Paper short abstract:

Looking at pilgrimage landscape in Estonia and Latvia, I will explore how walking along ‘routes with roots’ towards significant places strengthens the collective national/ regional or religious identity of pilgrims. I will also examine immanent agency of saints, statues, and souvenirs.

Paper long abstract:

During recent decades, there has been a considerable increase in pilgrimage activity across the Baltic states and across traditional religious divisions, and this has given rise to new traditions and new material culture. Several new pilgrim trails have been developed in the context of the larger European network of pilgrimage routes to Santiago; alongside these are annual Catholic pilgrimages to places associated with Mary. We have previously argued that Lithuania has a more pilgrim-friendly environment than Estonia and Latvia (Eade and Sepp 2022). In this paper, a further comparison is made between different pilgrimage destinations in Estonia (and Latvia). I will explore how walking along ‘routes with roots’ towards significant places strengthens the collective national/ regional or religious identity of pilgrims.

By adopting a relational approach I will examine immanent agency of saints, statues, souvenirs, etc. First person narratives about encounters with God and saints will be analysed from the senses and material religion perspective. When examining the role played by saints in shaping pilgrim experience, my focus will be on St James and Mary. While St James seems to have been "domesticated" by many Protestants and secular people as a patron saint of pilgrims, attitudes towards Mary are more ambiguous. I am going to ask the following questions:

(a) Will the relationship with St James that his pilgrims experienced in Spain be reflected/ replicated on the new Caminos just like the new pilgrim routes are modelled after the physical Camino?

(b) Will the founders and pilgrims of the new Caminos retain the kind of relationship with the patron saint of pilgrims they had in Spain or will the different cultural and religious landscapes of their homeland change their views on this?

(c) How do saints fit into the pilgrimage culture of the mostly secular/ Protestant countries?