Sacred Scotland

A Spiritual Travel Adventure
Through the Mists of Time
In the Wild Scottish
Highlands and Islands

July 23 – August 1, 2024

THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT

Tour operated in cooperation with Gothic Image Tours

Connect with the magic that lives within you on a tour of sacred sites in Scotland. Your journey begins with a Druid ceremony in the beautiful woodland setting of the prehistoric Clava Cairns and standing stones near Inverness.

After lunch we walk in silence through the Rosemarkie Fairy Glen to a pool and waterfall. In times gone by, locals say that children of the village decorated the pool with flowers as a way of thanking the fairies for keeping the water supply clean.

In the video below, you’ll hear one of our spiritual pilgrims describing her experience:

“The further up the path I walked, the more it spoke to me. There were no other human voices, so by the time I arrived at the fairy pool with its water sprites leaping over the boulders, I was hooked, I was there!”

So, after just one day in this timeless land, the energy of the enchanted landscapes and sacred sites of Scotland will be working their magic on you.

Places you visit on our tour of sacred sites in Scotland

Our tour of sacred sites in Scotland starts in Inverness and ends in Glasgow. Highlights of your journey include:

Inverness and surrounding area: prehistoric Clava Cairns and standing stones, Rosemarkie Fairy Glen, Loch Ness
Orkney: Skara Brae, Maes Howe, Stones of Stennes, Ring of Brodgar
Loch Lomond National Park, where we honour the wizard Merlin: the Wild Man of the Woods. According to legend, Merlin lived here in the ancient Caledonian forest where he developed the gifts of prophecy and shape shifting.
Iona: Abbey, Nunnery, St Columba’s Chapel
Standing stones at Kilmartin
Tarot readings in sacred sites, which reveal insights into your own spiritual journey…readings whose messages will continue to unfold for years to come.

Your Tour Hosts

Jamie George
Director of Gothic Image Tours, Jamie has been taking spiritual pilgrims on tours since the mid 1980s. “It’s been an honour to journey with so many interesting and inspiring people, helping them tune in to the history, mystery and magic of ancient sacred places, where every site has a story to tell. I imagine myself coming there for the first time, and if you put yourself in that position, all kinds of things can open up. For me, it’s a dance between memory and revelation. Some of the most memorable times are those when we’re just having fun. You find yourself laughing and joking because you’re opening up, you’re becoming much more at one with yourself and the land. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of organising this mystical Ireland tour many times and look forward to warmly welcoming you to this magical land.”

Linda Marson
A professional Tarot reader, teacher, video producer and founder of Global Spiritual Studies, Linda has been in a working partnership with Gothic Image Tours since 2013. “The Tarot cards tell a story about the universal human journey…from the big challenges in life to the mundane,” she says. “Travel is a way of life for me and those 78 cards are my favourite travel companions. Consulting the Tarot as you travel can yield amazing insights into stuff that’s going on in your life. Think of those cards as a GPS, one that puts you in the driver’s seat and alerts you to road blocks and shortcuts to where you want to be in your life.” During this mystical Ireland tour, Linda facilitates a process for using Tarot to explore the messages sacred sites and landscapes have for each person.

Your Tour Guests

Guests on all our tours are practising Druids, often skilled in the bardic arts of music and storytelling. Details of our special guest for the first two days of the tour will be provided in a later version of this itinerary.

Helen and Mark Woodsford-Dean
Helen and Mark live on Mainland Orkney, where, through their company Spiritual Orkney, they offer a range of sacred and spiritual services to visitors, guests, seekers and pilgrims, as well as to local communities. “We are the Scottish Pagan Federation (SPF) Local Organisers for Orkney and are active members of an interfaith dialogue group here,” says Helen. “We facilitate open rituals for the eight major Pagan festivals at The Ring of Brodgar, all of which are open to anyone with a warm heart and open mind.” Helen is an experienced archaeologist and teacher, as well as a published author. Mark’s background is a combination of Druidry and shamanism. He is also a qualified arborist, health care professional and archaeologist. Helen and Mark are our local guides on Orkney.

Kate and Corwen
Kate Fletcher and Corwen ap Broch describe themselves as musicians and instrument makers who ‘explore the sound world of our Ancestors’. They perform folk music and drama, recreate Ancient music and instruments, make crafts, run workshops for schools and demonstrate at museums and other events. At Woodwick House, our home on Orkney, they will perform for us at a musical soirée. They will play Viking, Saxon and Medieval music on authentic instruments. For more information about these talented musicians and craftspeople, click here to to visit their website where you’ll find videos and recordings of their music.

In this video, spiritual pilgrims talk about their experiences at some of the magical places we visit.

Note: This tour is sure to be popular, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Tuesday, July 23 – Inverness, Scotland (B,D)
We rendezvous at 12 noon at The D’Lish Restaurant situated at the far end of the main concourse of the terminal building at Inverness airport. Transfer to hotel for lunch and orientation.
Free time until a meeting prior to dinner to discuss the next morning’s Druid ceremony. Our hotel is not far from Culloden Battlefield, so, for those who are interested, there is time to organise private transport to the site and Visitor Centre. Overnight near Clava Cairns.

Day 2: Wednesday, July 24 (B,D)

We visit Clava Cairns, the site of an exceptionally well-preserved group of prehistoric burial cairns that were built about 4,000 years ago. Here we hold a Druid ceremony to honour the land, the ancestors and our journey
together. In the afternoon we drive to Rosemarkie on the Black Isle where we follow a stream through an enchanted wooded glen, with two beautiful waterfalls. The Fairy Glen was once the scene of a well- dressing ceremony, where the children of the village decorated a pool, next to a spring, with flowers. This was said to ensure that the fairies kept the water supply clean. Overnight near Clava Cairns.

Day 3: Thursday, July 25 (B,D)
Today we travel north up the rugged north-east coast of Scotland, to Thurso, overlooking the Pentland Firth, and take a boat to the Islands of Orkney. In this timeless place, where the quality of the light and the air are so special, we feel on the edge of the world. Orkney is home to some of the best-preserved ancient sites in Europe – stone circles, earth houses, round barrows and prehistoric villages that reveal to us a simple but noble way of life in ancient times. Overnight in Woodwick House/ Woodwick Mill.

Day 4: Friday, July 26 (B,D)
Today we visit the windswept prehistoric village of Skara Brae by the Bay of Skaill. We follow the path around the remains of this beautifully preserved 3000 BC village with its sophisticated architecture and built-in stone furniture. From Skara Brae, we go to the great chamber of Maes Howe that receives the light of the setting sun at midwinter along its passage. We marvel at the exquisite stonework within the mound and view the runic art etched into the pillars of the chamber. In the afternoon there is time to explore the capital, Kirkwall, with its ancient paved streets, St Magnus Cathedral, craft shops and galleries. Musicians Kate and Corwen provide entertainment in the evening. Overnight in Woodwick House/ Woodwick Mill.

Day 5: Saturday, July 27 (B,D)
We visit the neolithic stone circles of Stennes and the Ring of Brodgar, prehistoric sun and moon temples that are part of a sacred ritual landscape. The Ring of Brodgar sits within a natural amphithe- atre of hills and is surrounded by a ditch, with 27 of the original 60 stones surviving today. Our local guides today are Helen and Mark Woodsford-Dean who give us the latest information on the archaeological excavations on the Ness of Brodgar, which show that these sites pre-date Stonehenge and Avebury. Our visit to the Ring of Brodgar ends with Mark leading a guided meditation to raise our awareness of the power of this enigmatic site. Overnight in Woodwick House/ Woodwick Mill.

Day 6: Sunday, July 28 (B,D)
Today we take the ferry back to the mainland and drive to Oban, stopping along the way at Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, where parts of the ancient Caledonian Forest can be found. Here, according to legend, Merlin ran wild for 30 years after a battle where the last Pagan king of Britain, and all of Merlin’s friends and relations, were slaughtered. In the Druid tradition, Merlin is both Magician and Hermit, so here, in a ceremony, we will invoke these two aspects of ourselves. Overnight in Oban.

Day 7: Monday, July 29 (B,D)
We take the ferry to the island of Mull and thence to the sacred island of Iona. Here is an island of dreams – a place that, as Fiona Macleod described, “None can understand who do not see it through its pagan light, its Christian light, its singular blending of paganism and romance and spiritual beauty.” Jamie leads an optional walk to the ruins of a stone cell built by a devout hermit. It’s off the beaten track, up a hill and through a couple of fences, but once there, a great place to sit a while and ponder life’s mysteries. Overnight on Iona.

Day 8: Tuesday, July 30 (B,D)
Free day on Iona. There are many sites to visit in this timeless land, mainly Christian, such as the 12th century Abbey, St Columba’s Chapel, Oran’s Chapel and the 12th century Nunnery. But the treasures of the island are to be found in the enchanted places where nature shows herself slowly and shyly to the curious pilgrim. Overnight on Iona.

Day 9: Wednesday, July 31 (B,D)
In the morning we travel to Drymen near Loch Lomond for our last night. En route we stop at Kilmartin Valley to visit Temple Wood stone circle and cairns. Here we hold a closing ceremony to celebrate our time together on the tour. Overnight in Drymen.

Day 10: Thursday, August 1 – Tour Ends in Glasgow, Scotland (B)
After breakfast we depart for Glasgow Airport for international, domestic flights and transfers. We arrive by 9am in time for flight departures from midday onwards.

Price includes:

Quality, comfortable accommodation.
Coach travel
Full English breakfasts and three course dinners each day
All inland transportation
Entrance fees
Guide fees, taxes and gratuities (excl. driver)
Plus protection by BMSJ’s $1,000,000 per traveler Errors & Omissions coverage

What to Expect on This Tour

We always spend a good amount of time at each site so that you benefit fully from the ambience and subtle magic of the experience. Ours are not “now you see it – now you don’t” tours. Our focus is on experiencing the ‘spirit of place’ and the peculiar enchantment that each site offers, and learning something from it.

We visit inspiring locations where the ancient spirits of each place still reside. In addition, some of you will be returning to the homes of your ancestors. This can raise spiritual and emotional issues. On our tours we seek to build a supportive atmosphere, and your fellow travellers tend to be of a supportive and understanding disposition. At different sites that we visit, you will be given opportunity for reflection and peace. This inner dimension is what makes our tours especially memorable – a pilgrimage and nourishment for the soul.

The pace is not rushed. There are some areas where we climb steps or hills, but otherwise each site is easily accessible and within walking distance from the coach. Nevertheless, you will get some physical exercise!

We reserve the right to vary the itinerary as necessary, to provide the best possible experience under the circumstances prevailing at the time.

Please read the Terms and Conditions for this tour.

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PRICING

All prices are in U.S. dollars

ALL INCLUSIVE PRICES FOR 10 DAYS (LAND ONLY)

Price Per Person

Double Occupancy: $3,839 by check or money order, $4,039 by credit card
Single Occupancy: $4,558 by check or money order, $4,797 by credit card

Special Discounts

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL DISCOUNT (if prepaid by December 31, 2023) Price Per Person
Double Occupancy: $3,699 by check or money order, $3,899 by credit card
Single Occupancy: $4,419 by check or money order, $4,649 by credit card

Deposit Schedule

FIRST NON-REFUNDABLE PAYMENT
(Due as soon as possible in order to ensure a place on the tour)
Per Person Double or Single Occupancy: $700 by check or money order, $735 by credit card

FINAL PAYMENT

BALANCES for payments (other than Early Bird reservation, in which the total balance is due in full by December 31, 2023) are due on or before May 23, 2024 as per your invoice.

SOLD OUT – YOU MAY REGISTER TO BE ADDED TO THE WAIT LIST

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Travel Insurance

As travel professionals, Body Mind Spirit Journeys strongly recommends travel insurance to protect against cancellation fees and additional travel expenses that may incur before, after or during the trip. With your reservation confirmation, BMSJ will send complete details on its insurance program.