By Way of an Explanation

But why do you do it? I have often been asked when I am on a pilgrimage. The easy and disarming reply is usually ‘Why not?’ 'It's a walking Retreat!' and many other quips.

‘You look silly in those clothes!’ ‘Different maybe, but not really silly, especially when compared to other fashions. The clothes are very practical.

'It’s not a proper holiday!' But of course, it is. The word holiday comes from Holy Day, and a Holy Day meant a day off work. How much more of a Holy Day can you have, than being on a pilgrimage.

You aren’t a Catholic/don’t go to church! True. Spiritual is probably more descriptive of me. The church had many problems in the past with free-thinkers and would bring them into the orthodoxy of the church, or get rid of them, usually by very unpleasant means. After which a theological discussion, argument can follow.

There are many reasons that I have made so many pilgrimages. A long-held love of medieval life and culture. A love of the countryside. The romance of being on the road, but that can quickly be tempered by the weather, tiredness and hunger. The knowledge of testing yourself. It is a walking retreat, away from the routines of everyday life. You can do what you want, when you want. I want to experience something of how medieval life could be. All you have to worry about is walking, eating and finding somewhere to sleep. The constant change of scenery can be inspiring. I enjoy what I do and the restrictions I have imposed on myself. I could make the same walk in modern clothing, but then something would be missing... People!

The people who talk to me do so because I am not the same. They want to know what I am doing, and why. I like meeting people and if you are walking alone, it adds interest. People have told me of places I knew nothing about before. They have suggested routes that are more interesting than the ones I have planned. They have offered cups of tea and sometimes food or even a place to sleep for the night. In exchange I have some good tales to tell and can play a few medieval tunes to them. Not so different from medieval times.

Then there is the spiritual side, taken in the widest sense, it is life in miniature. The dreaming of a route. The birth of the walk as you set out with a host of expectations, many of which are usually never met, but the unexpected is often better than what you had dreamed. The achievement of arriving; but this may also lead to a slight anti-climax if you have enjoyed the journey and want to continue. It often takes a week to get used to the walking, and just when your muscles have adapted, you have to go home again.

You experience things more fully on a pilgrimage and a day seems more interesting than usual because so many different things occur. Your senses are finer. Sights and sounds remain in your memory. Food tastes better, no matter how poor it is. You appreciate the simple things in life. Rests are appreciated because they have been well-earned. Pubs are places to eat and meet interesting people. It may look like a pub crawl to some, but it is easier and not much more expensive to take your main meal in a pub, rather than carry dehydrated food and a small cooker.

Pilgrimage Today

Surprisingly, in this modern, so called secular age, the idea of pilgrimage is neither dead nor forgotten, as almost any day spent in Walsingham will soon prove. True, the modern pilgrims still tend to arrive by bus or car, but many more are beginning to arrive by bike or on foot. The crowds at Lourdes must resemble the throngs of medieval pilgrims who travelled to the many shrines of saints. The pious and the curious mingle with those seeking divine aid to cure their illnesses or solve their problems. There are the desperate, whom modern science has failed to help. There will be those who arrive at their destination who have been searching for something, but with no idea what; and who sometimes leave, having found it. The scent of the incense; the heat of the candles and the votive offerings and pleas are much the same; only the clothes are different! Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.