Some pilgrimage observations feb 2020

An overview of recent pilgrimage events and news from around the world


USA, Our Lady of Good Help
Europe, Beloved pilgrimage sites
USA, Kenobi's film has working title Pilgrim
Europe, New pilgrimage series of the BBC
Europe, The spirit at Europe's pilgrimage sites
Europe, Via Francigena
Info, Why hiking is good for you
ME & Asia, Coronavirus, Saudi Arabia bans pilgrims
World, Sacred journeys Info, Spiritual tourism on the rise

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You don’t need to travel to Europe to go on pilgrimage. Our Lady came to Wisconsin, too.

The Jesuit Review

Pilgrimage USA

This new pilgrimage links the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, near Green Bay, with the Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians (popularly known as “Holy Hill”), northwest of Milwaukee. Much of the 130-mile route passes through the Kettle Moraine, a long swath of land in eastern Wisconsin carved by glaciers into a postcard-worthy landscape of lakes, hills, ridges and plains.

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Europe's most beloved pilgrimage sites: Camino de Santiago, Assisi, Wittenberg and beyond

USAToday

Pilgrimage Europe

Traveling as a pilgrim is a powerful way to experience your trip with a strong sense of purpose: to go beyond tourism and connect more deeply with a place, a culture, or a faith. Travelers considering pilgrimages in Europe have the opportunity to follow centuries-old routes or trace new paths in a search for perspective on their own culture – or the culture of others.

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Lucasfilm’s ‘Kenobi’ Series Has The Working Title of ‘Pilgrim’

HNentertainment

Info USA

What this means for the show isn’t confirmed but this might suggest that Ben Kenobi might leave Tatooine at some point which I know might ruffle the feathers of fans expecting him to spend his entire time on the backwater planet. 

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Seven celebrities embark on a pilgrimage to Istanbul for BBC Two

BBC
Pilgrimage UK Europe

Hot on the heels of the first two critically acclaimed series that saw well known personalities embark on a journey of discovery, to Santiago and Rome, Pilgrimage returns to BBC Two this spring. Seven new famous faces will take to the open road, as they follow a completely different pilgrimage. This time, in Pilgrimage: The Road To Istanbul.

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TRAVEL: Rick Steves feels the spirit at Europe's pilgrimage sites

TheChronicleHerald

Pilgrimage Europe

Travelling as a pilgrim is a powerful way to experience your trip with a strong sense of purpose — to go beyond tourism and connect more deeply with a place, a culture, or a faith. Travelers considering pilgrimages in Europe have the opportunity to follow centuries-old routes or trace new paths in a search for perspective on their own culture — or the culture of others.


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The Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrim route

Wanted in Rome

Pilgrimage Europe

In the Middle Ages, it was the road that brought pilgrims from Canterbury to Rome. The Italian section today is a journey through some of the most fascinating places in the boot. On foot, you don’t need much, in fact very little is enough.

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Five Ways Hiking Is Good for You

Epochtimes

Background info 

Hiking in nature is not only good for our bodies, but good for our moods, minds, and our relationships


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Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia bans entrance of religious pilgrim

Ansamed & Bloomberg

News ME & Asia

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry announced it has temporarily suspended entrance into the country for religious pilgrims travelling to Mecca, in order to "prevent the arrival of the new coronavirus into the kingdom and its spread".

See also Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia Suspends Mecca Pilgrimage Visas on Coronavirus

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Sacred Journeys Around the World

Newsweek
Pilgrimage Worldwide

Whatever your religion—if any—or how you choose to observe, in today's plugged-in and stressed-out times, an introspective journey can offer travelers a chance to spend time reflecting in nature. While any hike can be transformative, traveling the same path as others makes these intentional, soul-searching pilgrimages more than simply walks in beautiful places. Follow in the footsteps of Buddhist monks in Japan or a revered Viking king in Scandinavia or seek a shaman's healing in ice-cold lagoons in Peru.

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From nature hikes to chats with chickens, spiritual tourism is on the rise

Startribune

Background spiritual tourism

Contemplating the growth of spiritual tourism at a peaceful, if sometimes odd, Santa Fe resort.

Celebrating life

On my personal FB page I noticed I included a collection of events I could name 'celebrating life'.

I collected them here, to celebrate summer.

Enjoy these tips for all life lovers, for those open to life.

Think resembles pilgrimage, being from home, looking for something, immersing in nature, social and self (the elements of meaning of place;-)

and even sometimes becoming a new you, transformated and ready for life.

Glastonbury Festival of contemporary performing arts

In june 2017 they "created the largest ever human peace sign as a symbol of our unity and love for one another".

More info on the festival here,

No Mind Festival

"No Mind is Scandinavia’s biggest alternative festival – a transformative gathering to open our hearts, become alive and free in our bodies, and relax into a wisdom beyond the mind."

Here's a look at last years event, hope it makes you happy.

click to see movie

Some time ago I saw Three miles north of Molkom.

Here's the trailer.

click to see movie

More info on the festival here.

Solstice Stonehenge

June 21 was the day of the solstice. Celebrated in many places, here's (click here) a compilation of photographs from The Guardian of Stonehenge June 21. 

Burning Man

Starting Aug 27, "Once a year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. In this crucible of creativity, all are welcome."

This year's theme is Radical Ritual, a temple will be erected.

Here's a movie of last year's event. What to expect...

More info, much more, on their site.

World Naked Hiking Day

And finally, June 21 wasn't only the day of the solstice but also World Naked Hiking Day

embrace nature

establish a sense of inner freedom 

#nakedhikingday

#glastonbury 

#nomindfestival

Slow movement Slow travel Slow landscape

Does the Slow Movement ring a bell?
This item is on the slow movement, slow travel inclusive an iconic landscape travel TV, mindfull slow movement... 

This movement started with slow food ,

but rapidly expanded in many other cultural fields, including slow travel.

Well, by now you perhaps know I'm studying aspects of pilgrimage, landscape, movement and experience. So, I want to guide your attention on a spin-off. The nice concept of slow travel or slow tourism as an example of performed transmodernity. A concept related to backpacking, eco-tourism and volunteer tourism. A concept related to pilgrim/tourist traveling.

Encountering a new lifestyle.

Here are a few pointers...

Introduction

Wikipedia: "The slow movement advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the slow food movement. Over time, this developed into a subculture in other areas, like the Cittaslow organisation for "slow cities". The "slow" epithet has subsequently been applied to a variety of activities and aspects of culture."

Ted presentation by

Carl Honore: In praise of slowness

(20:00)

Manifesto

"Slow travel is about making conscious choices, and not letting the anticipation of arrival undermine the pleasure of the journey. By choosing to travel slowly, we reshape our relationship with place and with the communities through which we pass on our journeys. In 2009 we launched our 'Manifesto for slow travel'."

See full manifest on:

A manifesto for Slow Travel, Nicky Gardner

More on slow travel

Carl Honoré, journalist and author of In Praise of Slowness, talking about Slow Travel

(7:59)

Carl Honore

Slow Travel,

presentation from Verena Erin

SLOW - A short film about van life- English version

Because life’s too short to live too fast.

"Synopsis: Two couples traveling around the world in two camper vans decide to discover the Ecuadorian jungle together. Through a word game they realize that everything is interconnected. This short film is a reflection on the structures Western society forces upon us.

Directed by: Marta Tibau and Marià Miño"

(9:59)

Mmviatges - Furgo en ruta

Topping off

How can we deal with the addictive nature of speed? Carl Honoré, Gervais Williams, Deepa Patel and Kate Fletcher explore how we can improve our quality of life, well-being and creativity by applying the principles of slow.

The slow revolution

RSA

(17:43)

And finally if you have some time to spend.
The Bergen line to Oslo, an iconic slow-TV program in 2009.
See the slow slowly changing landscape.

(7:14:13)

More on slow-TV in the article ´Slow TV is here´from Nathan Heller in The New Yorker 2014. 

A special type of mindfull slow movement is het meditation method of Kinhin, often performed between two sessions of Zazen.

More on mindfull walking is said and written by Thich Nhat Hanh .

The miracle of walking on the earth.

Perhaps here is a clue on taking the 'camino experience' home, at least partly!
See more on this website article 'From pilgrimage to walking meditation'

There are several 'slow' related books like..

(and many articles...)

An article on pilgrimage and slow travel from these books can be found on Academia:

" We are pilgrims through time - Augustine 

The path of modernity is one characterized by acceleration, interconnection and mobility. Amidst the increasingly fast tempo of life in late modernity, contemporary pilgrims and other ‘slow travellers’ express needs and desires for alternative experiences of temporality, while subverting the dominant ‘cult of speed’. My objective in this chapter is to focus on issues of temporality in exploring three aspects of slow travel: the potential contradictions it presents, its direct relationship to modernization and its link to pilgrimage."

Howard: Speeding up and slowing down, Pilgrimage and Slow Travel through time.

Link to website of Slow Movement here.

"As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow."

A. C. Benson

Take life slow !
See you next time with better hearth rhythm variability ;-)

Just a bench, worth a pilgrimage

Let's talk about a bench, 

a famous bench,

a bench worth a pilgrimage for many young adults,

a bench from a movie,

so a film induced pilgrimage.

The Fault in our Stars

The 2014 movie is based on a book by John Green and directed by Josh Boone.

Reviewers indicate it's very sad but very beautiful. Part of the movie was filmed in Amsterdam. And a special scene, where main actors kiss, involves a bench they're on.

Young adults choose this scene and this spot as their pilgrim destination, rivalling the House of Anne Frank. The book and film induce the young 'to walk in the footsteps of their young heroes' as Tagholm says in his article, see below.

The trailer to the movie

(3:00)

Click here for more background information on the movie in IMDB.

The bench in Fault in our Stars

(1:24)

The bench film scene

(3:26)

Map to The Fault of our Stars, with a 75 minutes walk to discover the movies hotspots. (This map and descriptions are in Dutch Language, maps however are universal;-)

The article that started my interest in the first place is here. Very recommended.

It's written by Roger Tagholm and published by Publishers Perspective on July 21, 2015: 

In Amsterdam, A Bench Has Created a YA Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage to the dead and famous

Visited Jim Morrison's grave at Pere Lachaise in Paris, done Elvis Presley?

(Kajinek32 en Baha, Wikimedia commons)

Looking for Jim Morrison's grave at Pere Lachaise:

(MEGAMACE Fitness Productions, 2:13)

How about a pilgrimage to the birthplace of John Wayne. The 'western' actor who died in 1979. 

In april 2015 Winterset Ohio opened the John Wayne birthplace and museum.

Winterset? Yes, also the place from the novel The Bridges of Madison County.

(website museum)

See the website for the museum here.

or read the article ('Make a pilgrimage...') in the Smithsonian by Matt Blitz here.

(UkesterBrown, 1:13)

Reminds me of The World of James Herriot in Thirsk (UK). I visited the James Herriot conference many years ago. A conference about James Wight. You perhaps know this British veterinary surgeon and writer as James Herriot. Author of All creatures great and small (and many others following).

(Kreuzschnabel, Wikimedia commons)

As this blog is about place have a look at the Yorkshire Dales, the countryside of James Herriot.

(Harry Mateman 5:53)

Tried to find the grave of James Wight, but he was cremated and his ashes scattered.

A virtual pilgrimage along 94 graves:

(MsCemeteryChick 9:54)

Continue this exploration on

Dead famous: Celebrity graves that make cemeteries a decent day out

or

a phototour The 10 best ... famous graves

The future item on this blog will be a 'pilgrimage' to a bench along a canal!

An example of film induced pilgrimage.