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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.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 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.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.
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.
They should have studied Sir Walter Raleigh. Around 1618, he wrote about needing a scallop shell in preparation for a pilgrimage.. ...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"....
Hi 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.
Especially, in the Middle Ages when people believed that the Earth is flat
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.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 pudgypilgrimhttps://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?
As far as writing in English this is what Botaivica said:. . . excuse me on my bad English . . .
Hi Carfax,
That I've learned in my preparation for the Camino next year.
And, excuse me on my bad English
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.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
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.Is this considered a controversial subject on this forum? If so, I apologise. In any case, I am grateful that Michael insisted:
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".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.
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