“Mustika’s” (Magic Jewels in Javanese)
Humankind has forever been fascinated by the seemingly mysterious apparition of pearls. We reserve the word ‘pearl’ exclusively for nacreous concretions formed inside molluscs, whether from oceans or lakes and rivers, but it was not always so.
In India, since earliest times, one of the ancient sacred texts referred to the Nine Beads (Nava Moti): the Oyster Pearl, Conch Pearl, Cobra Pearl, Boar Pearl, Elephant Pearl, Bamboo Pearl, Whale Pearl, Fish Pearl and Cloud Pearl. While the first two are familiar, the others, referred to as Mustika, the Javanese word for “magic jewel”, describes unusual pearl-like objects sometimes found in animal or plants, which often assumed magical powers in the popular imagination.
They may assume the shape of regular oyster-pearls and tumbled stones or in unusual shapes and sizes. In their unpolished state they have a rough texture. Nature forms these pearls in the bodies of diverse animals, plants and fruits. They are unusual creations that may correspond to human cysts and tumors, and Indonesia is noted for producing many varieties.
Akin to these unusual formations are Bezoars, a type of calculus found in the intestines of certain animals.
Bezoars were formerly sought after because they were believed to have the power of a universal antidote against any poisonous substance. It was believed that a drinking glass which contained a bezoar set within would neutralize any poison poured into the glass. The word “bezoar” ultimately comes from the (Persian) pâdzahr, “protecting against poison.”
In the popular Harry Potter series, bezoars are referenced as a cure for most poisons and are even used to save a character from poison.
Many people attribute strong mystical qualities to these unusual “pearls” which some say have also been found in the bodies of saints and holy people . This, they say, might be an indication that animal and plant pearls are the manifestation of an organism’s highest energy crystallized and formed out of aspiration to a higher evolutionary level.
Some offer methods for determining whether a mustika is real or a fake, including looking at the following 3 points:
The Energy Present: When a pearl is held between the thumb and forefinger, as the breath is held, energy would be felt as issuing forth from it. The longer it is held the stronger will the energy be palpable. The energy would run through one’s arm and finally reach the heart or to one of the other chakras within the body depending upon its quality. Fakes do not give such sensations.
The Presence of an Elemental Spirit: Each and every one of the mustika pearls have an indwelling elemental spirit – fakes do not have them. The presence of the spirit may be felt and communicated with by a psychic.
The Medicinal Properties: Without exception, all mustikas have vibrational healing virtues which may be tapped into. Again, fakes do not possess such power.
The Nine Pearls: What might they be?
While Oyster and Conch pearls are known and valued to this day, one is left to wonder how a mythology grew around such unusual objects as Fish, Whale, Elephant, Boar, Cobra, Bamboo, and Cloud “’pearls” What might they be, and how are they caused?
Fish & Whale Pearls: They appear to be natural products of an organic anomaly in the metabolism. A likelihood exists of remains of small marine forms embedding in fish or whale organs in the digestive process, similar to the way that asbestos fiber stays within the human lung, thus creating an atmosphere in which a bezoar pearl could form.
Believe it or not, says Larry Castle, Mississippi’s Chief of Wildlife, several types of bezoars also occur in humans. One occurs in psychologically disturbed patients and children who ingest hair, carpet, rope, etc. He explains, Bezoars are formed in much the same fashion as a pearl in a oyster. An indigestible object is ingested and then layer after layer of calcium is formed around the object. Some bezoars reach a size of up to two inches across.
Elephant Pearl: Although all mammals can have pearl-like concretions form on the roots of their teeth, only elephants and hippopotami tend to form loose pearls instead of mabe-like outgrowths. Being made of dentine, they do not have luster or orient and, of course they are ivory-beige in color. Like conch pearls, they tend to have a flame-like pattern. The pattern looks somewhat like wet silk. The shapes are typically plump ovals like olives or buttonish-squished rounds. Those who believe in the mystical quality of the Elephant Pearl attribute the following: Attracts luck; improves sales and social life; charisma; personal magnetism; authoritative bearing; healing; wards-off negative forces.
Boar’s Head Pearl: They apparently are dark violet, marble sized spheres with a partially transparent surface that is opaque at first glance. The pearl suggests a biological process which aggregates deposits of utero ferrin, a purple protein essential to the gestation and post natal development in the boar family, in the head of certain older specimens. As the protein is found everywhere from the placenta to the sperm of adult males, in increasing amounts over the life span of the boar, it is considered a reasonable argument that the Boar Pearl has multiple points of scientific validation as a wildlife by-product outside of strictly religious contexts.
Cobra Pearl: The largest body of information is found concerning the Cobra Pearl. Most have considered them bezoar stones, which is some cases is inferred from being found in the body of a dead snake where it is covered with a thick opaque adhesion which conceals an inside of often flawless transparency, which appears after being tumbled and polished. Those who believe in Mustikas attribute the following characteristics to Cobra Pearls: Attracts luck; improves business and social life; charisma; personal magnetism; healing; regeneration, and wards-off bad luck & negative energies.
Bamboo Pearl: The hardness of this “Pearl” is similar to cement or petrified wood, and there are four distinct growth points around a center axis at 90 degree angles. Perhaps the heavy Bamboo Pearl forms within internal joints of a large bamboo stalk, seeded from a small growth incongruity, much like the Oyster Pearl. Believers in their power attribute these qualities to the Bamboo pearls: Attracts luck; improves business and social life; wards-off negative energies.
Cloud Pearl: This is the one gem spoken of not originating from an animal or plant, but perhaps could have a scientific explanation related to hailstones. The Cloud Pearl has been described by viewers as approximately the size and shape of a chicken egg, translucent blue with a distinct tight spiral running from bottom to top of outside surface area. Heavy like a rock and rough in texture, the inner body of the pearl has a diffusion pattern that appears somewhat like an inclusion one might see inside an ice cube. The observed spiral formations may have a precedent observed in fulgurites of river banks struck by lightning. Lightning hitting sand mixed with fluorite could create a composite of blue translucent silicate complex; some unusual target point may have then been responsible for producing the spiral. In pre-scientific times, such rare manifestations would have been considered inexplicable and possibly transcendent.Variant Cloud Pearls are reported, which are called “Thundercloud Pearls” and “Sky Pearls.”
In ancient Hindu texts, a Cloud Pearl is actually the heart of Vishnu himself, while in another indication it is represented that the flowers of Vishnu’s garland become Cloud Pearls as they fall to earth. Another sacred text, the Brhat Samhita, reinforces the existence of Cloud Pearls as follows: “They say that pearl is produced in the clouds of the seventh layer of wind in the sky in the manner of hail-stones. It falls there with the brilliance of lightning and is taken away (before it reaches the earth) by the denizens of heaven.”
Even beyond the Hindu Vedas, a large body of ancient literature cites legends of mysterious blue pearls possessing magical or miraculous characteristics. One of the most interesting is in the well-known 2200 BCE Epic of Gilgamesh, at a point where the hero Gilgamesh makes one more shot at rising beyond his mortal existence…expending the last of his energy to seek a legendary undersea object that would bring eternal life, health and healing. The translation between western and eastern accounts of the Epic vary on the interpretation of this object: it has been translated as either “plant” or “pearl.”
From time to time The Pearl Society receives inquiries from individuals who somehow have acquired one of these strange objects. Should you be interested, please contact us: contact@EveJewelry.com
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