Julian Assange

[JabbaPapa]

Obviously have to be careful with this, I'll ask people to steer clear of all of the current affairs aspects of it, but, this part of the story does seem to be quite heartening ...

Assange 'visualising walking the Camino'

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is meditating about walking the Camino pilgrimage trail in Spain to take his mind away from the "vile" conditions he's been held in ahead of his upcoming extradition trial, his father says.

www.news.com.au

[Julian] Assange has reportedly been in poor mental health and is reportedly suffering an unnamed condition, which could be revealed in his extradition trial on Monday.

[His father, John] Shipton said the Wikileaks founder is trying to clear his mind by thinking of a brighter future.

"A couple of years ago Julian and I worked out that when he would be released we would go and do the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James," he said.

He said that each day in his prison cell Assange has started visualising walking another stage of the famous pilgrimage trail across northern Spain.

It is humbling to realise just how much even a simple idea of and hope for the Camino can help those in even the most dire straits of enclosure.

I'm reminded of Jérôme Kerviel's reverse pilgrimage from Rome to Paris in 2014.

 

[Bradypus]

The idea of walking a mental Camino when a physical journey is not possible for some reason is an interesting one. And one which may well be worth discussion here. But please do not go down the roads of debate about Mr Assange's legal case or any larger political implications or the thread will be closed.

 

[WildPlace]

When stressed or unable to sleep I nearly always visualise being on the camino, walking, looking at the scenery, listening to the birds, insects, the noise my feet make as I walk steadily on. I'm not quite sure that if my camino experiences weren't so deeply ingrained in my head that it would help as much as it does. I'm a big fan of when times are hard escaping into my mind

 

[FSP]

Tried to respond to this and have erased several previous attempts. I can think of dozens of better examples to throw out at us to start this discussion without an admonition to ignore everything about Assange. If you are going to put people like this up there as a "heart rendering " example you can't ask us to ignore them in the same breath. How about people in hospices, those with injuries that can't do another camino, those who can't afford it but dream, or perhaps victims of sexual assault who were victimized again by a statute of limitations and may no longer feel safe to do a camino etc etc. People in jail spending time visualizing not being in jail shouldn't be a big revelation.

 

[wayfarer]

Stay on topic please.

 

[David Tallan]

Honoring the wishes of the moderators, I will note that when people are asked what the Camino means to them, the word "freedom" comes up not infrequently. Also that it seems that many people walk the Camino after significant traumatic events or periods of their life and an incarceration may fit that description.

 

[naplesdon]

I believe he could do this in complete anonymity and learn from it. There are very few of us who recognize other forum members even after seeing our photo monikers. Do it!

 

[HalfDomeOrBust]

We are not to Judge lest we be judged.

 

[peregrina2000]

Tried to respond to this and have erased several previous attempts. I can think of dozens of better examples to throw out at us to start this discussion without an admonition to ignore everything about Assange. If you are going to put people like this up there as a "heart rendering " example you can't ask us to ignore them in the same breath. How about people in hospices, those with injuries that can't do another camino, those who can't afford it but dream, or perhaps victims of sexual assault who were victimized again by a statute of limitations and may no longer feel safe to do a camino etc etc. People in jail spending time visualizing not being in jail shouldn't be a big revelation.

As someone who thought this would be an interesting thread and that people could resist the urge to comment on the personality, I am almost ready to throw in the towel and say that I was wrong. I don't see any endorsement or any approval of Julian Assange. This is a well-known personality who has been in confinement for years and who visualizes the camino. This article is all over the Australian press. Any time an article is repeatedly printed in the mainstream press and deals with the camino, it is rational to think that forum members would find it interesting. A forum member thought that this article tells a story that is consistent with many people's beliefs about the redemptive power of the camino. That's it. Any news articles or any personal stories about the undeniably much more sympathetic people you describe would be welcome. But the fact that there was a news story about this one guy doesn't mean that anyone thinks his story is more valid or more compelling or more sympathetic than anyone else's camino dreams.

 

[henrythedog]

Obviously have to be careful with this, I'll ask people to steer clear of all of the current affairs aspects of it, but, this part of the story does seem to be quite heartening ...

Assange 'visualising walking the Camino'

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is meditating about walking the Camino pilgrimage trail in Spain to take his mind away from the "vile" conditions he's been held in ahead of his upcoming extradition trial, his father says.

www.news.com.au

[Julian] Assange has reportedly been in poor mental health and is reportedly suffering an unnamed condition, which could be revealed in his extradition trial on Monday.

[His father, John] Shipton said the Wikileaks founder is trying to clear his mind by thinking of a brighter future.

"A couple of years ago Julian and I worked out that when he would be released we would go and do the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James," he said.

He said that each day in his prison cell Assange has started visualising walking another stage of the famous pilgrimage trail across northern Spain.

It is humbling to realise just how much even a simple idea of and hope for the Camino can help those in even the most dire straits of enclosure.

I'm reminded of Jérôme Kerviel's reverse pilgrimage from Rome to Paris in 2014.

I have fond memories of various caminos, and anticipation of more to come - I also have days and experiences I’d rather forget, and one occurrence of plantar fasciitis which (with Tinca’s recommendation of orujo blanco) I am unable to recall. It’s not an uncommon mental passtime.

Given that some issues are sub judice and that Mr Assange is a divisive character there are many potential comments which would not be suitable on this forum- perhaps including my own.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I have a friend who makes her way through life in a wheelchair, although there are other health problems which preclude even an attempt at the chair-possible part of the Camino. After some discussion, she is trying out a Camino-by-earth-google along with readings and exercises her spiritual adviser has provided. Given that Mr Assange, like many others, might not be able to walk it, there are ways he can obtain some personal benefit, and it's a positive thing that he might be able to do so.

 

[sal777]

Recently had five visits to the dentist to perform a particularly tricky root canal. The anaesthetic goes in, the chair goes back, my eyes close, my mouth opens, and....

Off I go to my happy place - walking the meseta.

Works every time.

 

[mmmmartin]

There are several examples of Spanish prisoners walking the Camino and we can hope they achieve redemption. It seems to work for them. While a volunteer in the pilgrim office last October I met a really nice bloke who arranged these walks for the prisoners.

We can hope Assange seeks redemption by walking a Camino, and achieves it. One day, eventually, he'll be free. One day. He might then choose to walk a Camino and enjoy it, as we do for a variety of reasons.

Whether that is likely is another matter. We should wish him well. There is no doubt that among the many millions who have walked the Camino there must have been murderers, all sorts of bad 'uns. He'd merely be another on the walk.

I'm not without sin so I won't throw the first stone

 

[David Tallan]

I have a friend who makes her way through life in a wheelchair, although there are other health problems which preclude even an attempt at the chair-possible part of the Camino. After some discussion, she is trying out a Camino-by-earth-google along with readings and exercises her spiritual adviser has provided. Given that Mr Assange, like many others, might not be able to walk it, there are ways he can obtain some personal benefit, and it's a positive thing that he might be able to do so.

About 25 years after my first Camino and two years before I walked it with my son, I spent a week following the Camino on Google Earth and looking at the photos people had attached to the various locations along the route.

 

[JabbaPapa]

There are several examples of Spanish prisoners walking the Camino and we can hope they achieve redemption. It seems to work for them. While a volunteer in the pilgrim office last October I met a really nice bloke who arranged these walks for the prisoners.

And I'm reminded too of the ancient Camino tradition of the penitential pilgrimage, where one who for some reason needed to be removed from the community would, instead of being imprisoned or placed in house arrest, be required to go on pilgrimage to Santiago, as not just an exile but as a journey of redemption.

 

[OzAnnie]

Well I for one wish him a Buen Camino.

 

[VNwalking]

Him and how many others?
The only thing that makes this story newsworthy is the notariety of the protagonist.

So buen camino to him, and to the thousands of others who seek inner freedom.

 

[Saint Mike II]

I accept I may have overstep the mark in my first post. Apologies.
As I understand it the post is focusing on our freedom to walk and enjoy the camino as pilgrims. If I recall correctly he started his confinement about the time I started my first camino (in 2015) and I have now walked a second and maybe will have completed a third before he is free. How I cherish freedom.

 

[Bradypus]

Sadly it seems that a number of people are unable to discuss the more general concept of a Camino in the imagination without addressing the specific circumstances of Assange's legal case and its political ramifications. So this thread is now closed.