IMPORTANT: This strand is limited to only THREE, making this offering very special. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to make sure it arrives safely into your hands. 

Hand carved Mother of Pearl beads form our version of a rosary beads. Mother of Pearl has long been associated with traditional rosary beads, often called the "pearls of Mary". As a metaphor for layers of prayer that adds to a person's faith since Mother of Pearl shells are built up with thin layers of aragonite over time. Their shiny, luminescent quality also associated them with "holiness". Here, this strand is meant to be a comfort for the darkest days of winter, despite the returning of the light, the last weeks of winter can often be the hardest. Historically, humans struggled in the colder months, often huddling inside around the hearth, turning inward in many ways. The world became smaller, the days shorter. This strand is a metaphor for faith and prayer of all kinds, with the moth acting as a guardian, a symbol of resilience and endurance, as there are real "winter" moths still on wing in these cold days. 

It measures approximately 40 inches long from end to end. At its closure is our is our new Datura Luna Moth clasp, cast in sterling silver, oxidized to our favorite gloomy grey and finished to highlight the shining silver beneath.  

This clasp is tactile in nature making it easily held between the tips of your fingers and rubbed for comfort in times of grief, anxiety, dissociation, as well as during moments of joy and wonder.  

Pearls :

Have an ancient history of reverence as well as a long legacy of beauty. Pearls are formed when an external irritant, like a grain of sand, breaches the shell of an oyster or shelled mollusk. Once this irritant has gained entrance within the dark fleshy confines of the oyster, it goes to work protecting itself. If this irritant can’t be expelled, it begins to ‘bandage’ the grain, coating it with concentric rings of calcium carbonate, named ‘narce.’ Each layer that is built up forms the shape of the pearl, awash in a brilliant iridescence, a beauty born of a tiny trespass. Thusly, a pearl has at its center, the object of its creation, a foreign intruder.

I associate the pearl and its strange construction to so many things: the jellied caterpillar struggling within a chrysalis, its liquefied body forms a new winged shape. An embedded star smoldering within the shell of our hearts. An ink dot, a pin prick, a moon in miniature. History, who has always loved and revered the pearl, writes that we once believed pearls were the result of lightning striking the shell and penetrating the inner skins of the oyster. A small beauty made in duress, a ‘stone’ of initiation. To possess a pearl means to own something that is hidden, sacred.

Lore has it that Cleopatra, to win a wager with Antony, dissolved a large, exquisite pearl in her drinking glass. She swallowed it in one sip. I wonder about her dreams that night.

Every bead is hand selected for its beauty. 

***IMPORTANT***

This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for creation before shipping.                   

Visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE.

If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via info@bloodmilkjewels.com