The Itinerary

Day One

We meet in Edinburgh and the journey begins! We visit the exquisite Rosslyn Chapel, steeped in stories of the Knights of the Crusade, but we begin with a walk in beautiful Rosslyn Glen, a place almost entirely overlooked by Chapel visitors, but part of Rosslyn's beauty and story.

We journey North by West this afternoon, into the Highlands of Scotland, stopping at a place that offers an homage to Celtic ancient poetry, the arts being so much a part of the spirit of Scotland. To set the scene, we'll visit our first stone circle, one that is largely forgotten and rarely visited. Your first night will be in a pretty Highland town, the haunt of na h-Uruisgean (water dieties).

Days Two and Three

We get remote for the next two days as we journey into the very heart of the Highlands. You'll visit an abandoned village where a famous seeress once lived. You'll hear some of her prophetic words (translated into English). We'll visit a stone circle where we can introduce David Cowan's work on ley lines and telluric energy. Many of the sites have active energy, Telluric, as David calls it, so if you have that sensitivity, you can test out his work.

We'll visit a reconstructed Iron Age village (which I helped build) to give you a sense of the domestic, the everday lives of the people whose spiritual practices you are investigating. In the afternoon, I'll hike up a gorge associated with the water dieties. You can join me or if you prefer, spend time in the town, or in our beautiful lodging to journal.

The second day will be spent in a place is known in Gàidhlig as The Long Crooked Glen of the Stones, one of Scotland's hidden gems (which is why I don't give its map-name here) with a dense collection of sites spanning several thousand years along the glen's thirty mile length, including one of the world's great, ancient trees. We'll translate local place names to identify the early Celtic Christian Saints' settlements in the Glen. Much that is hidden to the stranger's eye will be revealed. There will be a one hour hike up a mountain to an unmarked holy site. Well worth the climb.

Day Four

Today we head through some of the remotest parts of the Highlands towards Scotland's West Coast. Along the way we'll stop at a waterfall celebrated in poetry and a poet celebrated in stone, both tying to our theme of spirituality found in the landscape and in the Celtic arts. The views today will be dramatic, fearsome, intimidating even.

Having joureyed far, we come to rest amidst the Viking terriroty of the Eilean a'Cheò, the Isle of Skye. We sleep with our feet almost in the ocean in one of the most serene places on the west coast.

Day Five

Today you'll see some of the Isle of Skye's most hidden and special sacred sites. If you're looking for the Fairy Pools, Fairy Glen or Neist Point, then this is not the tour for you: join the huge crowds on the many tourist busses for which Skye is now known! For today we go to hidden and largely unknown parts of the island, ones that I don't name for good reason. We'll cross the sea by boat to arrive on Eilean a'Cheò, that being the most dramatic and appropriate way to reach this Isle of Mist (as Skye is known in Gàidhlig). We will begin in a remote glen to visit a ruined Iron Age dwelling. You will find a distractingly beautiful landscape - amidst which you'll visit the home of a Warrioress Goddess, a neolithic solar observatory, an early Celtic Christian holy well and other places of long-standing pilgrimage...

Day 6

Having gone so far north, we must journey south into Argyll, still on the West Coast, but quite different from Skye, both culturally and in landscape. Along the way we'll find time to get a taste of why Glencoe has so many Goddess-in-the-Landscape associations. We'll also hike into the mountain home of the Goddess of the Storms where you can contemplate one of the oldest dieties in Europe, and perhaps meet her goats! (See the short video below).

Days Seven, Eight and Nine

We'll spend three days exploring this rich area, one of the densest archaeological landscapes in Scotland: Gleann Cille Mhàirtin, home to an astonishing array of stone circles, cairns, henge, carved Celtic crosses and Iron-Age forts covering 6000 years. We will also visit a hidden holy well and the biggest collection of Neolithic rock art in Celtdom. While it is theoretically possible there is guide on the planet that knows the Glen better than me, it is unlikely: I lived amongst these stones for five years.

There are places relatively modern, where a strong sense and understanding of the human spirit can be found. We'll visit a couple of those too.

You'll get an opportunity to hike in the North Atlantic Oak Woodlands, stunningly beautiful and now recognised as ecologically significant as a powerhouse of nature. The sea views aren't bad either!

I've added an extra day to this year's tour. This is the place we will spend that time, adding in sites I have never taken pilgrims to before. We'll visit about fifteen sites in total in The Glen.

Day Ten

As we leave mainland Argyll we'll hold our Morning Circle at one of the now familiar standing stone sites. On our way north we'll see if we can find an almost forgotten holy well, tidy it and make an offering. You'll get some time in An t-Òban to stock up on items not available in the remoteness of the islands, then we will take to the ferry across the beautiful Firth of Lorn to the wild and unspoilt Isle of Mull for a scenic drive through the mountains.

Another short ferry ride takes us over to the holy isle of Iona where we will stay for the next three nights. This evening we will stroll to the ruined nunnery with its sheela-na-gig. You'll have time to attend the Iona Community's evening ceremony of welcome in the Abbey, if you would like.

Days Eleven and Twelve

Generally on Iona, the programmed activities are optional and have solo time built around them. Iona needs to be found at your pace. On our first morning, we will hike the pilrimage route to the "Bay of the Curragh" where Colum Cille (Saint Columba) first landed and where you might find beautiful Iona greenstones. You might choose to walk the labyrinth. After lunch there will be a free afternoon when you can visit the craft studios and bookshops in the village, or find a sandy beach on which to journal.

This morning you can experience the ancient hand-craft of making Bride's or St Brigit's Crosses. After, you can climb the sacred hill on the island to the Well of Ages and place the crosses in the waters. This afternoon there is the option to take to the sea by sail-boat in this sea-kingdom.

This evening, I will host a formal Cèilidh of local Tales, with harp. This is a public, ticketed event that has become something of a tradition over the years of visiting Iona, keeping certain Tales alive for both locals and visitors.

Day Thirteen

Our last day, but a full one! Leaving the west and making our way back to Edinburgh there are some places that we'll want to stop, places that show different forms of Celtic beliefs - a pre-Catholic Saint's parish from the 700s, complete with healing stones, and in a land painted by pre-Raphaelites we'll visit one of the few well documented fairy hills. It will make a fine place to hold our closing circle.

Our pilgrimage and day will end with a journey of an hour or so for you to mentally adjust back to 'un-civilisation', arriving in Edinburgh around five o' clock. A time for fond farewells.