From Mass to Salida: A Semiotic Descent to The Chaotic Emotion at El Rocio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O02Zl_0BTzQ

The accompanying video sequences were recorded in my role as a participant observer at the Processional Pilgrimage of El Rocio (Roh-see-oh). The video itself traces what I am calling a "Semiotic Path" that starts within a ritual that displays a higher "Symbolic/Experience Ratio" within the spectrum of experience to representation in reference to the Ecstatic Experience. In this example the trace begins with the highly symbolic Catholic Mass, and "descends" into ritual layers characterized by an increase the the experiential elements and a corresponding decrease in the symbolic elements. The experiential ratio begins to increase within what I am calling the "Joyous Procession" on the way to El Rocio, and culminates in Salida ritual, an event that is often described as "Dionysian".