Location
Palermo
Start Date
26-6-2025 11:30 AM
End Date
26-6-2025 1:00 PM
Description
Walking is one of the simplest and most primordial human acts, yet it carries profound meanings that transcend cultures, religious traditions, and paths of individual and collective transformation. Walking is not merely a means of movement but a practice that fosters reconnection with oneself, the environment, and the community. Bruce Chatwin, in The Songlines, highlights how nomadism is an inherent human condition, suggesting that movement is essential not only for physical survival but also for mental and spiritual well-being. In an era marked by environmental crises, conflicts, and increasing technological alienation, rediscovering the value of walking responds to a deep need for slowness, awareness, and listening.
In religious history, walking has often held ritualistic and symbolic significance. From Buddhist pilgrimages to the spiritual paths of Australian Aboriginal peoples, who weave space, memory, and sacredness through the Songlines, walking has always been an experience of inner transformation and reconciliation with the surrounding reality. The practice of walking as a means of peace and reconciliation will be explored through the analysis of various case studies. First, the Bundian Way, an ancient Aboriginal route linking the Snowy Mountains to the southeastern coast of Australia, will be examined. This path, recently rediscovered and valued, represents a bridge between the historical memory of Indigenous peoples and the process of reconciliation with contemporary society.
A second case study will focus on the Buddhist practice of circumambulation (pradakshina), a symbolic gesture expressing devotion and mindfulness through movement around sacred sites such as stupas and mountains.
Through an analysis that intertwines anthropologica and religious studies, this study aims to reflect on how walking can become not only a daily practice for well-being but also a conscious act of harmonization with the world and a means of building peace, both on an individual and collective level.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/r198-t798
Included in
D3) Sacred Steps: Walking, Religion, and the Path to Peace
Palermo
Walking is one of the simplest and most primordial human acts, yet it carries profound meanings that transcend cultures, religious traditions, and paths of individual and collective transformation. Walking is not merely a means of movement but a practice that fosters reconnection with oneself, the environment, and the community. Bruce Chatwin, in The Songlines, highlights how nomadism is an inherent human condition, suggesting that movement is essential not only for physical survival but also for mental and spiritual well-being. In an era marked by environmental crises, conflicts, and increasing technological alienation, rediscovering the value of walking responds to a deep need for slowness, awareness, and listening.
In religious history, walking has often held ritualistic and symbolic significance. From Buddhist pilgrimages to the spiritual paths of Australian Aboriginal peoples, who weave space, memory, and sacredness through the Songlines, walking has always been an experience of inner transformation and reconciliation with the surrounding reality. The practice of walking as a means of peace and reconciliation will be explored through the analysis of various case studies. First, the Bundian Way, an ancient Aboriginal route linking the Snowy Mountains to the southeastern coast of Australia, will be examined. This path, recently rediscovered and valued, represents a bridge between the historical memory of Indigenous peoples and the process of reconciliation with contemporary society.
A second case study will focus on the Buddhist practice of circumambulation (pradakshina), a symbolic gesture expressing devotion and mindfulness through movement around sacred sites such as stupas and mountains.
Through an analysis that intertwines anthropologica and religious studies, this study aims to reflect on how walking can become not only a daily practice for well-being but also a conscious act of harmonization with the world and a means of building peace, both on an individual and collective level.