Walking the Camino de Santiago
Thoughts about the spiritual aspects of the Camino.
After a lovely morning in cool, overcast weather, we had an endless afternoon as the Way curved around hill after hill after hill, hiding from us any view of our day’s destination until we had suddenly arrived. In the midst of that endless, depressing afternoon, we met a Friar whose positive impact on my day was immediate. Other impacts, I’m […]
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A day of rain and mud. We left Puente la Reina about 8 am, and it was raining by 9. We walked with Emilio and Katy. Second breakfast in Mañeru, and lunch in Lorca. Sadly, most of the churches we passed today were locked up. Between Mañeru and Ciraqui we were on and off a Roman road. Like everything else, […]
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A conversation about journaling comes round on the Camino forums every so often – what do you use, how do you do it, and so forth. Rather than ramble there on scattered threads, I thought it might be better to ramble here, where at least my ramblings have the virtue of being together in one place. To be brief: I […]
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On the Camino, there is an ancient greeting that is exchanged between pilgrims. Oh, those not on pilgrimage – hospitaleros, townsfolk, random people on the Way – will often shout out a hearty “buen Camino!”, but that’s not what I’m talking about. In a tradition that was first recorded in the venerable Codex Calixtinus in the eleventh century, the pilgrim […]
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Between our pilgrimages, we must live in the world. We try to hang onto the Way of the Pilgrim in our ordinary lives, but like all things, the lessons fade over the years unless they are reinforced from time to time. And what are those lessons? They are as individual as the pilgrim, but there are certain commonalities, certain sayings […]
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My annual camp/cabin trip was this past weekend. Basically it’s the same group of guys every year, with the occasional comings and goings. Back in the day, we camped. One particular weekend, about seven or eight years ago now, it rained so hard that it put out our campfire. Since then, it’s been U.S. Forestry service cabins. This is the […]
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Of all the photos I took on our 2013 Camino – and I took thousands of them – this is the one that for me best sums up the spirit of the pilgrimage. It was taken as we walked through the Galician forests on our way to the Royal Monastery of Samos. It reminds me very strongly of Bilbo’s Old […]
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In theory, each pilgrim who completes the Camino de Santiago is a member of the Archconfraternity of Saint James the Apostle. Originally founded in 1499, the aims of the Archcontraternity are: Promote honour of St. James the Apostle and encourage Christian pilgrimage to his Tomb. Ensure that pilgrims are welcomed and looked after on their pilgrimage along the different ways […]
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(from my journal) Ventosa Annunciation of the Lord Short, difficult day today. The roads were actually fairly easy, but all of us are still feeling yesterday. Cliff left first, and he was soon out of sight. Charlie is taking a rest day or two. Ali, Eamon, Patrick, Petra, Viola, & I set off together. Breakfast in Logroño and then a […]
» Read moreWe are rapidly approaching the one-year anniversary of our Camino. And, God willing, exactly two years from today we will leave on our next one. In the next month or so, I’ll be posting photos, day by day, of last year’s Camino, with my ruminations on each day a year later. This is not exactly for you, dear reader (though […]
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