March/April 2009 Spirituality
Walking the Camino Portugués
by John Brierley
This ancient pilgrim path known as the Way of St. James meanders up through the incomparable beauty of the landscape temple of northern Portugal. It follows "the road less traveled," part of which is along the original Roman roads Via XVI from Lisbon to Porto and the Via XIX from Porto to Valença.
For more than a thousand years pilgrims have taken time out to walk its solid surface to reflect on life and its deeper purpose. It is beginning to awaken from centuries of slumber to offer us again a time to pause and reorient ourselves in this time of unprecedented change. It provides an antidote to burnout and a vision of a brighter, more sustainable future.
Every one of us is affected by the current global turmoil that threatens our social, economic, climatic and ecological systems. However, the current chaos offers a wonderful opportunity to reappraise our lives. We have reached the point that the problem of our collective unsustainable way of life can no longer be left for the next generation to solve. We are living beyond the capacity of the Earth to sustain us and we need to act now in a concerted global re-envisioning.
In a sense, Portugal was the birthplace of globalism. The Portuguese discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries extended the known world to encompass the entire planet for the first time. Portuguese explorers like Vasco de Gama and Magellan gave rise to international trade and the unbridled expansion that has now, finally, come to an end. But this is also a time of unprecedented opportunity. The solutions to all our problems are available to us, now.
Einstein famously remarked, "We cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that gave rise to it." When all is said and done, we need a more evolved consciousness. This is where the Camino Português comes in so beautifully. Most of us are familiar with the daily busyness that seems to trap us in its complexities so that we never have time to reflect on our lives and our direction.
To bring about the required change in mindset we need to take time out from all the activity, away from the familiar and allow some spaciousness into our lives. What better place to achieve this than to walk the Way of St. James otherwise known as the Camino Portugués. All you need is a "pilgrim passport" or credential, a light backpack and pair of walking shoes.
The pilgrim infrastructure has improved greatly during the past few years and hostels are now available all along the route from Porto. If you don't fancy sleeping in a pilgrim dormitory, you can always stay in one of the magnificent quintas that line the route. The Camino has become the second most popular route to Santiago but it is still relatively uncluttered despite the fact that pilgrims from a staggering 156 different nationalities walked the route last year.
The most popular starting point is Porto but the route is now marked all the way from Lisbon. The first three days are shared with the route to Fatima along the Camino do Tejo, but the historic route then branches off at Santarém to the delightful town of Tomar, which has been associated with the pilgrim route to Santiago since the 10th century.
The knights Templar occupied Tomar as their Portuguese headquarters to look after the welfare and safety of wayfarers. Prince Henry "the navigator" was a Grand Master and the great explorers such as Columbus were almost certainly entertained in its illustrious court, which is now protected as a World Heritage site. From here the route winds its way through the best preserved Roman ruins in Portugal at Conimbriga before entering the ancient capital of Coimbra.
Porto is the next stop, which we reach two weeks from setting out from Lisbon. Another week will bring us to Valença on the river Minho before we enter Spain for the final few days to Santiago.
The route is very eclectic and is open and waiting for every one of every religion or spiritual orientation to walk its pathways and reawaken to a future quite unlike the past. You can choose to go on this route today - now.
And it may prove to be the pivotal turning point in your life when you experience the long lost art of spacious living - uncluttered from all the paraphernalia of our chaotic way of life. What are you waiting for?
John Brierley, author of A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino Portugués, has walked the Camino dozens of times and has written three separate guides to the Camino main route, known as the French Way. Visit www.caminoguides.com.