[Gocamino] Santiago and things

[Blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
You know, a long time ago  Coco Chanel referred to perfume as "an essence  
that anticipates the arrival of a woman and lingers after her departure, 
prolonging it".
Well, it seems to me that such definition applies just as well to Santiago. 
I have been back home almost a week and Santiago lingers around me in such 
manner  that I am fairly indifferent to other things here  and terribly 
unwilling to partake of them.
But then, the whole experience of the closing of the Holy Door, and New 
Year's Eve, and everything around it were something that I full well know will not 
be equaled for me in joy, intensity, participation, life expansion  and 
exhilaration in the days remaining to me on this earth.  
And afterwards, the quiet and intimacy of the Cathedral, the beauty of the 
hauntingly medieval   town and the totally unselfish warmth and friendliness of 
its people were infinitely precious... and they all  linger within me.
(Would you believe that Mari of the Pilgrims' Office actually wanted to drive 
me to the airport the day I left?  That Jesus and Chelo of that marvelous 
Abella tavern on Franco Street plied me with food and wine, and presents of 
cheese and membrillo,  my  last evening there and would not charge me?  That Ruben 
and the other young people of the Internet center on Rua Nova would not let me 
pay  for using their equipment on my last day? and that the driver that drove 
me to the airport took it upon himself to carry all my bags  to the very 
ticket counter and would not accept a tip?.... and on, and on..?)
-------
But, one must go on with the other things of life.... and so, here are some 
items of information of interest to pilgrims:
ROLAND. If you have been as puzzled as I by the complicated story of Ronald 
and Charlemagne  and their involvement with Roncesvalles, and so on, I am  
happy to tell you that the BBC had a five-part series some years ago about 
Charlemagne that explains everything very clearly.  As is their wont in the genre, 
the British did a superb job.  Further, the entire series can now be obtained in 
ONE video cassette. The tape, simply called "Charlemagne",  does not have an 
IBSN number, but it states that it can be gotten by going to 
www.acornmedia.com
The involvement of Charlemagne with the Navarrese, the  Pamplona connection, 
and the death of Roland, appear in the last half of the second hour and the 
first half of the third, and it looks as though the artifacts in the 
Roncesvalles museum were used in the series.

THE ADULTERESS.  There is a wonderfully entertaining and informative book 
called "Diccionario Curioso e Ilustrado de Santiago de Compostela"  (Illustrated 
Santiago de Compostela diccionary of curiosities)  ISBN 84-95906-68-6  Tempora 
Editorial, that contains the following entry:
ADULTERESS: Stone relief on the Platerias facade showing a woman condemned by 
her husband to kiss twice a day the rotting head of her lover, probably 
murdered by the husband.  Presumably a lesson in stone  to be explained by town 
criers and medieval preachers  to women about the sacred duty of faithfulness 
contained in marriage.
In the year 1072 an edict was published excommunicating women that considered 
their husbands dead after they had failed to return from their pilgrimage to 
Compostela,  even if such women did so to be able to marry again.
Others have interpreted the figure at the Platerias door frame as a repentant 
Mary Magdalene.


The introductory page of the dictionary  contains a paragraph written by 
Fernando Sanchez Drago that reads:
".....Compostela es un  aleph, un castillo interior, una morada de Ibn Arabi 
y de Teresa, una alografia espiritual del contenido  de nuestro ADN, un agora 
del inconsciente colectivo...."
which translates poorly :
......"Compostela is an aleph, a castle of the interior, an abode of both Ibn 
Arabi and (saint) Therese (of Avila), a spiritual common writing of the 
contents of our DNA,  an open space of our collective unconscious"

Wow!

Hugs to you all,

Rosina