practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad
Jenny Wade is a Seattle-based therapist and yoga instructor, and today we talk about the significance of the body when it comes to the spiritual journey, as well as how opening ourselves up to the Sacred Feminine—whether we’re male or female—can impact how we relate to our bodies, our faith, and our way of being.
And though it wasn’t a pilgrimage, per se, I brought along a few tools to help make the journey an intentional one, providing opportunities along the way for me to get to know both myself and God more deeply while on foreign soil. One of these tools is the Compass Cues Reflection Deck, available in the Journey Shop.
The Compass Cues Reflection Deck contains 31 Compass Cues to help you align with your True Self, God, and the movement of the Divine on your pilgrimage of faith. Meant to be chosen at random and revisited again and again as each season of your life unfolds, these questions can be used for prayer, journaling, conversation, and more as a compass for the journey and a guidebook for the soul.
Here’s one of the questions I drew on a cool, cloudy morning tucked away in a quiet B&B garden in Winchester: “How do you want to know God?” Even though I made the cards and came up with the questions, it was a surprising question at the time, and even more surprising was the response that followed. I’ve shared my journal entry from the morning below.
In today’s episode I speak with spiritual director, writer, and contemplative activist Ryan Kuja about approaching mission work through the lens of pilgrimage, the practice of contemplative activism, and how to engage some of the difficult conversations arising today with prayer and intention. (Note: The sound was a bit off from time to time on Ryan’s end, but his words speak loud and clear!)
Not long ago we talked about the pilgrim abroad. Perhaps, like many of us here, you’re a seeker at heart and long to be a pilgrim, but one thing is missing—the pilgrimage. It’s not the right season, you don’t have the money, you can’t take the time away. The truth is, though, we are all on journeys—journeys of faith, journeys in relationship, journeys of discovering what we love and who we really are. And when we bring the intention and awareness of the pilgrim to these journeys, our everyday lives are transformed.
While the practice of pilgrimage traditionally involves journeys to far-off Sacred sites, I have a secret to tell you: You don’t have to leave home to begin living like a pilgrim. All you need to do to begin practicing pilgrimage every day is to see your life as a journey and your role as a Seeker of the Sacred. Are you on the path of the pilgrim at home?
(Did you miss the first episode? Listen here.) It’s our first official interview, and today we’re talking with Kayce Hughlett about SoulStrolling. Kayce is an author, soul guide, and self-proclaimed “artist of being alive,” and in our conversation, we explore listening to the call within, going on pilgrimage to unconventional places, practicing SoulStrolling at home, and more.
An ancient spiritual practice, pilgrimage invites seekers to travel away from home on journeys of intention in search of Sacred Encounter. It’s not simply about traveling to a Sacred site, however. Pilgrimage is an outer journey that contributes to an inner one. When we journey beyond our borders, exploring new cultures and landscapes, our entire lives can be transformed.
That longing you have to set out and find meaning? It’s divinely implanted, and when you follow its invitation it will take you down a path you’ve never walked before as you’re led by the Sacred Guide. Are you on the path of the pilgrim abroad?
If you’re a subscriber, you heard the news in my September newsletter, and if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you were able to get a sneak peek (listen?), but today’s the official launch day: Pilgrim Podcast is finally here!
It’s likely that many of you listened along when I joined Jenn Giles Kemper on her Sacred Ordinary Days Podcast for a season to talk about the liturgical year—perhaps that’s even how you found my work here at A Sacred Journey. Jenn and I loved having conversations about the liturgical seasons, particularly as we were in the midst of them, and because they come around annually, you can re-listen each year right here as part of your spiritual practice. (I know I do!)
Jenn will continue on with the Sacred Ordinary Days Podcast with new episodes arriving this fall, but me? I wanted to dig more deeply into the practice of pilgrimage and tell the stories of both pilgrims to far off lands and seekers in everyday life.
Pilgrim Podcast is a new podcast exploring spirituality and intention in travels and daily life and what it means to live like a pilgrim at home and abroad. In each episode, we join fellow seekers in conversation on pilgrimages abroad, meaningful journeys at home, and the surprising paths life sends us down that always lead to transformation.
I’ll be laying low this summer on the blog and social media so I can do some dreaming and scheming about what’s next for A Sacred Journey (hint: a Pilgrim Principles online course!) and will be back in full force in September. Since we’ve been focusing so much on the practice of pilgrimage this month, however, I didn’t want to leave you empty-handed when it comes to inspirational travel, especially those of you who are intrigued by the Journey Guide but don’t necessarily have a specific trip on the horizon.
It’s true—life doesn’t always afford us with the ability to set off on meaningful journeys on a whim, but thankfully, books have the power to transform and transport us in the mean time no matter our budget or availability. Here are 10 travel memoirs for your summer reading that are sure to take you on an armchair pilgrimage:
Throughout time, wisdom traditions have told us that if we’re looking for guidance and Sacred connection, we only need to look within.
Though it might be hard to believe based on common theology taught in churches, even the Christian tradition claims this to be true, with the author of Genesis stating that we are made in the image of God, and Jesus himself declaring, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Other translations have Jesus stating that “the kingdom of God is at hand,” which in the end is not too different—both interpretations share a similar message, which is that Truth is available right here, right now.
I believe that the more we become our True Selves, the closer we are to God, and vice versa—the closer we are to God, the more we become our True Selves. There’s an intersection there—the Inner Witness—the place within in which the Sacred Guide dwells and the True Self and Divine meet.
You know, an object that instantly reminds you of your values, what you seek, and who you want to be.
Like the practice of pilgrimage, a touchstone is a physical representation of your intention and a reminder of your desires. In the Golden Age of pilgrimage, touchstones for the journey were common, with a different emblem representing each of the most popular pilgrimages of the day.
The most well-known emblem associated with a journey is likely the scallop shell representing the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, which still serves as a symbol for the ancient pilgrimage today. Other emblems of the ancient pilgrims might not have been so obvious or intentional, but can still be considered touchstones because they served as reminders of the quest, such as a walking stick to aid in the journey or a memento brought from home and used as a source of inspiration in times of doubt.
Whether you’re on pilgrimage abroad or journeying with intention right at home, a touchstone is a useful tool for the Seeker of the Sacred.