Mindie Burgoyne will guide a tour of 7 counties in the north of Ireland - sites in Donegal, Derry, Fermanagh, Armagh, Down, Antrim and Tyrone. 9 days of guided tours to stone circles, ring forts, monastic ruins, high crosses, and sacred sites, as well as stunning coast scenery. Stay in 3-4 star hotels in vibrant towns in the north - Donegal town, Derry, Belfast and Enniskillen. Cost is $2120 (land only) and registration is limited to 25. Find out more at the Thin Places Tour website.
What are "thin
places"? Places where two worlds intermingle.
Since the beginning of recorded history, scholars, peasants, artists,
slaves and kings have been fascinated and drawn to places where the veil
between this world and the "other world" is thin. Legends
have been created and tales passed down through generations that describe
adventures and encounters when the two worlds met and time stood
still.
The Western European
landscape is dappled with such places. Some, such as
Glastonbury and
the Giant's Causeway are familiar to most. But hidden in fields,
forests, mountain villages and remote islands are thin places with a more
subtle glow, like tiny pearls resting safely in the bosom of their mother
country.... waiting to be discovered again and again.
Scan this web site to
glimpse a few of the thin place treasures that lay in Ireland and
Britain. See the photos of Brigid's
Kildare, Holy Island, the
Janus
god, and Melrose Abbey where the heart
of Robert the Bruce is buried.
For a good
introduction to experiencing thin places, please read the following
article,
Walking
through Thin Places.
"On this arid summit,
where the winds blow hard, where no root takes hold, where distance seems
infinite and heaven close, the spirit is tested and replenished ...
for the pilgrim has reached a thin place, where one steps into the highest
dimension of one's existence."
Thin Places are
ports in the storm of life, where the pilgrims can move closer to the God they
seek,where one leaves that which
is familiar and journeys into the Divine Presence.They are stopping places where men and women are given pause to
wonder about what lies beyond the mundane rituals, the grief, trials and
boredom of our day-to-day life.They
probe to the core of the human heart and open the pathway that leads to
satisfying the familiar hungers and yearnings common to all people on earth, the
hunger to be connected, to be a part of something greater, to be loved, to
find peace.
