Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I will analyze the effects of the introduction of the railway in a small French pilgrimage at the end of the 19th century and hypothesize that this transformation laid the foundations of its morphology and organization, still in force today.

Paper long abstract:

What are the effects of the introduction of the railway at the end of the 19th century into the organization (still in progress) of a pilgrimage from Pentecost to Sainte-Solange, France. The opening of the station in 1893 almost doubled the number of participants (about 20,000 people). Some observers rejoice at this impetus of piety, others, clergy in particular, are more skeptical.

This influx of people requires a more rigorous organization of the procession. The Archdiocese obtains preferential rates and special trains, but the railway company requires pre-registration and group travel. The procession is now organized in groups according to the parishes. After WWII, "migrants" (Polish, Spanish, Portuguese...) settled in the region, take part in the celebration. The pilgrimage is now described as international.

In 1966, the station closes and the coming to the pilgrimage is done now by car. Although the number of pilgrims has finally declined, the organization of the procession and the representations of a pilgrimage in decline will continue throughout the 20th century.

Today, the pilgrimage attracts a few hundred pilgrims and all the festivities of the celebration have almost disappeared. For many observers, the pilgrimage owes its survival only to the presence of the Portuguese since the 1960s. I make the assumption that this configuration will provide the bases of the morphology of the pilgrimage and allow in particular the visible presence of "communities" foreign and in particular the Portuguese group which, from 1960 to today, has become a pillar of the pilgrimage.

Paper short abstract:

Pilgrimage is experiencing a revival and change of character. This paper will explore the motives why people undertake the Norwegian St. Olav pilgrimage, and to see whether the evolving post-secular pilgrimage trend of a personal pilgrimage performance prevails also there, often seen on the Camino.

Paper long abstract:

Pilgrimage is experiencing a revival, while at the same time a change of character in light of our fluid times. A post-secular pilgrimage trend is developing, pilgrimage performance focusing on the non-religious dimension of pilgrimage, related to a person's Self and spiritual life as seen on the Camino Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. This hybridity of pilgrimage offers a space of 'spiritual fixing', even 'self-healing' (Jørgensen, 2017).

Through the lens of motivations, this paper will explore the objectives, expectations and hopes that drives people to undertake the St. Olav pilgrimage in Norway to unveil their true intentions with the journey, and to see whether this post-secular trend prevails also there, compared with the Camino.

Data collection took place between May-October 2017: questionnaires were sent to pilgrim accommodations along the St. Olav's way. 53 pilgrims with an average age of 52 from 13 nationalities with different belief systems responded. Motivational categories were generated through a hermeneutic text analysis of their answers.

There seems to be as many reasons for walking the St. Olav route as there are pilgrims on the road, and people describe their faith affiliation in almost as many ways. Still, religious motives are not predominant in the respondents' quest with the journey. Solitude, time to walk and think in nature along with a whole set of personal motives of a mental, spiritual, physical and social character, however, seems prevailing.

This is worthy of further exploration considering the changing character of certain pilgrimages in terms of a possible self-therapeutic tool.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the transforming nature of southern Indian pilgrimage, intersections between pilgrimage and tourism with special emphasis on RATHAM a heritage venture curating lectures on legend and place-lore accompanied by music evoking a historic-cultural experience for the pilgrims.

Paper long abstract:

Travel is integral to self-realization and mystical experience in the spiritual practices of Hindu pantheon in India. Pilgrimage which is referred to as Tīrthayatra has been a significant part of the spiritual practices since the medieval times but is now evolving and attaining newer meanings in the world today. Most of the sacred places in India comprise of ornate temples or monuments set against scenic backdrops such as river banks, hill tops or seashores. In the globalized world of today, this results in a dialogues between spirituality and tourism.

This paper would explore the intersections between pilgrimage and tourism and the transforming nature of the Southern Indian pilgrimage tradition laying special emphasis on the case of RATHAM (Road Access to Temple Heritage and Monuments) a heritage venture which curates myth, legend and place-lore along with music and lectures to evoke a historic-cultural experience for the pilgrims. The transforming nature of the pilgrimages in the advent of the heritagization of spiritual experiences is a core preoccupation of this study.

Keywords: Spiritual tourism, Pilgrimage, Place-lore, Heritagization , Legend.

Paper short abstract:

The report is intended to analyse the Hill of Crosses as an most important center for pilgrimage, folk piety, Catholic Church and tourism activities in modern Lithuania. The main focus is on the analysis of results that obtain hierarchy of such models of the pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses.

Paper long abstract:

The Hill of Crosses (North-West Lithuania) appeared as a subject of folk piety and eventually became one of the most important centers for pilgrimage and Catholic Church activities in modern Lithuania. On the basis of the historical data and material collected during the ethnographic field studies, the report is intended the analysis models of the pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses at the end of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. The erection of crosses on the Hill was started in mid-nineteenth century. In the first decades of the 20th century, when over a thousand crosses appeared on the hill, the Hill was included in the area of Church activities. During the Soviet period the continuously removed crosses. In the period of the Soviet system collapse the mass erection of crosses had begun. Therefore, in the late 20th century the Church resumed its activities in the Hill of Crosses and started organising the church feast there. The report includes a discussion of the motives for the erection of crosses, but the focus is on analyzing the results obtained in the course of a study performed during by the author pilgrimage travel in 2013 to the Hill of Crosses. Ethnographic materials enable us to conclude that the Hill is of utmost importance for folk piety, church and tourism. Crosses used to integrate pilgrimages on the basis of religion and became the means of preserving his religious and national identity in particular in soviet and postsoviet time.

Paper short abstract:

Pilgrimage has always left traces throughout society and history. The paper discusses how pilgrimages today are affected by digital societies. The use of digital devices is highly discussed on the Camino de Santiago. Why is the use of the Internet among the pilgrims so controversial?

Paper long abstract:

Pilgrimages are journeys to a specific natural or human-made site. These sites are the destination of sacred journeys and are given special meanings by their society. That is why pilgrimage reflects social and cultural movements of those societies.

Pilgrims use the smartphone as a travel guide and to communicate among the pilgrims as well as with people outside the pilgrim's universe.

The linearity of pilgrimage today is extended by the circulation of digital content outside of spatial and temporal embeddings. Pilgrimage creates a complex network of contemplation, communication, sensations and meanings which are experienced and evaluated in a complex network. This network consists of two complementary parts: being physically on the way and being present in social media. In other words: How do pilgrims combine their concrete ideas of a pilgrimage with current life concepts of digital societies in the practice of pilgrimage? This contribution is asking if there are rituals that manifest in digital space and is looking for newly created pilgrim rituals on social networks.

Paper short abstract:

In the past Hajj-pilgrims were separated from their homes for a long time. Today's pilgrims share their experiences directly with those at home via smart phones. This paper discusses the impact of the use of new technology on pilgrims' practices and experiences and address the debates it engenders.

Paper long abstract:

Each year, millions of Muslims travel to Mecca to perform Hajj. In the past, their communication with those who stayed home and audio-visual documentation of one's pilgrimage experiences were rare and complicated. Today's pilgrims, in contrast, can stay in near permanent touch with their families and share their Hajj experience directly via mobile phone apps and social media. In our presentation, we will discuss the impact of the use of new technology on pilgrims' Hajj practices and experiences and address the debates such use engenders. Modern technology allows pilgrims not only to stay connected those at home, but it can also facilitate their Hajj performance, for example through apps that suggest appropriate supplication prayers at various stages of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims can be seen taking selfies with the Ka'ba, live-streaming their circumambulation of the building and the performance of other rites or live-showing hotel rooms and the overall atmosphere to those back home. Such practices do not go uncontested; according to some the use of smart phones distracts one from the main goal of the pilgrimage; communication with God. How, then, do pilgrims use or contest the use of mobile apps and social media during performance of the Hajj? How is the Hajj experience presented and discussed in cyberspace? How does documentation and sharing different parts of the pilgrimage experience contribute to the self-representation and meaning-making of pilgrims? We will provide thick narrative examples from the pilgrimage to Mecca by Moroccan and Moroccan-Dutch pilgrims to discuss these questions.

Paper short abstract:

In my talk I will present changes of narrative traditions related to pilgrimage places. It records the perpetuation of legends linked to pilgrimage places, and in particular to a famous Transylvanian pilgrimage place, and the enrichment of narrative traditions with new types in the recent folklore.

Paper long abstract:

In my talk I would like to present changes in the narrative tradition topics related to pilgrimage places and those told by pilgrims in the particular case of a Hungarian pilgrimage place in Transylvania. I will show the legend types that remained unchanged throughout the centuries and those born in modern times.

I will present that part of the Transylvanian pilgrimage tradition circles which has exceptionally extensive folkloristic literature, however, overall has been unrevealed so far. I will introduce the narrative texts related to the Shrine of Csíksomlyó, which otherwise is of monographic demand. I will demonstrate the most important the historical prospects, chronological characteristics, geographical distribution and mainly the typological diversity of these legends. The legend circle of the Shrine of Csíksomlyó in Romania is the totality of the related narrative traditions, that is to say, both the hundred-year-old miracle stories written in different Church historical sources, as well as the recent popular short stories collected from oral tradition. Although the time and the circumstances of the records differ significantly, the aim of the narration and the topic of the legends are the same.

Paper short abstract:

The Pilgrimage is one of the oldest stories in literature; Chaucer wrote about this in 1392 and Paulo Coelho in 1992. Today, in a more secular world, we find secular pilgrims. Route 66, the world's most-visited road, continues this tradition with material culture and other forms of folk culture.

Paper long abstract:

The pilgrimage, the devotional voyage of a stranger, is one of the oldest stories in Western literature. In the fourteenth century, on the pilgrimage described by Chaucer, those venturing from London to Canterbury departed "with full devote courage," their voyage an honor and a rebirth. Skipping ahead 600 years, Brazilian fabulist Paulo Coelho imagined a pilgrimage to Compostela, similarly seeking enlightenment. The essence of pilgrimage lies between these literary goalposts: a voyage of honor, redemption, and magic; a pilgrimage to heal the soul. Today, we find more secular pilgrimages. If we are to track changes of a changing world, we must reimagine what it means to be a pilgrim. There are few better examples of this secularization of travel than Route 66. As Angel Delgadillo, the barber of Seligman, Arizona, put it, "I see the foreign tourists get off their tour bus…go down the steps of the bus, and kneel and kiss the ground: 'This is the true America.'"

Route 66 is arguably the world's most famous road. As the Mother Road approaches its centenary, 66 shows how technologies new in human history - the train, the automobile, the motor courts turned into motels - have evolved to service the secular pilgrim. Route 66 contains multitudes of folklore: ritual, joke cycles, material culture, and vernacular architecture. Route 66 pilgrimage is intimately tied to tourism and consumerism. Still, the original idea persists: to seek, to search, to dream, to explore a sacred track or create one inside oneself.

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