A study that interviewed people who completed pilgrimages in Taiwan, Japan, and Spain found that the journey allowed participants to take a step back and rebuild their inner balance. This process is driven by physical and sensory experiences that lead to psychological reflection. This study identified six key interrelated factors that shape pilgrims’ spiritual growth. The paper was published in Psychology of religion and spirituality.
A pilgrimage is a journey to a place that has special religious or spiritual significance. People go on pilgrimages seeking spiritual growth, forgiveness, or a deeper connection to their faith. A pilgrim is someone who makes such a journey and visits a sacred site, temple, shrine, or city that is important to their religion.
These journeys can be long and physically demanding, sometimes requiring walking long distances. Pilgrimage exists in many religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. For example, Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if possible. Pilgrims may travel alone or in groups and tend to follow traditional routes and rituals. This experience is usually seen as a physical and mental challenge.
Study author Wen Huei Chou and her colleagues wanted to investigate the drivers of spiritual pilgrimage experiences. They focused on practices and mechanisms that facilitate spiritual transformation of pilgrim participants. The authors stated that their goal was to understand in more detail the theoretical and behavioral models that underpin the pilgrimage experience. They focused on three prominent pilgrimage routes: the Mazu Pilgrimage in Taiwan, the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Taiwan’s Mazu Pilgrimage is a Taoist and Chinese folk religious journey that honors the sea goddess Mazu. It involves large communal rituals, processions, and prayers seeking protection, health, and prosperity. Chinese folk religion is a collective term for the traditional spiritual practices of the Han Chinese, including ancestor worship, local deity worship, and ritual traditions rooted in ancient cosmology. It is a belief system that combines elements of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.
Japan’s Shikoku Pilgrimage is a Buddhist (Shingon) pilgrimage in which participants visit 88 temples associated with Kukai, perform rituals, and follow a long spiritual path across Shikoku. Kukai was a Japanese monk, scholar, and religious leader who founded the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. The Camino de Santiago in Spain is a Catholic Christian pilgrimage site consisting of a route to Santiago de Compostela, where pilgrims venerate the tomb of Saint James, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.
Study participants consisted of 15 people who had completed one of these pilgrimages in the past five years. Eight of them were men, and the participants’ ages ranged from 23 to 77 years. To be eligible, you must spend at least nine days on the pilgrimage, which is the shortest of the three routes (Mazu Pilgrimage).
Five of the participants shared their experiences about the Shikoku Pilgrimage, five about the Santiago Pilgrimage, and the remaining five about the Mazu Pilgrimage. Notably, all participants completed more than one pilgrimage, whether they followed the same route multiple times or completely different routes. Thirteen of the participants had a university education.
Study participants participated from home and completed one-on-one semi-structured interviews with the authors via Google Meet. Interview questions focused on participants’ backgrounds, motivations, internal and external experiences during the journey, and reflections after completing the pilgrimage. After the interviews, the study authors created transcripts and conducted grounded theory analysis, a qualitative method used to discover patterns and develop theory in data.
The results showed that six key factors that shape pilgrims’ spiritual growth are interrelated. The study authors categorized them as follows: The power of vulnerability. Self-connection and flow states. Upwards and beyond. Connection and awareness with the outside world. and stability, a sense of belonging, and spiritual experiences.
Participants craved change for religious reasons, because they had hit obstacles in life, or because they wanted adventure and challenge. The power of vulnerability refers to the fact that pilgrimages require long and difficult journeys that pose significant mental and physical hardships, forcing participants to endure physical pain, mental deterioration, or both.
The elements of self-connection and flow states represent the pilgrim’s complete immersion in the physical task of walking, with movements occurring smoothly and automatically. Participants described a state of “surrender” in which they learn to relinquish control and go with the flow when faced with difficulties. The elements of upward and beyond included experiences of deep reflection and inner self-dialogue, which ultimately led to a sense of inner peace and transcendence.
The element of external connection and recognition reflects the fact that pilgrims learn to deeply value visible and invisible help and develop a deep sense of gratitude. This feeling of gratitude allows them to better understand and accept themselves and appreciate every experience in life.
Finally, the elements of stability, belonging, and spiritual experience reflect the rules and cohesion established by the journey. Importantly, this sense of stability is supported not only by ritual practices, but also by sacred objects (such as amulets, walking sticks, and stamped passports) and a sense of place (such as shrines, churches, and natural landscapes) that solidify spiritual experiences.
“Study results show that pilgrimages allow individuals to directly experience new physical and mental stimulation, before stepping back and re-establishing their inner balance, ultimately leading to spiritual awakening and transformation. This process is a process of physical and sensory stimulation that leads to psychological reflection and spiritual development. In addition, most pilgrims reported that the pilgrimage experience broadened their horizons and taught them surrender, gratitude, and compassion. These changes foster individual spiritual growth and promote harmonious coexistence with society,” the study authors concluded.
This study contributes to the scientific understanding of pilgrims’ psychological experiences. However, there are also limitations. The study was based on the experiences of just 15 pilgrims, almost all of whom were Taiwanese and highly educated. Therefore, the process of spiritual transformation for pilgrims from other demographic groups and cultural backgrounds may be different.
This paper, “Spiritual Transformation through Pilgrimage: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Experiences in Taiwan, Japan, and Spain,” was authored by Wen Huei Chou, Pei-Ching Tsai, and Yi-Ying Wu.
