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Metaphors in Stones

© Bonnie McCarson

Some years ago I became interested in collecting rock and mineral specimens and mining for gemstones. Since my first find of value in the red mud of a Western NC hillside, I have learned a great deal about rocks, minerals, and gems -- and about myself.

Just as Jung worked on his process while chiseling and carving into the stones of his Tower, I have worked on mine in the course of rock hunting. Sometimes I have gotten lessons from the stones for which I search. Of course, I want to find gems, the good quality ones that are cuttable and valuable -- or ancient artifacts like the arrowheads, just as in my individuation process, I want to arrive quickly at the archetypal meanings, which will make everything clear and all right. But I have learned that unless I am patient and keep my eyes open, sometimes I may overlook both potentially valuable gemstones and the archetypal significances in life.

Sometimes even keen eyes aren't enough. I must use other ways of knowing. I might also carefully feel the weight of the stone in my hand, run my finger over its edges, scratch its surface with my fingernail or another stone, to be able to ascertain whether it is a valuable stone or just a rock. I have learned, too, that sometimes what is "just a rock" may, to me, be worth keeping anyway.

Once I kept what I thought was just a rock because it's slightly greenish hue intrigued me. A gemologist took one look and said, "Oh, that's an aqua." When I expressed doubt, he explained that it was aquamarine in the process of becoming the gem we normally recognize. He even said that if I took it home and baked it for several hours, it might turn blue. After all, it is often heat and pressure in Mother Earth that transform a mineral into what we consider a gem.

Another lesson I began learning with my first dig for rubies was that you can't go on what a stone looks like on the surface. That is particularly true of rubies and sapphires. They often come out of the ground crusted over by other minerals so that you can't see the color. They are, however, heavier than other stones. But even if you recognize by weight or shape that your stone is a ruby or sapphire, you may not be able to tell if it is of value until a stonecutter grinds away a little of the outer crust and shines his light through it.