Messenger of the Sea

Santander, Cantabria

A mermaid, like Triton, messenger of the sea, announces her ship's arrival, a majestic image combining mythology and the ceremonial practice of blowing the conch shell like a horn dating back to ancient times and continued in many present day traditions. In the Canaries, the "bucio" was used by the native Guanches, who held up a giant conch and blew it symbolically to the four winds when beginning and ending important social and religious events. A beautiful visual of this is when, in the film, A Walk in the Clouds, the Mexican matron of the Aragon family nobly stands in the middle of an enormous wine barrel like an Aztec queen, blowing on a conch to initiate the stomping of the grapes. It's a cinematographically stunning scene. When Triton blew his conch he had the power to calm or raise the waves, an image that stirs the heart and mind.

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