When Does Your Pilgrimage Begin?

In mediaeval times a pilgrim started literally from his front door – he would have had his mass before setting off where his staff and cloak would have been blessed and would have been issued with his testimonicales from his overlord giving him permission to make the journey (indeed after 1388 it was an arrestable offence to travel without this document which gave access to the privileges of a pilgrim and hospitality). He would have set off on foot (or by horse or donkey if he were richer) and, from Britain at least, set off to one of the ports before catching a boat, undertaking a sometimes dangerous sea crossing and then walking further to Santiago.

After arrival the journey would then be taken in reverse to get back home.

This then is quite different from how I, and the majority of others, start their pilgrimage: I walk to the bus, take the bus to town, catch a coach to the airport, fly to the airport and then it can be bus or train or both to my ‘starting point’. I have joked that to get to the ‘start’ of a pilgrimage takes every mode of transport available (okay, I have never travelled by boat or motorbike but most other forms of transport have been covered .. well, not segway either but still..).

The question thus arises then as to when your Pilgrimage actually starts – is your transported journey a part of your Pilgrimage or can that only start when you have seen your first way-marker/distance sign?

I would suggest that it can easily start from where you start and to do this you do not need to spend your time walking up and down your bus/train or aeroplane (something that would be impractical for anyone without actual balance not to mention annoying for fellow travellers and possibly dangerous as well as you would block the gangways). As soon as you need to leave home adopt the mind-set that you are now on pilgrimage, ensure that you say a proper ‘goodbye’ or ‘until later’ to your family and friends, do not get too caught up in the miniature of setting off (of course make sure that you have tickets/passport and credential and lock up your house properly but once done take a few moments to try to calm down [not easy I know], pray if that is a part of the pilgrimage for you or maybe have a few second to collect your thoughts about why it is you are going or maybe what you hope to see or do while you are away).

Then there is the return – extremely few pilgrims walk or ride back home again because of time or cost or because you simply do not want to (or all three) whereas mediaeval pilgrims had no choice but to retrace their steps. I know that once I have arrived at Santiago and have received my Compostela I regard myself as a tourist rather than a pilgrim but have had once experience where others clearly still considered me a pilgrim: on the plane back home we had our bags in the overhead locker and a few items were hanging down from our bag and one other. Another woman put her bag in the locker, stuffed the items from the other bag in and then very carefully placed my bag’s scallop shell inside with a lot of caution. When I thanked her she shrugged and simply replied ‘pelegrino’.

If you are a pilgrim from the moment you set off from home then perhaps you remain a pilgrim until the moment you return home, after all the pilgrims prayer says, ‘So that with your guidance we may arrive safe and sound at the end of the Road and enriched with grace and virtue we return safely to our homes filled with joy’.

Maybe then we can become tourists in Santiago but when we leave the city we should become pilgrims once again just as if we were setting off on the way again to Finisterre or Muxia.

Do you have any thoughts – where does your Pilgrimage start and end for you?