Crime on the Camino

Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, 15th Century Woodcut

In our final session we discussed some of the problems relating to pilgrimage in the 21st century. This morning I received the following in an email from a list server for a Camino de Santiago group:

Acacio Paz, the esteemed hospitalero from Brasil who with his wife owns and runs an albergue in the French Camino has asked that the following notice (roughly translated from Spanish, and in part) be passed on:

"WARNING TO ALL; NOT EVERY CAMINO-WALKER IS A PILGRIM.
If someone registers in an albergue as Alberto Ferreira de Silva, Portugues, 41-years old ,a cook by profession and extremely likeable, the Civil Guard should be notified as once. This individual, who carries a pilgrim's credential with several stamps on it, has "struck" several albergues and institutions in the Camino and will continue to do so if not stopped. He just stole 500 Euros from the Fundacion Vivir (Foundation "To live") that had given him shelter and invited him to dinner. Because of his winning ways, and his eagerness to help out and be of use in the albergues, he becomes acquiainted with where and how items of value may be kept, and proceeds to take them.
- there have been other, similar robberies in albergues recently....."

In the heels of this message Katja, a member of these lists-serv who recently began the pilgrimage at SJPP sent the following message yesterday:


-----Original Message-----
From: Katia Wolk
Sent: Fri, Dec 4, 2009 7:37 pm
Subject: Re: [Iago] Pase adelante amigos por favor URGENTE ¡¡¡ (Pass this on, friends, it is urgent)


As coisas são mesmo complicadas...


Em Zubiri, chegamos do jantar e enquanto fomos escovar os dentes nossos casacos foram roubados de cima de nossas camas no albergue...
Infelizmente...
Beijos
Katia

which says,translated from Portuguese:
"Things are thus complicated......
In Zubiri, we returned (to the albegue) after having dinner, and as we went to brush our teeth our jackets were stolen from the top of the bunks in the albergue
Unfortunately..... "
----

If it is any consolation, this sort of thing has been going on forever. There is a book called "Picardias en el Camino en la Edad Media" (Chicaneries in the Camino in the Middle Ages) which recounts extraordinary, sometimes funny and sometimes hair-raising,
instances of this sort of thing, and worse, in the Middle Ages.
Because of the possibility that these types of activities will multiply next year (a Holy Year), the Archdiocese, the Xunta, the authorities in the various municipalities which the various routes of the Camino traverse and the Guardia Civil will tighten and more than double the security measures throughout the Camino, as well as the means of communication.
In fact, the augmented and expanded security measures in the city of Santiago will go into effect in two weeks because of the huge crowds expected there for the opening of the Holy Door.

Hugs!

Rosina

Thought some of you might find it of interest even though our course has ended.

Pilgrimage in the 21st Century

Doorway, Abbey at Roncesvalles, Navarra, Spain EOP 1998

Last session we discussed the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I forgot my power point and notes, so it was ad libbed for which I apologize.There were a few maps and other slides I think members of the course should see, so I shall begin with a brief presentation of those materials.

The bulk of the final session on 1 December will be devoted to an examination of problems related to pilgrimage in the current century. Those problems are numerous, for the ease of transportation and the rise in per capita incomes make it possible for many people to make long treks to distant shrines. The recently completed Hajj in Saudi Arabia has provided a number of examples of problems related to the gathering of huge numbers of people in a small area during a pilgrimage. There were unanticipated problems of weather as well as problems with epidemic disease and potential terrorism. In the Hajj just ended, the problems of epidemic disease were real enough, but thankfully problems of terrorism did not occur. Perhaps that was a consequence of good planning and preparation on the part of the Saudi authorities, or perhaps it was just a matter of luck.

I. Pilgrimage in the 21st Century.

A. Massive increase in the numbers of pilgrims

B. Greater ease of making the pilgrimage

1. Transportation

2. Safety

II. Pilgrimage and Tourism

III. Problems related to pilgrimage

A. Public health

B. Infrastructure

C. Terrorism

IV. Concluding comments

Hajj 1430 (2009 in the Western calendar)

Grand Mosque, Mecca (Wikipedia commons)

This is being written in the midst of the 1430 (2009) Hajj season, and perhaps as many as two million pilgrims have descended upon Mecca to fulfill their obligations as Muslims. The current Hajj presents the Saudi government with a number of severe challenges including medical, political, and meteorological ones.

In an earlier posting fears of a H1N1 (swine flu) problem were noted, and those fears have not proven unfounded. A number of pilgrims have arrived with signs of the disease, and there have been several deaths of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia attributed to it. Yesterday UPI.com (one of the many news sources now available online) posted a brief note on the problem H1N1 flu scare keeps hajj pilgrims away suggesting that local pilgrims, ones from the kingdom and nearby countries, are avoiding the pilgrimage this year. A number of postings on various other news sources covering the event say more or less that same thing. And, as always, the Saudi authorities are vigilant when screening Hajiis from Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan for signs of polio, a disease still endemic in parts of those countries though it has been largely eliminated in most other parts of the world. Like H1N1, polio is an infectious disease passed easily when many people are in close contact. Those diseases could spread rapidly in the crowded conditions of Mecca during Hajj.

Added comment 29 November "Saudi Official: 5 dead from Swine Flu at Hajj."

The political threat is more diffuse and even more difficult to patrol. A news report on BBC America last evening indicated that ten thousand or more Saudi police and military forces are on hand in the pilgrimage zone to protect the area, its shrines and the pilgrims. Political threats include long standing ones--the conflict between Sunni and Shiite groups and the potential activities of al qaeda. Those threats now also include an insurgency breeding on the doorstep of Saudia Arabia in the northern frontier zone of Yemen, an insurgency that could easily cross the border in that area of rugged terrain and perhaps spread as far as the edges of Mecca.

Finally the weather has proven a problem. While Mecca is in the Saudi desert and normally gets only 130 mm (less than 5 inches) of rain annually, when the occasional rains come they are often in the form of torrential downpours. Heavy rain can flood wadis and gullies, quickly making normally bone dry roads impassable and dangerous. In the past several days western Saudi Arabia has received torrential downpours and a number of people have died as a consequence.

Added comment 29 November: Islam's Hajj: Rain and Fear of Swine Flu; Death Toll From Floods in Saudi Reaches 106.

All of those challenges are amplified by the simple task of meeting the basic needs of a huge influx of people, many of them far from home. Yesterday CNN's website feature Inside the Middle East published a good overview of problems related to the Hajj this year, with H1N1 as the most critical single issue in its view. The BBC has a good, continually updated, feed on Hajj conditions at various places on its extensive website.

Washington, DC as a Pilgrimage Destination

Capitol from Hirshorn Museum Sculpture Court, EOP Autumn 2008

This blog and the course for which it is written have looked almost exclusively at pilgrimages with a significant religious component, ignoring for the most part pilgrimages that are primarily secular. Those include pilgrimages devoted to historical events (the Civil War or WWII as examples), politics (homes of great political leaders as one case), sports (great stadia, places where records were set, etc.) or the arts (though in a recent posting I did suggest an architectural pilgrimage). In part that was a response to the notion that religious pilgrimages are slightly different in kind, and in part secular pilgrimages were ignored because there are simply too many of them, especially to discuss in an eight week course. Last week a question was raised about Washington, DC as a pilgrimage site, and as it happens there is a good book on the subject:

Meyer, Jeffrey F. 2001. Myths in stone: religious dimensions of Washington, D.C. Berkeley: University of California Press. xi + 343 pp. ISBN 0520214811

“This is an examination of Washington DC as a secular pilgrimage site. Meyer argues that the city was conceived and executed along various axes of power and influence that suggest the central and continually contested values that inform religious and civic beliefs.” (quoted from Fairfax County Public Library catalogue listing for the book)

Mr. Meyer is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and brings to his study of DC as a secular pilgrimage site some perspectives very close to those we have been using in this course. The book is strongly recommended, and the Fairfax County Public Library has copies (George Mason University's library does not seem to have a copy).

The Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, A Case Study

Sculpture of Santiago Peregrino, Plateria facade, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

eop 2001

In the last session we listened to some samples of music related to pilgrimage and looked at pictures of various works of architecture, sculpture and painting deriving from or otherwise related to pilgrimage. More than a few of those works were ones linked to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in far northwestern Spain, in Galicia, España Verde (Green Spain). One of the three major Roman Catholic Pilgrimages in the Great age of pilgrimage, Santiago de Compostela, not far from Fisterra (Finisterre in Castellano) or “the end of the earth” and the westernmost point in Continental Europe, has been attracting Christian pilgrims for more than 1000 years. Those pilgrims are attracted to the purported tomb of the Apostle James the Greater, Santiago, in the crypt of the Cathedral. The cathedral itself is a masterpiece of the Romanesque now inside a Baroque facade. Leading to Santiago is a well trodden route called the Camino Frances, one of a number of Spanish trails leading to Santiago. I have been privileged to walk the Camino Frances twice, and I am using this session as an opportunity to examine in a bit of detail one of the world’s major pilgrimages and, inevitably, to recount some personal experiences.

Session VII begins with the story of the apostle St. James the Major after the events recounted in the gospels. The story includes his suffering as the first Christian martyr, the translocation of his corpse from Palestine to Galicia, and the rediscovery of the purported grave after many centuries. Shortly after the rediscovery, an event closely linked to the Reconquista and the reclaiming of Spain for Christianity, the pilgrimage began, and with a century of two it had become a major force in Western Christianity. Thousands of pilgrims made their way to Santiago de Compostela, and in that pilgrimage generated a rich folklore. Along with a little of the history of the pilgrimage itself, we shall examine some of the symbols of the pilgrimage and two of the legends out of that folklore. The session will conclude with commentary and pictures on a present day walk along the main route, the Camino Frances, from the French-Spanish border to Santiago and beyond to Fisterra.

I. The story of St. James the Greater (also called St. James the Major), Santiago in Castellano.

A. Disciple of Christ

B. Evangelist in Iberia?

C. Martyrdom

D. Translocation and burial

II. The evolution of the pilgrimage

A. "Rediscovery" of the tomb

B. Reconquista

1. Santiago Peregrino

2. Santiago Matamoros

C. Resettlement of the wastes

1.The Benedictines and the route

2. Villafrancas

III. The folklore of the pilgrimage

A. Symbols of the pilgrimage

B. Origins of "Compostela"

C. The legends of Santo Domingo de la Calzada

IV. The Camino today

A. Marking the route

B. Fr. Elias Valina Sampedro

C. Revival of pilgrimage and tourism

V. Walking the Camino - slide show with commentary

Museo de los Caminos in Astorga

Interior of Museo do los Caminos, Astorga, Spain (photo from Ayuntamiento de Astorga website)

On Tuesday I showed a couple of pictures of the exterior of the Museo de los Caminos located in the Archiepiscopal palace in Astorga and briefly commented on that fantastical structure mostly designed by the famed Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi. At the end of the session a question was asked about small pilgrimage trinkets and icons. A good collection of badges from early pilgrims on the Camino Santiago is included in the museum. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate much material in English other than simple tourist guide information, a brief description along with location and opening hours. I have had only marginally better results searching in Castellano and French. The museum is small and probably too poorly funded to afford a web page illustrating its collections. And much as I would like to locate a web page showing examples of pilgrim badges, I have not yet been able to find one. As time allows, I shall continue the search for I am sure one or more such pages exist.

Anyone interested in the building itself and able to read Castellano (Spanish) is likely to find the site Gaudi e el Modernismo worthwhile, though some of its information is rather specialized. The page includes a number of photographs of the building and links to other sites, also in Castellano, about it. Architectural pilgrims, especially those who love the works of Gaudi, will certainly find a visit to the lovely small city of Astorga worthwhile.

Ladino Music

While it is a bit remote from the specific topic of pilgrimage, in our meeting on Tuesday a question was asked about Ladino music, and I was intrigued enough to do a little research.

Ladino, a romance tongue closely related to medieval Castellano (Spanish), was carried from its homeland in Spain, especially in Andalucia and Castilla, to various parts of the Mediterranean shores when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. It was then spoken in a number of Jewish settlements scattered from Turkey and Greece westward to Morocco well into the 20th century. It is now rapidly fading as there are very few remaining native speakers. A website called "Jewish World Review" has a good summary of the history of Ladino. Another useful website (from Australia no less) is called "Hebrew Songs" and despite its name has some links to Ladino music.

Ladino music, especially those songs originally written in Spain is usually cataloged under the heading Sephardic (there are various other spellings sometimes encountered including "Sefardic") music. A number of good recordings are available including several by the estimable Jordi Savall and his wife the soprano Montserrat Figueras, the preeminent interpreters of early music currently working. Most of their catalog is available from Alia Vox (the website is in French) and can be purchased at good music stores (of which, sadly, the Washington Area has few). A representative recording on the Alia Vox label is titled Diaspora Sefardi, but it is only one of several excellent recordings by Savall and Figueras including Sephardic music.

While Wikipedia is often a dubious source, it does offer a quick way to get some basic information about a subject. A search for Ladino music links one immediately to the online encyclopedia's page on Sephardic music. When I originally posted this I recommended a website called Klezmershack which includes a bibliography and discography of Sephardic music, but subsequent doubts about the quality of that site lead me to withdraw the recommendation.

ALRI Session V: Some Social and Economic Consequences of Pilgrimage

Basilica of Santa Maria and shopping street, pilgrimage center at

Lujan, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2008 EOP

In Sessions III and IV we examined some examples of non-Christian and Christian pilgrimages respectively. Session V will begin with a few concluding comments about Christian pilgrimages, in particular aspects of the decline of pilgrimages from circa 1500 to the 19th century and the apparent revival of pilgrimages in the 20th and 21st centuries. Most of session V will be devoted to an examination of some of the social and economic consequences of pilgrimages. The economic consequences are easy to outline as the needs of pilgrims for transportation, food, and housing are met in various ways. The social consequences are more difficult to limn, but we know that pilgrimage leads to social contacts not possible in normal daily routines, and those contacts have significant consequences for the development of society and politics.

I. Christian pilgrimage after about 1500 (see outline for session IV).

II. The infrastructure of pilgrimage and economic activity.

A. Transportation.

1. Walking paths.

2. Long distance movement.

a. Maritime transportation.

b. Railroads, roads, airlines.

3. Movement in the pilgrimage area.

B. Food and Lodging.

1. Monasteries, convents and other religious foundations.

2. Commercial accommodation.

C. Health and safety.

1. Political centralization.

2. Internationalization of routes.

III. "Monastic" orders in pilgrimage (most examples will be Christian).

A. Orders founded to protect pilgrims (eg. Knights Templar).

B. Orders promoting pilgrimage.

1. Maintain the shrines.

2. Facilitate movement of pilgrims.

IV. The economics of pilgrimage.

A. Commerce and pilgrimage.

B. Pilgrimage and economic development.

C. Pilgrimage and tourism.

V. Politics and pilgrimage.

A. Pilgrimage and national identity.

B. Pilgrimage and cultural "imperialism."

C. Pilgrimage and deviant ideas.

VI. Pilgrimage and cultural change

"Europe was forged on the road to Compostela!"

Please note that no outline will be posted for Session VI: The Arts and Pilgrimage. That session will be devoted to looking at and listening to (and, I hope, enjoying) some of the great works of architecture, sculpture, painting, and music linked to pilgrimage along with a very brief review of a few of the great works of literature with ties to pilgrimage.

ALRI Session IV: Christian Pilgrimages

Montserrat, Catalunya, Spain EOP 2007

Sanford, NC

In Session III we examined a small sample of pilgrimages in a variety of religious traditions other than Christianity. Session IV looks at pilgrimages practiced by Christians in a number of places where that tradition is dominant. While pilgrimages in the Roman Catholic tradition will be emphasized, we shall also look briefly at pilgrimages made by members of other Christian groups.

I. Some preliminary considerations.

A. The divisions of Christianity.

1. Very early groups (Nestorians, Coptics, etc.).

2. The major early groups.

a. Eastern Rite (Orthodox).

b. Western Rite (Roman Catholic).

3. The first Protestants (Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican, etc.).

4. Post Reformation offshoots (mostly late 19th and 20th century creations--Quakers, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, Evangelicals, Mormons, Unification Church, etc.).

B. Pilgrimage eras.

1. Early Christian era to about 800 AD, few pilgrimages mostly to the Holy Land.

2. The great Age of Pilgrimage: 800-1500AD.

a. The Crusades as pilgrimage.

b. The Reconquista as pilgrimage.

c. Heresy and pilgrimage.

3. The Decline of pilgrimage: 1500 to late 19th Century.

a. Pilgrimage and indulgences.

b. The reformation.

i. Anti-indulgence reactions.

ii. Dissolution of monasteries.

iii. The counter reformation and the Jesuits.

b. Pilgrimage as an internal journey not travel (Bunyan).

4. The revival of pilgrimage: late 19th century to present.

a. Apparitions.

b. Communications.

II. Roman Catholic pilgrimages.

A. Some Characteristics of the Great Age of Pilgrimage.

1. The Western Church was united.

a. Devotions were standardized.

b. Theology and liturgy were agreed upon.

c. Monasticism.

2. Western Europe was Christianized.

a. Heresy was brought under control.

b. Last non-Christian areas (Scandinavia, Poland, etc.) were Christianized.

3. The threat of Islam.

a. Palestine.

b. Iberia.

B. Evolution of specific "devotions" (cults).

1. Saints.

a. Martyrs.

b. Founders of church institutions.

c. Popes and princes of the Church.

d. Emperors, kinds and other secular leaders.

e. Other holy persons.

2. Mary: Events in Mary's life.

a. Annunciation.

b. Childhood of Christ.

c. Death and resurrection of Christ.

d. Assumption of Mary.

3. Relics and icons.

a. Many shrines to Saints and to Mary have relics and icons!

b. Relics related to the Christian story (holy grail)

c. Relics related to Church history.

4. Replica Pilgrimages.

a. Copies of important places in the Christian story (Walsingham).

b. Copies of relics and icons located elsewhere (Esquipulas and Chimayo).

III. Pilgrimage destinations.

A. Most pilgrimages over fairly short distances.

1. Local saints and Romerias.

2. National saints and their shrines.

B. The 3 Great pilgrimages of Roman Catholicism.

1. Palestine.

2. Rome.

3. Santiago de Compostela (to be discussed in detail in Session VII).

Three Worthy Books on Christian Pilgrimages

In session 4 next Tuesday, we shall discuss pilgrimages in the Christian tradition. A summary overview of different types of pilgrimage will be the focus of the discussion with examples drawn from various parts of the Christianized world. Course participants who may be interested now or after the course has been completed may wish to pursue the subject further, and there are a number of good books available on the topic. Listed below are three titles I have found of great interest, ones which illustrate particular aspects of the topic particularly well. In an earlier blog posting for the OLLI course I also listed some recommended readings. All of the titles I have listed I have found to be worth reading and studying.

A brief and well-illustrated examination of Christian pilgrimage is provided by Harpur, James. 2002. Sacred Tracks: 2000 Years of Christian Pilgrimage. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23395-6.

Nolan, Mary Lee and Nolan, Sidney. 1989. Christian Pilgrimage in Modern Western Europe. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1814-3.

Turner, Victor,, and Turner Edith. 1978. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04286-8. (a newer edition is also available)

ALRI Session III: Pilgrimages in Non-Christian Areas

Mendicant pilgrims, Japan circa 1900.

From Stoddard, John. 1901. John Stoddard's Lectures.

Pilgrimage is widespread among the various world religions, and huge numbers of pilgrimages are made by adherents of Islam, Buddhism, Shinto, Hinduism and numerous other traditions. There are far more examples than one could name in a ninety minute session let alone outline and analyze, so in this session we shall look at a few examples, including perhaps the most important single pilgrimage in todays's world, the Hajj to Mecca, cases that illustrate some of the ideas about pilgrimage we have already introduced or will examine in later sessions.

I. Some general observations about pilgrimage in various religious traditions.

1. Brief review of Session II "Sacred Sites and spaces."

2. The varying importance of pilgrimage in different religious traditions.

a. Unknown component of traditions now lost (pre-Columbian Americas).

b. Pilgrimage as largely peripheral to a tradition (Jainism, Judiasm).

c. Important, but not a central tenet (Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto).

d. A central tenet of the faith (Islam and the Hajj).

3. Huge overall numbers of pilgrims, many millions annually.

II. Pre-Columbian (pre-contact) pilgrimages in the Americas.

1. Inca and pre-Inca pilgrimages to Lago Titicaca.

2. Aztec and pre-Aztec pilgrimages in Central Mexico.

3. Mayan pilgrimages in the Yucatan and Central America.

III. A few comments about Jewish pilgrimage.

IV. Hindu pilgrimages in India.

1. Varanasi (Benares).

2. Amarnath Yatra.

V. Japanese Buddhist and Shinto pilgrimages.

1. Tokaido.

2. Shikoku.

3. Fuji.

VI. Islamic pilgrimages.

1. Pilgrimage sites.

a. Mecca.

b. Medinah, and Jerusalem.

c. Shia pilgrimages.

d. Shrines of minor saints.

2. Pilgrimage as a central tenet of the religion.

a. The five pillars of Islam.

b. Goals of Hajj.

1. Spiritual.

2. Solidarity with other Muslims.

c. The Hajj.

1.The season of pilgrimage.

2. Preparation and attire.

3. Route and routine.

V. Concluding Observations.

1. Pilgrim identification - costumes and other symbols.

2. Seasons of pilgrimage.

3. Subsidiary activity generated by pilgrimages.

YouTube Videos on Pilgrimage Topics

YouTube and similar servers offer a wealth of interesting short videos on almost every conceivable topic, and some inconceivable ones as well. Pilgrimage topics are no exception, and listed below are the URLs for a few videos directly related to the topics of Session III of 717 Pilgrimage and Human Society, "Pilgrimages in non-Christian areas".

The Hajj (a few short ones, there are lots more!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v/=WCe4bOlBE1k&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzAJIXwc49A&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzAJIXwc49A&NR=1

Amarnath Yatra (again there are many more):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnwUjiMvKf0

Mt. Fuji (a short video from National Geographic)

ALRI Session II: Sacred Sites and Spaces

Tahoma (Mt. Rainier) said to be sacred for many pre-Columbian residents of the Puget Sound Area. EOP 1998

Chapel Hill, NC

The second session of 717 Pilgrimage and Human Society looks at the kinds of places attracting pilgrims, sacred sites and spaces. As we shall see, the term "sacred" is a difficult one to define, but there are some common categories into which most pilgrimage destinations can be classified, and this session looks at those categories with illustrative examples.

Session II: Sacred Sites and Spaces

Outline

I. Introductory comments.

A. "All sites of pilgrimage have this in common: they are believed to be places where miracles once happened, still happen, and may happen again." Victor Turner. 1978. Image and Pilgrimage.

B. Almost every inhabited place on earth (and many uninhabited ones as well) is sacred to someone.

C. Sacred Sites and spaces are necessary but not sufficient reasons for pilgrimage.

D. Not all sacred sites attract pilgrims.

II. Sacred spaces not attracting pilgrims.

A. Tabu places.

B. Places restricted to elites only.

C. Other places venerated but not visited.

III. Categories of sacred sites and spaces.

A. The dramatic and awesome in nature.

B. Sites of great socio-cultural importance.

C. Arbitrary sites.

IV. Sacred spaces in nature

A. Some types.

1. Dangerous places.

2. Awesome and dramatic places.

3. Evocative Places

B. Ecological considerations.

1. Protect resources.

2. Protect from enemies - barriers.

V. Culturally defined spaces.

A. Places linked to heroic persons, real or legendary.

1. Life cycle events (birth, initiation, marriage, death).

2. Career events.

3. Post-death apparitions.

4. Relics (see also below).

B. Places linked to cultural events.

1. Creation myths.

2. Wars and battles (especially major victories or defeats).

3. Icons and relics.

VI. Conflict and sacred spaces.

A. Different religions venerating the same place in different ways.

B. Sects within a religious tradition venerating a place in different ways.

C. Sacred toi some, undeveloped resource to others.

D. Sacred to some, offensive to others.

VII. All pilgrimages require sacred sites but not all sacred sites generate pilgrimages.

Pilgrimage and Human Society, Session I Outline 13 October 2009

Jubilee Pilgrims in Rome, 1300 AD

Atlanta, GA (actually Peachtree City, a slurb about 20 miles south of ATL)

A day or two prior to each session I plan to post an outline of the subjects to be covered. The first session of 717 Pilgrimage and Human Society is an introduction to the subject of pilgrimage viewed from the standpoint of its socio-cultural characteristics. It begins with a brief "participant observer thick description" (using all of the jargon in one phrase) of three pilgrimages as a way of introducing empirically some of the subjects to be discussed during the course. The remainder of the discussion will look at some of the subjects to be examined in detail in later sessions as well as the issues of pilgrim motivations, an aspect of the psychology of pilgrimage.

Outline, Session I "Introduction to Pilgrimage"

I. A brief examination of three pilgrimages.

II. Pilgrimage and official opinion

a. Sanctioned and encouraged pilgrimages

b. Tolerated pilgrimages

c. Popular pilgrimages, officially discouraged

III. What is pilgrimage?

a. Some definitions

b. Sacred and secular pilgrimages

IV. Where do pilgrims go?

a. Christian examples

i. Major shrines (Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela)

ii. Minor shrines

iii. Romerias

b. Other than Christian examples

V. Travel to the shrine

a. Only the destination shrine is important

b. The route is the pilgrimage

VI. Pilgrim motivations

a. Religious

i. Supplicants

ii. Thanks givers

iii. Penitents

iv. Seekers

v. Community membership

b. Extra-religious

i. Adventure

ii. Trade

iii. Diplomacy and war

iv. Escape

v. Heresy

vi. Crime

VII. Pilgrimage and tourism

VIII. The remainder of the course

a. Course Schedule

b. Limitations

i. A socio-cultural examination, not a discussion of theology

ii. Tolerant of most religious viewpoints

iii. Biased toward Christian examples in Europe and the Americas

iv. My other limitations

ALRI Course 717 Pilgrimage and Human Society

15th Century Woodcut, probably German, of a pilgrim enroute to Santiago de Compostela

As the course handout has been emailed to enrollees in 717 Pilgrimage and Human Society, I thought I should post a few lines for those who might take a look at the blog before the class begins. Later in the week I expect to post an outline for the first session, and I shall post outlines a day or two before each session. Throughout the term, the blog will be used to post materials prior to class sessions including the session outlines, to answer questions and respond to comments that I am unprepared to answer on the spot, and to post additional materials that enrollees might find of interest.

Pilgrimage is an activity found throughout the world under the rubric of all major religious creeds, and huge numbers of people make pilgrimages each year. Some go short distances to local shrines while others cover great distances, sometimes in difficult conditions, in order to visit one important shrine or another. Over the 8 weeks of the course we are going to examine the social character of religious pilgrimages, ones undertaken in various parts of the world and by members of a number of religious creeds. This is a course to examine pilgrimage as an aspect of human society, and it is not a course in theology. We shall briefly introduce aspects of theology significant to pilgrimage, for example the requirement that good Muslims make the Hajj or the strong encouragement of Roman Catholics to visit some of the major shrines of their creed. But our goal is not to understand the religion per se. Rather we shall try to understand the kinds of places that attract pilgrims and some of the consequences of those pilgrimages. This is also not a course in the psychology of pilgrimage, an important subject but not one I am prepared to teach. As the course description in the ALRI catalogue suggested, this is a course with a social science bias, but we shall also look at some of the humanistic aspects of pilgrimage, and one session will be devoted to the fine arts and pilgrimage. There is a glorious legacy of pilgrimages in great art, architecture, music and literature, and any student of pilgrimage should be made aware of it.

For a sense of where this course is going, you are invited to look at earlier postings on this blog which was originally started for a similar course at OLLI in Fairfax in the Spring of 2009. The outline for this autumn is a modified version of the one I used last spring.

Pilgrimage is a vast subject, there is a huge literature on it in a variety of languages (only a few of which I am able to read), and any course of only 8 sessions can, at best, try to introduce some of the more important and interesting ideas on the subject. While I have devoted a great deal of time and effort to understanding pilgrimage, I know that I have an immense amount still to learn. I welcome any suggestions of materials, including books, articles, pictures, music, and various forms of internet content that I might find of interest or useful in preparing future editions of this course. Please subscribe to the blog for the remainder of the term and submit questions and comments as we pass through the autumn.

Another Reading Suggestion I should have included on the handout:

A good overview of religiously motivated pilgrimages is provided by a well-illustrated book available at the Fairfax County Public Library (and probably at other public libraries) and the George Mason University Library:

Coleman, Simon and Elsner, John. 1995. Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-66765-4. LCCC BL619.P5C65 1995.

Some notes on Hajj

Old Turkish Map of Mecca

As the Hajj approaches, late in November, there are serious fears of it becoming the nexus of an epidemic. Fears of the H1N1 virus are widespread, though the threat may be more apparent than real. Also feared, and with good reason, is polio. All but eradicated in much of the world, reservoirs of polio are still to be found in at least four countries sending large numbers of pilgrims on Hajj - Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Pilgrims coming from those countries for the ritual visit to Mecca will be dosed with an oral polio vaccine on arrival in order to keep the highly contagious disease from spreading during the Hajj the Science section of the New York Times reported Tuesday 29 September 2009.

This afternoon I read a fascinating article on attitude changes among Hajjis in Pakistan, one of the first social scientific studies I have encountered to examine pilgrimages using statistical techniques. In order to limit the number arriving each year, Saudi Arabia allots quotas of Hajj visas to each of the various countries with large Muslim populations. Pakistan gets about 150,00 such visas each year. About half go to specific groups - the army, the civil service, and tour operators - while the remainder are distributed by lottery. Using a sample of those entered in the lottery for visas to visit Mecca, the study compares attitudes of those who won visas and made the Hajj with those who were unsuccessful. It finds some significant attitudinal shifts. Instead of promoting militancy and reactionary attitudes, participation in the Hajj seems to foster a greater tolerance, including more relaxed attitudes toward the role of women. The article in the August 2009 (volume CXXIV #3, pp.1133-1170) issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics is by David Clingsmith et al. and is titled "Estimating the Impact of the Hajj."I strongly recommend at least the beginning and final sections of the article. For non-social scientists to whom statistics are baffling, the middle part of the article could prove difficult.

New Martin Sheen Movie about the Camino de Santiago

Chapel at Roncesvalles, a first stop on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, EOP 1998.

This morning I received a notice on another group site, one I am quoting because I think it is of interest. I had heard rumors for some time that the actor Martin Sheen and one of his sons were making a movie about the Camino. Apparently that movie is now ready to be distributed. It is one of several movies about the Camino and the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela made since 2005. A quite good one, le pelerinage was produced in France several years ago. I have heard rumors about a new Austrian movie in German "I'll take you to the end of the world" directed by Christian Kabish, but I was unable to find its title in German or a web link this morning. I may post a more complete set of comments on these and other pilgrimage-themed movies when I have seen the Sheen movie and perhaps the one in German.

Review of the Martin Sheen Movie:

"The Way, Emilio Estevez's fourth feature as writer-director, begins at the Camino de Santiago's start, in St.Jean-Pied-de-Port below the often-snowbound Route de Napoleon over the Pyrenees. Starring Martin Sheen, Estevez's father, it takes in Galicia's improbable looking Santiago de Compostela, a huge piece of medieval real estate topped by a jaw-dropping cathedral. Sheen plays Tom, an American widower who;s in St. Jean too reclaim the body of his estranged son, who died, lost on the Route de Napoleon. Tom cremates the remains, puts them in his son's backpack and starts off to complete the young man's journey.

Added 25-09-09: A couple of links to posts on the Sheen movie as well as other films in production on the Camino:

http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Variety_Filming_In_Galicia_2009.pdf

http://tinyurl.com/lh2bue

Pilgrimage and the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Virus

Saint Roch, among other things patron saint of epidemics. Note that he is dressed in the garb of a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela!

Yesterday I received a note from a news group on the Camino de Santiago about the dangers of the H1N1 virus (my wife is a physician with a specialty in public health, and she forbids my use of the term "swine flu" in favor of the more technically correct H1N1!) for pilgrims this autumn and winter. Fear of the virus is not an idle one, for Spain has one of the highest rates of infection and death among Northern Hemisphere countries. In the Southern Hemisphere where the winter flu season is just ending, Brasil, a major source of pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, has the largest number of deaths attributable to H1N1 of any country where reliable records are kept. Fortunately pilgrimage to Santiago is mostly a summer phenomenon with the largest numbers during the warmer months, peaking on July 25 St. James Day. In consequence even if over the winter flu season the pilgrimage suffers from the potential pandemic, only a fairly small number of people will likely be struck with the illness. A daily general report on the situation and forecasts for Europe with data for much of the world is provided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The Hajj is perhaps the largest gathering of pilgrims from many parts of the world into a single place over a short time period. The 2009 pilgrimage is expected to be from 25-30 November, well into the Northern Hemisphere flu season. While most government officials in Saudi Arabia are dismissing the dangers of a pandemic, health authorities in the various other countries sending pilgrims to Mecca have expressed great concern about the dangers of the H1N1 virus. Egypt has even considered a ban on its nationals making the trip to Medina and Mecca. In Saudi Arabia religious officials have warned about the disease, and at least one cleric has issued a fatwa against people carrying the disease making the Hajj.

Elsewhere I have not found many reports of linkages between pilgrimages other than the Hajj and the virus. India, a country with numerous pilgrimages involving large numbers of people, is greatly concerned with the spread of the disease, but I was unable to locate any materials in a western European language on its linkage to pilgrimages other than the Hajj. China is taking particularly aggressive measures to control the spread of the virus, limiting pilgrimages of its Muslim citizens to Mecca and imposing quarantine on visitors to China suspected of carrying the virus. Meanwhile Iran claims that half of all its cases of H1N1 are pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia.

The concern about the spread of H1N1 is important, for the virus could create a demographic disaster given its tendency to strike young adults, especially pregnant women. Pilgrimages have been important in the spread of disease for at least as long as epidemiologists are able to trace records. The ease of travel and the dispersed origins of pilgrims to major sites like Mecca or Santiago mean an epidemic can quickly spread from a local site to much of the world. I will write more about this later if conditions suggest updates.

Religious Pilgrimage and Tourism Sites in the United States

Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia from altar end, photo EOP Spring 2004.

Working on materials for the ALRI course on pilgrimage, I have been examining some theses and dissertations relevant to the topic. There are many, and I shall comment on some of them in due course. After a scan reading I am not greatly impressed by the quality of a 2008 Ph.D. dissertation at Loyola University of Chicago, Sarah Bill Schott, Religious Tourism in America (perhaps my impression will become more favorable after a more careful reading). Concerned with tourist visits to a half dozen sites associated with various religious sects, mostly sites in the Middle West, the dissertation seems to be primarily a description of the places the tourists visit. Of greater interest to me, the dissertation concludes with an appendix listing sites of religious tourism in the United States. The author notes that the list is not exhaustive, and among the omissions are most of the numerous Protestant sites in southern states like Virginia and Georgia, but the list still runs to seven single-spaced pages. This is one of the first forays I have made into an inventory of religious sites attracting tourists (and pilgrims) in the United States. It forces a realization that religious sites attracting tourists, at least some of them attracting pilgrims, are quite as numerous here as they are in most of the remainder of the world.

For example, within an hour drive of Fairfax City there are at least a dozen Episcopal and previously Episcopal churches of historic and therefore touristic interest, some of them, like Christ Church in Alexandria, on the itineraries of many tourists. I am uncertain whether any of the churches are pilgrimage destinations, but some of them along with other religious sites nearby could certainly fall into that category based on their antiquity and their associations with significant events.

Relics, Miracles and Pilgrimages

The altar above the purported tomb tomb of Paul in the Basicilica San Paulo fuori la Mura just outside Rome, photo EOP January 2009.

"Relics, especially the integral skeletons of widely-known saints, emitted a kind of holy radioactivity which bombarded everything in the area..." Finucane, Ronald C. 1977. Miracles and Pilgrims, p. 26.

As with images, I rather took for granted the role of relics in the creation of Christian pilgrimages, thus pilgrims ventured to Santiago to venerate the purported tomb of St. James the Greater (Santiago) or to Rome where Saints Peter and Paul are presumably buried. In fact the early Christian cult of relics went far beyond prompting visits to the remains, real or imagined of the apostles and others who were closely related to the Christ. Of course there were also things related to Christ and Mary, vials of her milk or pieces of the true cross, for example, but in addition there were the skeletons of literally hundreds of saints of the early church. Many of those were local, martyrs and others who served the church as it was gaining adherents in late Roman and early medieval Europe.

While the relics themselves were presumably of interest to early Christians, even those who had no immediate problems for which they were seeking relief, they were especially important for those who wanted relief from the myriad problems suffered by people. Many of the problems were medical, and visits to the sites of the relics allowed the sufferer of a disease or infirmity to be irradiated with the "holy radioactivity" the relics were thought to emit. Miracles were sought and, if the records are to be believed, a major theme in Finucane's book, sometimes occurred. Those miracles were blieved to be especially likely in places where the whole skeleton of one or another saints lay in repose.

Over time the whole skeletons were dispersed as individual bones, or even fragments of bones were moved to other churches and shrines. Not infrequently bits of skeletons were given to visiting dignitaries to take home. The hand of St, James from Compostela was given to an early English pilgrim and found a new shrine in the Abbey of St. James in Reading just west of London. Other remains were stolen and translocated to a shrine somewhere else. The remains of St. Foi, an early Christian martyr in France, for example, were stolen from a shrine in the Rhone Valley and relocated to Conques on the southern edge of the Massif Central. The post-reformation dissolution of the monastic establishments in England and the French Revolution respectively led to the loss of the bones of the apostle and the martyr, though both the ruins of the abbey in Reading and the lovely romanesque church and the rich treasury at Conques remain pilgrimage destinations.

Of course pilgrimage seeking after miracles was not limited to the medieval era, for many Christian pilgrims travel today to Lourdes, Fatima, Guadeloupe, and numerous other shrines in hopes of cures for disease and other problems of living. And it is not limited to Christians, as among almost countless possible examples, Buddhist pilgrims travel to see the tooth of the Buddha in Kandy, Sri Lanka or Shia Muslims go to the tomb of Hussein in Karbalah, Iraq. Relics in the form of skeletal remains and other physical things associated with particular saints, and the miracles they can create, however, have lost some of their importance over time. Now numerous pilgrimages are to images, and relatively few Christian pilgrimage sites created since the Middle Ages are devoted to minor saints. More on that later.