El Camino de Santiago

"For centuries and centuries, indeed since the very beginning of Christendom many pilgrims have followed Santiago's (St. James's) footsteps across Spain and they still continue to arrive in Santiago de Compostela.

El Camino de Santiago means freedom, culture, sport, nature, tradition, challenge, peace but above all it is freedom. Numerous emperors like Charlemagne, popes like Calixtus II, kings like Alfonso II, brave knights like the Spanish "El Cid" or the Knights Templar, noblemen, thousands of priests, farmers, beggars, travelers, the healthy, the sick, the blind, the lame, the rich and the homeless; all of them were pilgrims and..." More

These are the initial lines on the website www.caminosantiagodecompostela.com which I wanted to reproduce here in order to invite you to visit the website. This blog will be dedicated to El Camino de Santiago and will complement the information given in the aforementioned website.

To begin with, I posted the poem Ithaca by Cavafy, both in Spanish and English, which in my opinion gives a perfect idea of the meaning of El Camino.

Itaca

Cuando emprendas tu viaje a Itaca
pide que el camino sea largo,
lleno de aventuras, lleno de experiencias.
No temas a los Lestrigones ni a los Cíclopes,
ni al colérico Poseidón,
seres tales jamás hallarás en tu camino,
si tu pensar es elevado, si selecta
es la emoción que toca tu espíritu y tu cuerpo.
Ni a los Lestrigones ni a los Cíclopes
ni al salvaje Poseidón encontrarás,
si no lo llevas dentro de tu alma,
si no los yergue tu alma ante tí.

Pide que el camino sea largo.
Que sean muchas las mañanas de verano
en que llegues -¡con qué placer y alegría!-
a puertos antes nunca vistos.
Detente en los emporios de Fenicia
y hazte con hermosas mercancías,
nácar y coral, ámbar y ébano
y toda suerte de perfumes voluptuosos,
cuantos más abundantes perfumes voluptuosos puedas.
Ve a muchas ciudades egipcias
a aprender de sus sabios.

Ten siempre a Itaca en tu pensamiento.
Tu llegada allí es tu destino.
Mas no apresures nunca el viaje.
mejor que dure muchos años
y atracar, viejo ya, en la isla,
enriquecido de cuanto ganaste en el camino
sin aguardar a que Itaca te enriquezca.

Itaca te brindó tan hermoso viaje.
Sin ella no habrías emprendido el camino.
Pero no tiene ya nada que darte.

Aunque la halles pobre, Itaca no te ha engañado.
Así, sabio como te has vuelto, con tanta experiencia,
entenderás ya qué significan las Itacas.

Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)

Versión de Pedro Bádenas de la Peña

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,

pray that the road is long,

full of adventure, full of knowledge.

The Lestrygonian and the Cyclops,

the angry Poseidon - do not fear them:

Yo will never find such as these on your path

if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine

emotion touches your spirit and yourr body.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,

the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,

if you do not carry them within your soul,

if your heart does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.

That the summer morning are many, when,

with such pleasure, with such joy,

you will enter ports seen for the first time;

stop at Phoenician markets,

and purchase fine merchandise,

mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

and sensual perfumes of all kinds,

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

visit many Egyptian cities,

to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.

To arrive there is your ultimate goal.

But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for many years;

and to anchor at the island when you are old,

rich with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.

Without her you would never have set out on the road.

She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.

Wise as you have become, with so much experience,

you must already have understood what Ithaca means.

Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)