A religious awakening can happen in the most unexpected places. I myself had a unique experience once in Italy and I am not alone! Religious tourism is an $18 billion industry with over 300 million people taking 600 million trips, according to World Religious Travel Association. And I know, as the head of a luxury travel PR agency, that religious tourism is also a strong new niche area for both budget and luxury travel markets.
Coincidentally, I have discovered from personal experience as head of a boutique hotel public relations agency that when I visit the cities and go off the beaten track of my client’s resorts, that the act of traveling itself can open one up to the spiritual realm. This happened to me in the town of Assisi (famous as the birthplace of Saint Francis 1182-1226 AD) in Italy’s Umbria region and one of the most holy sites in the Western Hemisphere.
While I am a practicing Buddhist (raised as a reform Jew and proud of it!), the experience I had in Assisi reminded me of how travel allows people to get outside of their everyday world and see the commonalities of all people regardless of borders or beliefs, which can lead to a spiritual awakening.
We were staying in Todi, Italy, on a stunning spot on a hilltop halfway between Perugia and Terni, and a mere half hour drive to Assisi. I had been in the main Basilica, built just steps away from St. Francis’s church taking in the frescos of Giotto, when my husband came and whispered in my ear, “Would you like to see the crypt?” I did not even know there was one, but he took be downstairs where it was cooler and there I immediately sensed the room was filled beautiful souls opening themselves.
I sat in quiet meditation on a nearby bench, and it was then that I noticed people going up to the sacred crypt kneeling and praying. I was moved by their quiet power and strong faith, and walked up and around to the back where I saw a monk praying deeply. I knelt along side of him and began to pray as well in silence and was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. I felt my heart being intensely pulled from my chest as tears began to flow from my eyes. I wanted to stay and stay much longer than my few minutes, but I knew everyone was waiting outside and I pulled myself away.
Though I had done years of meditation and yoga (and traveled to India as the luxury PR agency for Leela Palaces), I had never experienced anything like what I felt kneeling at the crypt of St. Francis. When I came outside, I felt the entire town, a classic Umbrian Hill Town with tiny streets and pleasing facades with ebullient geraniums tumbling from their window boxes, was blessed. I came away with a deep sense of the sacredness of this special place and felt as though I could have stayed for many more hours.
Also check out the amazing Spirit Quest Tours company that specializes in spiritual tours and travels.
Much luxe,
Lorraine Abelow
President and Founder, Abelow Public Relations
www.abelowpr.com
I fully understand the feelings you had from this very special place.
I live in west Wales near the Preseli Mountains where they took the blue stones which have healing powers to build the inner circle at Stonehenge.
I have an affinity with the ancient neolithic people who built the standing stones some of which give out an emotional energy that makes my hand shake when I simply hold it near them.
There are also burial cairns on top of mountains that when I stand on them make my whole body shake.
I think it could be an awakening for you but I have already had that experience, for me it was maybe making contact with someone in knew in the distant past!