This is a post that I wrote years ago. How relevant today as I am leaving on pilgrimage tomorrow with Patty. You can follow our tip at our jouney site; TWO PILGRIMS. We hope to be posting daily and uploading our photos.
written January, 2005
Over the past several years, I have been reading books by women on pilgrimage. They have traveled all over the world, in every possible direction, on every conceivable conveyance. Some were looking for something. Some were leaving something behind. All of them told enchanting stories.
I have a tendency to group books when I read; poets, novelists, seekers, a certain author. I have no idea why or set plan when I begin, but retrospection always makes me laugh at the organization it reveals. In this case, I have been watching how women’s ability to travel alone has effected their stories.
They do not have to dress like men, as did Alexandra David-Neel, when she made her “Journey to Lhasa.” They do not have to struggle with button boots and long skirts. Even the women from the Middle East were finally able to dress as athletes at the Olympics this year and leave their purdah at home.
The first time I read Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge, I longed to be Isabel. I could not understand why she refused to marry Larry Darrell and live in Paris on $3,000 a year. It sounded heavenly to me. And then one day I wondered what was it that held me back from wanting to be Larry? After all, it was his journey that I wanted, his questions that I shared. I believe it was the stories of brave, traveling women that gave me the courage to imagine myself with Larry’s life, not Isabel’s. By the time I read Hesse’s “Journey to the East,” I knew I could be a traveler. I could get on a train, a boat, a jeep, a trail and make discoveries for myself.
Women may travel now. They may travel alone; married or not. They may design their itinerary, earn their stipend, wheel their bags, pull on their boots, and write their magical stories for us to read. Here are four which I love. China Galland 1990 Penguin Books
China Galland is a brave and intelligent woman who took off looking for images of Black Tara and the Black Madonna. She went where the path unfolded and jumped into the local culture.
Nepal, India, Brazil, Argentina and the US, China discovers the Goddess around the world and takes all of us with her.
Jennifer Lash 1991 Bloomsbury Publishing
This elegant woman traveled the roads of nuns and saints through France and Spain. Her work is filled with literary humor and deep wisdom.
Shirley MacLaine 2000 Pocket Books
In this, book nine, Shirley takes all of us with her on the sacred pilgrimage of the Santiago de Compostela; the field of stars. Of course, we travel through several of her lifetimes as well.
These three women, each with her own agenda, slip us into their pockets and take us on profound and eloquent trips around the world. While describing the scenery, the buildings and the people, they also share with us their ever evolving, inner journey.
These three women went on pilgrimage. They wore pants and sensible shoes. They packed the minimum, ignored their fears, traveled on a shoestring and stood toe-to-toe with any male pilgrim. They slept where there was a vacancy or under a tree. They carried paper and pen; no guns, no knives, no trips to the taxidermist.
These three women did not relocate, but stayed on the road. They were not like Jane Goodall, Isak Dinesen or Golda Meir. These women have not unpacked, have no familiar hello when they arrive at their bed. Their only security was, what Jennifer Lash loved so much; the cold key in her pocket. That rented key, jangling in her pocket, meant that she had parked her suitcase, secured a bed for the night and could now walk through the town with her hands free and her back straight.
And now women can take another type of pilgrimage; one that does not require strong legs, blocks of leisure time, expendable cash or fearless risk-taking. Women, and men for that matter, can take wonderful trips via the internet. Certainly it is not the same as trekking through the mountains or standing on a new horizon. It is not the same as unfamiliar sheets or exotic cuisine, but it has its own advantages.
Emily Dickenson may have been agoraphobic, but she would not be trapped behind the drawing room curtain. She could be on the internet, traveling across the Atlantic, viewing the magical nature drawings of Beatrix Potter. Maybe you are wheel chair bound, require a special diet, need an oxygen tank, have financial responsibilities which limit travel, but you can still see so very much via the internet.
Last night while preparing for this essay, I ran a few interesting searches on the internet for the word, “Pilgrimage.” Google returned 270,000 matches in 0.11 seconds. Amazon.com returned 734 matches. And so I began wandering around France, Spain, Italy and the U.S. I went to bed entirely too late, but ah the things I saw and the dreams I had!
Longing for Darkness, Tara and the Black Madonna
The Bond Between Women, A Journey to Fierce Compassion China Galland 1998 Riverhead Books
On Pilgrimage , A Time To Seek
The Camino, Journey of the Spirit
