37/38 The Magic Moment
Today was the only day I got up early and started walking in the dark. Not that I was in any hurry, but I was done sleeping and ready to go. With 18 km of walking left it was a very manageable home run. It was quite fun to walk through a dark forest watching pilgrims hunting with little torches for Camino signs. 
Video still: city limits Santiago
As my mind wandered ahead wondering what walking to the cathedral would be like, I was jolted back into the here and now by a sign indicating the city limit of Santiago. I made it! I reached Santiago, not by bus to seeking medical help, not by bus to buy a new camera, no today was very different. I had come to Santiago on foot to complete El Camino an experience that I am still not able to express in words. My body began to sob from the depth of my being as I walked across the bridge and the city limits. A deep release took place, this was not some superficial little cry about a special moment. Oh sunglasses are such practical fashion items. 
Video still: the last steps
Like most days, tears flowed quietly, tears of being overwhelmed by the magnitude of this walk, tears of relief, tears of release, tears of gratitude for the healing that was taking place. I have never cried so many days in a row in my life, I was wondering if it would ever stop or if I would become an emotional ‘wreck’ forever? Oops, back to the here and now as I nearly got lost walking through the outer suburbs of the city where signs are fewer and less obvious. The last two kilometres through the outskirts of Santiago were just long enough to complete the last bit of processing before I entered the beautiful old city. I walked to the centre of the main square in front of the cathedral to the magic 0 km point. Done!
Video still: filling the botafumeiro
I entered the cathedral, just in time for the last bit of the daily pilgrim’s mass. It being a weekend day, it was packed with tourist who were there to witness the swinging of the enormous botafumeiro, an incense vessel that is swung across the lofty cathedral from ceiling to ceiling by a team of men. 
Video still: the botafumeiro
It is a dramatic auditory, visual and olfactory ritual filling the cathedral with incense while a nun sings angelically and the organ plays full blast, enough to quiver any emotionally charged and physically exhausted pilgrim to tears. People clap at the end as if they watched a trapeze artiste in action. Cameras flash at the botafumeiro like paparazzi at a superstar. I was filming too of course, just like everyone else, including one of the officiating priests. I had difficulty holding my camera still though. Unexplainable emotions were sobbing their way out of my body.
Video still: the botafumeiro
Maybe the swinging of this enormous vessel to these dazzling heights with amazing precision (it misses the ceilings only by a few inches) sums up the overwhelming experience of El Camino. Something so simple yet so grand, full of spectacular religion yet so down to earth spiritual, full of drama yet so humbling, full of pain yet so healing, full of people yet filled with Devine solitude. Maybe this is the most fitting show the Catholic Church could stage that is within its rules to honour and sum up the pilgrim’s experience. Why it is only done at weekends I don’t know, as pilgrims arriving on weekdays deserve the same grand finale. 
Video still: altar statue of St. James, people hug the statue from behind, a strange way to hug someone, let alone a statue.
Three further acts are expected from pilgrims; 1) The touching of a pillar in the Portico de la Gloria with your hand below a statue of St. James, symbolising placing yourself under the protection of St. James and touch the stone head at the back of the pillar representing the sculptor in the wish go attain a fraction of his wisdom, 2) hug St. James’ statue at the main altar from behind, 3) visit his tomb in the crypt. After that one can go to the pilgrims office to receive the Compostella, the official certificate granted by the cathedral chapter, proof that one has walked at least 100 or more kilometers of El Camino de Santiago. I think I have done about 400, just over half of 764 I intended to walk. 
Video still: the botafumeiro
With duties done, I began to wonder if any familiar faces from the journey made it too. It didn’t take long to find them or for them to find me. A city, so far from home, had become a meeting ground of familiar faces, exchanging hugs, kisses, well-deserved praises and congratulations. Tears of joy, relief and sadness flow as the journey is now over.
Video still: reunions all day and night in cathedral square
