Leila Barber- Turner + Communitas

I think pilgrimages are a very unique thing. There are certain people that have an inner yearning to dive into such an adventure. Those who follow through with it, I believe, reenter normal life with new perspectives and a different mindset. Throwing yourself into an unknown adventure and living in ways unimaginable is definitely surreal. I think communitas plays a major role in pilgrimage. The communitas that is continuously formed on journeys like these says a lot about how people function. It is human nature to need to unite with others, share things with each other and essentially just be there for one another. Communitas is defined as ‘a relational quality of full unmediated communication, even communion, between definite and determinate identities, which arises spontaneously in all kinds of groups, situations, and circumstances’ by Turner. This is putting a name and definition on human instinct. Although it is usually spontaneous, it is nonetheless, predestined. If a group of people are put together with the same general intentions and goals, a bond will be created and relationships will form. People strive on communication, whether that be between other people, nature, animals or a higher power, we have to branch out of ourself and interact with other forms. I think communitas is a prime example of human instinct bonding with others that share the same interests and are on the same journey.