SO MANY TIES

I read this article some time ago, carried it with me on the Camino, I read it when I needed a boost; great read, not only for the Camino but in our everyday life's.  ENJOY!!!

Buen Camino on you daily life's and goals.

SO MANY TIES!!!
Time seemed to pass slowly and what seemed impossible is now here. It all consists in starting the journey, you see a huge mountain far away and you ask yourself, how can I get there? Or how can I climb something so high? An inner voice said to me: "start the journey and you will see". After overcoming my doubts and initial fears, I realized the mountain was not as far away, it was my false perception that made it seem further away. Nor was it too high, but rather my soul was small. Really nothing is as we imagine it. All we need is to BELIEVE. And what does that mean? Well, just as it says, BELIEVE, and begin one step at at time, then another, then more, and before you know it you are there. That's the secret of the pilgrim- simply moving the legs. Of course here I am not talking about the deeper mystery, which is always spiritual, intrinsic, unexplainable even to oneself ~ I simply refer to how this or that person managed to get so far. How did they do it? How did they reach their goal?

I never imagined at my age that all these things could happen to me. Which? Well, deciding to take the first step. And what was the first step? Sensing the need to break loose from lots of things that tie you down and prevent you from moving. They say to you: what are you doing? You've got this, that and the other to do.... Obligations, plans, goals, in-satisfactions, sufferings, disillusions.... So many ties!

The advice in these circumstances is to go alone. Walk alone, alone, alone.... The most time you can alone. That way you make better use of your time, and you have time for everything and more; And prayer becomes a necessity, while life turns rich, simple and peaceful. In the end you realize time passes slowly, and what you thought impossible has been reached!

Buen Camino,

Where does the Shell of the Camino come from?

The symbol of the pilgrims to Compostela is the scallop shell, mollusk scientifically named Pectem Maximus, which can be found in the Atlantic coast from Cabo Norte to the Canary Islands. In the ancient times these shells were a symbol of Venus, goddess of love and fertility. The first Christians used it as a symbol of death and rebirth, placing them in graves. When they arrived to Santiago, the pilgrims would get one of those shells either by buying it, or going to take it personally from the beaches at the end of the world, just like the German Dominican Felix Faber de Ulm did at the end of the 15th century.

According to the Codex Calixtinus (3rd century), the scallop represented the good works, and in one of its miracles it got the thaumaturgical value. One of the medieval legends says that the scallop became the symbol of Santiago after finding many of these mollusks stuck in a Knights saddle in Gaia (North of Portugal). The Knights got into the sea to get a better look of the boat that was carrying Apostle Santiago's body to Galicia.