Religious Shit & Pilgrims
Okay. Everything after this, on this holiday, doesn’t involve religion, but there is a chance of philosophy happening. The Camino is, at least originally, a religious thing, in this case Catholic; I thought maybe it’s time for some comparative religion reflections, especially with the passing of Father Bob McGuire. As brevity is the soul of wit, here is a summing up of various religious beliefs, and their responses in the face of adversity, something common on the Camino.
Religious Shit
Taoism: Shit happens.
Buddhism: If shit happens, it’s not really shit.
Islam: If shit happens, it’s the will of Allah.
Protestantism: Shit happens because you don’t work hard enough.
Judaism: Why does this shit always happen to us?
Hinduism: This shit happened before.
Catholicism: Shit happens because you’re bad.
T.V. Evangelism: Send more money to stop the shit.
Atheism: No shit.
Jehovah’s Witness: Knock knock, shit happens.
Hedonism: There’s nothing like good shit happening.
Agnosticism: Maybe shit happens, maybe it doesn’t.
Rastafarianism: Let’s smoke this shit.
Existentialism: What is shit anyway?
Stoicism: This shit doesn’t bother me.
Enough already! If this gives anyone the shits, please choose an appropriate perspective from above.
Pilgrims
At the beginning of a Camino other Pilgrims are not terribly interesting. As time goes by you realise they are one of the most interesting things about the Camino. When they find their rhythm (see The Inner Camino), they begin to open up, be less judgemental of each other and explore their fellows travellers, in the sure knowledge that everyone is having both bad and good days. There are no photographs of Pilgrims, I just can’t bring myself to photograph others on the way, it seems it would create a kind of barrier between us – instead there’s more green scenery!
Robert. Robert is an Australian in his early 60s, newly retired. His wife was working and did not want to join the Camino, so he walked it alone. A naturally reserved man, we sat with him in a beautiful garden a few evenings ago before dinner, a conversation began quite naturally. Robert was clearly a professional of some standing and was beginning to work out life in retirement. He had been focused on a book in front of him in which he was doing something. I asked if he was writing or drawing, it turns out he was doing both. He was keeping a journal of the walk, but was also doing the most exquisite line drawings – everything from ancient churches to old and discarded walking boots. He was leaving Santiago to join his wife in London where she had been working.
Fred & Gaynor. At first I thought they were Australian. It turns out that Fred had immigrated from England to Australia when he was nine with his family and had lived there for forty years. Gaynor, who is English, had lived in Australia for 30 years. They now live in Shropshire and Fred works for the NHS. They were interesting in that they saw themselves as being both English and Australian, and were now both looking down the barrel of retirement.
The “Stream of Consciousness” American. Another woman, probably in her late sixties, who was moving at a similar pace to us, was a Japanese American (her description). Her father had been an Irishman who, at the end of WW2 had taken a Japanese war bride and settled in America. She had the habit of talking aloud to herself when she was walking. She also talked aloud to others when walking with them. If fact she talked pretty much all of the time. There seemed to be nothing at all wrong with her, but I did notice that several people seemed to go out of their way to avoid her, lengthy periods of silence on Camino are golden and were not to be found in her company.
The Summer Camp American. On the last day we walked with a young American guy for some time, he seemed to be a summer camp facilitator, who I guess must have had time off over the northern spring. He arrived in St Jean Pied de Port and walked the 800km Camino to Santiago, then caught a bus to Porto and walked the 240km Portuguese Camino. He was whippet thin, sinewy and muscular, on the last day he had teamed up to walk with a young German woman who we had seen everyday almost since Porto. He seemed refreshingly free of ego and walked with us because he seemed genuinely interested in finding out about us and our walk.
There were many, many more, Dutch, many Germans, Koreans, English and a smattering of Eastern Europeans. We were told (unverified), that the large numbers of Germans on the Camino is due to a well known film star having had some sort of melt down and then finding themselves again through walking the Camino.
But perhaps the most archetypal Camino encounter came the day after we finished our Camino. On the Tuesday night, after arrival and having completed the Camino, we had a celebratory dinner with the Danish family I have mentioned, unfortunately the food was not great, but it didn’t matter, the company and conversation was what we were there for, and it did not disappoint. The next morning we made our way to the Pilgrim Office to register our walk and to claim our Compostella. Afterwards we were standing in a beautiful courtyard chatting with Robert, who we had again bumped into, that’s when we met…
The Frenchman. We didn’t learn his name. As we stood chatting he walked up and joined us, he had walked alone, and like so many on completion of the journey, he had an overwhelming need to have human contact, and, as it turns out, share his story. He was about 40, bearded and quite trim. This had been his second Camino, his first had been from Le Puy to Santiago, some 1600kms. This time he had walked the Del Norte, a shorter but physically more demanding Camino. He was in a heightened state of emotion, a mix of relief, excitement and deep, deep gratitude. He explained that his life had become deeply troubled and he had lost himself totally (he did not go into details, but it was clear he had been a deeply lost soul in a dark place); he had a French saying about not walking in his own shoes, but next to his own shoes. We deduced that he meant he had lost himself completely, but through walking the Camino he had found himself again, forgiven himself, learned to love himself, and eventually found redemption. He was very emotional, the intensity of his feeling was palpable, something that transferred to all of us. It was clear he had been so close to self destruction, but had at last come through – it was a little like witnessing a little miracle, and we all felt so happy for him. And then he was gone.
This Camino has not been the same as our first one, but it has not been less, just different. The Irishman at the Pilgrim Office who processes our “Credentials” and awarded our Compostelas has walked 15 Caminos. This is not an uncommon story; many people find a way to make the Camino a part of their ongoing life. Whilst this will not be the case for us, it is possible to take the Camino with you, in your approach to life and others.
Next stop Berlin. Polish up on Marlene Dietrich, Cabaret, Herr Hitler, progressive youth culture, art, vegetarian restaurants and days without lots of walking. Bring it on!
Hi there, lookin’ good and great pics.
Looking forward to the next update 👍
Looking forward to hearing more of your wonderful stories 😊🚶♂️