Whenever I hear the phrase “blue marble” I think of the famous photograph of the earth taken in 1972 from the Apollo 17 of the earth. Today I was introduced to a Blue Marble Tree! Sometimes I learn about something new and I am so excited I just can’t wait to share! This is one of those times!
The Blue Marble Tree is part of the Elaeocarpus genus and there are several species. The fruit is edible (but I was told by someone who has tried it that it tastes “like mud”) and is a brilliant blue. The seed inside, well you should just look at the photo!
I saw this tree on a tour today of a conservation area. The tour guide also told us that the seeds are used as prayer beads. Naturally I was curious (and picked up a few on our way through the area). This has led me on one of those crazy internet adventures old learning. E. ganitrus that grows in India, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, Guam and Hawaii, so it is likely that this is the species that I saw, but I do not know for sure.
The seeds from this variety are used to made rudraksha or rudraksh prayer beeds. Rudraksha is Sanskrit for Rudra (“Shiva”) and aksha (“eyes”). Then I started looking around for more information on the rudrasha. I found several videos of using copper plates to test if a rudrasha was real. If you are confused, don’t worry I was too. Turns out there is a belief that these seeds have a magnetic field and should spin on their own when held between two plates. But they are supposed to spin clockwise.
Usually the seeds are strung together to make a mala. This usually consists of 108 beads plus one, and is supposed to be a shield against negative energy.
I am not where near done digging into this but it was too interesting to not share! I hope you are as intrigued as I am! The tree itself has amazing roots that create huge buttresses. It towered above us. I am going to leave you with a botanical drawing of the leaves flowers and berries. What an interesting plant.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeocarpus_ganitrus
http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/the-significance-of-rudraksh/
http://www.botanicalartists.com/MargaretSaul/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudraksha
I was also intrigued by the copper plate test and found out it was actually a scam as I myself experimented using two copper pennies and found that any spherical object will spin between two copper plates! This was more amazing to me than the mala beads. Even though I do plan to get some for myself to see what type if energy they emit. Back to the copper plates….I was amazed to find a ball of steel could spin between the plates! So then I thought, ” maybe it’s magnetic?”. I collect crystals and odds and ends. I had an empty garden snail shell that I put between the copper plates and it too spinned!! I have been looking on the internet for an explanation of this phenomenon and can only find references to magnetic situations. Maybe it all boils down to the positive and negative polarities of the atoms themselves….to me, this was an example of free energy…albeit a very weak one…but its a start! Back to the mala beads, you really need to buy them from a reputable source because there is a look alike seed out there and people also take the painstaking time to carve them from wood, then run the copper test….or there is anotherr test …that the malas float in water, but we all know wood also floats so that’s not reliable. If ANYONE can explain this “spheres turn in copper plate by themselves thing”, I would greatly appreciate it!! Much love and Blessings!!
One more thing….the imposter seeds are actually toxic, so it’s not something you would want around your neck, or touch the seeds while reciting mantra then introduce into mouth…..or even worse if you have a little one such as myself and they happen to chew on it!!