"Centuries of travel lore suggest that when we no longer know where to turn our real journey has begun," writes author Phil Cousineau. "At that crossroads moment, a voice calls to our pilgrim soul." Many have embarked upon a pilgrimage, but few have understood its mysteries and possibilities as well as Phil Cousineau does (author of Soul Moments and The Hero's Journey). On one level this is a highly useful guidebook packed with great ideas for enlightened traveling--tape recording local voices, music, and sounds; asking contemplative questions to waitresses and bookstore owners; lighting a traveling candle every morning; making an offering to the local deity. But most compelling is Cousineau's ability to expertly map the interior landscape of a pilgrimage--the sights that lead to insights and the borders that lead to breakthroughs as we trek the exterior landscape of our planet. --Gail Hudson
From Library Journal
Thinking of those who intend to embark on a journey with a deep purpose, Cousineau (ed., Soul Moments, Conari, 1997) explores why travelers plan trips and then, upon getting to their destination, have a sense of unfulfilled expectation. Cousineau suggests that this disappointment results from the way travelers engage with the place, not the site itself. Stories, anecdotes, quotes, vignettes, and practical suggestions from travelers and pilgrims throughout history create a guide to building a personal journey by learning to slow down and linger, savor, and absorb each stage?from the first strands of desire to travel through the journey to the return. To help the reader get involved, Cousineau includes a series of meditations and imagination exercises. Librarians aiming to reach both active and armchair travelers will find that this title circulates well.?Leroy Hommerding, Citrus Cty. Lib. System, Inverness, FLCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
This interesting production presents the idea of traveling in a new and novel manner, that of a pilgrimage. Cousineau teaches listeners how to get the most out of a place or activity by playing its music, reading its literature, etc., so that the experience becomes almost spiritual. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.'s, voice is soft and evocative of the traveler who is enchanted with all that he sees and experiences, lending credence to the work. From planning the trip, to going there (whether in your armchair or for real), Zimbalist's delivery will inspire you to think and experience the world around you more fully. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Cousineau shares details of his inspirational vision of travel, which is that every trip should be thought of as a pilgrimage, or "soulful travel." The author insists it is possible to "transform even the most ordinary trip into a sacred journey"; and by "sacred," he means a personal value or ideal that is held close to one's heart and mind and thus elevates the consciousness. In seven chapters, Cousineau describes the "common rites" of a classic pilgrimage as adhered to through the ages, and in the process he suggests ways in which a contemporary traveler can ensure that a trip is a pilgrimage, a life-changing ritual that entails "a deepening of focus, keen preparation, attention to the path below our feet, and respect for the destination at hand." Seeking answers to one's own existence? Cousineau guarantees that the pilgrimage approach is the right path for obtaining those answers. Brad Hooper
Book Description
Geared toward the modern-day pilgrim looking for inspiration and spiritual tools for the road, The Art of Pilgrimage weaves stories, myths, parables, and quotations from famous travelers of the past with practical suggestions and accounts of people on the sacred way today.
Art of Pilgrimage: The Seekers Guide to Making Travel Sacred FROM THE PUBLISHER
For the intrepid traveler, there are more resources than ever before. But what about the traveler who is at a crossroads in life, longing for something else, neither diversion nor distraction, beyond escape and mere entertainment? What about those eager for a journey that is personally meaningful? For millennia this cry has been answered by pilgrimage, the transformative journey to a sacred center. The ancients referred to this path as the Way of the Pilgrim, an acknowledgement of travel for the sake of devotion, commitment, even penance to a holy site, a destination that blazes with meaning -- in short, a journey of risk and renewal.
The Art of Pilgrimage is a guide for travelers ready to embark on a sacred journey and for armchair travelers curious to know what it means to travel with soulful purpose. Geared toward the modern-day pilgrim looking for inspiration and a few spiritual tools for the road, it combines stories, myths, parables, and quotes from famous travelers of the past with practical suggestions and contemporary accounts from people traveling the sacred way today. Not a guidebook to holy sites, this book is designed to help travelers focus on the purpose and intention at every satge of their journey no matter where they are going. The Art of Pilgrimage includes stories of traditional pilgrimages such as those to Canterbury or Jerusalem, but also ones to Shakespeare's home, Graceland, or the "Field of Dreams" in Iowa. Phil Cousineau recounts anecdotes from his own travels covering over 50 countries and offers readers the advice he gives when leading tours for the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Thinking of those who intend to embark on a journey with a deep purpose, Cousineau (ed., Soul Moments, Conari, 1997) explores why travelers plan trips and then, upon getting to their destination, have a sense of unfulfilled expectation. Cousineau suggests that this disappointment results from the way travelers engage with the place, not the site itself. Stories, anecdotes, quotes, vignettes, and practical suggestions from travelers and pilgrims throughout history create a guide to building a personal journey by learning to slow down and linger, savor, and absorb each stage--from the first strands of desire to travel through the journey to the return. To help the reader get involved, Cousineau includes a series of meditations and imagination exercises. Librarians aiming to reach both active and armchair travelers will find that this title circulates well.--Leroy Hommerding, Citrus Cty. Lib. System, Inverness, FL
AudioFile - AudioFile Review
This interesting production presents the idea of traveling in a new and novel manner, that of a pilgrimage. Cousineau teaches listeners how to get the most out of a place or activity by playing its music, reading its literature, etc., so that the experience becomes almost spiritual. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.'s, voice is soft and evocative of the traveler who is enchanted with all that he sees and experiences, lending credence to the work. From planning the trip, to going there (whether in your armchair or for real), Zimbalist's delivery will inspire you to think and experience the world around you more fully. M.B.K. ﾽ AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
Read by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Alfonso Grosso - Parabola Magazine
In a world pervaded by profanity, books on finding the sacred in everyday life have a growing readership. Phil Cousineau's The Art of Pilgrimage is a brilliant exercise in reimagining the meaning of travel. An intrepid traveler and travel guide himself, the author is a poet, teacher, and gifted visual artist, as seen in the drawings and photographs that grace these pages. The Art of Pilgrimage is also a touching memorial to the author's father, who inspired his son with a love of books and the passion to peregrinate. Tourism today may be a thriving industry, but have we forgotten the soul of travel? This book invites us to recapture a lost art, not the exercise of "getting away" but of "getting into" our lives--into their sacred core. He invites us to see travel--the trips we take to parts unknown or the small journeys of daily life--through the metaphor of pilgrimage. We are all pilgrims, Cousineau reminds us, all traveling in time toward the mecca of life's meaning, the great source of saving imagination. Recounting his own travels and testimony of the world's great travelers--my favorites were Peace Pilgrim and Basho--Cousineau shows us how to transform a disappointing vacation into a life-changing adventure. You begin by honoring the longing to travel. How many of us like to dream of travel, of voyages of discovery, but never quite take to the road? "Uncover what you long for and you will discover who you are," writes Cousineau, who invokes the prophet Jeremiah who talked of traveling "to find rest for your souls." What of departure? We're told of the ceremonial side of sacred travel, a side we neglect nowadays. We may not feel the need to hear Mass or have our satchels and drinking gourds blessed, as was common in the Middle Ages, but the soul-savvy traveler today can try to slow up, become more mindful, commemorate the moment of departure--do whatever it takes to feel the solemnity of leaving, the bittersweet risk of getting lost on the way, the possibility of never coming back. The important thing is to see a piece of life with fresh eyes: bring a notebook, a sketchbook, and go easy on your camera and camcorder. Remember that to sketch something you have to see it intimately, with your whole body, through responsive fingers. By contrast, the camera is a shallow and promiscuous tool for capturing images. Sacred travel, says Cousineau, is about self-discovery; it is not a frivolous escape but a focused form of life. Moreover, the rough spots we run into while traveling are not "in the way"--they are the way. Now suppose you arrive at your destination, off the beaten track or crowded with profane tourists. Cousineau is full of hints on how to gain a soulful purview of the scene, which may be no more than discovering the right bench in the right part of town, reading a sentence of poetry or leafing through your guidebook. Preparation, which doesn't interfere with serendipity, is essential to sacred travel. Like the hero's, the pilgrim's journey ends with bringing a boon back home: "The measure of our pilgrimage is the story, gift of wisdom, we can share with the folks back home." Reading this book brought back memories of my first and happiest travel adventures, and left me sniffing the air and glancing about, eager for my next voyage. I am especially grateful for the fertility of the main metaphor: pilgrimage. Clearly, for Cousineau, life itself is the great pilgrimage; he has given us a guidebook for reimagining the art of living. Not many books qualify as good friends, as companions for the road; this one does, and I heartily recommend it.
Art & Photography
Book Info
