So why do you suppose that extension to the pilgrimage was added on? Are those final miles to the sea something that some pilgrims do? Or was it just to finish things with a dramatic sea-scape?
Unfortunately, that scene kind of took me out of the movie and made me think of The Big Lebowski.
Muxia is about another 100 kilometers past Santiago, it takes about another 3 days to walk it, in the middle ages it was considered the end of the world. On my pilgrimage I didn't continue on, of the people I met I knew of maybe 2 or 3 that did, there are daily buses that some people take to visit, most people did that. These days some people continue on and burn their walking clothes when they arrive. I can't remember any specific reason for people to continue on other than they wanted to walk all the way to the ocean, for the most part they had walked 800 km and figured whats another 100!
shareIt looks like an incredible place.
Congratulations on your pilgrimage.
Where did you start?
Did you recognize any of the places in the movie … that is, was the movie really filmed along the route … or just stages in other places?
Are you religious, and if so how do the non-religious people who you met if you met any fare?
This is one of my favorite areas of the world, it would be a real adventure, but I am not Catholic or religious - even less religious than Tom in the movie.
The group continue to Muxia and La Virgen de la Barca because the gypsy father, whose son thieved Martin Sheen's backpack, told Sheen to take his son's remains there.Sheen told the gypsy father he wanted to end the pilgrimage at the Cathedral, the gypsy father said no, the Cathedral is for mass and a blessing only, go beyond the Cathedral to the water, go to the water for yourself as much as for your son.Water: symbolism: go beyond the man-made doctrines of the church, go to the water and purify your soul and free your mind of all pain and suffering and guilt. Water: ablution, forgiveness, purification, rebirth, emotional freedom. We are born out of water (amniotic fluid) and it was a potent act of closure for Sheen to return his son to the water, to stand there on the edge of a vast wild ocean, an omnipotent tantalizing overwhelming cosmic mystery, all the waves of the past and present and future rolling one into the other ad infinitum, a grand "baptismal" moment he needed to forgive himself.It was also important for him to continue to Muxia because it proved he learned the lesson his son wanted him to learn - the world is a beautiful place and life is short and rules/routes/expectations/boundaries don't matter so get out in the world and live a little and step outside the rules/routes/expectations/boundaries. Don't just follow the same path everybody else follows, go beyond it.
shareWell, you are pushing it a little. The road to Muxia is every bit as much a part of the camino as any other. Perhaps the fact that he decides to walk around Africa and see the countries his son told him he needed to know is fair, but the walk to Muxia and onwards to Finisterre, are part of the camino that many take. He wouldnt be permitted to do anything with his ashes in Santiago. The gesture would be forbidden and is not consistent with the spiritual rather than religious interests of the father. In fact, in the end, the placing of the hand on entry to the cathedral was already forbidden at the time of the making of the film.
shareThe religious pilgrimage is to the remains of St. James the Greater (Santiago, San Diego, etc.), which are said to be in the crypt below the altar of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. Thus, the end of the pilgrimage is at the cathedral. That said, life does not end with the end of the pilgrimage, and many pilgrims go on to the Atlantic Ocean at Muxia and Fisterra (Gallego). Clearly, Tom's journey did not end at the cathedral, which had become one of many intermediate points.
shareSantiago is only the Cathedral. It is the Religious end of the trip, and you receive your pardon for your sins there. But the indiviual journal ends at the ocean where you discard you clothes either in the sea or by burning them. These can take place in Muxia or in Finesterre, which like Santiago, are all in Galicia (Gallego is the language, not the place)
shareWonderfully said, and yeah, that's the way I interpreted it as well. Imho that's pretty much the perfect ending.
If I ever walk the Camino, I'll probably go to Muxia myself.
Thank you, that was beautifully expressed,
shareI think you may be right about the sea, although it is actually something that pilgrims do.
You get the compostella at Santiago and anything else is an extra.