IMPORTANT: This jewel is limited and we are unsure if they'll be available again in the future. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to best ensure it arrives safely in your hands. 

PLEASE NOTE : This necklace will be created with an 18" bar link chain. If you desire a different chain length, it's important that you email us immediately after placing your order. 

This necklace was originally a part of the 'Ouroboros Collection' before finding its way here. 

Because these stones are limited, we are not able to accommodate any requests for specific stone preferences.

The Ouroboros, translating to 'tail devourer' in Greek, an ancient symbol of a snake swallowing its tail, first appeared in Ancient Egypt in 13th century BC engraved in the gold shrine enclosing the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamen. For the Egyptians, the symbol was linked to their sense of time being cyclical rather than linear, due to their understanding of the cosmos, specifically the journey of the Sun and the annual flooding of the Nile, which they called the Inundation. From there the symbol moved into the visual library of Hellenistic Alexandria Alchemy where it appeared encircling the words 'One is All', representing the eternal cycle of rebirth~ the end is also the beginning, in perpetuity...Time is a flat circle.

It would go on to be the oldest allegorical symbol of Alchemy; the Alchemists of the Renaissance would strive to break the Ouroboros, desiring to escape the endless loop in a quest for immortality (with the creation of gold through this process being a beneficial side quest.) 

Carl Jung would go on to famously take the concepts of Alchemy, including the meaning and symbol of the Ouroboros to his theories and practices of 'Inner Alchemy' or the quest of wholeness. For him, the symbol represented the integration of the shadow self, the process of slaying oneself, bringing oneself to life in a loop towards wholeness.

Here, conjoined snake ribs, life cast from one of my earliest molds, are meant to represent my take on Ouroboros. Paired with a milky Mother of Pearl that has hints of pink, teal and shimmering white.

 *Details* :

- 34 mm from top to bottom

- 28 mm wide

- Solid Sterling Silver  

- Both pendant and chain are hand oxidized to achieve our favorite shade of stormy gray and then highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

- Set with one 25 mm Mother of Pearl Cabochon

- Seen on Miguel on a 20 inch chain

- Last photo shown with the Larger version

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.

This jewel is hand cut and therefore may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. It has not been fabricated by a machine rather it hand cut and therefore might not be uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stone and the cut. 

***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