Literature/2004/Maniura


 * http://books.google.com/books?id=NxHFMa635QAC

Excerpts

 * For Turner, pilgrimage shares some of the characteristics of rites of passage where an individual passes through a 'liminal' state, characterized by few of the attributes of normal life, before being reintegrated into the social group. Pilgrimage is the 'great liminal experience' of Christian religious life. The pilgrim travels to a remote shrine leaving behind his or her structured social self and entering a state of 'antistructure', experiencing a commonness of feeling among structurally independent persons -- 'communitas'. The status of the holy place in this system is not fully elaborated and the pilgrim's fundamental motivation seems to be the achievement of this ideal community. Turner does, however, note that pilgrimage sites tend to be associated with miracles. They secure 'personal exposure to the beneficent unseen presence of the Blessed Virgin or the local saint, mediated through a cherished image', and exposure through which 'faith is strengthened and salvation better secure' -- indeed an expression of intrinsic holiness. This exposure to the holy seems to be part of the longed-for 'communitas', perhaps to be glossed in theological terms as a direct perception of participation in the Communion of Saints.

Chronology

 * Eade, J. & M. Sallnow (1991). Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage. London.
 * Eade, J. & M. Sallnow (1991). Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage. London.