The Way Out. Gray Moonstone & Baroque Pearl Ritual Strand. * Limited *

IMPORTANT: This strand is extremely limited based on the small amount of Gray Moonstones and Pearls we were able to source. We do not know if it will be available again in the future. We recommend Express Shipping with signature required upon delivery to make sure it arrives safely into your hands. If you find this item sold out on our website and are interested in purchasing one, please reach out via email for potential availability. In European folklore, keyholes were considered to be vulnerable points in the home where witches, spirits, supernatural entities and other inhabitants of the unseen realms could slip in. Therefore protections, such as the VV markings representing 'Virgin of Virgins' for the Mother Mary or a key slid in and turned sideways were placed around or within keyholes. This also extended to other areas of the home that were considered vunerable to unwanted entry, such as hearths, floorboards and windows. This lore has associated the keyhole with folk practices of protection, imbuing the keyhole with similar qualities to that of the hagstone, a rock with a naturally occurring hole in it from water and time. These stones were used as protection as well as viewfinders; people would press their eye to the stone to be able to 'see' into the spirit or fairy realms. In this way, the keyhole can be similarly used, either as a means of protection, as the keyhole is the more stationary component in the 'locking' of doors or objects, or as a divination object for seeking omens, signs and auguries. Keys: Skeleton keys have long been an obsession of mine. My godmother is an auctioneer and took me along to auctions and estate sales. Treasure for me were always the wooden boxes filled with greasy and dirt caked keys, beautiful with their time earned patina, with their memories and silent stories. As a kid, I imagined every beautiful key I came across no matter how small or large, belonged to a haunted house. Even the tiny keys that came with my school fair diary were special to me. Keys have that sort of resiliency that many other sorts of old objects don’t, they survive the wear and tear of misuse, they surface like relics from the muck of time. Keys are an ancient tool, created first by the Ancient Egyptians in wood and modified by the Romans in metal and made small enough to be kept on a person, coined as the first ‘skeleton keys’. These were used, as now, to lock doors and boxes or 'safes', to protect precious objects and people. Thusly one of the mundane and ubiquitous tool has also come to garner potent symbolism over time and has been woven into a current everyday object that even digital technology can’t seem to make obsolete. At the time of my writing this, I still use metal keys to gain entrance to my apartment and studio; I moved out of a house in Philadelphia in 2020 in one of the oldest parts of the city that still employed the use of skeleton keys. Perhaps the key is an object where the old world and the new continually shoulder up against each other, no matter how much modern technology tries to replace them. As a talismanic jewel the key is a liminal object representing a potent tension and duality as it can both lock and unlock, making the person who holds the key, one on a threshold. *For locking: Being able to lock something behind you will always give the power and feeling of protection, therefore keys will always have the symbolism of protection embedded in them. The first key I can remember owning was a tiny key that fit to a tiny lock that latched onto a diary I owned in elementary school where I kept all of my secrets. This consisted of all of the titles of the books I’d write, but they sounded like spells, things I desperately wanted to change about myself; revenge I’d like to take on bullies. These days, protecting my loved ones, my heart, and extending protection to those I can feels most important to me. Feeling safe and helping others feel safe in my presence is something I'm always thinking about, and the presence of a key against my body helps remind me of these tenants and makes me feel safe. *For unlocking: Keys as objects that can 'unlock' show up as symbols across cultures. It’s a symbol of gaining access: for some it's about knowledge and wisdom or about gaining access to higher or unearthly realms: Saint Peter was known to hold the keys to heaven while Hecate is known to hold the keys to the unseen world/ the gates of death. As an initiatory symbol, it suggests garnering levels of knowledge that lead upwards on your path, or crossing thresholds of the unconscious. It also suggests the ability of survival, of being able to find 'a way out', of reaching a place where you are able to unlock or solve an obstacle that was complex or troubling, such as a Sphinx's riddle. *Details* : - This strand is comprised of gray moonstone, teardrop coin pearls, and sterling silver beads. - At its closure is the Unseen Keyhole clasp, meant to be a talisman of comfort and protection. - Approximately 42 inches in length including clasp - Keyhole clasp, silver beads, and jump rings are all solid sterling silver, hand oxidized to achieve our favorite gloomy grey and finished to highlight the shining silver beneath. - The clasp is tactile in nature making it easily held between the tips of your fingers and rubbed for comfort in times of grief, anxiety, dissociation, as well as during moments of joy and wonder. Gray Moonstone: Gray moonstone shares many of the same metaphysical properties as the rest of the moonstone family. It is closely tied to the moon, with some cultures believing the stone is solidified moon rays, while others think of them as embodiments of the moon's tears. Acting as a kind of Psychic armor, it is thought to protect its wearer from not only dark nights, but dark times; it helps sooth grief, loss, and other emotional turbulence. Moonstone is also known for its powerful psychic abilities. Used to protect empaths & sensitives from absorbing other people's emotions, it is known to be used during meditation for connecting to ones inner selves. As a romantic stone, it is known to strengthen the bonds between lovers when given as gifts, especially during the full moon. Pearls: Pearls have an ancient history of reverence as well as a long legacy of beauty. Pearls are formed when an external irritant, like a grain of sand, breaches the shell of an oyster or shelled mollusk. Once this irritant has gained entrance within the dark fleshy confines of the oyster, it goes to work protecting itself. If this irritant can’t be expelled, it begins to ‘bandage’ the grain, coating it with concentric rings of calcium carbonate, named ‘narce.’ Each layer that is built up forms the shape of the pearl, awash in a brilliant iridescence, a beauty born of a tiny trespass. Thusly, a pearl has at its center, the object of its creation, a foreign intruder. I associate the pearl and its strange construction to so many things: the jellied caterpillar struggling within a chrysalis, its liquefied body form a new winged shape. An embedded star smoldering within the shell of our hearts. An ink dot, a pin prick, a moon in miniature. History, who has always loved and revered the pearl, writes that we once believed pearls were the result of lightning striking the shell and penetrating the inner skins of the oyster. A small beauty made in duress, a ‘stone’ of initiation. To possess a pearl means to own something that is hidden, sacred. Lore has it that Cleopatra, to win a wager with Antony, dissolved a large, exquisite pearl in her drinking glass. She swallowed it in one sip. I wonder about her dreams that night These teardrop coin pearls are unique and range in shape and color. Their iridescence shows up in tones of green, pink, violet and peach. Each one is hand selected for its beauty. ***IMPORTANT*** This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for creation before shipping. Visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE. If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via info@bloodmilkjewels.com