(photo W Hayes)
Our moon is in is waxing crescent, 10% illumination.
Here is a idea that I have been thinking about for years really. I just got brave enough to broach the topic. How many times have we heard the phrase, “smelly pilgrims”. Yea, fairly commonly. There is even a reference to it in Walking the Camino, Six Ways to Santiago.
But our point of reference, or viewpoint is from the normal world where our bodies are soaped and scoured, deodorized and powdered. And where we seldom sweat anymore with wrangling only computers all day long. We are sanitized and shined up from stem to stern. That is where we think from. We would sooner die than be smelly.
But consider the Camino and the major lack of deodorants and other related products. I can remember seeing deodorant once in a month. And I didn’t have any. No one was going to carry that. They might have a spray for bedbugs that they were willing to tote. We all most of the time had a quick shower in the evening everyday and half of that time taken up by washing our clothes in there with us.
The emphasis was not on dressing up for the prom to say the least. But what if this was a plus in a way. What if we were able to begin to communicate with each other with these normally taboo odors. I believe that there was a channel open that we were not used to. There was communication going on that maybe was only picked up by the subconscious.
Debra my friend came to the Institute to visit today. I was telling here about this crazy idea that I was writing about today. And she encouraged me to continue, saying how about the ability of smells to take a person back to the past. And yes, everytime I smell a pansy I am instantly transported to my aunt’s flower garden 60 years ago. Yes, like time travel.
And the Camino itself had more smells then we are probably used to with pigs, chickens and cows all over the place. That was the ambiance. Yea, consider the role of smells.
Off I go, ferry ride just about over.
smelly loves, Felipé.
I am being brave and vulnerable here. I have only shared this with a few people, mostly no pilgrims, because of the surmised horrified and negative opinion I anticipate. As at home, on the Camino I only showered about every 4-5 days. As at home I cleaned up with a wash cloth very thoroughly morning and evening. I washed only the crotch of my shorts and my socks (don’t wear underwear!!!!!) most of the time and the deodorant was a paste in a tiny jar. I did take advantage of the washer opportunities often times when presented. Man, I saved a lot of time and hassle and didn’t freeze my butt off as often as others did when the water ran out! My hair was longer then and I wore it in a French braid most days. I don’t sweat profusely as some do, but I still sweat. I asked a select few to let me know if I ever stunk – no one did, they didn’t have the guts or they just didn’t tell me. There you go – true confessions! I LOVE the smell of people! Some are a bit more odiferous than others and many in that category I don’t particular love or like, but most of the natural occurring skin smells I truly find endearing!! I’m a weirdo! trusting I don’t stink (too much) loves!
Robbi ~ thanks for being so brave with this little bit strange topic. Yes, you know what I am getting at. And I don’t know how much of this operates at subconscious levels. I think that we were doing a lot of communicating without really understanding what was going on. See what Cris wrote on this. Felipé.x
Ha! A brought up the topic of smell in Annie’s pilgrims table 2 weeks ago… I brought up that neuroscience background part of it…
We are all in sync!
Ahhhh I love when love is in sync loves,
Cris
Cris ~ OK, the neuroscience. We will have to compare notes on this topic. See Robbi’s comment. Felipé.x
I will do my Friday post on this topic then!!!!
And weird enough, I got the “Mate” soaps today!!!! Prophetical!!!!!
Cris ~ funny, right? Felipé.x
Cris ~ OK, perfect! Good timing and all that! Felipé.x
Just to add a good smell story. My friend Pat de Palma got a call that her grandmother had died. Instantly, the room was filled with the smell of violets, so strong it almost choked me. Violets were her grandmother’s favorite flower. Then we saw a plaque on Pat’s kitchen wall. It read, “Miracles only happen to those who believe in them.”
Keep on smelling and believing.
Henriette ~ now that is interesting! Felipé.x
I love that story, Henriette!!!
💕💕💕
Cris
More for the smell story. A friend who worked in a nursing home used to talk about “old man smell”. Turns out that’s really a thing and at a few days before my 75th birthday I’ve probably got it. After a few Caminos my daily routine—wake, walk, wash, sleep, repeat—has become something of a spiritual practice; and I’m surprised at the effort I’ll expend to get the “wash” part done.
Dave
Dave ~ hi. Miss seeing you around, glad you are here at the blog though. Yea, aging is one of the great challenges. I’m planning on being out in the fresh air as much as possible maybe that will air out some of my old man smell. Geez, something else to worry about! Felipé.
No worriesssssss “Yerba Mate” soap is on the mail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We cannot leave all this talk of smelly pilgrims without a giant nod to the magnificent Botafumeria, the world’s largest thurible. Legend has it (sounds true to me) that the reason it is so huge (and takes six or more monks to swing) is because its primary purpose was to fumigate the smelly pilgrims with sacred incense. Sure beats bathing.
Henriette ~ yes, how could I forget? You have a giant point there. Maybe they should call it the Fumigateria. Felipé.x