San Juan de la Pena

[Preston Pittman]

Leonard & Dr. Romero, we had a discussion on reasons people make the
Pilgrimage to Santiago (I think last summer).  A vast majority of people do
seem to make the pilgrimage for deeply religious reasons (piety?) but I
think enlightenment and spiritual knowledge, which Leonard seems to be
suggesting, seem to me to also be valid reasons which could spring from a
religious impulse.

Leonard mentions the Grail legends - yes, many places along the Camino or
near it in the Pyrenees, have associations with the Grail Legends.
Immediately comes to mind San Juan de la Pena, just off the Camino if you
take the Somport entrance into Spain.  The monks of San Juan de la Pena were
said to have protected the "true" Holy Grail for many centuries until a
Muslim incursion into Aragon forced them to send it to Valencia for greater
protection.  Other "Grail" locations lie along the part of the Camino that
stretches through southern France to Arles- not to forget the Cathar and
"Holy Blood/Holy Grail" sites.


>From: "Teruel, Dr. Jose Romero (WDC)" <terueljraPAHO.ORG>
>Reply-To: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
>To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Nicholas Flamel
>Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 12:41:12 -0500
>
>Leonard
>You are missing the best part of it or maybe you did not understand the
>meaning
>of this pilgrimage (Camino)
>Jose
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: lmorris
>Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 10:29 PM
>To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Nicholas Flamel
>
>
>Hi Preston,
>         After reading about Nicholas Flamel and the Pilgrimages to
>Santiago,
>I
>would say that the Pilgrimages to Santiago are a quest for learning and
>not one of piety, If one is to go on a pilgrimage for piety reasons then
>maybe one should do a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This is interesting
>stuff...In Medieval Europe Spain became a sort of magical place,
>harbouring forbidden knowledge, after all didn't the Grails story come
>from here and at about this time?
>any thoughts...
>
>leonard


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