Places of Pilgrimage

Searching the world of mystery and transformation

By Jay G. Williams

According to legend, there lived in ancient times a virgin by the name of Gwenfrewi, who was desired in marriage by Caradog, a prince of Cymru. His request refused, he attempted to carry her off by force. Gwenfrewi fled, pursued by the prince, who in a great rage struck off her head, which bounded down the hill into a vale to a church, and on the spot where it rested a spring of amazing capacity bubbled forth. Gwenfrewi’s uncle, St. Beuno, who was officiating in the church, rushed out, replaced the severed head, and with prayer, restored the virgin to life. Thus was Gwenfrewi Santes born.

Searching the world of mystery and transformation

By Jay G. Williams

Gwenfrewi Santes Press “Wherever the head rolls” 2016

Holy places are undoubtedly centres of the out pouring of Divine grace because on entering the illumined site associated with martyrs and holy souls, and by observing reverence, both physical and spiritual, one’s heart is moved with great tenderness. Abdul-Baha

Introduction

I have long been intrigued by the idea and the reality of pilgrimage. As a result, although I have actually engaged in only a few “official” pilgrimages myself, I have visited many pilgrimage sites and seen, first hand, what pilgrims do there. The following pages include many examples of what I saw.

No study of any topic can be complete, but this is especially true when dealing with pilgrimage. There simply are an uncountable number of pilgrimages and pilgrimage sites in the world. Some are moribund but, nevertheless, interesting. Many others are still active and attract thousands. No library could contain information on all of them.

So I have stayed with those places I have actually seen, though in two instances I have injected pictures produced by someone else.1 That is because when I went to Lourdes and to Bodhgaya it rained so hard no photography was really feasible. All the other pictures, however, are mine..

Organizing these pictures was also a problem. At first, I thought I should organize them by religion or maybe by region. Finally, I decided on neither option, beginning with some remains of prehistoric pilgrimages and then with those pilgrimages connected with the life of the founder or an early disciple. After that we proceed to look at pilgrimages connected with some individual saints and then mountains, caves, flowing water, and finally islands. I conclude with the famous pilgrimage to Chartres that does quite fit any of these categories.

In any event, enjoy the pictures and plan a pilgrimage of your own, even if it is to explore the mysterious wonders of Yellowstone or Jackson Pollock or Mount Vernon.

Today , American pilgrimages reflect the secularization of our Democratic- Capitalistic society. Yes, many still engage in the ancient rituals---I have

1 The pictures on pp. 24, 25, 42 and 84 are courtesy of Wikipedia. friends who have been re-baptized in the River Jordan--- but many more are caught up in the joys of nature and history and the arts. Today we are more likely to visit a museum to be stirred by art or a concert hall to feel the power of music. Founding fathers such as George Washington have become our “saints” and the Grand Canyon or Mt. Denali, a stimulus for our awe. We have become “realists” who no longer are convinced by the old myths, but we still set off to see, to find our selves, to grow spiritually.

The old questions still remain. Who am I? Where am I going? What’s the point? And so we become pilgrims in our own way to find the path for ourselves. Let us hope that each of us will find the Center in the center of ourselves as we travel through this place we call the earth.

Jay G. Williams

Pilgrimage

Among the many features of what we in the modern world have come to call “religion” there is none more common than the pilgrimage. Whether you are a tribesman traveling alone to be blessed by a sacred stone or a modern Muslim on the way to Mecca, the pilgrimage is a vital way to express one’s spirituality.

There are, of course, many reasons to go on a pilgrimage. For some, it is simply a way to get out of town, to see something new, to make new friends. From the tales that they told, it is clear that Chaucer’s pilgrims were not just on their way for purely spiritual reasons. Neither are the modern Irish pilgrims to Knock who buy in one of the several souvenir shops “I’ve been to Knock” squirt guns for their grandchildren.

Nevertheless, within the pilgrimage there is a deeper meaning that even the most secular pilgrims sometimes glimpse, for it is an acting-out in the visible world of our inevitable quest for meaning within our inmost selves. Who am I? Where am I going? What really is the meaning of life? The pilgrimage is a return to the center, to the deep well from which all life flows, to what ancient Greeks called the omphalos. If it were not so, people would have stopped such travel long ago. But the quest goes on and so do the many pilgrimages around the world.

From archaeological findings there are many indications that people in the prehistoric world engaged in pilgrimage. One outstanding example is Stonehenge where people, even today, come together to celebrate the vernal equinox and the cycle of the year. What happened in ancient times is still a matter of debate, but the event must have been considered very important to have warranted such a gigantic structure.

Stonehenge is huge, made partially out of stones transported all the way from western Wales. Its orientation, that relates to the vernal equinox, seems to imply astronomical significance.

That is also true of Newgrange (Irish: Si an Bhru) in County Meath, Ireland, though Newgrange seems to be oriented to the winter solstice rather than the vernal equinox.

Newgrange, obviously repaired for modern tourists

At the winter solstice the sun shines directly down the shaft leading to the center of this Early Bronze (3200 B.C.E.) site located in the Boyne Valley.

In Eleusis in Greece, just a few kilometers from Athens, we find remains of an ancient site where thousands came each year not only to learn of the sacred mysteries, but to be initiated into them. Eleusis attracted people from all over the world for more than 1000 years. There, pilgrims learned the secrets of Demeter’s descent into the netherworld to find her daughter Persephone. What they heard and what they saw and what they did, however, remains something of a mystery to this day.

The remains of the temple of Eleusis where initiates learned the secret mysteries

10 Equally important for ancient Greece was Delphi, located on the southwestern slopes of Mt. Parnassus where, according to tradition, the center of the world (the omphalos) was located. It was here that Apollo slew the dragon and so saved the world from disaster. An eternal flame burned constantly there in Apollo’s temple where people came to worship the savior god. Nearby they consulted the famous oracle of Delphi to learn about the future.

The great amphitheater of Delphi

The remains of an ancient temple in Delphi

For western religions there is, of course, no place of pilgrimage more noteworthy than the Holy Land which today is partly in Israel and partly in the West bank area. Of all the innumerable sites related to ancient Israel and to Jesus, there is none more important than Jerusalem.

12 The most visible and beautiful of all the sites in Jerusalem, however, belongs to the Muslims. Of course, the Dome of the Rock, built on the site of Judah’s ancient temple, is not the most important place of pilgrimage for Islam. That title belongs to Mecca. Built in 691 C.E. on the command of the Umayyad Caliph, the Dome of the Rock, nevertheless, represents one of the oldest examples of Islamic architecture.

The Dome of the Rock

Because Islam forbids the making of “graven images” the exterior is covered by beautiful designs and Arabic words from the Koran.

Inside is the rock upon which Abraham is supposed to have attempted the sacrifice of Isaac and from which Mohammed is believed to have ascended to heaven. It is thought that his footprint exists on the rock.

Although little more will be said about Islamic sites in this collection, Islam has, apart from Mecca and Medina, many other holy places of pilgrimage; often they reverence mystic Sufi masters.

Outside the Islamic shrine is one of the oldest Jewish pilgrimage sites. It is the most visible remains of the Temple in Jerusalem that was torn down by the Roman armies in the first century C.E.. This picture was taken shortly after the Six Day War. Before that time, one reached the Western Wall through a fairly narrow passage way. When the Jews regained control over Jerusalem, they immediately opened the area so that more could make use of the wall for prayer.

This is the only Jewish site we will mention in this book, but it must be recognized that the whole of Israel functions as a place of pilgrimage for Jews.

Christians, of course, have their many pilgrimage sites. On Good Friday each year, many follow the Via Dolorosa from the site of the Roman head quarters where Jesus was tried to the place where it is believed he was crucified and buried. Obviously this picture of the Via Dolorosa was not taken on Good Friday.

The Via Dolorosa

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is an ancient structure that is believed by the faithful (but not all archeologists) to contain the sites of both Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.

Once inside, one climbs a stairway up to Jesus’ place of crucifixion. The sepulcher, however, is at ground level.

The interior, showing the way into the sepulcher of Jesus.

Of course there are many, many other sites both in and outside Jerusalem related to the story of Jesus found in the gospels. There is, for instance, to the east of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives and at its base, the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Mount of Olives

About seven miles south of Jerusalem is Bethlehem where Jesus is said to have been born.

The Church of the Nativity

The Church in Bethlehem is divided so that one part is controlled by the Roman Catholic Church and the other by the Orthodox Church. In some other places, each church has a completely separate site. In Nazareth, for instance, there are two places identified as the place of the annunciation.

Near the Church of the Nativity is the Milk Grotto where, according to tradition, Joseph and Mary hid until they were able to flee to Egypt. There, Mary is said to have nursed Jesus. The grotto is dug out of very soft, yellowish stone. During the crusades, some crusaders scraped up some of this stone from the floor, mixed it with water, and took “Our Lady’s Milk” back to Europe as an important relic to be venerated, thus creating a number of pilgrimage sites. Today the Grotto is controlled by the Franciscans but is also recognized by Muslims.

Farther away, north of the plains of Megiddo, is Nazareth, where Jesus is said to have grown up. It should be noted that Nazareth is not mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures or any inter-testamental literature. Whether today’s Nazareth is the correct site or whether there even was a Nazareth is very debatable.

Modern Nazareth

23 In any event, this is the large Catholic Church in Nazareth where many Roman Catholic pilgrims go.

One could go on and on, but the final picture included here from “New Testament” Israel is a picture of the site where tradition has it Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Many people come here to reverence their teacher and Lord. There is, from this hill a beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee.

Before leaving the Holy Land completely, however, we should also note that in Haifa, on a high hill overlooking the city, is a pilgrimage site for Baha’i. It is the burial place for both the Bab, the founder of the faith, and Abdu’i- Baha. Although Baha’i originated in Iran, persecution there was intense. Today the international center for the Baha’i movement is in Haifa with a number of other holy sites in nearby Acre.

The Garden of the Baha’i pilgrimage site

26 Rome Another great site for Christian pilgrimage is, of course, Rome. For many centuries, the land of ancient Israel was unavailable to Christian travellers, so Rome became the substitute. Today many travel to Rome to visit St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican. Although Jesus (as far as we know) never went to Rome, his chief disciple, Peter, and his most important interpreter, Paul, did.

.. Here is a picture of the dome of St. Peter’s.

The Dome from within

Mass at St. Peter’s It should be noted that there are many other places of interest in Rome including the catacombs, the Spanish steps, and a number of other churches.

Buddhist Sites

Buddhism also emphasizes pilgrimage sites related to the life of the founder, in this case, Gautama Siddhartha.

According to legend, the Buddha was born in a garden in Lumbini in southern Nepal. A modern stupa has been built there to commemorate his birth.

Perhaps the most important of these sites is found at Bodhgaya, the place where he first experienced moksha or Enlightenment.

This is a sketch of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya, the very center of the site. “”Descendants” of the original Bodhi tree can still be seen there.

31 Very close to the city of Varanasi is Sarnath, the place where, it is said, the Buddha began to teach the Dharma to his five followers.

The Stupa at Sarnath.

The other site connected with the life of the Buddha, that is not pictured here, is Kusinara, the place of his death. Since every stupa is a place to be reverenced and since the early ones contained something from either the Buddha or one of his disciples, in a sense, every stupa can also count as a place for pilgrimage.

For instance, Stupa #1 at Sanchi in north central India, like most stupas, has a pradakshina path for pilgrims to circumambulate. According to Buddhist teachers, you should proceed in a clock-wise fashion and go around the stupa three times for best results.

Stupa #1 at Sanchi

The wonderfully carved gateways indicate that this is a special, holy place for visitors.

One of the many arches bidding the worshipper welcome.

In many early Buddhist works of art, the Buddha is pictured as a sacred tree.

A Buddha bids the pilgrim welcome too.

This is the pradakshina path one follows to circumambulate the stupa. On this stupa there are two levels for circumambulation. On the upper tier, one can get wonderful views of the surrounding valley.

Myanmar

In nearby Myanmar, stupas also play an important role for pilgrims. Right in the center of Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of the country, is a major stupa complex that surrounds a giant stupa..

This is the pradakshina path. Often it is filled with Buddhist devotees circumambulating the stupa.

Further north, along the Ayeyarbady (Irrawaddy) River is the site of an earlier capital with a host of stupas, both big and small. Many are votive stupas built to commemorate some person or event.

From 1044 until 1287 (when Mongolian invasions caused the Bagan Empire to collapse) Bagan was the capital of a major empire in central Myanmar. In 1975, shortly after I was there, an earthquake destroyed many of the temples and stupas. Since then the government has tried to create a tourist attraction by repairing them, but art experts say they have done exceedingly poor job.

Dhammayazika, one of the major stupas

40 Another fabulous stupa, the Ananda, in Bagan.

Sri Lanka

Ashoka Maurya (304-232 B.C.E.) ruled much of India from 269 until 232 B.C.E.. After a very war-like start, he converted to Buddhism and the way of peace. Both Mahinda, his son, and Sayhanitta, his daughter, became Buddhist devotees, a monk and a nun respectively. Traditions vary somewhat, but agree that one of them carried to Sri Lanka a planting from the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment. A descendant of that tree (the Mahabodhi) exists today in the remains of the ancient capital of Anuradhapurna and is much venerated.

The archway into the Bodhi tree pictures Mahinda, the son of Emperor Ashoka, carrying the seedling.

43 Not far away is a huge stupa that is today in the process of being restored. According to some 19th century British engineer, there are so many bricks in this stupa that, if you could use them, you could build a wall ten feet high from London to Edinburgh.

Another great site for pilgrimage in Sri Lanka is the Temple of the Tooth, located in the city of Kandy.

This rather huge temple contains, according to rather ancient tradition, one of the Buddha’s teeth. Unfortunately, the inner room was closed to visitors when I was there, but many do come to pay homage to the Buddha in this place.

45 Saints

Not only are founders and their immediate followers reverenced by believers; many, many sites are dedicated to saints, or in the case of the Chinese, people who became gods. For instance, England’s most notable pilgrimage site is dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket at Canterbury.

Canterbury Cathedral

When the Anglican Church broke from Roman Catholicism in the 16th Century, the very ancient cathedral in Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop who heads the Anglican Church, became the new center for Christendom in Britain.

46 The Church was built first in the 6th century and then thoroughly rebuilt in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Long before the 16th century, it became famous as a pilgrimage site to honor St. Thomas (Thomas à Becket) who was murdered by King Henry II’s henchmen. Thanks to Chaucer, this is undoubtedly the best-known pilgrimage site in the British Isles.

It should be noted, however, that although Lutherans pay respects to the places connected with their founder and the Anglican Church recognizes saints, many Protestant denominations do not recognize saints after the very early period and therefore do not emphasize pilgrimages at all. As a result, Protestant pilgrimages are rare. Trips to the Holy Land may be sponsored, but not many pilgrimages per se.

One of the few pilgrimages that I know of is organized by the Unitarian- Universalists of central New York. People from several churches come together in June each year to recognize the first Unitarian Church founded west of the Hudson River in Barneveld, N.Y. The Church that was built in the early 19th Century still stands.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Barneveld

47 Outside the Protestant world, however, pilgrimages, particularly those recognizing holy people, remain very popular. Among Muslims, for instance, Sufi saints are particularly recognized. In Fathepur Sikri, the tomb and holy site for Shaikh Salim Chisti remains a major attraction even though the vast building project of Attar was abandoned long before it was finished.

The Tomb of Shaikh Saim Chisti

In Taiwan there is an annual pilgrimage to reverence Mazu who, as a young woman, saved her brothers at sea. Upon her early death, she became a goddess and is now widely worshipped both in Taiwan and along the coast of China.

The Mazu Temple in Beigang, Taiwan on a quiet day

49 Here are some pictures of Mazu’s followers attending her birthday celebration:

Men in trances before the temple.

A Daoist Priest in action before the temple.

And there is music too.

In Japan, there many, many pilgrimage sites. Here we include only the site dedicated to Shinran, a Buddhist from the 12th and 13th who was one of the founders of Pureland Buddhism (Jodoshinshu) in Japan.

The Shinran Shrine

Mountains

Among the many sites of pilgrimage are several on mountains and, among those mountain pilgrimages, there are few that are older or more impressive than those at Tai Shan, a site in China in continuous use for more than 3000 years. Confucius, it is said, climbed the mountain and so, more recently, did Mao Tse Tung. Located in the Shantung Peninsula, it is the most important of the five mountains considered by Confucians particularly sacred.

53 Emperors conducted rituals both at the mountain’s foot, to Earth, and at the summit, to Heaven. We begin with a picture of the entrance to the great Confucian temple at the foot of the mountain.

The way to the top is beautiful, but there are 6,660 stair steps up the 6 mile pilgrimage route that can take as much as 6 hours to traverse. It is no wonder that many go up and down by cable car.

At the top, the views are spectacular, even breath-taking. One can imagine making the pilgrimage each year just for the views.

56 For most pilgrims, however, the place of purpose is a temple (of which there are twenty-two). Here is a view near the top. Many stay in an inn near the summit over night so that they can watch the sun rise over the Sea of Japan. The Celestial Goddess who rules the sky is an important deity on this mountain.

Note the stairway. Much of the climb up the mountain was like that.

While the Chinese Confucians have five sacred mountains, Chinese Buddhists have four of their own. Perhaps the most important is Wu Tai Shan, a valley surrounded by five mountains or mesas. It is the legendary home of Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom. The center contains many temples and Tibetan style stupas called chorten. There is also a cave in the area for Daoist initiation.

This is how the terrain looks as one approaches Wu Tai Shan.

The central area includes many buildings, some of them dating back to the T’ang dynasty (7th-8th C.E.).

59 This is one of the chorten (Tibetan stupa) that dot the landscape.

The inside of the temples is often richly decorated.

Today, Wu Tai Shan seems to be a center for Tibetan lamas. Here is a whole group of monks listening to their master teacher.

62 India, perhaps the greatest place of pilgrimage in the world, has several mountainous pilgrimage sites in the Himalayas, especially near the source of the Ganga (Ganges) River. Further south is Mount Abu featuring several Hindu temples and shrines. Not far from them is one of the most beautiful pilgrimage sites in the world, the Jain’s five Delwara temples. Here are some pictures of their most extraordinary interiors.

66 While we are thinking about mountains we might also mention the mountain in the very center of the ancient city of Vijayanagara in central India where, according to legend the great Indian hero, Rama, first met his monkey cohort, Hanuman. The temple there is now small, but at one time this attracted many pilgrims.

Vijayanagara was, in 1500, one of the largest cities in the world and was the capital of the southern, non-Muslim part of India. It was, however, taken and destroyed by the Muslims and never really recovered. Today, the city of Hampi is nearby, but the old city, though it has several temples, is just a magnificent ruin.

67 Nepal

According to legend, the Kathmandu valley was, at one time, a lake. The Bodhisattva Manjusri created in that lake a high hill where today stands a pilgrimage site. From the Bodhisattvas’s head, it is said, came lice that turned into the ancestors of the holy monkeys that inhabit the area.

68 Every day pilgrims climb the 365 steps to enter the complex. One of the actions, once there, is to circumambulate the stupa, spinning as you go the prayer wheels that send innumerable prayers to the gods.

69 Above you always are the eyes of wisdom and, above them, the thirteen stages to obtain moksha or enlightenment.

This one of the oldest Buddhist sites in Nepal, having been founded in 640 C.E.

70 Montserrat

Perhaps the most awesome mountain pilgrimage in Europe is to Montserrat, that is located fairly close to Barcelona in Spain. Far up on the mountain is the abbey that has been a pilgrimage site for centuries. Saint Ignatius went there on pilgrimage every year to pay his respects to Our Lady of Montserrat, a Black Madonna.

The Abbey is located part way up the mountain. Today one can reach the summit by cable car. Within the abbey is a beautifully designed place for worship.

The views, wherever you look, are spectacular, providing a sense of the sublime.

On the top of the mountain is a path for pilgrims with small chapels for worship along the way. There are few places with natural beauty more astounding that this.

A small “saint’s” chapel

74 Next, we must not forget Mount Gerizim in the West Bank area of Palestine. When the people Israel split into two countries after the reign of Solomon, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel did not go to the temple in Jerusalem but instead considered Mt. Gerizim as their sacred mountain. They built no temple but worshipped outdoors there on Passover.

Mt. Gerizim

Here is a view from Mt. Gerizim looking toward the modern city of Nablus where some Samaritans, who still revere the mountain, continue to live. During the Roman period, the Romans built a temple to Jupiter on the very top of the mountain. A few remnants of that temple are still visible.

76 Finally, we must include Mt. Rushmore that was once part of a very important Native American pilgrimage site but which, despite strong objections from local tribes, was turned into a secular pilgrimage site for tourists. In many respects this creation by Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum reveals what has happened to pilgrimage in secular America.

77 Caves

Along with mountains, caves also play a very important role in the world of pilgrimage. To enter a cave is like plumbing the deepest reaches of one’s own self. That is doubtless why Buddhism has particularly liked caves and cave art as an expression of inner illumination. About forty miles east of Mumbai is Ajanta and, nearby, a series of Buddhist caves begun in the second century before the Common Era. More caves were added in the fifth century C.E., but gradually they were abandoned and then totally forgotten. They were not rediscovered (ironically by British hunters) until 1819. They contain some of the earliest and best Buddhist paintings in India.

The Ajanta Caves

The ceiling of one of the caves:

An un-retouched example of early Buddhist art

80 Sculpture abounds.

81 Not far from Ajanta is Ellora where there are Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves. The piéce de resistance, however, is a temple, larger than the Parthenon of Athens carved out of one solid rock. It is dedicated to Siva and inside, as one might expect, is a very large lingam yoni.

A piece of Ellora monumental rock carving

Near Dunhuang in west central China is another set of Buddhist caves of great renown. Positioned along the Silk Route that many traveled between south Asia and China, the Mogao Caves were first created in the 4th century. More were added until, in the 14th century, there were 492 cave temples full of Buddhist art. During the Ming dynasty, however, the silk route was officially closed and so the caves were largely forgotten by the outside world until they were rediscovered at the end of the 19th century.

The modern walkways along the outside of the caves

The wall paintings are magnificent.

The statuary is equally enchanting.

87 One of the important pilgrimage sites in Korea is the Pulguksa (also Bulguksa) monastery located on the slopes of Mt. Toham in southern South Korea. It is run by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Some of its magnificent architecture comes from the Silla dynasty. The entry into the monastery looks like this:

88 Not far away is a grotto called the Kyonju Cave that is very popular for pilgrims.

Kyonju Cave

Inside the cave is a central Buddha statue and many smaller figures surrounding it. Circumambulation seems most appropriate.

In the West, caves and grottos have also played a major role in pilgrimage traditions. For instance, in the Grotto of Massabielle near Lourdes in southern France, Bernadette Souborious saw visions of the Virgin Mary. This happened first on February 11, 1858 but occurred again several times. On one occasion Bernadette, who is now considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, was told by the Virgin to dig in the earth. Soon water began flowing. That water, believed by many to be miraculous, is venerated for its healing power. Here is the grotto and the statue of the Virgin.

90 Water

A much older source for holy water is found at Holywell in north Wales. According to legend, a Prince Caradog was in love with a damsel named Gwenfrewi. When she repeatedly refused him, he became enraged and, with his sword, cut off her head, which then rolled into a gorge near a church. Her uncle, a priest, came running out, grabbed her head, put it back on her body and with a prayer made her whole again. From the spot where her head had landed, flowed water that was and is regarded as especially holy. To this day people bathe in the water because of its healing powers.

The shrine of Holywell with a statue of Gwenfrewi in the garden

This is a stained glass window from the chapel nearby. The line around the woman’s neck makes clear it is Gwenfrewi (or in English Winifred).

Here are steps leading down into the holy water. People still come to bathe in the water, but, because the English have tapped the source for other purposes, it does not flow as freely as it once did.

Of course, the greatest site for bathing in holy water is found in India, at Varanasi It is one of the oldest and most used pilgrimage sites in the world. All year long people come from all over India to gain spiritual instruction from gurus, to bathe in the sacred waters of Siva, and, perhaps, to die. It is considered particularly auspicious to be cremated on the ghats in Varanasi and to have your ashes cast into the great river to become one with Siva.

On the ghats at Varanasi with the Ganga (Ganges) in the background

People bathing at Varanasi

A guru teaching on the ghats

A body being burned with probably the eldest son meditating near by

One of the many sacred temples of Varanasi

Another, much more modern temple

99 Actually, because most Hindu temples have “tanks” and each tank is regarded as the water of the Ganga, each temple can be regarded as a pilgrimage site.

This is a picture from Madurai in south India. Every day worshippers come to bathe in their Ganga and so to be cleansed both inside and out.

100

Of course, we cannot leave the subject of water without returning to the Holy Land to visit the Jordan River where John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples baptized and where today many still go to be baptized as adults.

101 Islands

Not only are rivers often considered sacred; so too are islands, surrounded by water, often venerated. For instance, not far from Chittenango, New York is Turtle Pond where Oneida (Onayotekaonotu) Indians came on pilgrimage to reverence the small island in the pond that is barely visible in this picture. It looks like a large turtle in the water.

The name of the tribe means “People of the Standing Stone” which indicates that the people venerated a large stone and probably made pilgrimage to it as well. Such a stone was long preserved in a Utica cemetery, but has now been returned to the Oneidas.

102 Far more impressive in size and just off the coast of India, near Mumbai (Bombay) is the island of Elephanta, long recognized as sacred to Siva. In the holy caves on the island are numerous statues of the deity.

Entering the cave at Elephanta

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The beautifully carved interior

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Modern tourists viewing the ancient sculpture

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In the West, there are many examples of island pilgrimages. For instance, in Scotland, on the west coast, is the Island of Iona where St. Colomba (521- 597 C.E.), an Irish missionary, began the (re)conversion of the Picts and British in the Dark Ages. Today it is a pilgrimage site and center for the Church of Scotland.

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On the other side of Great Britain, in England near the Scottish border, is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne where once St. Aidan and then St. Cuthbert, among many others, worked to reconvert the people of England to Christianity.

Since one can walk to the island at low tide, here is a group of modern pilgrims entering the island on foot.

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On the island are ruins of an ancient abbey as well as an old, but not ancient, church.

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On a high hillock is a 16th Century castle, built to protect the island.

109 Over in Ireland in Lough Derg, a lake located in the far north, is an island where legend has it St. Patrick saw visions of purgatory. Today it is the site of perhaps Europe’s most demanding pilgrimage. You can travel to the lake by bus, but once on the island, if you are a regular pilgrim, you must stay for three days, completely occupied with the required rituals. The food is very simple gruel and the nights are interrupted by various rituals, including the circumambulation of the “beds of the saints.

A boat heading off to the island

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Lough Derg at dusk

111 Wales also has an ancient pilgrimage site on the island of Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island to the English) located off the Llyn Peninsula on the northwest coast. During the early middle ages, a monastic abbey was founded on the island by a prince from Breton. Many came there on pilgrimage. Others, after death, were transported to the island to be buried, for it was believed that if you were interred on the island you would go straight to heaven. Today, the island is a bird sanctuary and a place for summer vacations.

The way across looks peaceful enough but is actually very rough and dangerous. The name, Ynys Enlli, refers to the currents that make the crossing difficult.

112 On the island today is one operating farm, a few houses to rent in the summer, a little chapel, and the ruins of the ancient monastery. The island is not only a bird sanctuary but a place where many seals gather.

The ruins of an ancient abbey

There is a small cemetery adjacent to this ruin, but most people who were buried on the island lie in unmarked graves. Hundreds of skulls have been found.

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Finally, we come to the picture on the cover, a picture of pilgrims on their way to Chartres Cathedral. Excavations have shown that long before this cathedral was built or Christianity came to the area, Druids regarded this site as sacred. This is the case with many pilgrimage sites. They carry on, in new form, a tradition from pre-historical times. Religion may change; it may even become secular democratic-capitalism, but the site somehow remains holy. Here are modern pilgrims at the end of a three-day walk from Paris to Chartres.

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The church itself is snugly surrounded by the city of Chartres. The primary relic in this church that is dedicated to the Virgin Mary is the Sancta Camisa, the tunic said to have been worn by Mary when Jesus was born. It was, according to legend, given to the church by Charlemagne.

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The emphasis on the Virgin Mary carries on the Druid tradition that told of a woman who was to give birth to a special son. In fact, one may guess that the great emphasis upon Mary originated in European mythology and not so much in primitive Christianity. The fact that so many churches are dedicated to the “black” virgin emphasizes this point.

The twin spires reveal that the building was not all constructed at one time, but it is magnificent nonetheless. Two spires were built in the 13th Century but the one on the left was replaced in the 16th Century by what now exists. Seven other spires were planned but not constructed.

As pilgrims enter the church through any one of the portals, they see immediately that the church is a magnificent work of art. One is transported into another world, into a spiritual world where the pilgrim becomes a part of the ancient story that has shaped Christendom.

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The pilgrims are also led to see the very roots of art. Whether one contemplates the great stained glass windows or the innumerable statues or side altars or simply views the magnificent space with its soaring Gothic columns in which the ancient rites are performed, one recognizes the inner link between beauty and spirituality. The organ rumbles, the choir begins to sing and one is absorbed into an almost forgotten world, the inner world of mystery and holiness.

The journey, whether long or short, can transport the pilgrim into another dimension, an inner world of spiritual truth. There, in that hidden world, lives the true self that all seek. Whether one enters a Buddhist cave, climbs a Chinese sacred mountain, or kneels before the Ka’aba in Mecca, the possibility of inner transformation is there. It is, to say the least, worth the trip.

THERE IS A PLACE

There is a place Where the pavement ends And the road turns rutted, All grassy in between, Then, a once used Foot trail, Easing mindlessly Through the crags And deep forest Where the feral range; And the alpine meadow, But for the whir of dragonfly and bee, Lies motionless and hushed;

Now narrowing Through a gorge Wide enough for One pilgrim only, Plodding on To a destination Unspecified by habit

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Until, a day, If destiny should prevail, There, in a clearing, Canopied by misty oaks, The great Pool of Silence Where nothing stirs.

Not even the cicada sings And all matter, Even this matter, Dissolves At last Into the holy mystery.

Jay G. Williams

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Jay G. Williams

Dr. Jay G. Williams, Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies (retired) at Hamilton College, holds degrees from Hamilton (A.B.), Union Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Columbia University (Ph.D.). He is the author of several books including: Ten Words of Freedom (1970), Understanding the Old Testament (1972), Yeshua Buddha (1978), Judaism (1980), The Riddle of the Sphinx (1990), A Reassessment of Absolute Skepticism and Religious Faith (1996), The Times and Life of Edward Robinson (1999), The Way of Adam (2002) , The Secret Sayings of Ye Su (2004), The Voyage of Life (2007), The Way and Its Power (2008), Religion: What it has been and what it is (2008), The Stupa, Buddhism in Symbolic Form (2010), How to Determine the Meaning of a Sacred Text (2011), and Thomas Nast, America’s Greatest Political Cartoonist (2014). He has also published three chapbooks of poetry as well as a significant number of scholarly articles, book reviews, and monographs. From his collection of 19th and early 20th Century illustrations he has mounted several exhibitions featuring works by Thomas Nast, Winslow Homer, Frederick Remington, and several others.

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