Shells - where can they go?

[Carfax]

I was reading up on what to do with a Shell carried for Denise. That is clear cut - I deliver the shell to the nominated address.
I will be carrying shells in memory of family I have lost.
My question is whether there is any custom/tradition of what you do with such shells (not the one you are carrying for yourself) at the end of the walk.
A Florida based poster discretely leaves his at places along the route.
My inclination was to hurl them into the sea at Finisterre. Is that OK or are there conventions/issues/customs/traditions I should know of.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

The Shell is actually something you would come back with, after making it to the Atlantic. It was proof of having arrived. Now people carry them to id themselves as pilgrims, in case the attire doesn't give them away. So there is no ritual of carrying shells and leaving them behind. What comes close to that is the stones left at the Cruz de Ferro, but these days people are also leaving all sorts of items that are frankly an eyesore, fly away in the surroundings and cost the local government a huge amoumt to clean up many Times a year with trucks and bulldozers.

 

[Carfax]

The Shell is actually something you would come back with, after making it to the Atlantic. It was proof of having arrived. Now people carry them to id themselves as pilgrims, in case the attire doesn't give them away. So there is no ritual of carrying shells and leaving them behind. What comes close to that is the stones left at the Cruz de Ferro, but these days people are also leaving all sorts of items that are frankly an eyesore, fly away in the surroundings and cost the local government a huge amoumt to clean up many Times a year with trucks and bulldozers.

Thanks - I had seen other posts about the Cruz and the waste which quite put me off leaving anything there. Given the origin of the tradition are there any shells left at Finisterre to collect - for me I would prefer to do that rather than carry one.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Thanks - I had seen other posts about the Cruz and the waste which quite put me off leaving anything there. Given the origin of the tradition are there any shells left at Finisterre to collect - for me I would prefer to do that rather than carry one.

I have never walked the beach in Fisterra, only in Muxia and have come back with shells. They are not the large ones ypu see on logos and backpacks, but shells none the less. I am looking at one now and it must be about an inch and a half in diameter. In Hornillos there was a little shop,where you could buy groceries and toilettries where they also sold the most beautiful large shells, not stale white ones but with beautiful sandy shades of pink. I have to say, the town is deserted but I loved the fact that the little shop actually sold items by the unit, so a solo pilgrim would not buy needlessly and waste.

 

[MichaelSG]

The Shell is actually something you would come back with, after making it to the Atlantic. It was proof of having arrived. Now people carry them to id themselves as pilgrims, in case the attire doesn't give them away. So there is no ritual of carrying shells and leaving them behind. What comes close to that is the stones left at the Cruz de Ferro, but these days people are also leaving all sorts of items that are frankly an eyesore, fly away in the surroundings and cost the local government a huge amoumt to clean up many Times a year with trucks and bulldozers.

I have great trouble finding anything that I would agree with in your post but that's okay. We all have the right to express our own opinions and even our own views of reality. That's what is great about this forum.

To the OP, feel free to toss them into the sea.

 

[jeffnd]

I can't remember where I heard it, but supposedly it's better to be given a shell then to buy one. I got mine at the pilgrim's office in St. Jean and carried it with me almost all the way to Santiago, when I gave it to a friend of mine who had no shell.

 

[MichaelSG]

. ...The following is not an opinion but a quote from a collection of studies published in "The Camino de Santiago in the 21st Century; Interdisciplinary Perspectives"....

They should have studied Sir Walter Raleigh. Around 1618, he wrote about needing a scallop shell in preparation for a pilgrimage.

 

[Sailor]

Here are my dos pesetas. Natural shells come from the sea, so, it is okay to deposit them in the ocean where they will become part of the ocean floor or part of a natural reefs. Artificial shells made of plastic materials are a different story, those should be recycled--if thrown in the ocean off Spain they will be trapped in the North Atlantic Gyre and that's not a good thing. Again, just my dos pesetas. Que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.

 

[tyrrek]

There are no real traditions that I've heard of. Do with it as you please. I still use the same shell after several Caminos, but I'd probably keep it even if I hung up my boots. They make good oil lamps amongst other things!

 

[Tincatinker]

Santiago used a scallop shell to scoop water from the of the Fuente Reniega on the slopes of the Alto de Perdon. Paraphrasing from Brierley, as reliable a source as any, " A pilgrim reached that spot, dying of thirst. The Devil, disguised as a pilgrim [aren't they all], offered to show him a spring if he would only renounce God. The pilgrim refused [well you would wouldn't you(?)] and Santiago himself appeared, revealed the spring and quenched the thirst of the dying pilgrim by scooping water in a scallop shell."

It would seem that a pilgrim may be well advised to carry a scallop shell on their way to the city of Santiago. Saves the weight of a Spork (tm) anyway.

@Carfax you are at liberty to choose your own ritual, do what your heart wants to do.

Buen camino amigo

 

[Botaivica]

I was reading up on what to do with a Shell carried for Denise. That is clear cut - I deliver the shell to the nominated address.
I will be carrying shells in memory of family I have lost.
My question is whether there is any custom/tradition of what you do with such shells (not the one you are carrying for yourself) at the end of the walk.
A Florida based poster discretely leaves his at places along the route.
My inclination was to hurl them into the sea at Finisterre. Is that OK or are there conventions/issues/customs/traditions I should know of.

Hi Carfax,

as far as I know traditionally, in old times, pilgrims took the shell in Finisterra as evidence of the completion of pilgrimage. At that time there was no camera and shell itself is served as confirmation of completion. Therefore, they did not carrying shell on Camino, they took the shell at the end of the Camino.
Especially, in the Middle Ages when people believed that the Earth is flat, Finistrerra (Finis - Terra) was regarded as the end of the world. In a sign of absolution, in Finisterra Pilgrims have burned a piece of his equipment.

That I've learned in my preparation for the Camino next year.

And, excuse me on my bad English

 

[pudgypilgrim]

Especially, in the Middle Ages when people believed that the Earth is flat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth

EDIT For the OP, in the Middle Ages people wore a scallop shell like a boy scout badge after having done the pilgrimage, but I really wouldn't be concerned about that today. The tradition of wearing a shell to show you're on the pilgrimage is a modern tradition, so you could start a newer, more modern tradition if you like. Why not?

 

[Kanga]

@pudgypilgrim a great link. I learn something new everyday on this forum.

 

[dougfitz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth

EDIT For the OP, in the Middle Ages people wore a scallop shell like a boy scout badge after having done the pilgrimage, but I really wouldn't be concerned about that today. The tradition of wearing a shell to show you're on the pilgrimage is a modern tradition, so you could start a newer, more modern tradition if you like. Why not?

Thank you for that link. The notion that there was no European understanding of the world beyond Finisterre until more modern times is also difficult to sustain. The migration of Viking communities across the islands of the north Atlantic and evidence that they had reached North America and settled there for a short time several centuries before Columbus 'discovered' the Americas indicates there was a well established understanding of lands west of the European mainland and the British Isles. Add to that, the Islas Canarias were known to the Romans and were given names by them. In that context, it seems to me that many of the stories associated with Finisterre are more modern romance than anything else.

 

[Botaivica]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth

EDIT For the OP, in the Middle Ages people wore a scallop shell like a boy scout badge after having done the pilgrimage, but I really wouldn't be concerned about that today. The tradition of wearing a shell to show you're on the pilgrimage is a modern tradition, so you could start a newer, more modern tradition if you like. Why not?

Hi pudgypilgrim

In my country we have a dictum, "better to perish village than custom". Custom form during a hundred years and provide a wealth of national folk life. Something that has a tradition, like Camino, can not be changed and real pilgrimage knows it. You can replace wooden stick with modern stick, you can have a backpack in place of old rucksack but it will not prevent real pilgrimage that, in the heart and soul, be with all those which are throughout the centuries, passed Camino.

 

[Sailor]

. . . excuse me on my bad English . . .

Continue writing, continue posting, your English is just fine. Que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.

 

[MichaelSG]

Quaint old wives tales never die. They just go on living as unreccognized zombies on the Internet. Try not to let them bite you.

 

[JudyInTexas]

Hi Carfax,

That I've learned in my preparation for the Camino next year.

And, excuse me on my bad English

Your English is better than some Americans I heard on TV this morning.

 

[Satírico]

Santiago used a scallop shell to scoop water from the of the Fuente Reniega on the slopes of the Alto de Perdon. Paraphrasing from Brierley, as reliable a source as any, " A pilgrim reached that spot, dying of thirst. The Devil, disguised as a pilgrim [aren't they all], offered to show him a spring if he would only renounce God. The pilgrim refused [well you would wouldn't you(?)] and Santiago himself appeared, revealed the spring and quenched the thirst of the dying pilgrim by scooping water in a scallop shell."

It would seem that a pilgrim may be well advised to carry a scallop shell on their way to the city of Santiago. Saves the weight of a Spork (tm) anyway.

@Carfax you are at liberty to choose your own ritual, do what your heart wants to do.

Buen camino amigo

I remember the photo in Brierley's guidebook of a shell filled with wine at the wine fountain. That's one mistake I won't be making second time around. There's not much detergent on the camino, haha.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Note to hospitaleros: When the pilgrim pulls that old "just renounce God and I'll do __ for you" BS, you know right away that's not a proper pilgrim. It's the devil. He's probably got a credential, but throw the bum out. He can afford to stay at a hostel!

 

[MichaelSG]

Yes, but if you think about it, the majority of Europeans of the Middle Ages would have lived within a few days of the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, etc. Surely the shells were easily obtainable. While the story of the shell being proof that they resched the sea at Finisterra is a good tale, it just doesn't pass the smell test. If the shell really was the proof even if shells were only available at Finesterra, don't you reckon there would have been a thriving business of returning pilgrims selling handfuls of shells to people coming the other way. What proof is the shell?

 

[Kanga]

I don't think it matters why the shell became the symbol of St James and therefore of the pilgrimage, it just did. He is also associated with the sword - not, as people mistakenly think, as Santiago Matamoros, but because he was beheaded by Herod Agrippa. It is the sword of martyrdom. James is the only apostle whose death is recorded in the Bible (Acts 12:2).

 

[MichaelSG]

Is this considered a controversial subject on this forum? If so, I apologise. In any case, I am grateful that Michael insisted :

Katharina, my good friend, this subject of the shells' meaning is not taboo on the forum unless we start calling each other names. It's not even controversial unless I can't convince everyone else of the error of their ways.

Just kidding. We're just having a good discussion where we don't agree with each other yet. I was taught by Jesuits so I have to question everything that I'm told and if it doesn't make sense to me, I say so. It's human nature to make up stories to explain things we do not know about and I enjoy testing the soundness of these legends. Sometimes I end up convinced they are true but sometimes the stories just never make sense so I tilt with windmills to either convince others or find some proof.

Peace.

 

[MichaelSG]

Thank you for your kind words. It's not easy to find sound sources on the internet, so much is copied and re-copied in popular literature, articles and guidebooks that fiction starts to appear as fact.

Exactly! It reminds me of a quote from President Abraham Lincoln that I saw online the other day. He said "Less than 80% of "facts" found on the Internet are really true".

 

[Kanga]

No @Kathar1na not controversial at all. I think we are all just obsessed with all things Camino related, and it is interesting. It sent me off on a search for religious symbols - a sort of pre-literate shorthand. So a lamb for Christ, keys for Peter, a book for John, a rose for Mary, and so on.