A Contemplative Souvenir...

   Last September when I was in Pembroke, Maine I collect stones on the Beach of Metaphors.  I'm finally getting around to creating a stone collage to have framed as a souvenir of my stay Down East.

   The text will actually be printed on acetate and placed behind the glass of the shadow box so the shadow of the words will be projected between the stones.

   In a previous post I talked about the souvenirs I've collected from previous trips.   Although I do buy pieces of art from local artists, some of my most favorite souvenirs are the "found objects" gather on location...like the "Pearl of Great Price" I recently wrote about.  This stone circle will be a piece I can hang on the wall and reflect on every time I pass it.  It makes it all the more special that I gathered the stones myself.

   I've already begun to prepare for my up-coming Threshold Pilgrimage.  I'll gather more mica "tokens" ,once the snow melts, that I will leave in special places on my journey.  I've completed my Vade Mecum to carry in my backpack "scrip" and I'm daily adding words of wisdom to it.  I'm even considering the purchase a smaller, lighter camera to simplify my packing.

   I have no idea what sorts of "boon" I will return with...what contemplative souvenirs I will gather en route.  That will be the joy of discovery.  Consider gathering contemplative souvenirs as you travel this year.  They will be far more meaningful than the standard tourist fare.  Your souvenirs should be more that mere objects, they should open a flood gate of memory for you.  Those are the ones you will keep for a life time.

The Pilgrim's Vade Mecum....

   In Latin, Vade Mecum translates into English as "goes with me".    Ancient pilgrims would often take these little books with them on their long and arduous journeys.  They were bound and wrapped in leather and tied by means of a cord to the pilgrim's belt.

   This is where we get the tradition of a handbook...a small volume of useful information.  The pilgrim's vade mecum could include any information the pilgrim felt important for their journey.  This might include maps, prayers, and recipes for herbal remedies.

   For my threshold pilgrimage next year, I plan to make my own vade mecum.  Since book arts is another passion of mine I think it would be fun to make a tiny volume to take along with me.  I am inviting my blog readers to send me a short quotation that might be meaningful for me to read as I make this trip.  You might send a quote on "thresholds" or journeying or any other inspiration you'd like.  I'll write them in my little book.

    This way, you, or at least your thoughts, can walk along with me.  You can send them via the comments option or email me if you'd rather do it that way.  I would like, symbolically, to take along as many of you as I can.  So send along a quotation for me to include in my vade mecum and we'll make this journey together.


 

The Heart of the World...

   I was very fortunate to be able to see the exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of Science in Boston recently.  While the exhibit was excellent - they  recreated a part of the Western wall (even using one of the actual stone) where people could leave prayer messages in the cracks, as they do in Jerusalem - it was the Imax movie that accompanied the exhibit that took my breath away.

    Created by National Geographic, the film attempted to illustrate why people regard Jerusalem as the "heart of the world"; where three great religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam overlap.  It was a stunningly beautiful virtual tour of the old city, within the walls that define one square mile of sacred space.

   As much as I wish I could travel to Jerusalem, it is, after all, the ultimate pilgrimage, I doubt I will be making the trip anytime soon.  This film was the next best thing.  It got me thinking about the conflicts that rage in this part of the world.  When you leave the film, which tells the story through three young girls of the different faiths, you find yourself puzzling over how religions who have so much in common can be the cause of so much hate and violence.  This is truly a contemplative film.

   You can watch the trailer to the film below and you can see if it will be playing in a theater near to you.  I recommend you see it if you can.

The Heart of the World- Jerusalem

Wanderings...

My Bags are Packed...

A good traveler has no fixed plans.

-Lao Tzu 

 I recently met with a group of people who will be accompanying me to Ireland next year.  None of them have been to Ireland before and they were bubbling over with questions, which is only natural.  Before I began to approach travel as pilgrimage, I too wore the somewhat heavy mantle of "tourist".  Schedules, agendas, "must see's" were most important and I made lists and lists of  lists.

   Now I have a totally different approach because I try to travel with a pilgrim's heart and not a tourist's mindset.  I make general plans and reservations but the minute I board the plane I leave all expectations behind.  I keep my heart and mind completely open to the serendipitous, the spontaneous and the spur of the moment.  I expect, no, welcome, the unexpected.

   My week down east was a perfect example of the unexpected.  Coming across the books by Brian Flynn reminded of the stone beach I'd visited 16 years ago on Grand Manan.  Reading the introduction I discovered there was such a beach right there on Campobello!  I asked the attendant and she showed me a map of the island where I could find these marvelous stones and off I went on a search that certainly wasn't on my "agenda".  The serendipitous, the spontaneous and the unexpected all at once!


   My friends and I will spend a week together next May in "John's house" in Ballyvaughan where I'll introduce them to that magical thin place, The Burren.  It is the first leg of my month long Threshold Pilgrimage.  (You'll hear much more about that in the months to come.) After a week in community, I'll leave for a solitary retreat to Iona and they will be on their own.  I've encouraged them to just wander.  To follow their hearts GPS and see where it leads them.

   I've always had this wild idea of going to the airport one day and letting circumstance and whim decide which plane I board and where I end up.  No plans, no reservations, no expectations.  I would simply  trust I'd end up someplace interesting and meaningful.  I would try to be like those ancient Celtic monks who would put to sea in their tiny curraughs with no rudder and no oars...content to let the sea take them to a place of its own choosing, not theirs.  This complete suspension of control is the ultimate act of faith I think.

Click on the lovely quote by John O'Donohue below to learn a bit more about these wandering Celtic monks. 

I would love to live as the river flows,

carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.

- John O'Donohue

A Pilgrim's Compass...

   I've believed in an internal GPS for a long time but my recent series of posts on pilgrimage got me thinking about compasses...the ancient form of GPS.  Is there something akin to the compass for those who want to travel with a pilgrim's heart?  Is it any different that this internal GPS that I've referred to before?

   A GPS will take you to a location that you have determined...that you plug into the device.  It won't take you to Chicago if you typed in New York.  My internal GPS, as I define it, takes me to where I need to be.  I may think I'm going to Chicago but it may be saying New York!  A compass points only to the magnetic north and then, if you know your destination is south, you can set off in the right direction.  The pilgrim's compass also points to a magnetic direction but for the pilgrim it indicates the direction of your longing and that can be anywhere.

   We are well into our summer season of travel and it is helpful to reflect on the direction of our longings.   Do we go to familiar places close to home, like I am doing this year, simply to relive our cherished past or do we go, as I hope I am, to see it all anew?  What did we miss before?  You are not the same person you were when you visited in the past so, in reality, you will not see the same things you did then.  Your frame of reference has changed and the encounter will be entirely different.  That is what I am experiencing as I re-visit long familiar places near to home. My pilgrim's compass points me in the direction of my longing and my internal GPS concurs...this is where I need to be.  I've used this quote before but it bears repeating...

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust

Labyrinths - the Interior Pilgrimage

Labyrinth at the Convent of the Sister's of Charity in Kentucky

   I have been fascinated with labyrinths for a long time and I try to find them wherever I travel.  They are becoming more and more common place as people discover their wonderful meditative qualities. I've been talking about pilgrimage for several days now and I just want to end with the idea of the Interior Pilgrimage.  You can still travel with the heart of a pilgrim in a labyrinth.  In fact, if you don't then you are just taking a walk!

   The ancient Medieval labyrinths in the great cathedrals of Europe, like the wonderful one at Chartres that I walked last summer, were designed for pilgrims who were unable to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Santiago.  It was, for them as it is now,  a "virtual" pilgrimage.  It has all the twists and turns of a real pilgrimage and people walked it slowly and with intensely thoughtful prayer.  It brings you close to the center and then draws you away.  Just when you think you are approaching the center, you find yourself practically back at the beginning mirroring some of the frustration you feel when you travel.

    It is also a wonderful metaphor for life.  There is only one way in, through birth, and one way out, through death.  Unlike the maze, which is meant to trick you with dead ends, it is a solitary tract and you can't become lost or trapped as long as you continue to put one foot in front of the other and walk.  There are also finger labyrinths that can be "walked" in the comfort of a chair if you can't get to a real one or are confined to bed due to an illness.  They still have the same meditative quality and I have one of the labyrinth at Chartres that I use frequently.

   I plan to construct my own labyrinth in my back yard this year.  At least I will begin the process this summer.  I know that at some time in the future all these worldly pilgrimages of mine will have to cease but through my labyrinth I can continue to use my pilgrim's heart at home.  I can use it now, in between my trips, to fine tune my inner reflections.  I suggest you try to find a labyrinth near your home this summer.  You can use this Labyrinth Locator to assist you.  You can also visit my Pinterest board for more resources.  Don't let time or finances or health concerns keep you from taking a pilgrimage to the center of your soul.  Remember...

Solvitur Ambulando - it is solved by walking

  

Souvenirs...

Memories of Trips Past

  Today, when we think of "souvenirs" we think of objects...souvenir as a pure noun.  The origin of the word is more complex however and more food for thought for the contemplative photographer.

   Originally from the Latin word subverire,  it means "to come to mind".  It made its journey into the English language through Old French in a word which came to mean "to re-call". A far cry from the trinkets we bring back from our travels, a true souvenir is a recollection, a specific memory of experience.

   As contemplative photographers we are able to collect our own, personalized souvenirs in the photographs we make on our travels.  Photographs that don't merely say, "I was here and I saw this..." but "I experienced this...", "I was impressed by that...", "I was moved (changed, inspired, overwhelmed, etc.) by this..."  They needn't be the "big" things either for true revelation is in the tiny details of a place...what most tourists over look.

   Now, as you can see by this photograph of my sitting room mantle, I am not immune to bringing back objects from my travels...a ivory figure from China, a crystal Faberge egg from St. Petersburg, Russia. (You can also see the little leather scallop shell I use to carry my tokens which I mentioned yesterday.) Some of my favorite souvenirs, however, are little found objects I bring back...a snail shell from my first escargot in France and the twin pine cones from the front porch of Thomas Merton's hermitage.  The ivory and crystal will be kept by my heirs after I'm gone I'm sure...the snail shell and the pine cones will most likely be thrown away.

   As for my photographs, those same heirs will probably puzzle about why I have no pictures they can recognize of the places I traveled to...no Eiffel towers and no Red Square "postcards".  Ah well, perhaps they will stumble onto this blog someday and then they'll know why....

Traveling with a Pilgrim's Heart: LEAVING YOUR TOKEN & BRINGING BACK THE BOON

Leaving my token at Mont St. Michel

   I think what amused my friends the most in France last summer was the way I went about leaving tiny mica tokens in places I visited that had special meaning for me but this is actually an ancient practice of pilgrims.  I use the mica because it's a natural element that I find around my property in Maine.  It's light and easy to carry, and its shiny mirror-like surface gives it a magical quality.  Depositing the little token is a way to leave something of myself behind in significant places.  It is a way of paying homage to the experience as well.  In Ireland, at the holy wells I visited, I often saw little bits of cloth tied to a nearby bush.  These are called "clooties".  They are another form of pilgrim tokens.

    I was thrilled to find, in Rouen, a leather scallop shell pouch that clipped onto my belt to carry my tokens in.  The scallop shell is the symbol of the pilgrim and those who walked the El Camino to Santiago in Spain tied a shell to their coat so that people knew they were on pilgrimage...they still do.

   The one thing with which the pilgrim returns home

with is wisdom and the responsibility to share the

truth gleaned from the profound pilgrimage.  The

 story that we bring back from our journeys is the boon.

-Waymarkers, Mary DeJong, page 33

  

   One way I bring back the boon is in my photographs.  I am able to share the experience with friends (including my blog friends!) and pass on what I've learned.  I like to make little accordion folded books in which I can insert my images and reflections.  Other people create scrapbooks.

   Souvenirs are whatever you bring back that will trigger a memory of your trip.  I like to buy a small work of art by a local artist or, more frequently, I bring back a small, natural object to add to my continually growing collection of memories.  Having a real and meaningful way to re-live your trip after you return is very important.  You will never have the reaction my friend had to her Hawaiian trip, that it felt like it never happened at all.  Traveling with the heart of a pilgrim is such an enriching experience and that's why I try to make every trip I take a kind of pilgrimage.

   When I got back from my trip to Kentucky and was sharing the "boon" with friends, one commented, "You always have amazing encounters when you travel...you are a lucky traveler!"  I wouldn't use the word "lucky".  I would say "open".  When you travel with the open heart of the pilgrim you to will have these wonderful encounters.  I love this quote and it seems to explain these seemingly serendipitous engagements...

What you are seeking is also seeking you.- Rumi

   Finally, here is a link to my favorite book on pilgrimage.  It will inspire you in so many ways.  For more inspiration, visit my Pinterest board.  I'll be adding new links from time to time.  I wish you safe and meaningful travels this summer, no matter where you go.  Remember one half of the word "pilgrimage" is "image"!  Keep your pilgrim's heart open and see what images you receive...
 

The Art of Pilgrimage

Traveling with Intention - Pinterest

  

Traveling with a Pilgrim's Heart: CELEBRATING THE NARRATIVE OF THE JOURNEY

      For a traveler with a pilgrim's heart, the journey is every bit as important as the destination.  They celebrate the slowly unfolding narrative of their journey.  With ears and eyes attuned to the moments between as much as to the scheduled moments, no encounter is too insignificant or unworthy.

   Whether you are sitting at the airport with your flight delayed, hurrying to catch a train (or missing it altogether) or finding out they've given your room to someone else...all this is part of the journey.  You can't foresee every eventuality or plan for every circumstance.  It is best to simply set off and know that everything - and I mean everything! - is part of your unique narrative...embrace it all!

   When I walked the trail to the statues at the Abbey of Gethsemani I noticed a little note that had been left along the side of the path.  Had I been hyper-focused on my destination I may have missed it.  I include it here because it says it all so simply...

It is good to have an end

to journey to but it is the

journey, in the end, that

matters most.

   It is also good to celebrate, even in a small way, each threshold you cross...both coming and going.  By making each leg of the journey important in and of itself you will be more open to whatever presents itself.  It also extends the experience of the trip to mean more than just the destination and in so doing, increases your enjoyment.

   Remember that metaphorical scrip you so carefully packed before you set off on your journey?  Once you arrive at your destination it is best to put it all out of your mind and experience the place first hand through your own senses and heart. Bring along, by all means, a special book that can serve as a guided meditation at your destination but all that preparation, all those pre-visit "visits" are only second hand experience.  Now is the time to engage the landscape and people in an authentic and personal way.  The things you see and experience, the people you meet are the seeds of your journey...you've tilled the soil with all your preparations, it is now time for you to plant.  What will grow and develop, what fruit it will bear, only time will tell.

   Here is a link to an online magazine about pilgrimage:

Pilgrimage Press

Traveling with a Pilgrim's Heart: FORMING YOUR INTENTION & PACKING YOUR SCRIP

   Once the longing has had time to ferment in your heart it is time to form your intention....to make real the initial calling that may have been with you for weeks or even years. It means much more than booking your hotel and buying you plane tickets.

     This might seem obvious, that at some point you have to make known your intention of making this trip but this simple act is, in fact, an important threshold moment for the pilgrim.  It is no longer a dream and you are inviting others into your journey.

Pilgrim on the Campostello

   For me, it begins with voicing my intention to friends and family, "I'm going on a trip to Iona..."  This is usually followed by, "You're going where?"  No matter, I can now verbalize my thoughts...they come out of my journal and into the world and I want to share my excitement.  This is a very important moment and I usually celebrate it in some small way.

   This is also the time that I begin to pack my scrip...metaphorically speaking of course. I pack my scrip by reading, books, poetry, myths and legends, and by listening to music or the spoken word in the language of the country I'm visiting.  I've already read several books on Iona including a couple of lovely memoirs and I love to listen to Gaelic songs and poems although I don't speak the language.  It is the sounds and rhythms of the culture that interest me. It is training my ear and building delicate connections to the place of my longing.

   The internet is a great place to go looking for inspiration.  There is bound to be a YouTube video you can watch and it was while I was trolling for inspiration on Iona that I came across Waymarkers, the Mary DeJong book/journal of Iona.  That will surely go with me when I make my trip next year.

   The pilgrim's heart  embraces, fully, the place they will visit.  They will, in fact, "visit" it continually in the weeks or months prior to the trip.  To come to know a place before traveling to it is like tilling the soil prior to planting. Oh, yes, you can throw seeds on unturned ground and you may even get an odd plant or two to sprout but you will be blessed with a far greater harvest if you carefully prepare the soil first.

Traveling with a Pilgrim's Heart: THE LONGING...

We are all pilgrims...

   I've known of Iona for years.  I've been to Scotland twice and yet Iona was not on my agenda - until now.  Now it is on my mind constantly.  Why the change?  Why now and not then?  That is the first characteristic of the pilgrim - an intense longing for a place.  It could be a place of religious significance but it needn't be.  It is the longing that ignites the flame in our pilgrim's lamp and the light from it pulls us forward.

   If you are a wise pilgrim, you will ask yourself questions before you go, before you even begin planning the trip...why this place? Why this time?  What is there that isn't here for me?  Clarifying this longing is an important initial stage for the pilgrim and to simply say "I've always wanted to go" is not enough.

    I taught elementary school for many years and an exercise children would do is to write a word vertically and then use each letter to start a word, phrase or sentence that would expand on the idea or meaning of the vertical word.

Illusion illuminated......

Opening the heart.........

Naming the longing......

Answering the call.......

   Trying this exercise again and again over time before your trip may make more concrete this longing....especially if you play into the intuitive dimension of the longing.  Each time you do it new meanings will suggest themselves.  Like the enlarged and highly illuminated first letters in Medieval manuscripts, this exercise puts emphasis on ideas and the idea of the trip is as important as the making of it.

It is better to travel well

than to arrive.  -Buddha

   Here are two sites to explore for discovering ways - an locations - to make the journey a pilgrim experience:

Spiritual Travel

5 Ways to Turn Your Ordinary Trip into a Pilgrimage

Traveling with a Pilgrim's Heart...

Bleeding Hearts

   One thing I've learned from all my travels over the years is that there are two ways to approach the experience - as a tourist or a pilgrim.  A tourist visits places to be entertained; a pilgrim visits to be transformed.

   A friend of mine just returned from a two week trip to Hawaii - a dream of a life time for her.  When I asked her how it was she said it was wonderful but then she paused.  "But now it's like it never happened", she said.  I don't think that response is all that uncommon for people who travel as tourists and not pilgrims.  Hawaii was a sacred destination for my friend but she didn't treat it as such, she treated it as simply a destination.  "The anticipation seemed better that the reality." she added.


   To travel with a pilgrim's heart is to travel with deep purpose and focused attention.  It doesn't matter where you travel - Maui or Iona - all travel is sacred, or should be.  Although there is always a destination, every step along the way "to and from" is fraught with meaning for the pilgrim.  Every person you meet, every encounter, every surprise or disappointment are signposts.  Sometimes those signposts tell us we are on the right path; sometimes they encourage us to leave the path altogether and take a different route.  We must be open to both.

   I've long equated contemplative photography with pilgrimage; it seems a natural pairing to me.  The souvenirs of our journey are our photographs and their meaning may not reveal itself until long after we've brushed the dust of the road off our shoes.  A tourist takes one kind of picture; pilgrims make entirely different ones.

   I've developed a list of characteristics of someone who tries to travel with a pilgrim's heart based on my study of pilgrimage and my personal experience of the process.  With the Memorial Day weekend behind us, we begin the season of summer travel.  For those who wish to travel differently, you might want to consider these ideas. Remember, it's not where you visit that matters - across the street or across the country, it is how you visit that makes all the difference.  Tomorrow we'll explore the first of four qualities of the pilgrim's heart - The Longing....

Tourist or Pilgrim?

Tourist or Pilgrim?

I stand at the edge of myself and wonder
Where is home? Oh! Where is the place
Where beauty will last? When will I be safe? And where?
My tourist heart is wearing me out. I am so tired of seeking
For treasures that tarnish. How much longer, Lord?
Oh! Which is the way home?
My luggage is heavy. It is weighing me down
I am hungry for the Holy Ground of home.
Then suddenly, overpowering me with the truth,
A voice within me gently says:
‘There is a power in you, a truth in you
That has not yet been tapped.
You are blinded with a blindness that is deep,
For you have not loved the pilgrim in you yet
There is a road that runs straight through your heart.
Walk on it.’
To be a pilgrim means to be on the move, slowly,
To notice your luggage becoming lighter,
To seek for treasures that do not rust
To be comfortable with your heart’s questions,
To be moving toward the Holy Ground of home with empty hands and bare feet.
And yet, you cannot reach that home until you have loved the pilgrim in you.
One must be comfortable as a pilgrim before one’s feet can touch the homeland.
Do you want to go home?
There’s a road that runs straight through your heart
Walk on it.

(Macrina Wiederkehr)