Wild Pilgrimage: Reimagining the Sacred in a Secularizing World

Abstract

This thesis seeks to expand the academic study of pilgrimage by exploring non traditional, nature-based pilgrimage experiences and their transformative and rehabilitative effects. It explores how these experiences challenge and broaden historical depictions of pilgrimage, particularly in an increasingly secularizing world, and how they reshape our understanding of the sacred. Through case studies, including personal memoirs and blog posts, the project demonstrates that spiritual experiences in nature especially those involving interactions with non-human entities–offer meaningful alternatives to traditional religious pilgrimages. This research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, drawing primarily from Anthropology and Religious Studies, with elements of History, Psychology, Philosophy, and other Social Sciences to contextualize the complexities of pilgrimage. The study emphasizes the role nature plays in the pilgrim’s journey and how natural environments facilitate transformative experiences–an aspect that has been overlooked in existing scholarship. It argues that non-institutional spiritual practices such as hiking, camping, or retreating into natural settings should be recognized as legitimate pilgrimage processes. Thus, this work advocates for a more inclusive understanding of pilgrimage, one that embraces the spiritual significance of nature-based experiences and the relational dynamics between humans and non-humans.