Following the Milky Way

heaven’s map of stars
following the Milky Way
pilgrims’ weary feet

Kim M. Russell, 2017

Buñuel’s The Milky Way

My response to Carpe Diem #1115 Buñuel’s The Milky Way; The Road To Santiago

Today, Chèvrefeuille has told us a little more about the history of the Pilgrimage, particularly about how Christians in the first millennium walked three sacred routes, each offering a series of blessings and indulgences. The first led to the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome and its travelers, who were called wanderers, took the cross as their symbol. The second led to the Holy Sepulcher of Christ in Jerusalem; those who took this road were called Palmists, since they had as their symbol the palm branches with which Jesus was greeted when he entered that city. A third road led to the mortal remains of the apostle, San Tiago and its travelers were called pilgrims; their symbol was the scallop shell. In the fourteenth century, the Milky Way – another name for the third road, since at night the pilgrims plotted their course using this galaxy – was traveled each year by more than a million people from every corner of Europe. Even today, mystics, devotees, and researchers traverse on foot the seven hundred kilometers that separate the French city of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port from the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.