Life as a Camino

Posted by auberrie on September 20, 2013 at 8:40 PM

" No hay camino
(There is no Way)
Se hace camino al andar
(By walking, you make the Way) "
~ Antonio Machado

The Spanish word "camino" can mean a trail, a path, a road, or even a journey. It is also used to describe a "way" as in Scriptures, when Jesus says: "I am the Way, the truth and the life."

The Way of Saint James invites walkers not just to undertake a physical path but a way of life. Perhaps this was what Machado meant when he wrote: "there is no way." While the purpose of undertaking a pilgrimage may be unclear, the road we travel does not really matter. What matters is the journey, how we walk the transformational path in our own lives, making each step count.

Pilgrimage is more than just a geographic trek. It was designed to act out an inner journey.

Walking the Camino

Posted by auberrie on September 5, 2013 at 6:40 PM

A first cousin and niece who live in Madrid planned this trip for me (a labor of love) and we are at the 100 km marker indicating distance to our goal: Santiago de Compostela.

To make it, we have to walk 15 km. (about 10 miles) daily.

The process involves applying for a "credencial" (an informal passport which you get stamped at hostels, bars, churches along the way to verify you walked through the route).

The minimum requirement to get a "Compostela" (official certificate of pilgrimage) is 100 km. walk through last section of the 500 km. Camino route (Sarria to Santiago). There are several ways to do the Camino, starting your walk from "home" (from Portugal or France, from parts of Spain through the coast or through the central area cutting through Pyrenees).

I chose to start from Edgewater, walking across the GW Bridge into the Cloisters in NY, using the museum's statue of Santiago de Compostela (with a pilgrim shell on his hat) as my "starting from home" reference.

In the news. . . .

   

Posted by auberrie on August 24, 2013 at 4:35 PM

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