Guilty Pleasure: Story of Wars, Romance, Spirit, and Transformation

Sometimes a popular getting-to-know-you type of question is, “What’s your guilty pleasure?”  The answers are usually something like chocolate in the tub, a favorite sappy song, or a trashy novel.  I want to own a “guilty pleasure” here  and now because it relates to the Scotland tour and pilgrimage trip I am leading soon this September. 

Scottish Actors in Starz rendition of The Outlander (and Yes I LOVE the Horses Used!)

I am thoroughly enjoying the novel series that begins with The Outlander.  While it’s not trashy, it’s not high literature either. It IS however high romance and adventure of the heart-throb, Jamie, a Scottish clansman and Claire, an English woman who begin their love- story in 1700 Scotland during the Jacobite uprising. 

As a literature major and someone who puts her hand to poetry, there is a voice of snobbery I hear within me that criticizes the writing.  However, the deep lover of "story" within me cannot get enough of Diane Gabaldon’s portrayal of admirable chivalry, rawness, and redemption.  I do have to be careful when I start one of the novels because mayhem can abound and I’d be oblivious with my nose in this book. 

What does this have to do with my upcoming spiritual trip to Scotland?  Well, besides that Scotland is becoming intertwined with my ideal of romance, which I contend to be a spiritual matter, some interesting history of the Jacobite uprising took place near Inverness, a two-night stop on our itinerary. 

Here’s a little historical background of this uprising with the help of Wikipedia:

Charles Stuart's Jacobite army consisted largely of Catholics - Scottish Highlanders, as well as a number of Lowland Scots and a small detachment of Englishmen from the Manchester Regiment. The Jacobites were supported and supplied by the Kingdom of France from Irish and Scots units in the French service.

The Battle of Culloden (Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and part of a religious civil war in Britain. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart fought loyalist troops commanded byWilliam Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.

The battle and its aftermath continue to arouse strong feelings: the University of Glasgow awarded Cumberland an honorary doctorate, but many modern commentators allege that the aftermath of the battle and subsequent crackdown on Jacobitism were brutal, and earned Cumberland the sobriquet "Butcher". Efforts were subsequently taken to further integrate the comparatively wild Highlands into the Kingdom of Great Britain; civil penalties were introduced to weaken Gaelic culture and attack the Scottish clan system.

Even today, some Highland clans and regiments pass their drink over a glass of water during the Loyal Toast – to the King Over the Water. 

I admit I was kind of excited to read the last little cultural tidbit about passing the drink (of Scotch no doubt) over a glass of water, because Gabaldon used that very action as a secret code among the Jacobites in her series.  

The truth is, I generally despise history that is made up largely of wars and disasters. Recently a student complained that I did not include standard content in my Scottish history. It disappointed him that I included too much spiritual history and not enough about wars. I was ok with that complaint. though I may make a point to find the now museum where the battle of Culloden took place ifor it is near Inverness. I've become more and more aware of the nearness of our ancestors and those who have gone before me.  It might be powerful to go there and pray for the men, the Catholics, the Highlanders, the clansmen and their families, who suffered from the power imbalance and harsh discrimination following the massacre.

Other very cool places  on the itinerary are:

The Highland Folk Museum is an outdoor, mile-long 1700s Township (featuring 6 houses) at one end through to a 1930s working croft at the other.  This is a stop on the way to Inverness. 

Clava Cairns 

The Clava Cairns  rise in the midst of ancient stone circles.

The Findhorn Foundation is a group that also has some presence on Iona and well it should with this vision statement:

We as a community aim to inspire and encourage transformation in human consciousness, to help create a positive future for humanity and our planet. We are a holistic learning centre, community and ecovillage, offering experiential learning and a holistic leadership programme. Based on practices which recognise the interconnectedness of all life, our community life and workshops stimulate a more inclusive awareness, leading to sustainable choices for individuals, and for humanity as a whole.

As we leave Inverness, we will pass the famous Loch Ness (Lake Ness) on our way to the Isle of Skye now boasting the famous Skye Bridge. 

Loch Ness

Skye Bridge to Isle of Skye

I admit, I’m getting vera vera excited and I couldna bear to wait past September (my attempt to copy Gabaldon’s written Scots accent) for this adventure to begin. So looking forward to traveling with our perfect little group of 9.  And the good news is there is a wee bit o time for one more to sign up.  

The Colors of Iona

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit briefly with Vivienne Hull, an Irish woman, who living in Washington State with her American husband, has spent her life studying, teaching, guiding, experiencing Celtic spirituality. They have spent the last forty years taking groups to Iona to absorb the ancient presence from the land. She spoke to me with engaging earnestness as she desired to impart essentials for our stay. We gazed over a map of Iona and she tapped sacred places as she smiled with a faraway look in her eyes. She knows the enterprising family who owns and operates our accommodations on Iona and spoke fondly of so many historical and beautiful places.

On the practical side, she said the weather could be anything from hot to sideways chilling rain. Bring full rain gear she advised and great walking shoes. This brings me to the point where I want to encourage you to work on your walking endurance now. She told me that to see the beaches on the north and south end of the island; you will need to scramble over terrain for a good two to three hours.

Now, if your body does not now nor will ever allow that kind of exercise, the Abby, the Iona Community, and other sweet spots will be plenty accessible. I will encourage each individual to use their best wisdom to structure the days on Iona in personally suitable and necessary ways. Remember this will be the time of retreat and renewal after our scooting around Scotland in a van with our Scottish driver from Edinburgh to Inverness to Skye and Oban beginning September 18.  For more information check out  the itinerary on an earlier post or call me, Sue at (360) 471-9740.

If new walking/hiking shoes are on your to-do list, be sure to give yourself enough time to break them in. Once my updated passport arrived in the mail, I decided to shop for walking shoes. I bought a pair of red shoes that the manufacturer named “Red Dalia”. I get such a kick out of commercial names for paint, nail polish colors, and shoes. My last pair of red shoes was called Paprika. I confess that I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to take my Red Dalia on their inaugural walk. I smile at them waiting in the shoe shelf. They represent the passion and privilege surrounding this opportunity to travel with you to Scotland and set step after sacred step on Iona.

Before I left Vivienne’s house, she gave me a green speckled rock that fits perfectly in my palm. She told me it is green Iona marble known to be one of the oldest rocks (8 billion years old?!?) on the planet. I’ve been holding it often and each time I do, I feel the perspective that life is but a quick moment in the grand scheme of things and our eternal nature knows now and will know more than we can begin to imagine. I think this is the kind of thinking that happens in Thin Spots, those places were earth and heaven feel near the other. Vivienne also pressed into my hands her book, Iona, A Guide to the Sacred Isle and her husband’s book, The Iona Report, Story of an Enduring Vision. She scowled when I asked if I could pay her saying in clipped words, “No. You may not.”

I think often of the dear travelers who have  already signed up and those who still have time to sign up.  We have room for two more until the payment dead line in August.

I’ll leave you with the following advice Fritz includes in his book, “What Iona does, and we know this for sure, is to offer itself to a person’s imagination. That’s it. Our best advice is simply to arrive on the island, ready and open. The rest follows “(33).  I feel gratitude for the opportunity to be in community with these pilgrims on journey.

May the eternal green and the passion of red enrich your days and clear your vision to what is lasting and good.

 My Best to You,

Sue

(360) 471-9740