What is a pilgrimage and how is it different from a long distance hike?
A walk can begin for any number of reasons.
Exercise.
Adventure.
Tourism.
Escape.
Prayer.
Grief.
Curiosity.
Some walks are measured in miles, others in transformation.
Some end at a shrine. Others end with no destination at all.
Some are freely chosen. Others are walked because there is no other way forward.
When, then, does a walk become a pilgrimage?
This website is my attempt to live with that question.
The Sacred, Steven Dunn
After the teacher asked if anyone had
a sacred place
and the students fidgeted and shrank
in their chairs, the most serious of them all
said it was his car,
being in it alone, his tape deck playing
things he’d chosen, and others knew the truth
had been spoken
and began speaking about their rooms,
their hiding places, but the car kept coming up,
the car in motion,
music filling it, and sometimes one other person
who understood the bright altar of the dashboard
and how far away
a car could take him from the need
to speak, or to answer, the key
in having a key
and putting it in, and going.
- Sacred Place
Where do humans locate the sacred?
- A pilgrimage begins with place before it begins with walking.
- holy geography
- sacred space
- dark tourism
- thin places
- Stephen Dunn
- sacred mountains
- world pilgrimage traditions
- Walking
- What makes a walk a pilgrimage?
- What is long-distance walking?
- Health benefits
- How long is “long”?
- Why do people walk?
- Camino pilgrimage statistics
- Camino Routes
- Becoming a Peregrino
“The more tourists you have…the more pilgrims you will have.” Rosa, Head of the Pilgrims Office, interview September 2012
- Credential.
- Sellos
- Hospitaleros
- Community
- Transformation
- Actualizing the Goal
- Flow.
- What happens after arriving?
- Aftermath.
- Designing the narrative
- Beyond Santiago
- Hajj
- Kailash
- Abraham Path
- Walk Palestine
- Dhammayietra
- American pilgrimages
- Magic: Glastonbury
- American pilgrimages
- Politics of Walking
- History of Reconquista
- Migration
- Forced displacement
- Islamophobia
- Peace walks
- Hospitality