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Amber is not a mineral, as it began as a amorphous resin. In fact, it is actually a "glob" of fossilized tree resin or sap that flowed down an ancient coniferous tree trunk in an ancient forest--perhaps in a forest that is now lost in antiquity. The tree sap was sticky, and it caught organic materials: drops of water, bits of moss, dirt, bark, seeds and insects. As it grew older, it hardened into a sort of Mother-Nature-made plastic, a resin, and mellowed into a golden, light brown-orange color known as Amber. The more clear the resin, the more perfect the color, the more full of organic materials the amber is, the more it is worth. Amber is considered a gemstone--an organic gemstone like a pearl, which is generated from biological processes.
Amber is generally found in association with lignite coal, which is also the fossilized remains of trees and other plant material.
Amber perfectly preserves insects from decomposition--even their soft tissues are preserved. As seen in the movie Jurassic Park, mosquitoes can still have the blood of their victims inside them, sealed and kept intact forever. It's no wonder Amber is a symbol of eternity--and eternal divinity. |
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