“My only regret when I made the film “Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago” was that I hadn’t found a way to address what happens when the pilgrims finish walking. Thank goodness Alexander is addressing this very needed and vitally important topic. I am sure this book will bring much peace, comfort, and reassurance to many a pilgrim upon returning home. I wish it had existed when I walked my first Camino in 2008!”
-Lydia B. Smith, Producer/Director of Walking the Camino, www.caminodocumentary.org
This is the first Guidebook for returning home FROM the Camino or any pilgrimage. We spend weeks deciding on footwear, clothes, gear, blister prevention, travel details, and maps. Yet preparing yourself to return home is just as crucial. The return home is not post-Camino. Like a sign on the road in Spain, “Our steps end. The Way goes on.”
Table of Contents
I. Gifts and Challenges
II. Before You Leave
III. As You Walk
IV. Arriving at The Cathedral – Shrine
V. Once Walking Has Ended
VI. Traveling Toward Home
VII. Homecoming
VIII. Living Your Own Story
IX. Aiding Integration
X. Closure: Fire, Gathering, Service
XI. A Classic Rite of Passage
Resources
The front cover is the work of Marc Heffner, artist and pilgrim. The cover is intended to be evocative. What story do you see here? If would like to see more of Marc’s work, visit www.caminoestrella.com
Alexander leads an intimate band of pilgrims each year on a 55 Day Camino as an intentional rite of passage. He is an internationally sought speaker, author, and ritualist with a background in cultural anthropology, Jungian psychology, and Christian/mystical spirituality. He may be reached at www.quadratos.com
This book is dedicated to all returning pilgrims and to Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist, who taught Alexander in college and who has had a major influence on his own life and work.
