Do you think I can make my own embellished Credential?

[RENSHAW]

I was wondering if I could make my own personal Credential for the Camino - a hand painted and self produced document that I use from the start ......with the same donation mind you , which is by no means prohibitive. Can you imagine the ornate document that can be produced? I'm sure one could use both the recognised and personal in conjuction and get them both stamped. .. Hey , Paint in the scenes as you go.

edit .....so I'm thinking of using
even a diary as a credential?

 

[RENSHAW]

I was wondering if I could make my own personal Credential for the Camino - a hand painted and self produced document that I use from the start ......with the same donation mind you , which is by no means prohibitive. Can you imagine the ornate document that can be produced? I'm sure one could use both the recognised and personal in conjuction and get them both stamped. .. Hey , Paint in the scenes as you go.

It could be a small book?

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Not anymore. And for two years now if I am not mistaken. The only valid credenciales are the one the Santiago cathedral sells as well as those made by the national "friends of" associations. This was apparently done so that unsuspecting people are not sold fancy ones for a small fortune by people (tour operators) taking advantage of them.

 

[RENSHAW]

Not anymore. And for two years now if I am not mistaken. The only valid credenciales are the one the Santiago cathedral sells as well as those made by the national "friends of" associations. This was apparently done so that unsuspecting people are not sold fancy ones for a small fortune by people (tour operators) taking advantage of them.

AAhhh! , anticipated ............but I could create the two in conjunction ....... breda?

 

[Anemone del Camino]

AAhhh! , anticipated ............but I could create the two in conjunction ....... breda?

As long as you don't expect a handpainted Compostela made by volunteers are the PO.

 

[RENSHAW]

As long as you don't expect a handpainted Compostela made by volunteers are the PO.

Jew gaarr so wicked Senora! ............ but here is the thing ....... hospitaleroes and friends can all make entries with concent?

 

[NicP]

It seems like a lovely way to preserve momentos, as you move along the way. It you want to get the certificate from the cathedral however, I'd definitely also get an "official" credential stamped along the way as well. Of course, that's probably only an issue if the official certificate from the cathedral is of importance to you. Having said that, given that many people start the camino thinking about it one way, and end up thinking about it another way entirely, its probably worth doing both, to preserve your options. You never know how you might feel by the time you reach Santiago de Compostella.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I think the only possible alternative to the approved credenciales accepted by the Cathedral would be one following all of the old norms for a pilgrim passport, which would require being Catholic, getting a handwritten letter of recommendation from your parish priest at the start of the document in lieu of the approved text, constituting or accompanied by a prayer for the success of the pilgrimage, getting it stamped by your parish, attending a Mass to pray for your intention, and otherwise obeying all of the formal & religious requirements of what a credencial constitutes.

Even then, it would be prudent to pick up an accompanying Spanish credencial along the way.

 

[naplesdon]

Go for it mate.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Jew gaarr so wicked Senora! ............ but here is the thing ....... hospitaleroes and friends can all make entries with concent?

I have a few hand made sellos inmy credenciales, one from a person living on the primitivo who sells little arts and crafts jewlery items and invites you in for coffee, and one from the German hospy who shares her flat as an albergue in Alcuezar on VDLP.

 

[Coleen Clark]

I say go all out. This is YOUR Camino, right? Right. So, do the painted/notebook/remembrance one, the official one, and then like Superman grasp your tee shirt in both hands, rip it open and say "I think there's a space here, Signore. Can you fit it right above my appendectomy scar?"

 

[Felipe]

I usually carry a small notebook, good for addresses, sketchy drawings, e-mails, notes...and also for stamps I like, but I would not put in the limited space available in my credential. Also for some stamps from bars, restaurants, museums I liked, etc. I finish with a kind of pretty and lively log of my walks.
Hospitaleros have never objected to stamp it, when I politely ask if it is possible.

 

[Pingüigrino]

You can make your how credential, for sure. But you will not have the Compostela with it. Being myself a hospitalero, I have stamped handmade credentials, "official" credentials, guide books, personnel diaries, etc. What is important for us is the stamp and the date of this stamp.
Two years ago, the Santiago´s chatedral´s cabildo sent letters to the albergues and Camino asociations saying the only valid credential will be the ones they edited. It seems to me, some people are still laughing about that.
The vast mayority of hospitaleres will keep receiving pilgrims without giving importance to the credential´s editor. Many of us think that if the Cabildo is running short of money, they can allways ask for a donation (lets say two euros) for each expedited compostela. In any case, compostelas concern to them. Our concern is to give shelter, to give help and to give smiles to the pilgrims: in a nutshell, to give hospitality That is not the first try they do, they tried twenty or thirty years ago, unsuccessfully.

That said, please, be aware that many Camino asociations have not any other funding than theirs member´s fees, and the selling of credentials, shells, staffs, pins, etc This money is used to pay the rental of the premises, painting arrows, cleaning paths, build small bridges etc. I have nothing againts Santiago´s cabildo, but IMHO sometimes looks like they are more interested in what they can recibe from than in what they can give to the Camino.
Hope no offense.
Buen Camino for you, all honest people.

 

[CaminoDebrita]

As long as you don't expect a handpainted Compostela made by volunteers are the PO.

Jeez, what's in your water? You're totally cracking me up!

 

[onwayhome]

I was wondering if I could make my own personal Credential for the Camino - a hand painted and self produced document that I use from the start ......with the same donation mind you , which is by no means prohibitive. Can you imagine the ornate document that can be produced? I'm sure one could use both the recognised and personal in conjuction and get them both stamped. .. Hey , Paint in the scenes as you go.

edit .....so I'm thinking of using
even a diary as a credential?

I really appreciate creativity along the Way. In addition to the pleasure of making and sharing it helps to balance out the some of the impersonal systems that are needed to support large amounts of pilgrims. Enjoy the journey!

 

[newfydog]

The credential is much more important than the Compostelle. Make a nice one. We look at credentials all the time, but hardly ever pull out a compostelle.

 

[Lance Chambers]

Are there credentials that have a larger number of spots for stamps? The first time I did Sarria to Santago it was fine but I almost totally filled it up. Then I did SJPdP to Santiago and I had to stop collecting because I had to get two every day from Sarria.

I want one with enough space for 100+ stamps as, for me, they become a very valued reminder of the walk when I look through and remember, with greater clarity, what and where I walked and felt through my time on the Camino.

 

[Kiwi-family]

I've made my own and got a compostela every time, most recently in 2015 and 2016.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola - many pilgrims use the "official" credencial and also have a handcrafted journal or second credencial where they also collect sellos - I've even stamped a family bible which the family used to collect sellos. No problem!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Two years ago, the Santiago´s chatedral´s cabildo sent letters to the albergues and Camino asociations saying the only valid credential will be the ones they edited.

They said, the ones they either provide or have approved.

The main reason, apart from the important one that some pilgrims were starting to be fleeced and some people were turning credencial-publishing into a business, is that more and more credenciales were being made entirely contrary to the Catholic understanding of this fundamentally Catholic pilgrimage.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

... more and more credenciales were being made entirely contrary to the Catholic understanding of this fundamentally Catholic pilgrimage.

Imthink that ship has sailed, with how the credencial is made being the least of the problems when it comes with the Camino and the "understanding of this fundamentally Catholic pilgrimage". The fact that evey bar, post office and tourism office now has a sello and that people are collecting them as a souvenir is telling. Not that the churches we pass by are open to give us a stamp.

Intertingly, Imjust visite the Pilgrim Office website to quote from it and notice it has changed some of its wording in the credencial section. It used to say that stamps should first and foremost/ideally come from places associated with a pilgrimge: hostel and churches, but that is now removed.

What has been added, or I had not noticed, is "

• Groups organised with support car or by bicycle are requested to seek alternative shelter to the pilgrim hostels." - so those loud groups of long weekend cyclists are now supposed to find a bed elsewhere ...

Also, "Today there is an official Credencial model distributed and accepted by the Office of Pilgrimages of the Diocese of Santiago. You can get it by requesting it in person at the Pilgrim’s Reception Office or other institutions authorised by the Cathedral of Santiago for their distribution, such as parish churches, Associations of Friends of the Way of St. James, pilgrim hostels, confraternities, etc." . This says the Cathedral issues an official crendencial, not that it is the only valid one, as was said in the past couple of years. The product of push back?

Finally, " The Credencial has the purpose of identifying the pilgrim; which is why the institution that issues it must be a parish church, confraternity, dioceses, Association of Friends of the Way of St. James, or any Christian institution related to the pilgrimage" and
"Therefor, the pilgrim’s Credencial can only be issued by the Church through its institutions (Bishopric, Parish, Confraternity, etc. or, in any case, through institutions that are authorised by the Church).

Hummm... The Corte Ingles authorised by the Church? Perhpas it is time that one should have a bit of a face to face converstation with a priest, etc. before getting a credencial. It may help people think about what it is they are embarking on and start getting the wheels spinning about appropriate behaviour while on the Caminos, if only not littering.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Imthink that ship has sailed, with how the credencial is made being the least of the problems when it comes with the Camino and the "understanding of this fundamentally Catholic pilgrimage". The fact that evey bar, post office and tourism office now has a sello

Who stamps your credencial has little relationship with its purpose.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Who stamps your credencial has little relationship with its purpose.

The purpose was to give access to a bed and earn a Compostela. Now it's a souvenir of where one has eaten, had a drink, passed by, regardless of any ties to a religious pilgrimage, which is why I went looking for the text that used to be on the Pilgrim Office website which said that ideally stamps should be related to that, but even that is now gone.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I have a couple of thoughts on souvenir credentials.

1) Have them stamped on one side only. This likely means that you will have to carry two or more. But it also means that they can be pinned up on the wall or inserted into a large frame with all the stamps showing.

2) Possibly have a specialized collection. One set for churches or other religious sites and another for the places you spent the night (get a stamp for this one and another for the religious credential if you stayed at a monastery for example.) Maybe have a third for bars, museums and snack stands, etc. Show the one of where you stayed each night at Santiago to get a certificate and then show the church one too to show that the certificate should be a Compostella. Maybe at home put the church credential in a frame with pictures of the churches, the one with the albergues in a frame with pictures of your friends and the one with the bars in a frame with pictures of your drunk friends.

3) If you make a book start it off with some pages with your contact information and a picture of yourself in case it gets lost. Have each stamp placed on its own page, always on the right-hand one. On the left hand side you can add information like the location (coordinates too?), the weather, how you felt, etc. or leave it blank and after you get home paste a photo onto the page. The bigger the page the more information you can put on and the more impressive your book can be ("Yes, my friends, I carried that 5 kilo book with me the whole way!")

 

[Davy]

On my first Camino I decided to make my own Credential in the form of. Scetchbook to gsther thoughts and ideas and to document the journey. I had no problem getting it stamped alonside my offical Credential. I only got stsmps from churches in Oviedo and Lugo on the pilgrimage along the Primitivo. If I rember correctly not many of the churces were open, but to trll the truth I wasnt particularly looking for stsmps grom religous places.
When I arrived in Santiago I met Fr Simon an Irish Catholic priest and we had a long and inspiring discussion avout the difference between a Religious Camino and a Spiritual Camino.
On my second Camino I decided to try to follow a religious path, following and visitingg the churches on the way as pilgrim would have done in the past. I wanted to follow a Catholic votive ritual ( lighting candles for a freind who was/is seriosöy ill. ) and I wanted to gather my stamps exclusively from the churches and the albergues. I aslo wanted to sketch the outside and inside of the churches as a documentstion but alsoas a sort of prayer. I mamged to do this in Porto Csthedrsl, but from there to the Spanish border almost every church I visited was locked and if open had no place to offer a candle. After the Sapnish border the situation was somewhat better.
When asked in Santiago what type of pilgrimage I had undertaken I explained that it wasnt really possible to do the Religious journey that I had intended as the facilities for practicing my religion were not avsilable, so we decided that I could register two both Spiritual and Religious They gave me a voucher for lunch at the Hostel del Reis as I was the first pilgrim to arrive thst morning, so I didnt want to argue the point
Both Caminos were wonderful but the whole meaning of the credential still leaves me wondering. Selling pieces of paper is what caused the Reformation
Sketchbook credntial here:

 

[RENSHAW]

On my first Camino I decided to make my own Credential in the form of. Scetchbook to gsther thoughts and ideas and to document the journey. I had no problem getting it stamped alonside my offical Credential.
Sketchbook credntial here:

Thank you so much for your special share.

 

[MoniRose]

I lost my credential (DOH!) and had to wait five days before I was able to get a new one in Logrono. The albergues stamped my journal for those five days and I had no issue getting my Compostela. I would love to have had a hand painted one!
Just ask them to "stamp all the things"!!
Moni

 

[caminka]

I was wondering if I could make my own personal Credential for the Camino - a hand painted and self produced document that I use from the start ......with the same donation mind you , which is by no means prohibitive. Can you imagine the ornate document that can be produced? I'm sure one could use both the recognised and personal in conjuction and get them both stamped. .. Hey , Paint in the scenes as you go.

edit .....so I'm thinking of using
even a diary as a credential?

last year I made my own credencial because I planned a camino from Lyon in France, I didn't want to worry getting a new credencial when the previous one would become full (as it happened on my previous camino), and I thought it would be quite cool to have all the stamps in one big credencial (instead of in three or four).

I found an A1 sheet of slightly more sturdy paper, used half of it, folded it in half then folded the half so that it looked like an accordion. on the front I glued a print from a medieval book of hours showing pilgrims going to a pilgrim destination, on the front back cover I glued a 'replica' of the usual credencial page (in latin and slovenian) and on the back I glued on a print of a latin medieval letter of recommendation I found on the net and the ultreia poem. (being a medieval enthusiast and all.)

I wanted to have it 'approved' by the local camino organisation but the circumstances would not have it.

I had no problem at all in getting in albergues/gîte d'étapes in France or in Spain, obtaining stamps, or getting a compostela/fisterrana/muxiana.

in fact, it looked really cool when I flashed out my neatly folded credencial, opened it and it covered most of the available table/counter.

 

[Deleted member 29041]

For me, looking at the stamps in my credential, is like a stream of memories, so I like collecting them. So far, I've made do by continuing with a new credential, when one overflows. Before I start, I usually order two or three credentials from my local association. If nothing else, it supports the association, as well as the cathedral.

As I'm not very artistic, the idea of a self-made credential, while attractive, is not for me, but I really like the idea of mixing stamps and comments in a journal. I'm pretty sure that I've come across that idea years ago, but somehow it didn't take root, until now. My mind is a strange place

 

[caminka]

On my first Camino I decided to make my own Credential in the form of. Scetchbook to gsther thoughts and ideas and to document the journey. I had no problem getting it stamped alonside my offical Credential. I only got stsmps from churches in Oviedo and Lugo on the pilgrimage along the Primitivo. If I rember correctly not many of the churces were open, but to trll the truth I wasnt particularly looking for stsmps grom religous places.
When I arrived in Santiago I met Fr Simon an Irish Catholic priest and we had a long and inspiring discussion avout the difference between a Religious Camino and a Spiritual Camino.
On my second Camino I decided to try to follow a religious path, following and visitingg the churches on the way as pilgrim would have done in the past. I wanted to follow a Catholic votive ritual ( lighting candles for a freind who was/is seriosöy ill. ) and I wanted to gather my stamps exclusively from the churches and the albergues. I aslo wanted to sketch the outside and inside of the churches as a documentstion but alsoas a sort of prayer. I mamged to do this in Porto Csthedrsl, but from there to the Spanish border almost every church I visited was locked and if open had no place to offer a candle. After the Sapnish border the situation was somewhat better.
When asked in Santiago what type of pilgrimage I had undertaken I explained that it wasnt really possible to do the Religious journey that I had intended as the facilities for practicing my religion were not avsilable, so we decided that I could register two both Spiritual and Religious They gave me a voucher for lunch at the Hostel del Reis as I was the first pilgrim to arrive thst morning, so I didnt want to argue the point
Both Caminos were wonderful but the whole meaning of the credential still leaves me wondering. Selling pieces of paper is what caused the Reformation
Sketchbook credntial here:

that is a beautiful piece of work. thank you for sharing!
alas, I don't have the talent nor the patience for something even remotely like this.

 

[Al the optimist]

I have created and used hand made ones a number of times without problem. Last year I utilised the pages from the official credential in one of the Camino notebooks i had bought from Ivar. It was a long journey and it was filled with many stamps, comments from people along the way. I had to really be persuasive to get it accepted at the Pilgrim's office though. The times, they are a changing as the song goes. I would suggest an official credential and whatever you create. Get both stamped as you wish along the way. I would be surprised if the office did not stamp both for you. I once carried two official credentials. Mine and one for my still born grandson. Every hospitallero was happy to stamp both and I am sure that with an explanation why you want two stamps they will oblige you.

 

[Steven Bennett]

I used two last year just in case I lost one!!