This month I have the honour of being a co-host on the now annual Quest trip to Egypt. I suspect that for many of those coming along, including myself, this will be in the nature of a pilgrimage. The Pyramids of Giza and mysterious rock-hewn tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings have a strange attraction for us. I believe this is not solely because they are supreme works of art (which of course they are) but because in some strange way the intense emotions surrounding their creation is frozen in time, so that if we are sensitive enough we are even today able to 'tune in', as it were, and establish a connection with those times.
If this is true then it is easy to see how the graves of important saints had a similar attraction for mediaeval pilgrims. It would seem that pilgrims, be they rich or poor, young or old, clergy or laity were drawn to Shrines like Canterbury and St. Albans in their hundreds of thousands in the hope of coming into contact with some sort of 'Holy Energy'. They no doubt believed that by praying at the grave-side of a saint some of his or her holiness would rub off on them and provide at least a little solace in a difficult world. Of course from a scientific viewpoint it would seem that they were deluding themselves. For whilst accepting that the achievement of the journey could initiate positive, psychological changes in the individual pilgrim, few scientists would allow that there are special energies at shrines that can be an enabling factor in human transformation. Yet are they right to be so sceptical? Are they correct in dismissing the possibility that certain places can be imbued with some subtle, spiritual energy? After all electricity is a relatively recent discovery and it too is a much more numinous entity than we generally appreciate. In fact we only know electricity exists because of what it does. Because its 'doings' are useful to us in the context of our lives, we have harnessed this power and made it the bed-rock of our civilization. By analogy it would seem that the ancients had a deeper understanding than we do about subtle, psychic energies which they were able to tap, concentrate and use for the purposes of self-development. It would seem that priests and saints knew the art of manufacturing these energies by means of their spiritual practices. They then stored them, like honey in a comb, in their temples, pyramids and cathedrals. I believe that it is because some of this 'honey' is still there, which we sense intuitively even though we do not understand its workings, that even today pilgrims are drawn like flies to sacred sites.
As those of you who have read my last book, Magi, will know that in 1971 I made a pilgrimage of my own to Jerusalem. Much happened on that journey, material enough to write a 'Bethlehem Tales' but one moment in particular sticks in my mind. This was when I was inside the crypt of Dijon Cathedral and 'felt' a strange shifting of time. I was in no doubt then and am in no doubt now, (having revisited the crypt with my wife in 1996) that that crypt is a place where special energies were once concentrated. Why this place was chosen we may never know but it does have a strange ambience and has a forest of pillars arranged in a circle like the choir of a round, Templar Church.
Leaving Dijon, Dee and I went on to visit Autun Cathedral with its magnificent collection of sculpted reliefs by Giselbertus depicting scenes from the Bible. Among these are a collection concerning the visit of the Magi and the subsequent flight to Egypt. Autun is also important for it was here that a secret gathering of bishops took place that decided upon the First Crusade. It is my opinion that there is a secret yet to be discovered in this area and I would be happy to hear from anyone with information on the subject. At any rate, for those of you who are unable to come with us to Egypt I can heartily recommend a short quest to Dijon, Autun and other sites in Burgundy. I cannot promise that you will be transported out of time but even if you don't connect with subtle energies, you will still be able to do some useful Christmas shopping in Nuits St. George, Macon and Beaune!
Article first published in "Quest" magazine Vol.1 issue 7.
© Adrian G. Gilbert 1997.