Family Law Attorney Explains How the Camino De Santiago Has Influenced Her Life and the Law Firm She Has Founded

Greensboro, North Carolina -

Camino Law, a non-traditional law firm based in Greensboro, NC, was significantly influenced by the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage that Abigail C. Seymour, the founder of the firm, undertook herself. She recalls that in her 20s, on a whim, she decided to sell everything she owned and then moved to Spain. And it was during that time that she decided to walk the 500-mile pilgrimage road of El Camino de Santiago, which literally means the Way of Saint James. Abigail herself explains why she named her firm, Camino Law at https://www.camino-law.com/why-camino.

This is a popular pilgrimage that originated from the medieval times and is 500-mile path across Spain to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, which is located in the northwestern part of Spain. Legend says that the bones of St. James the Apostle are buried beneath the cathedral and were discovered by a shepherd in the 9th century. The vital role of the Camino has been to promote cultural exchanges between people from various parts of Europe and the world.

During her pilgrimage walk in El Camino de Santiago in 1995, Abigail explains that she was actually searching for adventure, knowledge, and spiritual enlightenment. She says, “I found all three, and was in turn profoundly affected by the experience. My firm’s name and logo are a tribute to my beloved Camino. Our office is decorated with lots of Camino photos and artwork, the accent color is ‘Camino yellow’ and our logo is based on the shell image that represents the Camino.”

Established in 2019 by Abigail C. Seymour, Camino Law is a women-owned law firm based in Greensboro, NC that provides family law services to Greensboro and surrounding areas. They typically handle family law and immigration cases, with a particular focus on protecting and advocating children. This is a non-traditional law firm that is LGBTQ+ friendly, recovery friendly, and artistic-minded. Information about their team can be gleaned from https://www.camino-law.com/our-team.

Those who want to know more about Camino Law and their services can go to their website or contact them on the telephone or through email. They are open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, from Monday to Thursday and by appointment on Fridays. Abigail was a writer, photographer, and a businesswoman before she studied law, and those who are interested in the works of Abigail as a writer can check out her essay about the Camino de Santiago, titled “Ultreya,” which was first published in July 1998 in Attache magazine. Later, it was reprinted as part of a collection of essays by women writers, including Maya Angelou and Ane Lamott, in the book titled, “A Woman's Path: Women's Best Spiritual Travel Writing (Travelers' Tales Guides),” which was published in 2003.

In the essay, Abigail describes in detail what she saw and experienced during the Camino pilgrimage from the start of the walk in the Pyrenees, which is the gateway into Spain from France until she reached the cathedral. As she started her journey she came upon the tiny town of Burguete, where Hemingway had stayed during the bullfight season. And just outside the town, were several wooden signs with just one word, “Ultreya,” which was how the medieval pilgrims had greeted each other, which meant “go beyond.”

She walked for a total of 28 days in all, from one full moon to the next. On the last day, she reached the hilltop of Monte de Gozo, which was where the medieval pilgrims used to dance and cry with joy for having made their first glimpse of the spires of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The hilltop is now a tourist park that provides a view of a superhighway, football stadium, and a rest stop. She could barely see the cathedral spires from the hilltop. The actual destination of the pilgrims is inside the cathedral where there is a marble pillar that has been carved into a Jesse Tree that depicts the prophecy of the birth of Jesus. Legend has it that putting one’s right hand against the pillar and touching one’s forehead three times to the statue just below it will allow one to be blessed. Entering the cathedral, she observed pilgrims tapping their foreheads three times but with the extra gesture of reaching into a stone lion’s mouth to the right. But she later found out that the pilgrims were just following the example of a child reaching inside the lion’s mouth that morning. The essay by Abigail can be read at https://www.camino-law.com/ultreya.