Tree on a Hill Necklace

Here we have a little rock with a mix of azurite, malachite and other minerals which have magically come together to form the image of a tree clinging to a steep, windswept desert hill. Gary put a matte finish on the stone, complementing the rugged environment. I put a little squirrel on the back to enjoy the landscape. The necklace has rough sand cast blue glass beads and lightly tumbled turquoise nuggets, as well as a seed beaded chain to pick up all the colors in the centerpiece.

You will find a few stones on my website which have beautiful pictures in them as this one does. This may give the impression that such stones are relatively common. In fact they are very rare though there is a class of "landscape jaspers" where landscape images occur somewhat more often. I search through hundreds of stones for every one I purchase. Of the stones I buy very, very few have actual images in them and it is thrilling to find one!

Azurite (Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂) is a medium- to dark-blue copper carbonate which can also form gorgeous crystals. Malachite (Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂) is an intense green copper carbonate. The black in the stone could be Tenorite (CuO) which commonly appears with the copper carbonates, but that's a guess. In researching Tenorite, I discovered that you can blow up a shed with only 9lbs of of the stuff, but that is probably of only passing interest to most of my readers and watching the YouTube video probably put me on some NSA watch list. But I digress.

Ahsian mentions that Azurite 's ability to stimulate inner sight is useful for the spiritual seeker. She continues, "As seekers, we must constantly monitor our thoughts and motives..." And she offers a brief discourse on the problem of ego-driven motivation. She does not use the language we hear so often about the supposed necessity for the "death of the ego." My teacher used to point out that without an I-making function one could not discriminate between oneself and an on-coming bus. With that illustration one can see how helpful an ego is. This view maintains that problem is not the ego per se, it is identification with ego. If you are a seeker, perhaps this little stone will remind you of these questions. Won't you order it and enjoy the view?