Consuming the Divine Grace: Circulations and Ritual Reuses of Votive Materiality in Pilgrimage Spaces

Consommer la grâce divine: Circulations et réutilisations rituelles de la matérialité votive dans les espaces de pèlerinage

Manoël Pénicaud () and Anne-Gaëlle Jolivot ()
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Manoël Pénicaud: IDEMEC - Institut d'ethnologie méditerranéenne, européenne et comparative - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Anne-Gaëlle Jolivot: LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]

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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: 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 we show that once used, certain votive objects-as vehicles for grace-can be reused, revealing an unexpected ritual reuse.

Keywords: Ethnography; pilgrimage; votive materiality; votive circulations; ritual reuse; food offering; baraka; sellers of change; Islam; Morocco; Turkey; Ethnography pilgrimage votive materiality votive circulations ritual reuse food offering baraka sellers of change Islam Morocco Turkey; Maroc; Turquie; Ethnographie; pèlerinage; matérialité votive; circulations votives; réutilisation rituelle; offrande de nourriture; recyclage votif (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-02-28
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://amu.hal.science/hal-04355357
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Published in Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 2023, 26 (2), pp.103-132. ⟨10.1108/QMR-05-2022-⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04355357

DOI: 10.1108/QMR-05-2022-

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