A History Of Religious Jewelry

When many people usually think of jewelry, they are thinking of anything adorning their bodies in ornamental fashion that make them stand out

. While this is almost always true, jewelry can have many symbolic and social meanings depending on where you visit. Religious jewelry such as crosses and rosary beads are one of the most popular types of adornments. One of the first uses of jewelry was actually to show religious affiliation and not because of aesthetics.

For example, jewelry in Ancient Egypt was mostly symbolic. They used a lot of gold chains, scarabs, serpents, eyes, and other animals to represent the gods and eternal life at times. This time period during Egyptian history marks the time when jewelry was the most extravagant because gold and precious jewels were actually in abundance. Almost every piece of jewelry was made of some kind of real precious stone and pure gold. When religious jewelry became far more popular, they were made with cheaper materials like silver and other metals.

When Christianity rolled around, the cross, the rosary, and the Christian fish charm became very popular. All of these pieces have symbolic meaning even today, although people do tend to wear these things with a little less seriousness than hundreds of years ago. The love for God and Christ is present in all these pieces. The message in these pieces of jewelry may be fading a little bit, but that doesnt mean that white gold chains, crosses, and fish arent still flying off the shelves.

By the time the Americas were discovered, it became clear that the natives here in North America also used a lot of jewelry to adorn their bodies. The natives used their jewelry as a symbol of nature at times and it represented status at others. Many religious ceremonies are performed around the jewelry. The jewelry the Native Americans used wasnt like that of the Egyptians. These pieces were made of the metals of the Earth and from the animals they respected. Feathers were a popular type adornment along with silver and turquoise. But just because they were made from humble materials, doesnt mean that there wasnt a lot of tradition and ceremony that went with them. They were very careful with the colors and materials because each would represent something different. Using the wrong colors could mean disaster.

So the next time you go to the mall and buy a small cross or a gold chain, think of the history that it holds. Thousands of years ago, someone might have had a similar pendant.

by: Caitlinaa Fuller

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