Written in Stone...

I've talked a little bit about symbolism before and even mentioned some gem lore, but I haven't dived too deep into the topic.  Mainly because it's such a vast field.  Gem lore stretches back millennia and even though there are some crossovers, there's a thousand different things a stone can mean and sometimes it can be confusing or daunting.

One of the things that I like to do is to hold the stone in my hand and be mindful of what pops into my head.  Is it a memory?  Is it a sensation?  How does it make me feel when I look at it?  Are there any histories that come to mind?

More often than not, these intuited meanings are usually remarkably close to what the consensus offers.  Of course, even if a group of experts agree on a particular meaning, it really just depends on what it means to YOU!  For instance, if you are in an abusive relationship and your partner hits you with a turquoise ring on – that experience might taint your particular feelings toward something.  We're all different and unique and our experiences shape how we see and interact with the world.

With these pendants, I wanted to find the most common meanings of the stones that I bezel-set and stamp them onto the pendants.  For larimar, I stamped "healing".  For rainbow moonstone, I added the word, "dream".  Turquoise is thought to be a stone of protection, so I hammered the word "protect" and some protective Runes.  Crazy lace agate has such a fun pattern and it's no wonder why it is often considered the stone of happiness.  That's why I stamped the word, "happiness" on the crazy lace agate pendant.  For the pendants with the coral on it, I used the word, "imagination".  I think they're fun and even if you aren't familiar with so much gem lore, you'd still be able to guess what they meant.  The bezel-set stones are soldered onto hammered copper bases that are flame-polished.  I like the nice contrast of the cool silver and warm reddish brown of the copper.  I think it really makes the stone POP and not in a bad way.