Wednesday 29 February 2012

The magic of Sea Shells

Living near the sea I am lucky enough to be able to collect sea shells easily, I love walking along the beach and always come back with pockets full of shells and hag stones.

So how about the magical properties of the humble sea shell?

Obviously sea shells are associated with water, I often use a shell to represent West when I am in ritual, I also use them in water element witches bottles.

The Moon controls the tides of the ocean so shells are also associated with the Moon, I have a large round flat mother of pearl shell on my main altar to represent the Moon.

Being associated with water and the Moon I think the shell works perfectly in spells for emotions too.

Shells also have an association with Aphrodite, so can also be used for love spells.  Use a shell as a love drawing  talisman.

In the past shells were also used in some parts of the world as currency so they also have the association of money and prosperity.  Use in money drawing medicine bags or pop a small shell in your purse.

Think about what a shell is, it is a protective covering for the creature inside making shells also good for protection.  Use them in your witches bottles, or strung on a necklace for this purpose.

Shells can also be used in divination, use in a set with pebbles, crystals and bones to cast a reading (think Tia Dalma on Pirates of the Caribbean LOL!!).  Africa has a history of cowrie shell divination.

Particular shells also have their own individual meanings:

Abalone - general use and containment of empowered herbs and stones
Clam shells - purification and love
Conche shell - love
Cone shell - protection
Cowrie shell - prosperity, money - if you look at a cowrie shell is also looks very 'feminine' ;-)
Whelks - dramatic positive change
Limpets - courage, confidence, strength
Scallops - travel, movement

If you are collecting your own sea shells please make sure that the creature is not still inside it, if you do pick up one with a living creature toss it back into the water.

If you are purchasing your sea shells in a shop or from the internet please make sure they are from sustainable and viable sources.

Tansy
x

12 comments:

  1. Your blog provided us with valuable information to work with. Each & every tips of your post are awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing. Keep blogging,
    Amarres de Amor Caseros

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  2. thank you, I put a shell on top of my first wand,wrapped with copper and leather. it is young bamboo found by the sound.

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  3. Awesome tips and enlightenment. Many thanks

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  4. Awesome tips and enlightenment. Many thanks

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  5. Awesome tips and enlightenment. Many thanks

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  6. sherry Richardson4 February 2016 at 19:44

    good information, just what i was looking for, thanks, would have been great if pictures of shell were included

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  7. I recently got a bag of shells from a friend who hand picked them on a beach in Southern Europe thinking of me. When I got them I immediately thought divination and healing. Thank you for this blog post on the subject.

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  8. This is some very good information, but I have a particular question that I have yet to find the answer, so I shall seek your help to find it. I would like to know the magical properties and the meaning of the purple janthina shell

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    1. I haven't ever seen any 'traditional' specific magical properties for the purple janthina shell, I suspect as there are so many different types of shell not all of them have 'recognised' meanings. See what the shell means to you. It is snail shaped so may carry the characteristics of the snail animal spirit guide. It is also purple so will have the attributes of the colour purple. Each shell will mean something slightly different to each person, be guided by your intuition.

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  9. Shells with or without holes will all have magic and will work as suggested in the blog post above. If you are asking if shells with holes in would work the same way as hag stones? I hadn't thought about it. Hag stones are very earthy in nature (with a dash of water) and shells are definitely water so the basic element properties are different. But there is only one way to find out - work with them and see what happens!

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