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.