Pilgrims on the Storm

-The Soil and Soul of Walking to COP26

Note: This is primarily an online event with a livestream of Alastair's talk followed by discussion. This starts at 7pm. Entry by donation -please make whatever contribution you feel appropriate.

BUT we do have a very limited number of 'Soup and Talk' tickets available if you wish to attend the event in-person, along with the pilgrims who will be walking to COP26 in Glasgow. THIS STARTS AT 6pm.

A pilgrimage doesn’t usually come from nowhere. In most of us, it will have built up over a period of both conscious and unconscious preparation. This is because a pilgrimage is not just any old walk. It is a walk with inner intent that settles the soul into the soil of places that are passed through, grounding our commitment to taking action in response to the climate and wider ecological crisis. Traditionally, pilgrimage is often symbolised by the scallop shell. Even a small cockle from the beach will suffice to muse upon: the way the rays converge from all directions to a central point, and then back out into the world again.

Alistair McIntosh is a renowned and inspiring speaker and the author of several books that speak to the moment we are in. Soil and Soul (Aurum 2001)is about re-grounding the connections between people and place. He explores a twelve day pilgrimage over mountains, moors and into bogs in Poacher’s Pilgrimage: an Island Journey (Birlinn 2016). His most recent book, Riders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being (Birlinn 2020), leans upon the words of T.S. Eliot: “Not fare well/ But fare forward, voyagers”.

As he wishes farewell to pilgrims departing from Dunbar, he will share spiritual teaching stories from the Celtic tradition and perhaps reflect upon some words of Maxim Gorky in The Lower Depths: “All of us are pilgrims on this earth, I have even heard people say that the earth itself is a pilgrim in the heavens.”

Because of the Covid restrictions which strictly limit capacity in Belhaven Church Hall, we are livestreaming this event to make it available to a wide audience. A small number of in-person tickets are available to join those making the pilgrimage to COP26, starting with soup and bread at 6pm. This event is being organised jointly by NorthLightArts and Sustaining Dunbar.