PHOTOS [Home][Orientation][Downloads][Articles][Free Talismans][Links][Collector's Items][FAQ] [Magickal Irons][Latest Additions][Rituals][Ebooks][Genie][Kerises][Empowerments][Awards] [Magickal Woods][How to Order][About Us][Silver][Testimonials][Antiques] [Cultural Items][Course Papers][Magickal Pearls][Webrings] [Handicrafts][Audio & Video][Magickal Gallery][Events & Activities][Books We Recommend For Study]
	Sister Site: Bezoar Mustika Pearls: Animal/Plant Stones Worn as Charms and Amulets

How Magickal Pearls are Acquired

We are often inquired how mustika or magickal pearls are extracted by shamans from Nature's realm or how some people are fortunate enough to be gifted by Her. It certainly is appropriate that collectors and those interested in the subject of animal/plant stones acquire more information in this regard. Those who are misinformed or are not properly educated on the processes of pearl-acquisition by shamans often mistakenly believe that animals fall prey to hunters of these pearls and are killed indiscriminately without compassion; generally speaking, this is not the case here in Indonesia as wanton killing is a waste of time and resources even for shamans and would put them on Nature's black-list and cause them to lose their raison d'être. It is important to stress that one would hardly find animal-pearls through such killing.. Shamans are careful in maintaining a good relationship with Nature and Her forces as it is through working with Her rather than against Her that the magickal pearls are acquired. It would, therefore, probably be proper if we were to offer some enlightenment and remove the concerns that some individuals might harbour in their minds.

In almost all cases of magickal pearl-acquisition there lies an element of the mystique, of the occult and the processes of shamanic work. Nature offer these pearls possessing magickal properties to humanity and she often does so in ways that borders upon the miraculous and the "supernatural." We know this to be true as a result of several personal experiences where we were gifted by Nature of unusual objects with inherent talismanic value. We need not elaborate on this, the point being that when the hidden forces of Nature wishes to display their fondness, respect, and friendship towards someone attuned to their existence with mutual feelings on the part of the mortal, they often express their delight with a physical token, such as a natural artifact, a curio or a magickal pearl; these gifts often come as a surprise to the one so-attuned with Nature; sometimes they are specifically requested through occult means--shamans the world over are well familiar with the principles and the processes involved and regularly practice them. The modus operandi of this occult-retrieval, however, is not an exact science, and Nature does not always respond in the manner hoped for--greed, doubt, arrogance, harmfulness, wrong-timing, etc. almost always prevents the psychic-connection and the bonding from being established with Nature. Shamans treating Nature with love and respect while functioning under a magickal-trance and attuning to her life-rhythm are rewarded for their congenial expressions accordingly. This is not to say that just anyone can approach Nature and request pearls from Her and then be given them. It does require a certain degree of mastery and the unfoldment of shamanic/psychic powers aside from the development of purity and a spiritual consciousness--these are cultivated through years of difficult training, discipline and struggle. In Indonesia, the art of acquiring pearls from Nature is a specialized knowledge and not all indigenous shamans of the class called "pawangs" possess this power or know-how; traditionally, the mantras and "Ilmu" (occult-power/knowledge) of this type of work are transmitted from father to son only--one reason why sources for these pearls are scarce.

The search for one's animal-totem in a shamanic-journey also often concludes with the practitioner being gifted with a physical token by the forces representing the archetypal animal-totem; these keepsakes are regarded as magickal tools and as symbolic of the oneness and bond between the practitioner and his/her animal-totem. The occult gifts that Nature of the tropical wilderness of Indonesia present to native shamanic practitioners or fortunate ones come in an array of forms; predictably, they are derived from their native ambient flora and fauna and have mineral and/or organic structures in their composition--these objects are often in a crystallized, fossilized or concretized form. For instance, unusual shapes of fossilized roots, organic in the initial stages of their growth, are often presented to the shamanic-practitioner in his magickal interaction with the hidden forces of Nature. Pearls produced by plants, trees, and animals as a result of unusual organic functions or environmental influences are some of the objects imparted by Nature in her desire to establish a harmonious relationship between humanity and the lives of the various forms of spirit-intelligences composing her being. Lost or unowned objects such as kerises, spear-heads, gem stones, rings and other accessories, etc. when left in the open in the wilds for many years are often collected and hoarded by the intelligences of Nature and kept in secret or hidden places unknown to the mortal mind and unseen to the naked eye--these objects are likewise gifted to shamans under certain conditions. At first reading the above may seem like a tall-story, like a "fairy-tale"--and so it is: fairies are involved; the tales, however, are true.

Crystallized/fossilized pearls from the rotan plant--the unusual donut-shaped structure comes from the roots

Journeys to areas of pearl-retrieval often require hours of hiking through jungles and forests. Hardships are endured by shamans during such treks and retrieval-work. Most of the occult operations are conducted in power-spots/haunted areas referred to as "tempat-angker." These are cross-roads of magnetic forces that are conducive to psychic and magickal work, especially those rituals related to the contact with Nature's hidden forces. The tempat-angker are regarded as portals between the third and fourth dimensions and facilitates the passage of beings/entities travelling from one realm to the other. It is for this reason that the tempat-angker are regarded as haunted and avoided by natives familiar with the locale--there are many stories of the unwary person being lost there only to emerge years later but without any awareness of the passage of time. Magickal work done in power-spots require a knowledge of occult principles and rules that govern such occult interfaces to avoid or prevent mishaps from occurring. Two of the famous forests/jungles in Java where magickal operations are often conducted are Alas Purwo and Alas Ketonggo. Many sacred mountains are also chosen for magickal work such as Mt. Lawu, Mt. Sumeru, Mt. Muria, etc. Basically, however, the pawang-shaman would pick an area according to inner guidance or a spot already known to yield the type of pearls that he may be seeking.

During magickal-retrieval operations shamans are given guidance by spirit intelligence as to where mustika-pearls may be discovered and retrieved. Normally it is the regional guardian-spirit of a given area that comes forth to attend to the shaman. The pearls are often revealed to be located in caves, dens, nests, and lairs; other possible spots are in the vicinity of some unusual rock formation, old trees, pools, waterfalls, burial ground, etc. The pearls indicated by psychic sources could be buried or hidden in an area in which case they would have to be dug and sought for. Oftentimes shamans are guided and intuitively led to the whereabouts of the remains of animals who were hosts to these pearls. Through spirit guidance shamans are informed of the pearls available in an area, the approximate amount, their organic origin, and what types they are--the knowledge of these are conveyed via telepathic means and through psychic visions.

Occasionally, during the ritual of retrieval, pearls are manifested directly before the shamans from the etheric planes through teleportation or from whence they were hidden in the physical realm--this type of acquisitions are typically accompanied by long inner-struggles with the spirit guardians of the pearls and often the presiding shaman is tested in various ways of his courage, purity and worthiness. With the possibility of such a prospect shamans are always psychologically and physically prepared beforehand.  If a shaman has spirits (khodams) working for him, his task is made much easier with their assistance. To facilitate the magickal retrieval process, offerings and certain empowered oils and incenses are employed in the magickal rituals as gifts to the fairy-spirits, and pragmatically, to release sufficient psychic energies so that spirit guidance or direct manifestations may occur; these oils and incenses can be quite costly and pearls acquired in this manner are not given away for a cheap "mas kawin," or "dowry." When all the tools and implements are set, the shaman would commence chanting the secret mantras of invocation, conjuration, communication and/or manifestation--this step alone could take hours to complete. Occasionally, of course, spirit guidance and directions are given to shamans without any need of rituals.

In the retrieving-ritual process, etheric forms may appear frolicking or moving menacingly before the shaman. If they are spirits related to dragons, tigers, and snakes, the etheric shadows would possess such forms as the associated-creature. Dragon-spirits regularly manifest themselves as wisps of smoke, as slithering etheric shadows--at time they form themselves through the flames of the camp-fire. While the psychic-struggle and testing is taking place, these spirits would strive to thwart the efforts of the shaman. But once the operator overcomes all of the trials and temptations, all of the personal fears, etc, the spirits eventually award him with the pearls that they watch over. Sometimes the spirits would indicate that the time for release would have to be at a later date as prevailing conditions related to the "bilateral relationship between humans and spirits" are not conducive or appropriate for the gifting--shamans would then have no other alternative but to postpone the acquisition. It has been suggested by some that the whole modus operandi of pearl-retrieval should be captured on video--this would certainly have a promotive effect on the sales of mustika-pearls; however, rituals conducted under such conditions are apt to fail because of the varied factors that conflict with the sacred and prepared environment and the processes of shamanic-work. Unwanted intrusions or an inappropriate/inept set-up are causes of failures during retrieval-work.

If these pearls are psychically revealed to be in caves where snakes and venomous creatures are to be found in abundance, the shaman while entering in the vicinity of the hidden pearls would strew certain substances left and right while chanting a power-mantra to repel the creatures and thus avoid being bitten--but even then, because they are so numerous, shamans often do get bitten by these creatures; at least one pearl-retrieving shaman showed us the marks of the various snake-bites that he sustained during the many trips he made to the caves in the dense jungles.

Hidden pearls are apt to glow or radiate subtly coloured-rays of light when they have a "desire" to be found; these auric lights are detected by shamans through etheric vision, and at times these lights are apprehendable through normal sensory perception. When the glow is seen in some dark recess or as emanating from the ground, it actually indicates that the regional or indwelling spirit of the pearl wishes to be bonded with a human-being. It is logical to assume that these nature-spirits are responsible for making the hidden sacred-objects to glow as once they are found the glowing phenomenon ceases--they do not continue to radiate lights and assume normal appearances once in the possession of their human keepers. The appearances of these lights not only occur in a shamanic pearl-retrieval setting, these events also occur under ordinary circumstances and in the haunts of men--even layman experience them according to the many reports that come to us. Various rumors and tales of glowing cobra and centipede pearls may have their origin in this paranormal phenomenon. Kerises and gem-stones when hidden by Nature similarly reveal themselves in the twilight or nocturnal hours as colored-lights emanating from the ground or wherever they are hidden--but when extracted from their position they no longer give-off their unearthly radiance. The latter is a strong argument in favour of spirit-activity in regards to glowing pearls as witnessed by individuals; that these are the result of spirit-agencies and not of any inherent properties of the pearls themselves unless possessing phosphorescent or fluorescent substances/minerals. In the case of fluorescent minerals, however, ultraviolet light is required in order to see the effulgence. During their magickal rituals, shamans would often capture in their hands colored-lights floating or zooming their way--the captured object would feel warm and soft in their grasps. When their hands are unclapsed, stones or other small objects reveal themselves to be the miniature UFOs. This phenomenon and shamanic practice has gone on for centuries long before stage-magic came up with entertaining routines duplicating closely the above. The phenomenon of glowing lights in the environments of Nature are well recorded in the annals of paranormal research; nevertheless, there are still lots of mysteries related to the glowing-pearl phenomenon and as reported by reputable individuals that nothing conclusive as yet can be reached.

Fluorescent Minerals--photo courtesy of Mineralogical Research Co. (minresco.com)

One interesting myth related to cobra-pearls is that these cobras employ the light of the pearl that they carry in their hoods to hunt at night, as a means of brightening their pathway--this would certainly indicate a property of the pearl itself or in accord with the argument above that a symbiotic relationship is being alluded to here between the cobra and the spirit-elemental of the pearl that the snake hosts. In cases where a pearl is said to have glowing properties it is difficult to validate and affirm its authenticity or to determine whether some form of a gimmick is employed to working its magic because owners of such pearls invariably refuse testers closer inspection. In regards to fakes, we know that there are synthetic "stones" selling in Indonesia with an electronic component, the Light-Emitting Diode embedded within them; this is coupled to a tiny battery and a switch that closes the circuit and gives off light whenever the stones are immersed in water or when pressure is applied to them--this novelty item could probably be found in various countries as well--this stone is often appropriated for deception. What confuses the glowing-pearl issue of the above is that in ancient Vedic literature such as the Garuda Purana, the nature of the pearls that are said to be "brilliant" are described in terms that are open to interpretation and debate.

But to return to the subject of shamanic pearl-retrieval, there are times when the ritual fails for one reason or another or it may require extra effort to be channeled into it in which situation more ritual-sessions are repeated for consecutive days and this entails the shaman spending more days/nights in the mosquito-infested region. At times such prolonged struggles also fail and the shaman has to return empty-handed for his efforts. Generally speaking, the more difficult it is for the shaman to retrieve a pearl, the greater is its inherent powers/magickal virtues. It is a rare occurrence, but shamans do occasionally pay for their lives during psychic-struggles.

Shamans are often called to attention of unusual phenomena occurring in villages such as strange hauntings, poltergeists, possessions, etc.--subsequent psychic detection by these shamans may reveal that the haunting entities are guardians of magickal pearls who often desire for these to be given to certain individuals--rituals are then conducted to facilitate the transfer of these treasures. In other cases, haunting spirits are not predisposed of giving away pearls in their possessions but haunt as a result of the desecration or disturbances of their territory by humans. When shamans detect that these nature-spirits are protectors of pearls and wishes to acquire them, a psychic "battle" would ensue with the shaman engaging in an inner-struggle for victory over the spirit beings.

Haunting spirits such as the above are often the "siluman" class-types--the sort of jinns (genies) that manifest themselves as etheric creatures and sometimes even as physical animals that can be killed as ordinary beings. Beasts such as tigers, crocodiles and wild-boars menacing villages and killing humans are often regarded as siluman--they carry certain traits or have features that indicate that they are no ordinary animals--there is always something strange about them. To protect the community, the elders of a troubled village would typically decide to set a trap for the beast somewhere in their compound or to hunt them down. During the actual confrontation, these creatures often display extraordinary qualities of invulnerability, strength, fearlessness, and stamina; ordinary blades and weapons have almost no effect upon them--when they are finally vanquished with the assistance of shamans who casts an appropriate spell, they are found to contain pearls or stones in their bodies and these are discovered to possess the same properties displayed by their dead hosts. Normally the tribal chieftain or an elder would claim these pearls as their own. Not only pearls but every part of these unusual beasts such as their claws, fangs, teeth, horns, skin, etc., are likewise regarded as having magickal properties.

The power of invulnerability against the blade is often displayed by domestic life-stock as well, most of the time fowls--roosters, in particular; and even after the prayers conducted by the butcher which results in a successful slaughter, the decapitated chicken would still have the strength and the nerve-energy within it to run amuck albeit headless for several minutes. These roosters when later dressed and cut-open often reveal bezoar stones in their organs--Albertus Magnus and other naturalists of past centuries refer to these stones as Alectoria. At times, silumans are benevolent and they would mysteriously appear in a village as an animal, most of the time as large snakes; they find themselves an agreeable person to reach out to and who eventually adopts them as pets. After being with their new keeper and family for several months or years, these benign creatures would suddenly vanish as mysteriously as they came but not before leaving behind a pearl or two. Sometimes the keeper would notice a bulge on their pet's serpentine-head developing; this would grow and develop into a snake-crown and is the object given to their keeper during the creature's departure.

One interesting manner in which Nature offer pearls to individuals is through dreams. Villagers living adjacent to forests and jungles often have lucid-dreams in which a mysterious personage would visit them--most of  the time such encounters is of an elderly person that would make contact and explain to the dreamer that a gift is being offered and that it may be found at a certain place; the nature of the gift is not always described, though, neither is the site where it is located in which case the dreamer would simply wake up before sunrise and resume his or her normal daily-routine until later in the day the gift is found unexpectedly. If the site is indicated in the dream, the dreamer in his waking-state would investigate and conduct a search which almost always yields the expected results. Sometimes dreams such as these precedes the mysterious arrival of a creature wishing to be adopted as a pet as described above.

Pawangs that sojourn in the wilds are close to Nature and are observant of the creatures that live in their natural habitat. The behavioral patterns of these animals, their place in the food-chain, their defence mechanisms, etc. are all duly noted by the studious pawangs--the latter are the non-academic "natural" naturalists who also observe the occult side of the flora and fauna in a given region. As these pawangs specialize in animal and plant pearl-acquisition it is understandable that they would mentally record the characteristics of animals and plant-life harboring pearls. From the reports that we have gathered creatures with pearls in them often have the following characteristics and traits: an advanced age, invulnerability, unusual gait/movements, immunity to venomous bites, human behaviour, etc. Serpents that often have stones within them, for instance, are observed to swim and undulate their bodies not horizontally but vertically--we can theorize that such a movement is caused by the excess weight dragging their bodies downwards and the effort of the creatures to keeping themselves afloat. In regards to tree-pearls, it is noted that trees with crystallized sap or petrified pieces are often the type that have holes in their trunk where rot has set in and where these pearls are found.

As mentioned before animals are not hunted for pearls; nonetheless, these stones on occasion do show-up in the carcasses of wild-animals slaughtered by villagers for food; pearls are thus acquired incidentally in such situations. Shamans do not employ the methods of hunting or killing animals as not only is this a fruitless effort and a waste of time but it also severs their attunement with Nature and the values and goals that they hold dearly. There is one rumour circulating that animals are triggered to developing stones by the Dayaks of Kalimantan (Borneo). The author of the online article "Bizarre Tales About Bezoar Stones" (http://www.webguru.com/) states that,

"The Dayaks of Borneo have a method for producing bezoars which they call guligas. This is to shoot an animal with an unpoisoned arrow. When the wound heals, there is often a hardening of the skin, which finally results in the formation of a guliga. In some of these concretions the point of the arrow still remains. The guligas of natural formation are frequently found between the flesh and the skin of apes and porcupines."  

However, the author does not mention how injured animals are supposed to have survived such shots--do the Dayaks help them to recover? Arrow-shot wounds are often fatal--especially to small animals--there would not be any opportunity for injured creatures to recover and have their wounds healed--this rumour, based on the accounts of travellers of past centuries has yet to be verified; nevertheless, contemporary unwritten information regarding the retrieval of bezoar stones, mustika, or guligas do not mention Dayaks forming pearls in such a manner. After all, there are no stories of humans forming pearls after being shot by arrows and recovering thereafter--it might be redundant to say that shamans of our acquaintances and associates do not kill or acquire pearls in such a manner.

Some mustika-pearls have the power to assist their keeper to acquire other pearls that are equally exquisite and rare--this may result in varied ways. The keeper may easily find suppliers or sources for these pearls or they would approach him without much effort on his part of seeking them out. The magickal-pearl owned would also enrich the keeper building up his finances so that other pearls may be secured if desired. Another method which is not too common is for the pearl(s) to be appropriated in magickal rites especially designed for the manifestation of mustika-pearls--most of the pawangs that conduct pearl-retrieval operations have their own special pearl to facilitate such work. By possessing a good quality magickal pearl, especially a serpentine/dragon pearl it is said that the keeper would eventually find the acquisition of other pearls and gem stones much easier. The Garuda Purana states thusly,

"Only meritorious persons will have access to the cobra-pearl. Then they can get other gems of great brilliance, wealth, kingdom and grow brilliant."

Certain spirit-communications convey the idea that mustika-pearls when placed in certain geometric-formations send out signals in the etheric realms which attract the attention of the guardian-spirits of pearls making it possible for further gifting to take place--we will not elaborate on this principle or methodology here, suffice to say that it is a tried and tested method.

We have already described how ordinary individuals are gifted mustika-pearls through lucid-dreams. Another possible manner whereby these pearls are entrusted to fortunate individuals is within the frame-work of paranormal incidents that would leave the individuals concerned dazed and amazed. Such phenomena would normally transpire amidst natural surroundings, such as in forests, sacred grounds, power-spots, etc. The external character of these incidents may vary and have outward differences but they are essentially similar in specifics in which the recipient of the pearl is approached by a mysterious person who offers a gift or points to where it may be found. While still reflecting about the matter and perhaps gazing elsewhere for a second or two, the recipient would turn once again to the stranger who is found to be no longer there nor anywhere else. The recipient would find in place of where the person was standing or in the vicinity mustika-pearls or some other object as indicated by the bestower.

It is well-known that in the ocean lives a creature called the oyster that produces pearls of various shades of color and sizes. It is not recognized, however, that the sea offer more jewels than just oyster-pearls. There are other pearls formed by the interacting forces of the elements or sea-creatures and they can be just as exquisite and unusual as the pearls produced by the mollusk. For a lack of a better word, we refer to them collectively as "sea-pearls"--they are any natural jewel found in the sea and can be of any size, shape and color. Sea-pearls are mostly in a spherical-form and may have any sort of texture. Their mineral composition are not quite known to us as there are many types to consider, though the common ones are composed of silica or of a glass-material. How such sea-pearls are developed in the sea is a mystery, though the fulgurite (Lat. Fulgur--"thunderbolt") formed out of an environmental event may probably offer us a clue as to their origin. The fulgurite, also called "petrified lightning" is a fused-quartz (Si02, melting-point 2950°F) formed as a result of a lightning-strike upon sand or rock. As a thunder-bolt hits the ground, it melts and fuses the material that it comes into contact with and normally form a root-like structure buried beneath the surface; this glass-like object is formed as the lightning traces its path in the ground and it can have a length of several feet and several centimeters in diameter. They are normally hollow and have rough outer surfaces; their inner surfaces, though, are glassy and smooth; fine globules may be found within fulgurites and the color of these objects vary in color with a greenish, grayish, whitish, blackish, or brownish tinge--they might come in other colors too depending on the composition of the material where they are formed. Sea-pearls may be fragments of these fulgurites re-shaped and re-formed by the forces of the sea.

Sea-pearls, generically, belong to the class of Lechatelierite, or naturally-fused silica; one other possibility as to their origin is that they are the matter ejected out of underwater volcanic craters; they may be crater glass (Impactite)--created out of meteorite impact events in which case they are related to tektites; these pearls are not shards or fragments of colored-bottles fallen into the sea as believed by some theorists as the form in which they appear make it quite improbable. Underwater volcanic craters are found in the seas of the Indonesian archipelago and it is not illogical to assume that the pearls may have their origin within the fiery-furnace existing deep within their bowels. These colored sea-pearls are occasionally found lying on the ocean-bed by divers and by those whose living depend very much on the sea; shamans acquire them through their unique methods along the lines that we have explained previously. After spending hundreds and thousands of years in the sea in a natural environment, sea-pearls absorb a good deal of occult energies and elemental-beings are attracted to them.

Pawangs have an uncanny knowledge related to mustika-pearls of plant-life such as those found in coconuts and in bamboos; not only do they detect the stones metaphysically, they are also familiar with the physical characteristics that indicate whether or not a coconut or a segment of a bamboo-trunk has a pearl--generally speaking, the knowledge that they possess afford them to detect the presence of pearls in almost every-type of flora. Most coconuts that have pearls within them are the "one-eyed" and "blind" coconuts--knowledgeable pawangs prior to removing the husk of a coconut can state with certainty whether it is one-eyed or the regular three-eyed types. With such specialized knowledge it is a simple matter for pawangs to extract and collect coconut or bamboo pearls without the unnecessary work of opening thousands of coconuts just for their acquisition. Coconut plantation-workers and those involved with the processing of coconuts would have lots of the pearls in their possession as a result of handling them by the hundreds and thousands on a daily basis. Probably none would admit of having them though, to avoid confiscation by their superiors or employers.

We would like to conclude this article by saying that the methods of pearl-acquisition explained herein only represent the "tip of an ice-berg"--that there are probably more ways that mustika-pearls are acquired that we have inadvertently overlooked or that we may be ignorant of. Nature cannot be constrained in any way--if she decides to offer a gift to someone she will find a way to do it--no one can prevent the giving from taking place nor should anyone try to do so as this could have catastrophic consequences. Forcing Nature to part with something which is not meant to be also has its negative effects. It is fortunate to possess a magickal mustika-pearl as one then has an object that connects oneself to Nature and her hidden spiritual forces--this has inestimable value that cannot be described with words.

People are often amazed and wonder how we are able to acquire so many of these mustika-pearls--this article hopefully offers some answers that banishes this astonishment away.

Pearl Selections:

Copyright © 2006 Luxamore

***********

We thank you for the purchases of the items made from our website as the proceeds from these help us to maintain and to continually update it with new informative articles.

  For orders, price list, or inquiries please,

 TOP