Lapis

Lapis color is deep blue to denim; it usually contains gold or silver pyrites that shimmer like little stars.  There the color was referred to as “ultramarine” which means “from beyond the sea”.  It was among the first gemstone worn in jewelry.  The blue color comes from sulphur. The best material comes from the steep Hindu-Kush in northeast Afghanistan. It is usually mined by hand in the summer months.  It is transported via mules down into the valley where it’s traded as a form of cash.  There are known deposits in Russia and Chile and there are small deposits also in Mongolia, USA, Canada, and Pakistan.

At excavations in the ancient centers of culture around the Mediterranean there has been found decorative chains and figures made out of lapis.  There is a clear indication that the deep blue stone was already popular thousands of years ago among the people of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome.  In the Middle East it was considered a holy stone.  Countless signet rings, scarabs and figures were brought back with
Alexander the Great to Europe.  There is evidence Marco Polo visited the mines in Afghanistan.  The Greeks and Romans used Lapis as an award for personal bravery.  Lapis was also used in oil paintings and watercolors and still used in restoration works to this day.  

It is regarded as the stone of friendship and truth.  It is said to encourage harmony in relationships and help its wearer to be authentic and give his or her opinion openly.    It assists one in the attunement to the creative source, stimulating the expansion and the realization of consciousness toward the awakening of the perfection of the self.  It promotes insight to a structured plan which can help one to evolve upward toward the light of the total unification with “All That Is”.  It assists in providing a connection with the dream forces which are working to both guide and counsel one during altered states.