Current Musings and Past Reminiscences

The more you travel the more you find similarities among the people and places of this world - further proof that we are all fundamentally the same the world over. We all need to eat, sleep, breathe and love. And all that other stuff that isn't so romantic like fighting, complaining, going to the bathroom, dying... just keeping it real here.

I was recently reminded of our universal commonality when my friend Clementine who blogs at Musings of a Commoner  posted some photos of a traditional Philippine Good Friday procession involving floats covered with lights and doll-like statues covered in fabric clothing, jewels, flowers and other ornaments. The figures reminded me so much of statues I saw while walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostele across northern Spain.

Virgin of the Stars in a museum in Carrion de los Condes, Palencia, Castile-Leon

Though I am no expert on colonialism, it is likely that the Good Friday tradition in the PH has roots in Spanish customs that were brought with the conquistadors. Looking at the level of religious practice in both countries today, it is interesting to see that the number of people still practicing the faith imposed by Spanish rule in the PH is far more than the percentage still attending Mass in Spain. But that's a subject for another day...

Since earliest humans walked the earth, we have been travelling and sharing and intermingling our respective ways of life - not always in a friendly way - again - the colonialism example! Again I look to my experiences walking the Camino de Santiago in 2009 as a learning experience about how small the world really is and how much we all have in common. And how true Ecclesiastes is where it says "there is nothing new under the sun."

Camino: that way.

Here's the basic story of the pilgrimage. The Path of Saint James, or el Camino de Santiago de Compostele is one of several routes that criss-cross Europe to reach the westernmost point of land on the European continent: the village of Finisterre, or Fisterra, which name comes from the Latin: end of the earth. Ancient peoples considered it a holy place because it was where the sun fell off the edge of the earth - back when it was believed to be flat.

When Rome was expanding, her soldiers tromped their way across Spain building arrow-straight roads and "civilizing" (oppressing) the so-called "savages" who were the indigenous Spanish people minding their own business in the north.

Atapuerca, UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Camino, where archeological evidence of the earliest known Hominins of western Europe have been found.

Later, the Vatican issued a codex (ie. its version of history) that stated that St. James the Greater, one of Christ's Apostles, was buried in a field of stars upon which site was built a huge cathedral around which sprung up the Holy City of Santiago de Compostele. St. James had ministered to the people of that region and when he was beheaded in Jerusalem, his followers took his body up there. His remains and those of his disciples Saints Timothy and Athanacious are in an ornate little silver box that pilgrims can visit in a crypt below the Cathedral's altar even to this day.

The Cathedral at Santiago de Compostele.

Since earliest Christian times, ordinary people have walked hundreds of kilometres to visit St. James' final resting place. In recent years the act of walking the pilgrimage has gained popularity among people of all faiths from all over the world. Different routes start in different countries but the main road is known as the Camino Frances, which I did starting in the French village of St. Jean Pied-de-Port and ending in Finisterre. It took 35 days from May 12 to June 17, 2009 and I walked just under 900 km, averaging about 22 km per day.

Even in big cities like Burgos, you can't get lost if you follow the yellow arrows.

Everywhere I saw the struggle between faiths and cultures: if it wasn't the Romans conquering the indigenous Spanish, it was the Spanish fighting the Moors as the muslim invaders were then known. In almost every church on the Camino, there was a statue of St. James as the saviour of Charlemagne's army, turning the tide of battle against the Moors.

Santiago depicted more peacefully here as the pilgrim in the Cathedral at Roncesvalles. I can't find the photo but there's statues of him on a horse trampling an unfortunate Moor.

Fast forward to the 1500s and the Spanish sail across the world ending up in the Sulu Sea, landing on the shores of a lush, green country peopled by a sophisticated society.

Though Spanish is no longer spoken or taught in the Philippines, Spain has left a deep and lasting mark on the people, their traditions and attitudes. Having visited both countries, I have had a glimpse into the fabric of one society that has influenced another so profoundly. It's amazing to see the connections between people who have never set foot in each others' lands and who don't even speak the same language.

I'm not going to write about the wrongs and horrors of colonialism here because I'm no expert - I'm just a traveller writing what I see - and I saw much beauty, love, and humanity in both places.