The other night I was watching a rerun of an episode of Chopped where they had amateur home cooks competing on the show. In the first round, the contestants were given amongst other ingredients scallops in a shell. One of the contestants was unfamiliar with how to deal with scallops in a shell. To be honest, most of the time when I get scallops they have already been cleaned and shelled. So, had I not taken the time to learn about this I may not have even known that they come in shell, but they do. While they are not as difficult to open as other shelled mollusks, they do need to be opened and cleaned before preparation. Besides having the sand and grit washed off them, the various organs such as the liver, abductor muscle, and sex organs need to be removed. Then and only then they can be baked, broiled, fried, or prepared in some other way.
Scallops are one of those foods that are not only healthy to eat, but they are powerful spiritually. Eating scallops is like any information that life presents us. There are some things that need to be removed and some things which need to be washed off before we can even consider ingesting them and making them part of our internal belief system.
Scallops, along with clams, are thought to provide one with the core lessons of balance in one’s life. When they come to you in your dreams, they are helping you to find harmony in your thoughts, actions, and emotions. They also are helping you to be more patient in your life.
Scallops can be like people in that they close and open. Scallops teach us to open ourselves up emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. When we close our “shells,” we block our opportunities to experience the lessons life is bringing us and block our opportunity to take advantage of the gifts life is bringing to us. Scallops remind us not to hide. When we are hiding within our shells, we block our opportunities to use our strength, energy, and determination in our lives.
One of the subtle differences that Scallop teaches is movement by encouraging us to open ourselves, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Scallop shows the importance of how being open to what life brings and taking advantage of key opportunities. It is not a time to hide; it is a time to be visible and to use our strength, energy, and determination to fulfill our purpose in life. It is the perfect time to start anew with flavor and zest.
The scallop can help us to understand how to maintain the balance of opening and closing oneself in life. Scallops, like other shelled mollusks, know when to open their shells and when to close them. They can help us know how to maintain our boundaries and at the same time open ourselves up to possibilities. The shell reminds us to listen to our intuitive powers knowing when to open ourselves up to exchanging energy with others and when to close our shells to energy from the external.
Scallops can aid in using our emotions to advance and gain new understanding of circumstances and situations. The simple opening and closing of their shells can encourage us to examine how we are expressing our emotions for further development. They can also encourage us to look at whether we are expressing ourselves too much or too little. Scallops can show us how to utilize and maximize what we see in the world to its fullest potential. They teach us to be aware and listen to perceptions and intuition.
Scallops are more than shelled mollusks they are teachers of balance, life, and wisdom. They are reminders to list to our intuition and know when to open ourselves up and when not to open ourselves.