Pilgrimage is not only about the journey. As a ritual, it literally enshrines the destination. And if arriving at a holy place to seek wholeness is the pilgrim’s goal, there is an aspect of pilgrimage beyond simply walking there that is often forgotten - the giving of gifts.
We can see an echo of this tradition in the ‘clootie’ ribbons hanging on special trees, or coins flung into wells. But these good intentions are not well thought-through, and will likely pollute the holy place pilgrims are trying to engage with. This is not recommended.
If ‘holiness’ is not a static thing but a relationship, this implies a ‘give-and-take’ reciprocity. In the Middle Ages, this aspect of pilgrimage was well-known. Shrines competed for pilgrims, as people seeking wholeness meant the flow of gifts. One of the most common pilgrim gifts was beeswax candles in the shape of the body-part that needed healing. In an age when candles were the only source of light, this was an important economic contribution.
Previously, in the Medieval pilgrimage heyday, pilgrims often competed for the kudos of giving the richest gift (the gift honours the giver). Hence the much celebrated ‘Regale of France’ - the world’s biggest ruby - donated to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury by the King of France (this became Henry VIII’s thumb ring after Reformation).
When pilgrimage was banned in 1538, one of its often quoted and much disliked ‘crimes’ was the distastefully mercantile approach to gift-collecting, the Pardoner-esque greed for financial largesse, seen among the cathedrals and shrines. Thomas Cromwell, in his Injunctions of 1538, specifically forbade “candles, tapers, or images of wax to be set afore any image or picture”.
This may explain why the concept of gifts rarely factors in the modern pilgrimage revival. British people have inherited a distaste for material matters in association with holy places. But our world and bodies are (amongst their other properties) material realities. As such, to find the relationship you seek with a holy place, it is recommended to come bearing gifts.
What Gifts to offer a Holy Place?
As already mentioned, don’t give a gift that will pollute the holy place. This makes no sense if you are seeking wholeness in return. If you sow barley, don’t expect to harvest wheat.
Money can be an appropriate gift, as most churches and cathedrals operate at heavy loss. There is a myth in Britain that churches are wealthy. The Church (big C) is wealthy, but individual parish churches (small c) have to pay the Church to stay licensed and open, and they often get no funds in return from the Church (or the Government). So always chip a church a coin if you appreciate their continued existence.
But money may not be the right gift to offer the spirit of a place in exchange for wholeness, as money itself carries a carbon footprint and karma that burdens every offered coin. So what is an appropriate non-polluting and healthy gift for pilgrims to offer a holy place?
My preferred gift is song, especially if it is connected with the destination you seek. Charge it up by singing at all holy places met along the way. Song is the original faery gold, an event that feels huge but becomes breeze and disappears. Though perhaps its echo lasts forever? Song weighs and costs nothing, and the more you give it away, the more closely you hold it.
Another gift to offer is stillness and silence. You might call this meditation, contemplation, prayer or vigil. The act of being still and quiet at a holy place is a valuable contribution to its sanctity. And it is not always easy to give, which is the mark of a good gift.
Take this further, and a very powerful gift is the act of surrender into unconsciousness (aka sleep). This level of deep trust, of accepting vulnerability, makes for easier communication with a holy place. What dreams may come?
If you want to leave behind a physical item, a good option is a single hair. This contains all your DNA, it is entirely ‘you’, and yet it will cause neither damage to you nor significant detritus to a holy place. Where can you best leave it?
Candles can also a good option. I like to carry a small beeswax candle when I make pilgrimage, and light it for a minute or two at every holy place along the way, before sitting with it in silence at my eventual destination. This creates a path of light, made from pure accumulated sunshine. But always be very careful with candles, and don’t leave them unattended, nor leave behind the metal holder of your tea-light. Beeswax is a far better choice than paraffin candles, as the latter require deep earth drilling and industrial production, and the fumes paraffin candles create are unhealthy. Beewax is the best choice in all regards.
A further possible gift is to carry something taken from the start of your pilgrimage. A small stone is a good choice. A shell is a very traditional pilgrimage item. The famous Worcester Pilgrim was buried with cockle shells. The right item will likely appear at the start of your path.
You may also wish to give away your pilgrim staff away at the end of your pilgrimage. This is never easily don, and I prefer to give my staff to water, rather than leaving it lying around for someone else to grab.
Perhaps the best pilgrim gift of all is to carry water from a holy place near the start of your pilgrimage, a spring or well, and to drip this along the path, as a non-harmful physical marker of your flowing journey. If there is a holy well at the destination of your pilgrimage, mixing these waters can feel very powerful.
