Into the Heart of Mary Magdalene
I begin every Mary Magdalene Pilgrimage with the same question: Who is Mary Magdalene to you?
This is such a personal question.
I have the most beautiful task leading pilgrimages in Sainte Baume each year, this will be my fourth year keeping my promise to myself to return every September. The forest provides the magic, the quiet provides the answers, and Mary…oh my goodness, Mary! Mary Magdalene provides the heart that we walk into, that we can feel in every step, that brings us together from all walks of faith, on the same path for a moment…this pilgrimage is my very favorite.
“To walk with me is to walk as me.”
You may remember the piece that I wrote and shared after my very first time to the cave in the South of France. I found myself there so serendipitously on the day of the Feast of Angels, at the top of the mountain on the little steps of the chapel where the angels carried Mary seven times a day to pray. As a Mystic, this felt like a holy blessing, and it ended up being one of the biggest revelations of the visit: the return of my Guardian Angel.
Every pilgrimage gifts me a million blessings, and each year I leave filled with the remembering of all that matters: that we are Love.
Last year was no exception, and frankly I’ve spent the last three months integrating the blessings and lessons from September. The invitation to empty myself was inspired by this visit, and I’ve been reading about the life of Jesus (and Mary) since returning home.
In the two pilgrimages that I had the honor to guide last year I washed the feet of dear sisters each morning after our sadhana, I danced with the wind on the spine of the mountain and practiced the Adi Shakti spontaneously, and listened to a sister sing to the water in the cave.
With both, we felt into the places where we can feel Mary - and the places where we cannot.
This is such a personal journey, and the way that I like to lead it is with a lot of care and intimacy. I want to share some of the details here with you, with one very clear intention in mind: that you will feel a tingle and join me this year in September as the very limited spaces are filling up and the deadline for taking one of them is in just a few weeks.
This pilgrimage takes place in the South of France, in Sainte Baume which is very remote. There isn’t even a real town where we stay, so everything has to be carefully and thoughtfully planned. (With that said, it is the absolute perfect location to extend in every direction after this pilgrimage: Italy, Portugal, Provence, the Côte d’Azur…all of Europe…)
Guests arrive on Tuesday by dinner time and settle into their rooms which have a perfect view of Mary’s Cave in the distance and the chapel just above. Most of the time I’m there waiting at the train station to greet you, unless you are renting a car to travel beyond our little spot after the pilgrimage; this personal pick-up sets the tone for the care you will be receiving the entire stay.
The invitation is for you to arrive heart wide open and ready to fully receive; every decision and detail has been planned for you; and this is my greatest joy.
Our nightly dinners consist of local French food; we dine under a canopy of trees and stars on a terrace one night, on our private deck by candlelight another night and make our way to carefully chosen nearby restaurant by way of a magical winding little road through the ancient forest of Sainte Baume.
The sky is the darkest black velvet you have ever seen, and the stargazing after dinner is the perfect sweet kiss goodnight.
Our mornings begin slowly, you will be beckoned softly out of your cozy bed by the sacred music making its way into your room with the late summer breeze and inviting you down to the deck for our morning sadhana. We sip cacao, welcome the elements, close our eyes, share deep breaths and sit in the sacred stillness, the silence, the holiness together and welcome the magic…
And magic is exactly what happens.
“It was so silent, even my thoughts stopped.” - Meggan Watterson
The quality and essence of the silence in Sainte Baume, at the foot of Mary’s mountain, in the forest and as we climb to the cave, is holy. We make our way two separate days, with a beautiful French picnic packed, and many little surprises like ripe peaches and dark chocolate which provide the perfect rewards and little breaks along the way.
This pilgrimage is an invitation to walk where Mary walked.
This is a pilgrimage into the heart of Mary, and into the heart of it all; you will feel each step deeply and it will change you forever. I want to tell you how sacred the cave is, how beautiful the chapel at the top and the views forever are from there, and how the forest smells, and how it feels to be in such a holy place, but my words could never be enough…
This is why I go back year after year…to feel it for myself.
And, this is why I’m inviting you to join me this September. I currently have all four weeks in September held, and the week of September 24th is almost fully booked. There are only four rooms each week; both single and shared options. I’m also so happy to be available for private pilgrimages if you have a few friends that would like to join you or you are feeling called to travel solo - how decadent this is!
Will you join me?
If time didn’t matter, and schedules weren’t a thing, and money was no object…what would your heart say? This is the truth, the answer, and your guidance, trust it.
You can find every detail on my newest website right HERE. The deposit to save your spot is $500 and it is due now. You can make payments until May 1st when the balance is due, but because there are only limited spots, if this feels like a YES for you please set your intention and make the full investment to secure your reservation.
If you’d like to set up a call or ZOOM to discuss and/or to ask questions please send me a note HERE.
I hope to see you in September…or in a private pilgrimage soon…