Mustika Pearls

[SteveM]

Steve,
What do people do with their bezoars? Put them in their pocket, in a special box, in jewelry pieces? The only pictures I've seen are showing them loose. I just wondered

Believers go to great lengths to communicate with the bezoar or mustika spirit and avail themselves of their powers. Silver lockets/cages are offered for instant conversion to amulets and charms.

In our case, 'Yana' sits in her case the same as a number of natural nacreous pearls we've acquired (such as the 'La Catalina' abalone horn pearl from Pearl Paradise—a true bezoar, formed in the digestive tract of the animal), pending application. As our mustika was selected for attractiveness, it would certainly make a nice pendant should we ever have the urge. Luxamore's website indicates this may be done without negatively affecting its spiritual qualities…

 

[pearlshoppe]

Thank you. I have learned alot more from this thread than I ever imagined I would when it started
Julie

 

[Caitlin]

Mustikas are mainly related to Indonesian and Javanese Old Religion, which is based on animism (the belief that everything has a spirit which can communicate with you and vice versa) and shamanic practices. Mustikas are mainly put into circulation by the tribal practitioners. That, and also put up for sale commercially via middlemen to anyone, including unbelievers.

What are Mustikas and how do they work? So far, the mustikas for sale to the public that have been tested by scientists, are made of glass-silica, usually in egg shapes. Human workmanship is the only known agent for the silica mustikas. It is also detected under magnification in organic pearls made of plants. All elephant pearls that have been tested-so far- show signs of workmanship. This is why they are not in museums of natural history. They are human artifacts. However, they work the same way as any ritual object.

In other words, they are essentially Dumbo’s feathers- they help you believe you can do it. It is the Intent that is necessary, not any particular material object of focus, say putting mud on the eyes to cure blindness, using a sand painting on which the person sits and the Hatali takes up handfuls of the painting and places in the appropriate spots on the human body, or a ritual cleansing with an egg, and of course, burning a candle for a purpose- gazillions of people still perform that ritual all over the world. The candle burns several days and serves as reminder of one’s Intent.

In all cases it is the Intent, not the ritual object itself, that is important, though the ritual helps create a mood or state of mind that usually helps the patient to come into Intent.

The ritual objects vary from culture to culture. However if you see a mustika ( or any ritual object) you are very attracted to, that is the one for you. It should get a special place in the home such as in a cabinet, or on the altar where you burn candles. It does not matter if it is a natural object or an artifact, it can serve a purpose. You can imbue it with energy in many different ways- if you are into that-

When I say stuff like that, it doesn’t mean I I have dismissed First People nations and their ritual objects, I am explaining it in Western Culture terms. I have been attracted to different cultures and different religions since my high school Humanities teacher told my class, “If you understand the belief system held by a culture, everything else about the culture can also be understood”.

As I lived on the Navajo Nation land, at the time (known at the time as “the Rez”), I heard a lot of Navajo beliefs such as “Stay away from Chindi”, a concept of a part of the human shadow side, that stays around where a human died. The good part of the soul or spirit moves on, leaving only the chindi vibes.

The Dine collectively believe that illnesses of the body, mind and spirit are caused by an action or series of actions that took you out of Harmony with the Universe and treatments are meant to help you regain your balance and sense of place.

They have an After War ceremony to help returning soldiers regain their harmony. How it developed is told in one of their central Creation stories. I wish we had something based on that principle for our returning soldiers!

Sorry this is so long a post, I just love this subject!

 

[pearlshoppe]

When I say stuff like that, it doesn?t mean I I have dismissed First People nations and their ritual objects, I am explaining it in Western Culture terms. I have been attracted to different cultures and different religions since my high school Humanities teacher told my class, ?If you understand the belief system held by a culture, everything else about the culture can also be understood?.

Wow, Caitlin, your love and knowledge on the subject shows I especially liked your humanities teachers take on different religions and cultures. It's a shame everyone doesn't follow this creed, there might be a more peaceful world Humans have a tendency to attack things they don't understand

 

[SteveM]

Thanks, Caitlin. Very sensitively written in light of PearlShoppe's earnest query and my sharing of a satisfying personal experience.

On his site Luxamore certainly acknowledges the fact that modern science has little recourse but to classify some of the subject pieces as glass:

Certain transparent type of mustika pearls may be "glass" formed by Nature. The how and why of some of these are not known. Lab testing may indicate "glass" in their reports but this does not explain their origin when shamans and even laypersons have found these pearls in the sea, dens and in the bodies of animals.

One must then allow for the inevitability that the world of mustikas would be as prone to fakery, short-cutting and manipulation as is the world of nacreous and calcareous concretions.

My bottom line here is that I did not arrive at the Nagasari Tree Pearl out of an interest (or even awareness) in the occult, or First People cultures (not to say that I haven't crawled out to the very last twig on the proverbial limb!).

 

[Caitlin]

The glass pearls only occur in Indonesian belief systems. There aren't any being found and never have been, in the New World, for instance.

Over here on some Caribbean islands, members of certain African derived religions find "Thunder stones" from lightning-struck trees. And they are imbued with life force and their energy is maintained by "feeding" them, fresh, ritually killed animals' blood at prescribed times.

So it's thunder stones that show up on those islands......

 

[Caitlin]

LINK For people interested in Luxamore's brief biography.

What I gather is Luxamore's practice has Hindu elements, ie, gurus and talismans.It also has the traits of what most westerners would call a magical system, LINK A closer look at the merchandise reveals a heavy Islamic magic. As with King Solomon's magical system, it is based it is a heavily esoteric magical system, not at all approved by most Muslims

It is first and foremost a place with merchandise, all kinds of merchandise. This is the purpose of the site. At the top of the About us page, there are many links to each kind of merchandise, including making ritual for someone else. All common subjects in the New Age stores. He is filling a demand to get spiritual advisors of the native culture the customer in question wants- in this case a Javanese flavor.

 

[SteveM]

Caitlin, thanks again. But the hypothesis remains that within this strange, murky world of talismen there might exist objects that we might accept, as did the ancients, as 'pearls.'

In any case, I am going to take a reassuring, close look at my poe pipi/paua (avatar) pin before retiring this evening?

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Steve
Did you catch this item in post #23. by me?

The ritual objects vary from culture to culture. However if you see a mustika ( or any ritual object) you are very attracted to, that is the one for you. It should get a special place in the home such as in a cabinet, or on the altar where you burn candles. It does not matter if it is a natural object or an artifact, it can serve a purpose. You can imbue it with energy in many different ways- if you are into that-

But the hypothesis remains that within this strange, murky world of talismen there might exist objects that we might accept, as did the ancients, as pearls.

Well, they would have to be cultured pearls because they are man made!

As for calling something a Pearl......you can call anything a pearl. I had a dog named Pearl, so where do you draw the line?

I have had a challenge out on this forum for years, for someone to prove the authenticity of just one of these pearls-including Elephant pearls. I have engaged with people on and off the forum- but no one has any proof of natural origin, so far.

the real reason I decided to post again is that I have also been thinking about having a commercial shaman imbue objects with vibes- ie power, love, money attraction. I have 2 objections to this, One is that bottom line commercial shamans and witches want to sell you magical items and give them Intent for you. The other is, you don't know what kind of of stuff is going into the imbuement process, but you can bet one Intention is to get you to let them make your decisions for you. Talk about murky!

A non-magical process example of this is, I used to go to a local manicurist at my sister's urging to help her by giving her business. The whole time she did my nails, she complained about her dysfunctional life! By about the third time I was going to schedule an appt with her, my nails and fingertips started aching at the thought. Part of her Intent was to unload on her customers, even while she maintained the Intent to do a good job manicuring.

I need to be very careful about who puts their hands on my body with some kind of Intent because they can fill me with their own junk thoughts because they haven't done their work on themselves and have not disciplined their thoughts when practicing.

Anyone can be a self proclaimed shaman and the world of fortune tellers and native based healers in store fronts is a squirrel-y world, indeed!

That is why I said on that other thread, one needs to rely on their own Intent. Never externalize it by relying on another to provide it-especially one who claims to be a commercial professional witch, shaman, whose real Intent is to gain you as a customer that relies on them for making decisions.

 

[SteveM]

Caitlin, I'm relieved you decided to add a post. If it weren't for your thoughtful perspective on the subject, this thread had clearly continued well beyond its usefulness (blame accepted) in addition to introducing distinctly discomforting elements. I hope in earnest that Pearl-Guide is now as replete with information on this subject as will ever be required.

I also would suggest that those tempted to post their agreement not do so, in order that this thread might avoid bouncing back to the top of New Posts.

 

[Slraep]

I also would suggest that those tempted to post their agreement not do so, in order that this thread might avoid bouncing back to the top of New Posts.

My temptation is just way toooo great. Sorry Steve.

I agree with Caitlin.

At least the $75,000 William Shatner's kidney stone fetched, all went to charity and it inspired another company to donate an additional $20,000 to the same cause. That is my personal definition of a MAGIC STONE.

Slraep

 

[knotty panda]

$75K! Wow! Is that because it went where no stone went before or are urology doctors the world over making a fortune unbeknowst to us contributors!

 

[Slraep]

Knotty, you are not suggesting that some middleman is actually buying gall stones and kidney stones from medical facilities(under the table, of course)around the world and polishing them up into bezoars, are you? BLEHHHCK! But seeing as to how so many people are looking to make a quick buck, your suggestion certainly merits some more serious investigation. Hmm.....I wonder.......

Slraep

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Steve
I don’t understand why you want this thread to fade, because this is a subject on which I love to pontificate. But they are only opinions; I am not trying to convince you to see it my way. We can each have a different opinion.

In previous posts, I looked at the “storefront” and the “sales pitch”. Now I am going to try to present my idea of what the mustika pearls really are about.

if you get into mustika pearls, you are outside the world of organic pearls and into the ancient concepts of Indonesian practices. The word “pearl” as used, is really metaphorical. Dragon Pearl, Cloud Pearl; they are symbols referring to something else, a concept, a quality. “Pearl” is a word that indicates the level of importance of the concept. Pearls are very high in the highly esteemed scale, so they represent the highest, purest ideals. So a “pearl” from any animal partakes in the highest nature of that particular animal’s qualities.

The cultures, including China, that count the kinds of mythical pearls, know they are metaphors. To think that metaphors are any more “real” than Santa Claus is na?ve or deceptive. However people who fit into the world view of animal and plant pearls know that each pearl represents something else, much as Santa represents the spirit of giving.

Tangible pieces of art, made of glass mixes, melted and formed with ancient, (no doubt secret, ) Indonesian processes and formed into wondrously lovely, often translucent egg shapes (another metaphor) with many surface treatments uniquely varied in “types” given to the client as a tangible reminder of the work.

By trying to convince clients, the Pearls are Real and actually were physically produced by the animals, or trees, is a superstitious belief for concrete thinkers. It is a kind of street level interpretation, mocking the true nature of the meaning.

This approach is a lie- or a tooth fairy game, and it would far better serve the public to point out the metaphors, than stick to misrepresentations. Plus honesty and honest teaching could enable the manufacture of more glass eggs as needed- revive the dying art of manufacturing the best examples of mustika art.