Pearl Metaphysical Properties: A Hidden Gemstone Guide
When a pearl is born, it’s the result of irritation to the soft body of its host mollusk. This irritant can be a grain of sand but is most often a parasite. Because of this unique process, pearls are the only jewels created in partnership with living creatures. They never need to be trimmed, cut, cured, or polished. They arrive perfect and ready for enjoyment. Given their illustrious beauty, pearls remain one of Earth’s most treasured gifts.
Pearls are the birthstone for our Gemini and Cancer friends born in June. They come in several shapes: Classic round, irregular Baroque, flattened Button, and Keishi “freeform” pearls. Their colors range from white to gray, and often have overtones that include green, gold, brown, purple, bright yellow, pink, silver, blue, or black, and are sometimes infused with a mystical iridescence. Pearls are quite remarkable.
The beginnings of these little wonders occur when an oyster, mussel, or clam attempts to soothe the part of its body that was invaded by a bug or granule. It does this by emanating a unique coating layer over the irritated area, known as a nacre. The sea animal will add layer after layer of nacre until a beautiful, glistening pearl is formed. Natural and cultured pearls have similar dances, but for cultured pearls, the irritant (a bead or Mother of Pearl fragment), is surgically implanted in the mollusk. This profound process can occur in saltwater or seawater.
This is why pearls are considered to be the only gems born from a conscious, nurturing process, as their origin is a result of a living-Being choosing to self-nurture. It’s no surprise why pearls have a centuries-long reputation for their healing properties, especially in Asia and India. This might also be why pearls have a long list of metaphysical properties akin to crystals.
What is the Spiritual Meaning of Pearls?
Pearls have long been considered beacons of light for those who see the world through spiritual lenses. In Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, the “flaming pearl” celebrates our wisdom and invites awareness of the divine. For healers and shamans, pearls have been known through the ages as conduits for relaxation and helpful for introspection.
Pearls are known to have alleviated the symptoms related to lung diseases, including asthma, bronchitis, and tuberculosis. For magicians and wizards, pearls are used to negate the effects of poison and attract other-worldly protection. According to ancient and island healers, pearls can stimulate the heart chakra, reduce fevers, eradicate allergies, promote the growth of new cells, and help new mothers relax when giving birth.
The Chinese have long adorned their mythical dragons with pearls, who then invite wisdom, bravery, spiritual energy, and enlightenment into their lives. Native islanders have said that long ago, the wisest oysters would face the moon when adding their final layers of nacre to their creations. This is why the pearl is known to be representative of powerful feminine energy, a creator of life and worlds.
Persians believed that pearls are born when the heavens thrust rainbows into the Earth’s soil. The ancient Greeks and Christians taught their children that pearls are symbols of purity and integrity. In some Hindu lineages, pearls are believed to strengthen relationships, protect lovers, and reduce the effects of karma. Japanese mythology tells us that pearls are the tears from healing spirits and mythical beasts. Many report that pearls help them with self-acceptance and divine foresight.
As energetic magnets, pearls can deepen our connections to our core natures. When used in rituals, they can induce loving transitions, feelings of positivity, and vast earnestness in all of our relationships. While the Romans saw pearls as representative of high status, the Quran suggests that pearls can be found in paradise.
Do Pearls Have Healing Properties?
As many healers and shamans have reported, we can use pearls as we would crystals. As spiritual tools, pearls can are calming and centering, and can nurture our faith, loyalty, integrity, and purity. They also help women connect with their “inner goddesses” and men with their feminine attributes. No matter our genders, pearls can help us reach equilibrium with a vital, balanced, feminine energy.
Perhaps most importantly, pearls embody specific frequencies and energy vibrations that can re-balance deficiencies in the human body and spirit. Just like all gemstones, pearls can be used to heal our bodies and create balance in our lives.
Pearls have been used throughout history to treat the digestive tract, muscular systems, and skin. In ancient and Egyptian culture, pearl powder is considered a powerful tonic for beauty. In fact, Asian royalty used pearls for centuries to prevent the development of melanin, which causes dark skin pigmentation due to age and sun exposure.
Pearl powder helps to fade colored blemishes, reduce wrinkling and scarring, and eliminate the occasional pimple. It’s for these reasons and more that the Chinese have relied on the healing properties of the pearl for centuries. In many Asian cultures, pearls are used to heal everything from simple eye ailments to indigestion, serious heart problems, bleeding, and fever.
Are Pearls Good for Skin?
Even though Cleopatra died from consuming the dust from her crushed pearls, these stunning gems have become the obsession of hardcore health addicts. Chalkboard Magazine raves about it, “Pearl powder will not only put you en route to flawless skin on the outside but will also build precious mineral reserves on the inside.”
Rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, silica and amino acids, pearl powder can help maintain strong bones and teeth, prevents osteoporosis, and improve the health of our skin. But is it truly safe to consume pearl powder? Yes! Pearl powder has been used by the most enduring cultures and for thousands of years. Chinese Empress Wu Zetian lavishly covered her skin with pearl dust with the hope of beautifying her body from head to toe.
To this day, the Chinese use pearl powder as a skin whitener and cosmetics, as do many other cultures. In fact, the pearl is widely considered to be effective in controlling the skin conditions of rosacea and acne. For hundreds of years, pearl powder has been helpful as a detoxifier and anti-inflammatory, while Ayurvedic medicine has been promoting pearl dust as an anecdote for a variety of poisons.
Some say that if you consume a small measure of pearl dust, your wrinkles will begin to fade. To add to this power-punch, the host, sea animal’s nacre is so powerful that it can heal a variety of wounds.
Are Pearls The Next Superfood?
Pearls are packed with superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the virus/bacteria killer known as glutathione. The magnesium in pearls helps our bodies improve our levels of GABA – gamma-aminobutyric acid. Psychologists, psychiatrists, shamans, and healers alike tout magnesium as a friendly assistant in the pursuit of extinguishing depression, anger, unreasonable fears, anxiety, mental obsessions, and insomnia. You can use pearl powder in capsules, smoothies, salads, and your favorite beverages. With its healthy stockade of amino acids, this unique gemstone is a powerful addition to any diet.
While the FDA has been hesitant to comment on the validity of these claims, the latest research has proven that pearl dust assists our bodies in the creation of antioxidants. Why do we love antioxidants? They’re the best line of defense against free radicals, which are the creators of many diseases and pre-disease conditions. Pearl powder is considered safe to consume in small quantities. Are pearls a superfood? You betcha.
Balancing Chakras and Moods
Whether consumed or held, pearls can help us balance our hormones, improve our attitudes and moods, and open pathways to positivity and joy. They can help us meditate, pray, focus, and sleep. What’s more, pearl powder can zen you out. Known as a potent Shen (spirit) stabilizer, pearls support mood stability and soothe us in a variety of ways. They relieve our nervousness and help us reduce the stress in our lives. It’s no wonder that the pearl has earned a reputation as an etheric matrix for the benefit of all life.
When it comes to the major 7 in the Chakra system, pearls can help invigorate and heal your Sacral (1st or root/groin) Chakra, Heart Chakra (or 3rd Chakra), and Crown Chakra (7th Chakra, which is found outside your body, just above your head. These are the most vibrant Chakras in our systems.
Because the Sacral Chakra is the gatekeeper for energy, lifeforce, and sexual expression, it can also be the most damaged Chakra. Given the pearl’s ability to magnetize healing, peacefulness, and earnestness, it might be the best elixir for healing a variety of social, emotional, and physical damage.
The Heart Chakra helps us pursue love in the world. When kept clean and energized, this Chakra helps us feel nurtured and supported in our lives. It helps us love more purely and innocently. This is also the Chakra that helps us improve our primary relationships and forgive. With more forgiveness in our lives, we have room for more life-energy. With more energy, we’re often more prosperous and feel more connected to the divine.
When we want to dissolve our temporary self-identities and related illusions, pearls can be our biggest ally. They protect us when we reach out to the heavens and they preserve our innocence in the pursuit of miracles. Pearls help us pray for ourselves and others. In that light, they can advance our evolution and help us awaken.
Different Types and Properties of Pearls
Whenever we hear the word “pearl,” most of us imagine the perfectly round, luminously-white gemstone. But there are many types of pearls, each with unique properties, and attributes. When evaluating one, it’s not about shape or color, rather, it’s all about the pearl’s surface luster, its brilliance, how it reflects light to the beholder. The more brilliant and mirror-like the surface of the pearl, the higher its quality. A dull or chalky surface indicates an inferior pearl.
Here’s a handful of pearls you’ll find in abundance throughout the world.
Mother Of Pearl
These inviting pearls heighten intuition, psychic sensitivity, and imagination. When holding these pearls, you can attract prosperity, protect yourself from negative influence, and transmute negative energy. They’re also helpful in protecting children, just like their namesake suggests. And akin to a Mother’s love, these gemstones can purify environments and heal our memories and heart. Thanks, Mom!
These human-made pearls are perfectly round and among today’s most coveted possessions. Often grown in a variety of sea and lake beds, these gems are the backbone of the pearl industry. Pearls farms use oysters as their mollusk hosts and can be found in China, Japan, Tahiti, Australia, and Indonesia.
There are many brands and creators of pearls, including Akoya, Keshi, Biwa, Mabe, and Chinese freshwater pearls, all born from over 350 species in hundreds of protected streams, rivers, lakes, and other beds of water. Because they produce the most colorful and shapely pearls, the mussel known as Hyriopsis cumingii has become the favored birther in Chinese pearl co-creation.
Tahitian Black Pearls
Tahitian black pearls are quite unique in the pearl world. They not only invite wisdom, but are powerful magnets that attract wealth, prosperity, and everlasting love into our lives. When we invoke the gods of fertility, they appear to us adorned in black pearls. While black might conjure images of emotional or spiritual death, the heart of this pearl invites our rebirth and transformation. The most exotic pearls can fetch as much as $100,000 for an abundant, necklace strand.
Pink pearls work especially well in support of the Sacral and Heart Chakras. Wear them close to your heart, as part of your Heart Chakra meditation, and in conjunction with other Heart Chakra-centric crystals for the most healing results. Pearls can help restructure and protect our Sacral Chakras, which can open pathways to our emotional and psychological growth.
These shining stars invite successful marriages, profitable ventures, divine guidance, and protection. They are some of the most beautiful pearls in creation. Gold pearls can be used in rituals that invite our ancestors to support our relationships and endeavors.
Abalone pearls are also known as abalone shells and have beautiful colors that encourage feelings of love, beauty, gentleness, peacefulness, and joy. It feels comforting to hold an Abalone pearl or shell. You might also enjoy rubbing them just like you would a magic- or worry-stone.
Abalone shells can reduce liver heat and symptoms that include headaches, dizziness, spasms of the limbs, and conditions of the eyes. Abalone can strengthen the heart, protect muscle tissue, and help with digestion. Nicknamed “sea ears,” the Abalone’s flattened, oval shape and iridescent interior are adored and used by Native Northwest American Indians as natural vessels for cleansing, offerings, and prayers.
As with all gemstones born from the Earth’s abundance, when honored and used correctly, pearls can help reconnect us with creation, inspire our healing, and attune us to beneficial frequencies and strands of energy. Like all living, light-and-sound Beings, your pearls are your friends and can protect you and keep you safe. Love your pearls with gratitude.
What's My Birthstone? Birthstone Meanings and Stone Properties by Month
When each of us is born, elements throughout the universe are aligned in uniquely specific formations. Because every aspect of creation is connected, our birth stars and planets are positioned in ways that are meant to impact our lives, both positively and negatively.
Inherent in these constellations and formations is a unique set of influences and energetic attributes. We can choose to move with these constructs, as if being whisked away on mini rollercoasters throughout our lives, or we can challenge them by understanding how they function, then continuously choose to improve our responses to them.
Therein lie two potential responses to our birth influences and the resulting karmic flows: roll with it or rise above it.
What is a Birthstone?
While the stars and planets are working with the energetic aspects within the heavens to bring you to life and then guide you through to your death, there are other players in the game: gemstones. All the stones throughout all the galaxies and universes are born with energetic infusions. This makes each stone unique in its attributes and footprint.
Hinduism tells us that the nine gemstones connected to your specific celestial forces can help you in this life. In Sanskrit, they are known as Navaratna or The Nine Gems. By wearing some of them for specific purposes, you can protect yourself from the negative influences that were found in the heavens at the time and place of your birth month. This is why birthstones can be extremely valuable to us. They can help us break karmic trends, heal ancient wounds, and escape the harshest aspects built into the fabric of our life trajectories.