Interviewed by Thea Prothero

This is the sixth in a series of interviews with people who are inspired by my book, A Guide to Pilgrimage, published at the end of last year in the Pagan Portals series by Moon Books. These interviews are a way of digging deeper into the various aspects of pilgrimage and a way of highlighting what it means to different people.

The idea is to inspire you, dear reader, to consider pilgrimage as an act of devotion, or a way of connecting to the world around you, now or in the future.

Pilgrimage is an ancient form of devotion, one which is as relevant to the modern seeker as it was to ancient Greeks over 2000 years ago. One of my missions as a modern advocate is to bring pilgrimage out of the medieval church and firmly into the twenty-first century.

To Moon Book regulars, Lucya Starza needs no introduction; she is the author of no less than 6 non-fiction books, including Pagan Portals Scrying and Candle Magic, as well as her fiction novel Erosion. She regularly blogs about pagan and alternative events in London and has taught with Treadwells Books.

Firstly, as an introduction, could you tell me how you define a pilgrimage and what it means to you?

 I think of a pilgrimage as a journey to a revered place, but where the travel is as much, if not more important than reaching the destination. I first wrote “sacred” place, but changed the word to “revered” because I feel the concept of a pilgrimage is nowadays more eclectic than it was historically, when most people in England and Europe were Christian.

I think a key factor is that the journey is intended to be transformative by itself. This could be for healing, for purification or atonement, to find the answers to questions, to gain enlightenment, to achieve spiritual growth, or perhaps more generally for loosely defined personal development.

As a witch who thinks in terms of magic and spellwork, I would classify a pilgrimage as a type of magical working. The journey is the focus and energy-raising activity put in to enable change to happen in the material world as well as within the mind of the practitioner. It culminates when the final destination is reached, but the journey itself is what builds up to and empowers that end result.

Going further, I probably take a very loose view of what can constitute a modern pilgrimage. Some of the things I’ve done that I would happily put a #pilgrimage tag on would probably not be considered one by a purist. I enjoy psychogeography, which some might say is a separate form of form of esoteric journey.

Psychogeography essentially means walking around a town or city and picking up the atmosphere or energy of the urban environment. Perhaps not a classic pilgrimage, but I’d say it’s at least pilgrimage-adjacent. That might be because I’m a city witch. I live in London and I consider the entire city to be an ancient, sacred site. When I am walking through the streets and among the buildings, I am also walking on layers of history lived by my ancestors of place, but also vibrant with the energy of the modern world. We all weave our magic here in our daily lives, with our hopes and desires, our wishes, and our struggles. For anyone interested in reading more about psychogeography, I’ve blogged about it: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/06/psychogeography-transform-your-town-as.html

Another thought that came to my mind while answering this question is whether a set destination is necessary for something to technically be a pilgrimage. Could a magical or spiritual quest, such as for the holy grail, be a pilgrimage? Does the final destination need to be known? Certainly, one could do a pilgrimage to a place that legends say might hold the holy grail, but maybe a spiritual quest is again by nature, only pilgrimage-adjacent in that it involves a journey which is usually one of personal transformation. I went on a grail quest once. If you want, you can read more about it here, and decide for yourself if that’s similar enough to a pilgrimage: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/ghosts-and-grails-of-lewes.html

Could you please tell us where you went on pilgrimage and why this place is significant to you?

I’ll admit that I’ve never been on a really long journey that I identified as a pilgrimage, although I would love to do so. I’ve often thought of walking from London to Canterbury following the route taken in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, but sadly never done so – at least not yet.

However, I have been on several short pilgrimages, including one earlier this year in February. I raised funds for the charity Cats Protection by taking on the Big Winter Roam challenge. I aimed to walk 100 miles over the course of the month and raise at least £100 or £1 per mile. Walking 100 miles in 28 days meant averaging about 4 miles per day. I set the intention to start on February 1st with a short pilgrimage of just over 4 miles from my home in Penge in South London to the stone circle at Hilly Fields, Lewisham, with the aim of getting there in time to meet my local druid grove for an Imbolc rite.

How long had you been planning to go on pilgrimage to  Hilly Fields Stone Circle?

I made my plan when I signed up for the Cat’s Protection Big Winter Roam challenge, so a week or so before February 1^st. I was partly inspired by reading your book on pilgrimages. I also made some plans for other walks I’d do during the month to complete my 100 miles.

How important was the journey to your significant place as a way of disconnecting from your everyday life and becoming a pilgrim?

I felt daunted by the thought of walking 100 miles during February. Starting it with this pilgrimage to a local sacred site felt like a good way to dedicate my challenge to a greater purpose and a cause. I had been to Hilly Fields Stone Circle many times before, but I usually take the bus.

Could you tell us a little about the practical aspects of organising your pilgrimage? (Ie how you planned your route, what type of transport you used, etc, etc.)

Walking to Hilly Fields was what made this different. I simply used Google Maps on my phone and followed the indicated route. It took me through little alleyways between houses, and across parks, and into roads and streets I’ve not visited before, and didn’t even know existed. I felt I was getting far more in touch with my local area and the spirit of the place in general than I do when I go on the bus via main roads.

Did you do any meditation/visualisation/journeying to guide you to specific places at your destination to visit? (for example, a stone circle, or other sacred site)

I didn’t do any meditation or visualisation regarding this walk, but mindfulness and visualisation techniques are something I employ when I’m doing psychogeography. The former helps with being in the moment and observing everything about a location: the sounds, smells, and atmosphere, as well as the sights. Visualisation takes one beyond simply observing what’s there and into imagining what *might* be there, what lies beneath the surface, or what things might signify on a deeper level.

How did you keep a record of your visit? Did you write in a journal or a notepad? (change to another format, if necessary) How did this help you after you returned from your pilgrimage?

 I took photographs along the way and at the destination. Many of the pictures I took were of things like blossoms and trees. Imbolc is the celebration of the first stirrings of spring. Walking on foot allowed me to see what was just starting to grow and bloom, and what was still bare. The pilgrimage helped me connect with the season and with nature, which is a valid aspect of a pagan pilgrimage.

When you returned and reintegrated into your everyday life, how did it feel? Did you find it difficult to reconnect to your everyday life?

Tired and footsore, but elated. The Imbolc ritual felt far more spiritual and meaningful than all the others I’ve done there before, when I travelled by bus. It was a short pilgrimage and was part of a longer challenge to walk 100 miles in the month, so I had to integrate it with my everyday life on a day-to-day basis. My main problem was sore feet, to be honest. They were covered in blister plasters by the end of the month!

Mind you, when I arrived at the destination, feeling a huge sense of achievement, the first person I chatted to was a fellow druid with limited mobility who had struggled far more than I had to reach the site, but their suffering was just from walking a few steps up the hill from the bus stop. That brought me down to reality with a bump and made me realise how privileged I am to be able to walk 4 miles! For many people, a few steps is like my entire month of walking 100 miles.

How has going on your pilgrimage changed you? What is the most significant memory you have of your pilgrimage that will stay with you?

I genuinely feel more in touch with the land on which I walked than I did before. My most significant memory was the first point in the walk where I turned off the main road and went down a muddy side passage into a part of South London I had never seen before.

Has any element of your specific pilgrimage transpired into any of your writing?

I blogged about it a bit, but actually so much of the experience felt personal that I didn’t share huge amounts publicly. You can read my post here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/02/rounding-year-spring-flowers-blossom.html

Do you have any advice you could offer readers who are considering going on pilgrimage in the future?

Wear the best footwear you can for the weather and travel conditions. Also, get blister plasters. Dress for the weather – layers are good if you are walking in England. Take a bottle of water too.

Are you planning more pilgrimages, and if so, would you like to tell us about your plans? Would you do anything differently next time?

I’m planning on doing a ley line pilgrimage in London. This has been on my list of things I want to do for some time. Alfred Watkins, who came up with the concept of ley lines in the 1920s, pointed out that a straight line can be drawn between Temple Church, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Helen’s Bishopsgate, and St Dunstan’s Stepney. He believed these were indications of ancient trackways. Followers of Earth Mysteries believe lines of energy can be sensed between sacred sites that flow in straight lines, and that by walking along them, we can tune into that energy. I’m intending to try it for myself and see what I experience.

Finally, is there anything else you would like to share about your pilgrimage journey or any other aspect of pilgrimage?

I’d love to thank you for your inspiration and insight into pilgrimages. I really enjoyed reading your book.

Thank you to Lucya for taking the time to answer my questions, and please check out Lucya’s Moon Book page on the Collective Ink Website and her blog as listed above.

https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/lucya-starza

Thea is a Heathen and a pilgrim. She likes to think of herself as a Nemophilist, which means a ‘haunter of woods’. She spends most of her free time walking in the wildest remotest lands, places that still make the gods tremble, and she loves the challenge of finding connection through nature to the divine. She writes prolifically, read equally, has a passion for learning, taking photos, grow things, and spend time with her family. she works in education and lives in the south of the UK.

For more details: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/thea-prothero