Not Just Any Piece of Cloth

by Alder Allensworth | Tampa, FL

In 2017, as I was setting off for Santiago, I received a scarf from a girlfriend who had rescued it on her Camino in 2010. She told me it had to go back to the Camino. I didn’t then fully understand what she meant, but as I started walking, I realized it was much more than just a piece of cloth; it was a piece of her courage that I was carrying with me.

There were moments on the Camino when the road felt long, uncertain, or lonely. In those moments, the scarf became a quiet comfort. It reminded me that I was not walking entirely on my own. Someone who knew me, believed in me, and had walked her own path had entrusted me with something of hers. That mattered more than I expected. It steadied me.

The Camino has a way of stripping things down to what is essential. You carry only what you need, physically and emotionally. And yet, this small piece of cloth held something expansive—a sense of connection, of continuity, of shared experience between women who walk.

When the time came to pass the scarf on, I found myself unexpectedly reluctant. I hadn’t anticipated how attached to it I would become. Letting go of it felt like parting with not just an object, but a companion who had quietly walked beside me. Still, I knew that holding onto it would go against its purpose. The scarf was never meant to be possessed by one woman; it was meant to be shared.

Passing it on has become its own kind of pilgrimage moment—an act of trust. Trust that it would continue its journey. Trust that it would offer comfort to another woman, just as it had to me.

The next woman who received it smiled and said, “It has made two Caminos so far—it must be good luck.” I smiled, too, but I knew it wasn’t luck. It was something deeper. The scarf carries the unseen strengths, fears, and hopes of the women who have worn it. It is a symbol of shared courage.

For women on the Camino, the scarf represents something both simple and profound: we walk our own paths, yet we are connected to each other in ways we don’t always see. We carry pieces of one another forward. The Camigas Scarf is making its 18th Camino this year.

Editor’s note: Alder Allensworth has paid homage to this special scarf in a three-part fictional series. Read La Concha reviews of the series: The Camigas Scarf: Mother (Book One); The Camigas Scarf: Maiden (Book Two), The Camigas Scarf: Crone (Book Three).