RE: Sacred places
Those stones are extraordinary, Sol.
Just to show how utterly naive you can be when young, I entered India overland and first arrived at Amritsar. I'd never really even heard of the place. Folk I was with at the time and shared a room with that night said they were going to see the Golden Temple and did I want to come? (It was a few hundred yards away.) No, I'd never heard of it, so I didn't go!
http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/india/amritsar.html
Well, who's game for a 3-day circumnavigation of Mount Kailash? -
http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/tibet/mt_kailash.html
V
RE: Sacred places
Did you see that tv documentary the other night about this sacred mountain - with the (it has to be said, extremely unfit for the part) chap that walked around it...?
I was stunned to see the pilgrims that prostrated themselves all the way around the place... Now THAT is dedication!
Sol.
RE: Sacred places
Hi Sol,
I have it video'd and am waiting a good space of time to see it. 😉
An elderly friend of mine who died a few months ago met his wife this way... In the early-1950s he was passing through King's Cross station in London when he saw a most extraordinary and beautiful woman. She really caught his gaze as she was quite unusual. If you imagine how ladies in 1952 dressed and behaved, this lady had a large canvas backpack on, and very rugged clothes, with a confident gaze. He engineered it that he was standing near her queue, and commented, 'You look like you've travelled far." It turns out that, a lone female in the 1950s, she had travelled for at least many months, and it might have been years, in the Himalayas, as well as the Indian plains. She went to Mt. Kailash which was then an enormous trek by foot, and gathered in the sacred cave where hundreds of yogis from all over the East had arrived on pigrimage. Apparently, at least in those days, two shining white doves would appear in this cave at a certain time once per year, and when their flights crossed, the person whom they crossed over was the blessed and exceptional person present. Amid all the Eastern yogis, they crossed over her. Oh, and when my late friend said. 'You look as if you've travelled far', they got into conversation for so had he, and they were never out of each other's company again from that day so long as she lived. 🙂
Hmm. Kailash.... (thought-bubbles).
V
RE: Sacred places
The Lake District was out of this world for me. Have been twice and would love to move there. There is also a local wood about a minute drive from us and I love it there too...quite lucky really. Have some great photos of the children there and this also means alot just looking at them.
Wendyxx
RE: Sacred places
Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel has to be my own very special sacred space. I have always been an island lover, having visited places such as Orkney, Shetland and Fair Isle, in the north of Scotland, and remember reading an article on Lundy in one of the Sunday papers, must have been some time in the early 90's. I put it to one side, for future reference, as I had already booked that years holiday, and thought it would might be nice to try to go the following year. I finally went for the first time in June 1995, and instantly fell in love, the moment I set foot ashore. It was like nothing I had ever felt before, literally like coming home, a feeling which to those who have not experienced it is very difficult to describe.
The island itself, although only 3 miles long, by a mile and half wide, is full of surprises and teeming with wildlife. Lundy has a special and unique atmosphere, no doubt fostered by the huge amount of love given to it by the islanders and visitors alike. It has a long and chequered history, having been used for smuggling and piracy, before coming into the hands of private owners, during Vicstorian times, most notably the Heaven family. Visitors such as myself affectionately refer to the island as the kingdom of heaven, which is a most appropriate title. These days it is run by the Landmark Trust.
It is almost impossible though to really sum up the magic of Lundy. It seems to act a mirror, reflecting our inner most thoughts, and giving us time to think and totally switch off from everything - it is the one place where I can totally switch off, and be myself, where I receive huge amounts of creative inspiration. The Island is criss crossed by several different ley lines and vortexes, one of which is literally outside the back door of the cottage I stay in, in a Bronze Age grave yard! It also forms a Lunar triangle with Stone Henge and the Preseli Mountains, where the stones came from.
It will be 10 years this summer since my first ever visit, and I have since made many more. This year, in June this year will I believe be either the 17th or 18th one. I have never been to one place so many times, but still it keeps drawing me back.
http://www.lundyisland.co.uk/
http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/
[DLMURL] http://www.talismanskull.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/LundyIsland.htm [/DLMURL]
June