Spiritual Tourism (continued)
Text and panoramic photos by Bill Jorden

Since the early 1990s, I have deepened this exploration to examine a contrasting phenomenon: people who seek a spiritual re-connection with nature. These new journeys have taken me to Haleakala, the world's largest inactive volcanic crater on Maui, and the Indian Himalayas. In both areas, nature starts to assume redemptive qualities. The woman standing in wonder under the perfect ark of a rainbow seems more in scale with natural abundance. The horseback riders disappearing into the volcanic mist evoke a 19th-century reverential exploration -- even if they are outfitted in '90s parkas. Except for a jeep in the road, the misty forest scene could be a purer landscape from another era.

This redemptive quality is also reflected in the India photographs where Biblical-like scenes suggest an older spirituality, and closeness to nature. The Rajasthani women pilgrims' action in drying their clothing could represent a metaphor for dying the cloth of material life to hold fast transcendental qualities. The Sanyasi returning from his sacred bathing in the icy source of the Ganges projects a deeper spiritual cleansing. The frieze of pilgrim/tourists posing next to a drum-beating Sadhu in front of the Shiva temple strangely blends the secular and spiritual.