Sacred Places: Sites of Spiritual Pilgrimage from Stonehenge to Santiago De Compostela

by Philip Carr-Gomm

Journeys to sacred places or shrines undertaken as acts of religious veneration or penance have been a feature of religious observance from the earliest times. Ancient religions had holy sites, temples and groves, such as Delphi and Dodona in Greece. On the other side of the Eurasian landmass, the Buddha specifically recommended four sacred sites for his followers to visit. After Christ's crucifixion, sites connected with his birth, death and resurrection became a magnet for Christian travellers. During the medieval period Christian pilgrimage - to Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople and Santiago de Compostela - was a sacred obligation and a trial of faith.In Islam, pilgrimage to Mecca, or hajj, is one of the Five Pillars of that faith. Philip Carr-Gomm tells the stories of 50 sacred sites across all five continents, including sites venerated by all of the world's major religions. The sites The Pyramids, Macchu Picchu, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Rapa Nui, The Dome of the Rock, Mount Fuji, Mecca, The Golden Temple, Stonehenge, The Ganges River, Glastonbury, Angkor Wat, Iona, Mount Kailash, Bandiagara Luang, and Prabang.

Genres: History, Religion

255 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2008

About the author

Philip Carr-Gomm was born in London, raised in Notting Hill Gate, and educated at Westminster School and University College London.

He met his first spiritual teacher, Ross Nichols, the founder of The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids, when he was 11. He began studying with him when a teenager, and joined the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids at 18. He studied meditation with Olivia Robertson in Ireland, who later founded the Fellowship of Isis, and in his twenties he founded The Esoteric Society in London, which organised journeys for members to Bulgaria and Egypt, and hosted talks by well-known authors such as Gareth Knight, W. E. Butler, and Arthur Guirdham.

In 1975 his Druid teacher died, and he followed a Bulgarian teacher, Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov for seven years, giving talks on his teachings and helping with the translation and publishing of his books into English. He also travelled to Bulgaria and studied the work of Aivanhov’s teacher, Peter Deunov, visiting Sofia annually for fourteen years, teaching Deunov’s Paneurhythmy dance in England and at Findhorn in Scotland. In his thirties he turned to a study of psychology, taking a BSc degree at University College London and Jungian analysis, with plans to become an analyst. On discovering Psychosynthesis, he trained instead as a therapist at the Institute of Psychosynthesis in London and began a private practice.

In 1988 he was asked to lead the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. He organised the Order’s teachings into a distance-learning course, and edited his teacher’s book with John Matthews [1]. Since that time, the Order has grown to become the largest Druid teaching order in the world.

Reviews

[Mariana]

Трудно ми е да дам оценка на тази книга.
От една страна, това е книга, която трябва да се чете бавно, за да може читателя да си даде време да осмисли и попие информацията и атмосферата на тези наистина интересни места.
Книгата е изпълнена и с богат снимков материал, който е част от цялото преживяване и виртуално пътешествие из места, за много от които повечето читатели вероятно не са чували или знаят малко.
От друга страна енциклопедичния и на моменти съвсем телеграфен стил, трудно може да докосне читателя. Поради тази причина, някои от описаните в книгата места, поне за мен, останаха точно толкова далечни и непознати, каквито са били и преди. Но определено имаше и такива, за които ми беше интерсно да прочета.
Като цяло, дори и част от информацията да остане в съзнанието, пътуването по страниците на тази книга си струва.

[Christine Jeffords · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being fairly recent, there's a lot of "discouraging words" here about how you shouldn't visit these places because of climate change or environmental damage. But how can you experience "the sacred" without being where it is? Still, a lot of gorgeous pictures and good background, so if you're just interested in *knowing about* places rather than planning a trip to them, definitely worth your time.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting - covers a lot of ground and provides snippets of insight along with photographs of many places that deserve deeper study. I am not sure how accurately researched the book is (take it with a grain of salt, verify elsewhere). The one religion I knew quite a lot about was misrepresented - not terribly harmful, but a small and relatively unimportant idea to the faithful was presented as a central theme of the faith.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a picture book I received for Christmas, and I found my self fascinated by the places on earth that hold wisdom for the ages. There were descriptions of 45 places, and I was pleased to know I had visited9 of them. After reading this book, I am ready to set out another pilgrimage to sacred sights-if Only .