Consuming the divine grace: circulations and ritual re-uses of votive materiality in pilgrimage spaces
ISSN: 1352-2752
Article publication date: 28 February 2023
Issue publication date: 6 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose
To date, a few studies have examined the use and circulation of votive materiality in religious pilgrimages. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has explored the ritual reuse of votive materiality within pilgrimages. This paper aims to explore the (re)uses and circulations of votive materiality in the ritual process.
Design/methodology/approach
In the analysis, the authors adopt the cross-views of an anthropologist and a marketing researcher. Votive practices are examined through the anthropologist’s past ethnographies. Audiovisual data play a central role in this analysis. Moreover, the authors choose a comparative perspective by focusing on two not famed pilgrimage arenas, each mobilising Muslim pilgrims and food offerings.
Findings
Revisiting the thoughts of Weber (1978) on the religious field and those of Kotler (2019) on transformational experiences, the authors propose a graphic schematisation to trace the circulations of votive materiality (sugar) involving four interdependent ideal-typical actors: the merchant, the priest, the mystical operator and the pilgrim-consumer who, in her/his quest for the divine, is the target for the first three. Either pilgrims or mystical operators can ritually reuse votive materiality. However, such reuses are not performed for ecological purposes, but for practical reasons, mainly due to an overabundance of votive materiality.
Originality/value
It is often believed that a votive object is only for single use, used only once, for a single request or thanksgiving, by a single person. But the authors show that once used, certain votive objects – as vehicles for grace – can be reused, revealing an unexpected ritual reuse.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editors, in particular Mona Moufahim for drawing their attention to the special issue on Sacred Journeys, as well as the anonymous reviewers. The authors also thank Dionigi Albera (CNRS), Benoît Fliche (CNRS) and Aude Aylin de Tapia (University of Freiburg), who were involved in the ethnography of the St. George’s pilgrimage. They express their gratitude to their respective research centres, IDEMEC and LIRSA, and to Jon Shaw for proofreading the text.
Citation
Pénicaud, M. and Jolivot, A.-G. (2023), "Consuming the divine grace: circulations and ritual re-uses of votive materiality in pilgrimage spaces", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 103-132. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-05-2022-0077
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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