A
pilgrim (lat. peregrinus) is one who undertakes a
pilgrimage, literally 'far afield'. This is traditionally a visit to a place of some religious or historic significance; often a considerable distance is traveled. Examples include a
Christian or
Jew visiting
Jerusalem or a
Muslim visiting
Mecca.
Religious pilgrims
Pilgrims and the making of pilgrimages are common in many
religions, including the faiths in
ancient Egypt,
Persia in the
Mithraic period,
India,
China, and
Japan. The
Greek and
Roman customs of consulting the
gods at local
oracles, such as those at
Dodona or
Delphi, both in Greece, are widely known. In Greece, pilgrimages could either be personal or state-sponsored.
In the early period of
Hebrew history, pilgrims traveled to
Shiloh,
Dan,
Bethel, and eventually
Jerusalem, a practice followed by other
Abrahamic religions. The great
Islamic pilgrimage to
Mecca (now in
Saudi Arabia), is obligatory for every able Muslim. Other Islamic devotional pilgrimages, particularly to the
tombs of
saints, are numerous. The
early Christians made pilgrimages to the scenes of the
Passion of Christ in
Jerusalem. After Jerusalem had been occupied by the
Saracens, Christians secured the liberty of pilgrimage, on payment of a tax by
treaty. Medieval military orders, such as the
Knights Templar arose to protect the pilgrims on their journeys.
While religious pilgrims usually travel toward a specific destination, a physical location is not a necessity. One group of pilgrims in early
Celtic Christianity were the
Peregrinari Pro Christ, (Pilgrims for Christ), or "white martyrs". They left their homes to wander in the world. This sort of pilgrimage was an
ascetic religious practice, as the pilgrim left the security of home and the
clan for an unknown destination, in complete trust of
Divine Providence. These travels often resulted in the founding of new
abbeys and spreading Christianity among the pagan population in
Britain as well as in
continental Europe.
Cultural pilgrims
A cultural pilgrimage, while also about personal journey, involves a secular response. Destinations for such pilgrims can include historic sites of national or cultural importance, and can be defined as places "of cultural significance: an artist's home, the location of a pivotal event or an iconic destination."
An example might be a
baseball fan visiting
Cooperstown, New York. Destinations for cultural pilgrims include examples such as
Auschwitz concentration camp,
Gettysburg Battlefield, the
Ernest Hemingway House or even
Disneyland.
[ Cultural pilgrims may also travel on religious pilgrimage routes, such as the Way of St. James, with the perspective of making it a historic or architectural tour rather than a religious experience.]
Secular pilgrims also exist under communist regimes. These devotional but strictly secular pilgrims visited locations such as the Mausoleum of Lenin or Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, or the Birthplace of Karl Marx. Such visits were sometimes state-sponsored.Notable pilgrims
Many national and international leaders have gone on pilgrimages for both personal and political reasons.
