Contemporary Celtic-Style Pilgrimage
Its Meaning and Relationship to the Traditional Understanding of Celtic Pilgrimage
Since the dawn of creation, some people have had a genetic compulsion to embark on journeys of discovery, with the final destination not considered as important as the encounters made on the journey itself. One such group of people were the Celts (including the Picts) who had a ‘tendency to wander, to roam, to explore ... and voyage, as well as pilgrimage and search, these are characteristic features of Celtic Christianity’. J. Joyce, Celtic Christianity, A Sacred Tradition, a Vision of Hope (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1998), pp.16-17.
These characteristic features will be unearthed in more detail as we explore the following:
The Traditional Christian Understanding of Pilgrimage
The Dawn of Celtic Christianity
The Winds of Change
The Reformation and Beyond
Contemporary Celtic-style Pilgrimage and Praxis.
It is only by comparing and contrasting pilgrimage in the Celtic era with the contemporary celtic-style pilgrimage, that the meaning and relationship of this important spiritual movement, and its relevance for contemporary Christian spirituality, will be recognised and acknowledged as a potent means of renewal throughout both Church and society.
We may better understand our subject by careful examination of the history of the ‘Celtic’ church era and its aftermath, the hagiography of some of the better-known personalities, and the adaptations that have resulted in the current celtic-style pilgrimage movement. Much of the historical evidence and hagiography continues to be the focus of intense scholarly debate with limited definitive answers, and with a plethora of literature that portray romantic notions rather than facts.
This topic is viewed from an ecumenical perspective, and one has to accept that a paradigm shift has occurred not only during this recent period, but also from the Celtic era until now. It is not that the old paradigm was wrong or bad, it was most effective in its age, but we are now in different times that require a changed rationale that is relevant.