COPPER


 

History, Legend and Lore of Copper use by humans is a long and varied, dating back nearly 10,000 years with multiple applications. Copper is, in fact, humanity’s first metal and shows up in Sumerian and Egyptian metallurgy circa 3900 BC.

Egypt
Egyptians were among the first human cultures to use Copper, but they were also one of the first to develop Bronze, a mixture of Tin and Copper, and usher in the Bronze Age of human history. As early as 3900 BC, they were developing Copper products that became more and more common and eventually showed up in common household items such as cooking pots. By 2500 BC, Egyptian jewelry makers had developed Copper working to such a level that they were creating crowns and headdresses made of the metal.

Asia
Copper use had spread to Asia quite quickly after its development in the middle East, but most examples remaining are from the last few centuries. Indian use of Copper excelled and their techniques soon spread to other parts of Asia. Beyond common uses, Asian cultures and religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, used Copper in the creation of fantastic inlays, embossed facades on palaces and temples, and ceremonial vessels. 

Copper in Pre-Columbian America
Copper use in Pre-Columbian America seems to have developed independently around and possibly before the time that it began in the Middle East. Metal working by some cultures was so advanced by the time Europeans arrived, that the techniques the native workers had developed rivaled those of the invaders. Pre-Columbian Americans used Copper for bells, ornaments, weapons, beads, earrings and armor of very good technical quality.

Christianity
Many Christian rituals traditionally call for the use of Copper, so much so that their uses are too numerous to list here.


Mystical Properties:
Due to the fact that copper is such a wonderful physical conductor of electricity and heat, it is also considered the conductor of the spiritualist's belief system.  According to myths, copper has the ability to conduct spiritual energy back and forth between individuals, crystals, auras, the mind and the spirit world.

It is also believed that copper has the power to amplify thoughts when sending and receiving psychic communications.  New Age followers carry copper with their stones and crystals to 'straighten' the properties of them, as well they are used when crating crystal wands to be certain of their clear and straight powers. Copper is also quite instrumental in the physical and mental healing rites of many peoples of this world.


Healing Properties:
Again, healers base their belief in Copper’s power to heal the mind and body based on the metal’s energy conducting properties. They believe that it can even facilitate this process and use it for creating crystal wands and other means of transferring the energy of crystals. They also attribute many of the same healing qualities to crystals and minerals that contain Copper traces. 

It is sued to alleviate cramp like symptoms, and also said to promote the smooth functioning of the glands, and can help prevent wear, tear and calcification of the joints.

Emotional Healing
According to New Age healers, Copper can stimulate the flow of energy and hence move psychic energies thereby helping the wearer overcome lethargic tendencies, resulting in a more vitalized person with amplified thoughts. They also attribute powers of communication, channeling, cleansing, purification, increasing self-esteem and freeing the wearer of mental burdens.

Physical Healing 
Beginning in the 1970s in the United States, copper used as a healing agent began to increase. People who believe in its power esteem it as a very powerful assistant with arthritic and rheumatic diseases, but also look to it for its healing properties in improving the circulation of blood, increasing energy, detoxification, reducing inflammation, stabilizing metabolism and improving oxygen use.


Magical Properties:
Copper has long been linked with the divine, during ancient Mesopotamian times it was attributed to the Queen of Heaven as well as to the goddesses associated with the planet Venus.

Copper is a lucky metal, perhaps due to its past solar attributations, and therefore can be used in conjunction with any other luck bringing stones for more powerful rites and rituals.