The Journey

Before delving into the “Via Palma” pilgrimage route, it is fitting to briefly discuss the essence and purpose of a pilgrimage. Undertaking a pilgrimage is about journeying to a sacred destination, where the culmination of the effort is rewarded with an encounter with the sacred, akin to seeking the Holy Grail. A prime illustration of such a journey is the pilgrimage of Jews to the Temple in Jerusalem while it stood, aimed at forging a connection with the divine and obtaining grace and inspiration.

Pilgrimage was not pursued for its own sake but rather as a means to reach the Sacred, undergoing a transformative process along the journey. Similarly, it’s important to recognize that the pilgrims of the “Via Palma” were motivated by a specific destination they aspired to reach, convinced that something awaited them there. This destination was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the site associated with Jesus resurrection and the Holy Grail. The pilgrims held the belief that reaching this place would lead to their transformation. This understanding introduces a pivotal question regarding the nature of pilgrimage: What exactly is this ‘something’ that awaits at the journey’s end?

This aspect is often overlooked by academic researchers and writers focusing on pilgrimage. They find it challenging to grasp the notion that something at the journey’s end can fundamentally transform a person, facilitating a connection with the divine. It’s difficult for them to acknowledge that pilgrimage can offer solutions to life’s problems, providing spiritual enrichment that enhances all facets of life and fosters completeness. For them, the world appears “flat,” with no experiential difference between one place and another. This perspective inspired the title of one of my previous works, “Touching the Sacred,” emphasizing my belief that the essence of pilgrimage is to encounter the Sacred, the transcendent, the eternal, and the meaningful, on a plane far removed from the mundane everyday. The pilgrimage towards a physical destination, the holy site, served merely as a vehicle to reach this higher end.

To undergo spiritual transformation, embarking on a journey was, and still is, essential, even if today it may only be metaphorical. The shift in one’s state of being doesn’t occur spontaneously. Interestingly, this transformation begins with a purification process, preparing one to connect with the divine.

The purpose of a pilgrimage was, and remains, to encounter the divine, both internally and externally. During their pilgrimage, individuals experienced processes of purification and connection. A quintessential example of this is the Jewish pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which culminated in rituals of purification and attunement before entering the Temple. Significantly, much of the purification was facilitated by the effort involved in the pilgrimage itself.

The pilgrimage process can be viewed as a variant of the hero’s journey, a concept elucidated by Joseph Campbell in his works. Similar to Campbell’s hero’s journey, the pilgrimage entails navigating through challenges, during which the pilgrim encounters crises, overcomes them, and ultimately returns home triumphant. The key distinction between the hero and the pilgrim lies in the nature of their quests: the hero must engage in a decisive battle against an external foe to secure the journey’s prize, whereas the pilgrim engages in a continuous internal struggle to reach the sacred destination and experience the sacred. This internal journey requires the pilgrim to confront and let go of personal limitations and barriers.

The pilgrimage adds a religious layer not found in the hero’s journey. In Campbell’s narrative, the hero is often given a special object, insight, or magical ability at the journey’s outset, aiding their quest. For the pilgrim, it’s the veneration of holy relics and symbols, like the Rosary, that guides their path. Where Campbell’s hero ends with life wisdom and experiences valuable in all realms, the pilgrim secures religious insights and mystical experiences, emphasizing the spiritual essence of their pilgrimage.

During Campbell the hero’s journey there is a need to cross a threshold, and the same thing happens during the pilgrimage, when the pilgrims board the ships to the holy land. If from Campbell’s point of view, the hero’s journey is aided by a guide, then from the point of view of the pilgrimage it is the priests and religious leaders who lead the caravans. If for Campbell the hero’s journey is aimed at achieving union between the Male and Female principles, then for the pilgrim it is connected with the figure of Mary or Jesus and realizing through the union with them Divine love.

We could delve deeper into the stages of Campbell’s hero’s journey and their parallels with the stages of pilgrimage, yet the limited space of this book necessitates a brief discussion of these similarities and their implications. Similarly, while there’s scope to explore the pilgrimage’s inner, psychological, and spiritual dimensions, we’ll touch upon these aspects briefly in upcoming chapters. Given the constraints, this book will primarily focus on the journey itself, including the path, landmarks, the era’s ambiance, and the individuals connected with the “Via Palma.”.

Amid the vast array of historical and geographical details, occasionally, a profound and spiritual insight emerges, potentially illuminating the universal hero’s journey that each of us undertakes in life. The Via Palma, similar to other pilgrimage routes, essentially represents the journey we all navigate, seeking connection with the Sacred and aspiring to discover life’s meaning. Throughout this journey, we confront and surmount the challenges posed by the external world, with the hope that among these challenges, walking the Via Palma will someday be an accomplished reality.

Pilgrimage is natural for Hemans

During prehistoric times, humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers, roaming the earth. This constant change of landscapes and environments ingrained a fundamental aspect into our subconscious. Consequently, I firmly believe that travel is crucial for mental health; the soul thrives on the “vitamins” provided by new vistas, sounds, and diverse settings, enabling it to absorb new feelings and experiences.

For all but the last 10,000 years, we lived as hunter-gatherers, journeying across the earth in what can be seen as a sacred Journey from one dwelling to the next. Research indicates that these journeys weren’t merely physical but also spiritual, involving visits to sacred sites, as observed in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies like the Aborigines of Australia or the Bushmen of Africa. Humans are unique in our ability to be stirred by the beauty of a landscape. When our forebears gazed out from a cliff in the Judean desert at dawn, they experienced exaltation, awe, and wonder—emotions akin to our own. These profound, religious sensations instill a sense of belonging to something greater and imbue life with meaning.

The journeys of our ancestors extended beyond mere survival and were far from arbitrary. Their journeys around the earth constituted a sacred pilgrimage, marked by visits to revered sites—holy mountains, sacred stones, springs, and forests—where they engaged in religious rituals and worship at designated times and locations. From the dawn of humanity, this archetype of journeying has been embedded in our collective subconscious

From their inception, Homo sapiens embarked on pilgrimages to sacred locales, sensing the presence of something transcendent. With the advent of agriculture, these destinations evolved into megalithic sites and centers for the veneration of nature and the Goddess. The onset of recorded history saw them transform, often into temple grounds and consecrated places. Yet, the journey’s core archetype persisted, encompassing pilgrimages to these places. This journey through diverse landscapes and environments provides energetic sustenance (impressions) to the individual, culminating in arrival at special sites where one can experience heightened emotions and forge a connection with the sacred.

Mount Karkom in the Negev serves as an example of a prehistoric pilgrimage site, featuring a megalithic temple on its summit plateau dating back 30,000 years, likely the world’s oldest megalithic site. Visitors came to gather flint stones and offer thanks to the Gods in the temple. Similarly, ancient sacred sites like Stonehenge in England and Rujum Hiri in Israel also served as pilgrimage destinations. These places offered a connection to other realms, facilitating communication with the afterlife, and providing a sense of the sacred and the concealed. They acted as portals to the heavens and the mysteries of the earth, marked by special alignments with stars, the sun, and the moon, or distinctive natural features such as unique rock formations.

The sacred journey served multiple purposes. World’s ancient mythologies narrate tales of heroes embarking on quests for eternal life. In Sumer, for instance, Gilgamesh embarked on such a quest, reaching remarkable places within this world and others in magical realms beyond mortal reach. According to Campbell’s model, the hero experiences an initiation, returning to the mundane world enriched with newfound knowledge.

In ancient Greece, the archetypes of the hero’s journey were embodied in Odysseus’s voyages, and during the Middle Ages, through the quests of the Knights of the Round Table in pursuit of the Holy Grail. The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to Mount Sinai can also be viewed as a similar journey. Life itself is a journey with a beginning, middle, and end, mirroring the structure of both the hero’s journey and the pilgrimage. However, the distinction lies in the pilgrimage’s focus on a specific destination and the anticipation of certain outcomes.

Our spatial perception is oriented to look ahead, dividing the world into right and left. Our feet, head, and chest are all designed to point and move forward, reflecting humanity’s innate disposition for forward movement in the quest for sustenance. While humans are capable of moving in detours or sideways, they are always progressing towards a destination. Just as there is a pursuit for physical nourishment, moving forward also symbolizes the search for spiritual sustenance. To walk forward means to embark from a starting point and head towards a goal.

On a pilgrimage, the destination is reached daily at the day’s end when the pilgrim finds rest, food, and lodging, activating the journey’s archetype with each day’s travel. At night, through dreams, there’s a shift to another dimension. Both the nomadic hunter and the pilgrim must find a cave (or a modern equivalent, like a hotel) that offers safety and rest. This routine aligns with the “journey towards the Sacred” archetype, where each day’s journey and nightly repose contribute to the overarching spiritual quest.

The metaphor of a journey from one place to another powerfully reflects life’s processes, given that time is linear, originating in the past and advancing towards the future. Once elapsed, no force can revert it to its former state. Consequently, notions of time have intertwined with spatial concepts, with time itself envisioned as a voyage from birth to death, along a straight and unbroken trajectory towards a final destination. This imagery forms a potent archetypal symbol within our minds, reflecting our inclination towards crafting an orderly and harmonious worldview.

We encounter another time-related journey archetype with the sun’s path across the sky. Ancient humans, lacking clocks and calendars, aligned their activities with daylight, starting with sunrise in the east and ending at sunset in the west. Activities such as hunting, working, traveling, or embarking on pilgrimages were feasible as the sun journeyed overhead. However, with the sun’s descent, humans too were prompted to rest, marking an end to their day’s endeavors. This synchronization of human activity with the solar cycle underscores a clear parallel: as long as the sun traversed the sky, humans moved upon the earth’s surface, although night sometimes allowed for continued movement, the analogy remained evident to all.

The pilgrim’s journey, undertaken by day, aligns with the sun’s passage through the sky, mirroring the travels of prehistoric humans across the land. This alignment, along with the pilgrim’s aim to reach the day’s destination or the pilgrimage’s ultimate goal, resonates with life’s processes, lending the act profound significance. Similarly, the stars navigate the heavens, with the planets, in particular, altering their positions, earning them the moniker “the wanderers.” This celestial movement further reinforces the notion of journeying as an intrinsic and emblematic aspect of existence.

Moreover, an aspect previously touched upon is the traveler’s need for sustenance and shelter from natural elements and predators at night—a safe haven for sleep. Thus, the journey inherently aims towards places of rest and nourishment, embodying a sense of completion, well-being, and satisfaction at each day’s end. This is why a journey epitomizes a process of purification, sanctification, development, and progress, not merely in a physical sense. Each day reiterates the life journey archetype, stemming from the fulfillment derived from reaching a sought-after destination after the day’s exertions.

Scholars of religious studies, notably Mircea Eliade, contend that any journey fundamentally expresses a yearning to return home in a profound spiritual sense. This is because the truest sense of home—a place of safety, nourishment, and fulfillment—is found in communion with the Divine, echoing our pre-birth condition. When we travel and arrive at a hostel, we experience a sense of belonging, but this feeling transcends the physical structure; it serves as a representation and symbol of our ultimate home, which is the connection with the Divine.

In essence, there’s an innate drive within humans to seek out a sacred place and time, much like the almost-touching hands of divinity and humanity in Michelangelo’s iconic depiction of the creation of man. Often, to come close to touching the divine, one embarks on a pilgrimage. Anticipating arrival at a holy site isn’t inherently negative; it confronts us with our own projections upon reaching, facilitating a deeper self-discovery. The distinction between humans and animals lies in consciousness; animals move instinctively, whereas humans journey with awareness and purpose. Humans envision their destination, inhabiting it mentally before physical arrival, and in reaching it, they encounter themselves.

The act of pilgrimage ushers individuals into a unique state of awareness, facilitated by the exposure to various places and the passage of time, enabling the development of a new consciousness. The mere actions of departing and arriving tap into profound archetypes within our subconscious, activating a distinct awareness and consciousness. This shift is further reinforced by the journey’s purpose. A pilgrimage aimed at reaching a sacred destination embodies the most potent of intentions. This power intensifies when personal motivations, such as seeking answers to life’s questions or seeking atonement for sins, are interwoven with the pilgrimage’s objective.

Embarking on a pilgrimage alters our perception of time, a phenomenon also observed when traveling from one place to another, such as in the dynamics of an organized tour where a week can feel like a month. This shift in how we experience time is also reflected in travel diaries. Delving into these accounts from a psychological perspective would likely reveal that journeys provoke thoughts and insights within an individual that are uncommon in their everyday life, highlighting how the experience of travel fosters a unique mental and emotional landscape.

Processes of the Pilgrimage – Communitas

The Oxford Dictionary defines a pilgrimage as a journey to a holy place undertaken as an act of religious devotion. Various forms of pilgrimage exist, including pilgrimage as an obligation, as a fulfillment of a vow, as an act of atonement (in Christianity), or as a journey to appear before the Lord (in Judaism), among others. This definition situates pilgrimage within the realm of religious practice, rendering it seemingly irrelevant to the secular individual. It categorizes pilgrimage as a component of religious obligations without addressing its role as an archetypal, innate, and enriching aspect of human experience.

Some anthropologists and sociologists have delved deeply into the subject of pilgrimage, with Victor Turner standing out as one of the most notable and influential figures in 20th-century anthropology. Turner proposed that during the Middle Ages, pilgrimage functioned as a vital social process, crucial for sustaining the social, religious, and cultural framework of Europe. The sense of “communitas” — a spirit of community and brotherhood formed among pilgrims during their journey — endowed the feudal religious system with meaning and served as a significant societal glue, akin to the role of military service in contemporary Israeli society. This process facilitated the alleviation of social pressures and fostered a shared identity among diverse individuals.

Turner introduced the concepts of “liminality” and “communitas” within the study of pilgrimage, with “communitas” representing a unique type of connection among individuals. This connection is characterized by its spontaneous, immediate, and tangible nature, contrasting with the formal, institutionalized norms that typically govern society. However, Turner emphasized that communitas cannot exist in isolation from social structures; it exists in parallel, as a society devoid of structure cannot function. Communitas is seen as a source of art and symbols, harboring the capacity for creativity and transformation. It serves to link society with the vital force, acting as an unseen channel for emanation and existence.

Communitas is viewed as sacred, dissolving established norms to usher in direct experiences and the opportunity for individuals to unlock their latent potential. It represents a path toward equality, offering liberation from societal constraints. Throughout life, individuals navigate between phases of communitas and structured social systems, sometimes transitioning between these states simultaneously. Each state emerges from and relies upon the other, illustrating social life as a dialectical process characterized by alternating experiences of elevation and descent, communitas and structure, sameness and difference, as well as equality and inequality. The shift from lower to higher social status involves a phase of statuslessness, highlighting a journey through contrasting yet complementary and inseparable extremes. Communitas underpins the legitimacy of a divided society, acting as the hidden, moral, and egalitarian foundation beneath the surface of societal differences.

Turner argued that daily life within a specific social order builds up tensions, which are then alleviated through ceremonies that foster and reinforce a sense of brotherhood and partnership. This cycle enables individuals to return to their routines with greater compliance and tranquility, thus aiding the maintenance of social order. This dynamic was evident in the pilgrimages of the Middle Ages, contributing to the stability and relative peace of feudal society over centuries.

Turner’s theories were influenced by the earlier work of anthropologist Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957), who coined the term “rite of passage” and explored initiation rites and the concept of the liminal state. Van Gennep identified that status changes are often linked to spatial movements, differentiating between territorial crossings and symbolic threshold crossings, such as doors, as well as between social and cultural transitions. He articulated this process as a movement from an open, vulnerable area into a secure space, marked by a series of ceremonies: an initial welcome outside the gate (pre-liminal), a threshold ceremony (liminal), and a concluding ceremony upon entry (post-liminal). Rituals signify the transition. Turner expanded on van Gennep’s ideas, suggesting that the pilgrimage acts as an amplified ritual, deeply embedding these transitional stages.

Arnold van Gennep characterized “rites of passage” as rituals marking any transition in location, condition, social status, or age. Turner elaborated on van Gennep’s model, detailing that all rites of passage (or “transitions”) consist of three phases:

1. Separation – This phase involves symbolic actions that signify the individual’s or group’s disengagement from their previous role or status within the social structure, or from their former social condition, or both.
2. Liminality (the threshold phase) – In this stage, the subjects of the ritual occupy an ambiguous state, traversing a cultural realm devoid of the definitive attributes of their past or forthcoming social statuses. This phase escorts an individual to the brink of their current reality, facilitating their passage through a metaphorical gateway.
3. Reintegration – This final phase marks the completion of the transition. The subjects, whether individuals or groups, re-enter society in a new, relatively stable condition, endowed with distinct rights and obligations. They are now expected to conform to specific norms and moral codes that apply to individuals within a structured network of social positions.

This framework is ideally suited to the pilgrimage process, involving a detachment from ordinary life, a passage through an unfamiliar realm (liminal) where communitas is found, and a subsequent reconnection upon reaching the sacred destination and then returning home. Turner, therefore, positions pilgrimages at the heart of his theory, emphasizing the inherent ambiguity of the liminal state. This phase and its participants defy the usual categorization used to organize social situations and locations within cultural space. They are in a transitional space, not fully belonging to either the originating or the destination social strata defined by laws, customs, traditions, and ceremonies. Their indistinct attributes are manifested through diverse symbols. Liminality engenders a merging of lowliness with sacredness, and of unity with fellowship. In this liminal state, we experience a “moment both within and outside of time”—a point that is part of the everyday social structure yet stands apart from it, briefly revealing a profound and holy connection among individuals.

Turner views a pilgrimage site as a liminal threshold that transcends time, where the pilgrim anticipates encountering the sacred and the supernatural, aiming for a transformation in spirit and personality. The pilgrim engages in symbolic activities, interacting with a system of symbols that imbue the journey to the holy site with the nature of an initiation ceremony. This pilgrimage is enveloped in myth, sparking emotions and passions that surpass the journey’s physical aspects. Often, it mirrors liminal life events, particularly death and the passage to the afterlife, highlighting the deep-seated connection between physical journeys and metaphysical transitions.

Beyond Turner, the field of religious studies offers other compelling insights into pilgrimage. Mircea Eliade views pilgrimage as a journey to holy places—sites of hierophany (a manifestation of the sacred) or divine revelation. Humans perpetually seek these sacred spaces and times as avenues through which the numinous might manifest in the world. Eliade suggests that the pilgrim harbors the hope of undergoing personal sanctification upon reaching such sites. This concept aligns with the Platonic notion of anamnesis, or recollection of a pre-existent state, encapsulating the myth of returning to paradise or reuniting with the divine. The act of contemplating this return or communion with the divine during the pilgrimage is an integral part of this spiritual journey.

Alphonse Dupront characterizes the pilgrim’s journey as one of spiritualization, driven by the passage through unknown territories that renders the pilgrim a stranger both to himself and to others. This journey facilitates a process of purification and detachment from the routine and the mundane, initiating a profound transformation that contributes to the salvation of the pilgrim’s soul. Through this transformative experience, a new universe is forged, symbolizing the profound impact of pilgrimage on personal and spiritual growth.

Pilgrimage today

Jerusalem holds the distinction of being the most sacred city for the three monotheistic faiths, Each was encouraged to undertake pilgrimages to Jerusalem, each for varied reasons and directed towards distinct sites within the city. For Jews, the pilgrimage was commanded to appear before the Lord three times annually, and following the Temple’s destruction, to commemorate it and yearn for redemption. Muslims are motivated by the desire to draw nearer to the mysteries of Muhammad’s night journey, seeking the blessings of performing prayers in this revered location. Christians undertake the pilgrimage to establish a connection with the life of Jesus, seeking purification and spiritual renewal, symbolically experiencing death and resurrection as a means of preparing for their eventual death and the hereafter.

As pilgrimage traditions within the three religions evolved, countless individuals journeyed to Jerusalem on foot, undergoing the pilgrimage process more deeply than is common today. The extensive time, effort, and even risk involved in reaching Jerusalem allowed for more complete internal and external transformations. Prior to the advent of motor vehicles, concepts like communitas or liminality were more palpable, and the chance for a mystical experience was significantly higher. Nowadays, pilgrims often arrive by cars and buses, rushing through the sacred sites. Only a few undertake the journey on foot, and it appears that this shift has reduced the opportunities for personal encounters with the divine during visits to these holy places.

While people do report experiencing profound emotions at holy sites, as discussed in my other works (notably on the Temple), not all experiences labeled as “religious” truly qualify as such. Scholars over the past century have sought to pinpoint the essence of religious experience, consistently identifying it as the sensation of being part of something larger—a vast network, a web of reasons and causes, a force greater than oneself and boundless. This is akin to the feeling one has while standing on a cliff in the Judean desert at sunrise. Unfortunately, such experiences have become less accessible to visitors of sacred places, regardless of whether they are Jewish, Muslim, or Christian. This is partly because the sensation of holiness was traditionally the culmination of a lengthy pilgrimage process, a journey that, regrettably, is not as common in today’s fast-paced world.

As paradoxical as it might seem, it is the act of pilgrimage that imbued Jerusalem with its sacredness. The aim of this book is to propose the revival of the ancient pilgrimage experience by journeying on foot from the Galilee (Acre) to Jerusalem, tracing the path of historical pilgrimage routes from the Middle Ages, specifically along the Via Palma way.