The pilgrimage that is known today as El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James of the Field of Stars) is made up of eight routes: French Way, English Way, Portuguese Way, Silver Way, Northern Way, Primitive Way, Madrid Way, and the Finisterre and Muxia Way. All lead to Santiago and many pilgrims continue on to Finisterre (The End of the World) and Muxia after arriving to Santiago. This pilgrimage has been around for many, many, many ages. From the first (maybe) to populate the area known as Iberians to Celts, Romans, Christians, and now a variety of people from all over the world who walk it for many various reasons. They walk El Camino towards what the Romans called Finis Terrae (End of Land) because it was thought that there was no land beyond this point in North/Western Spain along the Atlantic Ocean.
The pilgrimage has actually three destinations: Santiago and it’s beautiful cathedral, and Finisterra and Muxia that looks out to the ocean where after the sun sets one can see a field of stars…the Milky Way.
As the way of ancient traditions go there are some that believe that Compostela comes from the Latin word compositum (burial place) and others that believe that it is derived from Latin campus stellae (field of stars).
For me, I can just imagine people of past times walking the path towards a vast ocean and watching the sunset, waiting for the darkness to envelop them as a beautiful field of stars appears before them. The land has ended and the heavens have begun.
Notes:
IberianAdventures.com
CaminoTravelCenter.com
Ottwell, Guy. A Pilgrimage to the End of the Earth. Astronomical Calendar 2016. Universal Workshop: Raynham, Mass.
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