"Mindful" Jade Carving

I'm listing some old mine lao pit jadeite pendants that I purchased directly from the jade carvers on a trip to China in 2003.   I've kept them for all these years because they are so unique, and of course I think I will wear them all!

I appreciate and love them so much because they are made from the older jadeite stone, but it's the actual carving that is special.  The stone is a very good, genuine grade A jadeite stone, for which the jade carver paid a premium price for in the auctions, so he would want to use the stone to get the most out of it,  not only for the quantity but for the quality of the carving.  The jade carvers I met always talk about how they study the jadeite rough for days, weeks, sometimes months and years until it "speaks" to them.  Then they get an idea of how they want to use the color, all the soft hues, the veins, the clarification lines, the texture  and take advantage of these variations in the carving.  They design the carving, often drawing pictures of what they want to do.  Then they choose an auspicious day to start their work.  As they work and come across the reality of the variations in the stone, they might stop to meditate on how they want to continue.  This kind of carving is considered to be "mindful" because of their focus. 

The soft lavender hues jadeite pendant with pixiu, peaches and lucky coin by pixiu's mouth is a good example of this mindfullness in jade carving.  Pixiue is symbol of protection, peaches are symbol of women and the coin is symbol of fortune.  The lavender color of jade has qi energy for wisdom, healing, spirituality.  A man wearing this jade pendant would be perceived as being a protector of women while providing not only wealth for her but also taking care of the spiritual side of the relationship. Some of the carving is minimally polished not only for texture, but symbolic of continuing progress in life.   The carving is raised off the flat backing, very detailed and 3-D.  And the backing has some cracking from the carving, symbolic of struggle to reach your goals.  Only mindfullness could contribute to all the symbolism of this vintage, precious jadeite pendant on the Jade Heaven web site.

If you purchase the pendant and mention that you read about it on the blog, write a note in the comments box and I will add a "dragon whiskers" adjustable silk cord to it for you at no additional charge.

I hope a true "jade lover" purchases this jade pendant, because it's so tempting to keep for myself (and you have seen me write that before!).