Significance of the Scallop Shell

Scallop Shells

I LOVE them! These shells have become hugely significant to me as I have started out as a doula, and now as I start my pilgrimage towards priesthood too.... My lovely friend felt let to give me these beautiful shells she painted herself, and she didn't know at the time, the significance and meaning these had for me. They were such a special gift! Thank you.

The shell itself represents the many different spiritual pathways and personal sacred journeys. Through St James and others, it has become a well known symbol for pilgrimage. When pilgrims carry the Scallop Shell it represents our personal journey, the sacred path that we must take within. Even the poorest people could fill the small shell, so he always found help along his way. Later, followers of St. James wore the scallop-shell symbol on their hats and clothes and it became the symbol of pilgrimage. In Christianity, the seashell, and especially the scallop, is the symbol for baptism. New life, new beginnings.

And, at infant baptisms, priests use a scallop shell to pour water on babies heads- I cannot tell you how excited I am for the first time I am able to do this!

As we go through the journey of conception, pregnancy, birth, and parenthood, I feel this symbol carries a wonderful significance of the journey and pilgrimage we find ourselves on. We encounter new people, new communities, new pathways, new understandings, we grow spiritually, emotionally and of course there is the physical development miracle of a baby growing too.

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