As a kid, I always had a absorption for eyes—the sheen of
them, the size and shape, and what they tell you about the creature they’re
attached to. I drew them constantly. All sizes and shapes. I go back and look
at some of my school notebooks and there are all sorts of eye pictures in the
margins—human and animal. I still catch myself drawing them.
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| A curious young Bengal tiger, taken by Swamidu |
The big cat’s eyes have a particular allure for me. Which
probably explains my fascination for the gem called Tiger-Eye. The luster and
shades of colors they come in is amazing.
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| Polished Tiger-eye gemstones in various colors. |
Tiger-eye is in the quartz family. What makes them
different from many quartz gemstones is they’re metamorphic—meaning
they start out as one thing and through great heat and pressure become
something different, something beautiful. They tend to be golden in color—all
shades of amber and brown because of the iron oxide. As you can see from the
picture, some do come in blue, green, and some rare reds (and they can be dyed
other colors and there are simulated tiger-eye gems, too).
Tigers eye is one of the
most popular chatoyant gemstone. In gemology, chatoyancy, or chatoyance is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones and the amount of color or luster depends
upon the angle of light when being cut and shaped. Aquamarines, tourmalines,
moonstone, and some beryl quartz are chatoyant gemstones.
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| Polished Tiger-eye gem-easy to see the reason for the name. |
Most Tiger-eye gems are found in South Africa but are also found in places like Australia and the US.
One Tiger Eye meaning assures
the correct use of power, courage, grace and the ability to see clearly without
illusion. It was a stone carried by soldiers to
enable them to see clearly in the heat of battle. Shamans and healers carry
tiger-eye for grounding in metaphysical work and healing.
In business, the
Tiger-eye is supposed to draw the qualities of the tiger into the
wearer—patience, focus, and determination. Tiger-eye is a popular gem for men’s
jewelry and there are those in business who carry the gem as a talisman for clear
thinking and insight in to the situations.
Another
Tiger Eye meaning was to
restore peace and harmony to the wearer.
I don’t wear the
Tiger’s Eye for it’s supposed mystical properties or what it represents. I wear
it because it’s a beautiful gemstone when cut and polished properly, and placed
in the right setting. Like a pendant. :-)
