“People use them all over world, this is universal…It’s the idea that someone takes rock, this inanimate object, and builds a pile and invests it with meaning.”

David Williams

You took the time to thoughtfully choose a symbol that I could take along with me on my trip. You invested meaning into your object and took the time to send it to me. I wanted to do right by all of them. I spent a fair amount of time trying to decide what to do: carry all of them daily in my daypack, choose a few each day, wear some…I even thought about adorning myself with everything all at once! I know I may have received some looks, but everyone has their own style on the Way.

I didn’t really end up “deciding” anything. It just came to pass that I kept the items in the sunglasses case safely in my luggage at the hotels. I would sit on the bed and look at the objects now and then. One night Gramp’s rosary disappeared. I found it in the crack between the two beds and my panic put an end to my viewings. On one especially challenging day, I used the desk as an alter and placed all the objects on it for the night.

I did pay homage to the objects, and therefore all of you, by building a rock pile, known as a “cairn.” You may have seen one along your Way or maybe you have built one yourself. In her article on the significance of rock piles, Kristin Millis says that “the central idea is that cairns are a form of communication.” Cairns were, and still are, used as trailside shrines and trailside markers. They dot the Camino regularly. There is also a ceremonial aspect. David Williams relays the story of how the Zuni used cairns when running. “When they would want to rid themselves of the fatigue they had, they would pick up a rock, spit on it, rub it on their body and put it in a pile,” he said. For all of you who run, if you decided to try this ceremony, please let us know if it works!

I ceremoniously created a trailside cairn on one of the last days. We were asked to walk on our own for awhile. I had been walking by myself for a lot of the trip, so it wasn’t a big deal. Along the Way I spotted a stone I liked and picked it up. I then saw another that I liked and picked that one up too. The idea came to me to pick up a stone to represent each of you. Loaded with rocks, I found a trailside cross and created a cairn at the base in your honor. I infused the rocks with thanks for your support and they stand as a symbol of my gratitude.

I can’t show you your shrine. I don’t know where it is, except that it is on the left-hand side at the top of a hill in the middle of Galicia along the Way. Fourteen rocks stacked carefully with meaning.

Note: Article by Kristin Millis http://www.moabsunnews.com/get_out_and_go/article_dcb7ba2a-17b8-11e2-ae3c-001a4bcf6878.html

Note: “Cairns: Messengers in Stone” by David Williams