Pilgrim’s Shell (Scallop) 10-12 cm

Description

Scallop shell (mollusk), widely used for gifts, soap dishes, plates, candle holders, baptisms, censers, but its greatest association is with pilgrimage, especially on the way to Santiago de Compostela.

Legend has it that every pilgrim who arrived in Santiago de Compostela continued on to the tip located in Finisterre to bring the Vieira sea shell to prove that he had been there. Anyway, the scallop shell signifies, besides origin of life and fecundity: the knowledge, the protection – and after finishing the path, you should go to Finisterre and throw it into the sea, because the knowledge belongs to everyone and for everyone – and it is as a form of gratitude for having managed to make the path safely. It is a way of “making available the knowledge” acquired during the pilgrimage.

The scallop shell, easily found on the coasts of Galicia, has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago and its pilgrims.

Another legend says that while Santiago’s body was being transported by a horseman from Jerusalem to Galicia, the horse fell into the water and emerged covered in these “shells”. It is also no coincidence that in German the Scallop is known as “Jakobsmuscheln” (Jacob’s mussels) and in French it is called “Coquille de Saint Jacques”.

Today, the Scallop, like the yellow arrow, is used to guide pilgrims along many different routes to Santiago. This symbol is a metaphor, in that its lines represent the different paths taken by pilgrims all over the world, leading to one point, the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. The Scallop can be found at landmarks along the way, guiding pilgrims in the right direction. As in medieval times, many pilgrims wore the Scallop pinned around their necks or backs to easily identify themselves and ensure that they always followed the right path.

The shell was also used in pagan cults to symbolize fertility, and was linked to the goddess Venus. In ancient times, Venus was the protector of the sea, of sailors and fishermen, very similar to Iemanjá, the mother of all the orixás, queen of the sea, who also has the shell as her symbol, but with the connotation of Love and Protection, more specifically to Maternal Love.

Over the centuries, the scallop has gained mythical, metaphorical, and practical meanings.

Due to being an entirely natural piece, you may have differences from the photo

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