The Shell...

[denisewalsh]

What is the significance applied to the shell symbol for the camino de santiago?

 

[miguel_gp]

Hi Denise,

My understanding is that originally the scallop shell was given to Pilgrims upon reaching Santiago\Finisterre as the shells were abundant along the shores. The Pilgrim then wore the shell on the journey home to prove that they had completed their pilgrimage.

Overtime that tradition has changed so that the Pilgrim carries the scallop shell on route to Santiago and the symbol is now used in the waymarking and lots of other Camino related "stuff".

I'm sure others more versed in the history of the Camino can confirm and maybe add more meat to the bare bones I've provided above.

Regards
Mig

 

[methodist.pilgrim.98]

Everything Mig has said I believe to be correct.

I understand that in order to feed the scallop shell must keep moving across the sea bed and it represents one who is always in motion.

In medeival times the scallop shell also offered the pilgrim protection and safe passage. There were times when the English would have to walk through France when the 2 countries were hostile to one another; the shell would give safe passage.

Finally, the pilgrim to Jerusalem would display a palm cross, to Rome a key, to Santiago a scallop shell. Thus you would know whence the traveller was going.

the wonderful thing is that if any of the above is incorrect someone will come and correct it. :wink:

 

[Arn]

There are many stories about the symbolism behind the scallop shell...From: Wikipedia:

"The pilgrim also carried a scallop shell with him, and would present himself at churches, castles, abbeys etc., where he could expect to be given as much sustenance as he could pick up with one scoop."

Here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallop

Plenty of reasons are out there...plenty of shells to go round...plenty of stories for the telling...some true, some not...some profound.

Buen Camino

Arn

 

[David]

Another good thread! Early paintings of John baptising show him using a scallop shell .. so it goes back a long long way.

 

[Tia Valeria]

It is interesting to see how often the shell is incorporated into the churches (and other) buildings. Look at the window arches etc as you walk past some of them are shells.

I thought that at one time the shells could only be obtained around Santiago, as proof that you had been, and that their sale was forbidden further east. Then, once that ban was lifted, the shell began to be carried towards Santiago.

Any one able to comment historically?

 

[denisewalsh]

Miguel, Methodist.pilgrim, David, Arn & Tia ... Many thanks to you all for posting various interpretations on 'The Shell' .... we'll combine all of them, whichever it is they are all interesting.
Denise

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I attended a memorial at Faith Lutheran Church in Cockeysville, Maryland a few weeks ago, and there was a scallop shell decorating one wall.

 

[David]

cool!

 

[TerryB]

I was told that a number of years ago a cache of shells was found in an ancient wall at Buckfast Abbey in Devon (UK). These appeared to have been left in a niche as devotional offerings. The Abbey was on the old route to the seaports of the west country and used by pilgrims as a 'hospital' on their way to Compostela. The brother I spoke to, during my overnight stay there as a modern day pilgrim, felt that they had been left as thank offerings for a safe return. If there had been a statue of St James there in the old days, that would have made sense.
There is now a new shell on the mantlepiece in the guest lounge - again as a thank offering for a safe return and for hospitality freely given to this pilgrim of the 21st century.

Blessings
Tio Tel

 

[Arn]

A few more, these from Ireland:

In October 1996 the foundations of what is thought to have been the thirteenth-century Augustinian priory of St Mary were located during building work for a new shopping-centre at Mullingar, County Westmeath.During the archaeological rescue excavation under the direction of Michael Gibbons, more than thirty burials were discovered, two of which contained scallop shells, one of them in combination with a bone relic.

An exciting discovery was made by Fionnbarr Moore in 1992 underneath the wall of a late medieval tomb at Ardfert Cathedral. He found a pewter scallop shell, on which a little bronze-gilded figure of St James had been mounted. The shell was attached to a brooch, clearly defining it as a pilgrim’s badge.

The full site:

http://www.historyireland.com/volumes/v ... es/?id=206

Seems appropriate:

An Irish Blessing for those taking a journey

The love and affection of the angels be to you,
The love and affection of the saints be to you,
The love and affection of heaven be to you,
To guard and to cherish you.
May God shield you on every step,
May He aid you on every path,
And may He hold you safe on every slope,
On every hill and on every plain;
On earth and on sea until you are home again.

Arn

 

[Sagalouts]

for me the shell has always been a sun and fertility symbol,depicting the rays of the sun,I believe the christian church incorporated a lot of early pagan symbols and festivals Easter Christmas ect.
the Sun sign Cancer the crab with its shell.
the Camino trail I believe predates Christianity which is why I think the end of the earth at Finisterre and the sunset there is the true finish of the walk.
Ian

 

[Lynda t]

Was St John the Baptist originally a fisherman. I went to a christening last week and the vicar used a scallop shell to pour the holy water over the child's forehead making the sign of the cross.

 

[Tia Valeria]

No, John was not a fisherman. My husband says that the scallop shell is used because from the middle ages onwards it was a sign of pilgrimage. At baptism we begin our Christian pilgrimage through life.