For those who have yet to attend, on the third Thursday of every month the City Reliquary Museum hosts an event called “Collector’s Night.” Here, people are invited to bring in an object that has an particularly interesting story and share with the rest of the group.
As Paul, the event’s host, demonstrated, the item can be anything from something you carry around every day to an object fragile enough to rarely leave the house. For his example, Paul showed veteran and first-time collectors how something he has carried on his key-chain for over twenty years can still be intriguing.
After Paul’s introduction, this Collector’s Night first-timer shared something from her personal collection that, unlike Paul’s coin, rarely leaves her house.
After taking a series of self-described “soul-sucking jobs,” this visitor felt like she needed a break from city life as well as her employers. Through intensive research, she came across El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, or The Way of Saint James. This pilgrimage can begin in one of several places and ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, where it is said that a piece of the True Cross is held in their reliquary as well as the bones of Saint James the Apostle.
During each pilgrim’s trek, they have to bring a booklet, which they get stamped at several checkpoints. In order to be allowed to continue on your pilgrimage you must have your paper stamped by the previous stops. This paper is what this collector chose to bring in for the night.
At over 500 miles long, the pilgrimage can take both a physical and emotional toll on those who choose to undertake it. While our guest did not walk the entire path, she did describe how she was changed for the better in the bit that she did walk. In addition to meeting new people, she also changed her outlook on life and her career choices. While she did return to the same type of job that she held before the pilgrimage, she did come to look at it in a new way and appreciate the work she was doing.
For more information on El Camino de Santiago de Compostela visit this website.
Thursday, July 17 at 7:00pm