YOGINI PILGRIMAGES AND RETREATS
“I am a Pilgrim on Earth.
Come on A Intimate Pilgrimage with me
to Re-Discover Your (self+Self)”
Any journey that is undertaken with an open conscious intent of Knowing Oneself in Relationship with Everything Outside and Without is a Pilgrimage. It is a phenomenological journey of Discovering and Being with Oneself through and beyond the World Outside. The distance covered in a pilgrimage is independent of the outside. It is within – from the head to the Heart. Only A Seeker of Whole Truth can undertake a Pilgrimage. It asks for Courage to Meet one’s Fears, and step into the Unknown.
Every Pilgrimage begins with a quest or search or intention in the SOUL. It usually involves a journey to a sacred site, a spiritual place of his-storic, her-storic or ancestral significance, or faith, or a spiritual festival, or even a Sacred Nature place like a mountain or river etc.
Pilgrimage is always a SOLO journey even when you might be journeying with a group. If a space is not created for the SOLO SOUL Experience, then it is not a Pilgrimage. Pilgrimage needs to re-vitalize the Senses, re-tune the Sensory Perceptions, and bring comfort to the Soul to be in the World on return.
These Yogini Pilgrimages will be ritual-centered, women-centered, and India-centered. It is recommended for the Ordinary of Heart and will be held within simple comforts. The focus will be on indulging in the Soul, and not on sightseeing, eating, shopping, dressing, etc. We will use existing local public transportation systems of cars, buses, trains, rickshaws, and more. Accommodations will be humble, and clean. Food will be vegetarian. Smoking or Drinking will not be an option.
The focus of the pilgrimage will not just be the quest and the experiences on the quest but also, will create ample space and time for solitude, reflective sharing, cyclic pause, and experiencing connections. Opportunities will be held for process-work and integration of the experience so life post the Pilgrimage feels nourished. The pilgrimages will be in alignment with circadian, seasonal, lunar, menstrual, and life rhythms. It will be focused on Depth than Expansive travel.
SOME OF THE PILGRIMAGES I AM CALLED TO FACILITATE
In the Earth Wisdom Tradition of India, the entire universe is an embodiment of Shakti – The Great Cosmic Mother dancing in the spacious emptiness of Shiva. She constitutes the central hub of every village unit in India. She appears as a stone, a tree, a mountain, an animal, a myth, a sacred grove, a feminine body part, a process, an ancestor, a mysterious ritual happening, a small temple shrine, or She is an elaborately intricate temple tradition held within the complexity of myth, stories, rituals, festivals, and phenomenon. She is known in as many names as there are people who worship her in India.
These pilgrimages support the visitation of Her Sacred Sites & Shrines, trace her origin story, re-inform the Myth, participate in Ritual Making, and awaken her knowing within our own inside in away that we are able to navigate and integrate her unique aspect into our own life.
The Rites, Ritual, and Ceremonial map of India can be traced to align within the Cyclic Dark (Shiva) – Light (Shakti) Earth Traditions. It Honours the Cosmic Experience, Cosmic Intersection, and Cosmic Interplay of the Sun, Moon and its shadow, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn on our Soul navigation on and from the Earth. Within These pilgrimages, I will be guiding participation in Earth and Ancestral Ritual Traditions of my Maternal and Paternal lineage of Kannur and Vadakara. It will be held Annually in the Month of March.
These pilgrimages are more local – in and around the city of Bangalore (within 2-3 hours of travel), and will be seasonally held and support the Re-Membering, Re-Pairing, and Re-Storying of the Maiden, Mother, Queen and Crone Gateways. It will also, Guide women in the ancient practices of seasonal Self-Care, Menstrual support, Elemental ritual clearing, and more based on the regional map of India. These pilgrimages and restreat will be held in Early Spring, and Early Autumn.
“When indigenous women raise and prepare food, their actions are often accompanied by prescribed chants and prayers that thank the grain for growing and ask for this bounty to continue. They are taught to set out spirit plates, and feed the unseen presences that are also part of the family and tribe. The men may purify themselves before a hunt, to be worthy of taking life, and thank an animal for its willingness to sacrifice its life for the lives of the people. The children are draped in amulets that contain powerful medicine to guard their well-being, and as they come of age they are initiated through time-honored, often elaborate rites of passage.”
– Christina Baldwin
(Calling the Circle – The First and Future Cultures)