As we journeyed to the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Slane, there was one figure that was in many of our heads: Saint Patrick. The British slave that became a missionary is an iconic figure of Christianity, and many people pilgrimage to visit the various sites where he was. As a group we briefly touched on the myths and mystery of St. Patrick and the truths of what he actually did. We not only touched on the mystery of St. Patrick but we also experienced the mystery behind the ancient site of the Hill of Tara. This idea of mystery as it relates to pilgrimage is one that stuck in my head throughout the rest of our day.
Mystery surrounds many figures that have come up through history. A major example was discussed in the Chaucer course that some of the students are taking with Dr. Friedman. We discussed the myth surrounding King Arthur and how this mystery enables various people/groups to shape that character how they please in order to benefit themselves. While discussing the mystery of St. Patrick and contemplating the concept of pilgrimage, I wondered if we, as pilgrims, are also susceptible to shaping figures to derive our own meanings from them. It seems that many have taken the figure of St. Patrick and shaped him into a model that is meaningful to them.
We see this happen often in the Christian setting with the Bible. We constantly see people manipulate scripture to fit their current circumstance and derive meaning from that. This leads me to thinking of how we are meant to interact with the pilgrimage sites we are visiting. Are we meant to create meaning from the mystery of the sites we are seeing or the people who are associated with them such as St. Patrick? Or are we merely meant to accept the mystery for what it is and leave it at that? These are the questions that students on England Semester are encouraged to engage with on a daily basis.
No comments:
Post a Comment