The ancient graveyard on Boa Island in County Fermanagh is known as Caldragh Cemetery. Few visit Caldragh and leave unchanged. It is a thin place.
Traveling to places that are sacred, holy or mystical can evoke change and growth in the human spirit. Here are five keys I keep in mind when traveling to Thin Places. Each key unlocks an insight.
1. Trace the Route that Brought You to the Thin Place
Part of the "changing" or learning process comes in tracing the route that brought you to that place. Your mind is opened to possibilities ... why were you drawn to this thin place? What were you called to learn?
My route to Caldragh began in my local church in Howard County, Maryland when a a priest-friend gave me a small souvenir he'd brought back from a recent trip to Ireland. Prior to his departing I had called him "two-faced" in a not-so-friendly conversation. So while in Ireland, he picked up a desk top version of the Janus figure of Boa Island. This pagan figure has two faces - one in the front and one in the back. Some say it represented an "all seeing" god that could view everything that occurred from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun. Locals later dubbed the figure "Janus" after the Roman god of two faces - the same god after which the Romans name the first month "January" in their calendar.
When my friend gave me the little version of the Caldragh Janus figure, he didn't know what it was or where the figure originated. He said, "I picked this up in Ireland for you. It has two faces ... like me."
The next year I attended an Irish Festival and met a vendor from Bethlehem, PA that made casts of ancient Celtic or pagan stone figures. She had a much larger table-top version of the Boa Island Janus figure on her vendor table, and above it a poster-sized photo of herself at Caldragh graveyard taking rubbings from the actual figure in order to make the mold. I was amazed at how large it seemed in the poster... almost half the artist's size. The figure was haunting and captivating. I asked her about the graveyard and the figure, and she became so animated saying the figure had power ... she felt it... she carried it home and believed her replicas carry some of the same power.
I bought one of her statues... now I had two. I made the decision to visit Caldragh graveyard on my next trip to Ireland and see about that power.
2. Notice the Signs as You Enter
Sometimes, things that you see or encounter as you enter a thin place can have meaning later.
The graveyard is on Boa Island on the north shore of Lough Erne in one of the northern counties in Ireland. The island is very damp with water and shorelines everywhere. Rain showers, clouds, bright sun, dull shade all mark the landscape of Boa Island. The light is constantly changing as are the colors of the lough, the sky, the fields, the trees. Rainbows are common in Fermanagh. It is undoubtedly one of the most mystical places in Ireland.
My first visit to Caldragh was in the late fall of 1995, back before it was designated as heritage site. The cemetery was not developed for visitors, and one had to park on the road and climb over a fence to access the path to the graveyard. I wanted to arrive exactly at sunrise to be able to photograph the site in that light. As I neared the graveyard, I could hear a pounding ... like a drum .. with a rhythm similar to a heartbeat. It got louder as I got closer. I pushed passed a very thorny tree into the cemetery gateway ... and there atop the lumpy, rocky old graves was the 3 foot high Janus figure. Just in front of him was a woman thumping away on a bohdran (Irish drum).
I wanted to go in and photograph the site, but felt like I was intruding on some ritual. Finally, I entered and started to take photos. The woman voluntarily moved away from the figure. Later I spoke with her. She was French Canadian and spoke little English. I asked her what brought her to Caldragh and she reached inside the neckline of her shirt and pulled out a small pendant. It was the Caldragh Janus figure. A friend from Chicago had given it to her as a gift. The figure, its meaning, curiosity, and I believe some heavy personal burdens had compelled her to make a pilgrimage to Caldragh. She traveled from Canada specifically to this site ... to sit here ... in front of this figure ... drawn by a gift ~ just like me. A bus brought her from the airport to a Fermanagh bed and breakfast, and kind farmers offered to drive her to Caldragh graveyard. She was to spend a week on Boa Island. I can't remember her name, but I photographed her and her benevolent farmer friends.
3. Take in the Details of the Thin Place
That which lies outside a thin place or how the place is naturally framed can lend meaning to your reflection of the experience as a whole. We only notice details when we stand still and focus all senses on what surrounds us. These details of the surroundings can bring insight that accelerates the growth process.
As I surveyed the cemetery, I noticed it was ringed hazlewoods....a wood commonly used for divining rods (finding water sources) and known to be sacred in ancient times. The mist was still rising from the lumpy mounds of ancient graves, some marked but only by a random rock. The Janus figure stood prominent in the center. It was so dominant, rising above every other thing. It had two faces .. one on each side of a phallic figure. It watched me - followed me - as I moved around the graveyard. From any point, one of his two faces was on me. Next to him was a smaller figure with a face known as the "Lusty Man" because he was found on Lustymore Island nearby and brought to Caldragh in 1939. The time spend in the graveyard was suspended. I have no idea how long I was there. My memories of the visit can't define the length of time I spent there.
I later found a passage from a poem by Seamus Heaney about this place called "January God."
“In the wet gap of the year,
Daubed with fresh lake mud,
I faltered near his power -
January God.”
4. Record Your Memories Soon After the Visit
Whether in writing or by audio recording devise, put down your thoughts and experiences soon after the thin place visit. Though certain things will stand out in your memory, some things won't. They'll only appear in your notes and offer some meaning, and possibly be agents of spiritual change at a later time.
It was after reviewing my notes on that Caldragh visit that I recalled an old castle ruin that was nearby - Castle Caldwell. It was not open to the public. My notes revealed how badly I wanted to explore it, but not being one to defy posted warnings I left the castle unexplored, wondering what the story was behind the castle ... and what the ruins told the explorer. Notes of my second visit to Caldragh had recollections of my husband's first impressions of the graveyard. The notes also contained my reflections on entering, albeit illegally, the Castle Caldwell ruin, led my rebellious husband who had little respect for posted warnings. My notes also jogged my memory of the Drumskinny stone circle that was nearby and our visit there. These recollections brought my entire Caldragh experience into perspective, giving a broader map of signs, insights and meaning.
5. Build Your Internal Gateway at Home ... Store your Notes, Photos and Recordings Together for each Thin Place
This is the most powerful of the keys, because this key renders purpose. When you go back to reflect on a Thin Place, and you have all the information, your photos, your journal notes, transcripts from an audio reflection, perhaps a stone or memento ... the place comes alive again, and new insights develop. You learn new things each time you "revisit." It's as if you open and enter a gateway to a the place all over again. It's during these times you ask yourself, "What did this mean?" and "What did I learn?" Sometimes there are answers ... sometimes not. But the common thread in visiting all the thin places is the Divine Presence. It's so strong in these sites. That alone, makes the visit worth while.
I can't say why, but Caldragh graveyard has one of the most powerful spiritual memories for me. The feeling I got when I was there was like I'd been there before ... and would return again... sort of like a far away home place. Perhaps, in coming years as I enter my Fermanagh Internal Gateway ... when I open the box where I've stored all the photos, reflections and mementos of my visits there, new revelations will appear and I'll learn new things. But for now, the re-experience of the Divine Presence in that particular thin place, is enough of an end result in itself.
Use These Five Steps to Discover Internal Paths
People always ask me about thin places, why I visit them, what's the value, what's the draw. I could spend a lifetime answering. But, to put it simply ... visiting the edge of the other world opens up insights to the present world, insights into the self, insights to the the soul. These insights help us resolve problems, answer nagging questions, make tough decisions, and bring us peace.
Sometimes I link together bits from all the keys to see if a pattern emerges ... in this thin place I have these bits.....
a priest ... a friend ... two-faced ...a vendor from Bethlehem ...a drum - a heartbeat draws ...difficult access ...the Janus figure is the draw ... another led to the site by a friend ...sacred woods surround ... the kindness of strangers ... water, light, rainbows ... entering a forbidden ruin ... all seeing, all knowing, eye on me ... feeling of home away from home ... memory of being where I never was.
Any one of these bits could be an anchor for meditation, and what I learn from that is only for me.
It's up to the journey(wo)man to complete the work that accompanies the visit that will reveal the insight. These five keys - Trace the Route, Notice the Signs, Take in the Details, Record the Memories, and Build the Internal Gateway - are what I follow. I hope they can be of help to you.
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