Special issue : Sacred journeys : religious tourism and pilgrimage volume II

Abstract

Hundreds of millions of people embark on pilgrimages (traditional or otherwise) every year. Though it is an ancient practice associated with a great variety of religious and spiritual traditions, beliefs and sacred geographies, recently pilgrimages have taken a new face; they can also be political, non-religious, or even irreligious. Irrespective of religious or spiritual provenance, pilgrimages are sacred journeys that facilitate interaction between diverse peoples from countless cultures, occupations, and walks of life.

At the 9th Sacred Journeys Global Conference hosted by the University of Primorska in Slovenia, we explored the varied personal, interpersonal, intercultural, and international dimensions of these journeys. The Sacred Journeys project, launched at the University of Oxford in 2014, covers all aspects of this phenomenon, including the supposedly non-traditional facets, such as pilgrimage as protest, pilgrimage and peace building, and the concepts of the internal pilgrimage and the journey of self-discovery.

This volume gathers a rich and diverse collection of interdisciplinary voices from across the globe, aimed at a global readership. Though we appreciate the importance of academic work with a strict focus, this Special Issue/book lies at the other end of the spectrum, representing by scholars and practitioners from many walks of life, both from the developing and the developed world. We provide a platform to writers who are strong in their faith and see pilgrimage as an avenue for increased closeness to their deity alongside others who do not practice religion at all; both see pilgrimage as desirable, meaningful, and life changing.