The Queue - is it a micro pilgrimage?
First of all, what is a pilgrimage?
Pilgrimage - Wikipedia defines it as "...a journey, often into a unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life." We know that people are joining the queue to see the coffin of the Queen for many reasons and some have come from other countries.
The Queue or #thequeue is a temporary pilgrimage of between 6.9 miles between Southwark Park and Westminster Hall with a three mile zig-zagging park in the park. The location of importance in the hall is the body of Queen Elizabeth the Second.
It is interesting to note that the author of a paper "Pilgrims or Tourists", the Christian Priest Frank Fahey states that "a pilgrim is always in danger of becoming a tourist" and vice versa. He identifies that the element of community pilgrimage is open to all with the potential for tourists being friends, family or a chosen interest group. The chosen interest group is, in the case of #thequeue, is those wishing to pay their respects to the late Queen.
It was interesting to read that some celebrities were thought to queue jump whilst others waited patiently. The VIP queue rapidly reduces the relevance of a pilgrimage. This has now addressed by ITV.
Pilgrimages are thought to include some pain as part of the expanding meaning of their self and others. #thequeue participants have certainly complained of the cold (if queuing at night), cramp, aching calves and thighs. The participants of another pilgrimage, the Way of St. James at Santiago del Compostela Cathedral in Spain, certainly complain of the sores and blisters on their feet. The Canterbury pilgrims from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales may also have had some pilgrimage-based injuries from either walking or riding horses.
Why am I suggesting that #thequeue is a micro pilgrimage? It is a short pilgrimage with a maximum of twenty four hours to walk the 10 miles. It is a temporary pilgrimage, it closes at 06:30 on Monday the 19th of September. But I do think it is a pilgrimage as the people in #thequeue are on a journey (for some into a foreign and unknown place especially if they are a tourist) and will, no doubt, find some meaning about themselves and others.
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