Scallop Shell

[lmorris]

I was wondering, for those of you who have walked the Camino, did you
carry the Scallop Shell with you? And does any one know the history of
why this object was to be carried?
        From what I have read and uncovered, the the Emperor Constantine banned
the veneration of Mary the Gypsy, but it seems that her cult continued
in England, France and Spain. This Mary the Gypsy was identified with
the goddess Aphrodite, who was risen from the sea foam, the most
significant emblem of Mary was the Scallop Shell.
        Now could this practice of carrying the scallop shell with them on the
Camino be from this cult of Mary the Gypsy?