Jade

Gemologists use “jade” as a generic term for two gemstones, nephrite and jadeite. which are both metamorphic rocks made up of tiny interlocking mineral crystals which make them exceptionally tough. Typically pale to deep green, jade may be blue-green, lavender, yellow, white and even pink. It has been used extensively for jewelry and as ornamental, ceremonial and protective use in Asia for millennia. In China it is called the “Gem Supreme” and “The Jewel of Heaven,” associated with nobility and wealth, revered for its healing abilities and embodies luck, good health and strength. Chinese emperors were buried covered with jade pieces to protect the body and soul in their afterlife and to bring serenity, harmony, balance and grounding to the living, and a pierced jade disk is a symbol of heaven. Even Confucius weighed in about its reputed powers making jade a metaphor for Heaven and Earth, virtue, kindness, wisdom, justice, civility, music, sincerity, and truth. In Meso and Central America, jade was linked to water, vegetation and young corn and, thus, to life and death and was valued greater than gold and used for trade and religious artifacts.