مجلة الاربعين المحكمة
This article examines the Arbaeen pilgrimage through the lens of sensory anthropology, highlighting how sensory perception—particularly taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing—plays a central role in shaping the embodied religious experience of pilgrims. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with pilgrims and service volunteers (khādimīn) in Iraq, the study investigates how ritual food functions not only as nourishment but as a powerful medium of spiritual, social, and cultural significance. Through a multisensory approach, this research shows that the sacred is not only represented in religious texts and spaces but also felt, smelled, tasted, and heard in everyday ritual practices. The article argues that the preparation, offering, and consumption of votive food is a central ritual act that mediates intersubjective connections among participants, rooted in deeply held beliefs about divine presence, intercession, and sacred reciprocity. Sensory modalities become symbolic carriers of memory, meaning, and identity, rendering the pilgrimage a site of both spiritual intensification and social cohesion. The analysis is grounded in theoretical contributions from David Howes, Constance Classen, Sarah Pink, and Éric Landowski, providing a robust interdisciplinary framework to understand how religious experiences are embodied, mediated, and communicated through the senses.