Gem Petals

There was a certain king who died leaving four sons behind him with his queen. The queen was passionately fond of the youngest of the princes. She gave him the best robes, the best horses, the best food, and the best furniture. The other three princes became jealous of their youngest brother, and conspiring against him and their mother, made them live in a separate house, and took possession of the estate. Owing to overindulgence, the youngest prince had become very willful. He never listened to any one, not even to his mother, but would have his own way in everything. One day he went with his mother to bathe in the river. A large boat was riding there at anchor. None of the boatmen were in it. The prince went into the boat, and told his mother to come into it. His mother besought him to get down from the boat, as it did not belong to him. But the prince said, “No, mother, I am not coming down; I mean to go on a voyage, and if you wish to come with me, then delay not but come up at onc...

  Reading is one of the few distinctively human activities that set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Reading, unlike speaking (language acquisition skills), does not come naturally to human beings. It must be taught. Since it goes beyond chemistry and biology, there is something profoundly spiritual about the human ability and motivation to read. I find reading, crystals, fairy stories and eating irresistible- for me there is a spiritual connection in jewel bedecked stories and myths  from various cultures, crystals, minerals and rocks of all kinds, jewellery, fairy stories, and nature all around the world. Jewellery is one of the most beautiful and oldest types of archaeological artefacts adorning every part of the body from hair to eyebrows, genitals to toes, and is made from every type of material possible. Somehow with pin and hook, cord, strap, tassel, yellow metal, carbon and corundum, fairy stories make a lot of noise in my quiet inner world  an...