People go on pilgrimages for a plethora of personal, internal reasons. However, as Turner explains through out this chapter, a huge reason people do is because “the journey itself is something of a penance”. Pilgrimage is a way one shows that they are willing to sacrifice. Journeys can be long and sometimes very hazardous to a person, however, the fact that one still goes shows that they are willing to be put in danger. It seems to be a way of cleansing for a person, as well. “On such a journey one gets away from the reiterated ‘occasions of sin’ which make up so much of the human experience of social structure”. People develop a lot of guilt and sorrow from this world, and when they can’t take it any longer, they pilgrimage, run to nature, to cleanse themselves. Through their pilgrimage, “a pilgrim is an initiand, entering into a new, deeper level of existence than he has known in his accustomed milieu”.
I agree with this view of pilgrimage. I think that it is such an important aspect of ones beliefs. Going into nature, and traveling miles and miles away from your home to show appreciation to your god and creator is powerful.
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