2. THE ORIGIN OF THE PEARLS.
by Zahir Karbani
2.1 Geographical Origins
Our natural mustika pearls and bezoars are harvested by wise and skilled shamans and spiritualists in the regions of South East Asia, Malaysia and deep within the vast and remote jungles found within the Indonesian archipelago – sought out specifically from the native plants and animals. A percentage of our pearls are also obtained from a diverse array of sea creatures that call this region home.
2.2 Physical Origins
Mustika pearls and bezoar stones are natural by-products composed of natural minerals and elements. Bezoar stones, as we’ve already learned, are natural wild-life by-products, usually formed as a result of abnormal dietary or digestive conditions. These conditions set the stage for the ultimate formation of these precious treasures.
Essentially, the process involves two stages. The first stage begins while the animal is alive. Hydrochloric Acid (Ph 1) reacts with the bezoar stone – agitating and aiding development. Stage two takes place after the animal has died, when the bezoar stone is exposed to something known as butyric acid, a compound that’s ONLY developed during the late stages of decomposition.
After extensive study and research, it’s been discovered that, in theory, both mustika pearls and bezoars can be formed from silica – a naturally created and occurring glass-like substance. Indeed, stomach bezoars are, for the most part, primarily formed of silica. Bezoar stones can also form in humans – especially people who’ve taken certain antacids over an extended period of time.
A similar process results in the formation of plant based bezoars and mustikas. However, there are some varieties of pearls (like Cloud pearls and Sea pearls) that form in a more mysterious manner that makes it much more difficult to determine the actual formation process.
Such an instance includes stones and pearls believed to be formed by etheric creatures like dragons, fairies and other elementals. The formation of these stones has only been described by Pawangs (indigenous shamans) who’ve been fortunate enough to literally witness them created out of nothing, right before their very eyes.
According to these eye-witness accounts, the process unfolds something like this…
Imagine that you’re walking through a forest, along a shoreline or atop a mountain. Suddenly, right before you, a strange mist materializes literally out of nowhere. As you study this mist, you notice that it’s beginning to thicken. As it continues to condense, you see that a jelly-like substance is beginning to form. Almost instantly, this amorphous material hardens into a solid and a Dragon pearl is born.
Of course, this is merely one account of the formation of a single pearl. To assume that ALL Dragon pearls form (or are found) in this fashion, however, assuming that this process is the same for all pearls just isn’t realistic.
Oftentimes, these pawangs are led to this discovery in any number of ways, including clairvoyance, psychometric powers, and magickal rites and rituals. In instances like these, the pearl may have already formed, and the pawing is supernaturally led to the discovery. How it actually arrives remains a mysterious unknown.
2.3 Materials & Composition
Due in part to the details we’ve already covered, you may notice that many mustika pearls and bezoar stones have a crystalline design or an opaque form. Several of these stones and pearls bear gem-like qualities, such as crystalline shape and structure, with the capability to refract light through their dense molecular make-up when held up to the light. In fact, most can transmit light.
Stones and pearls can also contain a wide variety of other minerals, elements and compounds. Because they often contain calcium carbonate crystals, bezoars and mustikas are officially classified as mineraloids, due to the fact that these crystals are bonded together with organic materials, with no definite ratios or proportions of the individual components.
Another compound that forms the basis for many bezoars is silicon dioxide. In addition to being an inorganic chemical compound (much like sand, salt or iron for example), silicon dioxide is also a key component in the formation of fossils. A host of natural chemicals are composed of silicon dioxide, and there are a variety of rocks and stones in the natural world made up entirely of silicon dioxide. The majority of these are totally natural and can often be found both in the bodies of diverse animals, as well as hidden away within their dens.
It should come as no surprise that these same environments can supply mustika pearls in abundance.
2.4 Silicon & Silicon Dioxide
Silicon is the second most abundant element found on the earth – second only to oxygen. 25.7% of our planet’s crust is made up of silicon. Due to this abundance, silicon is an essential element in biology, despite the fact that animals only require small trace amounts in their diets.
However, silicon is much more essential to healthy plant metabolism – especially grasses. According to the results of a study published by the Mineralogical Society of America, in the year 1928 alone, as many as 35 crystalline forms of silica (meaning silicon paired with oxygen) were identified.
To understand the diverse manifestation of silica based compounds and minerals, it helps to know that silica is something known as a polymorphous substance. This results in a variety of possible crystalline structures that is practically infinite.
Categorizing silica as a polymorph means that it’s capable of crystallizing into a number of different shapes and structures. These different polymorphous structures will have different and unique atomic arrangements within the cell unit. These variations can have a profound effect on the final resulting crystallized compound. This occurs through a process known as polymorphic transformation.
This process is a change that takes place when crystal structures encounter other crystals of the same chemical composition. The resulting unique crystal structures are called polymorphs, which goes to show that various crystal structures are dependent on two very important factors: external temperature and pressure.
Thanks to these characteristics, it’s much easier to understand why silica is such an essential element in the composition of my rock-forming minerals. Due to silica’s polymorphic properties, its elemental crystalline structures can be found in a multitude of forms. As a matter of fact, many popular rocks and minerals (quartz crystals and sand, sandstone, quartzite, opal, agate and onyx) are just a few forms that silica can take on.
Additionally, modifications of external pressure and temperature not only determine the crystalline structure of the resulting compound, but also their colour. Silica-based rocks and gems can be found in a variety of colours, including:
• Amethyst
• Smoky quartz
• Yellow quartz
• Rose quartz &
• Milky quartz
2.5 Soluble Silica in Plants & Animals
In theory, we believe that it’s entirely possible that our magickal pearls and stones also contain some form of crystalline silica structures, which would place them in the same unique category of other forms of silica.
In response to silica’s shape shifting tendencies and the process of polymorphism, it’s likely that other, yet unknown forms of silica are capable of springing into existence under other atmospheric pressures and conditions. Because new scientific and geological discoveries are made each and every day, you can’t come to the conclusion that ALL forms of silica have already been identified – at least not yet, anyhow.
Since polymorphism is a natural phenomenon with a rather spontaneous nature, there are an infinite number of potential manifestations of silica – many of which may yet lie undiscovered.
Silica makes its way into animals through the food that they eat (generally vegetation) and through the water they drink. In plants, silica is absorbed through the root system and accumulated within their foundational cellular structure.
Like many other minerals, silica appears in both the form of a solid as well as in a soluble liquid form known as soluble silica. The paradox is that both of these forms of silica are constantly striving to actually become each other. For instance, soluble silica is constantly being precipitated out of the water, while solid silica is continuously eroded down by water.
As a part of this cycle, when plant roots grow and penetrate deep into the soil, soluble silica (and other minerals) present in the groundwater are taken in and absorbed as nutrients. As this occurs, silica is deposited in between cells, between cell walls – even inside the cells themselves. These silica deposits don’t harm the plants in any way. Instead, it increases the density of the plant ever so slightly and can occasionally even benefit the plant and its leaves by providing them with a more erect posture that actually increases their ability to absorb sunlight.
Where the silica deposits occur and accumulate will depend entirely upon the species of plant in question. Deposits have been found in roots, leaves, stems, branches, trunks and fruit and can even accumulate in much smaller spaces like hair follicles and skin cells. Abnormalities in plant growth (much like the digestive abnormalities that spawn bezoar stones) can result in significant amounts of silica coming together, creating an even larger more solid substance. This substance (either in part or in its entirety) is what works to form mustika pearls.
As we’ve already learned, these formations aren’t restricted to plants, but occur in the Animal Kingdom as well. Since silica isn’t a digestible substance, it has no choice but to remain within the animal’s body in its solid form. Soluble silica, while it is able to transfer between cells and cell walls, still accumulates inside of the body, constantly attracting additional silica and growing in size as well.
In theoretical terms, this is likely how mustikas form inside of various living things.
This article was published on Tuesday 27 November, 2007.