Event Title
4A4: ‘The War Has Ended; the Doors Are Open Again’: Baha‘l Western-Women Pilgrimage to the Holy Land After the Great War
Start Date
29-9-2018 2:30 PM
End Date
29-9-2018 3:45 PM
Description
From its beginning, the Baha'i faith saw pilgrimage as one of the rituals that the believer should fulfill, at least once, during his lifetime. According to Kitab-i-Aqdas (the most holy book), the destination of the pilgrims should be the house of the Bab in Shiraz and the house of Bahaullah in Bagdad. However, during the time, especially after Bahaullah passed away, and due to diffculties reaching Iran or Iraq, the focus of Baha'i pilgrimage became the cities of Akko and Haifa (Palestine) that became the Baha'is "holy land".
Since the end the 19th century, as the Baha'i faith started to spread around North America, women became the core and majority of the believers of the new religion and started to execute pilgrimage to Akko and Haifa, especially to meet Abdul-Baha, The new Leader of the faith. This movement stopped at the begging of "The Great War" (1914-1918), Due to religious, military and political reasons.
As the news that the war has ends, that Abdul-Baha is safe and the way to Palestine is open, a new wave of American-Baha'i pilgrims set their face to the Holy Land. Their travel diaries are an important source for studying Baha'is History, Geography spared and the development of Baha'is pilgrimage tradition, heritage and performance.
In my lecture, I will focus on the Journey of four American Ladies, That made their pilgrim as soon as the ways to the holy land were open, and discuss, according to their diaries, some aspects of the developments in Baha'i pilgrimage After the war. Among those aspects will be the development of route and sites of the pilgrimage trail, the traditions and performance that became part of the pilgrimage heritage and the influence of eastern pilgrimage traditions on the new western believers.
4A4: ‘The War Has Ended; the Doors Are Open Again’: Baha‘l Western-Women Pilgrimage to the Holy Land After the Great War
From its beginning, the Baha'i faith saw pilgrimage as one of the rituals that the believer should fulfill, at least once, during his lifetime. According to Kitab-i-Aqdas (the most holy book), the destination of the pilgrims should be the house of the Bab in Shiraz and the house of Bahaullah in Bagdad. However, during the time, especially after Bahaullah passed away, and due to diffculties reaching Iran or Iraq, the focus of Baha'i pilgrimage became the cities of Akko and Haifa (Palestine) that became the Baha'is "holy land".
Since the end the 19th century, as the Baha'i faith started to spread around North America, women became the core and majority of the believers of the new religion and started to execute pilgrimage to Akko and Haifa, especially to meet Abdul-Baha, The new Leader of the faith. This movement stopped at the begging of "The Great War" (1914-1918), Due to religious, military and political reasons.
As the news that the war has ends, that Abdul-Baha is safe and the way to Palestine is open, a new wave of American-Baha'i pilgrims set their face to the Holy Land. Their travel diaries are an important source for studying Baha'is History, Geography spared and the development of Baha'is pilgrimage tradition, heritage and performance.
In my lecture, I will focus on the Journey of four American Ladies, That made their pilgrim as soon as the ways to the holy land were open, and discuss, according to their diaries, some aspects of the developments in Baha'i pilgrimage After the war. Among those aspects will be the development of route and sites of the pilgrimage trail, the traditions and performance that became part of the pilgrimage heritage and the influence of eastern pilgrimage traditions on the new western believers.