Sydney Grogan - Reading Reflection 3 - Entry 10

Image & Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, reflection from pages 1-39


This first section of the book is very informative. It discusses what pilgrimages are, the different cultural & spiritual reasons as to why people take them, & some types of pilgrimages that are specific to certain religious practicing groups. And, if I'm being completely honest, I also learned pretty quickly that pilgrimage has ONE 'm'... not two... I always spelled it as 'pilgrimmage'...

Anyhow, there was one thing Turner discussed that opened my mind. It was about how each pilgrimage is different in its own way, & how it each one has its own goals for development, or 'entelechy' was the word she used. This means that each different pilgrimage in existence has its own personal twist to it, even if there are similarities between them & others. 

I always have looked for the similarities when learning about different religions or pilgrimages, so it was refreshing & mind opening for me to think of them as separate, & unique. Though a lot of comparisons can be made, it is important to remember that each pilgrimage is significant to its own culture & religion for different & unique reasons. This is what keeps pilgrimages sacred & special.


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