Pearls (1st installment)

“Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned: And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls."

(Job 28:18)

I recently watched the 1944 film Cover Girl, staring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly, with my mother and my sister. It wasn't a great movie, but had its cute moments and who doesn't love a good old fashioned musical, especially a Gene Kelly musical.

In this film the characters are waiting to strike it big in the entertainment business. Every week they go out to the same restaurant and each orders a huge bowl of oysters. None of them like oysters much less eat them. They are purely looking for the pearl. They sit at the bar and open every oyster with the hope of the pearl.

This got me thinking. Why are we so fascinated with this piece of glorified dirt? Basically a pearl is a piece of sand that got caught inside of an oyster/mollusk and, because it is irritating to the mollusk, the mollusk forms a pearl sac of external mantle tissue cells and secretes the calcium carbonate and conchiolin to cover the irritant.

So, basically we are taking something that is a self-preservation function for one animal and giving it worth and value.

Don’t get me wrong, I love pearls. I believe they are truly one of the most timeless pieces of adornment we, as humans, have held onto. Lets take a moment and trace the pearl back in time.

There are at least nine mentions of pearls in the Bible (Old and New Testaments). The Qur'an also talks about pearls being of great worth; Hindu scriptures speak of the sacred Nine Pearls; as well as many other religious books from many other religions. Pearl is also used as a first and last name in many cultures as well as the name of towns and cities all over the world (including the Pearl River which runs through Mississippi and Louisiana).

As far back as the Roman Empire (and really even before that), people have loved to decorate themselves with pearls. We are going to skip to the 16^th century. (Please read http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pearl/time.html for a great history of pearls).

Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, was famous for wearing pearls because they were the sign of purity. She loved pearls and whether pearls meant purity and virginity before she wore them or not is a mystery to me, but she defiantly gave the gem quite a reputation.