As we excitedly look forward to our 2015 journey to Ireland with Phil Cousineau, departing September 19th, we wanted to ask a participant on the 2013 Ireland journey about his memories of the trip and what made it so special for him. Chris Franek graciously took the time to share his thoughts—and his incredible photos—with us for this exclusive blog interview.
SEJ: What’s your favourite memory of the journey to Ireland you took with Sacred Earth Journeys?
Chris Franek: It’s hard to say if any one part of the journey was more memorable than the other because the destinations along the entire journey were very wonderful encounters with the numinous—almost dream-like encounters with the rare and unusual phenomena of what can happen when a culture is so deeply informed by the natural world that it emerges from. Perhaps nowhere on earth is that more evident than in Ireland.
The Irish people have used their legacy of tragedy and suffering as a kind of forge through which they have produced sacred buildings, art, poetry, music, and story, and the entire journey was redolent of this divinity. Perhaps what is even more memorable is to have such a numinous experience in the presence of a community of enlightened witnesses. I was really astonished at how quickly our group bonded into a deeply connected community that I felt an incredible sense of belonging to.
SEJ: Your photos from this journey are absolutely stunning – which place or site inspired you the most creatively?
CF: The first thing that immediately comes to mind is Clonmacnoise, the famous sacred pilgrimage destination that the ancient Irish incredibly figured out how to locate in the geographical centre of Ireland. That place is this beautiful island of cathedral ruins, mysterious graves rumoured to hold the remains of ancient Irish kings, and beautiful Celtic crosses floating in a surreal green ocean of bucolic Irish countryside. For me, it was a constant reminder that creativity emerges from the cycle of death and rebirth.
The second place that stands out as stimulating my creativity would be the pilgrimage to Colman’s Oratory and holy well in the Burren. That lunar landscape is fiercely rugged and I really enjoyed the contrast between the inhospitable rocky terrain we had to walk across to that of the lush greenness of the foothills where Colman’s Oratory and holy well are located. Having to silently walk for about 20 minutes through this jagged rock rubble landscape evoked a heightened state of consciousness of my place in nature as we had to step very deliberately and mindfully to negotiate our journey. It was a deeply moving experience.
SEJ: Is there a particular photo you’re most proud of or that really sums up the journey for you?
CF: It’s a tie between two different photos. One is the photo I took of the “Cross of the Scriptures” (actually a replica as the original is in the on-site museum) at Clonmacnoise. What this represents for me is the reminder that we, as Joseph Campbell and Phil would say, need to put ourselves in the middle, where the horizontal line of chronos and the vertical line of kairos intersect. It’s the invitation to give equal regard and importance to both the reality that we can see and the one that is a mystery that we can’t see to bring a sense of balance and necessary reverence to life.
The other is the shot I took of a number of the pilgrims laying down on the cliff at Dún Aonghasa on the mythical isle of Inish Mohr, peering over the edge down at the Atlantic Ocean, 100 meters below. For me, this represents that call that I believe we all have to find the courage to put ourselves at “our cliff’s edge” (to quote David Whyte)—to have the willingness to look over our metaphorical edge into the abyss and from time to time, jump.
SEJ: How did travelling with Phil Cousineau as a tour leader enhance your enjoyment of Ireland?
CF: A pilgrimage through Ireland with Phil is to be in the presence of Pegasus, whose hoof striking the rock exposed a crack from which a geyser of vitality sprung forth—inviting the 9 Muses to come gather around and dance. Phil has that rare and precious gift of disseminating ideas and knowledge through the enchanting medium of story. In pre-modern times, teaching was an oral tradition and Phil is a wonderful bridge to the Ancients in that regard. Ultimately, I think we are all in search of our own élan vital and pilgrimage with Phil in Ireland put me into direct contact with my own dormant vitality. For two weeks, I was beyond the reach of the heavy insidious claims of my ordinary life—allowing my consciousness to expand beyond the narrow gap between my ears to include a larger purview of nature and a feeling of my direct participation in “the dance.”
SEJ: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your journey to Ireland?
CF: Ireland, despite its legacy of sorrow, holds deep seams of gold waiting to be mined if you have a proper guide and a call to adventure. Sacred pilgrimage through Ireland puts you in direct communion with what Phil frequently refers to as “duende”—those deep mysterious forces of life and nature which drive our instinctive creative impulse. Duende is what so deeply informed the art of the great Irish musical and literary geniuses such as Van Morrison, Bono, Sinéad O’Connor, Glen Hansard, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, C.S. Lewis, Oscar Wilde and Seamus Heaney.
Joyce defined “proper art” as that which puts the beholder in a state of “aesthetic arrest.” Sacred pilgrimage in Ireland is to be in one constant state of aesthetic arrest. After two days, you feel like you have been together for two weeks and after two weeks, you feel like only two days have passed. It’s akin to being in that timeless realm of the dream state. I was speaking to another one of the pilgrims that have done multiple pilgrimages with Phil after returning from Greece and he remarked to me, “I don’t know how people live without this.” Sacred pilgrimage is one of the best ways I have personally experienced to put a tap root deep into this vital soil of soul and there is no better navigator for such a journey than Phil Cousineau.
We still have a few remaining spots on our 2015 journey to Ireland: A Spiral Journey into the Heart of Ireland with Phil Cousineau: Explore the Mythology, Arts, and Spirituality of the Ancient and Modern Celtic World, September 19 – 30, 2015. If Chris’s evocative replies have inspired you to take your own metaphorical jump into a sacred journey, visit our website today to book your place on what promises to be a truly life-changing travel experience.
To learn more about Chris Franek you can visit his website. To view more awe-inspiring photos of this taken journey by Chris please visit our Flickr page.
~ Sacred Earth Journeys
