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.

The Sacred Door Trail

Changing spiritual perceptions and attitude towards our environment, landscape and nature lead to a multitude of ways to relate to the outdoors.

New locations are becoming places of pilgrimage (both traditional religious or new age spiritual, and there are many other reasons to make a 'pilgrimage' (like film based, dark tourism, etc.)

This item is on the Sacred Door Trail, an interfaith pilgrimage route in Montana, USA. A little more than 5 years old, about 165 miles long. A circular route like the Shikoku in Japan.

So, let me be your guide in introducing you to the Sacred Door Trail.

Video Let's start with an introduction video (2:41) by the founder Weston Pew

Video As we're in video mode, perhaps have a look at the 'opening ceremonies' some five years ago in the Vimeo video (11:13)

 (click text above for video)

Text with video: "The Sacred Door Trail is a 175-mile interfaith pilgrimage trail in southwestern Montana dedicated to Spiritual Unity, Peace and our connection to Earth and Community. It is comprised of pre-existing National Forest Service trails, which form a loop that explores some of the most beautiful mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers in the United States. The trail serves as a bridge connecting us to our original church, our original temple ~ Mother Earth. 

On June 28-30th of 2012 people from diverse belief systems, cultures and lineages gathered together to offer blessings from many different traditions, thereby establishing the land and trail as a shared sacred space. The trail is a celebration of our rich spiritual diversity as humans, but more importantly, it honors the spirit that unifies all things, thereby turning the many into One. 

In hiking The Sacred Door Trail you not only carry your own prayers but the prayers of the world and all life upon your shoulders."

Article Only recently (May 2017) the Backpacker magazine published
"Sacred Door Trail Hike" by Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan.

 "A piece about a woman trying to overcome the pain of a breakup, navigate her emotions and find peace on the Sacred Door Trail."

You find it here.

Brochure Curious?

Find out more in the brochure, click here.

'

Online The Trail has it's own website and Facebook page.

Website here.

Facebook page here

Blog A blog entry by Weston Pew in Huffington Post (2013)Sacred Activism: The Key to Religious Survival in the Age of SBNRs.

See also In 2015 I introduced you to some other interesting (new and older) trails on Pilgrimage and Place.

One of them being the Walk of Wisdom in The Netherlands, also a route of contemplation.

You find the link 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"

Tourists and Pilgrims: go home

Tourism is a for a long time contested concept:

Being imperial, unfair, rich-poor enhancing, hedonistic, naturedestroyer, culturedestroyer ....
And specific for pilgrimage routes like the Camino de Santiago the number of pilgrims are rising, new records crushed the next year.
Sure,  this increase is intentional, policy of national and regional government and of commercial corporations. A development that started some 40 years ago.

I looked around to provide you with additional and latest popular developments.
Looked at the pilgrimage route
Looked at some general touristic concerns.

Sometimes there just are too many tourists, too many pilgrims.
So, this blogitem provides an overview of the latest trend in tourism and pilgrimage alike: overcrowding.
And it hints alternative / sustainable tourism.

(China’s Qingdao Huiquan Beach during the height of peak season)

On the pilgrimage route

(photo: dpa Picture-Alliance / Florian Schuh / picture alliance / dpa Themendie)

The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route saw it's routes becoming more and more crowded. 2017 probably again a record year. Experienced pilgrims use the usual comments: Try other routes or seasons, keep away from  the usual staged etappe endings, overcrowded camino was already an issue 30 years ago, it's nice, cosy and socially, it's not that bad. However: complaints are growing, even on the 'less walked' route like the Camino Ingles.
Like a pilgrim from Colorado just (august 2017, walked in july) reported on Tripadvisor: "Way to many people".Some people don't mind, I do and try to keep away from overcrowded routes.

Four recent articles in French and German newspapers/sites cover the overcrowding.
( use google translate ;-)

Wir sind dann mal weg

Zu viele Jakobspilger: In Spanien wird gegen Urlauber protestiert

( Mass-tourism, we're off then. After Kerkeling's camino book Ich bin dann mal weg. Subtitle of the article: Too many pilgrims: Spain protesting against tourism)
Suddeutsche Zeitung

Pilgerstau am Jacobsweg

Far away from the peaceful tranquility, long human karavans on the way to the pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela are driving up prices and hunt away the locals
Die Presse

"Ce n’est pas de la tourismophobie, c’est de l’anticapitalisme" : en Espagne, des activistes torpillent le tourisme de masse

(This isn't tourismphobia, it's anticapitalism. In Spain activists torpede mass-tourism)
Francetvinfo

(Un graffiti "Touristes, rentrez chez vous" dans le centre-ville d'Oviedo (province des Asturies, nord de l'Espagne), le 7 août 2017. (ELOY ALONSO / AFP))

Große Zahl der Pilger sorgt für Ärger entlang des Jakobswegs
Large amount of pilgrims causes trouble along the Way of St James.
Hamburger Abentblatt (this article is published in many other magazins)

Tourisme generic

I'l start with a few headlines..

Is Mount Everest an overcrowded tourist trap?

Machu Picchu to introduce timed ticketing to deal with overcrowding

20 overcrowded sights that should follow the Cinque Terre's example

Over-tourism in Amsterdam

You can click on them to go to the responding article

Protests are growing

Anti-tourism protests spread across Europe

Barcelona residents protest unchecked growth of mass tourism

Venice residents protest against tourist influx

Protest against "tourist colonialism" in Palma

You can click on them to go to the responding article

And to closeoff

European tourism prompts locals to declare 'enough is enough' as visitor numbers grow in ABCnet.

"There is a growing backlash over tourism in Europe as the favourite hotspots suffer from chronic overcrowding and locals face rising prices for basic needs such as rent."

European tourism prompts locals to declare 'enough is enough' as visitor numbers grow

(Twitter Corse Tourism)

Just a few thoughts..

The growth paradox: can tourism ever be sustainable?

World Economic forum (aug 2017)

Picture Comparison Mass / Alternative Tourism

(Nompumelelo Mathebula, Univ of Johannesburg)

Picture Types of Tourism

(Cecilia Ryan, Understanding tourism impacts & types of alternative tourism)

Friluftsliv

This blogitem introduces you to the concept of Frilufsliv.

A fundamental understanding of men and nature.

A concept well known in Scandinavian countries, but becoming a trend elsewhere!

Enjoy what I gathered,

enjoy your compassion with and immersion in nature ;-)

Introducing

The following picture is a search on the concept in Google pictures:

Think you get an idea!

"What, then, is it? "

Mountaineering educator Nils Faarlund on Friluftsliv (in Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature and religion):

"“An unselfish I-Thou relationship that tries to come away from the anthropocentrism of a nature-dissonant society,” Faarlund concludes. Inherently, friluftsliv, as Faarlund, Ibsen, and Nansen want to define it, is a fundamentally spiritual belief that simply getting out into nature, enjoying the hike, the climb, the ski, the swim, is an essentially personal religious experience that gives the greatest possible meaning to human life."

Let's explore the concept more in two popular articles

MacsAdventure: 

"Friluftsliv, a word coined by Norwegian poet Henrik Ibsen, literally translating to ‘free air life’ is the word used to broadly describe the connection to nature that is so strong in Norway. This article explores how a respect and love of the outdoors is developed. "

Friluftsliv: a Norwegian Philosophy.

McLendon on Mother's nature network:

How 'friluftsliv' can help you reconnect with nature

"The Norwegian word, coined in 1859, has come to embody Norway's cultural enchantment with nature. It doesn't translate easily to English, but the basic spirit of friluftsliv hides inside all of us."

Sit back and relax

Documentary by Charlotte Workman

"'Friluftsliv' is an ancient Nordic philosophy of outdoor life. It is an engrained philosophy in Norway and Sweden but relatively unknown to the rest of the world. This philosophy embodies the idea that returning to nature, is returning home."

See it on Vimeo, click here. It.'s 11 minutes long.

And finally if you want to go deeper I have some articles and a reference to a book:

Two articles if you want to read more..

Outdoor Recreation and the Nordic Tradition of "Friluftsliv": A Source of Inspiration for a Sustainable Society? by Klas Sandell

"This article starts with a discussion of outdoor life as both a consequence of and a reaction against the industrialized and urbanized society. Thereafter comes a short presentation of the Nordic 2 outdoor tradition of "friluftsliv" (open-air life), including its "allemansrtt" (everyone's right of access to the countryside within certain limits). Finally the complicated issue of interaction between environmental experience and environmental perspective is raised and a preliminary model of the interaction between outdoor life and environmentalism is presented."

Friluftsliv: The Scandinavian Philosophy ofOutdoor Life by Hans Gelter:

Abstract:

This paper explores the roots of the Scandinavian outdoor lifestyle of friluftsliv and its philosophical implication as well as its applications for environmental education. Friluftsliv as a philosophy is deeply rooted in Norway and Sweden but has lately obtained a more a superficial meaning by the commercialization of outdoor activities. The philosophy and biology of friluftsliv is explored showing its importance as a means, in environmental education, to facilitate a true connectedness to the more-thanhuman world. 

Nature First: Outdoor Life the Friluftsliv Way (Bob Henderson, Nils Vikander eds)

Have a look inside this book on GoogleBooks, click here.

And if you like a book review.


Pilgrimage and Place is also on Facebook.If you like you can like the page there.

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