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b"\\u201cWhen I first decided to do these pilgrimages, I told myself I'm doing this as an investigative reporter. I'm doing it as an observer, and as an outsider \\u2026 and in the end, that isn't what happened.\\u201d\\nRosemary Mahoney, author The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground\\n\\n\\nWhen Rosemary Mahoney got off the ferry at the tiny island of Tinos, in Greece, she witnessed something extraordinary. Pilgrims dressed in black exited the boat and immediately flung themselves to the ground, crawling on hands and knees to worship at a shrine at the top of a nearby hill.\\xa0\\n\\nWatching these men and women rolling in the dirt, sweating beneath a scorching sun, she asked herself a simple question. Every human culture that has ever existed has had some concept of the divine, however you define that. She wanted to understand why.\\n\\nHer search for an answer began a remarkable journey to undertake six of the world\\u2019s most prominent religious pilgrimages. Her journey would take her from the Way of St James, trekking hundreds of miles across the Pyrenees of southern France and Spain, to the burning ghats of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River, in India, and beyond.\\n\\nThis isn\\u2019t a story about religion, or faith. It is an investigation into one of the most fundamental, but little understood, aspects of humanity. It is a quest to discover the roots of belief itself. And to find it, she will have to travel to six countries, walk hundreds of miles, and stare death in the face.\\xa0\\n\\nInsightful, evocative, and inspiring. Rosemary\\u2019s story is an adventure into the heart of what it means to be human.\\n\\nFIND ROSEMARY\\nGet a copy of Rosemary\\u2019s book The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground, online or from your local bookstore. Find out more about her work at rosemarymahoney.net. Facebook: @RosemaryMahoneyWriter\\n\\nSOCIAL\\nShare the show with your friends! Subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening, follow @armchairexplorerpodcast on Instagram and Facebook, check out\\xa0Armchair Explorer's website, and learn more about APT Podcast Studios on their\\xa0website.\\n\\nCREDITS\\nThis episode was produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at armchair-productions.com. Jenny Allison wrote and produced this episode, along with host and producer Aaron Millar. Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Theme music written by the artist Sweet Chap.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"