Create Your Own Pilgrimage Route

Ceci n’est pas un Camino

In the UK, there has been a buzz of new ‘pilgrimage routes’ as the UK seeks to emulate the success of the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. It is important to remember that there is really no such thing as an ‘authentically ancient pilgrimage route’, and any claims of this are mostly modern marketing.

You cannot be guaranteed to find true tradition, or depth of experience, on a path just because a route-maker called it a ‘pilgrimage’. The wholeness sought, the sincerity in your heart, and the gifts you offer, are what make a journey into a pilgrimage. Not following signposts or a guidebook from people claiming authority.

The true tradition of historic pilgrimage was pragmatism. Travelling from home, there was not such a focus on the ‘one correct path’ as we see today. Changing conditions in politics and weather, and the more flexible nature of roads and their safety, meant that pilgrims travelled however they could.

Unset routes

The oldest (and best) pilgrimage tradition is to make up your own pilgrimage route, from home to a chosen destination. Once you’ve decided where you want to go and your ideal daily distance (aim for less!), you can plot your route (via footpaths) backward from the destination, to find your nightly accommodation points.

Some pilgrims dictate their route entirely by places they need to stay. But beware pre-arranging too devotedly, as your pilgrimage will be bound to a structure that may no longer fit once you start walking. The more rewarding challenge, requiring deeper trust in the path, could be to simply set out and wing it on the path.

An advantage of making your own route is the ability to choose meaningful sub-destinations along the way. That hilltop - that cave - that waterfall - may not make sense in terms of straight-line journeying, but making sense is not a rule. If you are passing a few miles away from a really exciting ancient tree, surely it makes sense to detour?

Journeying from Home

Throughout history, most people lacked the option to travel to a distant location to begin their pilgrimage. It is a huge privilege to enjoy the modern flexibility to start a journey wherever you like, but also, departing from home connects your journey to everyday life in a deeply valuable way.

Often, pilgrimage can feel distinct and disconnected from ‘normal’ life. Setting off from home keeps our path connected with what is most near and dear. In my experience, this is the most powerfully authentic mode of pilgrimage.

The great adventurers in Western culture - Odysseus, Polo, Verne & Baggins - made their journeys from home, and then returned. This is how, for the majority of human history, pilgrimage happened.

Of course, if you walk from home to a holy place, the most sensible outcome on arrival is to walk back again. Walking there and back takes longer, but it offers valuable time to assimilate your journey. It’s like following a labyrinth. If you walk all the way to the centre, you don’t step over the lines to walk out again. Entering the deep way, and leaving the deep way, makes sense.

This practice makes your holy place destination only halfway. Home becomes the ultimate destination of your pilgrimage, to bring back the blessing you have collected, to integrate it fully into your everyday life.

Although it takes twice as long to achieve a ‘there and back again’ journey, you could mitigate this by choosing a destination half as distant? It is a truly worthwhile form of pilgrimage, and in my opinion offers deepest reward.