ANTB66H3 Lecture 4: ANTB66 Lecture IV
ANTB66H3 - Spiritual Paths: A
Comparative Anthropology of
Pilgrimage IV: Ritual at Sacred
Centers Part Two
17 MAY 2018 / 12:00 PM / ROOM MW170
Dr. Dean Young
Office hours: 2:00-3:00, MW282
LECTURE 4 - Ritual at Sacred Center
Last class ended with a discussion concerning the need that pilgrimage studies
in Anthropology be both diachronic (attuned to history) and synchronic
(attuned to the ethnographic moment)
We considered what that might look like by looking at Welsingham as a
Pilgrimage site
According to the Turners:
●Each type of pilgrimage influences all the others, so a single
pilgrimage system absorbs the others
●At Welsingham this was very evident as the pilgrimage site had a long
and varied history (archaeological layers)
The Turners also drew attention to Dialectical Tensions in Pilgrimage
●Visionary (Eliade & Chaos - coming out of Chaos) to routinization
●Anti-structure to structure
●Communitas (oneness) to Hierarchy (entrenchment)
●These dialectical dimensions are embedded in the history of pilgrimage
sites
●Dialectical: Struggle
- Achippe’s novel: A tortoise on a path in the Tundra and meets a leopard.
The leopard says that the tortoise is at the end of his days. The
tortoise say says “what” and kicks its legs on the ground in multiple
directions. When asked what he’s doing, the tortoise says: When people
pass by this road after I’m gone, I want people to know that there was a
struggle: fighting for supremacy.
Two Ethnographic Studies of Christian Pilgrimage
●One Roman Catholic
- Les Santes Maries De-La-Mer in France (Ellen Badone)
●One Eastern Orthodox
- Progressions of Holy Icons in Moscow
Both papers illustrate within secular historical realities.
Historical Context
●Both essays carefully chart the historical character of pilgrimage sites
●Both also are attentive to dialects. That is, struggles over meaning and
procedure, often between the laity and priestly orders.
●Both are richly ethnographic, painting a complex picture of various
types of pilgrims, religious beliefs, and secular influences.
- Deeply layered and brings a lot of texture
Pilgrimage, tourism, and
The Da Vinci Code
at Les Santes maries
De-La-Mer in France - Ellen badone
●Badone writes:
- She’s going to explore Ethnography of a particular pilgrimage sites as a
“busy intersection” (p.23) found on the Mediterranean coast of France
The Myth / Religious Belief
●According to Provencal oral tradition, several of Christ’s early
disciples arrived at this spot in 42 AD, after fleeing persecution in
Palestine
●Their dark hued servant Saraj
●In addition to
●Early Christian city
●According to the Book of Mark, the first Christian gospel. These women
bore witness to the resurrection of Christ, and are the earliest Church
witnesses
●Linked to the origins of Christianity
●Bought the gospel to Europe
●In Medieval times the bones to the two Maries were excavated, and the
relics housed in the local church
●Their dark hued servant Sarah is also buried at the site - but here is
no mention of her prior to 1521
●St. Sarah became the patron Saint of the Romany people (define) and in
the 19th century became the center of the annual Romany Pilgrimage.
Annual Religious Event (May 18th - May 24th)
●Event governed by the Catholic Chaplaincy for Travelling people
●Prayer Vigils
●Hymns
●Sermons
●Testimonials
- People gather
(May 23rd - May 24th)
●Romany dress the Statue of Saint of Saint Sarah
●Morning Mass
●Reliquary of St. Maries lowered to rest on the altar-pilgrims reach up
to touch the casket with lighted tapers
●Statue of Saint Sarah brought from the crypt and carried by the Romany
men through the town to the sea
●After the 3rd day, Guardians from the town follow on white horses
●Now instead of the normally, public figures and local and visiting
pilgrims follow the progression singing, and tourists jostle around them
●THe pilgrims enter the sea, making sure St.
●The following day, the St. Maries in their both make the same journey
Document Summary
Centers part t(cid:420)o (cid:464)(cid:470) may (cid:465)(cid:463)(cid:464)(cid:471) / (cid:464)(cid:465):(cid:463)(cid:463) pm / room mw(cid:464)(cid:470)(cid:463) Last class ended with a discussion concerning the need that pilgrimage studies in anthropology be both diachronic (cid:513)attuned to history(cid:514) and synchronic (cid:513)attuned to the ethnographic moment(cid:514) We considered what that might look like by looking at welsingham as a. Each type of pilgrimage influences all the others, so a single pilgrimage system absorbs the others. At welsingham this was very evident as the pilgrimage site had a long and varied history (cid:513)archaeological layers(cid:514) The turners also drew attention to dialectical tensions in pilgrimage. Visionary (cid:513)eliade & chaos - coming out of chaos(cid:514) to routinization. These dialectical dimensions are embedded in the history of pilgrimage sites. Achippe(cid:495)s novel(cid:485) a tortoise on a path in the tundra and meets a leopard. The leopard says that the tortoise is at the end of his days. The tortoise say says (cid:496)what(cid:497) and kicks its legs on the ground in multiple directions.
