Why we walk.
Why we walk together.
This website is designed to encourage pilgrimage in New Zealand and provide people with some ideas for creating their own.
“Pilgrimages make it possible to move physically, through the exertions of one’s body, step-by-step, toward those intangible spiritual goals that are otherwise so hard to grasp.. We are eternally perplexed by how to move towards healing, or forgiveness or truth, but we know how to walk from here to there, however arduous a journey.”
~ Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust, A History of Walking
We tend to imagine life as a journey and going on an actual journey makes that concrete and acts it out in the body. When we are seeking to resolve deeper pains and disturbances, it can be very helpful to just walk. Even more so when we walk in nature, and walk with others. It is a complete sensory, embodied experience.
This walking, talking, reflecting, connecting practice facilitates an open-ness to the spiritual dimension that is present through it all. It allows time and space for deeper connection.
Reflections from local pilgrims
“Life, for most people, is complicated and the sacred practice of “walking it out” grounds me and offers wisdom for the way forward.”
“Pilgrimage offers a muscular response to our situations in life and faith. It is a spiritual practice that has integrity in its very simplicity.”
“Pilgrimage offers many solutions. It offers a pause in our busyness, a chance to reflect and gain new perspectives, the satisfaction of physical exertion on a purposeful journey, deeper friendship and conversation and well-earned meals.“
“It’s an opportunity to experience myself as a creature in creation moving through the landscape. As I leave the clatter of normal transport modes behind and explore natural landscapes at walking pace my mind opens up, different horizons come into view. “
“Slowly, my busy mind drops it’s to-do lists, and my brain leaves it’s fixations. The world comes to me in a different way and my mind is free to wander, connect and create.”
Pilgrimage in Aotearoa
Our group has a desire to validate Aotearoa/New Zealand as a country worthy of pilgrimage. There are many famous pilgrimage routes throughout the world - the Spanish Camino di Santiago in particular has experienced a resurgence in recent decades.
We want to explore the richness of our own landscape and history. New Zealand has a relatively short settler history and a much longer indigenous history. Many of us are children of the settler community and as we walk we want to deepen our relationship with tangata whenua, the people who first belonged to this land and hear their stories.
