Cusco, Peru
20 January 2010
A couple of posts back I wrote about a pilgrimage to a high elevation glacier in the Andes of Peru to gather snow. Quite by coincidence, a book I brought with me to read while visiting various sites in and near Cusco, including Manchu Picchu, contains a personal story of participation in the arduous and difficult to understand (for those of us mostly familiar with European traditions) pilgrimage.
The book is Hugh Tomson, 2006. A Sacred Landscape: The Search for Ancient Peru. Woodstock and New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 13-978-1-59020-058-2, and the description of the pilgrimage is a chapter A Parliament of Bears: Qoyllurit´i, pp. 232-271.
Qoyllurití (your guess at pronunciation is as good as mine) is celebrated every year after Trinity Sunday in June and entails a climb, at rates far faster than high altitude medicine would recommend, to a glacier over 6,000 m high about 100 km from Cusco. Thousands participate every year in rituals that combine Roman Catholic elements, and the pilgrimage is sanctioned by the church, with ones clearly very much older. If I should teach another course on pilgrimage, I most certainly will include discussion of this one. Meanwhile I recommend the Tomson book both for the chapter and more generally for its overview of archaeological and anthropological finds in Peru.
This began as a blog on the general topic of pilgrimage with postings including examples of pilgrimages, photos and musings on various matters related to that topic. It was abandoned in 2012. I am now Reviving it after abandoning tumblr. From January 2019 it will be more general with coverage of thoughts and travels, though pilgrimage will remain an important element.
20 January, 2010
18 January, 2010
Santiago in Peru
Cusco, Peru
18 January 2010
Once again I am writing for an undefined audience, but I have been pleased to discover that both pilgrimages and my favorite saint Santiago (St. James the major) are well represented in Peru. Santiago is the patron saint of the city and region of Cusco. A statue of Santiago dominates one of the three chapels in the city´s cathedral, though in a guise I do not favor ¨Santiago Mataindios¨ a variant of the more common Santiago Matamoros.
Yesterday on a visit to the spectacular Inca site at Ollantaytambo, we discovered that the parsh church there is named for Santiago as well. When I return to the US and have a little time for investigation of the topic, I shall have more intelligent (I hope) commentary to make on the topics of pilgrimages in Peru and the role of Santiago in Peru.
18 January 2010
Once again I am writing for an undefined audience, but I have been pleased to discover that both pilgrimages and my favorite saint Santiago (St. James the major) are well represented in Peru. Santiago is the patron saint of the city and region of Cusco. A statue of Santiago dominates one of the three chapels in the city´s cathedral, though in a guise I do not favor ¨Santiago Mataindios¨ a variant of the more common Santiago Matamoros.
Yesterday on a visit to the spectacular Inca site at Ollantaytambo, we discovered that the parsh church there is named for Santiago as well. When I return to the US and have a little time for investigation of the topic, I shall have more intelligent (I hope) commentary to make on the topics of pilgrimages in Peru and the role of Santiago in Peru.
14 January, 2010
Pilgrimages in Peru
Cusco, Peru
14 January 2010
I am not certain who I am writing this for as our class has ended, but having spent a couple of weeks in Peru, I have discovered yet another set of fascinating pilgrimages, Christian and non-Christian (Semi-Christian?). One, centered on dates near my birthday as it happens, involves sending pilgrims, inadequately clothed and equipped, to elevations above 6,000 meters to get sacks of snow which are then delivered to the Plaza de Armas here in Cusco. Others involve more traditional and less arduous and dangerous treks. When I return to ole virginny I must do some research and post some pictures!
14 January 2010
I am not certain who I am writing this for as our class has ended, but having spent a couple of weeks in Peru, I have discovered yet another set of fascinating pilgrimages, Christian and non-Christian (Semi-Christian?). One, centered on dates near my birthday as it happens, involves sending pilgrims, inadequately clothed and equipped, to elevations above 6,000 meters to get sacks of snow which are then delivered to the Plaza de Armas here in Cusco. Others involve more traditional and less arduous and dangerous treks. When I return to ole virginny I must do some research and post some pictures!
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