The moment I walked through the doors of the cathedral, heard the organ and choir, and saw the line of pilgrims kissing a scallop shell (and bowing their heads three times as signs of homage) with such emotion, I could not NOT think there is some higher being. The signs of scallop shells are all over the area. Pilgrims have them on their
backpacks, or on top of their
staffs; all the
souvenir shops sell them, the
restaurants serve them, and the cathedral has sculptures of the mollusk inside and
out -- including the famous golden one on the altar. The scallop shell is the universal symbol of St James in the Christian world; some people say it’s also the symbol of fertility. (Some pilgrims make their way here as a fertility pilgrimage.) Whatever the reason or however you get here, you won’t be disappointed.
The moment I walked through the doors of the cathedral, heard the organ and choir, and saw the line of pilgrims kissing a scallop shell (and bowing their heads three times as signs of homage) with such emotion, I could not NOT think there is some higher being. The signs of scallop shells are all over the area. Pilgrims have them on their backpacks, or on top of their staffs; all the souvenir shops sell them, the restaurants serve them, and the cathedral has sculptures of the mollusk inside and out -- including the famous golden one on the altar. The scallop shell is the universal symbol of St James in the Christian world; some people say it’s also the symbol of fertility. (Some pilgrims make their way here as a fertility pilgrimage.) Whatever the reason or however you get here, you won’t be disappointed.
<< Home