By: Adeline Jubi
Gemstones have always been a
passion of mine, can’t resist them, like tools. I usually start planning a
jewellery piece by finding the gemstone first.
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| Amethyst ring, Pink Tourmaline Ring, Diamond ring; Brandy Quartz ring; Garnet red gold ring. |
I do apologize in advance because
I might step on a few toes here, but I’m not a great believer in the metaphysical
properties of gemstones. I am, however a
great believer in the placebo effect. If you want something to have a certain
effect or function and you really believe in it, it might actually work. It’s
like religion, it has the power to mobilise people or make them feel slightly
better about themselves and their circumstances. It’s the way our psyche was
designed to work; we need to believe in something bigger than us to justify the
banality and unfairness we see around us.
How else does a beggar with leprosy in India, keep going. He believes
that he is going to be reincarnated as a rich man in his next life.
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| Tanzanite & diamond earrings; Pearl earrings; Landscape Agate and Smokey Quartz earrings. |
Coming back to my point about gemstones and
their metaphysical properties. One thing that you see everywhere and
intelligent people are falling for it, are Baltic amber beads or some fake
amber coloured resin beads, that loads of people put around their baby’s
necks... supposed to help with teething. It reminds me of people in earlier
times that hung garlic around their necks to ward off evil spirits or vampires.
Are they not more scared that the poor child is going to strangle instead of
easing or breezing through teething? I for one would have been even crankier if
I had to deal with an irritating orange collar on top of molars half the size
of my head coming through my delicate gums. There is no scientific proof that
amber beads work for pain control during teething. I know the resin is supposed
to be absorbed through the skin and Amber is supposedly a good antiseptic, but
I can’t help to feel that someone is making lots of money by selling stuff to
desperate and sleep deprived parents. You get a few believers to tell their
friends that it really works and they tell a few more and voila! You have a
roaring business. Some mommies just think that it looks really cool around
their baby’s necks and if it helps for teething, it’s a bonus... Anything for babies is BEEG Business. In my
opinion, the only thing that really works for teething pain is medication. It’s
probably rather un PC to say that I medicate my children (when needed), but
what do you do if you have a headache? Do you take a pill or do you hang beads
around your neck. It has been scientifically proven over many, many years that
pain medication works for pain. Yes, I agree that there might be a small margin
for the placebo effect, just like the beads, but it just comes to show that it
all depends on you perspective and what you believe in. Just look at the mess
we’re in because of some people’s totally ungrounded belief that Rhino horn is
an aphrodisiac.
A cool trick, if you want to test
if your baby’s amber teething beads or your grannies Amber brooch is real Amber.
Take a needle and heat it up in a candle, now touch the amber somewhere
inconspicuous, not in the middle on top
where a burn mark is going to ruin the piece, maybe inside a drill hole in case
of a bead. Now touch the amber and smell...
If you smell pine needles, you
have the real deal, if you smell Barbie doll, well you’ve been taken for a
ride.
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