alansykes
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Except the Francés
Any of our friends in south west US know about the Tohono O'odham pilgrimage from (mostly) Arizona to the shrine of St Francis at Magdalena de Kino in Sonora, Mexico? It's been going since about 1707, when Jesuit missionaries converted some of the local population and established Santa María Magdalena. Apparently these pilgrims carry staffs and, rather than our abrazo to Santiago, kiss the head of a statue of San Francisco, ideally on his day (this Wednesday 4 October). The site is 90km from the Arizona border and many travel from Tucson and other places which would easily qualify for a compostela. The pilgrim staffs are sometimes decorated with ribbons showing how many times the bearer has made the journey (glad there are no such overt bragging symbols on our camino ...).
Anybody done this one? Suspect it's a bit hot for my thin northern blood.
There was a piece about the pilgrimage, and some challenges it faces, on BBC Radio 4 this morning (about 10 minutes into the programme)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b096gjdx
Anybody done this one? Suspect it's a bit hot for my thin northern blood.
There was a piece about the pilgrimage, and some challenges it faces, on BBC Radio 4 this morning (about 10 minutes into the programme)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b096gjdx