The vow

A sea of bodies climbing up Mt. Gishen, a pilgrimage site of national scale every September in northwestern Ethiopia. Travelers greet this holy place wrapped in white cotton shawls, a physical enshrinement of purity and an orientation of reverence and devoted anticipation, approaching a space and time that cleanses the body and spirit. Though methods of journey have changed dramatically, a location previously only accessible by mule, modern innovations have not erased the difficulties of this spiritual undertaking. The negotiation of core traditions as they have been adhered to for centuries with the realities of everyday is the subject of this ethnographic project on the devotional culture of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. From lone pilgrims who deliberately travel by foot or caravans of minibuses that encounter life-threatening terrain, people are initiating and fulfilling vows, interceding for a promising future while instilling in themselves the fortitude to withstand its uncertainty.