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

The Wandering Witch

Home
Pagan
Responsible tourism for witches and pagans

Responsible tourism for witches and pagans

Last updated on: July 2, 2018 at 10:57 am by Julia Penelope

Responsible tourism for witches and pagans 2018-07-02T10:57:07-04:00 Julia Penelope

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.

Respecting Sacred Spaces

In my years of traveling and working as a crew leader for a conservation corps I’ve learned how to be a responsible tourist and pass through sacred places, forests, fields, and castles as if I was never there. While pagans, witches, and other magical folk tend to also be lovers of nature, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we all carry out our higher, and reverent, intentions in all of our actions. Indeed, we often do things mindlessly without realizing their larger consequences. The topics I’m going to highlight are most likely just honest mistakes, so please don’t take any offense if you’ve ever been guilty of doing what I mention below. I too, will admit to doing some of them before I worked in the industry or learned of their impact. Here are six practical ways that witches and pagans can be more responsible tourists.

Leave No Trace

The first thing I want to bring up is the concept of Leave No Trace. This is an outdoor set of ethics and guidelines that promote conservation in the outdoors and preservation of the natural world. In short, it states that one should leave the environment exactly (or better) as it was before one visited; i.e., there should be no tangible proof that you were ever there. This may seem pretty simple but it actually takes quite a bit of awareness as you’re hiking, biking, birdseeing, etc.

Carry It In, Carry It Out.

Part of leaving no trace is making sure that anything you bring to a site, you bring back with you. This means ALL trash. And by all trash, I mean that apple core you were going to toss into the woods or the banana peel you thought was okay to leave due to it being “biodegradable”. Unless something originates in that exact location, i.e. the strawberry stems from the strawberries you bought from the farm that grew them; please, please, please don’t leave it there. Before you roll your eyes, think about this example: leaving an apple core could lead to a new apple tree. Yes, maybe you think that would be a good thing; but, if there weren’t apple trees already growing there already, then the apple is an invasive species and could throw off the natural balance of the ecosystem. And, for those of you that are smokers, please don’t leave your cigarette butts on the ground. They are not biodegradable, and I honestly see them as a desecration of the space.

Cairns, Ribbon Tying, and Graffiti

We’ve all seen those stacked piles of stones, and maybe we’ve even built them ourselves, or built them as a form of meditation. But, guess what? They’re actually graffiti. By picking things up and placing them in an order or shape that didn’t naturally occur, you’re in effect, altering the landscape. Same goes for the ribbons that people like to tie on faerie trees in Ireland (and elsewhere). The tree on whence they’re tied is a living thing and the ribbon impairs its ability to grow naturally, and could even create wounds in the tree itself.

While I’m on the topic of graffiti: never paint, draw, or scratch, on any buildings, rocks, or trees (this includes magical symbols or spells). They not only decrease the historical, structural, and archeological integrity of the object, but also cause often irreparable damage and destroy its beauty. I was at Glastonbury Tor just last week and was horrified to see runes scratched into the surface of the tower.

Runes carved into the tower on Glastonbury Tor

Stay On the Trail

I know, I know, we all love to wander off into the woods and commune with nature. That’s fine if it’s in your backyard or somewhere really remote. But, for tourist sites that get a high volume of visitors and foot traffic, you are actually causing a lot of harm by going off trail. Your footsteps could lead to erosion and damage the natural landscape by trampling vegetation or disrupting animal trails. Even worse, going off trail at cultural sites could actually be spiritually harmful such as if you decided to climb to the top of a pre-American burial mound. Marked trails are designed so that people don’t get lost, but they’re also there to try and limit human impact on the environment. In addition, if you walk off the path, and someone sees you, they’re more likely to do the same thing. The repeated wear will eventually lead to new, unsustainable and potentially trails being formed. From my years leading trail crews, I can tell you that once a trail has been established, it’s extremely hard to repair and make it “disappear.” In fact, it can takes years for one small path to regrow again.

At Burial Mounds State Park in St.Paul, Minnesota

Don’t Feed the Wildlife

I can’t believe this needs to be said, but it does. When you feed a wild animal, it’s a small act of domestication. That animal becomes less afraid of humans and is therefore more at risk of being killed in the future from cars, dogs, or humans with nefarious intentions. Furthermore, human food is not animal food. That bread that people throw into ponds to feed geese and ducks is made with grain that humans have domesticated over the course of 10,000 years! It’s not meant for animal consumption, has no nutritional value (and most likely filled with dangerous chemicals), and teaches animals to beg for food, rather than find it in the way that they were biologically designed.

Ibex at Mitzpe Ramon, Israel.

Offerings and Such

In my international travels, sacred sites are more often than not the focus of my trips. At these sites, I enjoy making offerings, however, I’ve learned that there’s a right way and wrong way to do this. I’ll be covering the former in my next post, so let’s just address the wrong way.

Please don’t leave burning incense sticks, artificial flowers, candles, or anything else that is not natural (again, the concept of Leave No Trace). If it’s at a human-constructed shrine like a church or well, you’ll need to decide what’s appropriate based on the location. But, if your offering will take place in a mostly natural environment, then only leave things that belong there. For food offerings and libations, ensure that you’re not leaving heavily processed consumables, since they’re as bad for you as they are for the animals, plants, and nature, in general. Water is usually my libation of choice, but more on that later. Lastly, if you wouldn’t drink that bad wine or eat those stale crackers, are they really fit for an offering either?

Votive offerings from a site of Marian healing in La Chappelle-St. Laurent, France.

*all photos are the property of the writer

About Julia Penelope

I am a practicing witch with a Celtic neopagan background. I am the founder and main organizer of a women’s pagan group based out of Maine, Witches of Down East. I am an avid reader and lover of history. At any given time you could find me buried in a book about Bigfoot, mythology, witchcraft, or UFO’s–just to name a few of my myriad interests. I am a keen traveler and somehow manage to get around quite a bit despite being a full-time student (pursuing a degree in archaeology). When I go somewhere, I tend to spend hours finding out about the obscure and weird places that seem to be found in every town. Luckily, my friends and family like to humor me and let me plan the travel itinerary, most of the time You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

June 4, 2018

Travel Magick: Advice for Witches on the Move

Next Post

July 6, 2018 Making Offerings at Sacred Places

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archaeology France The Basics The Black Madonna the blog The Craft The History of Paganism Thoughts Travel Uncategorized United States witchcraft Witchcraft in Literature Witchery

Select a Month May 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many verses are in Psalm 119?

Select your answer to see how you score.

176 125 200 150