Camino Magic - How to explain?

[martin1ws]

I had a discussion with several pilgrims how one could explain the ‚Camino Magic’…. what makes the camino maybe different to other trekking routes…. and what is a compensation for the hard work of walking, the hot sun, sleeping in a dormitory and other camino-stuff…. until now everybody answered ‚es imposible / it is not possible‘ to explain it to someone who misses the experience.

 

[Waka]

I had a discussion with several pilgrims how one could explain the ‚Camino Magic’…. what makes the camino maybe different to other trekking routes…. and what is a compensation for the hard work of walking, the hot sun, sleeping in a dormitory and other camino-stuff…. until now everybody answered ‚es imposible / it is not possible‘ to explain it to someone who misses the experience.

So true.

 

[martin1ws]

Here is a similar idea:
I was on day 8 of my Camino from Somport..
.
My Spanish is still... getting better from a very low level. We were eating in a bar... a group of 4 - my camino family for the last three days - and another pilgrim. Everyone talked in Spanish. As I again could not really follow the conversation... I looked at the faces.... their smiling.... and they smiled not only a customer-welcome-smile, they smiled with their eyes as well.
I thought of the many times I have smiled in the last days.

I asked in Spanish something like.... "I ask me how to explain the 'camino magic' to a friend who has never walked the camino...".
There followed a small discussion but the other pilgrim said "es imposible" / "it is impossible".

The funny thing is that the hard times are much easier to explain.... the aching legs, hotspots, too hot sun, 'is the distance for tomorrow too long?', ...

Can you explain the "Camino Magic" to a non-pilgrim?

 

[Brian E]

It is hard to explain and I get a few deer in headlight looks talking about it. I recently walked from SJPD to Burgos and will walk from Burgos to Ponferrada next year. Before the Camino took hold of me it was in Larrasoana I believe (so only 2 days in) where we met an Irishman walking his 10th Camino. What would end up being my "Camino Family" and I more or less looked at each other in disbelief to be honest and had a conversation later on why anyone would want to do this over and over and walk the Camino that many times. Now I know...

 

[naplesdon]

It usually doesn't happen until around the 3rd day.

 

[Purky]

I read an interview with Nick Cave not too long ago, and I wrote down a quote of his that rang very true to me: "The idea that we live life in a straight line, like a story, seems to me to be increasingly absurd and, more than anything, a kind of intellectual convenience. I feel that the events in our lives are like a series of bells being struck and the vibrations spread outwards, affecting everything, our present, and our futures, of course, but our past as well. Everything is changing and vibrating and in flux."

And those who have heard the bell of the camino, and felt its vibrations course through them, are changed because of it. Maybe only in a small way, or considerably, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the harmony that is your life will sound better than it did before.

 

[JohnMcM]

C - comradeship from shared joy
A - another smile shared
M - mi casa su casa
I - I don't mind if you don't
N - no problem, if it helps you, good
O - Ok, that's fine by me

M - may I help you
A - are you ok
G - glad to help
I - it will be ok
C - carry on, I'll see you later.

 

[Deleted member 39850]

For me the "magic" had to do with what I learned, and is not so mysterious really: that I could carry myself anywhere in the world on my own two feet if I had the courage, that I have a pretty good horse-sense for people (so a reminder to trust myself more).... those gifts of autonomy, adventure, and self-efficacy have been long understood as part of the healing power of miracles of pilgrimage. I also simply love observing a cultural milieu at the same pace that the locals live it. I am as much interested in Spain -- more perhaps, -- that I am in why yet another Euro-American is on the trail. So travel at 4-6km per hour suits me as its own reward, superior to any other kind of travel available.
I confess that I love the sound of ticking poles; they remind me that everyone is making their way into the future. That is its own reward, too.
Transformation of self... I used to be a cyclist, but became a walker because of Camino. Walking allows me to enjoy the company of others in my own local context.
I find the non-Camino friend understand these things perfectly well.

 

[Aysen Mustafa]

I read an interview with Nick Cave not too long ago, and I wrote down a quote of his that rang very true to me: "The idea that we live life in a straight line, like a story, seems to me to be increasingly absurd and, more than anything, a kind of intellectual convenience. I feel that the events in our lives are like a series of bells being struck and the vibrations spread outwards, affecting everything, our present, and our futures, of course, but our past as well. Everything is changing and vibrating and in flux."

And those who have heard the bell of the camino, and felt its vibrations course through them, are changed because of it. Maybe only in a small way, or considerably, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the harmony that is your life will sound better than it did before.

I am Nick Cave fan and I love that you are quoting NC. I have actually thought that after the death of his teenage son in 2017 his family should have walked the CF but he is too famous.

 

[KinkyOne]

I read an interview with Nick Cave not too long ago, and I wrote down a quote of his that rang very true to me: "The idea that we live life in a straight line, like a story, seems to me to be increasingly absurd and, more than anything, a kind of intellectual convenience. I feel that the events in our lives are like a series of bells being struck and the vibrations spread outwards, affecting everything, our present, and our futures, of course, but our past as well. Everything is changing and vibrating and in flux."

And those who have heard the bell of the camino, and felt its vibrations course through them, are changed because of it. Maybe only in a small way, or considerably, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the harmony that is your life will sound better than it did before.

Another Nick Cave (& The Bad Seeds; and The Birthday Party as well) fan here.
He's wise man.

And what you wrote in bold (by me) I can only nod and confirm.

 

[John Gilliland]

For me it was the sense of community, not just among the walkers, but the Spanish people who asked for prayers in Santiago, who smiled and offered encouragement, for all the unseen people who maintain the way with signs and prayers.

 

[tomnorth]

Most people have absolutely no interest in walking a Camino. That is not a solid starting point for a meaningful conversation. Once in a great while I’ll meet someone who is truly interested in walking the Camino. I can tell by the questions they ask. They are more insightful. With such a person I am more successful in communicating Camino Magic, because it already resides in them.

 

[AndreaCT]

Years ago I was watching flicking through channels on TV and came across a show that showed the botafumeiro. I had no idea what it was or where it was. Something inside of me clicked and the search began because I suddenly knew that one day I was going to see that giant incense burner for myself. The magic for me started that day when I felt that I was called to "something" and it continued during my walks and it continues to this day. I feel like one of the lucky ones on this earth to have experienced the Camino Magic.

 

[Turga]

I do not really try to explain the Camino Magic to others; maybe I’m just not good at explaining sentiments. We walk the Camino for our own personal reasons and hopes and in my heart I carry memories of so many moments, that mean a lot to me but would probably seem insignificant to others. When someone asks me why I walk The Way, I answer kind of ‘politely superficial’ and thinking “one day you will understand –or maybe not”.

 

[JMac56]

Here in Australia we have a saying about the region called the Northern Territory - "You'll never, never know if you never, never go." I think that largely applies to the Camino as well.

 

[KinkyOne]

Here in Australia we have a saying about the region called the Northern Territory - "You'll never, never know if you never, never go." I think that largely applies to the Camino as well.

True, true

 

[E V Waight]

The Camino Magic, La Magia del Camino. You never know unless you go. It is abstract to those who have never done it. Trying to explain, all exited and "worked up" just attracts rather bewildered looks from friends when trying to describe the feeling. As the song says: "caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar".
And indeed it's the journey, not the destination. I did my first Camino last September at 63yrs old accompanied by wife Gladys and son John (as family); I plan to do many more before I close my eyes.