Today I heard another story from friends in Ireland about a woman who took something from a sacred site. It was just a small thing, a leaf from a particular sacred tree. She figured no one would notice. She did this even though the Irish tour guides warn the tourists not to do such things.
She returned to her hotel room and stashed the leaf in her suitcase. Later, the ceiling in her room collapsed, raining heavy chunks of plaster down on her things, notably her suitcase with the leaf. She is lucky she didn't get hit in the head. Others have faced worse consequences.
Every Irish person (Irish in Ireland), no matter their religion, knows there are spirits and locations and things you do not mess with. Some people know the old ways of interacting with the spirits respectfully, and cultivate ongoing relationships with some of the Other Folk. But most show their respect by staying away from the things that belong to the spirits. It's just part of the culture. But tourists don't know that. Spiritual tourists are not different from any other kind of tourists when it comes to dabbling in the ways of a culture they are not part of.
...Especially when cultural outsiders are leading tour groups to sites associated with the dead, or with the spirits who bring death, and doing totally inappropriate things there. Again, I don't know what exactly Nora is doing at these sites, but having read her website and looked at the pictures she posted on her facebook, I strongly advise that no one do this spiritual tourism with her. Not to any location.
