Shells as Religious Symbols and the Meaning of Life

Ah, the Pearly Gates of Heaven.  I’m thinking about them because I recently lost a dear friend, and am thinking that he is meeting St. Peter at those very gates.  According to Revelations, the twelve gates of Heaven are each made from a single pearl.  Of course this is symbolic, or the pearls were rather large (or the gates small..).  […]
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Sailors’ Valentines

When the Dutch started bringing seashells back from travels in the 1550’s, the use of them in art and science was born. Connoisseurs needed to be supplied with rare species for their Cabinets of Curiosity. Cabinets soon graduated to entire rooms, which appeared, with their magic, in Renaissance gardens, Louis XIV’s Grotto of Thetis at Versailles and Marie Antoinette’s shell […]
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