Redick: Transactionality and its absence in pilgrimage

What is transactionality and why do we find it absent on pilgrimages? Transactionality, stems from the thought of transactionism, "Transactionalism is a philosophical approach within pragmatism where inquiry replaces traditional notions of truth. It focuses on what is happening in the constant push-and-pull between people and their ecologies" and therefore it is a school of thought where interaction is trade, something must be exchanged in order for any interaction to occur. 

Transactionality is present in almost all of our everyday lives. whether you can recognize it or not. In your interactions in stores or marketplaces, yes, literal economic interactions do occur, but even outside of economics, there is trade. When meeting a stranger, names are exchanged, when interacting with other people, favors are traded, ideas are traded, time is given, things are desired of an interaction, and actions undertaken for the sake of some reward, be it spiritual or social or some other method. This may change however, when one meets a traveler or finds themselves so.

In his wanderings, Dr. Redick found that people had interesting reactions to pilgrims. He notes that "People believe there is a spiritual commerce which happens on the journey/pilgrimage between the people who live there and the pilgrims, or with spiritual merit earned with god". An idea which both applies and removes transactionality from interactions with pilgrims. In the saying, the pilgrim participates in a transaction with the divine, seeking something from god for their trials. It also says that they participate in commerce with the people in the lands they travel, but not in an economic sense, they exchange in spiritual elements. This is a semi-nebulus idea, but I believe that the spiritual exchange comes from the sharing of wholeness, giving and receiving in the additional connection which comes from the sharing of life with another person, so the transaction come from emotional togetherness, rather than more solid ideas or goods.

The pilgrims tread a fine line, of which they sway back and forth upon often. They seek to be the wanderer in the liminal space of someone else's world, the stranger in the unfamiliar. They seek to journey for to journey, not to buy or be tourist. But as they as beings present in a world that requires the continuation of their body, i.e. not starving to death, they find themselves not pilgrim, but customer, tourist. This changes depending on where they are and for what they seek or by whom they come across, but it does show how ingrained transactionality is, even our physicality comes to rely upon it.

"Absolute hospitality calls for the acceptance of the foreigner, stranger, and unknown, without asking of those who accept the hospitality, and true hospitality disappears if anything is asked of them, even their names. in receiving a gift, even saying than you is the exchange of something in return for the gift, so even the kindness of being kind to someone becomes transactional in our culture." an idea which further illuminates the definition of transactionality and further confounds the issue. For hospitality to exist in its truest form, then our societally ingrained transactional natures must be entirely absent. Names, lives, favors, ideas, none of those must be communicated or shared for true, absolute hospitality to work. For people who live along these paths, along the trails and caminos, they must see many strangers in their time. Does the nature of the near permanent population of strangers allow for the unknown to in some way become normal, known, or even just ignorable? There exists many out there who the answer would seem to be yes. Dr. Redick spoke at length about people he met on some of the trails who participated in the production of "trail magics", the little blessings which create some impact along a journey. One in particular that Dr. Redick mentioned, and one which I am inclined to speak about, are the men along the Appalachian trail which had set up something which looked like a barbeque and were offering lobster, burgers, and buttered corn to all the passing hikers. Food, one of the most common, if not the most common thing to pass between people in a transaction, for free. Not even common food, they were giving away good food, food that is expensive to obtain and not easy to prepare. They were taking great lengths and great pains to provide people with something beautiful, for which they would receive nothing in return but words of thanks at most from the pilgrims. 

The experience was one of "escaping from the transactional", and I think it contrasts well against a similar story that happened on the other side of the world, wherein Dr. Redick came upon a house and a rooster, and after being summoned by the old woman of the home, was coerced into paying for trail magics in the form of sugared crepes, robbing them of their magic. This instance of the breaking of that bond between pilgrim and stranger which exists in a wordless and most meaningful context of sharing and kindness without the burden of transaction was enough to bother and weigh upon him until he ended up in a church and was provided with a poem which so perfectly fit the scenario that it drew him back to the path.

The absence of transactionality on these pilgrimages is what makes these travels the way they are. In the presence of transactionality, magic dies, in its presence, challenges other than the trail arise, in it presence, people are treated for their "value" and not for their inherent nature as people, but in its absence, the pilgrim is free.

Notes

humans have transactional relationship with god often

People believe there is a spiritual commerce which happens on the journey/pilgrimage between the people who live there and the pillgirms, or with spiritual merit earned with god

Reddick believes there is relational realtionships instead of transactional relationships on the trails, he will speak of the AT and the camino de santiago

on el camino, he starts in galethia and tells the rooster story with the lady and the crepes, thinking how the lady must be trying to bless them along their pilgrimage. Then he realized she wanted them to pay for the crepes, he was confused as he expected them to be free, one of the "trail magiks" and he grabbed some coins from his pack which were all he had, and she told him it was not enough, and it was all he had, then she as mad at him and stompped away when he couldnt pay, so he felt bad for a long hile on the trail, a weight upon his shoulders and his mind wrestled with the idea of having done wrong for the gift he recieved. He went to a church in town to try to get some consolation and recieved a poem which seemed to directly address his situation and it helped to relieve him of his worries (you have a pic of it, go read it for more understanding). He had been treated as a tourist, not a pilgrim and he had hurt from that, but that poem helped him to start thinking about that difference and he began writing about those differences.

He made a chart too which helps to understand his thoughts on the matter with some ideas held in their 

those who identify as pilgrims find themselves steping alongside the unfamiliar and among those who live there, and tourists are customers in those lands, and they slip back and forth between each other.

Relational realtions (nobody in control, free exchange) exist outside of the marketplace, but the pilgrim may also interact in the marketplace and its transactional relations (exchange of things and thought of in value, a party is in control). Liminal transactions exist and happen along caminos as they compete for "market share". Hospital de orbiga has a medieval festival he likes, but he ended up not getting to it as the directions to it had been covered over to try and get other people to go to their albergues instead. It orks well as the pilgrims are not paying too much attention to the signs. They try to buy the time and favor by calling the pilgrims aay from the other albergues.

Absolute hospitality calls for the acceptance of the foreigner, stranger, and unknown, without asking of those who accept the hospitality, and true hospitality disappears if anything is asked of them, even their names. in receiving a gift, even saying than you is the exchange of something in return for the gift, so even the kindness of being kind to someone becomes transactional in our culture. 

David's place is a rustic cafe between santa benez de iglesea and astorga, about 20km, his cafe is led to by hearts and is called the house of the gods/house of gods and it offers stamps for the passage slip of the camino. He had a barn which he turned into a mediation garden. (david hasslehof of spain, from baywatch, he likes hugs and he sells tea and organic food, and he keeps peanut butter to share with the pilgrims who come on the trail) what i gave I have, what I spent I had, what I kept I lost, important idea.

David is an example of absolute hospitality, he gave freely, the cafe is a liminal space, he offers everything gratis and while he has a donation box he doesn't care to mention it or know if you give/how much you give. 

trucken and soul slosher were walking with redick on the AT and ere offered a good lunch. He was at a brewery and as offered a spot in the yard of some lady ith cupcakes and a room. He was offered beer and a room in some moments of trail magics, and by recognizng them as the trail magic, freely given/without condition let them exist outside of the marketplace, as they traded only their trail names to her (and apparently nomme de guerre dont count). Some guys out there made burgers, lobster, and buttered corn for the pilgrims and they too are without the market place and commit to relational relations, escaping the transactional.