Pilgrimages for All God's Creatures

                                                                   Falcon Migration in 2023

Peregrination

The verb is derived from the Latin word for "foreigner," peregrinus, which was earlier used as an adjective meaning "foreign."That term also gave us the words pilgrim and peregrinate , the latter of which once meant "alien" but is now used as an adjective meaning "tending to wander" and as a noun naming a kind of falcon. 

Were you aware of the meaning of the term "perigrinate" and the connection to the term "pilgrim"? There are many different Christian pilgrimages, including the Camino across Spain, not to mention Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales. Lots of folk use pilgrimage to describe trips to Israel even though it's a pretty tame version. As many of you know, we were in Israel for a couple of weeks in April and while we didn't regard it as a pilgrimage it was certainly a trip of religious signficance. 

                                                              Medieval Pilgrimage

There are pilgrimages in virtually all other major religions as well, and we know that Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Jewish Pesach approaching his crucifixion and resurrection. 

All this rattled around in my brain when I saw that a female GPS-tracked falcon flew from South Africa to Finland in 42 days, a perigrination or pilgrimage of more than 10,000 kilometres. The map suggests it flew northward along the Great Rift Valley, then up the continuation of that rift which includes the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Sea of Galilee.

When we were in Israel we did do something of a pilgrimage to the very north of the country and the Hula Nature Reserve. The Spring migration of hundreds of millions of birds was nearly over but there were storks and pelicans. We were there early in the day and it was holy to be there without other humans but with plenty of avian companions. 

I've written before about how I have come to appreciate the connection between creaturely migrations -- think caribou in Canada -- and those of humans. As humans we have decided that these journeys are sacred for us, so why not for bird and animals and even insects such as Monarch butterflies and dragonflies? 

                                          Migration Route Map for Butterflies and Dragonflies