Post Camino Questionnaire, Please...

[Priscillian]

Dear Forum Members and fellow Pilgrims:
Please could you take a look at the link below. It is a questionnaire designed to determine if there is a need for a Post Camino Sanctuary. If you look at either Miscellaneous or Finisterre/Muxia sections of this Forum, or in Post-Camino Blues, you will see that I am considering buying a small house near Muxia with the intention of opening my home as a sort of Post-Camino "Refugio", in the old sense: a place simply to "chill" mentally and physically once you have finished your Camino. To do that (and I will be continuing my own work as a writer, teacher and psychotherapist) I need to be able to demonstrate as much interest as possible to as many people as possible. This is not going to be easy to pull off!
There are only 9 questions plus a place to put your comments. It is anonymous and will take you less than 5 minutes. "No salesman will call"!!!
DO PLEASE HELP.....It doesn't matter whether you have completed the Camino five times, or not at all yet. It doesn't matter whether you have walked 100 klms or 1000. And it certainly doesn't matter whether you have walked for spiritual, historical, cultural or religious reasons. There are questions there for all.Thanks so much.TRacy Saunders

Here is the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MNQ93PN
Santiago PILGRIMS: Would you PLEASE take a moment to answer a few questions. It'll only take you five minutes, less.
Your opinions are MOST important. Por favor: complete la encuesta con el nombre “Post-Camino Sanctuary”. ¡Su opinión es de gran importancia!

So far the questions are only in English but I am working on a Spanish version too.



http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.com
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com

and my Therapy site: http://www.headstartcentres.org

 

[Priscillian]

Well over 100 responses in less than 24 hours. Thank you So much! Most respondents have added brilliantly encouraging comments which is just what I needed to hear.
Field of Dreams?
"If I build it, they will come"?
Looks like you might. And I can't wait. :arrow:

Please, do keep them comments and responses coming too. The more interest I can show the better chance I have of pulling this off.

http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com

 

[grilly]

Well over 100 responses in less than 24 hours. Thank you So much! Most respondents have added brilliantly encouraging comments which is just what I needed to hear.
Field of Dreams?
"If I build it, they will come"?
Looks like you might. And I can't wait. :arrow:
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com

The more I think about your idea, the more I like it.
I would expect it has to be financially sustainable, especially if you include meals. Your time as well.

 

[Priscillian]

The idea is to cover basic expenses, of course. I like Fernanda's (Camino Portuguese) idea. Those who can afford to donate a little more subsidise those who have little or nothing. It all works out in the end. My time? Yes, important, but the job jar is part and parcel and everyone will pull out a small task for the day. That's part of the "therapy"!
So is group work if wanted, solo meditation if not. A place to read and write, make onward arrangements by Internet etc. Plan "the next move"...
I can offer workshops too - I am a therapist, don't forget - and not just for recent pilgrims: Designing "Visualisation Boards"; self-hypnosis instruction, creative Tai Chi, guided tours to the various historical and sacred places on the Costa do Morte. I have offered a "Get your life Unstuck" workshop for three years now with great success. See http://www.headstartcentres.org
The ideas are coming pouring in from people who have taken the survey...
I will have to continue teaching and writing of course. Maybe one day I'll be able to "retire" on my books and just write. I would like that.
I'm designing the Sello in my head right now!
The house is called La Casa del Zorro. I have always wanted "La Casa de Las Conchas" and have 2 dozen vieiras to decorate the lintel. I've had them for years and they always get moved along with me. But I'll have to see how the little fox would mind first. I'll need his approval. He gets his own tile anyway! (And will likely grace the sello too!)

 

[grilly]

I'm designing the Sello in my head right now!
The house is called La Casa del Zorro. I have always wanted "La Casa de Las Conchas" and have 2 dozen vieiras to decorate the lintel. I've had them for years and they always get moved along with me. But I'll have to see how the little fox would mind first. I'll need his approval. He gets his own tile anyway! (And will likely grace the sello too!)

I love the fact that you are already designing your sello. La Casa de Las Conchas sounds wonderful and I am pretty sure your fox won't mind.
I hope to visit you some day

 

[Priscillian]

Filched wholesale from Grilly's wonderfully inspiring blog. http://strollingtocompostelle.blogspot.com
I have a feeling she won't mind.

THIS is EXACTLY what I have in mind:

Thomas Merton
... to deliver oneself up, to hand oneself over, entrust oneself completely to the silence of a wide landscape of woods and hills, or sea, or desert; to sit still while the sun comes up over the land and fills its silences with light.
~ Thoughts in Solitude

Please keep them responses coming. I NEED you!

LINK also on my blog now at
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com
as well as here on the Forum above.

As with my "Refuge" plans it doesn't matter where you come from, just do please come...

 

[Priscillian]

One hundred and fifty and counting: in 48 hours! And so kind and positive too...
PLEASE, can you help me get to 200 responses? :arrow:

Thanks, Tracy

Also can find the LINK here: http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com

 

[Tia Valeria]

I'm designing the Sello in my head right now!
The house is called La Casa del Zorro. I have always wanted "La Casa de Las Conchas" and have 2 dozen vieiras to decorate the lintel. I've had them for years and they always get moved along with me. But I'll have to see how the little fox would mind first. I'll need his approval. He gets his own tile anyway! (And will likely grace the sello too!)

Would the little fox like "La Casa del Zorro de Las Conchas"? that way you keep your little fox and the shells too.
Just a thought

 

[Br. David]

Careful with the graven images :lol: 'that Fox' is what Jesus called Herod :wink:

Must be my age and tv when I was a child but with that name I keep thinking of 'the mark of Zorro' .

hhmm .. Perhaps a Fox with a shell in it's mouth?

 

[Priscillian]

Foxes have always had a bad name, like wolves. They don't deserve it. When I was walking the Camino Aragones and feeling particularly sad because I had just parted with someone, a little fox "dogged" me for at least a kilometer. He was in the fields beside, just playing. On the same walk (between Berdun and Ruesta - a long hot day) a blue butterfly hovered around my (blue)backpack for ages as I walked and a flock of hawks were on the road before me; when I got close they flew up and then just landed on the road a bit further down. This went on for a good kilometer. I felt strongly that all these creatures were there to comfort me.
There are no bad animals, just misguided humans.

see my non-fiction book:
http://www.amazon.com/Being-Paradox-Loo ... 455&sr=1-1

 

[methodist.pilgrim.98]

Tracy, there are bad animals, only it is the fault of human beings that they have been allowed, or shaped, to become that.

Some animals are not bad, but their natural instinct is conditioned by their need for survival.

But I know what you are getting at.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

when I got close they flew up and then just landed . . . a bit further down

Owls did that for me when I was leaving predawn for Castrojeriz.

 

[Priscillian]

Owls were sacred to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.

Please do keep those reponses coming. Closing on 200 now and lots coming in in Spanish. I REALLY do need YOUR help...!

http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com now has the link.

Thanks. Look forward to seeing you at the Casa of the Little Fox!

 

[Priscillian]

by Priscillian on 26 Aug 2011, 10:31

Thank you to everyone who has filled out the survey. The response has been overwhelming: so much positive energy and some great ideas too. The community is composed mostly of aging farmers and their wives. If you have travelled through Galicia at all you will have seen how hard they work: those little old ladies in their blue uniforms out there with pick and hoe. It occurred to me that one way to "give back" to the Camino (quite apart from the regular job jar which is simply sharing work within the refuge) would be for pilgrims who WISH to, to help out these people. For example, help with that crop, mending that fence or that old chair, checking that electrical circuit, or even mucking out that donkey! A massive 71% have said they agree with me that work is an integral part of the necessary "meditation" to re-integrate Camino and self back into the "normal" world. Sure, you can sit Za Zen if you want to and no-one will disturb you. But for those who don't mind, this might be a wonderful way for villagers (there are 280 + one) to learn a bit about pilgrims, and teach us all something about LIFE.
PLEASE, as of this morning we are stalled at 171, but has slowed down- If you go to my blogspot and scroll down two posts you will find the questionnaire. It'll take you 3 mins. Tops! I REALLY DO NEED YOUR HELP. Can you help me get to 200 by Monday???Tracy Saunders
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com