SILVER CORD (Out of body experience):
I chose a shoulder piece to represent the out of body experience because I wanted the piece to be located on a somewhat large part on the body. The stone I used for this piece is the onix stone which acts like a magnet, attracting spiritual forces to the body, which is perfect for aerial people. The shape of the piece represents something rising or flying, in an abstract way, with the stones encorporated inside the shape. I chose to call this piece silver cord, because a "silver cord" is known as the "life thread" or the thread linking the soul to the physical body.
THIRD EYE (Life Review):
For the Life Review piece, I chose to make a headpiece. The reason behind choosing to make a headpiece is due to the fact that during this stage of NDE, you see your life and actions flash before your eyes and all the things you have done. In other words, you see all of your memories. Memories are stored in the brain, which is in your head, thus a headpiece best represents this stage of NDE. I chose the aqua stone to use in the center of the headpiece because it has been used for the eyes and is the stone of the clairvoyants (a person who claims to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact). I didn't find the actual aqua stone, so I substituted it for another blue stone similar in color. I chose to put the stone in the center of the forehead, because that is where the "Third Eye" is located. The third eye is a concept that refers to an invisible eye which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. This is also the reason I chose to call this piece "Third Eye".
GLORY (Tunnel/Light Experience):
For the tunnel/light experience piece, I chose to make a handpiece. The reason behind this thought process is due to the fact that when a person sees the light, they tend to reach out to it with their hands. I chose to used citrine quartz and quartz for this piece because citrine quartz gives warm energy similar to the sun, and quartz represents light. I also didn't find these exact stones, so I used stones with similar colors. The handpiece is shaped to represent a tunnel in an abstract way. The handpiece starts out wide and becomes narrower, and ends with the stones. There are 2 rings that extend to the fingers that are connected to the stone, which represent how a person reaches out to the light. I chose to call this piece glory because there is an optical phenomenon called "glory" that resembles a halo around the shadow of something, usually a person. Sometimes during a tunnel/light experience, a person sees someone's shadow in the light, like they have this halo or glory around them.
EUPHORIA (sense of overwhelming peace and happiness):
For this piece, I chose to make a necklace since it is close to the heart, and the heart reflects emotions and love. I chose to use the opal stone for this piece because it promotes feelings of goodness and friendship and is the gem of good, love, and faith. I didn't find a big opal stone like I needed for the necklace, so I got a stone that has the same color as opals. I called this piece Euphoria because it means extreme happiness. The silver wires around the stone made it seem as if the stone is emitting the powers of goodness, peace, and love.
Below are the pictures from our university's annual design exhibition, where I displayed my senior project, along with all the other senior and junior projects. The exhibition was held in Beirut Souks.
