Monday, April 30, 2007

Travel: The metaphysical approach

A truly fascinating insight into a growing corner of the tourism industry which, thanks partly to the draw of the Great Pyramid, is taking off in Egypt:
"Ms. Billger had everyone lie down. 'When ye have released the self from the body, rise to the outermost bounds of your earth-plane,' she intoned, 'and speak ye the word Dor-E-Lil-La.'
'Dor-E-Lil-La,' the bodies replied.
This was not a cult; the participants had met only two days before. They were in Egypt on a package tour.
New Age-style sacred travel, or metaphysical touring, is a growing branch of tourism, particularly in countries like Egypt with strong ancient-civilization pedigrees. Tourists with an adventuresome spiritual focus — predominantly middle-aged, upper middle class and female — come together to improve themselves and the world, as Ms. Billger’s group intended. Their ideas are best understood as an extreme on the continuum that includes yoga, tarot and astrology, and the rituals they perform at sites deemed sacred can vary widely."
See the above page for a detailed overview.

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