[Gocamino] Rites of Passage

[Kathy Gower]

Greetings Eileen, et al,

I'm not an anthropologist, but have read both Geneep, Turner and several 
others who talk about the rites of passage process...and especially the 
re-entry phase.  Joseph Campbell, Phil Cosineau and others have written 
about what is not quite culture shock, but the dissorienting dilemma of 
returning to the same culture, only the traveler or pilgrim has changed.

Seven universal phases are spoken about:  the Longing, The Call, Departure, 
The Pilgrim's Way, The Labyrinth, The Arrival and Bringing Back the Boon.

Ultimately, what helped my own readjustment and consequent future steps was 
all you speak about, in addition to a old zen teaching series called the Ox 
Herder".  It is a circular series, with no step higher or more important 
than the others.  In it, the boy finds, tames and transcends the ox, losing 
it, finding it again and returns home to his source, the same boy, but with 
new understandings of losing and finding onesself.

What awonderful thing pilgrimage is!  arduous and abundant I've heard it 
called....




From: "Eileen Hamer" <ehamer at earthlink.net>
Reply-To: ehamer at earthlink.net
To: "Gocamino" <gocamino at oakapple.net>
Subject: [Gocamino] Rites of Passage
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 07:29:41 -0500

There seeems to be a flod of Camino books coming out, but for those who want 
to go a bit more deeply into the experience, perhaps an old one would be 
helpful.

Arnold Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage, 1909, formulated his theory of the 
form and attributes of rites of passage--the way we change.  He shows that 
all rites of passage have three stages: separation, limen, and aggregation.

Separation is pretty clear: we leave all we know, all customs, obligations, 
ways of thinking, comforts, responsibilities, our fixed point in our social 
structure.  For us today, this is crucial.  The more of our life we bring 
with us on the Camino--calls home, GPS, etc., the less the Camino  can have 
its way with us.

Limen is the stage of the unknown.  We are cut off from home, in a strange 
land, strange customs, not knowing where we will eat or sleep--a free state, 
where old habits and expectations can no longer define our actions, an 
ambiguous place, having few attributes of our 'normal' state.  We are 
vulnerable, but like children, able to find new answers to our problems.

Aggregation: perhaps the most disconcerting to modern pilgrims.  This is the 
stage where we come home, back to our 'normal' lives, and don't quite fit.  
Because we are changed by the new experiences and possiblities of the 
Camino.

Victor Turner has written about pilgrimage in several books, expanding on 
Van Gennep's seminal work in relation to pilgrimage.

These are not easy books; they were written for anthropologists and academic 
audiences, but have been enlightening to me and perhaps to you.  Having some 
sense of the pilgrimage process helps me to do what I can to facilitate 
it--I'm leaving my life at home at home as much as possible, taking with me 
only the barest necessities, and will try to have as few expectations as 
possible (except those of getting there and flying home eventually).  
Liminality is a difficult stage (other liminal times are adolescence and, to 
a lesser extent, moving).  Expect the unexpected--aches and pains, insults, 
anger, hunger, boredom--as well as the good stuff--a new friend, sunrises, 
new insights, hot shower after a horrible, painful day, wine, a really clean 
shirt, silence.   Let my values get readjusted.  And be prepared for the 
shock of reentry.



Eileen Hamer
ehamer at earthlink.net
EarthLink Revolves Around You.
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