Leaving mementos of loved ones in the CF

[Burton Axxe]

I’m carrying very small mementos representing family who have recently passed or are very ill. I know that leaving a stone at the Cruz Ferro is a tradition but is there anywhere significant I can leave these mementos to honor or bless them without creating a burden for the Camino?

Currently approaching Bierzo.

 

[malingerer]

I’m carrying very small mementos representing family who have recently passed or are very ill. I know that leaving a stone at the Cruz Ferro is a tradition but is there anywhere significant I can leave these mementos to honor or bless them without creating a burden for the Camino?

Currently approaching Bierzo.

Your heart will tell you where the place of significance is. It doesn't have to be the Cruz de Ferro.

God speed and Buen Camino

Samarkand.

 

[Sharonih]

I’m carrying very small mementos representing family who have recently passed or are very ill. I know that leaving a stone at the Cruz Ferro is a tradition but is there anywhere significant I can leave these mementos to honor or bless them without creating a burden for the Camino?

Currently approaching Bierzo.

Excellent question as many people leave small items behind in memory. Everyone has a thought or opinion on this . I would say choose carefully as I walked through a grove of trees after bad weather and in one area lots of photos/poems were left. Sadly the paper items were torn , stained and strewn about by the weather and I am sure the people who left them would be saddened by this knowledge.

 

[lt56ny]

Your heart will tell you where the place of significance is. It doesn't have to be the Cruz de Ferro.

God speed and Buen Camino

Samarkand.

I agree completely

 

[dbier]

I left mementos in 2021 at informal shrines, either to departed peregrinos or to the Virgin.

I am collecting small items for what I hope will be my 2023 Primitivo, God willing. Mostly wooden crucifixes and/ or rosary bracelets.

They will probably be tucked in between stones where I see the * right* places.

Buen Camino

 

[alhartman]

I left a small fetish from my wife's necklace in 2005 in a crack in one of the buildings behind the Samos Monastery. And another in the rocks at Finistere. Good grief resolution for me.

 

[Esperanza]

I carried mementos of a dear friend who passed away suddenly just months before we were to walk the CF together. I gave it a lot of thought because there is quite a bit of ”litter” along the Camino that began as someone’s cherished memento but after time and weather have become (sorry) nothing but bits of garbage to the hundreds of thousands of other people who pass by. Some of the plastics and so forth left behind will be despoiling the landscape for centuries.

I decided on feathers. My friend loved birds. I collected them before I left while I was doing practice hikes. I sanitized them so I wouldn’t bring any nasties into Spain. They were extremely easy to carry and completely biodegradable. I didn’t plan it, but I ended up dropping most of them from bridges. We often paused to look at the view when crossing bridges, and I liked dropping them and watching them land in the water and float away.

I did another long walk (not a Camino) just weeks after my brother passed away. I had a lot of the same concerns about leaving a residue. For him, I carried a tiny bottle of bubbles, and when I took a break, I blew some bubbles for him and watched them float away. It usually left me in tears, but at the same time it was soothing.

 

[JillGat]

I carried mementos of a dear friend who passed away suddenly just months before we were to walk the CF together. I gave it a lot of thought because there is quite a bit of ”litter” along the Camino that began as someone’s cherished memento but after time and weather have become (sorry) nothing but bits of garbage to the hundreds of thousands of other people who pass by. Some of the plastics and so forth left behind will be despoiling the landscape for centuries.

I decided on feathers. My friend loved birds. I collected them before I left while I was doing practice hikes. I sanitized them so I wouldn’t bring any nasties into Spain. They were extremely easy to carry and completely biodegradable. I didn’t plan it, but I ended up dropping most of them from bridges. We often paused to look at the view when crossing bridges, and I liked dropping them and watching them land in the water and float away.

I did another long walk (not a Camino) just weeks after my brother passed away. I had a lot of the same concerns about leaving a residue. For him, I carried a tiny bottle of bubbles, and when I took a break, I blew some bubbles for him and watched them float away. It usually left me in tears, but at the same time it was soothing.

Feathers, great idea! Once when I arrived at Cruz de Ferro, I saw workers with trucks, removing all the photos, ribbons, boots, candles, momentos, etc. from the pole and mound. Apparently they come regularly to clean the place up. They told me that they really, really wish people would just leave a stone. I agree.

 

[Tony Spanglish]

I carried mementos of a dear friend who passed away suddenly just months before we were to walk the CF together. I gave it a lot of thought because there is quite a bit of ”litter” along the Camino that began as someone’s cherished memento but after time and weather have become (sorry) nothing but bits of garbage to the hundreds of thousands of other people who pass by. Some of the plastics and so forth left behind will be despoiling the landscape for centuries.

I decided on feathers. My friend loved birds. I collected them before I left while I was doing practice hikes. I sanitized them so I wouldn’t bring any nasties into Spain. They were extremely easy to carry and completely biodegradable. I didn’t plan it, but I ended up dropping most of them from bridges. We often paused to look at the view when crossing bridges, and I liked dropping them and watching them land in the water and float away.

I did another long walk (not a Camino) just weeks after my brother passed away. I had a lot of the same concerns about leaving a residue. For him, I carried a tiny bottle of bubbles, and when I took a break, I blew some bubbles for him and watched them float away. It usually left me in tears, but at the same time it was soothing.

What a lovely way to remember, if I may I will use those ideas myself next year

 

[Esperanza]

What a lovely way to remember, if I may I will use those ideas myself next year

Yes, of course you may - or anyone else who wants to.
Buen camino.

 

[Tony Spanglish]

Yes, of course you may - or anyone else who wants to.
Buen camino.

Thank you and Buen Camino to you too