Amber mounts and chips

Many jewelry are made out of Amber
Carved Guan Yin

Inclusions are often found in Amber

Amber is not a crystalline form nor can it be literally classified as a stone.  In actuality, Amber is petrified pine tree sap that is million of years old.  Captured within the sap are frequently found small insects, flowers, seeds and other remnants of prehistoric nature.  These preserved life forms make Amber an archeological find worth studying.

Amber does not emit strong healing energy, but it does have the power to draw disease from the body.  It is beneficial to place pieces of Amber over any area of the body that is imbalanced or in pain.  Amber can absorb the negative energy and help the body to heal itself.  Often, after using Amber for such purposes, it will become very dull and clouded.  Always cleanse Amber after using it to ensure its healing potency and to prevent it from distributing negative energy.

In healing, Amber is mostly used for its brilliant golden color reflection.  By placing Amber over the area of internal organs, these tissues can be revitalized.  The gold-orange color is associated with the Navel Chakra and the grounding of energies into the physical body.  Amber can be worn or used by people that tend to have suicidal tendencies, who do not want to be in a physical body, or who get depressed easily.  It will help ground the higher energies onto the earth plane to be utilized by the body for healing and balancing.  Amber can be made into stunning jewelry that can be worn for beauty, as well as for grounding and stabilizing effects.

Amber is known to mineralogists as succinite, from the Latin succinum, which means amber. Heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn, a fact that has given rise to the name of bernstein, by which the Germans know amber. Rubbing amber with a cloth will make it electric, attracting bits of paper. The Greek name for amber is elektron, or the origin of our word electricity. Amber is a poor conductor of heat and feels warm to the touch (minerals feel cool). The modern name for amber is thought to come from the Arabic word, amber, meaning ambergris. Ambergris is the waxy substance formed in the intestines of sperm whales and used to make perfumes. Ambergris and amber are only related by the fact that both wash up on beaches.

Amber studies are truly interdisciplinary. Geologists and paleontologists are interested in amber because it is a fossil, evidence of prehistoric life. Archeologists look at trade routes and the barter view of amber. Organic chemists investigate the physical and chemical properties. Botanists and entomologists examine the botanical sources of amber and embalmed insects and debris. Poets, writers, and artists look to amber for sunny inspirations. Gemologists and jewelers desire amber for its beauty and rarity. Curators and conservationists preserve and archive amber. 

Amber in Asia:  

Myanmar (formerly called Burma): burmite, has been used by Chinese craftsmen as early as the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D.) and rarely reaches any market outside of China. Burmite contains 2% succinic acid, less than Baltic amber, but still considered a succinite. See The London Natural History Museum's Geology Bulletin, Volume 56(1), June 2000, for an issue devoted to articles on Burmese amber, such as A Review of the History, Geology and Age of Burmese Amber (Burmite) by Zherikhin and Ross, among other interesting articles.  

Lebanon: amber from Lebanon is Lower Cretaceous in age or about 130 million years ago. This amber oozed from a Kauri Pine forest and contains some of the oldest embalmed insects known, as well as fossil plants, animals, and feathers. Also, Lebanese amber was traded by Phoenicians some 5,000 years ago. Find out more about this amber in the book, Lebanese Amber: The Oldest Insect Ecosystem in Fossilized Resin, by George O. Poinar, Jr. and Raif Milki. 

Japan: amber found in coal beds is used for making lacquer and none is exported. The amber deposits are found in the Taneichi and Kunitan Formations (85 million years old) near Kuji and 120 million year old formations in Chõshi. Specimens may be viewed at the Kuji Amber Museum and the National Science Museum in Tokyo.

See our Selection of Crystals for healing

See the excellent book of Katrina Raphaell: Crystal enlightenment (ISBN 0-943358-27-2)

Amber in Mexico - The cheaper alternative - See the report