Homepage

DMN Designer Jewellery – A look at Silver and its history.

Throughout human history, Silver has been recognized and utilized by many cultures as a metal with unique properties. This document explores the significance of silver in history, covering topics such as silver use in alchemy, human culture, and modern science. Silver has a long history of use in medicine, and was commonly used by doctors as late as the 1930's, before the advent of antibiotics.

Since ancient times, silver has been closely associated with the moon and lunar influences. The finest artist eyes have described the midnight sheen cast by the sun's reflection off of the moon in terms of silver. Silver is a cool color, and stands as a diametric opposite to gold. Silver is closely tied to Isis and all things flexible, creative, and emotionally intelligent.

In alchemy, silver is an archetype concept - one of seven. Before the periodic table emerged through technological advancement, there were in fact seven sacred metals, of which silver held a place of high esteem. In hermetic philosophy, an alchemical concept more than simply describes physical characteristics. All ideas were centered on discovering and utilizing the essence behind the material manifestation, with the goal of expressing in absolute terms primary principles governing both time and matter. Practitioners of the past were as much poets as scientists, and possessed unparalleled patience in their works.

Silver is even attributed in the ancient chakra system - a system of seven sacred energy centers of the body. Silver is associated with the sixth chakra, often referred to as the "third-eye". In this sense, silver certainly represents the concept of reflection, both physically (all reflective substances are silvery) and as an internal exercise of self-analysis.

Silver has always held a value above material and economic considerations. Gifts of silver jewelry in many cultures are given as a symbol of trust, truth, excellence, wisdom and love.

Even the ancient Vedas expound on the intrinsic power of silver. Within the Ayurvedic system of thought, all illness is rooted in an imbalance in the human energy system and pure metals in precise combinations are used to help restore the body's electromagnetic balance to a state of equilibrium. Medically, silver was known to be a liver and spleen detoxifier.

In Roman and Greek Mythology, the First Age was called Golden, the second Silver. Apollo, god of truth and light, teacher of medicine, carried a silver bow. His twin sister Artemis lost a hand in battle and later was given a silver replacement by the Irish god of healing. In the shamanic religion of Bon-Po, a special river filled with silver sands is said to make anyone who drinks the water lovely as a peacock.

Islamic alchemy gives silver an important place physically and conceptually. Silver was known as one of the seven sacred bodies. Alchemical procedures were even defined in terms of silver, i.e. the silvering of other metals; the act of giving other metals silver-like qualities.