Steven Chung: Image and Pilgrimage #3

Victor Turner and Edith Turner talk about the four main classifications of pilgrimages in the book, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture.  The four main types are: prototypical pilgrimages, archaic pilgrimages, medieval pilgrimages, and modern pilgrimages.

Prototypical pilgrimages are those which have been established by founders of historical religions, its first disciples, or a significant figure of the religion.  These pilgrimages heavily manifest the orthodox traditions of the faith from which they have originated from, and remain consistent with its root paradigms (Turner 18).  A christian who embarks on a spiritual journey to Jerusalem or Rome, or a muslim who completes the pilgrimage to Mecca exemplifies a prototypical pilgrimage.

Next, archaic pilgrimages are those which have formed from the integration and syncretism with older religious beliefs and symbols (18).  Examples of this type of pilgrimage are Croagh Patrick in the west of Irelan; Chalma in Mexico, with its evident Ocuiltean and Aztec embellishments (18).  I personally do not have a strong understanding of this type of pilgrimage.  I do not have any knowledge of the examples of this pilgrimage that the book provided.  The book states that archaic pilgrimages are ambiguous and syncretic; I wish that the authors would provide a more in-depth description and explain the "syncretism."

Medieval pilgrimages are those which have originated in the European Middle Ages, roughly from 500-1400 A.D., and take their tone from the theological and philosophical emphases of that time period.  These are many of the pilgrimages well known in the popular and literary traditions of the Christian world (18).  Canterbury and Walsingham in England, Compostela in Spain, Chartres in France, Loreto and Assisi in Italy are all examples of this type of pilgrimage.  From reading the passage in the book, I can infer that these pilgrimages have a strong cultural and historical richness.

The last category of pilgrimages, the modern pilgrimage, is a little difficult for me to grasp its full description.  It is stated in the book that this pilgrimage has experienced steady growth particularly in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Modern pilgrimages seem to emphasize the mass technological and scientific culture which has been involved in the late post-Tridentine pilgrimages.  However it states in the book that "these pilgrimages are actually antimodern, since usually begin with an apparition, or vision, and they assert that miracles do happen" (19).  I thought the explanation the authors provided for this type of pilgrimage was unclear and a bit confusing.  It would be nice if they explained it in simpler terms so that I could understand it better.