Some recent pilgrimage observations...

In this episode of recent popular articles on pilgrimage..

• Shikoku
• Lindisfarne Good Friday
• Camino Primitivo
• Rocky Mountains, the spiritual
• Chimayó
• What is a pilgrim?
• Deutsche Welle Camino
• Bitten by the Hiking Bug

The Japan Times: No right way to complete Shikoku’s 88-temple pilgrimage

"The scent of incense reaches us before we see the temple. Two ferocious statues guard the gate, accompanied by a mannequin in full pilgrim costume: white clothes; a sedge hat with Kobo Daishi’s name and guiding messages in print; a walking stick; a monk’s stole and mala prayer beads." Click for full article.

Chronicle Life: Cross-bearing pilgrims arrive in Lindisfarne for Good Friday event

"Pilgrims celebrate Easter by crossing over the tidal causeway carrying wooden crosses on the final leg of their annual pilgrimage to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne"

An earlier post on the subject here.

MailOnline: Being in the moment on the Camino Primitivo

"'I've never been more in the moment': The life-changing effects of tackling Spain's oldest pilgrimage - a 200-mile walk through the Cantabrian Mountains"

CBC: The mountains as spiritual place

"The mountains as temple: A pilgrimage to Alberta's Rockies. 
The faithful discuss how moments of stripped-down clarity can come while being buffeted on a windblown peak"

Santa Few New Mexican: Thousands join pilgrimage to Chimayó

“I am walking to Chimayó in thanks for all the blessings that God has given me and to pray for the world because there is so much evil, so much lack of unity,” Elizabeth Lara said in Spanish. “I am asking for unity in the world and health for some of my friends that are sick and for my family.”

Metro: What is a pilgrim?

"One such thing is walking hundreds of miles to a place of worship

on what’s known as a pilgrimage."

"Anyone can go on a pilgrimage, as the more general dictionary definition of a pilgrim is ‘a person travelling to a place of particular personal interest’.

Deutsche Welle: Pilgrimage season gets underway in Europe

"More and more people are stepping away from daily life and onto a pilgrimage path like the Way of Saint James, which goes to Spain's west coast. Germany also offers pilgrims routes and help to meet their different needs."

Stuff: Bitten by the Hiking Bug

"One day we came around a corner and found a herd of sheep and goats and a shepherd standing next to them with a golden Labrador. At night he slept next to the herd to protect it from wolves – I felt like I'd stepped out of the Swiss family drama about Heidi and Peter."

Find a previous version of 'recent articles' here.

Pilgrimage and Place is a project by Paul Kouwenberg

Find the sister page 'The Pilgrims Gaze' here
The latest entry there has links to the recent BBC series on Pilgrimage The road to Santiago.

Both pages are also on Facebook:

Pilgrimage and Place

The Pilgrims Gaze

Some recent popular pilgrimage articles

In this episode of recent popular articles on pilgrimage..

• Ed Byrne taking a pilgrimage
• BBC: Pilgrimage: The road to Santiago
• Nancy Frey: Pilgrimage in the internet age
• Ireland's old pathways connect to Camino trail
• Cycling the Via Francigena
• Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
• The world's 10 most spiritual places
• A coffee pilgrimage

Ed Byrne taking a pilgrimage

Interview in Wanderlust Travel Magazine with Ed Byrne on his pilgrimage part of the BBC series Pilgrimage: The road to Santiago.

"Ed Byrne: "I didn't go into it expecting to have a spiritual experience – I'm aware of my limitations"

Pilgrimage: The road to Santiago

More on the characters in the BBC TV series here.
Info on the BBC site here.

"Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago – Who are the celebrities taking on the epic trek?"

At the moment Episode 1 is on Youtube.


Pilgrimage in the internet age
Do you know Nancy Frey? Do you know about her (phd-thesis) book Pilgrim Stories. On and Off the Road to Santiago?

See her recent text PILGRIMAGE IN THE INTERNET AGE and the post recorded keynote.

Here's the text.

Here's the keynote.

Ireland's old pathways connect to Camino trail

Part of the 100 km needed to receive a Compostela can be walked on Ireland's ancient Celtic pilgrim paths. Find it here.

Cycling the Via Francigena
How to tackle the most beautiful cycling route in Italy. Click here for the article in The Telegraph.

"Atarget gives purpose to a bike ride, and the news that the pilgrimage route to Rome has been resurrected as a cycling trail is an invitation to saddle up. Completed in 2016 after a 10-year campaign of marking and mapping, the Via Francigena is the longest signposted cycle route in Italy: 620 miles from the Great St Bernard Pass to St Peter’s".

THE IMPORTANCE OF PILGRIMAGES TO THE HOLY LAND

"Pilgrimages to the Holy Land, however, are important not just for pilgrims coming from afar. They are crucial for the survival of the Christian community in the Holy Land and for the pilgrimage sites themselves."

Click here for the article in the Boston Pilot.

The world's 10 most spiritual places

Are these the most spiritual places? Look for yourself in this article in The Telegraph.
"The serene scene, with its bells and birds, temple tops and warming sunrise glow snuck in; got under the skin. There was a sense of a place greater than the sum of its colourful, crumbling parts. "

A coffee pilgrimage

Starbucks Lovers Can Now Make a Pilgrimage to Its 600-Acre Coffee Farm in Costa Rica.

"Starbucks aficionados might want to reconsider their next vacation. Today, the coffee giant is opening the doors (and fields) to its 600-acre coffee farm in San Luis, Costa Rica."
Find the Vogue article here.

Some recent popular articles

Just a collection of recent popular articles on pilgrimage around the world.

Click on the titles to see the full articles.

The magical path of the way of Saint James

The 30th anniversary of the Camino as European Cultural Route

Pilgrimages in Britain

Life changing visits to Holy Places

Moviegoers becoming pilgrims

Honouring the Lady of Guadelupe

Standing Rock place of pilgrimage

The Kumano Kodo trail

India tourist circuit like Camino or Shikoku

Kim Jong-un on Mt Paektu

Artefact, Teresa Gottein

The way of Saint James: A magical path

Six people describe their experiences.

"All that really matters is to absorb everything the Camino offers mile after mile. You may not see it at first, but as the days go by, you will unavoidably feel it."

Authentic Journeys, Zoe Genova

The Camino de Santiago’s 30th Anniversary as a European Cultural Route

"When this announcement was made in 1987, it created a resurgence in awareness and rise in participation in the Camino. "

The Telegraph, Harriet Compston 

Why everyone should make a pilgrimage in Britain (even atheists)

"I was spending the next four days with the British Pilgrimage Trust, a new movement bringing pilgrimages back to Britain. But these are not just holy journeys for devout Christians: committed atheists and everyone in between are welcomed and encouraged to embrace the idea of slow travel on foot with strangers. "

NextAvenue, Lori Erickson

Why Making a Trip to a Holy Place May Change Your Life

The 'Holy Rover' author shares her passion for spiritual wandering and pilgrimages

TheConversation, S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate
When do moviegoers become pilgrims?

"Among the millions of travelers heading out for the summer holidays, some are choosing an unlikely destination: a rusted bus on the edge of the Alaskan wilderness."

Catholic Herald / AP
Massive pilgrimage honours Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico

See the photo's "Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converged on Mexico City’s Basilica of Guadalupe "

TheConversation, Rosalyn R. LaPier

How Standing Rock became a site of pilgrimage

Modern day pilgrimage

iNews, Siobhan Norton

Temples, tea and tree hugging on Japan’s Kumano Kodo trail

"I awake to the sun rising over mist-wreathed hills, and feel profoundly peaceful. But I haven’t yet earned my pilgrim points – I must take to the trail myself. The Kumano Kodo has been trodden for more than 1,000 years by people from all walks of life, from emperors to peasants, in search of salvation. "

FinancialExpress, Rana Kapoor

How to meet future environmental, economic challenges: Buddhism Inspired Sustainable Economies a model for growth

The ministry of tourism has launched the infrastructural development project of the Buddhist circuit as India’s first transnational tourist circuit.

"An example of a similar effort is found in Spain, which has the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Camino de Santiago—478 miles of Catholic pilgrimage that ends at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the supposed final resting place of James the Apostle. This route sees over 200,000 pilgrims per year. Also, the Japanese have the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, an extensive Buddhist pilgrimage that spans over 750 miles and is colloquially called ‘The Way of the 88 Temples’."

koreajoongangdaily, Jeong Yong-Su

Kim Jong-un makes symbolic pilgrimage to Mt. Paektu

"Kim has visited Mt. Paektu five times during his six-year rule"

New books coming months

Coming months some relevant books reach the stores, to mention a few:

• The Camino de Santiago in the 21st Century
• International Perspectives on Pilgrimage Studies
• The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics
• Pilgrimage: A Very Short Introduction
• Christian Pilgrimage, Landscape and Heritage: Journeying to the Sacred

More information on the books and their contents below.

The Camino de Santiago in the 21st Century

Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Global Views

Edited by Samuel Sánchez y Sánchez, Annie Hesp

Routledge – August 2015 – 216 pages – Hardback $140.00

Introduction: The Camino de Santiagoin the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Global Views Samuel Sánchez y Sánchez and Annie Hesp

Part 1: Historical and Political Perspectives on the Camino

1. Historical and Modern Signs of "Real" Pilgrims on the Road to Santiago de Compostela Maryjane Dunn

2. Revival of the Medieval Past: Francisco Franco and the Camino de Santiago Lynn Talbot

 3. Whose Caminois it? (Re)defining Europe on the Camino de Santiago Steven Gardner, Carl Mentley, and Lisa Signori

Part 2: Literary and Visual Representations of the Camino

4. Picturing the Camino de Santiagoin Contemporary Pilgrimage Blogs Cristina Ogden

5. Redefining the Nation through the Camino de Santiagoin the Graphic Novel Genre Henri-Simon Blanc-Hoang 6. Two Religions on One Road to Santiago: Polyethnicity and Syncretism on the Camino in Saint-Jacques…La Mecque John K. Moore Jr.

Part 3: Transformations and Identity in the Camino

7. Lost and Found: Materiality and Personal Transformation on the Camino de Santiago Samuel Sánchez y Sánchez

8. The Australian Way: Transnational Flows and the Twenty First Century Camino Paul Genoni

9. The Camino de Santiagoas Global Narrative: Literary Representations and Identity Creation Nicole Rasch

 

International Perspectives on Pilgrimage Studies

Itineraries, Gaps and Obstacles

Edited by John Eade, Dionigi Albera

Routledge – may 2015 – 208 pages - Hardback: $140.00

1. International Perspectives on Pilgrimage Studies: Putting the Anglophone Contribution in Its Place Dionigi Albera and John Eade

2. Japanese Studies of Pilgrimage Ian Reader

3. Touching the Holy: Orthodox Christian pilgrimage within Russia Stella Rock

4. Old and New Paths of Polish Pilgrimages Anna Niedźwiedź

5. Pilgrimages in Hungary: Ethnological and Anthropological Approaches Gábor Barna

6. From Religious Folklore Studies to Research of Popular Religiosity: Pilgrimage Studies in German-speaking Europe Helmut Eberhart

7. Studying Jewish Pilgrimage in Israel Nimrod Luz and Noga Collins Kreiner

8. Italian Studies on Pilgrimage. Beyond Folklore towards a National Anthropological Tradition and the International Circulation of Ideas Elena Zapponi

9. From Cryptic to Critique: Early and Contemporary French Contributions to the Study of Pilgrimage Anna Fedele and Cyril Isnart

 

The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics

by Stanley D. Brunn (Editor)

Springer – Feb 2015 – Hardcover - 952,94 €

Volume 1

Part I: Introduction

Part I: Nature, Ethics And Environmental Change

Part III: Sacred Spaces And Places

Volume 2

Part IV: Pilgrimage Landscapes And Tourism

Part V: Education And Changing Worldviews

Part VI: Business, Finance, Economic Development And Law

Volume 3

Part VII: Globalization, Diasporas And New Faced In The Global North

Part VIII: Globalization, Diasporas And New Faced In The Global South

Volume 4

Part IX: Secularization

Part X: Megachurches And Architecture

Part XI: Culture: Museums, Drama, Fashion, Food, Music, Sports And Science Fiction

Part XII: Organizations

Volume 5

Part XIII: Identity, Gender And Culture

Part XIV: Politics, Reconciliation And Advocacy

Part XV: Virtual Worlds And The Visual Media

 

Pilgrimage: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

by Ian Reader (author)

Oxford University Press - July 2015 - Paperback  $9.21

1. Introduction: the multiple forms of pilgrimage

2. Examining pilgrimage: forms, types, and interpretations

3. Pilgrimages worldwide: a global and historical outline

4. Motives and means: Asceticism and the package tour

5. Tourism, entertainment, relics, and souvenirs

6. Modern developments, secular sites, and the reshaping of pilgrimage

7. Conclusion: an ever-changing phenomenon

Christian Pilgrimage, Landscape and Heritage: Journeying to the Sacred (Routledge Studies in Religion, Travel, and Tourism)

by Avril Maddrell, Veronica della Dora, Alessandro Scafi, Heather Walton (Author)

Routledge – Jan 2015

1. Introduction: Pilgrimage, Landscape, Heritage Avril Maddrell and Veronica della Dora

2. Theological Perspective on Christian Pilgrimage Heather Walton

Part I: Pilgrimage to the Orthodox East: Meteora

3. Ways of Seeing: The Making of a Holy Landscape of RocksVeronica della Dora

4. Where the Tourist’s Gaze Fades: Performing Landscape and the Sacred in Meteora Veronica della Dora

Part II: Pilgrimage to the Latin West: Subiaco

5. The Topographies of Benedict’s Holy Cave Alessandro Scafi

6. Visiting the Monastery of the Sacro Speco in Subiaco Alessandro Scafi

Part III: Renewing Pilgrimage Practices in the Celtic West: The Isle of Man

7. Contextualising Sacred Sites, Pathways and Shared Heritage: Local History, Ecumenism and National Identity Avril Maddrell

8. Mobilising the Landscape and the Body in Search of the Spiritual: Journeying, Performance and Community Avril Maddrell

9. Conclusion: Pilgrimage, Landscape and Heritage: Intersecting Pathways Avril Maddrell and Veronica della Dora