[Gocamino] Rites of Passage

[Sue Kenney]

Eileen and others,

Thank you for sharing this. I am very intrigued by the process you've 
described. A few years ago I did my own study on liminality. Being in a 
liminal moment which was described as the point where an actor is behind the 
curtain and it's the moment just before she/he enters the stage. Although I 
hadn't been on stage as an actor since I was a child, I have had many 
liminal moments in my life and could relate to this example. When I returned 
from my first Camino, it took at least a year to feel somewhat normal as the 
person I had walked back to...and possibly longer.

On my second Camino, I walked the path in both directions (from Valenca, 
Portugal to Finnestera and back to Valenca). My own experience was that the 
return route back to my starting point, gave me the chance to assimilate the 
experiences of my journey as a mirror reflection; essentially I retraced my 
steps in an objective state.  This allowed me to "agregate" to some degree 
back into my normal life, while still on the Camino. I found it much easier 
to integrate the journey and it's profound lessons by walking in both 
directions.

Love and light,
Sue
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eileen Hamer" <ehamer at earthlink.net>
To: "Gocamino" <gocamino at oakapple.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 8:29 AM
Subject: [Gocamino] Rites of Passage


> 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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