Early on in the text, page fifteen
to be specific, I came across an interesting idea which I felt I had to
discuss. This it they idea that pilgrims
after they complete this fantastic awe inspiring journey of reinvention and
religious piety they must return to the mundane existence that they had once
occupied. Well this is only partly true,
in many cultures when a person returns from a pilgrimage they are no longer the
normal person that they were and are viewed by the community as having a
greater understanding of all things religious.
I find this interesting because the book then goes on to say that it doesn’t
necessarily grant any advancement socio-economically; there are no shifts in
position within society. In fact many times people may lose some status or position
in their absence. I think this speaks to
the power of pilgrimage and religion that it could draw people away to set out
for the sole purpose of understanding and knowledge knowing that they stood to
lose a great deal in the time that they were gone, which could be considerable
in the case of El Camino Santiago del Compostela which runs nearly 500 miles
which would have taken a great deal of time.
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