A Pilgrimage in New Mexico

 

When we were down in Santa Fe, we took a little drive up Highway 76....

 

 

to the village of Chimayo, or the villages of Chimayo- it gets complicated...here's the wiki page on the area (Chimayo).

 

 

To say this area is steeped in religion and spirituality is an understatement, long considered a pilgrimage site by the Catholic church....unofficially. (long story- do hit the wiki page above.)

 

The Southwest is so interesting in the mix of beliefs. The Utes and Navajos are generally very leary of death- going out of their way not to be near it and live their lives away from it and then there is New Mexico- where cemetaries, even the run down ones hold a central place in the pueblos and villages...

 El Santuario de Chimayo is a chapel in Chimayo, legend to hold healing properties in its dirt- you walk into the sanctuary and there is a pronounced dip in the floor...

 

Those needing to be healed have been coming to Chimayo for a hundred years to buy and place candles in the sanctuary, pray at the chapel....

and  in a side room, dig some red dirt from the floor, which they might rub on themselves or even digest. The side room's wall, which you can't take pictures of, are lined with discarded crutches, walkers and pictures of loved ones in need of help...

 

Near the main chapel is the Santo Nino Chapel...

 

 

 

 

 

a bright colorful chapel devoted to children and lined with their toys and shoes.

 

All the way back to Santa Fe, if one looked closely, you could see what others had left behind on their pilgrimages through this amazing, awe inspiring land....

some were close....

and some on distant hills.

 



 

But there are many "sacred" places in New Mexico, shrines, and small chapels on the back roads near the Rio Grande river, like the Penitent chapel in Abiquiu, a story for another blog.