What is a 'Whole' Camino, Anyway?

[VNwalking]

@MCFearnley just posed this question on another thread.
There are so many layers to it--and depths of answers.

At first I just thought in superficial terms, about geography. Certainly the idea that there is somehow a 'whole' camino that one must walk to be a 'real' pilgrim badly needs debunking.
(Not even considering the issue here of distance to get a Compostela that @Rebekah Scott wrote about in the thread she started this Spring which is still going... (https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...m-why-change-the-100-km-rule-to-300-km.39220/)

But MC's question soon took me to more interesting places, about 'whole' in the sense of complete rather than anything to do with distance.
I'd be willing to bet most of us who are repeat offenders were only going to do one Camino.
Heck, I was only going to do one meditation retreat. That's another story--but basically begs the same question:

So when will I feel 'done' with the Camino--if I can imagine that?
And if 'done' is unfathomable, what is my gold-standard 'satisfying' Camino?
You??

I'll jump in by saying that for me feeling 'done' will be about transcending inner edges and outgrowing limits. And through directly confronting and purifying the self-centeredness that I can't otherwise see.
The Camino can put the ego's feet to the fire PDQ, and I love/hate that about it.

Plans? Ha ha! Yeah, right.
Opinions about anything? Hundreds, all conflicting in the small space of an albergue bunk room.
Having judgements and being judged? Oh, just a few...ad naseum.

So I guess I'll be able to say 'I've done what I came to do' when this stuff no longer has the power to hijack me no matter what comes up along the way.
And then would I stop wanting to walk more caminos?

It's such a hypothetical question, but probably not: I like being (and meditating) outside and on my feet too much. Anyway, it's a moot point because by the time the inner work's done, I'll probably be too old and decrepit to walk anyway.
But who knows? Maybe at some point I'll just feel not 'done' in terms of inner work, but somehow finished with the Camino and ready to move on--in the same mysterious way I started in the first place.

Satisfaction, though...that's a bit easier.

• If (even for one second) I can connect deeply with the heart, and the essence of all things.
• If I get out of my bubble of friends and colleagues who have the same world view as I do--and get challenged.
• Meeting a fellow peregrino/a who has a touching or inspiring story to tell...and all the sharing from the heart that can happen along the way.
• If I can give and (harder) receive...
• If I can connect at least once with someone local whose regular everyday life is actually on the Camino--and understand more about the people and communities we walk through.
• If I get out of my physical and emotional comfort zone and somehow manage to rise to the occasion. (Or fail miserably--but at least I know where the edge is. Whatever.)
• If I learn a bit more patience and contentment--and manage to laugh more.
• If I can relax into the walking without needing to arrive anywhere--and remember that a long long journey is only one step a time again and again...
• If I can walk where there are trees and fields and vast horizons and mossy forests and mountains.
• Seeing a wonderful natural surprise is a total bonus. The fox in the Pyrenees...the deer on the San Olav...the hot air balloon floating above a valley near Santo Domingo de Silos at dawn...or the Specter of Brocken in the morning fog from an alto on the meseta. A little magic goes a very long way and each of these moments is a vivid precious memory.

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

What an amazing question to stumble upon just as I was 'just taking a look before going to bed' (it's almost midnight here in Australia)... sigh...

...and this is definitely a Rilke-like question to be lived into some future answer, if at all... a 'Whole' Camino/a 'Real" Pilgrim?!? they're both BIG questions and merely labels at the same time...

For me there have been many different walks, many long journeys and just the one 'Camino'. Yet each experience has been a pilgrimage of sorts. Only some would qualify as religious but all have contributed in a similar sense to that Camino and grown me as a person in an ever expanding world view.

Can we ever be whole/complete?!? I know that I'm a stumbling and evolving work in seemingly endless progress. Surely one experience (not bothering about labelling good/bad/indifferent as this can only be known in hindsight and then from only one perspective at a time) opens onto another and another and so Life goes...

I'm reminded yet again of a eulogy which I gave for a dear friend who tragically died too young so many years ago. I was moved by how at funerals people come together each bringing one piece/aspect/perspective of the deceased person that they have known. Each testament is like an individually shaped piece of specific coloured glass yet collectively they form a stained glass window in the person's image. But this is still not the essence of that person. The 'Whole' person is the light that shines onto the glass before it is refracted.

Perhaps that is also the 'Whole' Camino we travel upon and the 'Real' Pilgrim within us all that we gain glimpses of and briefly experience along the many Ways.

...and I totally agree with your satisfaction listing... a little magic does indeed go a very long way and those vivid precious memories are, in the end, our stories.

As the good doctor said (with apologies to Dr Who fans):
We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?

 

[VNwalking]

Can we ever be whole/complete?!?

I hope you have managed to extract yourself and log off, @Wokabaut_Meri, and I am signing out soon...but just to say that I've dig around in my dictionary and am reminded that 'whole' and 'healed' have the same root (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So if that's the case, the answer to your question would be a resounding yes.
There are certainly no shortage of healing stories of the Camino--and redemption.

It's perhaps a better direction for reflection and in that case forget 'complete'. I actually think I meant that more in a way of 'it's a wrap'...in the same way as with every book, film piece of music or art where an end must be made even if it's not 'perfect' or even done.

 

[Deleted member 43985]

A nice post to spark some introspection...

For my two cents I can't imagine being done with the Camino, which is to say I can't imagine coming to a point where I have nothing left to learn about myself, the world, life, etc... Each time I have walked along those trails very different lessons were presented and although I didn't think I had set goals for myself, in retrospect each time I felt I had grown in many ways but also missed opportunities too. Perhaps just enough to start me mentally planning my next trip.

To the idea of a whole Camino, I would enjoy learning how much or little I needed to walk to still gain insights and feel satisfied. For example, were I to have a limited time and walked from Sarria I'm still sure I'd find nuggets of insight along the way but not sure if I'd feel satisfied but rather craving more miles, more quiet, more peace...

 

[Annie Little]

What is a complete Camino ?
Depends if in simple terms you refer to walking in Spain ?

The Camino starts well before any one arrives in Spain and continues long after leaving Spain.

So in fact the Camino is never over / done / complete .

 

[VNwalking]

It's always interesting to read posts that people write as they approach Santiago on their first Camino, saying more or less...'I'm done with this...' But then...of course often they're not.
But people do move on, as well--done and satisfied with that aspect of their lives--and this forum undoubtedly under-represents those folks.
So when are we 'cooked,' or at least satisfied with the journey? Your answer is simple and lovely,
@jozero . The moving target of continued exploration is what keeps me hooked.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

It depends why you walk. Religious reasons? Then I suppose anywhere as long as you make it to one of the many mapped Caminos, in one or many departures, to Santiago. Ask those walking to give thanks, ask for something or who have promised God to walk to Santiago if they got what they asked for, and I doubt they will tell you they have done a who,e Camino if they don't make it to Santiago.

Spiritual? It starts anywhere and ends anywhere. No need to be heading towards Santiago.

You enjoy long distance walking and like the way things are set up in Spain? Then a full Camino starts and ends where the various maps tell you they do: Primitivo is Oviedo to Santiago, Salvardor is Leon to Oviedo (since it's so short I really would love anyone say say they did a Camino if they started in La Robla and ended in Mieres ), the Norte starts in Irun and ends in Santiago.

There's a big difference between the Frances and the rest of the routes, I don't think the long distance walk Caminos go on much after one stops walking.

 

[MCFearnley]

When I posed the question the another thread, it was posed rhetorically. It is neat to read your answers. I originally wanted to pause and think of those who state that they are doing "just a portion" of the camino since they are not walking the "whole way" meaning they are not walking what has come to be known as the 800 or so km of the Camino Frances.

However it is whole if it has a beginning somewhere and ends at the Cathedral.

To me, mine started at the end of our Sunday service when my priest gave me the pilgrim's blessing on the same day as I was headed to the airport that night. The walking started on the Tuesday following and walked for 12 days. My Santiago pilgrimage came to a close the day after I arrived in Santiago when I attended mass at the Cathedral. That was my whole camino. Yet, what I have experienced I carry with me on this other, longer, ongoing pilgrimage that is my life.

Now whether I return to Spain to walk again is up to God. The pilgrimage I did in September this year was whole and complete in and of itself. If I do another one it will also be whole and complete in and of itself, not an addendum to or a continuation of the first. It will present its own challenges and lessons just like this first one did.

 

[xin loi]

Whoa there! To us Pagans, the Camino ends at Finesterre, anything less is not the "whole" Camino.

 

[VNwalking]

I don't think the long distance walk Caminos go on much after one stops walking.

Because? I'm interested in what you're thinking, Anemone.
My only experience off the CF was a brief 3 days last year on the Lara/San Olav--and I actually found the experience far more profound and lasting than I had expected. Based on that, I would tend to think that long-distance Caminos could perhaps go on longer...

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Hello Viranani,

The reason I say that is because I think a lot of the "Camino magic", the realisation that we can be kind, generous, that others are also interesting and that once we are not a professional, a home owner, a car owner, but a person walking with all they need on their back, is something that happens when in contact with others, and that happens a lot more on the Frances than on other routes.

Also, the fact that the architechture and history of the paths we walk on the Frances is directly linked to the pilgrimage history reinforces a "spiritual" walk. Not so much on other routes, even if the "original" Camino is the primitivo.

I find that people on those routes are people who enjoy the outdoors, walking, but necessarily looking for a mental or spiritual change.

Rufin would disagree with me as he writes that putting foot to the pavement for days on end does something to the brain, but I find it just takes me away from the rat race, but does not bring "magic".

 

[NualaOC]

Thanks for this very interesting thread, @Viranani. I've been thinking about the question since I glanced at your post yesterday, but I still can't come up with an answer!

I don't walk for religious/devotional reasons, so reaching a cathedral doesn't really mark the end of a camino for me. I know that my most 'complete' Camino so far was the Camino Primitivo, for a number of reasons. When I reached Santiago, I felt at peace and ready to return home, with no burning desire to return (for now!).

However, I wonder if this is perhaps an unanswerable question. Maybe there's no such thing as a complete Camino, particularly for those of us who are always on a journey - which reminds me of the Tolkein quote and the patch on my much loved backpack:

 

[VNwalking]

I wonder if this is perhaps an unanswerable question

Probably. But it's an interesting one to reflect about.

I felt at peace and ready to return home, with no burning desire to return

That's exactly the sort of experience that was in the back of my mind when I started the thread--that experience of peace, with nothing pulling the heart by way of nostalgia and seeking. It's why I used the word 'complete.'

I find that people on those routes are people who enjoy the outdoors, walking, but necessarily looking for a mental or spiritual change.

Thanks for your reply, Anemone--now I get your drift.
Yes...It does come down to intention, in the end, doesn't it?
I think long or short, on the Camino Frances or some remote untraveled way...if we want to transform ourselves by walking, we will. Distance or route do not matter so much.

Rufin would disagree with me as he writes that putting foot to the pavement for days on end does something to the brain, but I find it just takes me away from the rat race, but does not bring "magic".

Sometimes the magic is that people start out with the intention to just to have a nice walk and it turns into something deeper all by itself--and the relentlessness of the walking day after day is a big part of that.
So I'm with Rufin on this one. But of course it depends what you define as magic.

 

[CaptBuddy]

I think I've written before about my friend from Santander. Born and raise near Astorga, now a retired professor in Cantabria.
He has a binder full of Compostelas and certificates; nine from the CF, 2 from Le Puy, for a decade he walked a week a year with friends on different sections, weekend walks who knows how many. Now he and his wife walk from Orense several time a year, collecting sketches of wild flowers instead of Compostelas. And likely more that I don't know about.
He told me, on the day before our first Camino, distance is the least matter of the walk. That has stuck with me.

If it is a pilgrimage, doesn't it begin when I leave my house in Florida, no matter the conveyance?

 

[SYates]

... If it is a pilgrimage, doesn't it begin when I leave my house in Florida, no matter the conveyance?

Absolutely correct in my opinion! Buen Camino de la Vida, SY

 

[VNwalking]

Now he and his wife walk from Orense several time a year, collecting sketches of wild flowers instead of Compostelas.

Wonderful!
Again and again seeing the Camino anew.

T.S. Eliot said it best I think, in The Four Quartets:
"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree

Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one."

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Interesting thread and some great responses - much to ponder upon....

I think that this wonderful poem below could as easily be titled 'Pilgrim':

Traveller
Wondering and Wandering, Poems from Dharmsala
Prahlad Shekhawat

Travelling
from one destination
to another
Only
upon arrival
one finds
what was lost,
what
was left behind
and what
was worth carrying

After many journeys
the weight of the past
baggage
is lighter,
It is easier
to leave
left luggage,
to leave
the extra blanket
for the needy
to pick up.
What
was precious to carry
is a burden now,
Belongings
that do not
belong,

only
bare necessities
survive,
an explorer's
curious mind
makes up the rest,
Stripped
of prejudices
and judgements
one
becomes a mere traveller,
so that one can
or as the poet Tagore said:
'Scatter the riches
one gathers
on the road'

 

[VNwalking]

I am speechless.
Beautiful @Wokabaut_Meri. Thank you!

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

I am speechless.
Beautiful @Wokabaut_Meri. Thank you!

Says it all really, doesn't it?

 

[VNwalking]

I love the last lines from Tagore, about 'scattering the riches one gains on the road.'
There's such a lovely circularity in this...we let go and let go and let go, but then what comes to is are riches that have no material value but allow us to deeply shine--gifting others just by being.
Sometimes people go home from the Camino and feel disconnected...but we don't hear much about the pilgrims who just quietly go home and shine. Like lots of people here, I'd bet.

Which is as good a criterion for having walked a whole camino as any, I'd say...whether we actually feel done with it or not.

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

I love the last lines from Tagore, about 'scattering the riches one gains on the road.'
There's such a lovely circularity in this...we let go and let go and let go, but then what comes to is are riches that have no material value but allow us to deeply shine--gifting others just by being.
Sometimes people go home from the Camino and feel disconnected...but we don't hear much about the pilgrims who just quietly go home and shine. Like lots of people here, I'd bet.

Which is as good a criterion for having walked a whole camino as any, I'd say...whether we actually feel done with it or not.

Exactly!

It's also what this forum enables pilgrims to do - scatters the riches one gathers on the road.

 

[VNwalking]

Ha ha...and sometimes we just scatter our opinions, thinking them to be riches.
(OK, so speaking for myself here...)

 

[J.Patrick]

Speaking from a deliberately religious context that may well speak to those with spiritual motives, as well as those who are unbelievers:

Your Camino is done when you've done the work you need to do. That might be in one day's walk or 50. It makes complete sense to me that those who can't do 30-50 days do what they can and make the most of it. The idea that it has to be perfect and complete (whatever that might mean) to be worth while is puritanical and inhuman. Do what you can. Make the most of it. Dive deeply. Love broadly. Notice everything. Settle for the possible. Strive. That's all. Strive. And wherever possible, find a little joy. (One priest's take).

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

doesn't it begin when I leave my house

I believe it does way before...

 

[CaptBuddy]

Your Camino is done when you've done the work you need to do. That might be in one day's walk or 50. It makes complete sense to me that those who can't do 30-50 days do what they can and make the most of it. The idea that it has to be perfect and complete (whatever that might mean) to be worth while is puritanical and inhuman. Do what you can. Make the most of it. Dive deeply. Love broadly. Notice everything. Settle for the possible. Strive. That's all. Strive. And wherever possible, find a little joy. (One priest's take).

Namaste.
I bow to your Buddha nature.
A great summary of all things.

 

[JabbaPapa]

The absolute "purist" answer is : From your Parish Altar to Santiago and back again to your Parish -- but really, the more practical answer is : from wherever you start to Santiago.

But I think it's valuable to see Home as your destination, and the Way and Santiago itself as steps along the pathway home.