The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimmage to what is believed to be the bones of St. James, in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. There are many roads that lead there, the one that I have walked is known as the Camino Francés, it crosses the Pyrenees between Saint-Jean-Pied-a-Port in France to Roncesvalles in Spain. In my two previous trips, I started in Roncesvalles, and while I would very much like to start in France on this trip, I also recognize the danger of crossing the Pyrenees alone in winter, with limited daylight, unpredictable weather, so I'll probably start in Roncesvalles or even Pamplona if the weather is bad.
Traditionally, pilgrims (peregrinos) would start walking from where they lived, and there are many paths across Europe to Spain. In the past, most pilgrims travelled for religious reasons, to pay penance and/or to receive time off purgatory for making the trek, and during Holy years, when the Feast of Saint James (July 25) falls on a Sunday, full time off of purgatory. There were also criminals who were sentenced to walk the Camino, and people who were paid to walk the Camino in place of a wealthy patron, as well as servants. Today, pilgrims walk for holiday, spiritual and/or religious reasons, exercise, to experience the Camino because they've read or heard about other pilgrims' stories, or because they've come to a turning point in their lives among many.
I had read Paulo Coelho's book "The Pilgrimage" at some point in the mid-90's and held onto the idea as a dream trip, talking to everyone I met about how I was going to go there someday. Then, in 2004, when I was looking for ideas of vacations, I was reminded that I needed to do this trek, and then a date popped into my head (May 25, 2005, I believe) and so I began planning to go. I saved up a lot of vacation hours, and work was slow, so I was granted a leave of absence, and in late May of 2005 I found myself flying to Madrid with little more than a guidebook and a very limited use of Spanish. It was hot, crowded, I got tendonitis, sprained both ankles, got heat exhaustion (at the end of the trip, no less, and missed my return flight), met lovely, kind people, saw so many beautiful places one would not encounter otherwise, lost my spiritual sense of God and found God in the mundane details of life. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I didn't really have any plans of doing it again. Yet here I am, less than 4 years later, about to embark for the 3rd time. Each trip I feel more trepidation, before I left on the first trip, I only briefly felt any fear, and it was the afternoon before I left.
I think I understand my reasons for the 1rst and 3rd trips. My second Camino remains a bit of a mystery to me still, more on that later.
Peace, Isabel
Traditionally, pilgrims (peregrinos) would start walking from where they lived, and there are many paths across Europe to Spain. In the past, most pilgrims travelled for religious reasons, to pay penance and/or to receive time off purgatory for making the trek, and during Holy years, when the Feast of Saint James (July 25) falls on a Sunday, full time off of purgatory. There were also criminals who were sentenced to walk the Camino, and people who were paid to walk the Camino in place of a wealthy patron, as well as servants. Today, pilgrims walk for holiday, spiritual and/or religious reasons, exercise, to experience the Camino because they've read or heard about other pilgrims' stories, or because they've come to a turning point in their lives among many.
I had read Paulo Coelho's book "The Pilgrimage" at some point in the mid-90's and held onto the idea as a dream trip, talking to everyone I met about how I was going to go there someday. Then, in 2004, when I was looking for ideas of vacations, I was reminded that I needed to do this trek, and then a date popped into my head (May 25, 2005, I believe) and so I began planning to go. I saved up a lot of vacation hours, and work was slow, so I was granted a leave of absence, and in late May of 2005 I found myself flying to Madrid with little more than a guidebook and a very limited use of Spanish. It was hot, crowded, I got tendonitis, sprained both ankles, got heat exhaustion (at the end of the trip, no less, and missed my return flight), met lovely, kind people, saw so many beautiful places one would not encounter otherwise, lost my spiritual sense of God and found God in the mundane details of life. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I didn't really have any plans of doing it again. Yet here I am, less than 4 years later, about to embark for the 3rd time. Each trip I feel more trepidation, before I left on the first trip, I only briefly felt any fear, and it was the afternoon before I left.
I think I understand my reasons for the 1rst and 3rd trips. My second Camino remains a bit of a mystery to me still, more on that later.
Peace, Isabel
No comments:
Post a Comment