Camino de Santiago - The Milky Way

I became infatuated with Paulo Coelho and his writing since I read one of his first novels “The Alchemist”. From then, I read each and everyone of his books which led me to “The Pilgrimage”. In the story, Paulo sets out for the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Since reading the accounts of his travel I now became infatuated with the actual Pilgrimage, and knew I had to do it sometime in my lifetime, preferably sooner than later.

Camino de Santiago or The way of St. James is an ancient route traveled by pilgrims for over 1000 of years with the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela being the final destination of the pilgrimage. During the medieval times it was one of the most important pilgrimages for Christians. The other two are the pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem. Legend holds that St. James’s remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to Northern Spain and buried at the site which is now Santiago de Compostela.

The symbol of the road is the Shell of St. James, which is a scallop shell typically found on the shores of Galicia. Over time, the shell has taken on a mythical, metaphorical, and practical meaning. There are two mythical versions of the scallop, the first one states that when St. James body was being transported to Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship and the body was lost in the Ocean. After some time, the body washed up on shore covered in shells. The second version claims that as the ship with the body of St. James approached land, there was a wedding taking place on shore. The groom was on horseback, when his horse got scared and ran into the ocean. Miraculously, both the horse and the rider emerged unharmed and covered in shells.

The shell also acts as a metaphor. The grooves in the shell, which come to meet in a single point, represent the various roads the pilgrim travels ultimately ending at the final destination at Santiago de Compostela.
As far as a practical use, the pilgrims used to use the shell to gather water and for eating and drinking. The scallop also proved that the traveler has finished the pilgrimage. Now a days, the shell is mostly used as keepsake, as well as a way for the pilgrims to recognize each other and the “road”.

The road itself, has many paths but the most popular one is the French Way or Camino Frances. Historically the Spanish, considered the Pyrenees the starting point. One of the most popular staring points on the French side is Saint Jean Pied de Port and Roncesvalles or Jaca on the Spanish side.

So this is just a brief description of the “Road” also known as the “Milky Way”. As far as me, I plan on doing the pilgrimage sometime in march or April of next year, possibly earlier depending on my financial situation. Traveling the Camino is not really too expensive. Typically the travelers stay in free hostels along the road, so the biggest expense of the trip is the actual flight to Spain. My plan is to fly into Barcelona, since that’s the city I have always wanted to see and staying there for about a week. After that I will most likely travel by train to one of the cities on the road on the Spanish side and set off from there. The Pilgrimage itself usually takes about a month and covers anywhere from 100km - 500km by foot. Different people do it different ways, they walk, they bike, or even ride a donkey. You can travel by yourself or come along with friends. Personally, I want to do the Pilgrimage alone. I think it will be more of a Spiritual and learning experience (plus I doubt I would be able to find anyone to do it with me). Another thing is that you are never alone on the road... you make friends with the road, other pilgrims and yourself.