Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Upcoming pilgrimage to Ireland, Summer 2012

Today I talked with Jhenah and Vyviane of the Sisterhood of Avalon about our upcoming pilgrimage to Ireland. We are still very much in the planning stage, with no date set just yet, but from the looks of things, locations will include Kildare, Sligo, Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth and the Hill of Tara, Mullingar and Ardagh, among other places. We will be in Ireland for about eight days.

Now that I have locations and some idea of what's wanted, I'm in the process of contemplating the workshops and work we'll be doing there. Incubatory work will definitely be a part of this -- with luck we will have a cave to do some of the work in -- and direct work on creative projects like writing, poetry, and music. There will be work with Brigid and her flame and with the land in the places we go, as well as having good food and time for fun and for deep conversations. I'll be doing a session on the three cauldrons as a part of the material surrounding the incubatory process, and we'll be discussing and (we hope) experiencing the process of imbas in our creative work.

We are looking at having options for everything from hikes to sacred sites and talks on archaeological information, to Irish music, ritual, and time to work on writing and other creative projects with the inspirational aid of Brigid and other deities and spirits. We will also be visiting with Michael Quirke of Sligo, a storyteller and woodcarver who makes wonderful images of Irish deities and mythological figures. There will be bookshops and cultural centers and museums.

I'll keep everyone up to date with the progress of the trip as I learn more details. It looks like the pilgrimage will be 15 people at most, given the space limitations of the places we'll be going, so it will be a fairly small, intimate group of seekers. There will definitely be much more information by the time PantheaCon rolls around, so if you'll be there, you'll be able to get lots of details firsthand.

I am also hoping to be able to spend at least a couple of extra weeks after the pilgrimage in Europe, visiting friends whom I would not otherwise ever get to see. As soon as I have travel details, I'll try to be in touch with people to see about an itinerary there. If you are in Europe and might like to meet me next summer, please do let me know! I would love to meet people there!

I can't even tell you how excited I am about all this. My dignity (what little I have) is doing a happydance.

3 comments:

  1. I'm quite interested in such a pilgrimage. I have an acquaintance who is a western Irish ex-pat who has been wibbling about a tour of places he knew/knows for a few years now, but has always capitulated on the grounds of "the airfare is too expensive" (for some threshold he has in his head for the whole thing? I dunno) But anyway, if something were arranged... yeah, my husband and myself would definitely be interested. Not "money be damned" but I think we'd be willing to pay more than said friend was willing to set the threshold at.

    Um. I think you don't know me personally since I think you're in the NW United States... although I've been to a couple CR events in the SF bay area and to a couple similarly themed workshops at PCon. (If that sort of "pedigree" matters.)

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  2. Hi Lisa

    Nah, "pedigree" doesn't matter at all. We may have met at PCon, but I have a terrible memory for names and such. I'll be there again this year, so say hi to me!

    I don't know yet if the SoA pilgrimage will be women-only or if it will be open to everyone, but I will let folks know as soon as I do. It would be great to have CR-interested folks along as well as the SoA's usual crowd.

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  3. Lisa - Got word back from Vyviane and all will be welcome for this pilgrimage. I'll let you know here as things develop.

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