Finisterre 2013

We arrived in Santiago on Oct. 25, 40 days and about 800 km after we began.

Arrival at Santiago...

After perigrinos arrive in Santiago, they go to the Perigrino Office, have their journey verified, and are issued a Compostela (certificate of completion).

The compostelas are issued in Latin, so Roxanne becomes Roxanam...

... and John becomes Ioannem.

Big swinging thing... one of the most interesting things in our arrival day was seeing the giant incense urn (the Botafumeiro) being swung in the cathedral right over the perigrinos heads. Apparently it was originally intended to fumigate the perigrinos...!

Leaving Santiago, heading for Finisterre - the end of the world....

Welcome Rooster 2

On the Way to the end of the world....

On the Way to the end of the world 2...

Shadow perigrinos 3. The Way to Finisterre has a vey different feeling about it. There are few people on the path, and this portion of the Way predates the Christian era. Pilgrims in those times would travel out to the 'end of the world' to watch the sun setting into the ocean at one of the holiest and most revered sites in the ancient world.

Cat siesta.

The end of the world.

Most ignored sign: the sign reads, "It is forbidden to hang clothes on the aerial." in four languages. Many perigrinos when the reach Finisterre burn clothing or leave behind possessions to symbolize the transformation they have experienced.

We found two other potent sites at Finisterre. One is the Hermitage of San Guilerme (St. William).

Hermit bed. It's a bit hard to see in this photo, but there is an indent in this rock the shape of a person. Couples trying to conceive a child would, errh... 'lie together' on this rock, right up to (including?) modern times.

View from hermitage.

The 10-ton Sacred Stones (Piedras Santas) - part of the Ara Solis temple to the sun. "From the diaries of a 16th century German pilgrim Erich Lassota, we read: “…at the Fisterra headland summit, at the mountain called Facho, we can find the Piedas Santas. The Holy Stones are two big and almost round stones on which the people conferred certain gifts. … These stones, even that you can’t move them back using several oxen teams, are easy to move with a finger, a fact that I established myself.” This site was allegedly the site of an early pagan rite whereby the movement of the stones proved (or disproved) the virginity of a priestess before she was allowed to perform certain ceremonial duties. The phrase ‘to put her over the stone’ was a reference to this ordeal."

Water

Finisterre issues its own credential.

We walked another day to Muxía.

Found another one of those cute cars - this time I checked the name - it's an Ambra, made by Ligier.

Muxía has a legend about "Our Lady of the Boat", Nosa Señora da Barca. St. James felt he'd failed in his mission to convert the people of Finisterre from the worship of the sun, so he had travelled here to rest and recuperate. Legend has it that the Virgin Mary showed up here in a stone boat to assure him that his mission had been successful, and his work here was done. It turns out that this wasn't the best advice, because James returned to Jerusalem and was subsequently murdered. This rock is alleged to be the stone sail of Mary's boat.

More of Muxía…

Dinner

Back in Santiago - tiny tub!