Coming together

Well things are coming together.  I found a nice biker's shirt at Marshalls that is lightweight, vented in the back, and reflects light at night.  And Sierra Trading Post has proved to be a treasure chest, where I found a pair of ultra lightweight pants that zip-off to become shorts. 

 

 Like I mentioned earlier, the climate is supposed to be a humid oceanic one, similar to the coasts of Oregon and Washington State, with an average high in October of 65 degrees F,  a low of 50 F, and frequent light showers.  My featherweight  waterproof parka should come in handy.  I have also decided to discard a small plastic drinking container for a collapsible one because of space considerations.

  
Weight and volume have become very important if I am to keep my daypack to 14-15 lbs.  (I've added a pound to my original 14 because I will be taking my tablet, which already weighs 14 oz.) 



I have made good headway into Mullins's The Pilgrimage to Santiago.  His descriptions of churches and statuary are so good that I find myself looking up photos in Google Images to confirm them for myself. 

 For his trip Mullins took along the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century guidebook and Richard Ford's 1845 English work, A Handbook for Travellers in Spain, to compare them to his 20th century experience.  Ford, who traveled extensively in Spain during the 19th century, was known primarily for this two-volume work. The former title, the Codex Calixtinus, or Liber Sancti Jacobi, a five-volume work, was published in the form of an illuminated manuscript, once attributed to Pope Callixtus II, but is now believed to have been arranged by the French scholar Aymeric Picaud. According to Wikipedia, the work was intended as a sourcebook of information for pilgrims following the Way of St. James, and is quite a compendium, including sermons, reports of miracles, liturgical texts associated with St. James, and a set of polyphonic musical pieces, in addition to descriptions of the route, works of art to be seen along the way, and local customs. 
 

Detail from the Codex Calixtinus showing St. James the Great

I have more modest plans and will be taking photocopied pages from two recommended guidebooks along with the Kindle version for android of Denis Houde's Camino Frances - 1 week, Sarria to Compostela Section (Camino de Santiago Guidebooks).  Hope I can get the latter to work because it still seems rather buggy to me even though I have re-installed the software and reloaded it several times...

Out of curiousity, I have also just downloaded the Kindle version of William Melczer's 1993 title, The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela, an English translation of book 5 of the Codex Calixtinus, in which the author also discusses the work in great depth. Melczer was a professor of Medieval & Renaissance Studies at Syracuse University until his death in 1995, and apparently lead many travel seminars along the Camino.  I should have time to finish it before my trek there.

Click on the link below for more on the Codex Calixtinus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70YDpSo2MRI&list=PLBCD853A40150E02D 

 

Waiting

I have sent out an email to the MCPL retired librarian's listserv to see if there is anyone that might be interested in walking the Camino with me.  One librarian wrote back saying that she and her husband were considering doing part of the pilgrim route, but not this year.  I've also emailed a few of the alberques [hostels] where I plan to stay, to make sure they accept reservations, and to ask if they have individual rooms available, in addition to their dormitories.  I am planning on staying in private alberques, which, unlike the public ones, might permit prior booking.

This afternoon I had lunch with another friend, back from a week in France, who brought me back a book on the origins of the pilgrim route.  Entitled Origines et histoires des chemins de Compostelle, the author, Jacques Chocheyras, professor emeritus of the Stendhal University of Grenoble, is a specialist in popular hagiographic literature, that is to say, the history of the lives of the saints.  According to him, the bones in Santiago de Compostela are likely those of Priscillian, bishop of Avila, an early ascetic Christian mystic and contemporary of Augustine, executed as a heretic in 385 A.D. in Trier. His remains, along with those of two companions, were apparently brought back to Galicia where he was considered a martyr.  

Chocheyras maintains that the confusion of the life of Priscillian and those of 4 Jacques [James in English]:  the two apostles called James, James the the brother of Jesus, and even a Syrian, Jacobus Baradaeus, a 6th century Bishop of Edessa, resulted in the 9th century legend concerning the remains of Saint James, and the subsequent pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.  It is the Apostle James "the greater", the brother of John, and son of Zebedee, that is supposed to be buried there. This James has frequently been confused with the other Apostle James [the son of Alphaeus], known as James "the lesser" and, likewise, with James [the brother of Jesus], also known as James "the Just."  Jacobus Baradaeus was considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his burial site was also confused with that of that of James, son of Alphaeus. Jacobus, also buried with two companions, ended up cited in a Byzantine catalogue of pilgrimages, which later found its way to Galicia. Another tradition has the remains of St. James the Apostle at the Basilica of St. Sernin which also happens to be on the pilgrimage route! Go figure...

As for the legend of the "stone boat" transporting the body of Saint James, Chocheyras concludes that the heavy sarcophage of Priscillian and his companions so weighed down the boat that it seemed to float as it traveled down the Sar River in Galicia towards its final resting place in Santiago, thus contributing to the popular oral tradition.

Today I was also pleased to receive a pair of lightweight merino wool socks I had ordered in the mail a week ago, to take with me on the Camino.  Several sources have recommended wool as the best sock fabric to wear, cotton being the worst, so I am taking their advice.  I've now washed them and added them to the day pack of clothes I intend to take with me!

 And minutes ago I received an email from a prospective renter of my Paris apartment saying that the Camino de Santiago is one of her dream walks.  It is amazing how many Americans have heard of it--maybe it is a result of the film... Like I commented earlier, though, in the previous entry, it is amazing how many organizations exist, certainly in cyberspace, related to what is known in English as the St. James Way.