Ancient Trackways

[MJ anderson]

Gabrielle wrote:

...That is, other than Shirley MacLaine's book?  I'm not sure if I meant that
sarcastically or not.  I have yet to decide how I stand on that whole thing.

Carol Bradley wrote:

>      ...My point here is that I suspect the path to Compostella is actually much
> more ancient than the  legends of St James and the Middle Ages, and
> folllows ancient pathways from just after the last Ice Age.  I am not an
> archaeologist, but would be interested in hearing about work that has been
> done on the pre-Pilgrimage route. Looking at the guide to the route I have,
> it appears that some of the wells must be very ancient.

......I wonder if this discussion would be enhanced by a metaphysical framework in
which we acknowledge that man is a seeker--a wanderer, looking to be re-united with
something lost but only dimly remembered.  This is the theme of much of our great
literature. The trouble, in my opinion, is that  Shirley MacClaine and those of her
persuasion have a limited view of what it is they are seeking: a lost former life, a
cosmic theorem that opens the secrets of the world, etc.

In terms of the Camino and its probable forerunner, i.e. an ancient trackway, we can
see the yearnings of man to literally and metaphorically "go as far as he can", that
is, to finnis terre, the end of the earth. This is pre-Christian man's search for the
ultimate--but then what?

Before Christ, mankind was aware of the existence of God as the ultimate object of
man's reference. There is no culture without a religion of some sort--the attempt to
contact the divine that man intuitively knows is "out there" and "above" as well as
"in all things."   He knew this Divinity  was more than a god (small "g") that
inhabited every molecule of matter.  Pre-Christian man understood, as evident by his
rituals, that this ultimate God stood outside of and beyond the universe that He had
created. (In this sense pre-Christian pilgrims were eons ahead of MacClaine.)

He knows this because he has a dim memory of the time when man and his Divine Creator
were unified.
The Christian story for this is the Garden of Eden. But in some sense all pagan
religions attempt to deal with the break in unity between the Creator and the created.
Hence, the nomadic, wandering soul that in turn drives the feet along some pathway in
hopes of finding what has been long lost----

Northern Spain and Finnisterre made a natural a pathway to the end of what was known
(at the time) as the limits of this earthly realm.  Therefore it was "holy ground"
simply because it was as close as man could get (physically) to the end of the earth
where--just maybe--heaven would begin. A reasonable belief that there was not a break
in the fabric of the cosmos led to the belief that if one could get to the place where
the earth ceased, the other side would be where heaven began.

We may count it at Fatherly love that heaven sent the body (no legend, for in the
1800s the bodies were found) of St. JAmes  with his disciples to just such a spot.
Heaven reinforces a good intent and sincere effort, even if made in partial
ignorance--heaven we can say, honors the hope of its children.

Psychologists have studied the habits of small children at play and recognize in their
play the serious intent to be what they intuitively know they will be as adults.
Hence, parents do not make light of the childish attempts to care for stuffed bears
and the need to exorcise the monster in the closet. This childish play presages the
challenges and obligations of the adult.

In the same manner, pre-Christian man was at serious "play" when he set off on
pilgrimage to Finnisterre.
As adults solemnly participate in their children's most serious efforts, so Heaven, in
love, participated in the earnest efforts of Man to seek God. In a special and
particularly physical way, God reveals Himself via Santiago.

Christ Himself sent James to Spain. There is no scripture verse that proves this,
other than "Go ye unto all nations..." but James was one of the three apostles always
with Christ at the most significant events (ex.Transfiguration).  Spain,  a thriving
Roman colony, was sure to be among t he first to receive the gospel by one of the
apostles.  Legends and subsidiary history confirm St. James' missionary work in Spain.
That God sent James back to Spain after he was beheaded by Herod, is tribute to James
efforts there, and a love message from heaven for mankind who has long sought word
from God at Finisterre.

Today, both kinds of pilgrimages are discernible along the Camino:, the pre-Christian
seeking and the Christian finding.

MJ Anderson



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