Everything about Pilgrim totally explained
A
pilgrim 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
Muslim visiting
Mecca or a
Christian or
Jew visiting
Jerusalem. No religion has laid greater stress on the duty of a pilgrim than Islam in the
Hajj. In the United States the word "
Pilgrims" usually refers to the European settlers of
New England, who celebrated the "
First Thanksgiving" with the
Native Americans in 1621.
Religious pilgrims
Pilgrims are common in many
religions, including the faiths in
ancient Egypt,
Persia in the
Mithraic period,
India,
China, and
Japan. The
Greek and
Roman custom of consulting the
gods at local
oracles, such as those at
Dodona or
Delphi, both in Greece, is 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, leading the way for the other
Abrahamic religions to include the practice. The great
Islamic pilgrimage to
Mecca (now in
Saudi Arabia), is obligatory for every able Muslim, and 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. Even after Jerusalem had been occupied by the
Saracens, the liberty of pilgrimage, on payment of a tax, was secured by
treaty; the necessity of protecting pilgrims, however, gave rise to the medieval military orders, such as the
Knights Templar.
While religious pilgrims usually travel toward a singular destination, a physical location isn't a necessity. One group of pilgrims in early
Celtic Christianity were the
Peregrinari Pro Christ, (Pilgrims for Christ), or "white martyrs," where pilgrims left with the intent to wander. This sort of pilgrimage was an
ascetic religious practice, leaving 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 on
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. Other typical global destinations for cultural pilgrims include
Auschwitz concentration camp,
Gettysburg Battlefield, the
Ernest Hemingway House or even
Disneyland.
Secular pilgrims are also found under communism 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pilgrim'.
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