Blissful Ignornace:
How I got it Together on the Camino de Santiago
Many start at the Pilgrims’ Office at number 39 Rue de la Citadelle in St.-Jean Pied de Port, France
and then follow the arrows
490 miles to Santiago.
Getting it Together on the Camino de Santiago
I first noticed the term “Blissful Ignorance” in an e-mail to friends and family dated Friday,
August 31, 2012. That was just two days into my Camino. It appeared more frequently
towards the end of my pilgrimage in September as I reflected on the improbable sequences
of events and happy coincidences that occurred along The Way. Later I would be reminded
of all of the things that could have gone wrong but didn’t of which I was blissfully ignorant at
the time.
Back in that August e-mail, I recalled the mishaps encountered while backpacking across
the Pyrenees Mountains and I concluded with the opinion that, “… I am glad I entered into
this blissfully ignorant.” Again on September 3 at Albergue Jakue in the town of Puente la
Reina, “I’ve just returned from hanging laundry and my newest friend from Vancouver, BC
agrees that it is best to enter into the Camino without knowing what you are getting into.”
Blissful Ignorance set the tone almost immediately for my pilgrimage across Spain. I believe
that no one can be fully prepared for the month-long, 490-mile walk. But with determination
people of all ages do attempt and do complete it successfully. The reasons for walking
vary. For me I had carefully rehearsed, “una jornada espiritual,” (a spiritual journey) to tell
the folks in Santiago upon arriving at the cathedral.
Wake now my vision, of ministry clear,
Brighten my pathway with radiance here,
Mingle my calling with all who will share,
Work toward a planet transformed by our care.
Adapted from TJS Mikelson
Wake now my vision was the final verse of the closing hymn that we sang at the Unitarian
Universalist Church of Spokane on August 11, 2013, not quite a year after I finished my 250
mile walk--114 mile bus ride-- and 126 mile train ride from St.-Jean Pied de Port, France to
Santiago de Compostela, Spain along a 1,000 year-old route called The Way of St. James.
These five weeks in Europe during August and September were a transforming time. This
stanza to me, sums up the nearly twelve months of hindsight about what I have learned
from that experience. If this vision of a clear ministry is not fully realized even after a year,
perhaps through retelling this story we all may be inspired to … Work toward a planet
transformed by our care.
Mikelson’s other stanzas appear below at points to emphasize places or times when I felt
particularly moved by my connectedness to the place or inspired by the moment on this
jornada espiritual.
In Spain the Way of St. James is called the Camino de Santiago. In France it is the
Chemins de Saint-Jacques. One of the most popular routes (in dark red, below) crosses the
northern regions of Spain which ends at the tomb of the Apostle James underneath the High
Altar in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Many Europeans begin at their
doorstep, in fact I met one lady who had walked 120 days from her home in Amsterdam.
Another woman of about 70 years of age started from her home in the Austrian Alps. She
would walk for one or two weeks a year as time allowed and then restart her walk from the
place where she left off the previous year. This was her seventh year, and she hoped to
reach Santiago this summer. We were among the more than 192,000 people who walked
the Camino in 2012.
Pilgrimage routes and the abstract scallop shell on a yellow and blue sign that directed the way
The purpose of the walk is to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the apostle. The
Catholic Church rewards the successful pilgrim with a Plenary Indulgence as evidenced by
a document called a Compostela to those who make the journey for religious or spiritual
reasons.
The Chapter of this Holy and
Apostolic Metropolitan Cathedral
of St. James, custodian of the seal
of St. James’ Altar, to all faithful
and pilgrims who come from
everywhere over the world as an
act of devotion, under vow or
promise to the Apostle’s Tomb,
our Patron and Protector of Spain,
witness in the sight of all who read
this document that: Mr. Carolum
Elsen has visited devoutly this
Sacred Church in a religious sense.
Witness whereof I hand this
document over to him,
authenticated by the seal of this
Sacred Church. Given in St. James
de Compostela on the 18 day of
September A. D. 2012.
Translation of the Latin Compostela
I encountered many non-Catholics and I’m sure many who were not Christian who made the
journey. The reasons for walking the Camino are as varied as the people who walk or
bicycle it. Whatever the reason, my feeling is summed up by the observation of “Jack from
Ireland” in the Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez movie, “The Way.” Jack said, “No one
walks the Camino by Accident.” Another observed, “You don’t do the Camino, the Camino
does you.” Even now, I can’t explain my motivation. It was just a feeling-- something that I
felt compelled to do.
I first became aware of the Camino de Santiago during a vacation to Portugal and Spain in
1992 which included three days at the Seville World’s Fair. One of the theme pavilions was
called the Fifteenth Century. In it, visitors experienced walking the Camino. Curiously, I
remember nothing about the pavilion or this experience. All I recall is leaving the building
and entering a garden that was supposed to represent the New World in 1492. Years after
that vacation, I typed up a very rough draft of my travel journals. I have kept both that draft
and an e-mail to my sister, Rose dated March 9, 2000. “Who is el apostol Santiago? I’m
still typing up my notes from the Portugal and Spain trip. The notes say John, but I think it’s
James. The Internet sites I found for Santiago de Compostela (where he is supposed to be
buried) are in Spanish, so that’s no help.” Rose assured me that, “Santiago is James.” He
was among the first called by Jesus at the Sea of Galilee. The Pilgrimage to Santiago must
have always been in the back of my mind, but I didn’t think or do much more about it at that
time. Around 2008, I ordered a book, “The Roads to Santiago.” I never read it. And I
didn’t think or do much more about it at that time, either. Shortly after Christmastime, 2011
my other sister, Carol who was on deployment on the USS Bataan visited Lisbon as a
Liberty Port on her way home. The anticipation of her visit to Lisbon caused me to organize
my sloppy, handwritten notes in spiral pocketbooks from 1992 and the heavily edited and
censored manuscript from 2000. I put together the pictures and story of that vacation from
21 years ago. In doing so memories of Spain, the World’s Fair, and the brief comments
about experiencing the Camino de Santiago returned.
In 2011, I had reached a landmark anniversary at work which gave me my fourth week of
paid vacation. By happy coincidence, that is about the length of time needed to walk the
most popular 490 mile Camino Frances from the Basque region in France at St.-Jean Pied
de Port (or Roncesvalles, Spain if you want to skip the Pyrenees Mountains) to the
cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. All of the sudden, I became very interested. I knew
that I would not be able to take all four weeks of vacation at once, so I considered walking
two weeks and then continuing on with the hope of finishing the next year. While many do
make their Camino that way, it was not a satisfying option for me. I was pretty much
resigned to the fact that if I were in good health in ten years, it would make a nice retirement
gift that I could give to myself.
By even happier coincidence (in hindsight, mind you-- it did not seem happy at the time) my
employment situation changed so that I could allow myself the luxury of four weeks to
traipse across Europe.
And so I did.
St.-Jean is just across the border (and a mountain range) from Roncesvalles
September 18, 2012. Is this dude happy, or what?
Obradoiro Square, facing the cathedral