Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Vacation as Pilgrimage

Vacation as Pilgrimage

Last updated on: September 12, 2014 at 9:15 am by Jason Mankey

Vacation as Pilgrimage 2014-09-12T09:15:35-06:00 Jason Mankey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I don’t take proper vacations. With the exception of a few one-off weekends (and isn’t a vacation supposed to be more than a weekend?) nearly all of my travels over the last ten years have been related to Paganism. I’m not going to complain, a week at a Pagan Festival is probably better than an extended road-trip with the family, but it’s often work too. My priorities at festival tend to revolve around workshops and not hard cider.

Next week my wife and I are headed overseas for our first extensive trip in many, many, years. There are no lectures on the docket and I’m even going to be taking a break from writing(!) but I’m not sure it’s a real vacation. (It certainly won’t be leisurely.) The word that best describes our upcoming journey to the British Isles (Scotland! England! I will miss you Wales! Next time Ireland!) is probably pilgrimage because much of out trip revolves around the spiritual and the holy.

pilgrimage: a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion. I think I fit into that definition.

In many ways Great Britain is my spiritual home. I’m a practicing Wiccan, a religion that was born in England. As far as I know Wicca is the only religion created in England to spread around the world. Before that the English had done a fine job of refining other religious traditions (Methodists! Anglicans!) but had never had their own long-lasting one. I don’t revere Gerald Gardner as an infallible holy-man but to walk where he walked (Atlantis Bookshop) will be pretty cool. I’ve felt spiritually connected to my English forebears for quite some time now but the chance to physically connect on at least some small level is an indescribable rush.

My roots to Albion don’t run exclusively through Wicca though, there have been other moments of connection over the years that I look forward to exploring. It’s probably a cliche to be a Pagan fascinated by Stonehenge but I’m yet another Pagan fascinated by Stonehenge. I first became interested in things unknown in elementary school but as an adult my interest in Stonehenge lies less with the mystery and more with the awe. This is a thing my pagan ancestors built and it’s still here 4500 years later. I’ll never know exactly what those people believed or practiced spiritually but I’m hoping to catch an echo of it in the morning mists.

As we grow older it becomes harder and harder to find the children we once were still inside of us. When I was a child my hobby was cryptozoology. I collected stories about Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster like some kids collected toys. As a kid growing up in East Peoria Illinois Sasquatch always felt far away, but Nessie felt like something from a world away. As an adult I have my doubts about any creatures living in the loch, but the eight year old boy who still lives inside of me is rather giddy about visiting the place of his third grade spirit-dreams.

For most people Loch Ness is probably not a nexus point, but it’s a coming together point for several of the different threads that have made up my life. Nessie led me down a path of mystery that somehow ventured into comparative religion and the occult. Upon the shores of the loch lies Boleskine House which served as the base of operations for one Mr. James Patrick “Jimmy” Page during the 1970’s. If it wasn’t for my interest in obsession with Led Zeppelin during my early adult years I’d probably be in a different place today. Page’s infatuation with Aleister Crowley began my walk down the magical path, and before Page lived at Boleskine it was home to good old Uncle Al.

A little less obvious given my Pagan leanings but a trip to Scotland wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Rosslyn Chapel. I’ve always been interested in religion, not just Modern Paganisms, and Rosslyn Chapel presents a whole lot of interesting. I’m sure that some of the more outlandish theories about the chapel are more modern myth than ancient history. But even if all the stories of Templars, Grails, and Masons aren’t true that they’ve all coalesced around one particular structure is still extraordinary. Oh and there are over 100 Green Men lining the walls of the sanctuary too. That alone makes it worth the visit. Green Men probably didn’t start out as Pagan icons, but they are today, and they are still on church walls. I see a silent prayer and a small devotional in my future nine days from now.

Our pilgrimage won’t be long enough for me to see all the things my heart desires. There will be no visits to New Forest England or the Witchcraft Museum in Cornwall. I also won’t be making it to Oxford, or stepping foot within Wales. Time and finances both only go so far and some things I had hoped to do were left on the cutting room floor. Some of our journeys will be smaller things: The British Museum, the Globe Theatre (where I will be wearing my Team Edward de Vere t-shirt), but even those sites hold some magic and mystery for us.

One thing that didn’t end up on that floor will be a trip to Glastonbury Tor. It’s ridiculously out of the way from where we are staying in London but it’s something we are doing regardless. Any location that mixes Christianity, ancient paganism, and King Arthur is a must visit. That it contains the world’s most famous well and the grave of Dion Fortune is simply an added bonus. I never had a childhood infatuation with Glastonbury but as I’ve grown older I’ve simply felt drawn to it. I don’t expect it to stir up any childhood memories, but it just feels like the type of place where it might be possible to connect with something greater than myself and my day to day existence for a few hours.

I realize the danger in attaching so much investment in the places I long to see. They might never live up to my lofty expectations, but I’m not sure they have to. I just want the opportunity to add my own echo to the legacies of these sacred spaces. Perhaps my whispered prayers will be accepted by guardians of Rosslyn and live on forever within its walls, or that the photos I take of Stonehenge will carry their own message. We plan to return home with water from the Chalice Well and while I doubt the water we gather there will cure anyone of any disease, I think it’s energy might work nicely in our temple-space during the occasional ritual. Any space where people have prayed and worshipped for hundreds (if not thousands) will always contain some energy. I don’t believe prayers and mantras simply fade into the ether.

Our little pilgrimage starts in just six days from now and obviously “excited” isn’t a strong enough word for how I’m feeling right now. My bag is already packed, but my heart left long ago. I’m glad that my feet will finally get to catch up.

________
Help spread the Gospel of Pan by liking Raise the Horns on Facebook along with Patheos Pagan. While I’m away Raise the Horns will be featuring several guest bloggers. Interested in submitting a piece for me to run? You have until Sunday to send something to me.

Previous Post

September 8, 2014

Not My Elder

Next Post

September 14, 2014 20 Questions with Sable Aradia

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Editorializing Gateways to Paganism Guest Posts Holiday Histories Led Zeppelin News and Views Occult Pagan Pagan TV Club Paganism polytheism Ramble On Reviews Ritual Strange Days Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 April 2025 August 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 January 2023 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Whom did Paul leave sick at Miletus, showing that early Christians sometimes suffered illness?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Barnabas Trophimus Silas Timothy