Claire Nahmad - Pilgrimage to Iona: Discovering the Ancient Secrets of the Sacred Isle

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Claire Nahmad has written a number of bestselling books on feminine spirituality, angel communication and esoteric secrets contained within history, including The Secret Teachings of Mary Magdalene (2006), The Coming of the Holy Grail (2012) and Kick-Ass Angels (2012). The inner worlds of spiritual percipience have been open to her since early childhood and her intuitive explorations inform her writing. Her books, published in 30 countries and translated into 20 languages, have a strong following worldwide and are frequently used in mind-body-spirit courses and workshops.
She lives in rural Lincolnshire in a tumbledown cottage with her cockerel Coleridge.

For every member of the Sisterhood, past and present; and for George Carver, because everything I do is always for you.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

Give me a light, that I may travel safely into the unknown.

And he replied:

Go out into the darkness

And put your hand

Into the hand of God.

That to you shall be better than light and

Safer than a known way.

The DesertM. Louise Haskins

T his profoundly deep and thoughtful book sets out on a true pilgrimage of the most meaningful kind. It is a pilgrimage from which every reader can benefit in both mind and spirit. It is a quest for truth, for knowledge and for meaning. Socrates warned us that The unexamined life is not worth living. One great virtue of Pilgrimage to Iona is that it provides those essential philosophical and theological instruments with which we can examine life.

Claire has the gift of examining so-called myths and legends in depth and discovering their vital links with historical events, along with the true meanings beyond them. She also unravels many of the complex, entangled mysteries known to groups such as the Masons, Cathars and Templars.

One of the most powerful ideas in the book is the concept of Earth, and, in particular, sacred and special places such as Iona, being vibrant with divine life and power. If we think back on our lives, we may recall experiencing feelings of special spiritual depth when we visited such places. Iona optimises these feelings, but they are also reported from the Nile valley and Rennes-le-Chateau in France, which has been described by one sensitive and thoughtful researcher as a gateway to the invisible.

Claires expert knowledge of the Holy Grail enables her to fit this into her other extensive research and this helps to clarify the mysteries of Iona.

Among the other mysteries that are explored with such accuracy and integrity are the enigmas of gender and androgyny, and Pilgrimage to Iona penetrates and clarifies these brilliantly.

A particular mystery that has intrigued us as explorers of the unexplained for more than half a century is the mystery of the famous Emerald Tablets of Thoth, the Egyptian deity, also known as Hermes Trismegistus. Claires treatment of this is absolutely fascinating.

Pilgrimage to Iona has been thoroughly and expertly researched, and Claires excellent analysis of the many mysteries centred on the island has been synthesised into an excellent book.

I am going on a journey to a sacred place and because you cannot be with me, I want to bring you something back.

I have heard of this mystical isle, for many pilgrims have travelled there to be strengthened and refreshed. Some call it the Isle of the Saints; for Saint Columba once travelled to its shores. Others call it the Land of the Druids for they too moved upon its sacred shores. Still others call it the Isle of the Dove as the Holy Spirit is believed to dwell here.

It was a long journey and when I set out I was weary and tense. Inside me was a hunger and thirst that nothing could satisfy. And pain had hollowed deep into my soul.

As the train took me across fields, through cities and towns, I looked at the houses and wondered if one of them was yours. Perhaps you were gazing out just then as I passed and I waved you a greeting from my heart.

Iona was at last before me and I felt its gentle welcome beneath my feet as I walked. There were many other pilgrims stepping onto its shores and the softly falling rains were like a benediction upon us, a holy baptism.

Here, where hearts were open, we gazed into one anothers souls, and entered the magic of true communication. As our spirits touched we knew that we were inseparable and that we were one another.

The isle was beautiful. Each stone, rock and grain of sand glowed as though illuminated from within. The presence of the spirit was a holy fire in the landscape.

No-one there could remain untouched by its reality.

As I walked, I felt the strength of the rocks growing in me, gentle amethyst, dark basalt and dove grey. The white soft sands flowed through my veins and the turquoise seas pounded through my heart until I could no longer call myself a separate being.