by John Brierley
320 pages full colour paperback
The Way of Saint James / Camino de Santiago / The French Way / Camino Frances
NEW LIGHTWEIGHT EDITION -- FULLY REVISED
Welcome, fellow pilgrim, to The Way. The pilgrim path to Santiago de Compostela is centuries old, stunningly beautiful and deeply transformative. This route represents the most popular Christian pilgrimage anywhere in the world.
This guidebook offers all you will ever need to complete part of or the entire journey from St. Jean Pied de Port in the foothills of the French Pyrenees to the fabled pilgrim city of Santiago to Compostella. This guidebook features:
• an easy-to-carry, pocket-fitting size
• magnificent full colour maps and photographs
• a diary to record both outer and inner experiences
• notes on the history of this ancient pilgrimage route and its influence on European art and culture
• inspirational quotations.
Pilgrimage provides a marvellous metaphor for the journey Home, back to our divine origins. Why, on earth, would we remain in the waiting room? For Heaven's sake let's put on our boots and get going!
From student gap year to retirement, pilgrimage is an idea whose time has come around again. In the busyness of our secular lives, dedication to a spiritual path opens a space that allows for profound personal transformation. Within the crucible that is pilgrimage, a remarkable alchemical reaction takes place that burns away the dross we have accumulated in our lives, so that, over time, only the purest gold remains.
message recently received by the author:
"I've been back to my home in Dallas, Texas, for about a month now and am finally getting around to writing you. I certainly thought about you every day while on the Camino, and most days since. I so much appreciate the work you have done. I think of it as a personal gift to each of us pilgrims. You obviously love your work and the Camino. I've told others that I came to feel that love from you and saw you as my mother and father. As my mother, you kept me on track, put me to bed early and awake early when it was important, encouraged me to appreciate the wonderful people along the camino. As my father, you gave me history lessons, lists of practicalities, maps and directions. Thank you for all of these. Your books are wonderful!"
