And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD. Amos 3:15
That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; Amos 6:4
The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine [sic] wood, and all manner vessels of ivory . . . Revelation 18:12
• Cayce Readings •
Ivory is mentioned thirty-two times in thirty documents.
While many of the readings discuss the use of Ivory soap, most refer to the ivory of ancient times:
Q: If possible, please give information as to where I can find a design of King David’s seal, which it was suggested that I should wear?
A: . . . It will one day be uncovered in Jerusalem.
Q: Of what would it best for it to be made?
A: Either of ivory . . . or ivory inlaid with gold . . .
601-5
Cayce described the symbolism of the elephant when someone described a dream:
Q: . . . One elephant seemed to be in distress, owing to a burnt mouth, rubbed in agony on his ivory tusk.
A: . . . elephant representing knowledge, power, incarnate in the animal kingdom . . . the rubbing on knowledge as from ivory representing the lack of understanding . . .
900-90
Someone asked about her artistic endeavors:
. . . this may be done on ivory, cellulose or the like . . .
428-13
Source also told several people about past lives with ivory:
. . . the entity lost and gained and became well known in those relationships with many of those in many varied lands; for whether of the spices of Ceylon or the ivory of India . . .
630-2
Ornaments, adornments; the finer works in laces, fabrics, spun gold, silver, carved ivory and the like—these were the portions.
877-10
. . . For there again the entity became the keeper of the exchanges of many lands . . . the ivory, the gold in the Gobi land.
1213-1
Things pertaining to the arts of every nature; whether the workings in brass or in iron, or in carvings as of ivory . . .
1597-1
Cayce also recommended ivory to some clients for its vibrational benefits:
As to stones—rather of ivory . . .
1626-1
. . . Things overlaid with gold or ivory . . .
1847-1
Source equated ivory to the delicate beauty of certain material possessions:
. . . there arises the interest in beads, in those things hand carved from ivory . . .
2462-2
. . . building a home of beauty, that—as it were—would be carved from ivory itself in beauty, in delicacy of expression . . .
2464-1
. . . the ivory from the Indo-China land, all became part of the entity’s activities . . .
2560-1
Orientals, oriental trappings—the love of these is harking back to that experience of the entity; especially those things in carvings of ivory, and the like.
2733-1
The intricate carvings . . . upon ivory . . . were a part of the records . . .
3004-1
. . . temples were decorated with Ivory and gold.
3348-1
. . . gold and ivory and the carvings of same.
3651-1
More on Ivory
Ivory is a powerful organic gem, meaning that it comes from a living being. Primarily obtained from elephant tusks, other sources that have been used by indigenous peoples throughout the world are walrus, hippopotamus, sperm whale, narwhal, wild boar, and warthog.
Ivory is now illegal in many parts of the world because of poachers. Because of a good friend of mine who was born in South Africa, I recently had the unique opportunity to see some one-of-a-kind, antique pieces of ivory. She had saved several of her parents’ carvings from her early childhood days. My friend had also traveled the world throughout her life and had purchased some remarkable ivory pieces from China.
The story of ivory is a sad one. In one of my earlier books, I mentioned that the African elephant population was overflowing some years ago, so the government there decided to allow some hunting to thin them out. Unfortunately, when that door was opened, some chose to abuse the privilege. In a recent segment on the television show 60 Minutes, I learned that the elephants are again in grave danger of becoming extinct.
Why do people place such tremendous emphasis on the tusks? Many indigenous peoples have long believed in the power associated with animal spirits. Elephants are symbols of luck, and in India, the elephant-headed god, Lord Ganesh, is considered a sacred deity who brings prosperity and good fortune to those who call upon him. Elephants are also symbols of wisdom due to their exceptional memories.
The reality is that as a healing stone, most of us will not have the opportunity to work with ivory these days because of its banned status, rarity, and expense. So how can you tap into the energies of this material? Through the realm of your imagination, of course! Everything in existence on earth is available to you through meditation. If you close your eyes, relax, and seek to connect to the depths of your soul, you can access all time and space. You can truly tap into anything in the universe, and that is what we will do in the brief exercise that follows below.
As with any guided imagery journey, you can read the words below and then try to recreate it in your mind, or you can record yourself and play it back. You may have a recorder on your smartphone or other device to use if you have a few extra minutes. The effort will be well worth it because your subconscious mind loves to hear the sound of your voice!
Meditation to Call on the Healing Wisdom of Ivory
Find a comfortable chair, and then sit, relax, and close your eyes. Breathe. Breathe deeply in through your nose, exhaling through your mouth. Now take another deep breath. Exhale deeply. Very good.
With each breath, imagine feeling yourself becoming more and more relaxed.
Imagine a beam of bright white light coming down into the top of your head. Feel the light moving down through your forehead, into your eyes, your nose, and your jaw. Relax your jaw. Allow your mouth to rest, and allow any tension held there to disappear. Keep breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Very good.
Feel that light as it moves down your neck, relaxing, healing, and releasing any remaining tension. Allow the light to travel into your shoulders, into your arms, your elbows, your wrists, hands, and fingertips. Let go of any tension and allow all muscles to relax completely.
Next, notice the light becoming brighter and brighter as it travels down your neck, into your spine, and through your shoulder blades, healing and relaxing every muscle. Allow that light to move down, down, down your spine, through every vertebra, healing and releasing any remaining tension.
The light continues to move down, down, down to the base of your spine. Keep breathing as you allow that light to fill your lungs, traveling down through the base of your spine, into your legs, your knees, calves, ankles, and finally down through the soles of your feet.
Feel that light moving through your toes and then out from the soles of your feet. Allow the light to move all the way down to the core of the earth. Feel yourself being connected and grounded to the earth.
Allow the white light to continue moving from the top of your head, through your crown chakra, down your spine and out through the soles of your feet. Moving faster now, the light becomes so strong that it begins to pour out from your heart, creating a beautiful golden ball of light that surrounds you by about three feet in all directions. Feel the light circling around your body, healing you and protecting you. Trust that only that which is for your highest good will prevail. Very good.
Now imagine a doorway in front of you. You can see that door, fee
l it, or have an inner knowing that the door is there. When I count to three, go ahead and walk through the door. One: feeling more relaxed than ever before; two: circled by the golden light, feeling protected and energized; three. Step through that door and find yourself inside a beautiful room.
Take a look around. Notice what you see. Imagine that you notice how safe and secure you feel here. Very good. On the other side of the room, find a doorway there. Walk or float to that door and open it. Step outside into an open area. Notice that you are now in a beautiful place in nature.
Notice the trees. What kind are they—palm trees, evergreens? Next, check the color of the sky. Is it a sunny day? A cloudy day? What about people? Are you alone or do you see anyone there? Nice job.
Off in the distance, I want you to notice that there is an elephant. Imagine you can walk or float up to the elephant. Now notice how kind the elephant is.
Feel the power from this magnificent creature and imagine you can step right up to him. Place the palm of your hand on his tusk. Does he bend over to allow you to do so? If so, gaze into his eyes. Notice the warmth and compassion that he feels for you.
Observe the energy emitted from the elephant’s tusk as you now wrap both your hands around it. Allow the energy from the ivory to move through your fingers, into your hands, up your arms, and into your heart. Allow the ivory to heal anything that needs healing at this time. You may or may not know what the ivory is working on within you, but just allow the energy to reconfigure any of your cells that may be in need of healing at this time.
Does the ivory strengthen your bones or provide calcium absorption at a deeper level? Or perhaps this experience brings you back in touch with a past-life experience that needs to be healed.
Ask the elephant if he has any messages for you at this time. Allow your elephant to reveal past lives in which you took part. What role did you play? Did you merely see elephants in your daily life, or did you interact with them?
If you need to, ask the elephant for forgiveness. Imagine that he extends grace to you at this time.
Take a deep breath, and release all energies from the past. Heal and release. Notice how much better you feel. Very good.
Now take another moment to ask your elephant what you need to know today. Breathe. Listen. Relax.
Next, I want you to imagine that you can thank your elephant for meeting with you today. He may walk back through this beautiful space and leave you now, and you will turn around and walk or float back toward the door you walked through in the beginning.
Open that door, and step inside the beautiful room. Stand there for a moment, absorb the healing energies from this place, and then feel all that you have gained from this experience of reconnecting with ivory.
If there are any other insights you may desire at this time, imagine that those thoughts are filling your head about why this journey was important to you.
When you are finished, imagine yourself moving to the door where you first entered. Walk back through the door now. Stand again where you started, feeling energized, refreshed, and better than you did before.
Very good!
When I count from five to one, you will come back into the room, feeling awake, refreshed, and better than you did before.
Five: grounded, centered, and balanced.
Four: feeling refreshed and healed, gaining much from this reconnection with ivory.
Three: driving safely and being safe in all of your activities.
Two: continuing to process this new energy throughout the night so that by tomorrow morning you are fully integrated into this new energy.
One: still surrounded by the golden ball of light, knowing that the light stays with you always, healing and protecting you, allowing only that which is for your highest good to prevail.
And. . . . you’re back!
So how did you feel? Go ahead and recall the insights that were gained from your experience. Which ones can you use in the future?
I believe that we should all pray for the elephants and any other endangered species so that they may continue to grace us with their presence here on earth. As for ivory, I am confident that this material is powerful. Many of us worked with it during our past lives and no longer need to have it in our physical presence to benefit from it currently. Continue to tap into that energy, asking to draw upon your past lives, and you can gain the benefit without harming the magnificent elephants that we so love and respect.
Apatite
You may be surprised to know that ivory is composed primarily of apatite.
In 1788, the beautiful blue stone apatite was named for the Greek word apatao, which means “to deceive or mislead.”
Composed of calcium, fluorine, and other elements, apparently apatite is indeed quite misleading. Recently used to describe an entire series of minerals, including one called carbonate-fluorapatite, it grows in long prism-like structures similar to our teeth. Not only are our teeth made of this material, but the teeth or tusks of elephants and other creatures are, also.
Because of that characteristic, apatite can be used for healing the teeth, either to strengthen or to straighten them. It’s primarily found in Brazil, Austria, Madagascar, Russia, Sweden, South Africa, Mexico, Arizona, Maine, and around the regions of Ontario in Canada. Madagascar is considered by some to be part of ancient Lemuria, and for that reason, the stones from that region of the world are notable.
Apatite is beautiful to look at and also energizing in a comforting manner. In addition to those attributes, my primary interest in working with the mineral is that it is known to assist in suppressing the appetite.
I first wrote about apatite in my book Gemstone Journeys. The stone has a wonderfully calming energy that helps you to feel satisfied without needing anything more, especially in the area of food or drink.
There are many intricacies to the appetite. Some aspects are physical, some are mental, and others are emotional. You may crave food from physical hunger, eat or acquire things from mental hunger, or have an emotional need to fill yourself or your home.
Have you ever noticed how people shop in a mall or store? Many of us are so mesmerized by the marketing and flashing lights of retail environments these days that we leave with an overabundance of purchases that we never intended to buy. When I do that—and yes, I have done it—I typically return the superfluous items the next day.
Apatite will help you become more aware of what you are or are not acquiring so that you do so in a more conscious way, obtaining only what you actually need.
Balance is the keynote of this stone. Are you looking for more balance in your life? Do you want to give equal time and energy to the areas of body, mind, and spirit? If so, apatite is the stone for you.
Shedding the Old, Bringing on the New
Apatite is an excellent stone to use at the beginning of the year when things are new. In December and January, most of us try to shed the previous year—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and start anew. I think it is human nature to be optimistic for ourselves at this time. We hope that the New Year will be better than the last one and that everything we desire will come to us.
Agate rosary from Prague, Czech Republic.
See the amethyst inside the agate? This is a good example of how the mineral kingdom works.
A good chunk of amethyst is wonderful for clearing energy fields.
As Cayce mentioned in the readings, this is a white amethyst. All amethysts are quartz crystal with impurities. This crystal has a faint tinge of violet.
This stunning, rough blue lace agate from Botswana helps with communication.
Here you can see the many colors of bloodstone. The red is believed to represent the blood of Christ.
In this piece of polished sardonyx, it’s hard to believe that these gorgeous cameos were carved from multi-layered materials.
Carnelian stimulates creativity.
These cameos are carved from orange and white layers of sardonyx.
Chrysoprase is m
entioned in the book of Revelation.
Crystals are powerful transmitters of energy and intention. In this photo, you can see that one of the stones has a yellow tint. Many of the minerals in the gem kingdom are formed from silicon dioxide, which comprises quartz. Trace elements account for differences in color.
Red coral is an excellent healer that can strengthen your will.
A few tumbled stones from a mine in North Carolina: emerald, garnet, and amethyst.
An example of the beautiful, multiple-colored layers in rough emerald.
This rock shows emerald mixed with quartz, which amplifies the energy.
This stone is called a fire agate because there is a fire opal in the middle of the agate stone. Could it be the Firestone mentioned in the Cayce readings?
It is quite common to find garnets in stones like these.
Garnet, also known as carbuncle, will bring love and commitment into your life.
Rough and tumbled garnet.
My favorite Herkimer diamond has a tiny heart inclusion imbedded in the stone. Herkimers will activate dormant DNA strands and give you more energy.
Stunning ivory carving from China of Confucius on an auspicious red cord.
Carved by hand in China, jade is sacred to the Chinese.
Jade from a recently discovered mine in Guatemala.
Red jasper will ground you.
Native American jasper wolf carving.
Edgar Cayce's Sacred Stones: The A-to-Z Guide to Working with Gems to Enhance Your Life and Health Page 9
