Ben Pearce: IPCC 1 Post 11

The Three Phases of Pilgrimage

(Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture)

A Post on Arnold van Gennep’s Theory

            Arnold van Gennep was a French folklorist in the early to mid-20^th Century. He created a theory that showed three different phases of pilgrimage: separation, limen or margin, and aggregation. The first phase is relatively simple. It is about how a pilgrim detaches himself from a culture and goes in seclusion on a quest for the Divine. This could be either physically or mentally. The goal is to escape from the “cultural conditions” that society sets up around us. This state can distract us from the spiritually infinite and can cause us to dry up as a sponge which no longer gets wet. In order to be sustained, all believers must take a physical or mental pilgrimage often, so as to be reminded of the pureness and infinity of our Lord. This could be likened to a fast done by Christians. The purpose in the fast is not in a reward after but is in the growth that occurs during it. In this way, we must all fast from the culture which can dry us out. Jesus modeled this often as he went into solitude to be in prayer alone with the Father.

            The second phase is limen or margin. This phase is about being in between the world and God. Gennep says this is when the pilgrim’s state becomes ambiguous. I disagree completely here. I think this is, in fact, where we are most classified and defined. Our characteristics are shielded from the cultural conditions and are no longer scaled from even our own eyes. When we fall deep with God in prayer, we are more true to who we are supposed to be as children of God then we ever could be when we are surrounded by the World. This is when our true selves come out and, as the servants that we truly are, praise the Almighty.

            The third phase the Gennep discusses is aggregation. This is when the pilgrimage has ceased. The pilgrim leaves their removal and once again immerses himself in cultural conditions. A physical pilgrimage may have ended, but once one becomes a believer in Christ, the mental and spiritual pilgrimage never ceases.