Pilgrimages are at the heart of major religions

Pilgrimages are at the heart of major religions



Acey Teasdale, from Australia, travelled to The Camino on a pilgrimage.


CAMINO CAPTIVATES TEASDALE

The Camino attracts pilgrims from all backgrounds and not all are religious. Acey Teasdale, 72, is a retired Australian who walked for nearly four weeks over April and May with her Norwegian friend Inga, 68, whom she encountered on a previous visit.

"In 1997, I was in the early stages of a marriage breakup, and I was lonely and unhappy," says Teasdale. "I went for a talk on the Camino and knew within the first five minutes that I had to do it." Then, Teasdale was captivated by the idea of people walking this 1000-year-old route in search of the best in themselves.
Having walked it 15 times now, she returns for the quality of the interactions with people she meets. "On my first trip I met and walked with a devout Catholic man, Robin, who has become a good friend."

He will often email her at the beginning of the year and ask, "Fancy walking this route with me?" They have chalked up 5000 kilometres together. Teasdale has also walked with both her daughters and her great-nephew and looks forward to accompanying her granddaughter one day.

There is something supernatural about the Camino too, Teasdale says. "It seems to create coincidences that may seem profound, or sometimes silly." She gives the example of how one year, a call she accidentally made from her mobile to her chronically ill brother's home in Western Australia was the trigger that alerted his sleeping wife to a life-threatening alarm on his intravenous drip.

Another time, she recalls pausing for rest on a bench and noticing a signpost naming towns ahead, and then greeting an American tourist cycling by who was looking for directions to that very town and had missed the sign. '"The conversations you have on the Camino, it's almost like they're meant to happen," she says. While she doesn't walk the Camino for religious reasons, Teasdale agrees the coincidences are "almost miracles".

All pilgrimages have similar features: they involve a trek of sorts, are challenging yet rewarding; and are driven by hopes of elevation, transformation or attaining of wisdom. However, prayers don't play a part in all of them; like Teasdale, all pilgrims aren't in it for religious reasons.