WHAT IS IT LIKE…
…to walk the Camino de Santiago as a non-religious person?
While the Camino de Santiago is based in Catholic lore and tradition, one does not need to be Catholic to walk. Indeed one does not need to even be religious or spiritual. About the only time this will be a question is in the Oficina de Acogida de Peregrinos in Santiago when you appear to obtain your compostela.
You will be asked your motivation for walking and those who do not state «religious or spiritual» as their reason for making the pilgrimage will be offered another document, a certificado, to commemorate their having completed the Camino. Many will walk the Camino for out and out religious reasons, others will look on it from a more secular viewpoint. Although a lot of people tick the «spiritual» box because they feel there is some (non religious) reason for doing it (it is a pilgrimage and there is something «richer» or «more» than most other long walks). And, of course, the religious rituals of the Camino can be also enjoyed from a lay perspective. So, if you love music, you can take joy in pilgrim’s masses and choirs and listen the beautiful singing.
There are a lot of nice aspects which have nothing to do with religion and all people can be pleased with. The scenery is stupendous and the fact there is so much historic significance does add a lot of richness. Staying in a hostel where people have stayed, walking the same route, for 800 years is an astonishing, awe-inspiring feeling. Walking over a bridge that has a sign saying it was built for pilgrims in 1200 is humbling. Seeing a service in a church where the same pilgrims mass has taken place for over a thousand years is lovely. And meeting lovely and friendly people along the way is more than a rewarding experience.
On the Camino you also meet all sorts, from older French types who have cars hoping their bags between the hostels and filling them up before you get there to monks. There’s communal cooking, sleeping, snoring and cheap and basic but really good and clean hostels the whole way. There’s lemonade stands in the middle of moors, there’s nuns handing out wooden crosses and blessings, there’s rugby playing priests, there’s chattering Brazilians who have read too much Paulo Coelho, there’s elderly Americans, there are occasional Dutch, Germans and Brits just walking for walking’s sake. There are blisters, there are physical trials, walking 40 or 50 k a day with a full pack. There are Japanese with plastic trousers against the rain which were transparent, heated and steamed up then fell apart (hilarious!). There’s great bread, cheese, hospitality and love. There’s hope and there are religious types. But the most important thing is that there are people from all walks of life taking a break from the routine and being with themselves, and friends. And probably, none of them is going to ask you about your beliefs.
Hear what experienced non religious pilgrims say:
It is an unforgettable journey. All your life you will remember it.
You will never regret to have made the journey.
It will be amazing, a magnificent experience, a memory to hold dear, and a peaceful adventure in the, along with Navarre, greenest part of Spain, and possibly the whole peninsula.
It will be magic, and god can’t do much about it, nor does he exist, right.
«Just Do It» you will not regret it . You will get whatever you like from it. Remember – «The Camino Will Provide»
So be and feel like a pilgrim. Your beliefs or your non-beliefs have little to do with the journey itself.
From Quora. Image: Pixabay.
