Introduction to the Meaning and Uses of Picture Jasper

Jaspers have been revered by ancient peoples and civilizations throughout the world as sacred and powerful stones of protection, for both the physical and spiritual realm. They were known as the “rain bringers” and nurturers, healers of the spirit and stones of courage and wisdom. The name can be traced back in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and Latin, and the virtues of Jaspers have been extolled throughout the ages by the most noted physicians, magicians, poets, scientists, lapidaries and scholars. [Mella, 77-78][en.wikipedia.org]

Picture Jasper, a remarkable form of Brown Jasper, is characterized by masterful “scenes” and landscape patterns formed by Nature, and is believed to contain hidden messages from the past. It was revered in many cultures of the world for its deep connection to the Earth, its protection during shamanic journeying, and its ability to divine the land and the future. It is perhaps more closely connected to the planet than any other Jasper and is known today as the Stone of Global Awareness.

Highly attuned to the Earth’s electromagnetic fields and energy systems, Picture Jasper provides a remarkable ability during meditation to merge with the consciousness of Earth. It allows access to the vast records stored within the planet’s mineral data base, and may be used to view the world’s history and connect with the energy of sacred sites and ancient civilizations. It encourages ecological responsibility, and acts as a reminder that one is not here on the physical plane simply for oneself, but to bring joy and substance to others. [Simmons, 218][Ahsian, 218-219][Melody, 344, 347][Gienger, 51]

A nurturing, protective stone, Picture Jasper brings comfort and alleviates fear, stimulating not only the Base Chakra in providing physical and spiritual energy for the body, but also activates the Third Eye Chakra enhancing visualization. It instills a sense of proportion and harmony, enlivening one’s creativity and initiative, and is a marvelous talisman for bringing hidden emotions to the surface for healing. [Melody, 347][Hall, 157-158][Hall En, 200][Eason, 298]

Picture Jasper is an opaque, microcrystalline variety of Quartz with extraordinary color banding, veining and depositional flow patterns created by petrified or silicate mud and sometimes dendritic inclusions. On cut or polished stones, these variations appear as detailed images or “scenes.” Because of its unique landscape patterns and wide range of colors, Picture Jasper is one of the most sought after and famous varieties. It occurs in nodules or as fillings in fissures and may be found the world over, usually named for the specific localities where it is mined. Picture Jasper’s earthy colors are due to high iron content and other minerals or impurities that create its artistry. It forms most often in shades and combinations of brown, gold- to reddish-brown, black, blue, tan or ivory, though other colors may be present. [Simmons, 215][Eason, 108, 298][Melody, 347][minerals-n-more.com][txrockhound.zboxhosting.net]

Picture Jasper Uses and Purposes

Picture Jasper is highly beneficial for locating ley lines and power points of the Earth’s meridian system for assistance when setting up energy grids, positioning a home or other new construction, or for maximizing energy transfer in healing or psychic endeavors. It is particularly resonant with Earth-centered magical practices and ceremonies employing elemental forces. [Simmons, 218][Melody, 74-75][Ahsian, 218]

Picture Jasper inspires creative visualization and is ideal for overcoming writer’s or artist’s block. It is an excellent talisman for psychic artists who paint spirit guides. [Hall En, 200][Eason, 298]

Picture Jasper encourages initiative and is particularly helpful in all business pursuits. Wear or carry this stone to inspire confidence, creative vision and practical application in starting your own business. [Melody, 347][Eason, 298]

Wear or carry Picture Jasper when traveling abroad, especially for backpacking or living in other countries. Exchange Picture Jasper with a partner if you are from different cultures to help fit into each other’s worlds. [Eason, 298]

An ecological stone, Picture Jasper is an ideal support for occupations in conservation and alternative forms of energy. Use in the home or workplace to alleviate geopathic, environmental and technological pollution and radiation. [Eason, 298][Hall, 156][Hall En, 200]

Picture Jasper is superb for healing and sustaining the physical and emotional bodies during injury, prolonged illness or hospitalization. Its Earth energies bring gradual strength and renewed vitality, while helping one to understand and endure these frustrating or painful experiences. [Melody, 345][Hall, 155][Hall En, 200][Simmons, 219][Gienger, 51]

Use Picture Jasper for cutting down or quitting smoking. It removes harmful toxins from the system over time, and increases the resolve needed to overcome the cravings and emotional triggers that perpetuate the behavior. [Eason, 298][Hall, 156]

Jaspers are believed to increase fertility and are conducive to happy pregnancies. Picture Jasper is particularly protective during childbirth. [101 Hall, 112][Megemont, 102][Hall En, 200]

Picture Jasper Healing Therapies – Overview

(Please note: Information on this web site is no substitute for consulting a health care professional. All information contained on this web site, including information relating to medical and health conditions, products and treatments, is for informational purposes only. Please see your doctor or health care professional before starting any alternative treatments, diets, supplements or exercise programs.)

Picture Jasper Physical Healing Energy

Picture Jasper is thought to boost the immune system and to cleanse toxins and pollutants from the body. It is particularly fortifying to the kidneys, stomach and intestines, and may be used to balance the mineral content of the body. It may aid in treating the bowel, hernia and prostate, and conditions such as chronic constipation, IBS and obesity. [Melody, 348[Hall, 156, 158][Hall En, 200][Eason, 298][Gienger, 51]

Picture Jasper is considered beneficial for healing skin disorders and alleviating allergies, especially when caused by chemicals or chronic lung diseases. [Melody, 348][Eason, 298][Hall, 156][Gienger, 51]

Picture Jasper Emotional Healing Energy

Picture Jasper is said to be Mother Earth speaking to her children with a message from the past for those who can read her pictures. This stone helps one connect with the energy of the planet in order to heal the emotional body. Worn for extended periods of time, Picture Jasper brings hidden feelings to the surface, such as guilt, fear, hatred and love, as well as thoughts that have been pushed aside or repressed. When one has come to terms with these issues, Picture Jasper helps to release them, allowing them to be viewed as lessons along the way. It instills a sense of proportion and harmony to the system and allows one to see joy in simple things. [Hall, 157][Hall En, 200][Melody, 348][Eason, 298][Gienger, 51]

Picture Jasper Chakra Healing and Balancing Energy

All Jaspers connect to the Earth and may be placed on the Base Chakra to stabilize and energize the physical body. Laying it over each chakra in turn, will cleanse, boost and realign the chakras and aura, balancing yin and yang energies as well as aligning the physical, emotional and mental bodies with the etheric realm. [101 Hall, 113][Hall, 155][Melody, 344-345]

Picture Jasper is excellent for activating the Base or Root Chakra, located at the base of the spine. The Base Chakra controls the energy for kinesthetic feeling and movement, and is the foundation of physical and spiritual energy for the body. When physically out of balance, symptoms manifest themselves as lethargy, low levels of activity, low enthusiasm, and a need for constant stimulation. When spiritual energies are out of balance, one may feel flighty, disconnected from reality or distant. By balancing the Base Chakra, the physical body regains its strength and stamina, and the spiritual energy is rekindled in the form of security and sense of one’s own power. It often leads to independence and spontaneous leadership.

A stone of vision, Picture Jasper may also be used to activate the Brow Chakra, also called the Third Eye. It is the center of perception and command, directing our sight and everyday awareness of the world. Our consciousness is located here, and we relate to ourselves through this chakra. When the Brow Chakra is in balance our thoughts and internal communications within ourselves are healthy and vibrant. We are open to new ideas, dreams, and visions, and can control the flow of energy within all the chakras.

Picture Jasper Spiritual Energy

Picture Jasper is an elemental stone aligned with the electromagnetic energies of the planet, and may be used in meditation to merge with the consciousness of the Earth. It is a master stone for inner journeying, dream work and visioning, and can be used as a portal to view remote areas of the world, or to journey back in time to connect with the energies of sacred sites and ancient civilizations. In these power places one can learn from the resident societies and draw upon them in one’s everyday life, and retrieve knowledge of spiritual technologies for use in the present-day world. [Simmons, 218][Ahsian, 218-219][Melody, 347]

Picture Jasper Color Energy

Picture Jasper embodies the rich Brown Rays of the natural earth. It carries the color influence of home, hearth, and nature…of comfort and connection. Brown crystals let you relax, reconnect, and regain your composure, and are premier grounding stones, promoting security and stability.

Picture Jasper may also carry other dominant color influences. See the Color Energy Guide for those specific color properties.

Meditation with Picture Jasper

All Jaspers provide a calm, harmonious energy for meditation. They are ideal for grounding and centering at the beginning of a ritual, and ease the transition to a meditative state. Picture Jasper is particularly conducive to joining with the energies of Mother Earth and all levels of the Goddess energies. Its beautiful lines, shades and shadows are highly conducive for dream work and visioning, and may be utilized for divination or foretelling the future. [Melody, 347][Simmons, 218][Ahsian, 218-219]

Picture Jasper Divination

Known as “the rain bringer,” Jasper has been revered since ancient and medieval times as a divining stone of “tempestaries,” magical masters of the wind and rain, called upon in secret to save harvests in periods of drought, or to save ships from violent storms. Green and Brown Jaspers were considered the most powerful for this purpose. Jasper was also used by the American Indians for dowsing the land for water, and Red Jasper was especially helpful in increasing the searcher’s sensitivity to the Earth. [Kunz, 90][Megemont, 102][Mella, 88][Eason, 108]

Jasper has also been utilized for divining the future. Picture Jasper is especially conducive for dream work and visioning, and Black Jasper is an excellent scrying stone. [Megemont, 102][Hall, 157][Eason, 184]

The Divinatory meaning of Picture Jasper: Focus on the bigger picture. [Eason, 298]

Dreaming of Jasper signifies love returned. [Kunz, 358]

Picture Jasper and the Angelic Realm

Jasper is a stone of Archangels Haniel and Sandalphon, ruling the Angelic Principalities. [101 Hall, 112]

Picture Jasper varies in all shades of brown to other earthy colors. If your birthday falls in any of the following periods, a Picture Jasper of the dominant color listed can be a valuable conduit to your Guardian Angel. The table also provides the name of the Guardian Angel of those born in the time period.

There are other Angels that are partial to Picture Jasper. The table below gives you information about them.

Picture Jasper Goddess Crystals

Picture Jasper honors Q’re, the Nabataean Goddess of the Crescent Moon and Maidens.

Jasper honors Gaia, the Greek Earth Mother Goddess. Born directly out of Chaos, the primal emptiness, she was the first (or one of the first) beings to appear during the process of creation, and is honored as being the Earth itself.

Jasper honors Bona Dea, the Roman Earth Goddess of Fertility and the Greek Goddess of Women. She protects women through all of their changes, and is a skilled healer, particularly with herbs.

Jasper also honors Callisto, the Greek Moon Goddess; Chirakan-Ixmucane, the Mayan Creator Goddess; and Clota, the Goddess of the River Cldye.

 

Birthstones

 

 

There are several ways to find an appropriate birthstone. The traditional one is listed first. These are from the popular lists that most people are familiar with. The second way is to find your natural birthstone by the color wheel of life. You can click on the Natural Birthstone graphic below to learn more. Finally many people use the traditional stones of the Zodiac.

In this section you will find information on all three approaches.

Picture Jasper Traditional Birthstone

Picture Jasper is not a traditional birthstone, but Jasper is an historical birthstone of March.

Picture Jasper Natural Birthstone.

Brown stones are not a natural birthstone.

Picture Jasper – Zodiac Stone

Jasper is not specific to any zodiac sign, but is thought to bring Cancer and Capricorn compassion and patience. Aries and Scorpio are also reported to benefit from any variety of Jasper. [Megemont, 102]

Picture Jasper Talismans and Amulets

Jasper was worn throughout history as an amulet against phantasms, evil spirits, and witchcraft. Worn on the breast, it prevented epilepsy, stomach pain and colic, and stopped nosebleeds and other fluxes of the body. Jasper amulets also prevented fevers and swelling. [Fernie, 174, 180][Kunz, 90]

An amulet of Jasper was believed to protect its wearer from drowning, and also kept spiders and scorpions at bay. [101 Hall, 112]

For the American Indians, Jasper was known as a powerful amulet of protection for their shamanic rituals and against unseen hazards of the night. [Mella, 88][Melody, 344]

Jasper is a Seeker Transformer crystal. Seekers contain a crystal energy structure that aligns the natural energy of the crystal to the natural power of the human mind in finding the way to new horizons and new capabilities. They’re pointers, directors, and compasses; the fresh start crystals. These are talismans of the scientist, the adventurer, the hunter, wanderer, and explorer. They’re also crystals of the student and the researcher.

Transformer crystals enhance efforts to change our situations, prospects, health, outlook or relationships. By transforming ourselves we transform our lives. We learn to dance, speak a new language, grow stronger, or become a better spouse or child. Seeker crystals with the earth power of the Transformer are excellent talismans to aid our efforts to grow, develop new capabilities and change our lives.

Picture Jasper Feng Shui

Brown Picture Jasper utilizes Wood energy, the energy of growth, expansion, new beginnings, nourishment and health. It enhances vitality, brings abundance, and keeps us growing physically. Use brown crystals to enhance any space used for eating, in the room of a small child, or in a place of your home where you are beginning a new project. Wood energy is traditionally associated with the East and Southeast areas of a home or room. It is associated with the Family and Health area, and the Prosperity and Abundance area.

Brown Picture Jasper in lighter hues utilizes Earth energy, the light brown energy of stability, patience, honesty, balance, and resourcefulness. It is our home energy, the energy of the ground upon which we live, the mountains, plains, shores, and valleys. It is our holdfast in the black cold universe. Use light brown crystals to enhance any space that is a resting place, where you need to be firmly in control, safe, and protected. Earth energy is traditionally associated with the Northeast and Southwest areas of a home or room. These are the Skills and Knowledge area, and the Love and Relationship area.

If your Picture Jasper has a different dominant color energy, see the Feng Shui Guide for its energy properties.

Picture Jasper in Ancient Lore and Legend

In many ancient civilizations, Jasper was believed to be heavily charged with mysterious and sometimes contradictory properties. Red Jasper stimulated without being excessive; Yellow Jasper enhanced common sense but also the need for conformity; and Green Jasper of all one color harmonized gently, yet could change the opinion of even the most stubborn person. [Megemont, 100-101]
 
Legends claim if one has worn Jasper since childhood, he or she will be protected from drowning and ghosts; and those who gird their bodies with it are protected from accident and will have all their wishes fulfilled. Opinions differ as to whether it should be set in silver or gold, but all are unanimous in saying it should be worn on the right side, and should be worn chastely after it has been blessed and consecrated. [Lecouteux, 177-178]

Jaspers were prized by even the earliest physicians as the most powerful astringents, regulators of metabolism and colic, and strengtheners of the stomach and digestive organs. The Roman physician, Galen, prominent in the first century A.D., always wore a ring set with Jasper, carved in the figure of a man with a bundle of herbs signifying the power to distinguish diseases and stop the flow of blood from any part. He declared the Jasper, particularly the green variety, should be hung about the neck to strengthen the chest and stomach, as did the Egyptian King, Nechepsus, who wore a Green Jasper cut in the shape of a dragon over his digestive organs and reported it to be wonderfully strengthening to their functions. [Mella, 42-43][Fernie, 173, 175][Kunz, 385][Lecouteux, 180] 

Jasper was a significant stone in nearly all religious and cultural histories throughout the world. In a Mesopotamian creation legend, the god Marduk (Jupiter) formed three heavens or spheres above the Earth, with the lower one being created from Jasper. On it he drew the constellations. [101 Hall, 112]

In Viking and German legends, the hilt of the magical sword of Siegfried, the dragon-slayer, was inlaid with Red Jasper to give him courage. Red Jasper was also called the blood of Mother Earth among some Native North American tribes, and in ancient Egypt was linked with the fertilizing blood of Mother Isis. Jaspers were often used for carving texts on sacred amulets for placement on the bodies of the dead to insure safe passage into the afterlife. [Eason, 66][Kunz, 226-229]

Amulets called magatama (crooked jewels) have been found in Japanese graves of the Iron Age, formed of various materials, including Jasper, and were strung together with beads and used to adorn the statues of the gods. They were employed as imperial insignia and distinctive marks of high rank. [Kunz, 265] Jasper is also highly prized in China, and is the material from which the seal of the Emperor is made. [Fernie, 175]

To the Hebrews, Jasper was Yashpheh, the twelfth stone in the breastplate of the High Priest, inscribed with the tribal name Assher, though some list it as the tribe of Benjamin. Most writers agree this stone was the highly valued Green Jasper. Based on the stones known and used at the time, it is also believed the original breastplate of Aaron may have contained Red Jasper as the Odem, or first stone, and Yellow Jasper as the Tarshish, or tenth stone. [Kunz, 276, 289, 301][Fernie, 173]

In Christian tradition, Jasper represented the young vigor of faith and was dedicated to the apostle Peter as the hard and solid rock upon which Christ would build his church. [Fernie, 45, 199][Lecouteax, 179] It was also the gleaming material from which the city walls and first foundation of the New Jerusalem would be made. In the Apocalypse, St. John sees the Eternal appear on a throne of Jasper, representing eternal youth, renewal, and revelation. [Kunz, 302-303][Megemont, 102]

Jasper was considered a sacred stone of protection for shamans of the Native American Indians during their magical practices and in continued adherence to the “old ways.” Jasper containing the yellow color protected and assisted in times of travel, both physical and spiritual; that which contained the red color induced health and re-birth, freshness in ideas and strategies; and Jasper containing the blue color was used to connect one with the “after” worlds. [Melody, 344]

Spider Jasper, a rarer variety containing earthy browns with white or dark spider-web markings, is believed to contain the power of the wise spider, represented by the Native North American goddess, Grandmother Spider, who created people from four different-colored clays as the nations of the Earth, then led them from the underworld into the open where Grandfather Sun breathed life into them. [Eason, 298]

Jasper was ideal for engraving, and from the earliest ages was heavily employed in the glyptic arts of many cultures for its special talismanic virtues.

• A lion or an archer on a Jasper gives help against poison and cures from fever. [Kunz, 133]
• A Jasper bearing a huntsman, a dog, or a stag, with God’s help, will have the power to heal one possessed of a devil (one who is insane). It also protects the owner from the devil. [Kunz, 135][Lecouteux, 179]
• The depiction of a man, specifically Mars, on a piece of Jasper with a shield in his left hand and an idol or weapon in his right, with vipers as his feet and a cock or lion as his head, wearing a breastplate, enables its owner to battle his enemies and obtain victory. It also protects him from poison. This is the depiction on the sacred Abrasax stone. [Lecouteux, 179]
• A Jasper depicting an armed Mars, or a virgin wrapped in a toga with a laurel branch in hand, makes its owner powerful and capable of anything, and grants protection from violent death, drowning, demons, and adversity; it also helps him obtain all he desires. [Lecouteux, 179][Kunz, 140]
• Worn on the chest, a Jasper carved with a kestrel, or kite, rending a snake and placing the head of an iulian fish beneath the stone gets rid of stomach pain, stimulates appetite, and provides good digestion. [Lecouteux, 179][Fernie, 174]
• Wearing a Jasper adorned with the image of a hare protects a person from attack by demons and spirits. If adorned with a dog, it protects against dropsy (edema), venom, and dog bites. [Lecouteux, 179]
• A wolf carved on Jasper protects from guile and prevents one from spouting wild claims. [Lecouteux, 180]
• A Jasper with an image of an emperor with head held high brings the love of all creatures, and its possessor will obtain all he desires. [Lecouteux, 180]
• A Jasper engraved with the sacred symbol of the cross protects its owner from drowning. [Kunz, 140]