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.