Lapis Lazuli: Stone of Heaven



Lapis dealers in the Namak Mandi (salt bazzar) Peshawar


Those royal blue stones called Lapis Lazuli have been around for eons. Three parts make up the Lapis stones, Calcite (white), Sodalite (blue), and Pyrite (yellow). Nearly all of the world's lapis comes from Badakhshan, Afghanistan close to the Kokcha River valley.  The only way to reach these precious rocks is via camel, donkey, or mules. Small amounts of lapis are mined, which is of inferior quality than that of Afghanistan, in places like Chile, Zambia, and Siberia. Prices range from $2.25lb to $6150lb.

Smithsonian Institution /
National  Museum, Riyadh

 Lapis ornaments have been discovered in southern Parkistan dating back as far as 5500BCE. An oval pendant carved around 3300 BCE was unearthed in Egypt at Naqada. The above figurine was found 1966 on Tarut Island in eastern Saudi Arabia, which was carved around 3000 BCE, and is now in the National Museum in Riyadh.



Through the course of time, many rulers and wealthy people included lapis in their burial.  They wanted to give the deities gifts in the afterlife.  Did you know that Lapis is considered a healing stone still today?

I own the above pendant which has an Arabic inscription on it saying: Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim (In the name of Allah (God), the Beneficient, the Merciful). I would like to buy more of this type of jewelry. It is a blue that pierces the senses.

Polio, Pakistan, and Havoc

PHOTO:AP

In 1994, Pakistan had 20,000 cases of polio.  After a vigorous campaign of immunization, the number of cases dropped down to 56 in 2012.  Several health care workers administering the vaccines were killed this week because the Taliban (they are suspected for doing this) thought it was a western conspiracy to sterilize or spy on muslims.  Apparently, the CIA used a fake vaccination campaign to try and obtain information on Osama Bin Ladin before he was found and killed.  However, the vaccines have been going on for some time. 

It is hard to connect with this kind of thinking.  Culture and religion has caused a great chasm between the east and the west.  We all have to agree that Osama Bin Ladin was not a good man.  By using vaccination as a ploy to get information on him was not a bad thing. The world is free from one more evil man. 

 Polio can paralyze or kill in a very short amount of time passing from one person to the next. This disease has a strong foothold in Pakistan, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. For this reason world health workers have been working tirelessly.  It is a shame to gun down defenseless women over suspicious thinking. Again, it is a shame.  

To date, the health care workers have stopped with the immunizations until the situation comes under control.  This isn't a case of religion, nor is it about culture, but a healthy future for children.  Children who want to grow up and have normal lives.  Children are the future of this world of ours. They just need a chance.