Locos

One "interesting" thing about the Camino de Santiago is the "interesting" collection of people you meet. I´ve met lots of people on my wavelength, lots from - ahem - other wavelengths, and possibly other realities, and a good handful of crazies. Among the more interesting people of recent encounter:
- A man named Tomas who is convinced he is the last Templar. He´s crazy, but sane enough to live just this side of hospitalization. He lives on the top of a mountain and runs a refuge. (Yep, people stay there. I´d stay there. They say that what it lacks in facilities - such as beds, water, or toilets - it makes up for in "character.") He dresses up like a Templar, does a "prayer for peace" while hitting his special bell with his special sword, and talks about how the Apocalypse is coming this November.
- A Lithuanian family, traveling the Camino with a stroller for their 18-month-old, a few cartons of fifty-cent wine, and a little supply of hash. Dad has conspiracy theories about 9/11, and Mom identifies herself as a witch.
- A man named Ferron who instructed me today on the "energy centers" upon which all Catholic churches were secretly built. We walked around a 12th-century church with his two metal sticks, which - obviously - help to find things such as underground rivers, solar energy nets, and faults in the earth´s plates. Priests know where to stand to open up the energy from these natural resources.
See? It really is interesting, this Camino.