The Walk of Wisdom was set up out of love for nature. Man is descended from nature, is part of nature. Nature offers comfort and peace. Her creativity is a great source of inspiration and life force.
From that love, we want to make room for reflection and convey that people are deeply connected to each other and the world. We do this with a pilgrimage route that potentially goes all over the world and through a few rituals and symbols.
Man: seedling of the world
Our main symbol is Pilgrim. It is a Imagining man as a seedling of the world, a plant that germinates. It was specially designed for us by Huub and Adelheid Kortekaas.
Pilgrim is our marker and therefore your guide along the way. A 2.2-metre-high statue of it stands at our start and end point. Our starter kit contains a 99mm pin of the symbol in bamboo.
“The impressions I have gained are in my heart and soul. That’s why I didn’t take any pictures. So go through this experience yourself, to experience how beautiful it is.” – Carly van Kempen
Pilgrim’s lace
The second symbol of the Walk of Wisdom is the
pilgrim’s lace.
A cork shoelace, on which you collect bird rings with the municipalities on the route. In the starter pack you get the lace with a metal bird ring with your unique registration number on it.
Funny: it was only later that we discovered that our Nijmegen pilgrimage route resembles a flying bird. Design: Manja Bente.
Phone unreachable
Our advice: set your phone to unreachable while walking. That gives peace and space. “Time to recharge your own battery” – says poet Frouke Arns, whose poem is included in our starter pack.
Your GPS will continue to work. Home front? In most phones, you can indicate that certain phone numbers will come through. Of course, you can also just leave the thing at home, if you dare!
Departure ceremonies for and by pilgrims
Volunteers of the Walk of Wisdom organize departure ceremonies twice a month. A moment of reflection independent of any religion. Participation is free, you only have to register (agenda).
- Every first Saturday a departure ceremony at sunrise: the pilgrim’s lauds. We make a silent walk through the abandoned 750-year-old Stevens Church in Nijmegen and listen to a story from the book that appeared at the opening of the Walk of Wisdom: Seasons of Life (see below).
- Every third Saturday a departure ceremony with the opportunity to express an intention. We gather at the statue of Mariken van Nimweghen on the Grote Markt in Nijmegen to walk in silence to the 1,000-year-old Nicholas Chapel . There is live music in this intimate chapel.
Photos: Yolanda van Diepen
Pilgrim’s Book of Hours
At the opening of the Walk of Wisdom in 2015, we collaborated with an art dealership: Intermedi-Art Art Affairs. He published a modern version of the medieval books of hours. At the time, these were prayer selections, supplemented by art. For example, the Nijmegen painters ‘illuminated’ the Brothers of Limburg a few famous editions, which are now masterpieces in the Louvre and the Met.
Intermedi-Art’s Book
of Hours – Seasons of Life
– does not contain prayers, but stories from well-known and unknown Dutch people about an important life experience. Contemporary artists created small works of art (miniatures) especially for the book. The popular edition of the book had reproductions of the artworks and is now out of print. However, a special edition was also published with all the original artworks bound in it. It is still in the Stevenskerk, next to the statue of Pilgrim at the start and end point of the tour.
Contributions came from Tommy Wieringa, Joke Hermsen and Jan Terlouw, among others.
We are now working on our second
On the Way to Wisdom
.
Image: Constellation by Marjoke Schulten, one of the miniatures.