Heavenly Blue: The Divine History and Ancient Lore of Lapis Lazuli
For over 7,000 years, lapis lazuli has captivated civilizations with its celestial blue hue. Some of the earliest evidence comes from Neolithic graves: beads and artifacts carved from lapis have been found in the Indus Valley dating back to 7570 BC, showing how prized it was even in prehistory en.wikipedia.org. Ancient mines in Afghanistan’s Sar-i Sang were exporting this brilliant rock by the 7th millennium BC en.wikipedia.org. In Mesopotamia, lapis figured into mythology – the Sumerian goddess Inanna entered the underworld bearing a lapis lazuli necklace and rod as symbols of her divine power gemsociety.org. Sumerians believed this stone held a sacred essence: “the soul of the deity, who would ‘rejoice in its owner’” gemsociety.org. Such lore gave lapis an aura of holiness and protection in the cradle of civilization.
Lapis lazuli also enchanted the ancient Egyptians. Pharaohs and high priests adorned themselves with this stone’s intense blue, associating it with the heavens and wisdom. The funeral mask of Tutankhamun (King Tut) was famously inlaid with lapis lazuli, signifying royalty and divine vision en.wikipedia.org. Egyptian judges wore amulets of the goddess Maat – symbol of truth and justice – carved from deep blue lapis gemsociety.org. To them, lapis was a token of truth, worn to inspire honesty and insight in their duties. Many amulets and scarabs excavated from Egyptian tombs are made of lapis, as it was thought to guide and protect souls in the afterlife.
Indeed, many ancient civilizations across the Near East and Mediterranean prized lapis lazuli for spiritual and ceremonial use. They saw it as a gemstone literally fit for kings and gods. Lapis carried religious significance and denoted the high status of rulers who possessed it gemsociety.org. With its golden pyrite sparkles on a midnight-blue field, people likened lapis to a fragment of the starry sky – a “stone of heaven” bridging earth and the divine thehealingpear.com. This heavenly symbolism made it a powerful talisman. Early cultures also crafted cylinder seals from lapis lazuli to imprint royal decrees and sacred texts, effectively “sealing” their words with the stone’s esteemed energy gemsociety.org.
Lapis lazuli’s allure continued into later eras. By the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Europeans coveted lapis not only as jewelry but as pigment. They ground it into powder to create ultramarine, the most prized blue paint used by master artists for the robes of angels and Madonnas gemsociety.org. This pigment was literally worth more than gold, reserved for only the most sacred and important subjects. Such was the value placed on lapis’s transcendent blue. From the Indus Valley to Egypt to Renaissance Italy, lapis lazuli built a legacy as a stone of wisdom, truth, and spiritual power that transcends any one culture or time.
In summary, lapis lazuli’s storied past – entwined with myth, royalty, and magic – set the stage for its modern reputation as a crystal of enlightenment. Its enduring presence in human history speaks to a unique ability to inspire awe and spiritual connection. (Stay tuned for Day 2, where we’ll delve into lapis lazuli’s metaphysical properties – exploring how this “stone of truth” enhances self-expression, inner wisdom, and the third eye.)
Ready to experience a piece of lapis’s ancient energy yourself? Feel free to explore our Magnet Rocks Lapis Lazuli Jewelry Collection and carry a fragment of that timeless wisdom with you magnetrocks.net.
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