The Experience of Sacred Walk; Dual Spiritual-Mundane Meaning in the Experience of Mashhad's Walking Pilgrims Durring the Martyrdom Anniversary of Imam Reza (PBUH)

The main objective of this paper is to express the lived experience of the pilgrims who have chosen walking as a means to go on pilgrimage to holy Mashhad. Using qualitative method and semi-organized interviews with 17 pilgrims of the holy Shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), who experienced walking and using phenomenological analysis as well as Moustakas analysis method, four main themes emerged regarding the journey of the walking pilgrims which included formation of walking journey, spirituality, the walker body and intentionality of the journey that can illustrate the understanding of the walking pilgrims of the phenomenon of journey on foot.
The findings of the research indicate that the journey on foot takes shape on the basis of its spiritual and material aspects. The pilgrims, in order to enjoy the spiritual reward and considering the journey as a sacred act, take this long and hard journey which shows the spirituality aspect of the pilgrims in their journey on foot. Also, the pilgrims had different material, spiritual and socioeconomic intentions and incentives. Moreover, the holiness and spirituality existed in all pilgrimage experiences of the walking pilgrims: this commonality shows the social phenomena of the pilgrimage on foot. In contrast, the individual aspect of pilgrimage, related to its material aspects, include recovering of the sick people, enjoyment of the journey on foot, finding a job and shelter, walking with barefoot, etc.