grass, bark, stone (or other materials); all part of a flourishing movement to create sacred space and honour the earth. Walking the labyrinth is a journey home to one’s true nature, and engaging with these teachings today is like an ancient form of body prayer - a euphoric way to connect directly with the ley lines and serpentine patterns of the land. In Neolithic times, the first labyrinths were depicted with carved petroglyphs on rock, similar to the “Classic” or “Cretan” designs adapted by the Greeks from their ancient origins in Old Europe. The famous myth of the Minotaur, imprisoned in a labyrinth by King Minos and eventually freed by Ariadne’s Red Thread, derives from a 300 BCE matriarchal culture that thrived on the island of Crete. From Egypt to the Roman Empire, Africa to Norway, the near East to the medieval fortress, Chartres Cathedral in France to Turtle Island (and all the far-flung outposts in between), the sacred geometry of the labyrinth has deep meaning for many human societies within the global ethnosphere. The labyrinth connects our hearts and minds in a journey that is both physical and spiritual, and walking is a powerful tool for movement, exercise, meditation and healing. Grounding ourselves in nature, focusing on specific questions, or uncovering deep mysteries are all valid approaches to labyrinth practice. As a multi-purpose space, labyrinths are also perfect for community events, festivals, storytelling, weddings, sacred ceremonies such as solstice celebrations and children’s games or races. Labyrinths can be a symbolic form of pilgrimage, and refer to the universal human journey that spirals through birth, life, death and rebirth. On a less elaborate scale, even creating a simple circle with branches or small stones can delineate a sanctuary or sacred zone for contemplation, and the “axis mundi” experience of being at the center, attuning to the four directions, and feeling the different atmospheres and aspects at the points and rotations of the sphere. To experience pilgrimage and sacred land is to revive our profound love for Gaia and the beauty and spirit of wild nature! “Classic” or Cretan” Labyrinth Sacred sites are calling us to remember them, to re-join the luminous whole of nature, recover the old maps and honour Earth Community once again. The world is full of sacred places, waterfalls, rivers, sand dunes, woodland trails and forests, each with spiritual significance and cultural potential, and we can wander along mythic pathways close to home, or even in our own backyard. Our integration with beloved and familiar landscapes, or journeys along archaic tracks to great stone circles, ancient crossroads, “betwixt and between places” or vortexes of numinous presence, are all locations where we make contact with eternity. And at these sites of geomantic power we may even experience the transcendent union of body, heart and soul, that will revitalize the importance of mythic geography to our collective human journey. Pegi Eyers is the author of the award-winning book Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, a survey on social justice, decolonization, nature spirituality, earth-emergent healing and the holistic principles of sustainable living. Pegi self-identifies as a Celtic Animist, and is an advocate for the recovery of authentic ancestral wisdom and traditions for all people. She lives in the countryside on the outskirts of Nogojiwanong in Michi Saagiig Nishhaabeg territory (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), on a hilltop with views reaching for miles in all directions. www.stonecirclepress.com