Pilgrim Shell Scallop Pendant

Product Description

The Pilgrim Shell Scallop Pendant is the perfect gift for someone going on a pilgrimage (or for yourself if you’re about to go on a pilgrimage). Celebrating St. James the Greater as well as the great tradition of pilgrimage in Christian history, this tasteful and petite pendant will serve as a reminder of the unbroken link the pilgrim shares with the generations of pilgrims in Christian history. At 1 inch in size, this scallop shell pilgrimage pendant is made entirely of polished bronze, radiant with the joy and excitement that suffuses a new journey.

A Perfect Pilgrimage Gift

One of the most important aspects of a pilgrimage is actually remaining in the right state of heart and mind once you’re there. It’s so easy to get swept up in the practicalities of travel, the mass of humanity, and the mundane questions of day-to-day living in an unfamiliar place, that you can be easily shaken from your spiritual goals. That’s why having something as simple as a pendant that is a symbolic reminder of your purpose and of your connection with the generations of pilgrims that come before you can be exactly what you need to cultivate spiritual growth on your pilgrimage. Much more than a souvenir if your pilgrimage, the Pilgrim Shell Scallop pendant can be an important part of the spiritual goals of your pilgrimage.

See the “history/story” tab for information on the history of the scallop shell as a symbol for pilgrimage.

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Saint James (in Spanish, Santiago) is the patron saint of Spain. According to ancient local tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to James while he was preaching the Gospel in Iberia. Afterwards, Saint James returned to Judea where he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in 44 a.d. According to tradition, his remains were miraculously transported back to Spain where they are now enshrined in the Church of Santiago de Compostela. The pilgrimage route to this shrine – El camino de Santiago de Compostela – has been traveled by pilgrims since 900 A.D. The scallop shell (depicted here on the pilgrim staff of St. James) is worn by pilgrims on their way to this shrine. The shell is both a symbol of baptism (as used by St. John the Baptist) and as a symbol of pilgrimage since thirsty pilgrims used the shell to draw water to drink as they made their way to the shrine. (For a modern depiction of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, see the moving film The Way by Emilio Estevez, which has Martin Sheen making this pilgrimage as a bereaved father.)

Scallop shell symbolism is associated with the apostle, James. James the Greater was son of Zebedee, a fisherman of Galilee, and brother of John the Evangelist. He was among the circle of men closest to Jesus, being present with Peter and John at the Transfiguration, and again at the Agony in the Garden, where the same three are seen sleeping while Christ prays. A series of legends dating from the Middle Ages tells of his mission to Spain and burial at Compostella, which then became one of the great centers of Christian pilgrimage.  It was well-established as a place of pilgrimage by the eleventh century, next in importance to Jerusalem and Rome.

In art James appears as three distinct types; one of them is the pilgrim: He wears the pilgrim’s broad-brimmed hat and cloak. From his staff or shoulder hangs the wallet or water-gourd of the pilgrim. His special attribute, the scallop shell, appears on his hat or cloak, or on the wallet.

To this day, on arrival at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, pilgrims present their Pilgrim Passports , duly stamped at each of their halts along the way, at the Cathedral’s Pilgrim Office, and apply for the Compostela , the traditional certificate in Latin confirming their completion of the pilgrimage.

The origin of the scallop shell as the badge of the pilgrim to Compostella is open to more than one explanation. Found    in abundance along northern Spanish beaches, the scallop shell has become closely intertwined with the Camino de Santiago. The shell is carved into the walls and fittings of this parish and adorns the church’s stationary. Practical observers argue that the shell was adopted merely as a device for sipping water from streams along the    way. If this is so, it quickly took on greater meaning even to the earliest    pilgrims.

The    scallop design symbolizes the many European starting points from which medieval pilgrims began their journey, all drawn to a single point at the base of the    shell, Santiago de Compostela. Today in Spain cement scallop shell markers along the Camino reassure participants that they have not taken a wrong turn and local residents    decorate their gardens and houses with shells in solidarity with the pilgrims. A recent pilgrim recalled that the shells “came in various  forms: ceramic shells fitted onto road markers,  government-issue traffic signs marked with an abstract shell, shining brass shells imbedded in sidewalks. Some were broken, some had been stolen as souvenirs leaving only a trace of their presence, some were beautiful, some so simply sketched as to provide the mere suggestion of a shell. In all their variations, they marked the route for hundreds of miles. They reminded all of us pilgrims that in the midst of a world both beautiful and broken there are signs to help lead us forward, sometimes right under our feet.”

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