The Dragon is a palpable presence on the road to Santiago de Compostela. I am not referring to the gorgons and gargoyles that adorn churches and cathedrals, those strange reptilian creatures with bulbous eyes, flapping tongues and pointy teeth. Rather, I speak of the gargantuan...
The Camino is a timeless story, brimming with fantastical myths and legends. One tale weaves a narrative that explains the band of pulsing starlight, The Milky Way. It says it was created from the dust of pilgrim’s feet striking the earth. The Milky Way became...
The Camino Frances snakes across the entire north of Spain. If you choose this Way you will walk westward, with the sun at your back, for five or six weeks. You are never alone, as your shadow falls ceremoniously on the path before you. It is...
"There is no song more agreeable to the heart, than the slow even breath of the pilgrim, learning to bless and be blessed by the mystery." Stephen Devine The Camino wrecked me for an ordinary life. I'd pretty much failed that test anyway, however walking 32 days straight...
"Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you." Unknown The unknown is good for us. I know, right? It's terrifying! At times, anyway. Even those of us uncommonly drawn to the Unknown, and its life partner Change, suffer moments of holy f***, what am...
"When you are in a car, beautiful places are a moment; when you stop the car, they are a cluster of moments. When you walk, beautiful places are an eternity carved into the soul." I remember exactly where I was when I wrote that. I was walking...
TWR “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” Ursula K Le Guin Pilgrimage has taught me many things and chief among them is this salutary lesson: There is no 'there'. Twice I've set on Very Long...
Travel and mysticism have been important themes in my life. In my early twenties I lived and worked in Japan, which enabled further travel in south-east Asia. I opened like spring time cherry blossom, witnessing varying traditions and practices. I had never seen such exquisitely tended...
"Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace." Amelia Earhart There is a calling within you to write. You know it. You long to tend to it. You ignore it. You are not alone. In more than three years on The Write Road this I have learned:...
During my thirties I lived in the United States for a decade and, for part of that period, I completed a Master’s degree in Women’s Spirituality. Whilst the course delved into archeo-mythology and Goddess civilisations of Old Europe, pilgrimage routes in Celti-Iberian Spain were not...
