We talked about this a couple of classes ago but I found this to be an interesting and difficult pilgrimage to understand all at the same time. We had talked about all of these different pilgrimages and how men and women had the same opportunities and then we start read about a pilgrimage that is just for women. It makes me wonder if there is a pilgrimage out there for just men. After learning about all the pilgrimages we have learned about, I would guess there probably is.
After talking about this pilgrimage in class I have a little better understanding of it. I understand now that this pilgrimage is a way of healing for the pilgrim. Some people think of it as going on a tour somewhere. In the article we had to read for it it said, “a tourist is half a pilgrim, if a pilgrim is a tourist.” Which to me means that going on this pilgrimage, being a tourist in this kind of pilgrimage goes along with being a pilgrim.
The last thing about this type of pilgrimage is that although this type of pilgrimage might not be like all the other pilgrimages we have studied, it still follows Turner, Durkheim, and Eliade’s models in a few ways. With Turner, it focuses a lot on communitas, with Durkheim it focuses with the things that are off limits or the taboos, and with Eliade it focuses on that sacred space. The Goddess Pilgrimage was interesting to learn about for me because it wasn’t like the other pilgrimages we had learned about.