Paper short abstract:

This paper will discuss how a new and innovative pilgrimage route; The Fjord Pilgrim route along the Western coast of Norway is formed within the ideas of caminoisation and how heritagisation also is important within the shaping of a new pilgrimage route. (214 tegn).

Paper long abstract:

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how caminoisation and heritagisation permeate the creation of the Coastal Route (Kystleia), also called the Fjord Pilgrim Route, along the West Coast of Norway. This route is the latest addition to the packet of seven official pilgrim routes called St Olav Ways, all having the city of Trondheim as their final destination. These roads also have status as The St Olav Ways pilgrimage and is modelled on the Camino pilgrimage, and in the same way has position as European Cultural Route. The Fjord Pilgrim Route deviates from the other routes in combining walking and travelling by boat, the last by using old and slow technologies like sailing and rowing. Aspects of caminoisation is thus part of such a route, and we will argue that caminoisation is about requisites, ideas and values, and the impact of this is clearly relevant for the Fjord Route.

The route comprises a string of local places selected because of specific attributes, described in terms of religious and cultural traditions, interesting pasts or local memory; all examples of heritagization. A certain degree of place making is part of the making of such a route, and it is of interest to discuss the significance of pilgrimage and caminoisation within such processes.

Paper short abstract:

The MaryMichael Pilgrim's Way follows dowsed energy lines from Cornwall to Norfolk, UK. How can the experience of pilgrimage be enhanced by 'Discriminate AR', using minimal audio, visual and linguistic cues designed to heighten attention and deepen participants' engagement with their surroundings?

Paper long abstract:

The Sun and the Serpent (Miller & Broadhurst 1989) is an account of dowsing the Mary and Michael energy lines, intersecting with archaeological and sacred sites, from Cornwall to Norfolk, UK, that has inspired many to undertake their own pilgrimage. In 2011 an authorised guide to the first 140 miles was produced by Richard Dealler "to appeal to people of any faith or none" (MaryMichael Pilgrim's Way, 2018), a principle promoted by the British Pilgrimage Trust, 2018. The call to pilgrimage that is open to all, not merely the physical and mental achievement, for time on the path may only last just an hour or two, but as a personal or spiritual process, with or without religious motivation. We argue that it is the intention of the journey and modes of behaviour employed that set up particular rules of engagement between the pilgrim and the environment that can be likened to the awareness changing experiences such as meditation, guided imagining or shamanic journeying. 'Discriminate AR', is a novel approach to augmented reality that uses minimal audio, visual, linguistic cues designed to heighten attention and deepen pilgrim's engagement with their surroundings. Strategies include movement responsive audio used to slow walking speed to encourage participants' awareness of their physicality within the location. Directed listening augmented by live sounds occurring in the environment is blended with 3D spatial sound. 'Discriminate AR', is discussed in relation to the 'Immersive Explorations' app, set along the MaryMichael Pilgrim's way.

Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the expeditions to Siberia organised by the Lithuanian organisation Misija Sibiras (Mission Siberia). I interpret these journeys as secular pilgrimages through which young Lithuanians commemorate their past and deal with the painful heritage of their country.

Paper long abstract:

The Baltic Countries gained their independence from the Soviet regime in 1991. Since then, these newly independent countries have dealt with their painful past in various ways. My study explores alternative means of commemoration of the dark heritage of the deportations perpetrated in Lithuania by the Soviet Union.

This paper focuses on the organisation Misija Sibiras, which every year gives the opportunity to selected participants to undertake an expedition to Siberia, where the labour camps were set up during the Soviet period. Inspired by the concept of rites of passage developed by Van Gennep (1960), I describe these journeys as rituals through which young Lithuanians experience the pain of displacement and come back to their country indelibly transformed. I argue that these expeditions could be interpreted as secular pilgrimages, through which the participants perform their national belonging and identity while engaging with the difficult past of their country.

My presentation draws on ethnographic research I conducted in Lithuania. Data I collected during my fieldwork include an interview with one participant of the expedition and information I gathered from social media platforms. Here, I analyse this material in relation to the notion of rites of passage and I discuss the meaning of this pilgrimage in the Baltic country.

This research contributes to the debate on postmemory (McDowell, 2016) in Lithuania. By exploring the case study of Misija Sibiras, it highlights the shift from traditional sites of memory, such as museums, towards new and alternative practices of commemoration of the past.

Paper short abstract:

This paper addresses the potential for cultural, religious or political critique in the vernacular pilgrimage movement developed in the Church of Sweden inspired by the Camino pilgrimage. Different religious heritages are discussed as well as a recent turn to ecology in the pilgrimage movement.

Paper long abstract:

One of the bewildering features of the phenomenon known as the Camino pilgrimage, as many scholars have noted, is the presence of a variety of religious, spiritual and secular elements in the same practice. In the vernacular pilgrimage movement that has developed in the Church of Sweden inspired by the Camino, these religious/spiritual/secular elements function as powerful cultural resources that continue to offer new paths to explore by pilgrims, clergy and theologians. In this paper, I will look at three distinctive themes that co-exist in the Swedish pilgrimage movement. Despite the common interpretation that the Camino pilgrimage has little in common with a traditional, Catholic cult of a saint, this theme is an important facet of the first pilgrimage centre in Sweden in Vadstena, where the religious heritage of St Bridget, pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela and famous for her visions of Mary, plays an important role. The second theme is the elaboration of a new theology of pilgrimage that cherishes religious-cultural themes that are familiar to a Lutheran tradition such as the asceticism in a simple way of life and nature as a source of religious experience. The third theme is sustainability and preservation of nature, recently drawn upon by the Church of Sweden, explicitly linking pilgrimage walks to ecology. How are these themes expressed and understood in Swedish pilgrimage, and in what ways, if any, are they bearers of a political/cultural/religious critique in contemporary Sweden?

Paper short abstract:

Brigid's Way, a newly-configured pilgrimage route in Ireland, is analyzed as a location where people make meaningful connections with history, cultural traditions and national and 'Celtic' identities and also as a space where symbolic boundaries around identities and traditions can be revealed.

Paper long abstract:

Ireland's new and refurbished pilgrimage routes can tell us much about continuity and change in regard to cultural traditions and engagement with religious heritage. At particular pilgrimage routes a nexus is formed between different group identities and worldviews—Celtic Christian, contemporary Pagan, and others. This paper focuses on the example of Brigid's Way, a trail starting near Dundalk in County Louth and finishing in County Kildare; the pilgrims can join for one day up to the full nine days of the pilgrimage. The route takes in ancient sites with several centuries of development and associated layers of meaning and incorporates different religious heritages—ancient royal pagan sites and centres of druidic power alongside sites of the early and medieval Christian periods. Central to this route is a holy well and a shrine containing a 'sacred flame', associated with both the pre-Christian goddess figure and the Christianized version in the form of the saint. By examining the activities along the route, as well as the discourses around it, this paper aims to show how place, practices and identities are interconnected, and how religious and cultural heritage is being engaged with and 're-storied' by way of pilgrimage.

Paper short abstract:

The presentation will explore narrative strategies by which the legend of St. Sunniva is used to re-story the refurbished pilgrimage route to Selja. It will be analysed to what degree the contemporary use of the narratives documents a trend towards a heritagisation of religion.

Paper long abstract:

According to legend, the Irish princess Sunniva became a martyr at the island of Selja on the West coast of Norway. Following her enshrinement in the 12th century, she became central for the medieval pilgrimage to the island. Today, Sunniva is re-framed and represented as a symbol that can be, and indeed is, filled with a variety of meaning for different actors in the field. The pilgrimage route to Selja is one example of the "caminoisation" of pre-reformation pilgrimage routes and destinations in the Nordic countries. Practice and places connected to pilgrimage that were discredited with the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century are now to an increasing extent filled with new and re-interpreted meaning as part of networks of new and re-introduced national and transnational pilgrim destinations. An important part of these processes has been to create meaningful narratives about the saints that the medieval pilgrimage routes and destinations were connected to. In other words, the contemporary routes are framed through narratives about its historical roots. The presentation examines the legend of St. Sunniva and different contemporary adaptions of the saint's legendary traditions, with emphasis on the slogan of The Foundation St. Sunniva, Selja and Stad: "The Light, the Legend, Life and the Landscape". The narrative frameworks, with the people, places and practice the stories refers to, will be read as multi-layered heritage, connected to a variety of ambitions, means and strategies that evoke both local identities and European narrative cultures.

Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on Vilnius as a city of mercy with very old multicultural and multi religious heritage. The main issue of this paper is to rethink the significance of new and refurbished pilgrimage sites in Vilnius Old Town, also, to examine modern trends and strategy of Vilnius tourism centers.

Paper long abstract:

The paper focuses on Vilnius, the city of pilgrimage, with very old multicultural and multi religious heritage. A large centre of culture and education in 16-17th centuries, Vilnius was particularly distinquished by its inhabitants' religious tolerance and the diversity of confessions. Today Vilnius Old Town, UNESCO World Heritage site, is a place of pilgrimage, rich in Lithuanian, Polish, Belorussian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Jewish cultural and religious heritage.

The main issue of this paper is to rethink the significance of new and refurbished pilgrimage sites in Vilnius Old Town, also, to examine the present-day strategy of Vilnius tourism and pilgrimage centers. The paper is based on a field work research conducted by the author in 2014-2018. In Soviet times a lot of churches were closed and pilgrimage was officially forbidden in Lithuania. In recent years pilgrimage sites were reframed and re-presented: the new routes for pilgrims such as "Nothern Route of Saint James through Vilnius", "The Way of Mercy", "The Pilgrim Route of Saint John Paul II", "Vilnius Calvary Way of the Crosses", "The Pilgrim Route of Saints of Vilnius" were created. Renewed religious practices added to the significance of refurbished pilgrimage sites; local heritage, traditions and religious narratives were revived and linked to European narrative cultures. To sum up, cultural and religious heritage of Vilnius Old Town as economic and political resource, which regained its significance in the global cultural economy, could be considered a marker of identity (Meethan, 2001).

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how pilgrim identity and behaviour are being modelled in the heritagised context of new Norwegian pilgrimage. We analyse how guidebooks and other media create expectations, influence practices, and frame religion as heritage.

Paper long abstract:

The Saint Olav Ways to Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, are one of the most extensive projects of reintroducing pilgrimage in the Northern European countries. With all the hallmarks of 'Caminoised' pilgrimage, Saint Olav Ways epitomise a trend towards a heritagisation of religion, the process by which selected practices, places and stories from European religious history are being rediscovered and adapted to current needs, values, and concerns.

Attracting a broad variety of visitors, and explicitly catering to an audience unfamiliar with traditional pilgrimage, the Olav Ways become a stage where new pilgrim 'personae' are negotiated and rehearsed. This paper explores how pilgrim identity and behaviour are being modelled in the heritagised context of new Norwegian pilgrimage. We analyse how guidebooks and other media create expectations, influence practices, and frame religion as heritage - and how pilgrims narrate their experiences in response to the scenarios presented to them.