We made it! Yesterday we arrived in Santiago, finishing our Camino. As I have read the news each night on my tablet, this seems like a small, ineffectual accomplishment, even though it was very hard for me, due to being sick and very tired the whole time. Yesterday and today we completed the rite of  pilgrimage, going to mass (yes, they swung the botufumiero) visiting the crypt, seeing the many historic sites and chapels.  But after praying for personal concerns and being thankful, I found myself praying for our country and its current mess. I've been afraid of something like this ever since I was a child,  as my parents talked frequently of the Nazi holocaust.

 I have to say, though, that I'm very impressed with the magnitude of pilgrims who pour into Santiago daily after their long long walk. They get at least 1000 per day in the "compostela" office where the certificates are issued. I don't know what percentage of people do this for religious reasons, how many for spiritual reasons, and how many just for adventure or other personal reasons. I think its amazing that so many people do it at all.  I'm not foolish enough to think that just because people want to do this, that a spiritual or religious awakening will happen and the world will become one. Hopefully, people will realize that spirituality matters and that humans have been making pilgrimages in all ages and many religions. People have done it as a sacrifice, as penance, for personal holiness and other religious reasons. Now they also do it just for sport or to test themselves or to clear their heads. But having a personal triumph will not necessarily move a person to act and strive for the common good. That's what I would pray for.

 Nevertheless, I'm proud to have earned my "compostela" and I'm glad we did this. They say here that the real pilgrimage begins after you finish the walk. We'll see.  But I know I haven't been able to just relax and enjoy it, not just because I've been sick but because I was not able to stop  feeling the dark clouds of the world, especially our country, over my head. That might be a shame and a mess, but that's how it was.

On the plus side, I gained an even deeper appreciation for Joe and was so pleased with how much he enjoyed this pilgrimage, how good his energy level was (usually I'm the one with high energy but this time I lagged behind) and how much he could just relax and take it all in. Since this was his idea in the first place, I'll take this as a success. But they say here that sometimes the results of the pilgrimage take

a long time to develop. Talking with two very progressive Catholic sisters after we got the certificate was encouraging. They gave me hope that God is at work even if we can't see it. Their bright spirits were a helpful conclusion to our Camino walk.

Cats of the Camino. I wish I could have taken the little tiger home with me in my backpack. We bonded immediately and their mom

had abandoned them!

Only one day left. Trying to coax local cats to pose for my proposed "Cats of the Camino" book. Not working well. It's very hot here, not like when we started. By the way, there's no way a person could lose weight on this trip. The portions are huge!

Only one day left and we will be in Santiago. I have no idea how I am going to feel. This whole thing is still a mystery to me. Also, I'm not completely better yet and have a sinus infection. Given the organization of the trip, it hasn't been possible to get medical attention.
 Today we had an interesting conversation at a cafe with an American who has lived in Madrid for 40 years and also leads Camino trips. She says she is pantheist and belives in spirits in the rocks and trees. She thinks the Camino is more ancient than its Catholic heritage and has pagan roots and energy. She described one pilgrim who absolutely refused to walk with anyone even remotely religious. The pilgrim thought a religious person would hinder her from feeling the ancient pre-Christian energy.
The woman at the cafe says it's good we are going to visit Finesterra and Muxia. They are both, she says, of pagan roots with Finesterra having male energy and Lucia having female energy.
Her narrative is so similar to the other female Baby Boomers SBNRsI've interviewed in the US, Canada and Mexico.  She, as the others, was overwhemingly confident in her rhetoric. I think it is a strong assertive story meant to counter what they perceive as a dominant male religious narrative. But history doesn't come in layers, such that you can peel them back and get to the authentic story. It's way more complex and difficult than that.

The weather has turned hot, making the walking more taxing. But I am feeling a lot better, though still somewhat congested. We met an interesting woman and her partner who have a cafe along the Camino but also lead tours. One of them said that people do the walk for many reasons, as I suspected and have discovered. But they often ask her not to make it 'too religious.' Yet, she said, often people feel they have to suffer. One man, an atheist, developed terrible blisters. She said he could stay in the hotel until they healed but he felt he had to go on. Since the Camino IS hard, I was wondering what people's motivations might be. Of course there are young people who want to prove themseves, or have bragging rights when they get home. But why would a non-religious person undertake an arduous and even painful journey if they did not believe in things like penance, plenary indulgences, and/or salvation? I suspect the feeling that one is not perfect, maybe even failing in some aspects of life, is universal...even if so many contemporary persons abhor the word sin and see most if not all guilt as 'false'. The original purpose of the Camino was as a penance, although others did it to insure their salvation or shorten a loved one's time in purgatory. Are our modern obsessions with self-improvement through physical regimens, special diets, and such things as 'boot camps' be a contemporary version, yet without some God to satisfy, but instead the self or other humans?? Or is it, in the end, a denial of death?

The most impactful part of our day for me was when we entered an 11th c church and saw a Visigoth altar from the 7th c. I was struck by how ancient a religion Christianity is. Given that my concern is the huge decline in organised religion, shown most prominently by the SBNR movement, it was reassuring. Of course the Visigoths only controlled this area for a couple of hundred  years before the Moors took over here. Also, I talked to one SBNR this morning who equated being spiritual with emptying her mind. Then this afternoon we spoke with a young software designer from Seattle who insisted she absolutely knew why everyone walked the Camino. She said it was simply to leave their hectic stressful lives and get back to basics. She insisted there was nothing spiritual about their reasons at all.

Actually, I had my 10th bowl of "caldo gallego" yesterday. My cold and cough and low energy are improving. But I'm not used to feeling tired! What a drag.  Today we tried "pulpo" at the best "pulperia" in Melide. I figured I'd try it once but seeing all those suckers and tentacles really put me off my lunch. I focused on bread and salad instead. I tried to be a good sport but in the end let Joe eat most of it. I feel a bit worn out by all of this...walking, a different hotel every night, similar menus every day,  living out of a small suitcase. If it is true that 'no pain, no gain,' I am in for a big surprise. But if the original purpose of Camino is penance, then I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be repenting for!