By Leah Black, 27th February 2025, Ecoinnersense.com
I have walked many walks and hiked many hikes, always alone, never in a group, and usually in the wilds of solitude. For me, it is not the goal of reaching a destination, but the journey with all of its surprises along the way and unexpected twists and turns. There is something very special about being surrounded by peaks and water and truly noticing the gentle yet fierce feminine grasp of Mother Nature without being in a rush to achieve the heights. In the presence of Nature, I am at peace. Yet, my soul calls for a new adventure. One that will go against the grain of my comfort zone, the barriers of my beliefs and my head’s desire. I feel I need to experience culture, in its purest, by being around masses of people; something I religiously avoid. I am comfortable living this rural life of natural semi-solitude. But comfort as cosy as it is can be, is an unwelcome contentment for inevitable shocks of change and loss. I need to grow to feed my soul, freedom, confidence and worldview. I also seek to understand why the sacred I sense in Nature, seems to put me in a similar reverie to people bent on their knees in a church, chapel or cathedral. Therefore, part of me wonders:
What does faith feel like, to me, away from the wilds of flowing water and swaying flowers?
Does it feel different inside a holy building under the carved eyes of a Virgin Mary away from the sacred canopy of Mother Nature’s leaves and dripping deified feminine streams?
Can I sense the holy in a human construct like I sense the sacred in Nature’s special places?
What will I sense under a canopy of polished beams, carved stone and glorious paintings away from Nature’s artistic beauty?
Will a church choir move me in the same way as a forest dawn chorus?
What are the similarities and differences between an open sacred space in Nature and a holy building set within enclosed boundaries?
Can I feel the sunrise and sunset in the spires of sacred buildings, like I do in the peaks of mountains?
What is it like to be separated from my slow life and the beings I love so dearly, for one whole full month without communication? (Switching off all social media, emails, etc. Utilising the phone for emergency calls or hostel bookings only. Gaining information from locals and tourist information centres, not Google.)
I will never know the answers to these intriguing questions unless I spend time in the presence of people and holy buildings, with as much dedication, interaction and repetition as I have in outdoor natural places. Thus, I am setting out on an unplanned self-directed solo pilgrimage through the predominantly Catholic Spanish villages, towns, lands and cities of Castilla y León over a complete moon cycle from 28th February to 28th March 2025. Auspiciously and unintendedly, it commences on the seven planets ‘great planetary alignment’ tomorrow. I chose the region due to its sheer amount of constructed ancient structures of castles, churches, monoliths, Celtic sites and shrines, and also because of its exceptional history of human evolution and ancient cultures. It is not the Camino de Santiago I will take, as it is not Santiago I wish to reach. I may pass and meet many Camino pilgrims on-route, I hope I do; just imagining their stories brings forth emotions of excitement within me. Instead of a pilgrim’s scallop shell, I will carry something I find along the way. I am sure whatever it is will make its presence known early on in the journey.
I feel I must make a disclaimer. Due to a long-term physical health condition, which significantly affects the muscles and nerves in my legs, I will balance walking with local transport; if donkeys were welcomed in urban localities I would be choosing that option instead. To me, a pilgrimage is not solely about walking, nor was it, I suppose, to many in the past who rode on horseback, mule or donkey. After all, the meaning of pilgrimage is simply a journey to a sacred or special place. The Cambridge online dictionary describes a pilgrimage as: ‘a visit to a place that is considered special, where you go to show respect’, and ‘a trip, often a long one, made to a holy place for religious reasons’. The Oxford online dictionary describes a pilgrim as ‘a person on a journey, a person who travels from place to place; a traveller, a wanderer, an itinerant. Also in early use: a foreigner, an alien, a stranger.’ Tick, tick and tick – that is exactly what I’m up to and how I would describe myself on this journey, so a pilgrim on a pilgrimage I am.
This article is a handy read to help raise some understanding of what a pilgrimage is; albeit, there are many more faces to a pilgrimage not explored within this article and pilgrims do not always take the road to a holy place. I feel at peace with not walking all of the time, I could not, and yet still calling my travels a pilgrimage. Although, it must be wonderful to feel the freedom of one’s own feet moving day in and day out for weeks on end. However, that is not the ability that was given to me, so I must flow with the beauty of what I can do in my own natural capability, and as with any pilgrimage that will come with all of its own challenges. When I can walk I will, for as long as possible. Who knows, I may even encounter some healing energy along the path at one of many shrines I might chance upon.
During my pilgrimage through the land of castles, I plan to:
Enable the destinations and shrines to select themselves and take me where I’m meant to go and be. There will be no set destination in mind, like when I hike in Nature.
Seek to understand why the places I stay, or pass through, chose me, e.g. was it the shrine or sacred place that pulled me there? Permit the spiritual ‘pull’ of energy to call me to the places I am meant to visit.
Attend religious services and events with my full sensory attention as a non-religious guest.
Intentionally experience almost all religious and sacred spaces that appear on the paths I walk.
Observe my own interaction with depictions of the Mother Mary. To me, even as a child, she seemed to emanate a sense of Mother Nature (as I shared in this story that I wrote for GreenSpirit); and I would like to contemplate that potentiality of my perception within the presence of Her shrines and statues.
Immerse myself into the essence of ‘being human’ in urbanity with all of its cultural elements, language, spirituality and beauty.
Pay attention to the ‘sensescapes’ of spiritual cultural activities and holy human constructions – and ask myself, and perhaps the energies of places and subjects I meet, like stone, trees, statues etc.: Why is this a sacred space? Is there an essence of divine feminine in this holy site? Where can I see Mother Nature represented within these revered walls? What contributes to the sacredness of this consecrated place? What have people forgotten about the ancient history of the location of this sanctified shrine? What else am I meant to know about this sacred place?
In the venerated locations I visit or pass through, I will imagine them in my mind’s eye evolving and adapting since ancient pre-history.
I will try to feel a sense of belonging to the places that call to me most; and, if possible, attempt to seek to understand why that is so, even if it means staying longer than a day.
Explore the feminine essence of the divine with the mindful presence of childlike innocence (that is how I connected deeply with Nature initially so I will give that a go in urbanity).
Connect with the natural elements (earth, air, fire, water, aether) within these revered human constructs.
Draw upon my personal internal experience throughout the pilgrimage; paying attention to my senses, thoughts, sensations and feelings, including where possible, my sense of imagination, intuition and empathy. In doing so, I will strive to imagine the experience of the ancient ancestors of this land, and their interaction with the divine feminine and masculine, and sacred space, in the past.
Try to seek to understand how religion feels to me as a non-religious person.
Let this pilgrimage be a map for my spiritual growth and a natural compass to direct my soul towards its reason for being in this lifetime.
I will be small with the intent to be part of something greater than myself.
If possible, I will try to find feelings of the unknown; unknown that is to me – to ‘hear’ the hidden as a form of contemplation.
Explore how this journey could help me to pursue my unknown ever-changing purpose and life’s new calling: who am I and who could I become?
Return an improved Spanish speaker and experiencer of human spiritual nature through urbanised culture.
Keep a journal with memoirs, words, symbols, stories and sketches of the journey.
For ethical reasons, I will keep the locations of some sites secret, where deemed important, to protect their identity.
I am preparing for something – what that something is, I will not fully know until I am on my journey and its adventure has finished. The intention I will work with, though, is:
To take a spiritual, physical, sensory and emotional journey through the Spanish region of Castilla y León to seek and sense the sacred and feminine divine in an environment very different to my own, specifically visiting constructed holy places, sacred spaces and sanctified shrines that call to me most for my spiritual, personal and soul growth.
&
To expect the unexpected.
Thank you so much for reading, and as always if you have any questions, thoughts, messages or suggestions please drop me a personal email: leah@ecoinnersense.com, it is always wonderful to hear from people who read my blog and stories.
With Love,
Leah
(© All photographs taken by Leah Black)
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