Maggie Lindsay

Who can resist a depiction of the glorious deep blue of a summer night sky...spangled with stars...?

Lapis lazuli is a combination of various minerals, mostly blue lazurite. Pyrite contributes the gold flecks and calcite streaks through with white threads. Often confused with the blue hydrated copper stone azurite, or jasper stained blue and sold as “Swiss lapis”, real lapis has been used for centuries to make ultramarine paint for painters.

A stone prized since ancient times, lapis is said to have existed before time was born. It is alleged to lead one to gain access to ancient mysteries while conferring the wisdom necessary to understand them. Lapis was said to be a stone set in the breast plates of high priests.

Vibrating with the third chakra, this stone can help one speak one’s truth to the self, to others, and to the universe, thus bringing balance to the throat chakra. That balance can extend to the second or brow chakra, providing release from emotional bondage as one gains third-eye clarity that allows fuller objectivity. Objectivity in turn allows one to acknowledge, accept, and release, as a pattern of balance, especially of the yang/yin, sky/earth, male/female energies. This is one way to promote a strong energizing, vitalizing connection between the physical and celestial forces. The resultant sense of connectedness enhances the awakening of the light of unification with all-that-is.

Some down-to-earth qualities attributed to beloved lapis are the alleviation of insomnia, balancing the thymus, resolution of throat disorders, and physical and psychic protection.