Amber also called Succinite Amber is the fossilized, hardened resin of the pine tree, Pinus succinifera, formed mainly in the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period, about 50 million years ago; found mostly in the Baltic, although younger ambers are known form the Dominican Republic. Amber is noted for its inclusions which are chiefly insects and leaves, gas bubbles, flow lines, other natural inclusions such as pyrite, calcite, etc.
Amber is sensitive to acids caustic solutions and a gasoline, as well as alcohol and perfume, can be ignited by a match, smelling like incense. When rubbed with a cloth, amber becomes electrically charged and attracts small particles; it has a vitreous lustre; when it is polished, a resinous lustre.
Colours: Yellow, orange, brown, red, green and blue amber is also found but is very rare. Colour depends on source and impurities. Yellow and brown are predominant colours. Transparent to opaque. Transparency depends on gas bubbles. It is a lighter gem stone and softer than pearl.
Uses in History: Amber has been used since prehistoric times for jewellery and religious objects, also as amulets and mascots. The Baltic amber, the "gold of the North" is among the earliest-used gem materials.
Amber has a long history of being used in sacred incense and worn as a healing stone by Asian and American Indian cultures for centuries. This organic gem can date between 1 and 360 million years. Archeologists have found amber artifacts dating back to such cultures as Assyrian, Egyptian, Phoenician and the Greek and Roman periods. It is known by the Persians as the "attractor of straw", by the Greeks as "sun gold" and derived from the Arab name "al-anbar".
The Greeks believed that amber was the petrification of sunrays; some even felt that it was petrified tears. They prized amber for the magical properties that electricity exhibited when rubbed. The term electricity is derived from the Greek word, elektron, which is also the Greek word for amber.
Properties: It glitters like dew drops in the bright sun light. Amber has a rich history being one of the first gems used for amulets and healing. Amber is used as prayer beads in Christian and Moslem practise, is also known as the 'Witch's Stone' and is used in Wiccan practice.
It is worn for general good luck, financial stability and toward off danger from witchcraft.
Amber is known to attract luck, calm energies, attract love, inspire change and improve wisdom.
Due to its strong connection to nature and the earth, Amber is a great stone for grounding our higher energies. Amber can add stability to your life.
Amber is an Aura cleanser. It assists in bringing our higher vibrations in order, dispersing negative energy and clears the surrounding environment. Amber is the stone, which brings about altruism and great wisdom.
Amber has uplifting energies, and is especially helpful when you are felling weighed down with responsibilities, it is good for people with suicidal tendencies and those who easily get depressed. Helps you find humour and joy. Creates a balance between daily life and spiritual expansion.
Utilise Amber when you are feeling powerless or out of control, to remind you of your inner strength and past achievements. It brings balance and patience and encourages decision-making, promotes a positive mental state and creative self-expression. Its flexibility dissolves opposition.
Amber stimulates memory thus making it a good stone for studying. Amber is used for past life work, divination and scrying. It aligns mental and emotional bodies via its deep orange and yellow colour.
Amber is highly recommended for those who often have to meet challenging situations and at times frustrating atmosphere. It is good for those involved in political life and those wishing to have governmental patronage. Good for those interested in nobler types of deeds and social and humanitarian causes.
Amber is a powerful healer and cleanser that draws die-ease from the body and promotes tissue revitalization. It imbues the body with vitality and has the power to draw dis- ease out of the body. By absorbing pain and negative energy, Amber allows the body to rebalance and heal itself. Amber alleviates stress.
It resonates with the throat, treating goiters and other throat problems. It treats the stomach, spleen, kidneys, bladder, liver, and gallbladder, alleviates joint problems and strengthens the mucus membranes. Amber is known to stimulate metabolism and treat skin disorders. It is also a good stone for treating asthma and allergic reactions.
Amber will help relieve a tension headache, place on or around the head.
It is excellent at detoxification and protection from radiation, especially x-rays, sun, computers, airport, planes and other people's energies.
Make an elixir with this stone for wound healing and to apply to all pain issues. It is an excellent natural antibiotic.
When used at the solar plexus, Amber will enhance intellectual clarity about your future path. It can stimulate the navel chakra and help in grounding energies into the body.
Amber as jewellery, it can be grounding and stabilising. Wear for prolonged periods, especially on the wrist or throat, or place as appropriate. If treating babies or children, it is beneficial for the mother to wear the stone first.
In the Far East, amber is the symbol of courage; Asian cultures regard amber as the 'soul of the tiger'; (2010 year of the tiger). Egyptians placed a piece of amber in the casket of a loved one to ensure the body would forever remain whole.
Feng Shui: Amber is used in the Center/Health position to encourage good health and create balance and calm. Use it in the Northeast area for self cultivation and wisdom, in the Southwest area for partners, love and relationships (use in pairs) and for dispersing negative energy in any room. Use it in any room to also attract change into your space.
Crystal Cleansing: Amber should be cleansed after being used for healing to dispense the negative energy it has absorbed. It tends to become cloudy when used for treating negative energy. Cleanse this stone by running it under warm water or charge it over night in a bowl of tumbled hematite. Be careful as this stone will become brittle in sunlight if left out for a long period. It should be kept away from heat or sun.
Chakra: The vibrant mix of the enlightenment of pure yellow and the joyfulness of orange produces the colour: gold. The Gold Colour Ray of Influence of amber is associated with both the 2nd and 3rd Chakras: the Sacral Chakra, and the Solar Plexus Chakra.
Deities: Amber is thought to be the tears of the Goddess Freya that fell into the sea. It is used to honor her. Additionally amber is used in devotions to Elektra, Greek Goddess of the Sea, Jurarte, the Lithuanian Goddess of the Sea, Nehalennia, the Gaulish Goddess of Sea Travelers, Oshun, the African Goddess of Love, Intimacy, Beauty, and Diplomacy, and Amberella, the Lithuanian Goddess of the Oceans.
Electra (Elektra) - Greek Goddess of Sea Clouds Honour Electra with amber. We get our beautiful amber from the sea. Interestingly, when you rub amber with a soft cloth you will produce static electricity - honouring Electra as you do. Wear an amber necklace or pendant when you are feeling a bit "stormy." Use it when you need to make things better but you have to use a bit of force to get the job done. Electra will help you.
Amberella - Lithuanian Goddess of the Oceans
Lithuanian Myth of Amberella
A beautiful maiden captured by the Prince of the Seas to serve as his princess. When the Prince of Seas becomes angry, the sea begins to churn and storms rage. From her prison-palace below, Amberella tosses pieces of amber onto the shores to show her parents how much she misses and loves them.
Jurate - Lithuanian Goddess of the Sea
Lithuanian Myth of Lost Love
The fairest goddess was Jurate, a mermaid who lived in an amber palace in the Baltic. She fell in love with Kastytis a courageous fisherman who cast his nets in her kingdom. Perkunas, God of Thunder, the father God was angered to find an immortal in love with a mortal. He sent a bolt of lightning to destroy the goddess' palace and kill her mortal lover. Her palace was destroyed and Jurate was chained to the ruins for eternity.
She weeps tears of amber for her lost lover. When the storms stir the sea, fragments of her palace ruins are driven onto the shores of the Baltic. Tear drop shaped pieces are thought to be particular treasures as they are the tears washed from the grieving goddess' eyes. These amber pieces are said to be as clear and true as her tragic love.
Nehalennia - Gaulish Goddess of Sea Travelers
Nehalennia is a goddess associated with abundance and sea-faring. Nehalennia (Nenhellenia) is a Gaulish goddess known from sixty inscriptions found in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands (where the vast majority occur). She seems to have been a Celto-Germanic mother goddess, a protectress of sailing vessels and 'hearth and home'.
Nehalennia, a Germanic goddess worshipped at the point where travellers crossed the North Sea from the Netherlands, Most of these altars show the goddess Nehalennia seated with a dog at her side and holding symbols of abundance such as baskets of fruit or loaves of bread. Several inscriptions inform us that the votive altar was placed to show gratitude for a safe passage across the North Sea.
Oshun - African Goddess of Love, Intimacy, Beauty, and Diplomacy
Osun (or Oshun, Ochun) in Yoruba mythology, is a spirit-goddess (Orisha) who reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy. According to the Yoruba elders Oshun is the "unseen mother present at every gathering" because Oshun is the Yoruba understanding of the cosmological forces of water, moisture, and attraction. Therefore she is omnipresent and omnipotent. Her power is represented in another Yoruba scripture which reminds us that "no one is an enemy to water" and therefore everyone has need of and should respect and revere Osun, as well as her followers. Oshun is the force of harmony. Harmony we see as beauty, feel as love, and experience as ecstasy.
Her symbols are mirrors, jewellery, honey, golden silks and feather fans. Creativity in decorating home and temple is a way of honouring Oshun, who will bless any beautiful space created in Her honour.
This Yoruba goddess heals through love and can heal both physical hurts and emotional wounds due to lack of love ...including self-love.
She is worshipped also in Brazilian Candomble Ketu, with the name spelled Oxum. Osun is beneficent and generous, and very kind. She does, however, have a horrific temper, though it is difficult to anger her.
In Cuban Santeria, Oshun (sometimes spelled Ochún or Ochun) is an Orisha of love, maternity and marriage. She has been synchronized with Our Lady of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), Cuba's patroness. She is associated with the color yellow, metal brass, peacock feathers, mirrors, honey and anything of beauty, her favorable day of the week is Saturday and the number she is associated with is 5.
In Cuban Lukumi tradition, Oshun has many roads, or manifestations. Some of these include:
Oshun Ibu Ikole -- Oshun the Vulture. This Oshun is associated with Witches (Aje), and her symbols are the vulture, and the mortar and pestle (both of which are symbols of witchcraft). In Cuba, her myths say that this Oshun saved the world by flying the prayers of the dying world up to the Sun (Orun), where Olodumare lives, however in West Africa this myth is attributed to Yemoja.
Magical Work: Protects against physical harm, mental hostility and psychic attack. Use it in love magick to call at twin soul; also in all goddess rituals. For fertility, wrap amber and pointed jet crystal in a red cloth bag, tied with three red knots and place beneath the mattress during lovemaking.
Excellent for use in rituals, to enhance your beauty and attractiveness. Helps to attract love and stimulates happiness and pleasure. Use for both good luck and as a protective talismans and amulets.
Orange in spells for self-esteem and confidence, strengthening identity and establishing personal boundaries between self and others and for independence; for balance and negotiations, for the media, for music, for fertility, both physical and mental, for creativity and all creative and artistic ventures and for abundance of all kinds.
Yellow in spells for logic, focus, improving memory and concentration, for learning, for passing examination and tests, for mastering new technology, for clear communication; good also for job changes and overcoming money problems; for all money-making ventures and speculation; for persuasion, adaptability and versatility; for short-distance or short-duration breaks; for recovery through conventional methods of healing, especially surgery. It is also potent for repelling envy, malice and spite and to protect against those who would deceive.
Element: Fire and Akasha
