Skip to main content

Pilgrim Symbols


The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.
Scallops also serve a practical purpose for medieval pilgrims as it is the correct size for getting water to drink or to use as a small bowl to eat their food from.

There are also two stories about this shell which both involve the story that James did some preaching in Spain after Jesus had died and why the shell became so important:
1.After James was killed his disciples took him to be buried at the place that we now call Santiago.
    But not far from Spain’s coast a heavy storm hit the ship and his body was lost in the ocean.
    Some time later his body was washed ashore undamaged but it was covered in scallop shells.






2. After James died his body was mysteriously taken by a ship (sometimes this is said to be a ship made of stone) that had no crew back to Spain so that he could be buried there in the area we now call Santiago.
    As his ship came close to the shore a wedding was happening and the groom was riding a horse which, when it saw the ship coming in, was scared and ran over the cliffs and into the sea.
    Through a miracle they both came out of the water alive but were covered in scallops.




The Pilgrimage to Jerusalem has as its symbol the palm branch. These were the symbol of victory and triumph of faith (and were lain in front of Jesus when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in what is now remembered on Palm Sunday). Palm branches are often also called palms of Jericho or Jerusalem fathers and they were recognized in mediaeval times as showing that the Pilgrim had been to Jerusalem.
A mediaeval Pilgrim palm branch badge (image from www.pinterest.com)





The Pilgrims to Rome would bear as their symbol the keys of Saint Peter (as they are heading for Saint Peter's tomb in Rome).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from   Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/
1 comment
Read more

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell  of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.
1 comment
Read more

Pilgrims' Trail to Saint Michels Mont, France

I have only walked two of the Camino routes (the Frances and Portuguese) and still want to try many of the others and yet I am also finding other Pilgrimage routes that I want to walk - I did the Pilgrims' Way in the summer which starts from Winchester which is also the starting point for the Pilgrims' Trail a 155 mile route that finishes at Mont St Michel in Normandy, France. The cult of saint Michel was popular in Britain from the 9th century and the Pilgrims walking this way were called Miquelots and many Pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The route is marked by green way markers in Hampshire taking walkers from Winchester to Bishop's Waltham to Southwick and then to Portsmouth where ferries are caught to France and Way markers become blue. Tradition says that, in 709 Saint Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop of Avranches, Saint Aubert, and told him to build a chapel in his honour on the island. The bishop obeyed and soon sent a group of monks over...
Post a Comment
Read more