pilgrimage as purely religious?

[Elyn Aviva]

It is also worth remembering that in the Middle Ages pilgrimage motives were
as multiplex as they are now. Of COURSE that was a time of deep, pervasive
faith, and pilgrimage by definition was/is a religious/spiritual activity,
but in the Middle Ages pilgrimage was also one of the few acceptable excuses
to get away from home and see the world! If not, there wouldn't have been so
many warning about the worldly allures that could tempt one on the Way.
Besides, maybe those very allures were a way of learning more about one's own
faith, by testing it.

I have often heard that the Camino doesn't end at Santiago--that reaching the
end of the Camino is a beginning. Perhaps it is a beginning of that deeper
exploration, as the events and experiences of the pilgrimage begin to
percolate into one's inner being.

Kathy Gower's dissertation (I had the honor of being on her committee)
explores the ways in which people bring transformative events from the
pilgrimage into their lives; I was struck by how varied these events
are--learning to survive without hot water, an epiphany on the Camino,
synchronistic events, a gentle touch, a gift of food. I was also struck by
the mysterious ways in which faith becomes manifest.

Buen Camino,
Elyn