Jewelry is the most ancient and personal form of expression of faith and spiritual beliefs. Human history is laced with jeweled and precious metal artifacts used to adorn the body, indicative of religious affiliation, status, and experience. Each religion has its own set of religious symbols and meaningful jewelry. Often, religious jewelry is given to someone at a special time in life as a memento to a ceremony or ritual that marks a life transformation such as marriage, baptism, bar mitzvah, or the attainment of some enlightened understanding. For example, a pendant necklace is a wonderful gift idea to mark the special occasion.

Color and symbolism together represent specific meanings in the different religious faiths. Religious jewelry is designed to incorporate symbolic icons, color, precious metals and other materials into the artistic work of the piece. Even holy water is used in religious jewelry. This article includes a sampling of religious symbols, spiritual implications of colors, the importance of certain religious ceremonies, and the artistic expression of these aspects of human spirituality in the form of jewelry. In particular, this article addresses the religious jewelry of new age spirituality, Judaism, and Christianity. 

Although new age spiritualism is the youngest of these three religions, this is simply because the ideas that comprise the new age philosophy have only recently been gathered together under the label of a religious movement. Its roots are actually found in an eclectic collection of spiritual ideas from ancient cultures across the globe. As people have experienced disappointment in traditional religious organizations, and we seek a deeper meaning from life, old spiritual beliefs resurfaced on the human psyche with modern speed and passion.

Judaism enjoys the oldest traditions of the three religions and forms the foundation of Christianity which broke away from Jewish law to follow the teachings of Jesus, himself a Jew.

The common denominator for all three belief systems is the idea of God, or as new agers prefer to say, a higher power. The other uniting element is human nature and our need for social interaction, affiliation, belonging. Jewelry is a universal token of human expression and all religious faiths use jewelry to adorn the body and decorate holy places.

Symbolism is another basic aspect of human behavior and thought. We use symbols to explain profound mystery; we use symbols to make sense of our experience in the world.

According to The Secret, a new age book by Rhonda Byrne, the law of attraction is the basis of new age thought. The Secret is a collection of wisdom written by modern day spiritual teachers about a centuries-old “secret” that has been understood by great inventors, theologians, scientists and thinkers of our history. The Secret movie has made the profound simplicity of the new age movement even more accessible to people seeking its message. The message of The Secret can be summarized by saying that we can receive or create anything we want by simply asking and believing. Jesus said, “seek and ye shall find; ask and it shall be given.” This is the essence of the message of The Secret. It is easy to see how religious jewelry can aid us in our quest to ask, believe, and receive because when we adorn our bodies with powerful symbols, we hold the ideals, the energy of the symbols, and the meaning close to our hearts and as a constant reminder of our intentions.

A common symbol for followers of new age spirituality is the Eye of Horus, said to represent spiritual sight, inner vision, higher knowledge. This ancient symbol enjoys modern popularity and can be found in new age jewelry as well as on American money.

The Star of David is the most recognized symbol of the Jewish faith. With the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Star of David was incorporated into the flag, making it also a national symbol of Israel. Named after Kind David of ancient Israel, this hexagram shape is thought to be modeled after the shield used by a brave young Israelite warrior, David, who later became the great king. 

In Christianity, the cross is the most recognizable symbol as it represents the core of Christian belief: that Jesus died to relieve the world of sin and to pave the way to heaven. Much of Christian jewelry includes cross silver necklaces, sterling cross necklaces, men’s crosses and cross pendants.

The dove is another common Christian symbol, representing the Holy Spirit. A Catholic Holy Spirit pendant may be more elaborate than some other Christian versions, and Catholic jewelry often includes saint medals. All Christians relate to the symbol of the fish. Because Jesus was a “fisher of men”, a simple outline of the shape of a fish is used to identify oneself as belonging to the Christian community.

These symbols are reproduced as charms and pendants so that believers can wear them close to the body as a reminder of personal faith as well as to publically declare affiliation with a particular faith. Glass jewelry pendants and sterling cross pendants are very popular among all religious faiths.

The shape of a circle represents the completion of the life cycle and the eternity of God. Because a circle has no clear beginning or ending point, it symbolizes that there is no beginning or ending to God; God is timeless, eternal. Psalm 139:15 declares to God, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth…” The psalmist expresses here this sense of the eternal nature of God. For this reason, traditional wedding vows are sealed with the giving of bands to symbolize the uniting of two lives as one family, a commitment that endures even beyond the time of human life. Sometimes, when couples renew their wedding vows, the wording of the ceremony even reflects the symbolism of the circle and the ongoing love of the married couple.

For Christians, three circles overlapping to form a rounded triangle (two on the bottom, one on top) represents the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the everlasting truth of this belief.

In New Age beliefs, the circle has a similar meaning of the cycle of life and eternity. According to new age concepts, life goes on and on and on, ever repeating itself. We see this idea in nature in the life, death, and rebirth cycle of trees and flowers in each of the seasons. Representing this idea, the circle reminds us that human life also repeats this cycle of life, death, and rebirth, both literally and figuratively.

For Jews, many religious celebrations include the festivity of circle dancing, a communal expression of the everlasting aspect of God’s creation.

Throughout human history, color has played a significant role in symbolically representing human thought and experience. The ancients were keenly attuned to the variants of shade and depth, and highly aware of rare colors. Today, however, technology has allowed us to reproduce every imaginable color and our senses are so saturated with color that we hardly appreciate its beauty or recognize its impact on our psyche. We are fortunate that our religious traditions have preserved certain associated meanings with various colors, for this allows us to associate meanings to color and to enjoy its significance to the stirrings of our hearts.

White is the universal color of purity. As it is the truest color, the color of light without any alteration, white symbolizes the essence of God. Some variation of this meaning is found in Christianity and Judaism as well as in new age ideas. In Jewish tradition, white symbolizes God, mirroring the color and symbol of salt. The ancient Jews recognized that salt was necessary for the preservation of food; without salt, food would spoil and rot. In this same way, without God, human nature would be worthless.

For Christians, white is the symbol for purity, innocence, holiness. White is perfect as God is perfect, therefore, the color white is representative of the very presence of God. To be adorned or decorated with the color white is to intentionally invite the presence of God into oneself and one’s surroundings.

New age beliefs also associate white with god, though the language to express this is broader, less specific. New age spiritual concepts claim that white represents a high level of attainment. If a person has a white aura, it is said that he or she is a more highly evolved soul, made incarnate to help others. This is to say that a white aura is indicative of being closer to God, or a “higher being.” Associated with purity and cleansing, white represents healing and protection and is used in purification rituals.

Silver is easily interchangeable with white in terms of its symbolism. For this reason, religious jewelry is often made of sterling silver. Glass is another favorite medium for religious jewelry because of its clarity and the relative ease with which it can be colored.

In Judaism, blue is another primary color of significance. It symbolizes the heights and depth of the divine, and because its shade is a color between white and black – day and night – it also represents equilibrium, the place of humanity in God’s order. The color of the cloth used to cover holy relics in Jewish tradition is blue because, according to the literature of rabbinic sages, blue is the color of God’s glory.

In Christian liturgy, the color of the sky, representing heaven, is blue, often used to symbolize truth. And in new age thought, blue is used to promote healing, honesty, and peace. 

Holy water is another concept that spans religious traditions. Like the color white, water represents cleansing – the forgiveness of sin, the removal of negative energy, the act of renewal, change. Water is the physical manifestation that symbolizes interior purification, a concept found in all three religious practices.

Because new age beliefs have borrowed from all the world’s religions, water holds a special significance for many, but not to any particular doctrine of the faith. Though new age belief does not formally bless water by a priest, there are many water cleansing rituals in new age practices.

Among Jews, sprinkling of water was one of the laws brought to the people from God by Moses. It was a practice said to be a reminder of the purity of God and His cleansing power. The Old Testament and the Torah are full of scriptures that refer to the necessity of baptism.

In the Christian faith, holy water is used in baptism, a ritual that symbolizes death to old ways and a declaration of a new life in Jesus Christ. Jesus demands of His followers to be baptized, not only with water, but by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, the ritual of baptism is an important act for Christians. Christians agree on the implicit significance of the ritual of Holy Baptism and the role of Holy Water as a necessary element in the rite of purification.

Water from the Jordan River holds particular meaning for Christians because this is the very river where Jesus was baptized and was first anointed with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, a pendant necklace that contains water from the Jordanian waters is especially meaningful. Messianic Christians may also find personal meaning in the Holy Water pendant as it represents the cultural roots of both his birth and his chosen faith.

Religious jewelry has an important place in the lives of religious people. No matter what faith a person may claim as his personal testimony, the symbols we associate with silver, holy water, crosses and other religious icons are a universal token of expression of one’s beliefs. The human race continues to adorn the body with the artistic designs of symbolic representations of  religious beliefs combined with silver, medals, glass and holy water.