Hello to you listening in Lutz, Florida! (City tour on YouTube)
Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.
Today we’re celebrating Epiphany - a time of revelations - and what I’d like to reveal to you is the launch of a wonderful new book by my friends and fellow Camino travelers, Dennis and Ali Pitocco. Their book “Rites of Passage: Through the Landscape of Our Souls” is NOW ON AMAZON.
For those who are curious about walking a Camino you will learn that while you can prepare for a pilgrimage it is only by walking one that you let go of what no longer works for you and become who you were sent here to be.
The detailed essay posted by Dennis J. Pitocco on January 1, 2025 reveals what you can expect from their Camino journey of 40 days, 500 miles and 1,300,000 steps: walking, talking, laughing, crying, praying, and witnessing. You can read his essay in its entirety in the Episode Notes where you will also find a link to purchase your own copy of Rites of Passage on Amazon, with proceeds going to American Pilgrims on the Camino.
ESSAY
Forty days. Five hundred miles. One million, three hundred thousand footsteps echoing across ancient stones. We emerged transformed, our spirits awakened to life’s true purpose. The path became a mirror, reflecting our authentic selves and our place in the vast tapestry of existence. In the end, we realized that the Camino wasn’t just a journey across Spain, but a pilgrimage through the landscapes of our souls.
We walked through dawn mists that cloaked the Pyrenees in ethereal light, through sun-drenched Spanish mesetas where shadows stretched like memories across endless golden fields, and through ancient forests where pilgrims’ footsteps had worn smooth paths in the earth for a thousand years before us.
We talked with strangers who became family, sharing stories in broken Spanish and perfect smiles, with ourselves in those long stretches of solitude where the mind finally quiets enough to hear the whispers of the heart, with the ghosts of pilgrims past, their presence palpable in the worn stones of medieval bridges and the cool shadows of Romanesque churches.
We laughed at blisters that mapped our journey across tender feet, at the absurdity of carrying our lives in backpacks, at the joy of simple pleasures – a cold fountain on a hot day, a warm bed after miles of rain, the taste of rustic bread shared with fellow travelers in the fading light of day.
We cried for the weight of burdens finally laid down, for lost companions who never made it to Santiago, and for all those whose journeys ended too soon, leaving behind empty beds in albergues and half-finished stories in our hearts.
We prayed not always with words, but with footsteps, with breath, with the rhythm of walking poles against ancient stone. Prayer became as natural as breathing – in the silence of pre-dawn departures, in the golden light of cathedral windows, in the simple act of placing one foot before another, again and again and again.
We witnessed nature’s symphony – the wind through wheat fields conducting an orchestra of rustling leaves, the percussion of raindrops on stone walls, the soprano calls of unseen birds, and yes, that rare and precious gift: the absolute silence that exists only in places where the modern world hasn’t yet laid claim.
Our story is not merely a travelogue of our journey from the French Pyrenees to the fields of Galicia, but of a transformation. Our memories, like the path itself, wind and weave, double back and leap forward, and we honor this fluidity by allowing our story to seamlessly flow between what happened and what might have happened, between what we saw with our eyes and what we knew with our hearts.
"The true Camino de Santiago begins when you finish it."
We invite you now to shoulder your own pack, to step onto this ancient path with us. Come walk the Camino de Santiago through our eyes, our hearts, our transforming souls. Let us be your companions as you discover, as we did, that every pilgrimage is both universal and uniquely personal, that every step takes you both forward and inward, and that the real distance covered is not measured in miles but in epiphanies.
CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR COPY OF “RITES OF PASSAGE” ON AMAZON
This is our story, but it could be yours. The path awaits.
Author’s note: All proceeds from Book sales (net of actual publishing costs) will be donated to American Pilgrims on the Camino, a Charity Navigator 4-star-rated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the enduring tradition of the Camino by supporting its infrastructure, by gathering pilgrims together, and by providing information and encouragement to past and future pilgrims.
You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!
Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:
✓ Check out Services I Offer,
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Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team
Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts
Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music
All content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
