ŷ������

Pilgrimage in English, pèlerinage en français, or peregrinación en español.

With our friend Magdelanye taking her steps on the path taken by countless other spirits over the centuries, my thoughts go to what this might mean in our era.

With big thinkers like Hitchens and Dawkins and Hawking asking us to look beyond established religions, what might the purpose of spiritual pilgrimage be?

If we remove specific deities and belief systems from the equation, what purpose might pilgrimage serve to me? And what purpose might a pilgrimage on my own part serve in the bigger picture of humanity?

For me, a pilgrimage clarifies my focus and simplifies my life, kind of a mental/life housecleaning. I could certainly use one right now to focus on my priorities and shake out all the mental junk.

The Road not taken, perhaps.....
I chose the narrow way.
That is all of me, those characters within and on the surface.

I could use a pilgrimage right now. I feel like I've shriveled into this boring, banal person. Perhaps this apartment hunt & (hopefully soon if we can find something) move will re-awaken something new in me. I'd hate to think that this is who I am for the rest of my life.

Luckily (and sometimes not) nothing stays the same, even (or especially) our selves.

Thanks Jim for posing this question,which I have been living with.
I agree with everyone who answered.
Kinkk has really captured it with sorting out whats really me here.
What remainns when you are cold,hungry,exhausted and have just found out the hostel you were planning to spend the night is closed?
I am not all that gracious or as spiritual as I was when I started.
So close to the end of this portion, my spirits have dipped and Ellie, I in fact was feeling boring banal and about to die (from food poisoning I think)
But lo, on the 3rd day, I can walk again, and am just now anticipating chicken soup (the remedy for all ills)

Magdelanye wrote: "But lo, on the 3rd day, I can walk again, and am just now anticipating chicken soup (the remedy for all ills) .."

"Blesséd is she who eats her chicken soup."
- Ancient wisdom from Jewish mothers everywhere

Very good to hear from you. Take care of your health as best you can and check back in when you have the energy.

Please feel better and take care. I miss you.

Ah,what I am looking for is vey basic and simple mostly. It´s to be well enough myself that I can have something to contribute to the world. I needed that down time in Azua for more than physical recovery, because the timing of everything that subsequently happened depended on it. I have learned a lot in the last few weeks, and the lessons dont stop.To have faith is a big one for me. Thanks for your encouragement Kink

You are amazing Magdelanye-I don't know how you're doing it but I'm amazed & in awe.

Take care-you already give to the world just by being you.

I hope you are physically well now, though, Magdelanye. Been pretty worried about you. Your soul needs a body too, you know!
Yes, i second Ellie --you give to the rest of us, as well as yourself by being well and caring for yourself and being you!

thank you sweet friends. I a have been doing just that,resting and eating more regularly,now ready to move on to the next phase of this journey. I really wish we could all meet here in Finisterre, a great Mievillian kind of place....keep it in mind....will let you know where I land next and always feel more grounded after checking in here.

כךןעיא פשאיד ישד נקקמ רקךשאןהקךט /וןקא םמ שךך נוא 'ישא this is what you get when you start typing without checking to make sure the bilingual machine is still in the language you programmed.
Right now I am visiting my exhusbands sister at her kibbutz near Tiberius, waiting in fact for her return from the hospital where her daughter is giving birth.
The last time I was here,this was a sketched out version of a place. Now,decades later,the trees have grown stately and the house Anat has remodelled is the kind of home one dreams of,or at least for me,its elegant simplicity is a testimony of a good life and a stability that I have never known.This a major paradox,as the underground shelters that dot the kibbutz attest to the tenuousness of the peace that surrounds this remote little village.

You are living the mot exciting life!

Ellie

Figured this was as good a place to post some exciting news that Paulo Coelho is making himself available for questions on April 2, all day.
I have posed one and I believe some of you would like to as well. I noticed that NONE OF MY FRIENDS had signed up, so if you wish I will invite you.
I am also planning to join the WalkAboutLove in a couple of weeks/ Have left Ornits and am am finally with my family in Rishon Lezion,after many adventures in Jerusalem and Mitzpeh Rimon.

Very exciting. I wonder, have you got a link for us, Mags? (For the Coelho thing)

I have formally invited you and some others.
Let me know if it didnt work.

Thanks, Delanye. The fault may lie in the volume of my updates.
If it was many days ago, I'll have to go back into my e-mails and check..

Traveller wrote: "Thanks, Delanye. The fault may lie in the volume of my updates.
If it was many days ago, I'll have to go back into my e-mails and check.."

fuck
Gr is wonky right now
I invited you yesterday,and am trying to repeat the process but for some reason there are onlt half a dozen names on my friend list.Ellie joined so I know some got through
will try again now

look again trav,I got my friend list to include you but it says you are already invited

Hmm, not the Dorkapalooza thing, I presume? Let me look some more..

Oh, the group! Got it now thanks! Now, please give a mo in order to digest all this new input. Thanks, Magdelanye!

Oh goody,I see you now listed, And I see all kinds of questions,but where is Paulo?
Ugh, I cant figure it out/

Me neither.

Yes, the questioners seem very enthusiastic- maybe it's a bit overwhelming...

Paulo's responses begin at post #554

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks Jim.

Jim wrote: "Paulo's responses begin at post #554

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1..."

thanks from me too Jim.You are a great ground control,
This was the first time I have takenpart in one of these forums,and I guess my fantasy was that he would be,like,there somehow.

see my last status update for some photos of the last part of the journey

Is 'home' where we are or where we wish to be ?

Home is where we fit-even if it isn't happy. I think.

home is where I sleep
even if it isnt happy
travelling on a slender budget,I am always so grateful for clean sheets and knowing that,in the morning,there will be breakfast
happiness is in the moment

This seems like an appropriate place for this first announcement.
I have not found a suitable place to move into.
The time has come for a commitment to my decision to put the things I want to keep, mainly my library, into storage and don my pilgrim garb again. I am a bit nervous, but more excited to see what I can do with this challenge.
I have 3 weeks left for this task, and during this time I plan to enjoy all the simple pleasures that so often seem like chores: cooking, laundry and tidying up. And of course, the pleasures of reading in bed, the solarium, the beach down the street....just having a home.
It will be a big adventure and I will keep in touch. Once again, flight paths will be my home base. I have a feeling I wont be reading as much, but I am hoping I can stash a box of books I can access occasionally.
C'est la vie!

Best of luck Magdelanye. I'm sorry that you've been forced into this but I hope it goes well. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it because that's the kind of person you are!

I hope we will keep hearing from you. I personally would miss you greatly. Do you know where you'll start?

I'm sorry you haven't found a new home, Magdelanye. I will miss you a lot and hope you find a way of popping in often.
Find a new home soon, my friend.

Thanks Petra and Ellie for your warm wishes.
two weeks now..
And time has speeded up it seems the days are flying by. I am hoping the magnolia tree will be in full bloom before then. The buds are covering the tree now.
Thanks to MaryAnne and Lara for all the boxes they brought me. Also, the tea is lovely, reminds me of Pu-er. But I can't believe they didn't want to borrow any books!

I will try to post our picture.
I've done it before, I can do it even better now.

A week to go and then I will have some closure and depart for my own re-orientation pilgramage/holiday. I sometimes think I am observing myself from an academic/third person perpsective, which probably is why I prefer writing that is in the third rather than the first person.

properly done, this is the exalted witness
care be taken to carry detachment to an extreme which is disassociation.
I love that you are going on your own pilgrimage.

Ice, a pilgrimage is a good resetting and time of contemplation. It will help you reset and reorientate, as you say.

Ice wrote: "A week to go and then I will have some closure and depart for my own re-orientation pilgramage/holiday. I sometimes think I am observing myself from an academic/third person perpsective, which prob..."

Good luck Ice. I hope it's a healing experience.

Retirement has been a pilgrimage of sorts. I have picked up a Tennis racquet (or is it racket) with intent after a 30 year break, I started as the oldest player by far in the beginner group ! I have taken up (indoor/carpet) bowls, where I always seem to be the youngest in the group. I have done a lot of community work in the last 9 months, and am just taking a break, as it was pushing out family and friends from my diary .... and perhaps myself, hence the reading hiatus. After 4 years since my wife's passing still sorting house stuff accumulated but feel I have reasonable control of the garden (as much as nature allows in our days of climate abnormality - new reality). As to closure I am planning in 2024 to undertake the last of the ashes scatterings around the UK, Scotland and Wales.
The grandchildren (2 plus 2 step children) are in or on the verge of being teenagers !

I'm hardly more aware of times passing than when I'm checking in with this group. I remember when your grandkids were born Ice.
Now I'm off on an extension of my pilgrimage. All I'll say for now is I just booked my ticket to fly out of Vancouver May 19. I hope to be in Van for a few days beforehand so maybe Petra it could be our opportunity.

Magdelanye, how long will you be in Europe? Where are you visiting? What brought on this trip? How is the trip going?

I have been busy in May and seem to have missed something significant. Please fill me in.

thanks Petra for following up....I'm rather excited to say that at last I'm acting on my mission as a peace dancer. A few days ago I began at the Anne Frank statue behind the museum. Tuesday i go to Berlin for a few days and planning to spend my birthday in the Warsaw ghetto. Then on to Sarajevo and then we,ll see..I have 6 months over here to spread the word (I already have had to get more fliers printed) and when there are enough of us who want it, say half the world is longing for it, we declare world peace.

Oh my goodness! This sounds exciting and amazing!
I don't know what a peace dancer is, but keep dancing for peace!! We need peace for all humanity!

Have a most wonderful time. Pop in whenver you can to keep us updated.