Since the dawn of humanity, people have traveled in search of meaning and to petition for worldly and otherworldly blessings. In the twenty-first century, the number of people traveling to religious sacred sites on pilgrimage has increased more than at any point in human history. An increased demand for pilgrimage routes and trails with the spiritual rather than the religious walker in mind, has also led various enterprising groups and individuals to develop entirely new pilgrimage routes and trails. This book highlights this new chapter in pilgrimage and trail development with essays by pilgrimage scholars and practitioners working in over ten countries.
These include an examination of circular pilgrimage in The Netherlands, weird or «antipilgrimages» in the UK, and the revitalization of ancient trails along the Old Way to Canterbury, in the Baltic States, and on the Kumano Kodo in Japan. Entirely new trails include the Sufi Trail in Turkey, the Western Front Way in Europe, the Abraham Path in Southwest Asia, the Mormon Canadian Trail, and various new religious-themed trails in Lebanon. Human rights pilgrimages include one focused on peace building in Indigenous Australia, another on Indigenous settler pilgrimage protocols in Canada, and an emancipation pilgrimage along the Underground Railroad in the United States.
