Pilgrimage as post-secular therapy

Authors

• Lisbeth Mikaelsson University of Bergen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67418

Keywords:

Religious change, Postsecularism, Pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Christianity, Health, Contentment, Spirituality, Catholic Church, Norske kirke, Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Sacred space, Lutheran churches -- Europe, Therapeutics

Abstract

This article describes the institutionalized pilgrim role and then turns to the therapeutic discourse which is so prominent in the modern pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Both the role and the discourse can be related to the concept of post-secularity, demonstrating that complex cultural fields such as religion and therapy, become intertwined in new ways through modern pilgrimage. This article also shows that churches cooperating in this type of pilgrimage are adapting to the post-secular age, finding a new sort of raison d’être in a multi-religious, international world. Here the author refers to the Church of Norway and its role in Norwegian pilgrimage. The latter is modelled upon the Santiago example.