The Jerusalem Syndrome – Part 1

Men and women with the so-called Jerusalem Syndrome, a mental illness that a surface in this city as mystical delirium of Easter comes the pilgrimage season reaches its peak.

You see them dressed in white, walking through the Old City of Jerusalem, or at odd hours praying at the Wailing Wall. Some believe they are the Messiah, other San Juan Bautista.
 

The Old City of Jerusalem these days becomes an almost unbroken procession of faithful landed from half the world. Smell and touch the biblical sites, pray, sing and buy souvenirs, religious holy water bottled and crowns of thorns are among the favourites.
In short, live intensely spiritual experience that Jerusalem offers to Christians, Jews and Muslims. Only this month, some 300,000 tourists travel to Israel, most of them pilgrims, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism. Are some of these pilgrims
who end overwhelmed by the intensity of the experience and eventually admitted to the psychiatric hospital?

"Pilgrims come here to learn the geography of the biblical sites. They want to know the mount of Olives, Bethlehem, and Golgotha ??… When they see with their own eyes is when you begin to identify with biblical characters. I have seen people who think
King David and begins to play the harp. Occasional Messiah … "says Uri Sharon, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and has guided pilgrims over many years.

To be continued… 

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Posted by Fouad Ashraf on Apr 9 2012. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry