Faith, recreation and tourism: the pilgrim of Santa Maria de la Asuncion Tepexoyuca, Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico

This work has the aim of analyzing the social ethos of pilgrims of the Santa Maria de la Asuncion Tepexoyuca village, in particular their yearly pilgrimage to the Senor de Chalma sanctuary in the State of Mexico, to comprehend it ' s subjective meaning and it's connection to touristic and recreational activities. Based on Schutz's sociological phenomenology and on the concept of ethos of Lalive, the meaning of participating in the pilgrimage is reviewed. A qualitative research method was applied through in depth interviews whose outcome was interpreted with a content analysis model. The results allowed the identification of two ethos types of the pilgrims; one traditional type that was termed inflexible, and a second innovative one, termed flexible that represents a recreational structured attitude towards the ritual.