Note 30 — Chapter X · The Mother-goddess of China and Japan
Reading edition
The beliefs connected with jade were similar to those connected with pearls, which were at a remote period emblems of the moon in Egypt. In China the moon was “the pearl of heaven”. One curious and widespread belief was that pearls were formed by rain-drops, or by drops of dew from the moon, the source of moisture, and especially of nectar or soma. Pearls and pearl-shells were used for medicinal purposes. They were, like the sap of trees, the very essence of life—the soul-substance of the Great Mother.30