What symbolism is there in black pearls?

Question

Mystic, legend, & contemporary...

Answer 1

MYTHS AND PEARL LEGENDS:

      For centuries, Tahiti and Her Islands have been man's mythical paradise. Today, one of nature's most magnificent creations is born in the turquoise-colored lagoons of many of these islands and atolls. That creation is the Tahitian black pearl, a jewel of the sea, the living symbol of the purity and perfection found in a paradise.

     But long before Western man even discovered that Tahiti existed, the black pearl had a reputation for exceptional value and rarity that was only enhanced by its use in the jewelry of the world's royalty and nobility. The result was that the natural black pearl became known as the "pearl of queens" and the "queen of pearls", its wonder inspiring many questions among many people many centuries ago. But their lack of scientific precision led them to improvise with legend and poetry.

Many Imaginative Pearl Legends

      Thus, the ancient Chinese believed that pearls were conceived in the brains of dragons. In imperial China, the natural black pearl was regarded as a symbol of wisdom. As such, it was guarded between the teeth of a dragon, which had to be slain before the pearl could be taken.

     Some Hindu writers have linked pearls with clouds, elephants, snakes, wild boars, fish and only sometimes, with oysters themselves. The Greeks and Romans thought pearls were born in oysters as a result of a drop of rain or dew having penetrated between the layers. The Persians thought the same, but they believed that if a pearl was imperfect it was due to thunder in the sky. A more colorful version says pearls are born from the meeting of a rainbow with the earth.

Pearls Came from Angels' Tears in the Orient

     In the Orient, pearls are sometimes associated with the tears of angels, mermaids or mythical nymphs in stories mixing pain and suffering with bliss. A Ceylon legend tells how the tears of Adam and Eve created a lake that gave birth to pearls --white or pink pearls from Eve's tears, and more precious and rare gray and black pearls from Adam's tears. Why the difference? Man knows better how to control his emotions, according to the legend.

     There have been many ancient legends handed down from one Polynesian generation to the next on the creation of black pearls. According to one of those legends, Oro, the Polynesian god of peace and fertility, came down to earth on a rainbow to offer a special type of pearl oyster to man.

Oro offers Pearl to Princess of Bora Bora

     Te Ufi was the name given to that black-lipped pearl oyster, a mollusk that secretes a nacreous substance varying in color from gray to black. Some say that Oro offered the pearl from this oyster to the beautiful princess of Bora Bora as a sign of his love.

     It is also said that Okana and Uaro, the spirits of coral and sand, respectively, adorned Te Ufi with a cloak that glistened with the colors of all the fish that swim in Polynesia. For thousands of years the glory of the heavens has come to rest on the ocean bed in the secret hollow of the iridescent mother-of-pearl, a gift from the sky to the sea.

     One of the most romantic legends tells how the moon bathes the ocean in its light to attract the oysters to the surface so that it may impregnate them with heavenly dew. Polished by time, this drop of light holds this heavenly radiance within its heart and cloaks itself in a garment with blue, green, pink and golden reflections that shine and blend in harmony.

     According to modern legend, the Tahitian black pearl is born from a flaw in nature: a grain of sand entered on an oyster's delicate flesh; the mother-of-pearl covers up the intruder and forms the roundness of the pearl. Rocked by the waves, the pearl is black and beautiful, like the loved one in the Song of Solomon.

The Tahitian black pearl has become the symbol of hope in man's wounded heart.

Answer 2

It symbolizes the loss of innocence and the start of a rebirth steeped in knowledge.

Answer 3

none