** This necklace is limited based on the small quantity of stones we have in the studio and we do not know if they'll be available again in the future. 

***Please note: your necklace will come on an 18" chain. If you need a different length ( between 16" and 24" ) you must reach out to us after placing your order to confirm your desired length. Thank you kindly in advance. 

Plucked from one of our recent Obolus coin releases, this miniature pomegranate is much smaller in size than our usual offerings. Akin to the weight of a hummingbird, its delicate size & tactile nature makes it easily slipped and held between the tips of your fingers and rubbed for comfort in times of grief, anxiety, dissociation, as well as during moments of joy and wonder. 

During these past years I’ve been thinking about a dollhouse my father had started building when I was little. He was a talented carpenter amongst other things that dealt with his hands, and I remember being excited about this house; I loved miniature objects, how they made me feel, the magic of them. 

It was never finished and although I had always hoped for one of those grand, elaborate dollhouses, I never owned one growing up. When my father died and I was allowed into his home to pour over and collect some of his things, I saw the house high on a shelf on a wall, still unfinished, lonely. I think of it this way, disintegrating, lost to time, the way a body falls loose of itself and becomes bones. A house can do this too, I believe. Become lost to time. Its rooms settling and sinking, wallpaper peeling, plaster dust thick in the air. My father’s house, my first house, no longer exists. Someone tore it down. I imagine the dollhouse torn down too, both gone, though forever in the miniature rooms of my mind. Grief does that, no matter how long its been, it creates rooms and whole houses inside you, putting up walls and doors where there were none before. Maybe you know what I mean. Maybe we share the same fruit, eat the same seeds. Move furniture around in similar miniature rooms. 

These past few years, I’ve been wondering what it would feel like to actually be as miniature as I feel on occasion, all the internalized feels made real. Like when Alice in Wonderland has her “Drink Me” moment ~ shrinking ever so small to fit through a tiny door to live in a world meant only for me, where only I could inhabit. These are melancholy thoughts ~ & I would have considered myself alone in them perhaps but more & more I think we are all in miniature spaces of our own ~ bending our shoulders in to guard our hearts, misunderstanding when a query might shed light~ relying on the lack of nuance a glowing screen provides rather than the sounds of each other’s voices ~ the look of each other’s expressions. I don’t have the answers ~ I just continue on and move the furniture around both here irl, as well as in the tiny rooms within me that I retreat too when I’m feeling _____….

Perhaps you understand this complicated feeling too? The one I can’t seem to put the right word to... The age of the liminal, where we are all netted between one horror and another yet to happen, but where it is still so searingly beautiful to be alive: to simply see the moon still grow full each month, to see the flowers still blossom into their wild, painterly colors ~ where I read something so rich with vivid language I feel this felt sense swarm in me, rising up like an immense wave, teeming with silky seaweed. I hope you know it too. I’m always chasing after it. 

Pomegranates are a sacred symbol to me as they are sacred to Persephone, Goddess of the Underworld. Similar to how Eve was doomed the moment she bit from the apple, Persephone’s fate was sealed the moment she ate from the pomegranate, a few seeds bound her to the land of the dead and she became part of it, she belonged to it. This idea is used throughout other tales and narratives, eating the food of chthonic or otherworldly places binds you to them. A symbol of belonging. 

A beautiful yet strange fruit, its jewel-like seeds literally appear to bleed when the leatherish skin is cut or cracked open, hence the “bleeding” garnet gemstone which can also be interpreted as a falling seed, depending on your heart’s desire.

Details:

- 14mm wide including jumprings

- Approximately 27mm from top to bottom 

- 5x7mm fine cut pear gemstone 

- Shown on Miguel with a 20 inch chain 

- Shown on Jess with a 16 inch chain

- Pendant, chain, jump rings, and clasp are all solid Sterling Silver hand oxidized to achieve our favorite shade of stormy gray and then highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

- Last image shows this necklace worn with a ring version, which can be found HERE. 

Garnet:

Garnet is seemingly named for a few things, the most interesting and well known being that of the Pomegranate, named for either its glowing red color or its relational look to the seeds within when polished. This has tied it to the myth of the Goddess Persephone in some of its lore, who is as inseparable to the Pomegranate and its fateful seeds as Eve is to the apple of Eden. This association, admittedly, is what first drew me to Garnet, but its long and storied history, spanning many cultures and parts of the world is as fascinating as just about any other gemstone of my acquaintance. I also fell for its uncanny beauty, which  like a glowing ember one can wear on the skin, appears alive like fire does. 

As an ancient gemstone, the Egyptians knew of its power and beauty, which seems to be the seal of magical authenticity on the stone as it was found not only amongst grave goods but also within the settings of talismans wrapped in the layers of mummies to protect the body on its journey to the afterlife. I imagine it being present with its wearer before the weighing of the heart, as it’s a stone closely aligned with the heart ( akin in this way, to Rose Quartz. ) 

Created under extreme pressure and temperatures in the darkness of the subterranean realms, Garnet persists and thrives under these difficult circumstances - suggesting strength and personal resiliency. It’s also, like the Phoenix, associated with fire and its transformative properties, rising from extremely high temperatures. It’s considered to be a stone of creativity, as it’s ‘blood’ colored and associated with fire and the heart, ( as mentioned above) suggesting a quickening of the blood, a call to creative action, passion.

This passion also extends to both romantic and platonic relationships, the stone was given to strengthen bonds between friends and lovers due to its association with the Persephone myth in a strange nod to how Pomegranate seeds kept Persephone bond to the Underworld for part of the year/ being returned to the Upper realms for Spring/Summer, ( this also made it a traveler’s stone) as well as for its color being similar to heart’s blood. 

Another interesting bit : in the Medieval Ages it was considered to ward off Melancholy and also, interestingly, to be the material that Dragon’s eyes were made of. 

All in all, Garnet is a wildly magical and highly potent stone, beautiful, ancient and intense; a personal raging fire to keep close- to remind you that you belong to the land of the living. To quicken the blood when feeling otherwise. 

These jewels are hand cut and therefore may have very slight differences in size and may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. These are not fabricated by a machine, they are made by hand and therefore aren't uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stones and the cuts. 

***IMPORTANT***

This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6 weeks for creation before shipping.                   

Visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE.

If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com