Hi everyone,
I am learning to honor the very valuable lesson elf taught me. To avoid shell shock
What might be useful is to select 10 shells from each of the 4 categories giving you 40 shells to start with.
Simone did a wonderful job of translating from Paroles de Coquillages (the french version of Ocean Oracle). I don't speak French, so it was a comforting treat for me to see your translation being so accurate...thank you for this peace of mind I did not even realize I sought.
The 4 categories are shells whose meanings derive from:
1) The behavior or anatomy of the animal
2) The interaction with man throughout history
3) The name or appearance of the shell
4) Simply from my intuition
I think it is fitting to share the information from razor clam now because it came from all four methods. I will admit that the categories are actually in order of my comfort zone. I began sticking to science so people would have a reason for a shell to have a meaning. I thought credibility was strongest if the meaning came from the behavior or anatomy, and least if it was just based upon my intuition. Again, please allow me to copy from the second book:
Sometimes, it is not the shells we find, but those we can’t find, that teach important lessons. Over the last two years, I have heard many people tell me that they can’t find Razor Clams. Shell divination translation…they can’t find compassion. This troubled me greatly. To understand why, I must explain that the derivation of the meanings come from four sources: 1) The behavior of the mollusk, the animal that creates and inhabits the shell, 2) its interaction with man, 3) its name and appearance and 4) intuition. My personality feels most comfortable when the meaning is derived from the first three categories. This allows me to say “Please, don’t take my word for it, it is here in this book.” For many years, all the shells’ meanings were based solely upon some scientific fact. The shells in my collection that weren’t in books didn’t become part of the divination shells.
This policy changed one day, when a shell broke. To keep its meaning available for clients, until I could get a new version of the broken shell, I used a stand-in of a different species. Of course, the client picked the stand-in, and she placed it in the center of her reading. I took a deep breath, and put my theory to the test. I interpreted the message based not upon the shell she selected, but upon the broken shell’s meaning. The session proved to be very healing for this client, and taught me the value of intention. This experience allowed the fourth category of shell meanings to evolve. They are meanings that don’t come from a book. Rather, they derive from a gut feeling or from meditating with a shell.
Over the years, I have found confirmations for some of these meanings years after the fact. I delight every time a shell changes categories from that precarious fourth intuitive section, to the more scientifically based other three methods. Now, I will return to my concerns about the Razor Clam comments. The meaning of compassion was based upon intuition, not book knowledge. With these random comments about futile searches for Razor Clams beginning to escalate, I knew this was vital in importance. The impact heightened when I received an email from someone asking me how I would interpret his recent pain from an old Razor Clam cut on his foot. I felt awkward responding. With nothing else to go on, I thought his cut meant that he was wounded by compassion. Perhaps, in his desire to be kind, he might have made inappropriate sacrifices. He could have been taken advantage of, or even been treated as a doormat. He may believe that compassion leads to pain and has hardened his heart in protection. The pain is his body’s method to allow his emotions around this to surface. Uncertain if my intuitive interpretation was an adequate reason to make these conclusions, I informed him of this and invited him to share more of what was happening at this time in his life. To my regret, I never heard back. This was unsettling because I felt a tremendous responsibility to the Razor Clams to do them justice. They were obviously trying to reach out to many people. I continued to discuss compassion, but it was difficult personally to only have intuition as a basis for my comments.
At Thanksgiving, my brother handed me an old library book that had been discarded by his library. It is called Strange Seashells and Their Stories, and was published in 1936. As I sat down to devour its contents, I found a section devoted to Razor Clams. The Razor Clam’s streamlined shape enables it to dig 5-6 feet underground at a pace exceeding a man with a shovel. In England, these clams were desirable for eating. Recognizing the futility of digging these clams out of their burrows, the English employed an alternative tactic. They sprinkled coarse salt on the ground over the clams’ holes. This forced the clams to surface because their systems could not tolerate the bitter salt. My mouth dropped open in awe. Even though it placed them in danger, the overriding need to cleanse themselves of bitterness took priority. Here was the connection to compassion! When we rid ourselves of all bitterness we are able to display compassion. The ultimate sign of compassion enables us to treat an enemy with mercy and kindness.
As advocates of compassion, the Razor Clams teach us the importance of eliminating the bitter anger and resentment from our hearts. These clams surface to their own peril because they can't abide bitterness. The bitter salt on the surface of the clams’ abode, equates to the salt we rub into our own wounds. As discussed in Houses of Healing, holding ourselves hostage to anger separates us from claiming our true power. Anger allows us to create distance in relationships and prevents us from investigating the genuine feelings that dwell beneath. Surface anger or resentment may mask underlying fear or insecurities. Compassion can't be found when we are mired in bitter anger and resentment.
Whether in personal battles or massive conflicts, our insecurities and fears surface. To alleviate this fear, we search for ways to obtain feelings of power and strength. When compassion is perceived as weakness, it becomes something to avoid; no wonder it can’t be found. Anger and hatred serve to separate us from accessing the compassion within us. Bitter feelings are used as justification for violent responses. Looking upon another as an opponent to conquer perpetuates the violence. When we understand Einstein’s premise that we can not solve a problem at the level at which it is created, we see that violence will inevitably reproduce violence. People become trapped in a vicious cycle based upon fear. How can we create a loving, peaceful world for our children using this recipe? The simple answer is that we can’t.
We need a bridge to transport us from our world of fear to a new world vision of love. In a seminar I attended called Relating Beyond Conditions taught by Milagros Phillips, she explained that compassion and forgiveness are the components from which this bridge is assembled. Looking back at my own thoughts regarding the email from the person who cut his foot on a Razor Clam, I can see that I believed that compassion might become a source of weakness and lead to pain due to inappropriate sacrifices. The Razor Clams have assisted me in gaining a new comprehension of the liberating strength inherent in compassion. Far from being a weakness, compassion is a quality to be cultivated. This will lead us to the true power we seek. When we are rooted in the truth of our love, no outside force can threaten us.
When man tries to introduce bitterness to the Razor Clams, they risk death attempting to rid their systems of that poison. They are instructing us that danger is relative. Living with bitterness harbored inside us is another form of, or even a fate worse than, death. If forgiveness (ridding ourselves of bitterness) is required to access compassion, these clams sacrifice their lives to make us aware of its importance. They are educating us that holding on to those bitter feelings places us all in peril.
I can’t improve upon this beautiful quotation from Dr. Christiane Northrup: “Imagine all the angels and non-physical beings who are working on the other side to protect and uplift all of us. Know that they can only do their work in an atmosphere of compassion, not condemnation. The energy of condemnation will prevent them from connecting with the hearts of those who most need their inspiration and love.”
