Cruce de Ferro...again

[scruffy1]

Ever curious. Where and when did the custom of leaving a rock begin? The Spanish Wikipedia entry has some interesting thoughts but I have no access to the sources. This entry does mention pagan origins for marking a place in these mountains and a reference to a cross in the 11th centry. Traditionally a pilgrim should leave a stone by the Cruce de Ferro according to the size of ones' sins but judging by the size of most stones there today, we have become very pious. Is the contemporary custom connected in any way to leaving a stone on each milestone? Many modern pilgrims leave something in memory of a departed loved one perhaps an echo of the Jewish tradition which requires that one leave a stone on the grave of a loved when visiting a cemetery. In Christian tradition, the German Theodoris reported in 1170 that pilgrims to the Holy Land would leave a stone in the Valley of Hinnom in order to reserve a place to sit upon for the Day of Judgment and similarly but different would also bring from the native land a wooden cross to be place in the Church of the Holy Sepulture. Perhaps this is only a part of the very human need to affirm and say here I am, I was there, I have done this?
I personally am much more moved by the Civil War monument dedicated to the suffering of all the Spanish people located just before the cross-a heavy slab with no obvious political references.

 

[mspath]

Scruffy,

The tradition of leaving a stone or rock may be a pagan one.

Don Elias Valina Sampedro of O Cebriero and yellow arrow fame (see >> el-camino-frances/topic6989.html )described the Cruz de Ferro in his Guide du Pelerin au Chemin de Saint Jacques of which I only have the French edition as "Sur ce monticule de pierres, plante sur le sommet, un poteau de bois qui se terminine par une croix de fer. A l'origine , c'etait un monticule de separation entre la Maragateria et le Bierzo, auquel les romains donnaient le nom de mont de Mercure. Selon la tradition paienne, les les passants devaient lancer une pierre sur ce monticule, rite qui suivent toujours les pelerins d'aujourd'hui./ Planted on top of a stone heap is a wooden pole which ends in an iron cross. Originally this was (just) a separation mound of between the areas of Maragatería and Bierzo, to which the Romans gave the name Mount of Mercury. According to pagan tradition, passersby would throw a stone at the mound, a rite that pilgrims still follow today."

Another priest Millan Bravo Lozano is his Practical Guide For Pilgrims further elaborates that it was Gaucelmo, a 12th century hermit and protector of pilgrims in this perilous area who Christianized the ancient mound of stones by adding a cross.

Today the name Gaucelmo is associated with the Confraternity of Saint James albergue in Rabinal. see >> http://www.caminodesantiago.me/camino-f ... el-camino/. Every camino I carry a small stone from home to add with gratitude to the famous heap at the Cruce de Ferro as so many have across time. Centuries pass and still the timeless traditions continue.

Margaret Meredith