Those who want to go to Scotland or UK, and have an interest in Celtic Christian Spirituality.

Before the Pilgrimage to the UK, a stepping stone could be a long weekend at Columcille Megalith Park,PA. Accommodation at Kirkridge. This is not a prerequisite it can be a stand alone experience, for anyone who wants an introduction to Celtic Christian Spirituality, and don’t want to take the long journey to the UK.

Retreat Focus: Celtic Christian Spirituality, Art, Contemplation and silence and immersion in nature, as creation magnifies the creator.

Three Problems to solve or resolve

1. Too busy to be still, know self, know God or the Divine Spirit. (Partner with the Wild Goose)

2. Caught in the routine of life so that you feel like you are only going through the motions.

3. You know you need to get away, give yourself permission to have a getaway for yourself.

My three experiential activities the person on the retreat would participate in when on the pilgrimage or mini pilgrimage

1. To be in Scotland Iona, Lindisfarne or Cornwall. Or prior to international experience go to Columcille Megalith Park,PA. And be immersed in the beauty of nature and location, having the time and space for being still, and to draw close to our journey companion, the Spirit. We are on a journey, daily we enter into a pilgrimage, but at times we are going through the daily grind, and have need of being in a sacred thin place, having a moment of encounter with God in a sacred space and location.

2. Go and ponder the thresholds of life, at a stone circle, entering a holy building, or by walking a labyrinth.

3. Have time to Journal the journey, and given times to ponder our thoughts and feelings. Resting in the different experiences, plus reflect in a different manner by going on a walk and take a photo of a space that has captured your imagination or you have felt a connection too.

The accommodation near Columcille I would like to use is at Kirkridge

• 

A sacred journey and ancient paths to be explored:

This is Celtic Christian spirituality. Is a discovery of ancient paths or a way of life!

This way has a connection to the creator and nature, as creation magnifies the creator. We will be given time to have space to create art, be in nature, develop relationships, and also time with God. Having fellowship with fellow believers, being inspired in locations that have been places of pilgrimage, that have been tried and tested for years. Becoming that oasis of  are sacred places where for centuries people have gone to encounter these sacred spaces. To walk gently on the earth.

Location and accommodation: Location, Location, Location!

Is it clean and charming?

Does it add to the experience and not take away from the feel you are trying to create?

Is it close to an activity that is in line with the theme of your retreat?

Make sure the morning session activity flows into the planned site to be seen.

After lunch: Is the activity in line with the theme of what you are promising to give? Is the location of the activity not too far away and is in line with focused goal that you are promising to give?

Are there places of interest not too far from the accommodation location of the retreat?

Cornwall

A different UK location I’m pondering and considering is Cornwall for a Pilgrimage location:

Prideaux at Padstow

Go to the location of this Cross, Prideaux, Padstow.

https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=310

Crantock

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/5457035/is-this-the-most-romantic-beach-in-britain-cornish-bay-reveals-a-secret-when-the-tide-goes-out/

St. Crantock is he a figure to learn from. Was he a Celtic Saint?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crantock

St. Cubert, wondering if this is a spelling variation of Cuthbert?

https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/CON/Cubert

http://www.cornwalltour.co.uk/cubert.html

https://www.cornwallforever.co.uk/places/cuberts-wells

St Piran church

St Piran’s Day

Section from Main article: St Piran’s Day

St Piran’s Cross in the dunes at Perranzabuloe

St Piran’s Day is popular in Cornwall and the term ‘Perrantide’ has been coined to describe the week prior to this day. Many Cornish-themed events occur in the Duchy and also in areas in which there is a large community descended from Cornish emigrants. The village of Perranporth (‘Porthpyran’ in Cornish) hosts the annual inter-Celtic festival of ‘Lowender Peran’, which is also named in honour of him.

The largest St Piran’s Day event is the march across the dunes to St Piran’s cross which hundreds of people attend, generally dressed in black, white and gold, and carrying the Cornish Flag.[30] A play of the Life of St Piran, in Cornish, has been enacted in recent years at the event. Daffodils are also carried and placed at the cross. Daffodils also feature in celebrations in Truro, most likely due to their ‘gold’ colour. Black, white and gold are colours associated with Cornwall due to St Piran’s Flag (black and white), and the Duchy Shield (gold coins on black).

In 2006 Cornish MP Dan Rogerson asked the government to make 5 March a public holiday in Cornwall to recognise celebrations for St Piran’s Day.[31] In 2010, a short movie about St. Piran was made and premiered at the Heartland Film Festival.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Piran

Kernow in the name for Cornwall, I think this would be a good location for the next Pilgrimage abroad.

St. Levan’s Church, Cornwall

St. Ives

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St. Clether’s Holy Well and Chapel, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

https://www.stcletherholywellchapel.com/

Men-an-Tol, Cornwall

Lanyon Quoit, Cornwall

Tintagel Head, Cornwall

St. Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall

https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cornwall/ancient/st-nectans-glen.htm

St Nectan’s Glen is an area of woodland in Trethevy, Cornwall, near to magical Tintagel. It houses a spectacular 60-foot waterfall known as St Nectan’s Kieve, the only waterfall of its kind, where the water falls down through a holed stone into the basin below. The waterfall is said to have healing powers, and is described as being one of the ten most spiritually significant places in the country.

Merlin’s Cave, Tintagel, Cornwall

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Other tour sites

https://themagicalplaces.com/tours/Cornwall.htm

Air B and B Cornwall

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cornish_saints

http://www.journeyswithsoul.com/sacred-tours.php?name=Cornwall%20Tour

7. St Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall

The making of Sacred Wonders, I had never heard of St Nectan’s Glen in Cornwall. It is an astonishingly beautiful, even magical spot, like a fairy glen made real. The glen has been cut by water and erosion during who knows how many millennia. What greets the visitor now is a waterfall that drops around 20m into a natural bowl and then emerges through a circular hole cut by the endless stream. Moss and lichen cloak the sheer sides, along with precariously perched trees, so the whole place has a mysterious, otherworldly atmosphere. Once revered by pre-Roman Celts, who venerated the spirit of the water, and later associated with the 6th Century Saint Nectan, it is still visited today by thousands of people from all over the world. The Arthur myth too has been bolted on and folk thereabouts believe the king and his knights came to the glen to be blessed, before heading out in search of the Holy Grail. Christians, Buddhists, pagans and curious visitors with no religious beliefs of any kind are drawn to the place to this day. Many leave little souvenirs of their visit – single coins wedged into tree trunks, old train tickets from the journey, photos and keepsakes of loved ones.

8. Iona, to the west of Mull, Scotland



St Columba, the man credited with converting the Scottish Gaels to Christianity, fled or was driven out of Ireland in 563 AD. He was likely a high-born son of the O’Neill clan and so able to use his status to befriend the great and the good of western Scotland.

The wonder of Iona

                              Iona is the symbolic center of Scottish Christianity

                              It was one of the greatest centers of learning in Dark Age Europe

  St Columba established a monastery which became a center of pilgrimage

Source: BBC History

Discover the history of Iona

The Kingdom of the Gaels

He attended the inauguration of King Aedan mac Gabhrain in 574 and for his efforts was awarded the island of Iona. It was there that he and his followers established a Christian community, which in time became one of the brightest beacons of European Christianity. As well as the faith, Columba and his ilk brought literacy to the tribes. The community on Iona brought stability to much of the west of Scotland and the life of the saint was made immortal by the hand of Adomnan, a later abbot of Iona who wrote, The Life of Saint Columba.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25465210



https://www.museumstorecompany.com/nunnery-cross-isle-of-iona-scotland/#PhotoSwipe1564403562900

Iona cross I have always liked saw at Celtic Festival July 2019

It is the Alexander Ritchie Nunnery Cross from a carved stone that was on Iona, wonder if stone is still there?

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Cornwall is a Celtic land, sharing a common identity with such places as Brittany, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

During the Dark Ages, in the 6th century AD, the Celtic Saints came to Cornwall

and as we can still see today, left their mark on it in its place names, churches and chapels, crosses and holy wells, found across the whole of Cornwall.

https://www.intocornwall.com/features/crosses-holy-wells.asp

Video

Cornwall One of the Celtic nations

http://www.artcornwall.org/features/Duncombe_Jewell_Cornwall_Celtic_Nations.htm

Cornwall’s Celtic identified

Cornish Celtic Identity

The Giant on St Michael’s Mount

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/feb/18/cornwall-celtic-walk-coast-path-trail-hike

https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cornwall/churches/tintagel.htm



The Rocky Valley Labyrinths

A more plausible theory is that the carvings are related to the early Christian hermitage at St Nectan’s Glen, further up the river. We know that the hermitage was a destination for pilgrims as early as the 6th century, and it would make sense that pilgrims would have walked up the river from Rocky Valley to the hermitage. Could the labyrinths have been carved on the old pilgrim’s path, and if so, what did they signify?

Finding the labyrinth carvings is straightforward. Just follow the footpath off the B3266 between Tintagel and Trethevy, opposite the minor road to Hagabron. Alternatively, take the South West Coast Path from either Boscastle or Tintagel, and turn inland when you come to the mouth of the River Trevillet. You will see the exposed rock face near the ruins of Trethevy Mill, and the carvings are quite easy to spot.

I took the longer route, starting in Boscastle and following the south west Coast Path along the cliffs. The scenery is simply stunning, and well worth the exertion. Just follow the signposted path to Rocky Valley. When I visited one of the footbridges across the river was washed out, but I was able to find a safe place to leap across without too much trouble.

https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cornwall/ancient/rock-valley-labyrinths.htm

https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/search?srch-term=Cornwall

 

I’m in a Celtic Christian Facebook community, a person in the group asked about the Celtic Cross. How did the Celtic Cross come to be?

Looking at a couple of books I had and some web searching. It has been very interesting to discover the different thoughts with regard to how the Celtic cross came into existence.

One book talked about the Druids having a standing pillars with a circle at the top, symbolic for the sun, which was a major divinity for them. “The message of the Celtic missionaries was simple: We have not come to deny the importance of the sun. Indeed, without it we would have no heat, no light, no life. Rather we have come to introduce you to the one who who is behind even the sun, moreover has revealed himself in the person of Jesus. Hence the pillar with the circle at its head simply developed into the Celtic cross with the arms of the cross superimposed or extended from the central orb.” pg 112 The Celtic Resource Book Matin Wallace.

The following website talks more on the aspect of the other theories site construction strength to the design – the circle strengthened the cross beams, preventing breakage or destruction by the elements or time. http://irishfireside.com/2015/02/03/history-symbolism-celtic-cross/

Then there is an article Stick, Stones and the Zodiac giving a lot of further insight.

The Celtic Guide Vol1 issue 3 March 2012

http://www.thecelticguide.com/2012.html

The Celtic cross is also called the Wheel Cross. “The Celtic cross combined the ancient pre-christian symbolism of the sun wheel, the sacred circle quartered by the four directions, with another layer of meaning: the cross on which Christ died, creating the intersection between Heaven and earth, God and humans.” pg 82 Water from an ancient well, Kenneth McIntosh.

After reading these books and article, I have come to the understanding that I have had a simplistic understanding of the Celtic Cross. However, I love the craft in the following video. That has become a meditative practice for me personally and my first contact with the Celtic Cross. This has allowed me to enjoy designing in the paper cross and giving me a lot of pleasure over the years.

Keith Duke has developed a musical language that has its roots in Celtic music and the ancient chants, yet speaks too in the voice of the twenty-first century. He has worked for many years with the priest-poet of Lindisfarne,

Source: Sacred Dance CD, 656172012329, 1490179, Keith Duke, kevin Mayhew Ltd – Kevin Mayhew

 

This is a post from on July 3, 2015 by sunriseofcross

These thoughts are my musing about my book project. The Anam Cara, A Celtic Tale of Tobar’s Transformation. It was inspired by a wonderful book by John O’Donohue, Anam Cara. This was the seed sown, beginning the journey of discovering more on this subject.

 

 

 

The following is thought insights I’m trying to bring to the surface in people’s lives, of the benefit of an  AnamCara. Just making a conscious effort to be open to the leading of God, to find a friend to bear your soul.

Begin today, choose to reinvent yourself and bring benefit into your life by making an Anam Cara, (Gaelic for a Soul – Friend) Someone who encourages a closer walk of relationship with God, who helps you to see your life role. To ultimately be walking in kingdom values. An Anam Cara is a person who is encouraging you to have the confidence that the Monarch of the Universe is watching your back.

Experience: Remember this book is not a textbook, but an experience, a journey to encounter the Monarch of the Universe giving life tips along the way, being alongside Tobar a fellow pilgrim and student. This book is fictitious but laced with spiritual truths to aid any who are wandering and aimless in life. We all need to receive support, through the turbulent time in our lives, to be given direction. This book: The Anam Cara, A Celtic Tale of Tobar’s Transformation. Maybe the book to give you solace and direction, being taught in the classroom of Tobar’s life with his Anam Cara named Issidore, learning how to put in place tools to know the guidance of the Monarch of the Universe. Also tools of how to choose your own soul-friend this will have a reciprocal benefit for both the Anam Cara and Anam Caree. (Mentee)

Epidemic problems: The Anam Cara, this is an ancient practice, I feel a treasure was forgotten, if implemented will overcome a number of problems of epidemic proportions. What are they, you may ask? The first is loneliness! We are in a society that is very independent, individualistic, and superficial, we may have friends but they do not share the deep soul issues, and the burdens of their hearts.

Without a Vision: The next issue, having an Anam Cara could confront is the aimlessness in people lives.We all need someone to go too, having a sounding board in your  life, and an Anam Cara, can aid in life vision and aspirations, sharing the longings of the heart, can be the first stage toward attaining your dreams, and toward choosing your vocation that has been placed within you from the beginning of time.

Nurture growth: Helping your gifts to come to the surface, this is not just benefiting you, but the whole world. To further establish the kingdom for The Monarch of the Universe. Having a bigger picture, expecting to be matured and fully grown to bear fruit that is beneficial for all.

What will you do to get a chance to reinvent yourself?

Let God, or The Monarch of the Universe as referred to in my book,The Anam Cara, A Celtic Tale of Tobar’s Transformation, have control of your life. The Monarch of the Universe can use you in the service of righteousness, peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit. Secondly, if you choose to buy this book,when it is published, wonderful, but ultimately it is allowing the Guide to help you discern the needed changes in your life, this is what allows for the transformation, aided by your Anam Cara.

Imagine: Paint a picture in your mind of you entering into all that the Monarch of the Universe has for you, you fulfilling your role for life. Picture yourself entering into this dream, all because you have learned, to hear, and listen to instruction through direction from the Monarch of the Universe. Because you have been taught by your Anam Cara, who has given a word in season that helped with the discerning process. We all need friends to help us in the journey of life and we also have a friendship that can be found in The Monarch of the Universe, who is for us and not against us. Let us press on forward knowing that the Monarch of the Universe is more for us that we are at times for ourselves.

Service: Make a difference by allowing The Monarch of the Universe to make a difference in your life. Your transformation will allow you to help others in their transformation and restoration experience. You know you want to reinvent yourself, who better to help you do this than the God of the Universe, the Monarch of the Universe, who created everything and is at work in your life even as we speak, right now.

The Seer Anam Cara: This is an ancient practice, going back centuries to the time of King Saul, in the Bible where there are others figures, but this is the one I would have us focus on from the Old Testament accounts. 1 Samuel 9: 1- 10, 19 NIV:

“I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will send you on your way and will tell you all that is in your heart.

The people sought the advice of the Seer, to get insight regarding a troubling life issue.

You can be that sought after sage / seer, who can give a word in season given from the Monarch of the Universe, thus being a conduit with a message from heaven.

This is some of the thinking and ideas for my book project that I’m slowly working on, has been over several years. The book grows as I grow.

Touched By Many: Celtic Christian Spirituality is like a bolt of tartan that has been woven together over a long period of time, centuries. There have been may hands that tended to the sheep, protecting the heard from the wolves, protecting life, allowing the fleece to grow, passing through many hands. That touch is necessary, touched by people touched by God, being prepared, made ready for the wool to be made, into a garment, each strand playing its part so that it is recognizable as tartan. It has many color pallets this fabric, but when seen by those in the know, it is recognizable as tartan or plaid as it is referred to in the USA. The clans of old would have seen the tartan and the color variety, and recognized the clan, a lot like our logos of today enabling us to recognize the company. The tartan of the clans or tribes, would be recognizable and with it the clan name and its leader and they would have known the traits of that community, its unique color and texture plus their beliefs and virtues, and the stories and tales of the woe and hardship, their kinship, and their loyalty, and if they are a friend or a foe.

Historic In Nature: After the fall of Rome and their withdrawal around AD 410, this left a vacuum that needed to be filled, socially, politically, and religiously, and the Celtic people without a hiccup would have continued with their belief structure having not fully conformed to the Roman rule.It was viewed as being imported into their land for the sole purpose of business and comers. The ordinary indigenous people would not have fully embraced the Roman beliefs and customs. They would have maintained their own beliefs and faith and the freedom that came with this. When Rome left, the info structure crumbled with their departure, making the roads what the Romans are famous, over a period of time un-kept and no longer maintained or passable with ease. These byways would have still been used and still a route of travel but more difficult with the passing of time and deterioration occurred, and the cities to go to for trade were gone. Out of the chaos, God allowed light through people, those who were being the hands and feet of Christ, people finding friendship, love, care, compassion, stability, and some order through the Christians that remained, who were making a difference in this dark period of time.

 

The Importance Of Community: This is where the Christian community begins to have its place in society, a place of safety from thieves, and those who want to take advantage of the weak. The Christian settlements / communities would be like a B&B or a Rest stop or Service station of refueling and healing for the weary traveler. The Christian communities would be lead by men and women of faith, having a heart for God and for people, providing a place of welcome and hospitality for the guest, also a haven or sanctuary. However a lot of the communities would gravitate to the coast, where trade and fishing would be the wealth of the community and travel by water would be the next mode of public transport, making it easier to travel.

It is easy to drift away from our center, our reason for doing something, our vision.

Friendship The Importance Of This: I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, they were asking what I do other than work part time at the Library, and the conversation swung around to my interest in Celtic Christian Spirituality and my website development. This friend did not know anything about the subject of Celtic Christian Spirituality (CCS), and she noticed how I switched between CCS and Celtic Spirituality (CS). This is an important point she brought to my attention. Christ has to be at the center of Celtic Christian Spirituality or it would become like any other Spirituality. It is good to see the need for the spiritual in our lives, but not at the expense of leaving Christ behind, and distracted by the disciplines or tools. I realize it is so easy to forfeit the reason for spiritual reading and research, yes gain knowledge, but it is to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. I fall into the danger of acquiring information but not receiving the transformation. “Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual need, for the kingdom of God belongs to them! A verse from Matthew 5: 1-10 this is a paraphrase. We do need to have a yearning for God, but not at the cost of being so driven that we are not resting in God, the one who is the sustainer, the one who brings restoration and transformation, with the aid of the Holy Spirit who guides us into truth, the truth we need right now, in this very moment, becoming the new creation, this is being worked out in our lives. Christ is necessary, for without Christ at the center it could be influenced by many other beliefs and philosophies. Thus, why it is important to have an Anam Cara, a soul friend who walks by your side, yes a friend who knows you, warts and all. Can this be the Holy Spirit also, who leads into truth, and know every aspect of your life?

Christ Is Supreme “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,^[e]
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
¹⁷ He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.^[f]
So he is first in everything.
¹⁹ For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
²⁰ and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

²³ But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

Colossians 1:15-23 New Living Translation

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary things: We are to proclaim Christ, and learn from the people who walked the sacred way before us, they are called saints now. But where ordinary people like you and me, who were godly, devoted to following God, seekers of Jesus, very devoted to drawing nearer to Jesus, taking time out to be alone with God, and enjoying God and creation. There was an openness to the Holy Spirit, or the Wild Goose, the symbol of the Holy Spirit in CCS, who is free to fly and do the will of the Father, to help the community of believers see the supernatural, to have an encounter with the divine.

Make Time For Quiet Moments, As God Whispers And The World Is Loud.