Mayan Jade

For the ancient Maya, jade was not merely a beautiful gemstone but a substance of profound sacred power, literally worth more than gold. The deep green color of jadite — the Maya's preferred jade — connected it to the color of corn leaves, rain, and the life-giving vegetation that sustained Mesoamerican civilization. In Maya cosmology, the color green represented the center of the universe and the axis mundi, the world tree that connected the underworld, the human world, and the heavens. To wear jade was to wear the universe's center.

Mayan rulers were buried with jade mosaic death masks, jade earflares, jade necklaces, and jade sculptures of extraordinary artistry. The Palenque ruler Pakal the Great was interred in a jade mask and suit so elaborate it took archaeologists years to fully document. Jade beads were placed in the mouths of the dead to serve as currency in the afterlife. Living kings wore jade as proof of their divine mandate to rule, their bodies literally clothed in the sacred substance of cosmic power.

The jade mines of the Motagua Valley in Guatemala were the primary source of this sacred stone for over two thousand years of Mesoamerican civilization. Today, Guatemalan jade artisans continue to work the same ancient stone deposits, creating jewelry and carvings that connect modern wearers to one of the most sophisticated civilizations in world history. Genuine Guatemalan jadite in rich green or blue-green tones remains a prized luxury material.