[Gocamino] a serious medieval question or three

Wed Dec 9 07:44:13 PST 2009

 Every pilgrim, everyone who writes about the pilgrimage, every person that
has anything to do with the pilgrimage, adds to the myths and the legends.
And everyone who reads or hears the different stories, relates to it in a
different way and takes from it something that has meaning or significance
for them. If you look at the different pilgrim 'traditions' , they are being
developed as we speak. (a good example is the 'tradition' of carrying a
stone with you from your home and placing it on the giant cairn at Cruz de
Ferro. This stone used to symbolise your sins. Lately, since 'sins' have
become an archaic notion, the stones symbolise the 'sorrow' we each carry in
our lives. ‘Sorrow’ is very much an accepted – and an expected – emotion to
have. Members of the ‘me-generation’ don’t care so much about what wrongs
they have
done, but they do very much care about the wrongs that have been done to
them.

Just so the handprint in the Tree of Jesse has come to be there as a result
of hundreds of years of pilgrims' placing their sweaty and oily hands on the
stone carving. Originally, apparently (according to the popular myth)
pilgrims wanted to touch the Tree when they entered the cathedral after
completing their pilgrimage. This 'tradition' has also changed through the
centuries and been adapted to changing relevance and beliefs. In more recent
times, pilgrims follow the tradition of 'banging their heads' against the
bust of Master Mateo --  or Santo dos Croques, Saint Headbanger, as he is
also lovingly referred to, the architect of the cathedral – in order that
some of his wisdom may enter their heads. When you bend down to where Master
Mateo's bust is in order to touch your head against his, you have to balance
yourself, and where the handprint is on the Tree, is exactly where your hand
naturally pushes down.

What Rebekah is saying, is true -- guides as well as pilgrims themselves,
always seem to feel the need to find a special meaning or significance in
every little thing pilgrims are 'supposed' to do, the little rituals that
have developed over many centuries. Whether we like it or not, agree with it
or not, feel the need for it or not, it will happen. Where there is a 800km
pathway which hundreds of thousands walk every year -- all searching - and
finding some personal or  spiritual or religious answer on the way -- you
will always have certain rituals and customs, many myth and legends develop
over time. It is only human. The Church has recognised this need and natural
phenomenon since the beginning of time and it is only natural that they
would have exploited it -- but -- as we know, this seems often to be exactly
what some need to  bring them closer to filling the need in their spiritual
lives.

I do agree with Rebekah about the 'three spiritual wishes' though. Depending
on who your guide is or which guidebook your read, everyone has a different
'requirement for pilgrims at the various way stations of the pilgrimage. We,
here in this discussion, could very easily start a new requirement or
tradition, right here, in this email chat. -- and in no time at all it will
be written about in guide books and in less than a year pilgrims from all
over the world would be doing exactly what we decide here and now 'should be
done' by all pilgrims. So, my point is johnnywalker -- why not just simply
allow pilgrims to do what comes naturally to them -- they meditate, they
reflect, they pray. "Making three spiritual wishes as you enter the church"
has suddenly become -- "making the wishes while touching the tree of Jesse"
-- and because of the body oils and perspiration of countless pilgrims and
wanting to save the remarkable stone carving of this sculpture, you now have
pilgrims who are distraught at not being able to fulfil this 'requirement'
-- not participate in this ritual. --- Instead of pilgrims simply entering
the church, admiring the Tree in passing, walking down the isle in awe and
praying to their own individual Greater-than-us. The Camino de Santiago has
more than enough natural energy and power -- we do not need the prescribed
instructions to experience the change in our heart and minds.

Wilna

2009/12/9 <johnniewalker-santiago at hotmail.com>

> It is called prayer dear Rebekah :)
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rebekah Scott <rebrites at yahoo.com>
> Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 05:32:12
> To: Miriam Martinez<miriam.martinez at pb.com>; <
> gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net>; Kathy Gower<kathygower at hotmail.com>;
> oakapple<gocamino at oakapple.net>; <johnniewalker-santiago at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Gocamino] a serious medieval question or three
>
> "three spiritual wishes?" What the blazes is THAT about? Those tour guides
> need to tune out the Disney channel for a while!
>
>
> Rebekah Scott
> www.moratinoslife.blogspot.com
>
> "Let us read and dance, and so we will not hurt the rest of the world."
> --- Voltaire
>
>
> --- On Tue, 12/8/09, johnniewalker-santiago at hotmail.com <
> johnniewalker-santiago at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > From: johnniewalker-santiago at hotmail.com <
> johnniewalker-santiago at hotmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Gocamino] a serious medieval question or three
> > To: "Miriam Martinez" <miriam.martinez at pb.com>,
> gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net, "Kathy Gower" <kathygower at hotmail.com>,
> "oakapple" <gocamino at oakapple.net>
> > Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 10:02 PM
> > I suspect the "loft" that was
> > mentioned is a wide corridor which runs around the entire
> > cathedral - it is open on one side to the nave and transepts
> > and on the other has access to the roof at various points.
> > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Miriam Martinez <miriam.martinez at pb.com>
> > Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 15:52:01
> > To: Kathy Gower<kathygower at hotmail.com>;
> > oakapple<gocamino at oakapple.net>
> > Subject: Re: [Gocamino] a serious medieval question or
> > three
> >
> > Hi Cathy!
> > I did hear about the burning of the clothes on the roof and
> > saw the place where this supposedly happened from the tour
> > guide of the Cathedral Roof Tour. He also mentioned that the
> > pilgrims could actually sleep inside the Cathedral. There is
> > a loft on the way to the roof where the pilgrims could bed
> > for the night...
> >
> > As to the spiritual wishes, I though you made the spiritual
> > request when placing your hand on the Tree of Jesse. I did,
> > but next time placing the hand on my heart will have to
> > do...
> >
> > Regards,
> > Miriam
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net
> > [mailto:gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net]
> > On Behalf Of Kathy Gower
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 3:27 PM
> > To: oakapple
> > Subject: [Gocamino] a serious medieval question or three
> >
> > I received this request and wonder if anyone out there
> > knows the answers...(this isn't a quiz)  I have sent
> > this to a couple of listserves..."Got a question for you:
> > our tour guide at the cathedral in Santiago assured us that
> > in the middle ages pilgrims would burn their clothes in a
> > large stone tub on the roof (visible when you go out the
> > north exit and look back at the cathedral) and would be
> > given "new" (or at least clean) replacement clothes by the
> > church. I said I'd never heard of that--have you? Also, she
> > said that the botafumiero wasn't used to make the cathedral
> > smell better but was used for some combo of disinfecting and
> > blessing. Again, have you heard this? And third--that when
> > you enter a church for the first time, you put your hand on
> > your heart and make 3 spiritual wishes. That's why she
> > thinks it isn't important that the Tree of Jesse may not be
> > accessible for pilgrims to touch--after all, the tradition
> > (??) is to make 3 spiritual wishes.... no need to touch
> > any!
> >  thing...."Just wondering. Maybe you can put these
> > questions out there to others who might know something?
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> > Gocamino at oakapple.net
> > http://mailman.oakapple.net/mailman/listinfo/gocamino
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Wilna Wilkinson SC, FITC

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