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Universe, Adorned: Ornament in Culture, Cosmos, and Consciousness

The Emerald

CHAPTER

We Are Attracted to the Shine

We are drawn to shine because the natural world which birthed us shines. To be drawn towards a luminous focal point is to be drawn towards what Jacob Baum called the secret heart of nature. There is a reason the mead of poets is described as perlescent and the nectar of trance shines like light through honey. In those states of heightened consciousness, that which shines takes on special meaning. It imprints, it leads us, it invites us into its patterned heart. So gems and shells and pearls and things that shine seem to be a bridge from a mundane world to a deeper world.

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