By: Melita Horvat |
Lapis lazuli – a symbol of family bonds, love and joy |
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Lapis lazuli is a gemstone discovered in the mountains of Afghanistan 6000 years ago. Its name is closely associated with its intense color.
It is derived from the Latin word 'lapis', meaning 'stone', and from the Arabic 'azul' (the Arabic and Persian word 'lazhuward'), meaning 'blue'.
In antiquity, it was regarded as a holy stone, a universal symbol of wisdom and truth. For thousands of years, Lapis lazuli has been treasured for its intense blue colour.
In Ancient Rome Lapis lazuli was most highly prized for its strong aphrodisiac properties, while in the Middle Ages people believed that this crystal relieves one's soul from the burden of sin.
It was among the first gemstones to be used in jewelry making and ornamentation. Throughout its history Lapis lazuli has been a popular carving material, frequently fashioned into many ornamental and decorative objects.
Many sarcophagi and other burial ornaments of Egyptian kings and queens were richly inlaid with lapis.
It was also used extensively in scarabs, pendants, amulets, beads, seals, signets and other jewelry, and ground into powder for dyes, eye shadow and medicinal elixirs.
Due to its beautiful blue color, it was also believed to be a symbol of the starry night and the cosmos.
At the end of the Middle Ages, Lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments.
It was used in frescoes and oil painting and was favoured by the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque (Michelangelo, Titian, Vermeer).
Ultramarine was often reserved for the clothing of the central figure of the painting, especially the Angels or the Virgin Mary. It was also used to tint cloth.
Medieval and Renaissance palaces and churches in Europe, as well as mosques throughout the Middle East, feature wall panels and columns with Lapis lazuli inlays.
In ancient times this magnificent stone adorned many temples and tombs.
Description and composition
Lapis lazuli is a light blue, dark blue or violet-blue opaque gemstone speckled with gold pyrite flecks.
It is the percentage of pyrite in the rock that determines the density of its attractive golden flecks.
It is primarily composed of lazurite (25-40%), a feldspathoid silicate belonging to the sodalite group of minerals, while the remaining composition is made up of sodalite, calcite, pyrite and other minor constituents.
Lapis usually occurs in crystalline marble through the geological process of contact metamorphism.
The varying composition influences its exact coloring, which can range from slightly greenish blue to violetish, medium to dark and from low to highly saturated.
The blue color comes from the sulphur content of the lazurite.
Lapis lazuli comes in various shapes and cuts. It is mostly cut for rings, beads, bracelets and necklaces, as well as carved sculptures, vases and ornamental objects.
Round and oval shapes are most popular.
At 5,5 on the Mohs scale (the scale of mineral hardness), this stone is among the less hard gemstones.
Protector of interpersonal relationships
Lapis lazuli has a very beneficial effect on the body and mind, harmonizing the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual imbalances. In other words, it keeps the head and heart in balance.
It is reputed to promote and protect harmony in relationships and is therefore often regarded as the protector of interpersonal relationships.
Lapis lazuli brings spiritual love and enhances love and fidelity within marriage.
It bonds broken relationships, allowing us to be more comfortable and honest about our feelings for one another.
It brings about positive changes to the homes where there is a significant lack of love, tolerance, understanding and communication.
A lapis grid brings calm and loving communication and is especially recommended for families with temperamental teenagers or children with Asperger's syndrome, autism or attention-deficit disorder.
Lapis lazuli enhances creativity, stimulates intuition and promotes inner peace and stability.
As a stone of communication, friendship and truth, Lapis promotes honesty, openness and mental clarity.
Lapis assists to confront and speak one's truth. It also inspires confidence, thereby boosting friendship.
It facilitates self-knowledge and self-expression, providing qualities of honesty, dignity compassion and morality to the personality.
Lapis lazuli is said to work as a powerful love drawing stone and one that strengthens the bonds between two lovers. Some believed that dreaming of lapis would foretell love that would be forever faithful.
Ancient legends claim that if you give a Lapis lazuli stone to a special person in your life, it will forge an eternal bond of friendship, loyalty and trust between the two of you.
Emotional healer and spiritual guide in times of trouble
Lapis lazuli is especially beneficial when dealing with difficult situations.
It summons up your courage and strength to overcome difficult situations and make some tough decisions.
Therefore it is an excellent gemstone for overcoming depression and sadness.
This is partly due to its energy of bringing inner power and hope.
It also promotes self-awareness and self-acceptance, helps to confront truth and accept its lessons.
It gives a clearer perspective of one's life, revealing not only one's limitations, but also the opportunities for growth and utilization of one's gifts and abilities.
Releases stress and keeps negative thoughts away
It is also known as 'a gem of joy', since it inspires positive feelings (brings peace, harmony and balance), relieves anger, anxiety, frustration, restlessness and tension and enhances psychic abilities.
According to folk belief, Lapis lazuli possesses the ability to block the negative energies directed at the person possessing the stone and return any negative vibrations back to their source.
Due to its ability to clear negative energies from your body, such as anxiety, fear, irritability, nervousness and stress, it effectively uplifts and balances the energies of the body, commanding the energy flow within the body.
As a protection stone, it protects from psychic and physical attacks.
Wonderful health benefits
Apart from benefiting our spirituality and mental capacities, this stone has been very useful in overcoming health conditions.
It boosts the immune system, stimulates metabolism, keeps your heart and blood vessels healthy, enhances circulation, lowers blood pressure and protects from heart attacks and strokes.
Lapis lazuli healing properties:
- heals pain (particularly migraine headaches)
- alleviates insomnia
- regulates the endocrine and thyroid glands
- alleviates vertigo
- relieves cramps
- increases bone strength and density
- treats edema and inflammations
- manages hearing loss
- protects from harmful radiation
How to use Lapis lazuli ?
Apart from placing Lapis lazuli on the afflicted area (Chakra healing), this beautiful stone displays its healing abilities when worn as jewelry.
It is available in many forms of jewelry, most commonly bracelets, earrings, necklaces, pendants or rings.
Worn around your neck, Lapis lazuli offers you protection from harmful radiation.
Lapis lazuli pendant, worn on a short chain near the thyroid gland, is believed to regulate its functioning.
You may also relieve eye infections by rubbing the afflicted area with a piece of Lapis heated in warm water.
For meditation purposes place the stone between your eyebrows.
You may also wear it for work or decorate your workplace with a piece of Lapis lazuli stone and thereby attract promotion, success and lasting recognition in your field.
Cleansing and charging Lapis lazuli
Cleanse your crystal by holding it under running lukewarm water.
Since it is fairly soft, it should not be soaked in water for a long period of time. After cleansing, dry the stone immediately and thoroughly.
Once a month, charge your Lapis lazuli over night in a bowl of tumbled hematite stones. It should be charged under the light of a full moon for up to 24 hours.
Since Lapis lazuli can be quite sensitive to wear and tear, strong pressure, high temperatures, harsh household chemicals and cleaners, you should handle it with special care and attention.
Sources used in this article include:
[url=http://www.gemselect.com]http://www.gemselect.com[/url]
[url=http://www.gemstone.org]http://www.gemstone.org[/url]
[url=http://www.crystalvaults.com]http://www.crystalvaults.com[/url]
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