PSU Magazine Fall 2013

I l relic. The first book I read on the pilgrimage, The Pilgrimage to Santiago (1974), by British journalist Edwin Mullins, is rich in historical and archi– tectural detail, but there is little refer– ence to traditional pilgrims or evidence of the routes they used. As he so colorfully describes the experi– ence,"... it was more often a question of dropping into village bars for a glass of rioja and inquiring politely where the old road might be." But by the mid-1980s it became clear that doing the pilgrimage in the traditional way, and following "the old road" as much as possible, was again becoming popular. To acknowledge the physical effort and commitment of "traditional" pilgrims, the cathedral authorities in Santiago de Compostela initiated a register of those who walked at least the last 100 kilometers or cycled the last 200 kilometers to Santiago. The data shows 2,491 pilgrims received the compostela in 1985-86, with the numbers increasing steadily ever since. During a Holy Year, a year in which Saint James Day (July 25) falls on a Sunday, special dispensation is avail– able from the Church. This resulted in 154,613 compostelas awarded in 1999. During the Middle Ages people walked to Santiago for many reasons: adventure, duty, fear, love, punish– ment, or out of simple, blind faith and religious devotion. The reasons under– lying the modem pilgrimage are more complex. The religious motive remains paramount, especially among Spanish Catholics, and accounts for the great throngs that arrive during a Holy Year. But Santiago de Compostela is unique in that it is the Way, the journey that carries more meaning for contempo– rary travelers than the arrival. This is consistent with trends in modem tourism in which people seek more meaning, more adventure, and more cultural contacts in their travels: "leisure with meaning." The modem-day Camino provides all these ingredients, as we learned through our encounters with other pilgrims. Some were traveling because they were at various transitions in life-change of job or retirement; others to renew personal relationships; others to deal with issues of grief and loss; and still others just to prove that they could do it. n a particularly idyllic stretch of pathway through the wheat fields surrounding Villamayor de Monjardin, we encoun– tered Leroy, 65 years old, who was walking the route with his wife, Bon– nie. As he told us, he had just retired from his position as director of the Loaves and Fishes program in Sacra– mento and was taking the opportunity to "decide what to do with the rest of my life." Several days later we cycled the steep ascent over the Montes de Leon with Hans, a Dutch cyclist. He, too, was a recent retiree who was quite simply enjoying the adventure and the challenge. Hans observed that "... life is very short, and death is very long!" Valerie, a Spanish instructor from the University of North Carolina, Wilm- ington, was leading a group of 30 under– graduate stu– dents on pilgrimage, presumably for academic credit. All of us, whatever our reasons for making the pil– grimage, agreed that there is something about traveling a long distance under your own Yellow arrows and the flash symbol keep walkers and bicyclists on the right path. power that makes it possible to escape for a time some of the pressures and daily concerns of our lives back home. It is an experience that, for many, can be cathartic and transforming. For me the journey was, first and foremost, an adventure, a physical challenge and an opportunity to be outdoors for days at a time, an "outer" journey that was an absolute delight to all the senses. At the same time, it was easy to fully appreciate the "inner" journey that draws many to the Camino, a hope that a long pilgrimage can satisfy a deep spiritual need. Northern Spain is familiar territory to me: I have driven most of the back– roads and visited all the major cities along the Camino. But to enter those cities as a pilgrim, even a pilgrim on a bicycle, was a quieter and much more satisfying experience. FALL 2001 PSU MAGAZINE 15