Paper short abstract:

Drawing on ethnography among the Naqshbandiyya-Jahriyya Sufi order in China, this presentation takes the dead ashes as pivots of life, as the culmination rather than deflation of the sacred, and as the material substrate for the unfolding of faith in the everyday.

Paper long abstract:

Most religions in the world use incenses; and the spice routes are of the earliest such global routes as combine commerce and culture. While scents and flavours as sources of heightened stimulation have attracted considerable attention in recent years, scholars have thus far paid little attention to what is left behind after these moments of intense sensation have run their course. Ashes, for instance, appear to be no more than useless dregs shed by the airy scents as they ascend to the heavens. And yet there are others who collect the ashes, mould them into magnificent shapes, carry them about as they migrate, and leave in their trail the faint fragrance of faith and family.

Drawing on ethnography among the Naqshbandiyya-Jahriyya Sufi order in China, this presentation takes the dead ashes as pivots of life, as the culmination rather than deflation of the sacred, and as the material substrate for the unfolding of faith in the everyday. Ashes are where the incense sticks find their firm footing; and ashes at holy sites have to be guarded against large numbers of pilgrims keen on exploiting their barakāt. When a devoted Jahriyya Sufi migrates s/he has to pack a small bag of ashes retrieved from their parents' incense bowl to fill the new burner in their new residence. How are we to weave smell, migration and ashes into a story that tells us as much about materiality and migration as it does about faith and sanctity?