The Call to Pilgrimage
Last week the fall winds arrived. They came in a great gust on the equinox, turning the leaves upside down and silver. By nightfall the humidity of summer had dropped away, and the first truly cold evening of the season made the stars sharpen. Every year the winds of autumn usher in the same longing in me (maybe you feel it too?)— the call to pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage is at the heart of who we are as species, it’s how we moved throughout the world. Though journeys can be taken in any season, autumn is a traditional time for inner-reorientation and movement. In fall our nomadic ancestors would have been traveling to rich hunting grounds or sheltered valleys to set up their cozy winter camps.
Even though many of us are more settled these days, every autumn the living world is in motion. Great flocks move across the earth, migrating to their winter grounds, and the land is criss-crossed by the pathways of creatures busily gathering and preparing.
Are you feeling the heart-urge to travel, move, or simply encounter an uncharted aspect of yourself this fall? My new video will help you recognize the signs that you’re being called to pilgrimage— and what to expect once you step into that journey.
Normally, autumn is the time of the year when I get out my passport and undertake big journeys. During the pandemic a lot of my travel plans have been put on pause— but that doesn’t mean my pilgrimages have ended.
Being a pilgrim is a state of mind, an inner experience of deepening self-knowledge that comes from an encounter with a landscape. You don’t need to travel across the world to go on pilgrimage. Sometimes the most profound spiritual journeys are right outside our front door.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve taken pilgrimages much closer to home. Simply by visiting holy places around the corner, I’ve learned so much about myself, arriving deeper into my place on this earth. You don’t have to visit a foreign country to experience the power of pilgrimage, sometimes all you need is a local hilltop or a spring in a silent spruce-filled forest.
Pilgrimage feels like a call because that’s exactly what it is. The earth is calling you to connect again, to remember your gifts and create more wholeness in your wake. These sacred places long for you, just as you long for them, because at their heart, all pilgrimages are simply a chance to bless the world… and be blessed in return.
I’m being called on an ancestoral pilgrimage, to Scotland. There is so much about this journey that is unknown, which makes it a definate pilgrimage and I’m happy about that. With the world situation in an ever increasing uncertainty, I know that completing some clearing in my present home, getting some important bookwork and systems in place now, I will be ready when my instincts tell me it’s time to go.
Hi Fenella! It is beautiful that you’re hearing the call and creating space to answer at the right time. It feels like a beautiful unfolding. Sending you blessings! <3
I have been feeling the call to Avalon and London so strongly. I dream about the places about once a week. And each time I put the idea aside, I am there again in my dreams. I was about to book a flight at the beginning of October, when I saw that the UK was changing their travel rules the following day, and that I would have to quarantine for 5-10 days as a non-vaccinated person. I have even considered getting vaccinated because of how strong this call is. It has been over two years since I’ve been to this soul home of mine, and I am so done with waiting. But alas, I recently took a mini pilgrimage to the rose garden of a city nearby and found a beautiful Russian-Orthodox church devoted to Mother Mary with golden towers…I guess my lesson for now is to find portals to Avalon (as a magical place of the heart, the plant and fae realms) even when I can’t physically travel to Glastonbury (I am realizing this as I am writing this!!)
Greetings and good moment to you!!
I just finished my vein of gold transcript. Thank you for your persistence . I love how there is no cap on goodness
Greetings Hannah! Thank you for the love and for your presence here- we are delighted to be on this journey with you. Celebrating your gifts and goodness in this space, and beyond <3
Wow, just wow. I have been struggling, getting more tense with each passing day, as I prepare to move from Maui back to one of my favorite places in nature, New Mexico. I want so badly to find a home, and to land with ease. Surrendering has been difficult. Today I asked instagram to deliver me a message, and there was your post. I watched this video and it gave me so much peace! Reframing this idea of “moving” to what it really is, “a pilgrimage,” is so helpful, and so much more representative of my intention. It reminds me that I’m being called to connect, to listen, to feel my way through.
Dear Margeaux, what a beautiful interaction with this piece! I love that it showed up in just the right timing to affirm and enrich your journey. I can feel the sacredness of this pilgrimage for you, and know Asia will be touched to see how it reached you in such a pivotal point in your story. Wishing so many blessings as you continue to connect, listen, and feel your way through the potent calling of this time <3 I hope we might hear about some of the journey that unfolds
I passed Asia out in public today. It was the third time in the past few months Ive seen her in public. The synchronicity led me here and this was of course what I needed to hear. I was planning a trip to my ancestors cemetery/city and almost decided to spend less time because my partner is going with me and I’ve had a hard time being in that pilgrim space with other people, though I know that pilgrim like space well and know that is the reason for this trip.
Hi Arianna, thank you for sharing your synchronicity and what it means for this upcoming journey! I know just what you mean about the way that solitude on a trip seems to enhance that ability to drop down into that pilgrimage space, and it sounds like this could be a really powerful invitation to explore how to hold that space in the presence of another- or maybe even invite them into it with you! Sending big One Willow blessings for your ancestral pilgrimage <3
I’m going back to my childhood home tomorrow with my husband and my son. It’s in Appalachian Virginia. I think I’m gonna go for a walk on the property and see if I can connect. Your quiz says I’m a Wellspring. I’m called to Earth Magick. I’m so grateful you’re here. Thank you for all you do.
What a special trip Amaya, I am truly excited for you to make this return and walk the land <3 Thank you for sharing, and so many blessings as you tap into that magick and spirit of the land today