Ritual and Well-being in the Contemporary Shikoku- Pilgrimage: The “Spectrum of the Sacred”

Abstract

Abstract This article is an ethnographic study of contemporary ritual and well-being in the Buddhist 88-temple-pilgrimage on Shikoku Island, Japan, drawing on some findings of my PhD thesis. It will be shown how rituals are employed by pilgrims to gain this-worldly benefits and well-being, such as happiness, assurances about the future, success, and lives that can be lived free from problems and dangers, which mirror how contemporary pilgrims see their obligations and responsibilities in society. Further in-depth analysis of pilgrimage items and related rituals clarify what pilgrims deem ‘sacred’, and how they respond to this, why and through what experiences and actions they set things as ‘sacred’: ‘spaces’, items, and rituals are regarded as very sacred or more or less sacred. This research finds that there is a ‘sacred’ on a continuum, which it labels as ‘spectrum of the sacred’.