Wednesday’s reading in Malcolm Guite’s, The Word in the Wilderness was The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Raleigh. The first few lines describe the dress and symbology associated with a pilgrim:
Give me my scallop shell of quiet,My staff of faith to walk upon,My scrip of joy, immortal diet,My bottle of salvation,My gown of glory, hope’s true gage,And thus I’ll take my pilgrimage.
The scallop shell is emblematic of the Camino de Santiago. Scallop shell symbols mark the path for the pilgrim and wearing a scallop shell identifies the traveler as a pilgrim. In the past pilgrims would use the scallop shell as a bowl or water cup. When the pilgrim was given food at a church or refuge, it would be measured out by their scallop shell.
Eventually, the scallop shell became a symbol. The grooves in the shell converge in a single point symbolizing the many different paths pilgrims take to arrive at one destination, the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. Taken more broadly, the shell symbolizes our journey to our home in Heaven.
In baptisms, a scallop shell is often used to symbolize the beginning of a pilgrim life.
What began as a legend became a necessity on the Camino and is now a symbol of a Christian’s Pilgrim Path.
Remember, faith works!
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