These pilgrimage stories are tales of journeying to sacred and re-sacralized landscapes close to home and to myth-filled lands of megalithic stone circles, Celtic sites, Christian holy wells, and sanctified ritual landscapes abroad. They are stories about being in relationship to the wildness within us and in communication with the wild of Nature, the wild of Spirit all around us, and the wild of our own Souls. They include such archetypal themes as liminality, synchronicity, transformation, and healing through loving contact with ancestors of place and of blood, the divine feminine, plant-animal allies and our heart-breakingly beautiful natural world. We hope that these pilgrimage stories will invoke a sense of the Oneness of nature, spirit, and us humans. It is our intention to provide inspiration for the passionate efforts that are gathering on all fronts to join together to re-honor and protect the lands and waters of Mother Gaia. Hope is building that we may listen and hear the indigenous ancestors of past and present peoples speak their wisdom to us through their sacred lands, through our sacred Earth.
For many of us the figure of the Cailleach, the crone, has become synonymous with wisdom and autonomous female agency operating outside the oppressive hand of patriarchy. Cailleach, ‘veiled one,’ means a wise or spiritual woman. She has also been … Continued
Everyone seems to keep a special stone in some honored spot on a small table or sunlit sill, perhaps hoping you’ll ask to hear the story of what it means to them. We try to stay connected to the healing … Continued
Our souls, to truly thrive, need whole, intact landscapes, even sacredscapes, lands that are revered and ceremonially marked as sacred. On this Indigenous People’s Day I want to honor an aspect of our First People’s heritage — the earth-based spirituality … Continued
When people are asked about memorable childhood experiences in nature, time spent with or in a special tree is often mentioned. In my beloved grandmother’s backyard there was a wide-spreading sugar maple that was also, somehow, my grandmother. This was … Continued
Liminal Waters is a story about a dream that comes from the Earth. Earth-Dreaming is the process by which the Earth dreams through us. Earth-Dreaming takes us beyond using dreams to track our individual psychological growth. Earth Dreams come not … Continued
We are just past Imbolc, Brigid’s feast day, traditionally the beginning of Spring in Ireland. Signs of Spring are emerging here at home. On these intermittent warm days the spring peepers and chorus frogs are starting to call for mates. … Continued
I went out to the hazelwood, Because a fire was in my head -Yeats. I said to myself: Who would want to read a story about hazelnuts? People are what folks want to read about. People are the clear winners … Continued
This was to be our ninth pilgrimage to Ireland. But, I was bitten on the foot by a poisonous snake, a copperhead, so we chose to cancel. If we had left sooner we would have been in the land where … Continued
When my husband and I set out on a pilgrimage, I write my hopes and intentions for the trip, but the actual theme of the pilgrimage often emerges during the journey. My hopes for this second visit [see first visit … Continued
Here are some reflections on our 2017 pilgrimage to Ireland in which we realize that it is the intersection of community, art and landscape that creates such unparalled beauty. Our first morning home from Ireland I awoke with this dream: … Continued