Some Favorite Quotes and Fotos from the Camino de Santiago, 2016

“On the Camino, we have a bed to sleep in, food to eat, water to drink, and a path to walk. Everything else is excess.”

(Quotes in this article were collected by the whole Problems without Passports group, Anthropology 301: The Global Performance of Healing.  This was medical anthropology class that walked 200 miles across northern Spain to collect healing stories, see previous blogs below).

First Supper in Madrid with Spain PWP 2016

First Supper in Madrid with Spain PWP 2016

 

“It’s the magic of the Camino,” two pilgrims told me, “When you are on the Camino, you leave behind your daily worries. You don’t know what time it is, what date it is. You aren’t planning every minute, every hour of your life. You slow down and you are a new person. You are different. You are better. That’s the magic of the Camino.”

“There are magic people and magic places everywhere, but on the Camino, people have time to be free and share their magic.”

Making Paella with Jara's family

Making Paella with Jara’s family

The trek begins in León

The trek begins in León

Camino friends

On the trail

“Don’t rush because your destination is your own self.”Friends

Spanish Lavender, Lupine and other wild flowers

“Miracles happen every day on the Camino,” she declared firmly. “Something comes whenever you need it, whether safety pins or someone whose shoulder you can cry on.” From this truth, she had realized, “whatever happens will happen. I do not have to worry so much about the past or the future.”

The walk

This Camino directional sign has been altered with skateboard and hairdo.

This Camino directional sign has been altered with skateboard and hairdo.

“I want to reflect on things in my past in order to move on to the next stage of my life. I want to keep walking the Camino, because I can.”

 

“There is no prize in Santiago for anyone. What you get at the end of the Camino is your own growth and experience.”

 

“Some people walk to get away from something. Some people walk to get something. We walk just to walk.”

Along the Camino there is Pilgrimage art: the Cathedrals and monuments of course, but also folk murals like this one.

Along the Camino there is Pilgrimage art: the Cathedrals and monuments of course, but also folk murals like this one.

“There is no prize for first nor last and no clock on the Camino.”

“On the Camino, you have nowhere to hide from yourself.”

“If I can do this, then I can do anything.”

“I like to be unconventional,” he asserted, “I call myself a globetrotter. But I am not a tourist. Tourists go places to see the sights. I go to see more of myself.”

(With PWP we did a bit of reflection, research and seeing the sights.)

Templar Castle Ponferrada (Templars protected the pilgrims)

Templar Castle Ponferrada (Templars protected the pilgrims)

Crayfish for dinner

Crayfish for dinner

Pulpo for lunch

Pulpo for lunch

Churros and Chocolate, anytime

Churros and Chocolate, anytime

“On the Camino, people are so kind, because they are given a chance to be. In daily life, everyone gets tunnel vision and is so stuck in their own routine.”

“Tourists complain; pilgrims say how can I help you.”

Meeting Friends in Ponferrada

Meeting Friends in Ponferrada

 

 

“I came to understand and embrace the beauty of life’s unpredictability.”

“In spirituality, you get your energy from what’s around you… the trees, the sun, the people. In religion, you get your energy from God.”

 

“… a pilgrimage is a physical journey that represents a non-physical goal.” (Following the Yellow Arrow)

 

“It was my way to reconquer my body.”

“I could not grieve all day, I guess. I was surrounded by Spain, the flowers, the forests, the mountains. Maybe God wanted me to see more.”

Heather and Gorse along the route

Heather and Gorse along the route

“I was feeling that I had been called to do it [walk the Camino], that I needed to do it.” Along the way from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, she had felt stunned by the power of the Camino. “I was completely exposed,” she revealed. “The Camino brings out all of your unresolved conflicts.”

“Things catch up to you on the Camino.”

“I grew stronger, more reflective, more humble, more self-aware, more appreciative than when I began as an adventure-seeking college student.” (Following the Yellow Arrow)

“They can only be that happy because they’ve been through the worst. You meet a lot of people like him here [on the Camino].”

Quips:  “Keep going, keep it simple,”        “No Spain without Pain.”

Camino directional and mile marker decorated with stones (prayers left behind), etc.

Camino directional and mile marker decorated with stones (prayers left behind), etc.

“No vino, no Camino.”

“Spirit is kinky.”

“Every Camino is different.”

“The Camino is sacred, because of all the pilgrims who have walked on it before us.”

Along the route there are donation-based stands (donativos) for water, fruit and sometimes trinkets. David calls his stand gratuito (free, no need to donate). David is dedicating his life to serving pilgrims, “con simplicidad y del corazón” (with simplicity and from the heart).

David answer's Yushi's questions.

David answer’s Yushi’s questions.

David’s donativo/gratuito stand with watermelon, peanut butter, etc. etc. The sign reads, “The key to life is being present.”

Feeding the donkey at the donkey donativo.

Feeding the donkey at the donkey donativo.

 

 

“The Camino gives you what you need, not what you want.”

Take Reality AS IT IS, from the wall of an Albergue

Take Reality AS IT IS, from the wall of an Albergue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving in Santiago Barefoot like some ancient Pilgrims

Arriving in Santiago Barefoot like some ancient Pilgrims

Victory Siesta upon arrival in Santiago after 200 miles of walking.

Victory Siesta upon arrival in Santiago after 200 miles of walking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  “The real Camino starts after you leave Santiago.”                  Buen Camino

A Camino Healing by Yushi Wang

Day 11 of walking from Villafranca de Bierzo into Vega de Valcarce. The class got started at various times and met up a few times along the way, as usual. This is the day we met many new friends who were also walking the Camino: Madeline and her eleven year old son, William, from Australia, Toseph from Bangladesh, Ben from Germany the guitalele player, and a touring shaman group from Canada.

Angela and Yushi (the author) beginning a day's hike

Angela and Yushi (the author) beginning a day’s hike

Naturally, I found Erin (our professor) speaking with the tour guide of the group. As I caught up to the duo, Erin introduced me to Ariana, a woman of about 67 sporting a bright teal shirt and a red bandana. Ariana told us openly about losing her husband to an illness and losing her job all before the age of 60. In the wake of his loss, she noticed a supernatural happening: a contact lens case on her bathroom counter that had been flipped upside down. “I knew it was my husband,” she told us. This led her to believe in something more than what the eye could see.

As we kept walking, Ariana told us about developing her healing powers. She said they were different from Reiki and promised to do a healing on me later. “I do not have the power to heal,” she told us, “I am only a channel for the spirits.” She gestured to the sky. We eventually split ways, as I met and talked with other members of Ariana’s tour group, Jana and Greg.

Fieldwork begins by walking and sharing stories

Fieldwork begins by walking and sharing stories

An hour or so later, I met Erin and Ariana at our designated hostel in Valcarce. Here, Ariana kept her promise to perform a healing on me. She generously allowed the entire class to watch. We sat on a patio behind the hostel on the rushing river. I sat facing the class, eyes partially closed, and Ariana stood behind me, making gestures like she was sweeping the air around my body and throwing it away behind me. Her hand then hovered a few inches from my stomach and moved up and down, never making contact.

This meditative experience continued in silence for about ten minutes until Ariana withdrew her hands and placed them in a cradling motion, rocking her arms back and forth. She then began to sing, slowly and melodically, in a language no one understood. Lastly, she kissed the back of my head and ended the healing.

Healing Work

Healing Work

“I sensed you hold sadness in your heart,” she told me, “and I rocked the childhood version of you; I sensed it needed nurturing.” The song she sang was one channeled from the spirits, one that did not belong to any language. She also informed me that she cut off the strings connecting my energy to energies that had found their way unto mine. The class asked some questions, and we thanked her for her time. With that, we parted ways with Ariana the healer.