sillydoll
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2002 CF: 2004 from Paris: 2006 VF: 2007 CF: 2009 Aragones, Ingles, Finisterre: 2011 X 2 on CF: 2013 'Caracoles': 2014 CF and Ingles 'Caracoles":2015 Logrono-Burgos (Hospitalero San Anton): 2016 La Douay to Aosta/San Gimignano to Rome:
Someone has to tell the new and wanna-be pilgrims about the Camino Devil, so it might as well be me.
The Camino Devil has been around for over 1200 years. He can come in many different shapes and forms. You will see him carved in stone on the outside of most churches or depicted in stained glass windows. He preys on tired, bored, dispirited pilgrims on the way to Santiago.
Sometimes he (I think its a he) will sit on your shoulder when you are really tired and feel that you can't walk another step. That is when he starts to whispers in your ear, "Why are you doing this to yourself? What are you trying to prove? You don't have to walk every inch of the way. Give up! Give up!"
Or, he might be in the dormitory at night when you are lying exhausted in your bed. He conducts his choir of sonorous sounds. "Louder, louder!" he hisses at the pilgrims sleeping on ther backs.
Sometimes he follows you on the road (he is especially active on the meseta) where he goads you with words like, "This is boring..boooooring!! Get a bus, many people do. Why slog along this flat, boring path. Give up, give up!"
He gets quite frantic around Calzadilla - which is about the half-way mark - and becomes strident. "You've now walked almost 400km - why do it all over again? Why? Are you crazy? Crazy, crazy, loco peregrino!! Its like starting all over again - so you really want to do that all over again?! STOP! Get the bus! Better still, go home. go home!"
After Ledigos and Leon he starts to lose hope. He doesn't like being around Thomas the Templar at Manjarin especially when Thomas calls on the Archangel Michael to defend the pilgrims in the Irago Mountains during his 11am blessing. (Thomas does his blessing at 11am every day because it is mid-day in Jerusalem). He doesn't like the Cruz de Ferro either. Get past those milestones and on your way to Galicia and he will cower away, back to bother others coming along the path.
So look out for the Camino Devil. If he starts bothering you - ignore him. Tell him to bugger off and leave you alone! This is your Camino and you haven't done all that planning and training and traveled so far to get there just to give up when some pesky little demon sits on your shoulder!
The Camino Devil has been around for over 1200 years. He can come in many different shapes and forms. You will see him carved in stone on the outside of most churches or depicted in stained glass windows. He preys on tired, bored, dispirited pilgrims on the way to Santiago.
Sometimes he (I think its a he) will sit on your shoulder when you are really tired and feel that you can't walk another step. That is when he starts to whispers in your ear, "Why are you doing this to yourself? What are you trying to prove? You don't have to walk every inch of the way. Give up! Give up!"
Or, he might be in the dormitory at night when you are lying exhausted in your bed. He conducts his choir of sonorous sounds. "Louder, louder!" he hisses at the pilgrims sleeping on ther backs.
Sometimes he follows you on the road (he is especially active on the meseta) where he goads you with words like, "This is boring..boooooring!! Get a bus, many people do. Why slog along this flat, boring path. Give up, give up!"
He gets quite frantic around Calzadilla - which is about the half-way mark - and becomes strident. "You've now walked almost 400km - why do it all over again? Why? Are you crazy? Crazy, crazy, loco peregrino!! Its like starting all over again - so you really want to do that all over again?! STOP! Get the bus! Better still, go home. go home!"
After Ledigos and Leon he starts to lose hope. He doesn't like being around Thomas the Templar at Manjarin especially when Thomas calls on the Archangel Michael to defend the pilgrims in the Irago Mountains during his 11am blessing. (Thomas does his blessing at 11am every day because it is mid-day in Jerusalem). He doesn't like the Cruz de Ferro either. Get past those milestones and on your way to Galicia and he will cower away, back to bother others coming along the path.
So look out for the Camino Devil. If he starts bothering you - ignore him. Tell him to bugger off and leave you alone! This is your Camino and you haven't done all that planning and training and traveled so far to get there just to give up when some pesky little demon sits on your shoulder!
