"And the music of the pearl drifted to a whisper and disappeared..."
John Steinbeck, The Pearl
I just love the international legends I found about pearls.
For ancient Chinese, natural black pearls were created in the brains of dragons
and fell from the sky when dragons fought. Chinese art often depicts a dragon
holding onto the pearl safely between its teeth or paws.
An ancient myth from Ceylon portrays a lake of tears created
as a result of tears shed by Adam and Eve. From Eve’s tears, white pearls were
created whereas from Adam’s tears came black pearls. Since men were thought to
shed fewer tears than women, the scarcity of Adam’s tears is used to explain
the rarity of black pearls as compared to white ones.
The Japanese equated
pearls with tears of mythical nymphs, mermaids and angels. Ancient Greeks believed
that pearls were formed when rain or dewdrops haphazardly fell into an oyster. In ancient Greece, pearls symbolized love and marriage;
wearing them supposedly promoted marital bliss. And we could all use some of
that, right?
The MAY EcoChic Designs’ Earrings are made with freshwater pearls, icy aquamarine, pale amethyst, and glittering moonstone. All are handwired with sterling
silver findings to create one-of-a-kind pieces...and they are in the mail to my subscribers today. I hope they enjoy them.
