Alexa Botha (Image and Pilgrimage #2)

"Pilgrimage systems are more "liminoid" than "liminal"- I would like to address this quote since I find the entire topic of liminality so fascinating. In this passage the authors go on to classify what exactly pilgrimage is, stating that instead of being a structured process or the mid-stage of a religious routine so to say, they are more optional and open. Pilgrimage is something that lacks the rubric and structure of something a little more tribal but instead flows and ebbs with the mood and movement of the pilgrim. I really find this fascinating as well as lovely. What I keep coming across is that pilgrimage lacks structure and is something that is chosen to do in ones free time. When this mood shifts to something more enforced and "corrupt", through politics or whatever it may be then it becomes more liminal, with the stress on relics and appearance and the routine of the entire thing. This is something I feel strongly about because I really don't think such spiritual aspects of life should have any sort of pressure attached to them. If  a person wants to go worship at church then I think they should be able to wear what ever it that they want to without being judged, in the end everyone is there for the same reason and in stead of passing judgement, a feeling of communitas should be felt instead.

Turner, Victor W., and Edith L. B. Turner. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978.