If we notice a shell on the shore, drawn by an irresistible magnetism, we bend down, take it in our hands, touch it like a flower, observe it as a precious treasure, and feeling the call of mystery, we return it to the sea or, in the desire to possess a piece of beauty, we take it with us and place it on the shelf of the most beautiful memories.
Shells mesmerize with their diverse shapes and colors, a harmonious play of nature that leaves no one indifferent. Their spirals resemble the petrified movement of fire. By their unstoppable ascension towards the narrowing top, they touch the infinite Beauty from whose invisible source they emerged… They have been a lasting inspiration in art, mythology, and decoration throughout history.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, Arjuna’s divine counselor, announces the beginning of a great battle by blowing into a shell – a battle that confronts the permanent and the transient within humans, our strengths and weaknesses, and the battle through which the human being is shaped.
The white shell – the Turbinella Pyrum snail in the East symbolizes
The voice of Buddhi, the voice of Dharma, the universal law that gives meaning to existence.
In the Upanishads, it is spoken of as the guardian of the Vedas during the period of Pralaya, the withdrawal of the entire universe into a state of rest, the one who hides the seed of all possibilities for the development of a new cycle, the Manvantara – the active state of the universe.
The shell symbolizes the womb that preserves the seed of new life. Therefore, it is associated with fertility, water, and the Moon. Among the Aztecs, the god of the Moon is Tecuciztecatl, which means One from the shell. In this culture, we also encounter the motif of a split shell, which is a symbol of one aspect of the god, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, connected with the transformation of man, emerging from the darkness of matter and flying towards spiritual heights. In the depictions of the Mayans, we come across small human figures eagerly peering out of the opening of a shell, indicating the awakening on a new plane of existence…
According to one legend, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, emerged from a shell. We find Venus, her Roman counterpart, depicted in a shell… The outer appearance of the land is dust, but its essence is made of light.
The exterior is in conflict with the inner reality
– as if the shell of a shell is in conflict with its pearl.
The exterior says:
“I am this and nothing more.”
The interior says: “Look closely and you will find me.”
The exterior says: “The inner reality is deception.”
The interior says: “Wait and watch. I will reveal the truth to you.”
Rumi
Thus, the shell is an example of preserving lasting values deep within ourselves, shining in our inner being like the Golden Aphrodite, a symbol of eternal youth and inner beauty.
In his work The Birth of Venus, Botticelli’s goddess of love and beauty is born from a shell, representing rebirth – a renaissance into a state higher than what we were before – like a pearl. When a grain of sand falls into the shell, it creates layers of mother-of-pearl around it, transmuting it into a pearl. This teaches us about the process of acquiring what is valuable and lasting. The poet and sage Shabestari in his work The Rose Garden of Secrets aže: The shell is the dearest word, a pearl is the wisdom of the heart, it is perfection that is not given but the result of long-lasting transformative effort.
Nature once again gives us clear advice, and tradition preserves them, encouraging us to follow them…