purificación

ayer hablé del mar y del alma (just discovered that it is el alma, but i won’t go back and correct it now). somos como olas del mar, interconectados, sujetos a las fuerzas del océano entero y eterno. ¿qué nos sucede cuando nos adentramos en el mar y dejamos que la sal nos disuelva (as in the song salva: i carry my heart down to the sea and let the salt dissolve it)?

what is this ritual about, that we go into the water, we cleanse or let cleanse ourselves, the ocean washes away our sins, manchas en nuestros almas, we come out of the water purified, new-born? can we be?

i see it as a symbolic act. we give ourselves to the water, we let it dissolve what needs dissolving. we leave that behind. we get reduced to our pure essence again. we realise inside the water that we are a minute part of the vast ocean, that we are an integral part of it. we are subject to its forces. we give ourselves whole. we trust. we remind ourselves, that we come from water and we go back. we float. we feel. we just are. no thoughts. we close our eyes, sounds are reduced, our senses are reduced to the pure essence of experience. we float, we flow. we are.

today’s start in muxia was a bit later than planned, but the good that came with it, was that the beso de la lluvia was short. still wet though!

today’s walk is amongst the most beautiful i have encountered on any camino. not always at the coast, but one gets plenty of fresh and salty air from the seaside (from the right for me), one hears the waves crashing ashore, forests, hills, up and down, past small aldeas, a few houses here and there. in a café i bump into chiara. we didn’t make an appointment, but we knew that we would be on the same camino, in opposite directions. another good bye or rather a toppo.

then i come across this donativo place in buxán. enrique applies one of his special stamps in my credenciál. gracias amigo!

i have a conversation with donato from mexico / california and then move on again. towards finisterre / fisterra.

one last hill, a few bends and i finally arrive at the end of the world. finisterre.

i walk directly to the praia do mar de fóra, the outside beach of fisterra. clothes off and a quick skinny dip. i know, not supposed to go in the water there due to rip-currents, but i didn’t really go in. just needed the salt water all over my body and soul. for purificación. later i had a shower for further cleansing. now i smell nice!

the rest of today will be dedicated to food. for the body and the soul and the body. restaurant, pilgrim’s mass, more hiking - in that order.
a hike up to the faro for the sunset is a must. and then i must hike back to santiago. or rather i want to.