Fresh Water Pearls
- Katelynn Samuels
- Jul 23, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
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Featuring Fresh Water Pearls
In Ancient Vedic texts, the Fresh Water Pearl is born of the Earth's waters and the heaven's powers, fertilized by a flash of lightning. It's considered to be the daughter of the Moon.
In Western cultures, the pearl has astrological associations with the planet Venus. Like pearls, the goddess of love came from the sea.
Due to their shape, pearls have another watery association. Some stories say white pearls
are tears shed by the gods.
Today, natural pearls are extremely rare, which increases their value considerably. The search for the perfect pearl, whether natural or farmed, has gone on for centuries. In fact, evidence of pearl cultivation goes back to at least the 13th century CE.
Legends tell of Cleopatra dissolving a pearl in wine or vinegar, and then drinking it;
to flaunt her wealth.
In ancient times, the expense of perfect pearls gave rise to a curious spell for increasing wealth.
The caster would select a particularly fine pearl, infuse it with the desire for riches, and then throw it away into a rubbish heap. The idea behind this sympathetic magic practice was that someone who could throw away pearls was rich indeed.
The rarity and expense of pearls also contributed to some common expressions still used today.
In The Bible, Matthew 7:6 admonishes against throwing "pearls before swine," wasting what is valuable on fruitless endeavours. We still commonly refer to precious advice and counsel as "pearls of wisdom." In the millennia before perliculture, pearls were very hard to find and harvest.
When wisdom is given, treasure it like a rare pearl.
Pearl's associations with the Moon and Venus seem to reinforce the popular perception that it's a Divine Feminine jewel.
The mineralogist George Kunz, in his 1913 work, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, made this comparison between diamond and pearl:
"The diamond is to the pearl as the sun is to the moon, and we might well call one the "king-gem" and the other the "queen-gem." The diamond, like a knight of old — brilliant and resistant, is the emblem of fearlessness and invincibility; the pearl, like a lady of old — pure and fair to look upon, is the emblem of modesty and purity."
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